Chapter 4: Another Level

5/30

"If we weren't involved with the Midnight Channel back in Inaba, I'd say this is ridiculous…" Naoto sighed under her breath. She, Kanji and Teddie followed Yu to the subway station in Shibuya.

"I still think it's pretty bonkers," Kanji shrugged, rubbing his nose. "I mean an app? Kids these days have it good..."

"You can imagine my surprise when I tried opening it and I got sucked in," Yu laughed. While he was glad that his friends had his back, he felt bad that Rise couldn't make it. Because of that, Chie and Yukiko stayed behind, while Naoto, Kanji and Teddie came along with him. He figured it would be better this way, as he was used to working with a team of four anyway.

"So this world is like my world?" asked Teddie.

"I don't really know much about it," Yu admitted. "I hadn't thought to ask Joker about it, since I was a bit too focused on finding out why he was doing what he was doing."

"You said they steal hearts," Naoto begun, "but in doing so, they change who they are?"

"He kept using hearts and 'twisted desires' interchangeably, and sometimes treasure. It's was really hard to keep up, but I didn't want him to repeat himself after every sentence, so I just nodded."

"You interrogated some punk, an' you weren't even listenin'?" Kanji asked in disbelief. "How are you related to Dojima?"

"Sensei probably had a lot on his mind," Teddie defended. "Speaking of which, where are we going, Sensei? We've been walking around this station for a beary long time, but nothing looks strange."

"Oh, we're already here," he replied, "I was just looking for this stand that sold me a drink the other day."

"Oh, I see," nodded the bear.

"We're walking around for a drink?" asked Kanji. "Damnit, Yu-senpai, I wanna kick some Shadow ass!"

"Alright, alright," Yu conceded, not having found the stand. "Let's all gather here, I don't know the radius of this thing yet…"

"The app, you mean?" asked Naoto, her voice still laced with amusement. Yu nodded, and the four huddled together as he pushed it. The world around them began to warp, and Yu braced himself for the disorientation that came with it. To his satisfaction, he didn't fall over this time, although the same couldn't be said for his friends.

"I guess I should have warned you guys," he laughed awkwardly.

"Sensei, what are you wearing?" asked Teddie, now in his classic bear costume.

"It's another quirk of this world, I think," Yu shrugged. He took in Teddie's appearance and nodded approvingly. "Nice.

Teddie looked at himself, and began jumping up and down joyfully. "My fur! It's back!"

"Tha's awesome!" Kanji agreed, before realizing what he was wearing. He wore the dark purple Kingpin Duster the strange fox had given Yu. The only modification was the full skull facial mask that resembled his Persona's face. "The hell is this?"

"Your new clothes, I'm assuming, Kanji-kun," Naoto mused. She wore a brown outfit that seemed to be straight out of a detective novel, and her mask was a simple masquerade mask with a crown-like forehead piece.

"You takin' that Detective Prince pretty seriously still?" Kanji asked back, hiding a smirk. "Seriously though, Yu, what's up with this stuff?"

"I still don't know," Yu shrugged.

"Wah, why didn't I get a new mask or anything?" Teddie whined.

"That doesn't really matter right now," Naoto sighed. "Where are we going, Yu-kun?"

"Down that way," Yu pointed toward the stairs to the subway. "It'll be easier if you just saw it yourself. It's actually pretty different than the Midnight Channel."

Akira sat in class, both relieved that Madarame had confessed, and incredibly bored that he was in school at the moment. The three others wanted to explore Mementos again, as Morgana had said that with more popularity, the deeper they'd be able to go. Mishima had informed Akira earlier that morning that the Phan-site was getting loads of traffic, and their poll was at an all-time high.

"You really think we should be going back in there so soon?" Akira asked the cat in whisper.

"That guy said if Madarame confessed, he'd leave us alone, didn't he? Why wouldn't we go? Now's the perfect chance to get past that door on the lowest level."

"I think we should be a bit better prepared this time around," Akira sighed. "We need some smoke-screens and Goho-M's. There aren't any Safe Rooms in Mementos, just those weird bus stations."

"Good thinking," Morgana said with approval. "Should we contact the others? If we do now, they should have enough time to prepare if they need. Especially Yusuke, since he's from another school and all."

"Yea, I think that's our best course of action," nodded the Trickster.

"Kurusu-kun," Kamakami called out. "Please stay after class after the bell."

Akira sighed inwardly and nodded in acknowledgement, just as the bell rang.

"I'll wait for you in front of school," Ann whispered to him as she headed out. The Phantom Thief leader stood up and approached Kamakami.

"Yes, Sensei?" he asked politely. "Am I in trouble?"

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me," she sighed. As the last of the students had finished filing out, she turned back to Akira. "I'm only telling you this because you're keeping my secret, but I overheard Principal Kobayakawa talking to the Student Council president about keeping tabs on you and your friends. I need you to be more careful around campus, alright? Nijima-san is diligent, and it will only take one slip up from any of the three of you for her to report something back."

"I-I see," Akira replied, taken aback. When he had established the Confidant link with her, he had expected a little more time before they talked again. She must really be concerned over her second job. "Thank you, Kawakami-sensei."

"I'm doing this for both our sakes," she reminded. "I can trust you won't cause any trouble for me from now on, right?"

"Of course," he nodded.

"Very well, you're dismissed…" Akira began to walk away, but was halted by his teacher's voice once more. "One more thing, actually…When you're slacking off in class… can you keep your activities a little more subtle? You have quite the number of eyes watching you make those… things."

"I'll be more careful."

Ann tapped her foot as she waited outside the gates of Shujin. Once she saw the familiar mop of messy black hair, she shook Ryuji to get his attention.

"He's here," she told him, getting an annoyed grunt. "Akira! Over here!"

Akira quickly closed the distance, and made a subtle shushing gesture. He casually stood next to Ryuji, as if to show him something, keeping his eyes back at the school. Sure enough, Makoto was conveniently checking her bag for something.

"What's up, Akira?" asked Ryuji. "You're acting weird."

"Nijima is watching us," Akira whispered. "Don't look, it'll tip her off."

"Uh, ok," he replied confused. "Why though?"

"I don't know, but Kawakami tipped me off that the principal is trying to keep tabs on us."

"Why would she do that?" asked Ann.

"She just doesn't want to fill out anymore paperwork after Kamoshida tried to expel us," he lied smoothly. "Regardless of reason, she was right. Makoto has been following me since I left my class, even after I went into the bathroom."

"She followed you in?" asked Ryuji incredulously.

"No, not in, she waited outside until I came out," clarified Akira. "That's not important. The point is we have to be more careful around here. No more Phantom Thieves business while we're at school."

"What about Mishima?" asked Ann. "He's always raving about how great they are and constantly talks to you about requests."

"I already talked to him," Akira sighed. "He's got the point."

"Ugh, this is shitty!" groaned Ryuji. "Why do we have to snoop around if we're the good guys?!"

"Not everybody sees it that way," Morgana sighed regrettably, making his presence known. "Not everybody agrees with what the Phantom Thieves do; just look at the comments on the Phan-site!"

"This bites," Ryuji sighed. "Alright, wha's the plan for today anyway?"

"We talked about it, and Joker and I think it would be our best course of action to go to Mementos. After Kamoshida confessed, we were able to go deeper, so it's not too much of a stretch to think that it would happen again."

"You got a point," agreed Ann. "I'll text Yusuke."

Yu and his group walked down the tunnels of Mementos, a bit frustrated that all the Shadows continued to flee if they made their presence known.

"So… these new guys… they struggle wit' these?" asked Kanji, a bit disappointed. "They're barely a threat."

"I don't know if they struggle, but there are only two floors I was able to explore before I realized how late it must have been."

"Why don't we try to get on the train?" asked Teddie. "It seems to be a lot faster than walking."

"While the idea does seem to have some merit, Teddie, I don't see a way for us to get to that side," pointed out Naoto. "How far down are we?"

"It's hard to tell without Rise navigating us," admitted Yu, "but we've only been down like 5 or 6 floors. I stopped keeping track to be honest…"

"What about you, Teddie, is ya sniffer working again?" asked Kanji. Teddie nodded, and began to take deep breaths. "Anythin'?"

"Just more of these weak shadows," he replied. He turned his attention back to Yu. "Say, Sensei, you said that these new Persona users have code names, do you think we should get some too?"

"What would we refer to each other as?" asked Yu, before he narrowed his eyes at the bear. "If you even think about calling me the 'Sister-Complex Kingpin of Steel', I'll skin you."

"Whaa? I would never!" Teddie denied immediately.

"I thought we were never talkin' about those nicknames!" Kanji reminded, palming his face in embarrassment. He never wanted to be referred to any kind of beefcake, much less a bloodcurdling one.

"Regardless, I think Teddie might be on to something," noted Naoto. "Even if they are teenagers, the group don't seem to need much to find their potential targets. I've looked on the Phan-site, and the request only give out people's names and what they've done. Without having access to law enforcement databases, it shouldn't be possible for the Phantom Thieves to find their targets so efficiently, especially if they are as young as we were when we started."

"What makes you think that they're high schoolers?" asked Yu, genuinely curious.

"Given the patterns regarding our predecessors, it wouldn't be much of a stretch," she pointed out. "I think it would be best if we were cautious from this point on."

"You're right," agreed Yu, though the group remained silent in thought. "What should we call ourselves?"

"I dunno," shrugged Kanji. "What did we call ourselves befor'?"

"We were just the Investigation Team," Naoto recalled, rubbing her chin.

"Ooh, ooh, how about we call ourselves—,"

"If it has a bear pun, no," Kanji cut Teddie off. The bear pouted slightly, looking at the ground. "What do ya think, Senpai?"

"I guess IT works," he shrugged. "It doesn't really matter what our group is called, unless you guys want a website too."

"He's right," Naoto agreed. "But we should have some sort of code name to refer to each other while down here. If we're given these strange masks in this place, we should at least try to protect our identities."

"Why don't we just call ourselves by our Persona?" suggested Kanji with a shrug. "I liked Take-Mikazuchi."

The three others exchanged looks, and shrugged.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Yu replied. "Although, I'd rather not be called twenty-two different names, Izanagi is fine."

"You do look like him," Naoto smirked. "Alright, so, shall we go further down?"

The four began their walk down, Yu leading as always. Teddie would occasionally point out a treasure nearby that he smelled, but after the first eight containing low-level equipment, they opted to ignore them. Eventually, they ended up in a room with a huge door of sorts that prevented them from going any further.

"This blows," Kanji drawled out, bored. "Man, these shadows ain't nothin', and now there's a damn wall here?"

"I sense something behind this," Teddie informed, taking small sniffs. He began walking towards the door, when he suddenly stopped, and began to sniff back towards the entrance. "Oh no… this is bad… Beary bad!"

"What's wrong, Teddie?" asked Naoto, drawing her gun. She pointed it to the staircase the descended from, but nothing appeared.

"We have to get going, NOW!" Teddie nearly shouted, running back towards the entrance. Confused, the three others quickly followed him.

With Phantom Thieves

Ryuji kicked the third empty chest in frustration, nearly clubbing it with his mace.

"Calm down, Skull!" Morgana hissed. "It's empty, let's go!"

"This is stupid!" he argued. "These chest are supposed to fill up again when we leave!"

"This isn't some stupid video game," Ann scoffed rolling her eyes. "We probably just missed them the first time around."

Ryuji got back into the cat bus, grumbling under his breath the entire time. Akira raised and eyebrow, but decided to stay quiet.

"We should get going," Yusuke suggested. "We've been on this floor for quite a long time, we'll exhaust ourselves before we get to the bottom."

"Well somebody insisted that we 'loot every chest we find'," mocked Ann, looking over to Ryuji.

"You all agreed to it before we found all these stupid empty boxes!" he shot back, crossing his arms. "Whatever, let's just go kick some ass, I'm tired of nothin' happening. Where are all the damn shadows, anyway?"

"That is strange," Morgana agreed. "We haven't encountered a single shadow since we arrived…"

"Didn't they run away at a certain point?" asked Ann. "Like that weird one in that vase back at the museum?"

"Those were special shadows," Morgana informed. "Those are… unique, but most normal shadows are just aggressive over a certain area of theirs. It's really weird for there not to be a single one in such a huge area."

Akira took in all the information, but simply continued to drive. He turned left, only to find himself at another dead-end. Shifting into reverse, he began to back out, before pulling out his makeshift map and crossing out the route.

"This place is dumb," Ryuji continued to complain. Ann glared at him for a bit, before something caught her ears.

"Did you guys hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" asked Yusuke, putting down his sketchpad. The three teens and cat bus went silent, when they heard very distant rattling.

"Are… are those chains?" asked Akira, confused. He began to turn the bus around, when Morgana's eyes widened.

"We have to get out of here!" he said urgently. "Joker, take us back to the entrance!"

The leader didn't hesitate in listening, but confused, he asked, "Why?"

"This isn't a normal shadow, it's the Reaper!" Morgana explained, as he exerted himself to go faster. To the four's horror, the chains got louder. "Oh no, Joker, turn left!"

"The entrance is to the right!" Akira pointed out, "left is another dead-end!" Morgana, in his panic, took control for himself and veered left anyway. "We're going to be cornered!"

Sure enough, the bus's headlights revealed another empty box that Ryuji had thrown to the ground. The rattling was nearly deafening, and the three Phantom Thieves got out of Morgana and turned to face their adversary. Morgana shifted back into his cat form, and drew his sword in a shaky hand.

"Get a hold of yourself, Mona," Ryuji said harshly. Truthfully, Morgana's lack of confidence was beginning to shake him, knowing that the cat was full of himself in nearly every scenario. Soon, the group of four saw a large figure floating towards them, almost deliberately enjoying their fear. It seemed to be able to sense where they were, as it didn't bother making any turns that could have bought them a chance to rush past it. Instead, it was in the center of the tracks, easily able to reach either wall if it wished. The tattered black cloaks that surrounded it were covered in two chains that made the horrible rattling sound. Its head seemed to be pointed straight up, not bothering to look where it was heading.

"What the heck is that?!" Ann shrieked. She gripped her whip tighter, and her off hand hovering over her submachine gun.

"I have no idea," Yusuke said with wide eyes. The massive shadow stopped a few feet from them, and its head began to twitch, making terrible popping and cracking sounds as it did, until it shifted its gaze at them. It had a lone eye and was drenched in what appeared to be blood. What's more, he carried two revolvers with excessively long barrels. It lifted one and pointed it to the air. With a final twitch of its head, it let off a shot and an exhale that nearly sounded like a roar. Akira was the first to snap out of it, and began to bark out orders.

"Mona, stay back, and keep your Dia spells ready, Skull don't use any physical skills, Panther, hit him with Agi. Fox, get ready to switch with anybody who takes a big hit." Akira once again reached for his mask and called out to Eligor. "Double Fangs!"

The Reaper didn't flinch as the two hits connected, not noticing the small spark of fire and lightning. It raised its gun once more, and a small blue tint emerged from the barrel. Without a word, the five were surrounded by a frigid air that suddenly causes a cold snap that nearly knocked out Ann, had she not evaded the worst of it. The Reaper then raised its other gun, and a green tint emerged. A storm of rapid winds cut into the Phantom Thieves, bringing them all down. Ryuji had it the worst, as he was struggling to breathe.

"Skull!" Morgana groaned. He raised his sword, and Zorra cast Dia on him. A gentle breeze surrounded Ryuji, but he was still barely able to stand. Ann reacted next and cast Media, healing everybody just enough to stay conscious.

"Joker… I don't think we're going to be able to defeat this foe…" Yusuke panted. He was leaning on his sword, wincing in pain. Akira gritted his teeth, and switched back to Arsene.

"Dream Needle!" he shouted, hoping against hope that the sleep affect would take effect. Once again, the Reaper didn't flinch, and almost seemed to laugh. It raised its gun, this time pointing directly at Akira. For a moment, the leader of the Phantom Thieves thought that it would all end here. The cries from his team began to tune out as the only thing on his mind was the barrel inches away from his face. Then there was a gunshot.

"Tetrakarn!" shouted a woman's voice.

"Mediarahan!" shouted another, this one sounding much younger.

Akira had closed his eyes, but at the sound of a strange reflecting noise, he looked up. The Reaper itself flinched from its own attack, and turned its attention down the tunnel. Akira, on the other hand, felt completely rejuvenated. He looked over to where the voices had come from, and was surprised to see a very round blue bear wearing a red suit and somebody dressed eerily similar to Sherlock Holmes.

"What the hell?" he muttered to himself. He looked over to his team, and they were all feeling the same cool healing magic.

"Hey, don't start the fight without me!" shouted a third voice, this one a much deeper than the previous two. Upon arriving, the rather tall man raised his arm in almost a cheer. "YES! We haven't fought him in years!"

"W-what?!" Morgana squeaked from behind. This man has already fought the Reaper, yet, was excited at the chance to fight it again? "What level are these guys on…?"

"Rokuten-Maou!" called out the newcomer, as a massive red Persona materialized behind him. The four teens and Morgana watched with wide eyes. "You know what to do, FUCK HIM UP!"

The massive red robotic Persona simply raised its sword and summoned a wicked lightning bolt from above that struck the Reaper with a frightening amount of impact. What's more, the man grabbed a broken piece of railroad track and began wielding as a makeshift club.

"Ay, Te—err—Kintoki, get these kids outta here," he shouted back, as he evaded a gunshot from the Reaper at nearly point blank range.

"Right!" called out Teddie. "Hey Phantom Kids, come here!"

"Who are you people?" shouted Ryuji, his confusion irritating him.

"They're a couple of friends," answered Yu, making his presence known. He arrived behind Naoto, in almost an overly dramatic fashion. His coat whipped around him, and he was tightening the white headband around his head. "Come on, Joker, let Kintoki and Sukuna lead your team to safety. Mikazuchi and I will take care of this." He turned to Naoto and gestured to go along with Teddie.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking over to the Reaper. It wasn't close to going down, but neither was Kanji. Yu nodded silently, and raised his hand as a blue card appeared. He took a few more steps forward, as the Phantom Thieves reluctantly walked towards Teddie. Without a word, Yu crushed the card and the familiar Naginata wielding Persona emerged with a flash of lightning.

"Tarukaja," Yu muttered, giving Kanji a boost in power. He uttered it again for himself, then ran straight into the fight. Akira watched in awe as the two individuals not only commanded their Personas to fight without much spoken words, but fought alongside with them in tandem. It was a strange but almost mesmerizing thing to watch; how flawlessly both of the duos fought. The Reaper let off several magic attacks, mostly Garu skills, but both seemed to evade them almost effortlessly.

"I believe it would be safer if you and the rest of your team make your way towards the entrance," Naoto urged, snapping Akira from his stupor. "They'll meet you there once they finish here. Let's go."

"R-right," Akira replied. Normally, he wouldn't want to take orders from a stranger, but if she was anywhere close to the power of the two men fighting the Reaper, he didn't want to get on her bad side.

Meanwhile, Kanji was laughing a deep and hearty laugh as another lightning bolt struck. "Brings ya back, don't it Senpai?"

"That it does," Yu said with a small smirk. Izanagi blocked a gunshot from the Reaper with its Naginata, and lunged forward. "The Reaper is as strong as ever."

"You're tellin' me," Kanji chuckled. "I've got hit a few times by his gun, and it hurts just as much as I remembered." Kanji had always been able to take the most damage, but the impact those guns had was nothing to scoff at. As a result, Kanji quickly remembered how to dodge. Luckily, he retained his Regenerate skill all this time, and was able to heal a few of the bruises already as the fight continued.

"Don't get reckless on me," Yu replied, continuing the banter, as he rolled to the side to evade another gunshot. "Though, I can always heal you."

"Nah, Senpai, I ain't wanna rely on ya guys' Dia skills like before." Kanji and Rokuten surrounded the Reaper, ensuring to read his movements. "I'll just do what I do best."

"Of course," Yu said with a confident nod. He moved his coat aside, revealing his strongest sword sheathed at his side. Gripping the hilt, he felt a familiar surge of power as he drew it. Izanagi rushed forward, Yu not far behind as the Reaper was beginning to slow down. They were making progress rather quickly, and with a final slash, the massive shadow began to wither away and fade into smoke.

"Who are you?" Ann asked as she caught her breath. The two that had escorted them back to the entrance weren't exactly intimidating in how they dressed, in fact the bear was quite cute, but they held an atmosphere of power that radiated off them. The bear's ears twitched a bit, then turned to her. He was about to speak, when he caught himself.

"I'm Kintoki-Douji! Sensei's most valuable teammate!"

"Sensei?" asked Ryuji. "That dude is a teacher?"

"Not exactly, no," interrupted Naoto, crossing her arms in thought. She absently rubbed her chin as she looked over to the groups of teens. "You can all call me Sukuna. I assume you are the fabled Phantom Thieves?"

"Yes," answered Akira, walking towards the shorter Persona user. "That other guy said he'd leave us alone if Madarame confessed, and he did. What's this all about?"

Ryuji and Ann's eyes widened a bit. Akira was never confrontational, and the group of adults were clearly much stronger than their own group, so this put them on edge. How would the serious woman react?

"I was told little about your arrangement with Izanagi, but that is of little concern to me," Naoto replied easily. She looked at the group's attire, as well as their weapons. "I don't know much about this world, so tell me, why are you all dressed in ridiculous costumes and running around with fake guns?"

"Like you two can say shit about ridiculous costumes," Ryuji scoffed, before getting the back of his head slapped by Ann. He winced, but then realized the rest of her question. "W-whoa, how do you know they're fake?"

"Shut up, Skull!" Ann urged, annoyed with his constantly running mouth.

Naoto simply chuckled to herself as she reached towards her hip. "The answer is simple. I've handled and used a firearm for years. While the replicas you're all carrying might convince the layman, you'll all have to do a bit better than that to fool me."

"Yo, this chick's a cop?" asked Ryuji, rubbing his head. It wasn't then until he noticed the faint gleam on her jacket. Sure enough, it was some sort of badge. What's more, she gestured to her holster that was concealed by her coat. The majority of the Phantom Thieves froze. Were they all cops? Were they going to arrest them? Naoto turned to Akira and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"You must be Joker, the leader of this merry group, I presume?"

"Yeah," admitted Akira, recovering from the revelation first. He gestured his team to back away. "I don't know a whole lot about the Metaverse, and I told everything I know to your friend back there… Thanks for saving us by the way."

Naoto simply nodded in acknowledgement, then began to think some more, occasionally mumbling to herself. Akira sighed in relief before he nearly was knocked back by the bear appearing inches from his face.

"Say, what were you all thinking back there? The Reaper is beary powerful to try to take on."

"We weren't trying to fight him," Akira replied, composing himself.

"Then why'd you open the chest?"

"The what?" Akira furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"The Reaper only appears when you open twenty-two chests in a row. Didn't any of you sense it?"

"What are you talking about? The Reaper shows up if we spend too much time on one floor," Morgana replied, walking to Akira's side. "What's this about chests?"

"Ooooh, so this place is like Mit-chan's school!" Teddie realized. He had always been intrigued by 'randomly generated' dungeons, as the Midnight Channel tended to stay relatively the same as the first time they encountered it.

"Mit-chan's…? There's more of you!?" Akira asked taken aback.

"Huh? Of course there are! In fact, there are—,"

"We're back!" called out Kanji, interrupting Teddie. The group all turn towards the duo nonchalantly walk back, not looking any worse for wear. The Phantom Thieves looked in shock, realizing that two individuals casually defeated a shadow that nearly killed their own party in a few moves. Kanji noticed the stares and narrowed his eyes a bit. "The hell are y'all lookin' at?"

"It seems that they thought you two would take longer," Naoto noted with an amused smile so small, the Phantom Thieves didn't see it. "Are you two alright?"

"Yea, the bastard landed a few hits on me," admitted Kanji, ignoring the teenagers. "Nothin' I can't handle though. Senpai and I ripped him a new one."

"It has been a while since we've been on the field like this, it's only natural that we are as sluggish as we are."

Did she say sluggish? Akira thought to himself.

"So, anyway," Yu began, seeing the strange looks he was getting. "These are the Phantom Thieves, the Persona users I mentioned."

"We still don't know who you are!" Ann shouted, annoyed at the chain of events. It was one thing to have her back to the wall and nearly die, but to hear a few other subtle bragging about how strong they were began to grate her nerves.

"Yea, how do we know you ain't up to no good?" asked Ryuji, backing up Ann. "You oughta tell us something about you."

"You damn punks!" Kanji growled, getting both teens to take a step back. "We saved your asses back there, and Kintoki healed you up! How about some damn gratitude?"

"Calm down," Yu said calmly, placing a hand on the taller male's shoulder. "They almost died, give them a minute to collect themselves." Naoto stepped forward, putting herself between Kanji and the Thieves.

"You don't have any reason to trust us," Naoto freely admitted. "In fact, if you could argue that we saved you for our own selfish reasons, or that we were the ones who set the Reaper on you in the first place." The Investigation Team didn't bother appearing confused, as Naoto always seemed to be going somewhere with her ramblings. "However, we do know a fair amount about your group. I have been keeping tabs on the media as of late, and last night I had a lot of time to research the notorious 'Phantom Thieves.' Would you like to hear what I've collected?"

Though they gave no audible response, Akira nodded, a bit nervously. Naoto allowed a small smirk to form on her face.

"Very well, let's start with the fact that you are all, save for the cat, in high school. I know this because Izanagi mentioned a teacher who had a 'sudden change of heart' just last month. He was involved in some sex scandal involving his students, as well as physically abusing those he coached. I believe his name was Kamoshida, and given that the story has not gone public until after the confession, and that the Phantom Aficionado website, or Phan-site, as it has been taken to being called, had not existed yet. This means that the only people who knew of these crimes were the students and faculty at that school, and to be honest, none of you appear to be old enough to be a teacher.

"Then there was Madarame, some artist who had his show here in Tokyo. While his confession yesterday appeared genuine, and a lot was hard to make out between his sobbing, one thing caught my ear. He had a pupil he took in living with him; a student attending another high school a train ride away from this station. From what I've gathered, both of these individuals has done something to you or somebody in your group to target them. So tell me, how am I doing?"

In a rare moment, Naoto allowed herself to sound a bit smug with her findings. From the shocked expressions that each Phantom Thief wore, she wasn't too far off the mark.

"Now, I was able to figure out this much with a couple of names, public sources and a single late night. Imagine what evidence I could gather if I were to dedicate all my resources to taking you down. I'm sure if I were to question a few teachers about who Kamoshida was particularly connected with I'd figure out your identities within the week. If I want to get it done faster, as your blond friend figured out, I could just walk into the police station and request to look over their notes. There is little stopping me from figuring out who you all are, and if I wished it, you would all be behind bars."

"Um, Sukuna?" interrupted Yu in a whisper, tapping her shoulder. "I think you've scared them enough."

"Yeah man," Kanji shuddered slightly, a dust of pink coloring his face. "You're getting all… uh, evil mastermind on them." Damn I love a strong woman…

"As I was saying," Naoto acknowledged, clearing her throat to hide her embarrassment. She turned back to the Phantom Thieves. "I could do all of that, however, I haven't nor will I. Izanagi believes you're all doing the right thing, and I trust him. So, taking into account that none of you have any way of figuring out who we are, save, attempting to follow us after we leave here, I'd say you should give us a little credit."

"Dude…" Ryuji whispered, feeling utterly powerless. The rest of the Phantom Thieves felt something similar, an air of defeat hanging thick.

"Izanagi trusts us?" Akira asked. Yu looked over, and nodded.

"But he attacked us!" Ryuji accused.

"Technically we attacked him first," Ann pointed out. Akira agreed, albeit a bit regrettably.

"Alright, so where do we go from here?" asked Akira, scratching his cheek absentmindedly.

"We're trying to figure out where these shadows are coming from," Teddie explained. "They're causing people to go crazy in the real world, and I nearly died!"

"Shut it!" Kanji shushed, knocking on Teddie's head with a closed fist.

"You're talking about those freak accidents?" asked Morgana. "Madarame said that there was a Persona user with a black mask causing all of that."

"We're looking for another Persona user?" Yu asked, disappointedly. He had considered the possibility, especially since he had a complicated relationship with Adachi, who was directly responsible for the deaths of Saki Konishi and Mayumi Yamano, he just didn't want to believe that there was another person willing to commit atrocious crimes using that power.

"We don't know anything else other than that," admitted Akira.

"Don't worry about it," Yu decided, mulling it over. "You focus on people like Madarame and Kamoshida. We have experience in dealing with other Persona users."

"Are you sure?" asked Naoto, looking at Yu. He looked back at her, with cold steel gray eyes, and nodded with conviction.

"This dungeon was a dead end, but if we can find the bastard causing all these accidents, then I will personally put a stop to him."

Naoto remained quiet, although she would discuss the decision with the rest of the Investigation Team once they met up at Rise's room.

"That would relieve a bit a stress," Morgana whispered to Akira. "We could just focus on stealing hearts from these corrupt adults."

Akira nodded, although he didn't see the situation as the cat did. Regardless, he agreed with the older Persona users, and began to head towards the entrance.

"We're done here," he called out to his team. "Let's go."

Omake

Akira panted, struggling to get off his knees. Looking at the Reaper defiantly, he spat some blood out of his mouth.

"Just finish it!" he shouted, nearly falling forward from the exertion. There was a wicked gunshot heard, only for the Reaper to fall down before him.

"I don't care if you call "dibs", Teddie, I'm the only person on this team that uses gun, and I've had my eye on that one for years!" an irate voice growled. Akira watched as a short woman with blue hair walked towards the dissipating body of the Reaper, only to pick up one of its revolvers. It was comically over-sized for the woman, but she didn't seem to mind. She stuffed it in her jacket pocket (and to Akira's amazement, it fit), and she continued to walk down the tracks before noticing the fallen Phantom Thieves. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, not exactly," Akira winced. He gestured to the various bleeding bodies around him, and the mysterious woman sighed in annoyance.

"Teddie, resurrect this guy's dead friends!" she called out. She then noticed a small tear on her jacket, where she stuffed the gun in. "And tell Kanji to bring his sewing kit, I popped a seam again."

"Again, Naoto!? Stop stuffin' shit in your pockets!" Kanji roared. "You hafta respect the cloth, damnit! If you wanted somethin' more elastic, I woulda made it like that!"

"What is happening here?" asked Akira. Naoto ignored him.

"You know I hate wearing elastic clothes!" Naoto shouted back, as she continued walking. "Damn it Yu... why do you always stare off into space?"

Yu looked around the 'Velvet Room' suspiciously. He saw the table where Igor was sat, staring at him with his bulging eyes.

"What the fuck, Igor? Kind of place is this?"

"Forgive me," replied Igor, his voice much deeper than Yu remembered. "You aren't allowed here any longer."

"Uh, yeah I am," Yu replied sarcastically, as he reached into his pocket. He took out his keys and jingled them. "Margaret can't kick me out, I keep a spare Contractor's Key on me all the time. Where is she, anyway?"

"Kick you out?" asked Igor, confused.

"We had a fight..." Yu looked away ashamed for a moment, then sighed. Using his key, he unlocked the cell he was in and walked over to Igor, and sat on his desk. "I call her Rise one time and suddenly, I'm a womanizer."

"Are you?"

"Well, yeah, I can't help it. Chicks dig me, watch." Yu looked over to the twin wardens and did a 'come hither' motion. Confused, the two obliged. "Fuck, Marry, Kill with the people in this room, go."

"W-what?" asked Justine, hiding her blush behind her clipboard. Caroline rubbed her chin in thought.

"Well, I'd definitely marry Justine," she replied, "and between you two, there is no way I'd ever sleep with Igor."

"See? The tsundere knows what's up, and the shy one almost fainted at thinking about me naked."

"Don't call me a tsundere!" Caroline snapped, swinging her cattle prod at Yu. He lazily caught it without looking and continued talking. Justine refused to talk, trying to will the massive blush away.

"What do I do Igor?" Yu asked, ignoring the girl struggling to retrieve her weapon from his grip. "My life is so difficult. All these women... they just can't get enough of me."

"Get the hell out," Igor growled.

"You don't mean that."

"Our master requested that you leave," Justine said from behind her clipboard. "Please, do so, or we will have to resort to force."

"You two couldn't fight me last time, what's different this time?"

"We decided to call in some help," Caroline replied smugly, yanking the cattle prod back. As if on cue, three figures emerged from behind the gallows. "You've met our family, haven't you?"

"Oh shit," Yu whispered, his face going pale. While he remembered Elizabeth's frightening power, as well as not recognizing the male attendant, he locked eyes with Margaret. Had Yu not known her any better, he would assume she was happy to see him, but her stoic expression held a righteous fury that chilled him to the bone. She raised her tome, and a single card began to float, as Elizabeth mimicked her a few moments after. Justine and Caroline rushed to their side, summoning their own Persona's while Theodore stood back awkwardly, twiddling his thumbs.

"Now then," Margaret began, crushing her card. "Shall we begin?"

"I just remembered about this thing I have to do," Yu stammered, inching towards the cell door he came from. "It's way over in, um, literally anywhere else but here."

Yu then made a run for it, as several high level spells were launched by the Velvet Room Attendant Siblings.

Yu opened his eyes, the familiar blue room greeting him. It was empty, and the limousine brought a wave of nostalgia. He tried to move, but instead, heard a soft voice begin to whisper to him.

"Life is truth, and never a dream...
All souls know this from birth...
The truth is something that is chosen and grasped...
Something discovered with one' vision and will.
Only by gaining that does the seeker become truth himself, a cord that connects past and future.
But now, our guest's destriny has been severed, and the truth languishes within the hallow, fog-filled forest..."

"What? I already went through the hallow forest..." Yu muttered to himself. His train of thought was interrupted when he found himself standing in a familiar station. He looked around, confused, then heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, over here!"

"Dojima?" Yu muttered to himself.

"Well, you're more handsome in person than in your photo," he commented.

Wait a second...