The Imperator fell to his knees, dizzy at first. He slowly brought himself back to his feet and found the world was the same, but something was different. The sky was purple, there was a pulsating red haze around everything, the background was swirling and distorted. He said, "What is this place?"

He turned to Akechi and was taken aback to find that his appearance had changed. He know wore a body-covering, black and purple striped outfit. In this form, he had several black belts strapped around his legs and arms. He also wore a dark enclosed knight helmet, similar to plate armor, with a deep crimson mask resembling a sharp beak. The Imperator said, "And what the hell are you wearing?"

Akechi said, "This is the outfit that represents me in this world. The Metaverse. It's the physical manifestation of humanities corrupted desires. And this area of the Metaverse is Mementos. You see, every human being has a "shadow" here. These shadows represent their deepest desires and the corrupted evils they keep buried within. If a person's desires spiral out of control, they can form Palaces here, where they become the exact image they see of themselves, leading armies of shadows to do their bidding. Inside these palaces, there is a treasure. When this treasure is stolen and the shadow is defeated, the shadow returns to the human in the real world, the human loses their evil side, willingly giving themselves up to atone for their crimes. If the shadow is destroyed, they suffer a complete mental shutdown."

The Imperator said, "Two questions. One, what does this have to do with me? Two, does that mean you have a shadow too?"

Akechi explained, "I don't have a shadow. My shadow is my Persona. The Phantom Thieves and I unlocked an ability to turn our shadows into a will to fight. Our shadows form Personas, which are capable of fighting for us and granting us great power here. As for you, the Phantom Thieves are preparing to fight your shadow. If they kill it, you shutdown and die."

The Imperator yelled, "What?!"

"But not to worry. That's why I'm here! I am here to stop the Phantom Thieves and keep your heart safe from attack."

The Imperator said, "Wait. There's like 7 of them. Do you plan on taking them all on at once?"

Akechi said, "Not entirely. I'll have the support of your shadow. Because we're making this arrangement now, your shadow will reflect this and provide me with help. The shadows are not to be underestimated. They can be quite devastating if not treated with caution."

The Imperator responded, "That's why you came to me. You needed to ensure that my shadow would be there to help. Alright, Akechi. I'll buy this for now. But don't think this means you'll be without any supervision. Now, take us back."

Akechi said, "As you wish."

Akechi brought out his phone again, and waves of distortion engulfed them once more. Before long they were back in front of the Abraxas Palace, with Akechi back in his normal attire. The Arbiter noticed this and said, "What happened?"

The Imperator said, "Quite a lot of things. But Akechi is telling the truth. I want Sangheili to accompany him when it comes to protection. Also he stays here when he's not gone, and..."

Akechi interrupted after that last comment and said, "I-I-I'm sorry, what? 'Stay here'? Why?"

The Imperator said, "Don't take it personally. With a rebellion cell on the rise, and my very heart at stake, I can't afford to be too trusting. We'll alert your family right away."

Akechi said, "I actually don't have a family here. My mother committed suicide and my father is in prison because of the Phantom Thieves."

The Imperator paused at this and said, "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure your mother smiles upon you. And we will avenge your father by destroying the Thieves. But now is no time to grieve. Now is the time for action. Thel, take this boy to one of the open rooms and set him up there." The Arbiter bowed his head and walked Akechi to the indoors of the palace. The Imperator followed behind, sitting on the throne while they entered an elevator that closed. He activated the TV monitor again, as it extended and activated. He sifted through camera footage of the Commons and the Pits, with nothing particularly new or exciting happening. All he could think of was the Metaverse. How long had it existed? Why did the Phantom Thieves only make their move now? Could he harness that worlds power for himself? This thought was quickly cut short by a message appearing on his tablet. He opened it to find Sangheili and Locust soldiers. A Sangheili said, "We found her. She matched all the specifications and passed the voice test."

The Imperator said, "What's her name?"

"Her file lists her as Futaba Sakura. Age 16. Seems to be afflicted with social anxiety."

The Imperator said, "Were the other thieves with her?"

The Locust soldier said, "No. Only her."

The Imperator said, "Bring her here. I have some questions for her."

The soldiers nodded and the footage ended.

A screeching demonic voice erupted in his head, saying with an almost snakelike hiss slow and drawn out like it savored its own sound, "Yes. I will eviscerate her."

The Imperator said, "No! Not yet, anyway. I need information from her. And I'm keeping the lights on so you don't try anything."

The voice barked back, "Killjoy..."

Interrogation room

A young girl with long red hair wearing a black tank top with a Tetris image in front, with a green tank top underneath, grey baggy pants with black laces on the bottom, and green sneakers was sitting alone in a wide empty room. She was tucked into a ball, terrified of where she was. Without warning, a door opened, the lights came on and the Imperator walked through. She shook at the sight of him, as his steps echoed through the empty room, until he was standing over her. She looked up from her fetal position, and jumped back when he suddenly lurched down into a crouching position. The Imperator said, "Do you know who I am?" Futaba, without even looking at him, nodded. The Imperator said, "There's no need to be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Futaba was silent, but finally said, "I... don't... know that."

The Imperator said, "Listen. I know the Honorbound rebellion spreads this rumor about me as some immoral monster. But that's not me. I don't want anyone to be in pain. Do you know why you're here?"

Futaba shook her head, still looking at the wall.

The Imperator sat down and said "I think you do. You've hardly looked me in the eye. You're here because you're a Phantom Thief."

Futaba still refused to look up at him. The Imperator said, "Futaba. I need you to look at this from my perspective. Consider this scenario. You and your friends change my heart and dethrone me. Then what? Another one rises to take my place. You keep working through them? All order collapses. Chaos ensues. My dethroning causes hundreds fo thousands to die from riots. I'm here because I need to be. I'm trying to maintain order. Yes, I can be a little extreme in my methods, but when the alternative is us devolving into savage war hungry animals, I don't think there's such thing as too extreme."

Futaba looked at the wall, still saying nothing. The Imperator said, "Why so quiet? You were pretty talkative here."

The Imperator pressed a button on his wrist, erecting a holo screen that began playing back the footage from HC-44. Futaba saw herself say, "I'm trying to hack the infrastructure. When it goes down, the south section of the wall will be down for 60 seconds without them knowing. They won't pick up any pressure or disturbances. That's how long you have to get in, plant the card, and get back out. I think Skull should go in first."

The Imperator ended the feed. "I get why you're scared of me. I'm not blind to my many detractors. But the last thing I want is more death. I only kill when I have to. So you can act like some monster is leering over you, but you and I aren't leaving here until I get the info I need."

Futaba, still looking at the wall, said, "If you don't want to feel like a monster, you should change your outfit."

The Imperator rubbed his eyes under his hood and said, "All I need are names. The names of the Phantom Thieves. And I swear on my mother and my father, they will not be harmed."

Futaba said, "But they'll be thrown in jail."

The Imperator said, "That's the nature of the beast, I'm afraid."

Futaba remained silent. The Imperator sighed and said, "I'm trying Futaba. I'm really trying not to do something I'll regret. But you're not making this easy. All you need to do is say their names. They're quietly moved to a prison camp, where they can still live their lives. We both win. And I have to win. Because if I lose, we all lose."

Futaba said, "I won't betray them, and I'm not talking."

The Imperator breathed a final sigh and said, "Fine. Let it never be said that I didn't try."

He slowly stood up and walked over to the corner of the room. As he did he said, "I said before that I'm not the immoral monster people have rumored me to be. That is still true."

He reached out and flicked off the light switch. There was a dim illumination coming glowing lines in the walls. He said, "The true monster is something I keep inside."

As he said this, his voice grew more distorted and even began to layer over the screeching voice in his head. This voice promptly said to him, "It's time to torture!"

A dark essence grew and morphed over his body, and two black snakes extended from his back. The one on his left had dull teeth and an under bite, with toothlike protrusions on its chin and cheeks. The one on his right had blades coming out of the top of its head, chin and cheeks and had razor sharp teeth as well. When they fully extended, the Imperator yelled, "Behold, the Darkness!" Futaba looked in horror screaming as he approached her. The underbite snake whipped out and grabbed Futaba by the shoulder pinning her to the wall, still connected to the Imperator's back. The teeth hooked into her shoulder and she grabbed it trying to pull it out. The other snake grabbed at her arm, biting down and drawing blood. She screamed in pain as the maws of the snakes increased in bite pressure.

The Imperator said, "Give me their names!"

Futaba yelled further in pain, but every second she was closer and closer to saying something. He dropped her on the ground, her arm and shoulder bleeding. She backed away into a corner now fully petrified. She tucked into a ball again, hiding away in the corner. The Imperator slowly walked forward, kneeling next to her and said, "What are there names?"

Futaba said, "I can't. I can't betray them!"

The left snake grabbed Futaba by the neck and threw her at the other wall. She grabbed her chest in pain, no doubt feeling a broken rib. The Imperator said, "This can all stop with just the names." The left snake shot forward and wrapped around her neck, lifting her in the air. It slowly tightened its grip. The Imperator said, "Last time. Give...me...their...names."

After a few seconds, and on the verge of passing out, Futaba finally yelled, "Ok!"

The Imperator finally dropped her. He said, "Go."

Futaba, now completely in shock at what she witnessed, began reciting the words, mentally broken. "Ren Amamiya, Ryuji Sakamoto, Haru Okumara, Makoto Nijiima, Yusuke Kitagawa, and Ann Takamaki."

The Imperator smiled under neath the shadow of his hood and said, "Thank you for your cooperation."

Futaba looked up and before she could react, the Imperator shot her in the head with a silenced pistol. Her body slumped on the floor, dead.

He stowed his pistol, now with new information prepared.