Okay, for those wondering why I'm pumping these chapters out like a rapid-fire shotgun used by a trigger happy Psychopath (don't ask), then do I have a tale for you!

Okay, So I just recently looked into the persona series after the announcement of Joker in smash. I didn't know who that was at the time, so I looked into it. And I fell in love with it, just like I did with Final Fantasy, RWBY, and Japanese mythology. And being the curious clusterfuck that I was, I delved a bit deeper into the franchise.

So that's all well and good, but when I was working on my fics here later on, I realized that some of the new chapters I made was beginning to have a similar structure to some persona games. This was kinda bad since they were doing sort of alright before my research into persona/SMT, and I didn't want to ruin them by ripping off the games, so after putting some stuff on hiatus while thinking about how to fix this, I came up with this; pouring all of my love into a concentrated piece so I can focus my stories on what they're from.

With that anecdote finished, let us begin!

Friday, January 15th

Rainy

Shujin Academy

Afternoon

After several more boring classes, and Arata's suggestion on exploring the school while he was in class, Akira, Morgana and Arata walked down the hallway to their last period class, when Arata spotted both Mishima and Shiho talking to each other.

~yo Kira. I need both Morgana and your phone.~ Arata stated, getting confused reactions from the two.

"...why?" was his answer.

~I have a bad feeling about this… and I might need backup just in case. I saw Mishima and Shiho talking earlier.~

"And that's bad...why?"

~what are they mostly connected to?~

"... fine, here." Akira relented, giving Arata his phone and releasing Morgana when the coast was clear.

~cool, and just in time too. They stopped walking. Come on Morgana.~ floating away from Akira, both cat and god advanced towards the two volleyball players. Hiding easily, both eavesdropped at the current conversation going on.

"Suzui…" Mishima whispered, gaining her attention.

"Hmm?"

"Are you leaving?"

"...what is it?" Shiho asked, turning towards the blunette.

"...Mr. Kamoshida's asking for you… he's in the PE faculty office…"

Shooting a look of surprise, Shiho shook lightly with a sudden sense of unease. "What did he say?"

"...I... i don't know.." Mishima answered, looking downtrodden, "well… I have to go…" and with those parting words, Mishima sped off, leaving the girl, cat, and spirit into thought.

"..."

~I knew my bad feeling was going somewhere…~ Arata whispered. ~it's not going away either…~

"We should follow her." Morgana whispered. Nodding together, they waited a few seconds before following the scared girl. After a few moments of trailing, the three were near the office in question, and Shiho went inside.

~so, this is the faculty office?~

"Seems like it."

~and you got the same-~

"Yeah…"

~good. I'm not the only one then-~ just then, a sudden scream echoed behind the door in front of them before promptly going silent with a small fwap.

~was that...!?~

"Quick, open the door!"

~get the camera!~ tapping a few buttons on the phone and opening the camcorder app, Arata pushed open the door to see the rather horrifying scene before them.

There on the desk was a crying Shiho, hands clutching her face with blood dripping down from her palm, with Kamoshida huddled over her, striking her repeatedly while he attempted to pull some of her clothes off.

~hit record, HIT RECORD!~

"but- "

~I've got this, just get footage before I do!~ Arata said, floating up to Kamoshida's back before rubbing his hands. ~Zio~ sparks jolted around his palms as he gave the back of the teacher's neck a hearty slap!

"AGH!" said teacher winced in pain, backhanding the girl off the desk and onto the floor in the process.

~Crap! Morgana, switch!~ Arata shouts, flying to the cat and snatching up the camera, recording as the cat predates towards the teacher, who resumed his undressing as he snatched Shiho up off the ground.

"Your friend has denied me for the last time, so you're gonna help me calm down RIGHT." Kamoshida growled.

"..." the beaten girl whimpered, only to get another slap in the face.

"RIGHT!? You've got nothing left to do except obey, that's the only thing you're good for anyways."

"...no, it's no-"

"Quiet bitch!" another slap silenced the girl."I call the shots here so you bette-AAAAAAGGH" His tirade was cut short as Morgana pounced and clawed the back of his head, scratching, biting, and kicking the man's face in many directions.

"A-a cat!?" She yelps, just then Arata hovered over the girl and whispered into her ear, startling her further.

~go... now. Meet up with Ryuji and Akira.~

"W-wha-"

~hurry, run! RUN!~

Blindly heeding the Arata's voice, Shiho ran out the room, staggering a bit and crying all the way.

"The hell did this cat come from!?" Kamoshida screamed, succeeding in throwing the cat off of him near the door. Satisfied with their intervention, both Arata and Morgana fled the scene, a scratched and bleeding Kamoshida yelling in rage behind them.

Reuniting with Akira and Ryuji, Arata and Morgana gave back the phone with grim and enraged looks on their faces.

"Whoa… what happened?" Ryuji asked, unsettled at the flowing murderous intent from the two.

"That monster… he called Shiho to the faculty office." Morgana started.

~That Dick physically beat her! AND he was trying to rape her too!~

"WHAT!?" both students exclaimed.

~we've got it recorded, and we got her out, but she's bleeding from the face and a few cuts and wound opened up!~

"That Bastard!"

"And that's not all..." Morgana continued. "He was going on about how she denied him for the last time… I think this was because of Lady Ann refusing to meet up with him yesterday."

"Dammit, He's gonna pay for this!" before they could talk some more, some people screamed out.

"EEEEK! Someone's on the roof!" a person yelled!

"Two people!" another.

"I think they're gonna jump!" a third followed suit. The group of four looked at each other before sprinting (and flying) as fast as they could to the rooftop

A few minutes of running people over, clotheslining a few of them along the way, Ryuji practically kicked down the door to the rooftop. Startling the three close by. Looking ahead, the group of four wheezed as they looked to Haru and Mishima trying to pull back a damaged Shiho.

~I TOLD HER TO GO TO YOU GUYS! IS SHE REALLY THAT SUICIDAL!?~

"Shiho! Haru! Mishima!" Akira shouts, gaining their attention. "What's going on here!?"

"Help us pull her back! Please!" Haru pleaded. "She almost ran off the building when I saw her."

"It's no use… why won't you let me go!?" Shiho shouted back, struggling wildly as the two held firm, "I'm not worth it, I'm not worth ANYTHING! so just let me go!"

"Never! If anyone's not worth anything, it's me!" Mishima shouts back. "If i had just done something sooner… anything, then this wouldn't have happened!"

"Crap! Come on Kira!" Ryuji ordered, running to the group and grabbing ahold of Shiho, pulling her back with Akira following suit.

"Shiho, this isn't the way to go!" Akira yelled. "What about Ann!? How would she react if her best friend was dead!?"

"I'm doing this FOR Ann!" she screamed back. "Without me, she could live on with a happy life without a waste of space like me weighing her down!"

~That bullshit makes no sense and you know it woman!~ Arata yelled, casting a weak Garu to blow the group towards him.

"But think about this; will she really be happy!? Knowing that she let her best friend die, not being able to do anything!? She'd blame the whole damn thing on herself!" Ryuji continued.

"...what?"

"she's doing whatever she can do for your sake! Don't throw that all away! Don't throw HER away!"

"I...I…" Shiho stuttered, slowing down her struggling as she broke down sobbing.

"Come on. Let's go see Ann, together."

"..." not stopping her weeping anytime soon ,the extended group successfully lead her from the edge of the roof, walking back towards the building and going down to the bottom floors.

"Haru, do you know Ann Takamaki?" Ryuji asked.

"Yes, I've heard of her…"

"Go find her and tell her to help Shiho get home."

"Right. Come along Suzui…" Haru held her hands as the two girls left the boys alone.

"Now talk."

"Wh-wha-"

"TALK DAMMIT!" Ryuji screamed. "Why the hell were you up there!? Why was SHE up there!? And what was that bullshit about being worthless!?"

"Because I could've done something for her to prevent this!"

"Shiho almost killed herself! Why haven't you tried anything before then!?"

"You wouldn't understand!"

"Then help us understand! Why were you up there!? We know this is because of Kamoshita! What did you come up there to take her back to him!?"

"NO!"

"Then why!? Why didn't you do anything!? Do you just let people trample all over you!?"

"That's none of your business!"

"It IS if it's making people suffer! If you don't stop acting like a pussy, then everybody will keep treating you like one!"

"WELL I'D RATHER BE A COWARD INSTEAD OF BEING BRANDED AS A MONSTER!" Mishima snapped, shocking the four near him. "You have NO idea what it's like to be feared every single day, and I'm not talking about fake fear from shitty rumors!"

"Wha-!?"

"SHUT UP! You couldn't possibly understand the pain of being alone, Outcasted from everyone else, knowing that it was your fault! Don't even bother trying!"

"h-Hold up-"

"Ever since that day… I was outcasted; feared by everyone because I crippled...almost killed someone... People would run in terror whenever I so much as look in their direction… I've fought people… SAVED them even, but I was treated like… like…"

"A demon?" Akira suggested, the blunette flinching before nodding.

"Do you have any idea what it's like, being alone with so few people to go to!? My family had to move away just to stop that nightmare! Just because I tried HELPING someone!"

"Mishima…" Akira whispers, thinking back to his own parents… he shook his head. "Not the time to be thinking about them…" he thought.

"And guess what… NOBODY knew of the "Little Demon" of Kyoto here, only weak Yuuki Mishima, the guy with no backbone. Everyone thought I was a wimpy coward, not a berserking monster who'll kill them for no reason, and I'd rather be that than feared as a would be murderer…" Mishima continued. "This was a chance to restart everything; this was my second chance to live on, past be damned! And NOW history's trying to repeat itself! Someone's life was in danger… and I just stood there….." tears flowed down his face with each word spoken. "I can't do it again...I don't want to suffer alone again…"

"..."

"...damn… I-I had no idea…"

~...so, wait…~ Arata started. ~the story I told implied that Little Demon mauled the criminals… Mishima said that he saved people… everyone now feared that he'll do the same to them because of that incident... and this somehow caused him to develop monophobia?~

"I think so..?" Morgana answered, confused as well.

~and because of this phobia, and to get away from being labeled as a monster, he doesn't want to try anything like before, lest the whole "fearing him" thing will repeat itself?~

"To be fair, what would you do if someone who can kill you in a hundred different ways was coming towards you…"

~touche..~

"...look, sorry about yellin' at ya, I got riled up in the heat of the moment." Ryuji sighed." just… thanks… for not letting her fall and all…"

"..."

"Why don't you head home… we won't tell anyone anything that happened here."

"...what? really?"

"Yeah… think of it as our apology for eggin' you on like this."

~you were the one eggin' him on, boy.~

"...thanks… I appreciate it….and sorry, for not helping much…"

"No problem, c'mon guys." as the group of four walked past the blunette, Mishima turned to them.

"Wait…" he stammered. "Before you leave… it's true… the abuse, the sexual assault, everything… i-i'll testify if possible… just…"

"Don't worry, Mishima." Akira said. "We'll take him down, for everyone's sake."

As the group walked off, Mishima whimpered one last apology towards Akira before leaving as well.

A few minutes later after school ended early, Shiho, a livid Ann, and an awkwardly supporting Haru was walking out the school building, both girls holding close to the bruised girl's arms. Just when they reached the stairs, Mishima appears outside. "Wait!" he shouts, gaining the girls attention. "Let me help… it's the least I could do…"

"Mishima…" Shiho mumbled quietly. "...okay…"

"C'mon Yuuki." Ann ordered. "Let's get you home Shiho…"

"To think that mr. Kamoshida would do such a thing…

"I'm sorry… I should've done something sooner… anything would've been better than… Shiho?"

"It's the cat." Shiho stated.

"Huh?"

"Cat?" Ann added.

"The cat... that helped me escape… it's running with… Sakamoto? Akira's with him too…"

"What?" True to her claim, the four students saw Ryuji, Morgana and Akira running from the school and stepping into a nearby alleyway.

"Where are they going?" Shiho asked.

"I don't know… we shou- Sh-Shiho!?" Ann stammered, startled as the Raven haired girl struggled free from her grip and followed suit.

"W-wait!" Ann shouts, following the fleeing female, with Haru and Mishima close behind.

Hiding behind the corner of the alleyway, the four shujin students looked on at the two males and the cat talking to each other.

"That bastard's gone too far this time!" Ryuji snarled. "The sooner we can steal his shit, the better!"

"Stealing…" Haru whispered, gazing at them as Akira pulled out his phone.

"Suguru Kamoshida." Akira started, a ping seconds later. "Shujin Academy…" another ping. "Perverted castle." a third ping rang off.

*Destination found, beginning navigation.*

A familiar wave of dizziness washed over the group, as well as the onlookers, as the world distorted entirely. Seconds later, the whole group were now standing at the castle's entrance.

"Alright! Let's go steal that prick's treasure-"

"AAAAH!"

"o-Oh my!"

"What the!?"

"Where are we!?"

"Oh Shit!" Ryuji yelped in surprised, the four changed males looked back, their surprise increased tenfold when they caught sight of Ann, Haru, Mishima and Shiho looking around the place in shock.

"What are you guys doing here!?" Ryuji yelled. Startling the four stragglers further.

"T-that voice… Sakamoto!?" Ann shouts. "And you.. Akira!?"

~what am I, Chopped liver!?~

"What is this place!?" Mishima added.

"Why are you four here!?"

"How should we know!? Ann yelled back. "What's going on? Isn't this the school!? Where are we!?"

"A really dangerous place, now you have to leave!"

"WHAT!?"

"How'd you follow us in here anyway!?"

"Hmm… perhaps your app is responsible…" Morgana suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, then it could be possible to pull others close by with them…"

"Foreal!?"

"Wait… is THIS related to Kamoshida!?" Mishima questioned.

"Anyways, you gotta leave, like right now!"

~hang on… I knew i placed them somewhere…~ Arata mumbled, rummaging through his pockets.

"Will you listen to what Arata has to say first!?" Morgana hissed, "The shadows will find us if we make a scene!"

"Oh god!, a Talking Monstercat!?"

"M-Monster?!"

"looks like we gotta force them. Hey Kira, help me get them to safety! " Ryuji sighed, getting a nod for an answer as the two dragged Mishima and Ann out the way they came, Shiho following suit.

~there they are! Hey-~ Arata shouts, taking out a bundle of paper slips from his pockets, but only Haru and Morgana was there ~crap. They left… hey… you're Haru right?~

"Y-yes?" she squeaked.

~here. take these.~ He said, handing a stack to her. Just as she took them, Ryuji and Akira came back.

"Alright, now we just gotta get Haru back an-"

~hang on Ryuji. I've got it covered.~ Arata shouts, causing the blonde to look on in confusion.

"What're you on about?"

"You do?" Akira asked as well.

~remember the paper slips I asked for? I used them to make these.~ Arata explained, showing them several card sized paper sheets with various drawings and symbols. ~they're called Skill cards… well slips in this case. They can be given to people so they can use the skill listed in each sheet. They're one use only though, so we need to use them wisely.~

"So that's what you meant by insurance…"

~yeah… I had a feeling something like this would happen, so i made these for the non persona users to defend themselves. Plus, we can use these if we run low on energy.~

"That's awesome! Wait… then does that mean…"

~yeah, you didn't really have to send them back exactly.~

"Oh…well i feel like a dumbass.."

"You are a dumbass." Morgana deadpanned.

"The cat thing is talking…" Haru mumbled, even more confused than before.

"should we go back fo-"

~too late! We're on a tight schedule! And we have a treasure to steal!~

"We'll explain the situation to them later, right now, the shadows have noticed us. we need to secure the route!" Morgana interrupted. "We're counting on you Joker!"

"Palace…" the sole female muttered under her breath.

"What the hell? Joker?"

"A code-name. What idiot would use their real name in a heist!? I'm not down for that! And besides, there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have an effect on the palace… it's just a precaution."

~before we do that, though… maybe we should explain it to Haru…~

"Huh?"

*Thud* as if on cue, the female of the group fainted, her mind cluttered with too much information to process.

"... crap."

After a few minutes, entering from the air vent from earlier, finding a good hiding spot, and explaining everything to Haru after she regained consciousness, the group of five continued their conversation.

"As I've said before, we'll use code-names from now on whenever we're in a palace."

"So… why Joker?" Ryuji questioned.

"Simple; he's our trump card in terms of fighting strength."

"... not bad. I like it."

"It's settled then."

~if we're going by code-names, then I'll use my nickname. I'll be addressed as Reaper.~

"Aw man… there goes that idea." the blonde male moaned.

"Well, next is Ryuji… let's see… "thug" could work." Morgana snarked cheekily.

"You wanna go, Cat!? I'll choose it my own damn self!" he yelled back "When it comes to me… it's gotta be this mask… so, I'll be "Skull". That'll work."

~what about Haru?~

"... if I may…" Haru chimed in. "what about "Noir"? Will that work?"

~any reason why?~

"I don't know… it just feels right, plus, you're doing this for justice right?"

"Of course. Someone has to stop that man."

"And you're doing this stealing treasure business, correct? Then you're bringing in a darker sense of justice… like some sort of..."

"Phantom thief?"

"Yes… phantom thieves…"

"Well, I can't argue much with that, I like it."

"And as for your, code-name… "Mona". It's short and easy to remember." Ryuji added in.

"Mona… perfect. So we're Joker, Reaper, Mona, Skull and Noir when we're in a Palace."

~cool, now lets-~ Arata stopped, hearing many noises from outside the room they're in. ~SHHH!~

Shifting towards the entrance, the group of five saw Kamoshida yelling at a platoon of guards a little ways away from them.

"You mean to tell me that you idiots can't catch a few morons in costumes!?" the shadow yelled.

~pot callin' the kettle black, Speedo-man.~

"I can't let trash like that run around my castle! Find them, dead or alive! I don't care how!"

"YES, LORD KAMOSHIDA!" the squadron shouted in unison, marching ahead to a different hallway.

"We should stick to hiding from here on out. It looks like he's updated the security quite a bit."

"Still say we should beat him up and call it a day…"

~Later Sakamoto, later.~

"He's right, Monkey brains."

"Hey!"

"Our focus is to find the treasure first. We'll deal with the shadow ruler later."

"Ugh… fine, where is the damn thing anyway?"

"It should be in the very depths of the whole Palace. Let's go while he's out here."

As the three bickered onward, Joker and Noir opens a nearby door, only for Noir to squeal for a second before Joker pulled her to the side, alarming the other three.

~Hey Joker, what are you doing over there?~

"There's a shadow in here." Joker answered, taking his hand off of Noir's face.

"A shadow you say?... is it alone?"

"Y-yeah…" Noir nodded, causing the cat creature to smirk.

"I may have an idea for that; let's ambush it first."

~on it.~ Arata peeked into the room the lone shadow was in, creeping towards it when it's back was turned, and lunged at the guard, ripping off the mask it bore to reveal it as yet another fairy.

"Remember the Hold-ups and All-out attacks I told you about before?" three nods was his answer. "I'll teach you their practical use now. There's another use for hold ups besides killing them all at once. Shadows are born from people's hearts, so they can naturally talk too. In other words, you can communicate with them, Got it?"

~I think i see where you're going with this…~

"First knock it down."

"Right." Joker pulled out his Handgun, pulling the trigger and downing the fairy like before. Now the four experienced thieves flanked it from all sides, with Noir, awkwardly joining in at one side.

"If you talk to them when they're cornered, then they might bribe you with money or items to stay alive. It's a lot more useful for getting loot compared to just offing them. Try it out, Joker."

"What!? You guys are the intruders that King Kamoshida was talking about!" the downed fairy hissed. "What are you going to do with me, huh!?"

"I want money." Joker ordered.

"Oh? You'll let me live if I give you some cash!?"

"Eh, that'll work for now, but your smooth talking could use some work." Mona deadpanned.

"Be it money or items, just cough it up and we won't end you."

"B-but this happened so fast… I don't have anything on me…"

"...such a shame…" he raised the gun at the frightened mythical shadow.

"W-w-wait I normally do though! Just let me go get some right quick-" a gunshot inches from her face silenced her.

"Whoa! Joker, hang on!"

"That one was a warning shot. The next one won't miss."

~aim for the eyes!~

"W-wait! Can't we work something out? I'll do anything, just please let me go!"

"...anything?"

"Yeah, anything, just name it!"

"Then answer me this; why are you serving King Kamoshida?"

"Huh?"

~if you can "huh", you can hear, now talk!~

"I-I don't know exactly… All I remember is this sweet smell and whispers of luxury… everything else is fuzzy."

"You were lured in?"

"...i was?... I WAS!" the beguiling girl shouts, rising up. "It's coming back to me now! I'm not a servant of that perverted freak! I'm an existence drifting in the sea of humanity's souls… my real name… is Pixie! Thank you so much for helping me remember!"

~no… problem?~

"I know! I'll help you guys out however I can!" Pixie finished, glowing in a white light before changing into a white mask. Said mask then floated towards Joker and phased into the mask he was wearing.

"What was that just now" Mona asked, "what happened!?"

"H-how should we know!?" Skull yelled back. "The enemy just got sucked into Joker's mask!"

"Halt Intrude-" a few guards said, but was promptly staggered by Noir throwing a random chair at it.

"No time to worry about that now!" the five prepared themselves as the guards morphed into another set of two horned horses.

"someone do something!"

~If I may interject.~ Arsene chimed in, materializing near his user. ~I do believe our new guest would like to have a spin this time.~

"Guest?" Joker asked, suddenly the voice of the Pixie from earlier echoed through his mind.

"Yeah, these guys are weak to lightning. I can take 'em on for ya!"

"Alright, let's see if this works… Change! Pixie!" Arsene disappeared back into Joker's mask as the new Pixie materialized in his stead, further shocking the group in awe. "Zio!" a fast bolt of Lightning shot out from her hands as one of the Bicorns was electrocuted, slouching down in pain.

"I-is that the shadow from earlier!? Wait… did you take in the shadow's appearance and powers as a persona!?"

"Guys, Use Lightning attacks, they're weak to it!"

"Lightning… lightning.. Oh, here we go!" Noir exclaims, shuffling her deck of slips in hand before settling on one. "Maz...ion...ga!" she shouts, the card fizzling out as several beams of electricity surged forth, killing both horse shadows in one shot.

"Hot Damn that's powerful!"

"It sure is… hold on… does that mean that Joker can carry multiple Personas!?" Noir yelped.

"...I guess?"

~that's some grade-A Pokemon shit right there!~

"... Pokey… Mohn?" Mona questioned. "What's that?"

~you don't know Po- oooh right… nevermind it then.~

"Well if you say so…"

"This is good though… normally it's only one persona per person, since they only have one heart. But with this ability, we'll have a huge advantage in battle."

"Hell Yeah! If that's the case, then let's hold up all that we can!"

"C'mon, let's keep going." Joker announced as the group kept forward.

Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier, not too long after the previous group went inside, the empty lot distorted again, revealing Ann, Shiho and Mishima once more.

"W-whoa!"

"I… think you did it Takamaki… what even is this app…?"

"Whoa, this is that place from earlier… h-hey, where'd they go!?"

"They probably already went on ahead…"

"Without us!?"

"C-calm down." Mishima pleaded.

"I know for a fact that THIS is somehow related to that bastard of a teacher! How dare they leave me out of something like this!"

"Ann please, you know they were just trying to keep us safe…"

"Princess?" a new voice spoke, making the three students jump at the sight of a few guards.

"Huh?"

"Guards?"

"Princess! The Beast and head mistress is with her!" the guards yelled, rushing towards the three.

"Aaaaaah!" both girls screamed, Mishima instinctively moved in front of them as the guards surrounded the three.

Back to the Main group, the five thieves spent nearly half an hour exploring the Palace, with Joker gaining a Mandrake, A Bicorn and a Pyro Jack in addition to collecting various loot from chests and breaking objects. A bit of a ways ahead from their last location, the five were now resting up at a newly discovered Safe room.

"Why the heck are there more shadows than before!?" Skull moaned. "This is starting to get exhausting…"

~at least we're grinding a lot of Exp.~

"E...Xp?" Noir asked, confusion overtook her once more.

~experience. Hey Joker, wanna see your Stats?~

"Sure thing, maybe we can see their stats as well…"

~No prob.~ a ping later, five black boxes appear around Joker, causing the others to gape in awe.

"Joker"

Lv. 12

Hp: 402

Sp:320

"Skull"

Lv.12

Hp: 419

Sp: 299

"Mona"

Lv. 12

Hp: 385

Sp: 388

"Reaper"

Lv. ?

Hp:?

Sp: ?

"Noir"

Lv. N/A

Hp: N/A

Sp: N/A

~huh… that's weird… I can't get Noir's stats for some reason…~

"Okay, hold up… skill slips, unlocking potential, Stats!? Just… what the hell even ARE you anyways?" Skull questioned. "It's obvious you're not human, and you're even more mysterious than the cat!"

"I'm NOT a cat!"

~...~

"It's fine, Reaper. You can tell them."

~but it's embarrassing…~ Reaper moaned, a light tint of pink flushed on his face. ~...oh fine. Simply put, I'm a god; a higher being made from human cognition and beliefs.~

"A-a god!?"

"If that's the case then why the hell are you with us!? You could've done everything in a snap with you "God powers" or something!"

~first off, I'm the god of potential; I'm supposed to manage the limits and full potential of the souls of the living, not throwing around my power to make things easier. And Second… mgh mgh…~ Arata said, mumbling the last part inaudibly.

"What was that? Sorry, I couldn't hear…"

~I don't have my full power yet! There, ya happy?~

"W-why not!?"

Sighing, the god among them floated lazily. ~due to some crazy shit in the past, the older gods implemented an age rule for the younger ones; we have to reach 1000 year old in order to receive out full power.~

"Wait…" Morgana intervened. "Aren't you breaking the rules then? Aren't higher beings like yourself not supposed to directly-"

~imma stop you right there with a no. a major loophole to that age rule is that younger gods-like me- are not fully registered as a full on god in the high heavens. Until we reach 1000, we can do whatever we want. I even went to some of the older gods because of this.~

"What did they say?"

~"we know of this little loophole you speak of, and we approve. Young ones like you should appreciate your freedom before bearing responsibility. Now be a good boy and play with your toys for now." was more or less their exact words.~

"..."

"Let's change the subject before we look too deep into this." Joker said, the rest nodding at his proposal.

"Anyways, the reason there are more shadows is because Reaper and I have provoked him earlier…"

~yeah, our bad… but hey, it was worth it.~

"Still, he seems to be awfully on guard…"

"So… how exactly are we gonna steal this treasure thing? Do we just take it and run?"

"Don't be hasty, first we need to secure an infiltration route."

"Ah, I see, a safe path to and from the treasure." Noir clarified.

"Oh… cool, so any idea where that might be?"

~why are you lookin' at me like that? I don't know!~

"To be honest though, I think we'll need a little more manpower for this…"

"Oh that's bull… you're a god and you can't do something like that? Don't you have some sort of Clar- toy-vent thing to see where it is?"

~Clairvoyance and no i don't. Not ALL gods are the same, especially us modern gods.~

Before they could argue further, the group silenced themselves as several voices sounded off on the other side of the room.

"Still, why was the princess in such an odd place? With the Lapdog and Mistress too?" one guard asked.

"Princess?" Skull whispered.

"I could've sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…" another guard echoed.

"It doesn't matter now. We must take them back to King Kamoshida!" a third shouts, the sounds of footsteps echoed down the hallway, leaving the rest to ponder this.

"What were they talking about?"

~and why do I have a bad feeling about this….~

"I'll look into it. Just stay here." Mona proposed, sneaking out the room and leaving the four to themselves. It wasn't even a full minute when Mona rushed back in, panic on his face.

"This is bad!" he shouts.

"That was fast!"

"Your friends… Lady Ann, Shiho and Mishima…"

"Spill cat! What about them!?"

"...they were taken by shadows!"

And cutting it off here.

Part one done, part two is coming soon.

Be sure to fave and review if you want.

TBC.