A/N: I'm sorry about how long it took to write this next part. I got really busy and I'm also really scatterbrained and don't always write in chronological order, so I ended up writing stuff for later in the story by accident. On the bright side I'm at ~20k words so far. I intend on finishing this, but I've started to realize how long this is going to be. I can see why there is no Persona 5; all this social link writing is hard work and I'm actually cutting some corners in this (I did away with rank numbers so I could have some freedom in each one and integrate them together) I hope no one minds. It's kind of a change from the games since those social links are designed to fit anytime during the story.

Disclaimer: Still do not own anything

Chapter 3:

Tony tried to get the attention of his new friend, again that warm feeling spreading through him at that thought, but couldn't finish his question, as Anthony and the rest of the world faded into darkness before brightening again into the customary color scheme of the real world with his room as devoid of human life as it always was.

Resigned to the fact that his time had run out, Tony scrambled out of bed to get for the day. Looking back at his bedside clock he noticed that it had started moving again and that it was indeed 2pm. Why would Jarvis let me sleep so long? Tony started to wonder, but was interrupted by a gentle knocking pattern on his bedroom door.

"Master Tony, are you awake?" Jarvis asked sounding concerned. "You slept past 2 o'clock." Tony quickly reassured his butler/friend that he was awake. Jarvis stepped into the room looking relieved to see the genius up and about. "Would you like some breakfast…or lunch as the case might be."

"Sure! Can we have pancakes? You make the best pancakes and there is no bad time for pancakes" The child prodigy continued to ramble about his favorite butler's skills in the kitchen and eventually ended up debating the benefits of pancakes versus waffles.

"Of course." Jarvis said, looking amused at the animated child who, to him, was fast asleep mere moments ago. The pair made their way through the large Stark mansion to the kitchen, passing by several other employees who greeted the two politely, used to seeing them together. Jarvis responded in kind, but Tony was oddly silent during the trip, caught up in his own thoughts about the weird parallel world that he was in just a while ago. Tony's brooding lasted all the way to the kitchens and until Jarvis was almost done preparing the pancakes in silence. Meanwhile, Tony was settled on one of the stools at the island positioned in the center of the kitchen.

"How come you're so good at cooking?" Tony asked, trying to distract himself from his thoughts that were only driving his mind in circles with no new conclusions.

"It is a very useful skill to have" Jarvis answered, putting the finishing touches on his 'masterpiece' as Tony would say. Carrying a few from the finished stack to the island, Jarvis continued, "As they say, the way to a person's heart is through their stomach. Meals also serve as a convenient times for conversations covering just about anything." At this the aging butler gave the little genius, who was in the midst of stuffing his face, a piercing look. "We were very concerned when your father's associates found you asleep in the middle of the lab."

By then Tony had stopped eating and was pushing his pancakes around on his syrupy plate, not meeting Jarvis' gaze. "I was just looking around and lost track of time."

The elderly British man's gaze softened. "There will be time for things like that later, when you're older. There's no need to rush since you're already making remarkable progress, so don't push yourself too hard. Promise me you'll remember that." Tony gave a silent nod that wasn't very sincere, yet seemed to satisfy the butler. "Good, now would you like more pancakes?"

"Uh, yeah, thanks Jarvis." Tony replied, slightly embarrassed by the turn the conversation had taken. However, before Jarvis could turn away Tony suddenly had a spark of inspiration, "Speaking of taking it easy…" His heart was beating faster now at the prospect of something new and exciting. "You think you could teach me how to cook like you do?" The chance to spend more time with someone he considered family, how much better could it get? The more Tony talked, the better the idea sounded. "You said it was a useful skill."

"How can I argue with such concrete reasoning?" Jarvis questioned fondly. "We can start whenever you have time, except fot today. I still have a couple errands to do."

As Jarvis turned away to retrieve more pancakes, Tony was busy getting himself even more excited just thinking about his new plans. However, that excitement quickly turned to panic when another spinning card appeared in front of his face in plain view for anyone to see. Tony quickly snatched it out of the air to hide in his lap underneath the counter.

"Is something the matter?" Jarvis asked, noticing Tony's slight discomfort as he returned with more pancakes. Tony quickly shook his head and started to dig into the remaining breakfast treats before Jarvis could notice anything else out of the ordinary, carefully keeping his left hand below the table clutching the new card. "In that case, I'll be taking care of those errands. I'm sure you'll have no problem finishing those up."

Tony continued his little display until he could no longer hear Jarvis' footsteps. Assuming the coast was clear, Tony took the time to examine his newest card. This one had the same blue design and border as the first, but instead had a roman numeral 19 and a picture of a sun. To top it all off the shard in his hand was glowing blue again, shining through the skin of his palm.