Chapter 3

The Metaverse

Sunday, June 19th, 2016

Shinjiro-san had wasted no time in telling Ken about what he had overheard last time. It was a bit… strange, to say the least.

"Why do you think they needed the name?" Ken frowned, all while poking at his breakfast, shifting it around with his fork.

Shinjiro-san shrugged. "So they don't have call him Asshole Mafia Boss? I have no clue." Then his eyes flicked to Ken's food, disapproval filling his face. "And stop playing with your food."

"Sorry," he muttered before taking a bite. He wasn't too hungry, but he was going to be out and about today… He needed the energy. He probably should hurry up too…

Shinjiro-san took a sip of his coffee, before he looked at Ken again. "…So what are you gonna be doing today?"

"Follow the Phantom Thieves. From what you've told me, finding out Kaneshiro's name was some sort of milestone… They may be making a move today."

Shinjiro-san just huffed. "You better not run into those punks again."

"I doubt that they will strike in broad daylight." Ken took a sip of his own coffee.

Shinjiro-san frowned. "It wasn't exactly dark last time."

"I was in an alley," Ken countered. "I'll be careful, okay?"

"You better, or else I'm kicking your ass," he retorted.

Ken rolled his eyes before standing up. "Yes, Mom," he deadpanned, before picking up his plate. He hadn't finished his breakfast, but he really didn't feel like eating anymore. He wrapped it up, sticking it in the fridge. After shutting the fridge door, he looked over to his guardian. "I'll try to be back before dark, but no promises. Bye."

He grabbed his bag on the way. While it was a Sunday, he needed to carry a few items. His Evoker, the holster to carry it around, his old spear—just in case he managed to find the Shadow nest today—and etc. And he couldn't exactly carry those out in the open… so school bag it was.

Honestly… he really wished that Shinjiro-san wouldn't hover as much as he did. He knew that Shinjiro-san just worried but… He could take care of himself. It just made him feel like he was still a helpless child.

Ken sighed, gazing out of the glass side of the elevator. It offered a wide view of Tokyo. Well… Shibuya. Shibuya itself was just so… huge.

The elevator finally reached the bottom floor, so the doors slid open. He stepped out and exited the building. He scanned the people outside, looking for a flash of blond hair. Not too many people had blond hair, dyed or not, after all.

Fortunately, he did not have to search for long. He then pulled out his phone, pretending to be reading something intently before walking right by them. He stopped behind one of those large maps that were set up so people didn't get lost.

"I've entered Kaneshiro's name into the app… and as we suspected, he has a Palace," Kitagawa-san announced. "It's not surprising, with how he's been manipulating the youth…"

He still… didn't know what a Palace was. The term had come up from time to time, but he hadn't been able to figure out what exactly it was from the conversations.

"Any ideas on what the other two keywords are?" Amamiya-san asked.

The cat in his bag began to meow. He still found it… strange that Amamiya-san carried his cat everywhere. And how did people not notice? It wasn't exactly a quiet cat either.

And it was even stranger that everyone would just look at it, like they understood it.

"I dunno, you figured it out last time, Ren," Sakamoto-san said.

"You're the one who activated the app for the first time, though," Amamiya-san replied.

"Yeah, by accident!"

"Enough bickering!" Takamaki-san sighed. "We're not getting anywhere, you know."

"Perhaps if we figure out what exactly his Palace is based off of… we can figure out what it is," Kitagawa-san suggested.

"There's so many buildings in Shibuya though!" Sakamoto-san protested.

"Come on, we've gotta try!" Takamaki-san said.

"Uh… a garden? Since he likes controlling everything."

"No candidate found," a mechanical voice announced.

"That… doesn't make much sense, Ryuji."

"Then you think of somethin'!" Sakamoto-san retorted. "I don't see any of you guys offering any ideas!"

Ken peeked from behind. Amamiya-san was quiet, but he looked thoughtful, as he toyed with his bangs. Maybe he had an idea?

"A money bath?" Takamaki-san offered. "I've seen an old cartoon about that!"

"No candidate found."

"Rats!" He could hear the pout in Takamaki-san's voice.

"What about you, Ren?" Kitagawa-san inquired. "Surely you have an idea?"

"I think Anne was on the right track," Amamiya-san said. "It has to be connected to money. So… I think it'd be a bank."

"Candidate found."

The atmosphere suddenly… felt heavy. Ken blinked. What was that about?

"All right!" Takamaki-san cheered. "Okay, so now we just need the area…"

The area? Just what was she talking about?

"What would Kaneshiro consider his bank…?" Kitagawa-san mused. "Perhaps the school? His victims have been mainly the Shujin students, after all…"

"I don't think so…" Amamiya-san said. "Kamoshida's Palace was the school."

"Maybe his hideout? That's gotta be where he keeps all of his money."

"A real bank?" Takamaki-san offered.

The cat seemed to shake its head, before meowing again.

"Perhaps we're thinking too inside the box…" Kitagawa-san said. "Palaces emanate a passionate madness. I don't think what we're suggesting captures that."

…What was that supposed to mean?

Though, artists did tend to be a bit strange. Chidori-san did say some strange things about her art from time to time, even though she didn't fit the typical artist stereotype.

"His palace is a bank. He extorts many people for criminal acts for the sake of greed. It must be something more."

"Many people…" Amamiya-san repeated, a thoughtful cadence to his voice. "Just where does he get all of his targets?"

"His targets…?" Sakamoto-san repeated.

"That is his source of income…" Takamaki-san said slowly. Then a quiet gasp. "Wait, are you saying that all of Shibuya is his Palace?!"

"Result found."

"I have a hit!" Kitagawa-san exclaimed, excitement brimming from his voice. "So all of Shibuya is truly his Palace…"

"All right!" Sakamoto-san cheered. "We're in business! Come on, let's go!"

"W-Wait, shouldn't we find somewhere more private to go inside the Palace?" Takamaki-san interjected. "It might look weird if we just… you know… disappear. And this is all of Shibuay… we could find an alley or something to go in."

…Glad to know that someone had some common sense.

"Eh, there's so many people," Sakamoto-san dismissed with a wave of his hand. He then grinned widely. "We should be fine!"

…Annnnnd Sakamoto-san just shot it. Seriously… How could they act like this was a secret when they went and pulled stuff like this? It honestly made him glad that Tartarus was only available during the Dark Hour… Who knew what Junpei-san would have done… Though he had blabbed to Chidori-san, as an attempt to impress her…

"In that case… let's go," Kitagawa-san stated. He then seemed to press a button on his phone.

"Beginning navigation."

Wait… navigation to where? But then the same wave of heavy energy permeated the air.

A black hole, rimmed with red, was pulsating in front of the group. He took a careful look around. It looked like… nobody was noticing it. Or… did they just not care? Were they really that oblivious to everything?

The portal remained open, even as Amamiya-san jumped in. Ken slowly walked up to it, before he did a quick look again. Nobody… was paying attention. They were just bustling around. Tourists were snapping pictures. Others were in a hurry to wherever they were headed to.

They were just… oblivious.

Ken shook his head. At least it was working in his favor. He took a deep breath, facing the portal. Then he stepped inside.

Fortunately, there was no falling, like how Akihiko-san had described jumping into the TV world. It was more like he had just stepped into an entirely different world...

It was Shibuya… but at the same time, it wasn't. A sickly green tinge permeated the air, something that reminded Ken of the Dark Hour. But that wasn't the odd part.

It was the ATMs walking around in the city.

In the distance, he could see figures darting around. Were those the Phantom Thieves?

But in that case… he probably should hide until they leave. Then he could explore.

…Though he had gotten here because the Phantom Thieves had used the app… That may not be a good idea, after all.

But he couldn't get caught…

That was when his phone started to vibrate intensely. With a frown, Ken fished it out of his pocket and unlocked it. A glowing red eye stared back at him.

What the…?

"I've entered Kaneshiro's name in the app…"

Was this the app Kitagawa-san was talking about?

After a moment of hesitation, Ken pressed the app. Glowing red letters appeared on his screen, surrounded by a black background.

"Would you like to leave the Metaverse?"

Underneath was a yes and no button.

The Metaverse…? Was this what the Shadow nest was called?

Well… at least he could leave whenever he wanted now. Good to know.

Ken stored his phone away before crouching lower in his hiding spot.

It took a long time for the Phantom Thieves to finish their investigation. For some reason… they had a cat with them? It looked like it had stepped right out of a Saturday cartoon. Though he had to wonder why they were dressed differently… He had to force himself to avert his eyes so he wouldn't stare at Takamaki-san. He knew that she was rather stunning, but… He hadn't expected her to be wearing a skin tight catsuit.

But once they were gone, Ken carefully stood up. He reached into his bag, pulling out his holster. He looped it around his waist, before he drew out his Evoker and slid it into the slot. Lastly, he brought out his spear, which currently resembled a short cylinder.

He needed to figure out a hiding place for his new spear…

He pressed the button in the center and the cylinder in his hand extended, reaching the length of roughly two and a half meters. And lastly… the ring of darkness, gifted to him by Minato-san. It would protect him from his weakness. When he was eleven, the ring was rather large on him, more often sliding off his thumb than not. But now… it fit tightly on his pinky finger. So Ken had taken a silver chain, sliding it on like it was a pendant. He slipped it around his neck, tucking the ring underneath his shirt. He was more or less ready to explore the Palace now.

The further he went in, the more disturbed he felt. He had first followed the sound of quiet sobbing. The source had been broken ATMs lying on the floor.

"I was conned…"

"He's completely ruined me…"

Conned… ruined…

An ATM was a source of money. And Kaneshiro's victims were the people of Shibuya, anyone his men could get their hands on. Were the victims just ATMs to Kaneshiro?

It was disgusting… but he wasn't surprised. Not in the least.

But… why had they left? They were looking to get into here for a while, weren't they? Unless this wasn't the Palace properly… But then what was?

It was a bank… But banks didn't look all that impressive… But Kaneshiro wouldn't just have any ordinary building…

And then… he spotted it. It was like a floating island, with an opulent looking building on top.

"…If only Kikuno-san could just fly me up there," he muttered.

A bullet suddenly struck the ground, making Ken jump.

A dark figure dropped down. "Enjoying the view?"

Warning bells immediately blared in Ken's mind. Ken immediately backed up, his hand curling tightly around his spear.

The person clad in black and blue wore a rather odd mask. It was black and almost resembled a sentai villain's mask. It covered most of his features, but Ken could clearly see the reddish brown eyes locked onto him. In one hand, he carried a pistol. He hadn't even heard it fire… So it must have a muffler. At his waist, he wore a sheathed sword.

Ken narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?" he demanded.

A dark chuckle. "Me? I suppose…" he let out a thoughtful hum, "…you could call me Black Mask."

Ken raised an eyebrow, despite everything. "Are you trying to be a sentai villain?"

"A sentai villain?" He let out an amused laugh, but it just made Ken's skin crawl. "No… I intend to be far worse."

Then he unsheathed his blade and lunged.

Ken quickly intercepted it with his spear's shaft. They were roughly the same height… but Ken slowly was being pushed back, centimeter by centimeter. Ken gritted his teeth before giving a hard shove, forcing his opponent back.

"Heh… not bad," he chuckled. "Though I have to wonder, why are you in the Metaverse, hmm? Did you just wander in here, like a lost child?"

"None of your business," Ken shot back, shifting into a defensive stance.

Black Mask attacked again, switching between using his blade and his gun. Ken was able to parry the sword attacks, occasionally managing to get a hit in, but he was forced to run when he fired his gun. Before long, Ken was sweating. This was worse than any drill he was forced to do in soccer club.

But then he unexpectedly sheathed his weapons, pressing a hand to his mask. "Let's see if you can withstand this…" Blue flames swept over his mask. "Come, Loki!"

Lovely. His first venture into the Metaverse and he was dragged into a fight with an obviously powerful Persona-user. Of course.

Loki flung fire at him, but Ken managed to dodge. Loki had a wide spread of attacks… Fire, darkness, and some kind of physical attack… He would be screwed if he didn't have the ring of darkness…

But he couldn't keep on dodging… He had to fight back. Ken reached for his Evoker, but his fingers were clumsy. By the time he had his Evoker pressed to his forehead, Black Mask had closed the distance between them. He lunged forward, knocking Ken hard against the ground. His gloved fingers then curled tightly around his neck.

"Maybe you were good before," Black Mask said mockingly, loosening his grip on Ken, only to press his serrated blade against Ken's neck, "but you've really become rusty, haven't you? Your movements are all sluggish."

Ken gritted his teeth. Black Mask's mockeries… were starting to really piss him off. Not even when his senpai were unsure of letting him fight… had they been condescending towards him. They hovered—they asked him if he was feeling tired or needed to go back to the bottom floor—but they did not act like he was stupid or slow.

"Why are you even here? Because of an inflated sense of heroism? Because you think you can take down Kaneshiro, like the oh-so heroic Phantom Thieves? Ha! You should keep your head down and avoid trouble…" His voice just oozed smugness. "But then again… you wouldn't be in this situation if you had done that in the first place."

Something in Ken snapped. He lashed out with a kick, his foot connecting with Black Mask's stomach. Ken then jerked his arm, knocking away the blade from Black Mask's hand. Now that he was free of that threat… Ken shoved Black Mask away.

Ken climbed to his feet. "Has anyone told you that you never shut the hell up?" Ken snarled out.

"You don't deny it." Black Mask was obviously smirking. "Admit it… people like you latch onto the Phantom Thieves because they just offer a solution. People just sit on their asses, waiting to be rescued. There is no such thing as justice. People sometimes just get away with their crimes and you just have to deal with it."

"You're wrong!" Ken retorted. "You have one of those the world just sucks attitudes, don't you?" He swiped at the air, glaring at Black Mask. "Justice does exist. The Phantom Thieves are pursuing their sense of justice. They're working to punish criminals who abuse their authority."

He had been pretending for so long that he was neutral to the Phantom Thieves. He didn't want his senpai to give him strange looks for supporting the Phantom Thieves, not when they doubted the Phantom Thieves' intentions so much. He had put aside his Persona for years, because he was trying to rush into things. But he couldn't afford to just stand aside anymore. Not when people like Shido were abusing their power. And on a smaller scale, Kaneshiro taking advantage of youth to satiate his own greed. It was wrong to just 'accept' things.

"You're so naïve," Black Mask retorted. "The law is justice. The Phantom Thieves are just twisting the law to suit their own purposes."

Did he actually believe what he was spouting? Black Mask couldn't be innocent. He… He could be the one causing the mental shutdowns. He was nothing but a hypocrite if that was true.

"Laws have been changed throughout history," Ken shot back. "Your kind of justice is flawed. It's definitely not any justice I want anything to do with!"

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Ken gasped as a sharp pain pierced through his skull. He sank to his knees as the pain intensified. "You've kept me dormant for quite some time…"

Kala-Nemi…?

"Did you forget why you awakened to me in the first place?"

Kala-Nemi had been born out of his resolve to live for both his mother and Shinjiro-san, who they had thought would eventually die… But Nemesis… his first Persona, had been born out of his desire for justice for his mother. It had been misguided, because he didn't understand what exactly had happened. But he knew better now.

"Let us form a contract… a symbol of us working together once again. Shall we?"

"Yes," Ken breathed out.

Blue flames flickered across his face, but Ken felt nothing. His face suddenly felt heavier… like he was wearing a mask.

Before he realized what happened, he raised a hand and ripped off the mask from his face. Blood dripped down his face, as a blast of blue power flared around him. Blue flames covered his clothes, but like before, Ken felt no heat. The fire ebbed away, leaving behind some kind of study black clothing and he felt something around his neck. He could feel something drape over his back.

Ken felt the familiar surge of power as Kala-Nemi appeared behind him.

"Tch… you want to play that way?" Black Mask just placed a hand on his face, concentrating. "Come, Loki!"

Ken immediately thought to use Ziodyne, but instead another spell popped into his mind. Kouga.

Golden light slammed into Loki, sending both Persona and host staggering back.

…That was new. That would've been useful back in his days in SEES, seeing how his light spells missed so many times.

Black Mask just growled, before calling back his Persona. He pulled out another sword, before lunging forward. Ken quickly dodged, scanning the ground for his spear and Evoker. He grabbed his spear first, before pivoting around to whap Black Mask right in the face. He couldn't deny it felt good to hit Black Mask hard enough to cause him to stagger back. He located his Evoker, which he quickly shoved it back into his holster.

His body felt lighter… probably because he was using his Persona again. He and his teammates had managed to pull off stunts that they normally wouldn't have been able to during the Dark Hour. Like how Minako-san was able to pull off a back flip. And he was able to swing around on his spear and kick Shadows in the face. (Though honestly he probably would not be able to do that now.)

Ken scanned the area. It was clear that Black Mask's power level was higher than his right now… so what he really needed… was a distraction. That way he could activate the app to get out of here.

"Take him down, Loki!"

Ken ducked out of the way, but the Persona flew over his head, slamming into the pavement. He tripped over the upheaved cement, barely managing to drop his spear so he could catch his fall with his hands. His hands scraped hard against the gravel, but he rather his hands be the ones to suffer than his face.

Black Mask caught up to him, stabbing downwards. Ken grabbed his spear from the ground, quickly blocking the attack with his spear, before rolling to the side. He used his spear as a crutch, staggering to his feet, before spinning the spear in his hand. He slammed the butt of his spear against Black Mask's chest, knocking him back a couple meters.

Gah… he needed Black Mask to slow down a bit. A spell sprang to his mind.

"Snap!" he shouted, before ripping off his mask.

A whirring sound made Ken look up. The circular markings on the top of Kala-Nemi's arms were opening, bullets shooting forward at Black Mask. He heard Black Mask hiss out a profanity, but Ken just spun around and ran like hell. He needed a distraction, so he could use the app to escape. Black Mask was obviously above his level. He concentrated for a moment, allowing Diarama to sweep over him. It was a relief, especially for his hands throbbing with pain.

Ken swung around to dart into an alley. He looked around frantically. The bricks… It was risky due to this essentially being a dead end but…

"Assault Dive!"

The force slammed into Ken like a bulldozer, sending him flying against the wall. Ken gritted his teeth as his head slammed especially hard against the wall. He could feel blood tricking down the back of his head.

"You like to run, don't you?" Black Mask hissed, stalking towards him. Underneath the mask, he could see a smile curling at his lips. "Loki, Megidola!"

Crapcrapcrap-

Ken just braced himself as the almighty spell exploded. If he wasn't against the wall, he probably would've been thrown back. Dammit, he forgot just how much it hurt to be on the receiving end of an almighty spell.

"Not so tough now, are we?" he drawled, all while kicking Ken in the ribs. He then grasped the front of Ken's shirt, yanking him close. "It was a good attempt, though."

But Megidola had also worked against Black Mask. The bricks began to crumble, cascading down. Ken pushed through the pain, shoving Black Mask against the wall. The bricks fell on top of Black Mask, forming a huge pile of rubble. Of course, Ken wasn't spared from getting hit but at least he wasn't buried.

A breath of air whooshed out of him as Ken slumped to the ground. God, that had been awful. Black Mask had been clearly stronger than him. Much stronger… He needed to get back into training again… He was regretting ignoring Akihiko-san's urging him to continue training even if he didn't want to stay with the soccer club. And now he was paying for it now.

Sure, summoning Kala-Nemi had given him some boosted abilities… but it wasn't enough. He couldn't just rely on that.

Ken slowly climbed to his feet, warily watching the pile of rubble. He did a quick healing, before picking up his spear and heading for the entrance. It took him a couple minutes to find where he had left his bag. He then pulled out his phone. The red eyeball app was pulsing. He quickly pressed it.

Do you want to return the real world?

He pressed yes and another portal appeared before him. After shrinking his spear to its portal form, he stepped through.

Ken managed to stagger over to a bench, all but collapsing into it. God, he felt like shit. Like with the Dark Hour, he felt completely drained of energy. His hands were slightly bleeding from when he had scraped them… He carefully felt the back of his head. The bleeding there had stopped at least, but the area was slightly throbbing.

Shinjiro-san was really going to give him hell about this...

"...What was that about being careful?"

"Next time I'll make sure a crazy violent person isn't there to kill me," Ken said tonelessly.

Shinjiro-san scowled, before snapping shut the first aid kit. Shinjiro-san had taken one look at him, before sitting him down on the couch and insisting on tending to his injuries. He didn't hesitate on hiding his displeasure, but at least he wasn't lecturing Ken. "You looked like shit when you walked through that door," he said bluntly, his eyes narrowed. "What the hell happened?"

"One, I found the Shadow nest," Ken began, ticking off his fingers. "Two, I used Kala-Nemi for the first time in like four years. Three, this app showed up on my phone."

He reached for his phone, showing Shinjiro-san the glowing red eye app now on the device.

Shinjiro-san squinted. "What the hell is that?"

"Some kind of app that transports you to the Shadow nest, which is called the Meta-verse," Ken said. "It showed up after I got dragged into there, with Amamiya and his friends using it."

"So… it's kinda like a virus," Shinjiro-san said. He then sighed, rubbing his temple with one of his hands. "Just… be more careful, Ken. You're the one usually patching up injuries, not the one who has them."

"It wasn't intentional," Ken grumbled. "I don't go around and pick fights."

Shinjiro-san eyed him. "…Is there something you wanna say?"

"Nothing at all."

Shinjiro-san rolled his eyes. "Right." He then took out his pocket watch, checking the time. "…It's not six yet, you know. Maybe you can talk to Mitsuru before she leaves work." He nodded at the coffee table, where Ken had left his laptop last night.

Shinjiro-san was being… surprisingly mild about the whole thing. But he wasn't going to complain…

He sat down, booting up his laptop. He pulled up the video call app, before calling Mitsuru-san. He had to try three times, before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

Ken blinked. "Aigis-san?"

Aigis-san looked surprised that it was him who was calling, but she offered him a smile. "Hello, Ken-san. Are you here to report?" She then looked at him curiously. "…I'd say you look well, but you do not. May I ask what happened?"

…Blunt as always, Aigis-san.

"Aigis, who are you talking to?" Mitsuru-san then appeared. Her eyes went wide for a moment. "Oh, Amada. I didn't know you were calling today. How are you?" Then she let out a short gasp, her face growing pale. "Goodness, what on earth happened to you?!"

"I'm fine, Mitsuru-san." Ken rubbed the back of his neck. "I just wanted to let you know that I found the Shadow nest today."

"That is indeed good news." Aigis-san looked at him quizzically though. "…But did you get into a fight with a Shadow? You look rather… worn out," she said delicately.

"Er… not a Shadow…" Ken said slowly.

Mitsuru-san narrowed her eyes. "…Did the Phantom Thieves see you?"

"N-No, it's not like that!" Ken raised his hands. "Someone else… did."

"Someone else…?" Aigis-san inquired, looking thoughtful. "Perhaps… it could be the one behind the mental shutdowns. After all, they started occurring roughly a year and a half before the Phantom Thieves appeared."

"And you engaged in battle with them?" Mitsuru-san demanded, giving him what Minako-san called the Kirijo Glare of Doom.

"He attacked me!" Ken protested. "I didn't mean to get into a fight right away. I'm not Akihiko-san."

"That is very true," Aigis-san droned. "Though sometimes I fear about your role models, Ken-san."

"But honestly, Amada, first the mafia and now this?" Mitsuru-san chastised, frowning in disapproval. "You really need to be more careful."

Ken winced. He shouldn't be surprised that Shinjiro-san had told Mitsuru-san about the mafia…

"You could have been grievously injured," Aigis-san added, frowning at him as well. "Not to mention overpowered by whoever attacked you."

Ken groaned. So this was why Shinjiro-san prodded him into reporting to Mitsuru-san. Women were just… better at scolding. They had that guilt inducing I'm disappointed in you look.

"But anyhow…" Mitsuru-san looked at him curiously. "Did you observe anything else?"

"I'm not sure why Fuuka-san compared the Shadow nest to Tartarus," Ken said. "I think it's more comparable to the TV world. You know, how they told us that people who ended up in the TV world created worlds from their heart. It seemed very similar to that."

"But surely there must be a central part of this nest…" Aigis-san said thoughtfully. "You may have only found just one section."

"Maybe…" Ken frowned. "I don't know. I will have to take a better look."

"Were you able to summon your Persona?" Aigis-san inquired.

"Ah, yes!" Mitsuru-san's eyes lit up. "You were fine with summoning your Persona, weren't you?"

"Well…" Ken said slowly. "Not with my Evoker."

Mitsuru-san raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Were you able to summon without one then?"

"Yes… but not in the way you're thinking."

It took a great amount of skill and concentration to be able to summon your Persona in the real world without a medium. He knew that Mitsuru-san, Akihiko-san, and Minako-san were all capable of this feat four years ago, but he wouldn't be surprised if the others had mastered the ability.

"Can you please elaborate then?" Aigis-san requested, curiosity filling her eyes.

"A mask formed on my face and I ripped it off," Ken responded. "Kala-Nemi seems to have changed though."

"Changed?" Mitsuru-san craned an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I apparently have light spells that don't instantly kill Shadows, and Kala-Nemi can fire bullets now," he said dryly.

"Bullets?" Aigis-san asked. "How curious. Though I have to wonder why your Persona's abilities have changed…"

Mitsuru-san sighed deeply. "Good work, Amada. But please, be more careful. Your mission is more reconnaissance based. Your goal is to gather information. Shinjiro would have my head if you got hurt due to this."

Ken sighed. "Okay, okay…" he muttered. "It wasn't on purpose though…"

"I know." Mitsuru-san smiled gently. "I'm pleased with your work, but I don't want you to get hurt." She then looked at him sternly. "And take care so that the Phantom Thieves don't spot you. You don't know how they'll react to you."

And yet… he had met two of them already.

He fully believed that the rumors circulating Amamiya-san were just slander. He seemed perfectly nice. A bit quiet, though he couldn't help but wonder if that was just a front. And Takamaki-san… she was nice as well.

…Even though she was a terrible liar.

"Ken-san?" Aigis-san's voice yanked him back to reality.

Ken snapped back to attention, looking at the two women. "I understand," he said quietly. "I'll do my best to avoid detection."

"Good." Mitsuru-san nodded, before offering him a pleased smile. "Rest up, Amada."

She then cut off the connection and the screen went black.

Kala-Nemi

Level: 30

Affinity: Bless, Healing, Gun

Skills: Makouha, Kouga, Hama, Mahama, Diarama, Media, Snap, Recarm

So, Ken has made it to the Metaverse! (Though it's not hard with how the Phantom Thieves don't seem to know the meaning of discretion.) And I will be describing Ken's costume fully in the next chapter.

But with Kala-Nemi… I had to revamp Kala-Nemi's skills to suit the P5 battle changes, as shown above. Bless and Healing were a given, since those were his main attributes in P3. I threw in gun abilities for Kala-Nemi, to refer to Evokers. I took away the Zio class spells, since well… there's Ryuji.

And to answer an anonymous reviewer's question, yes, Ken will be joining the Phantom Thieves, eventually. You'll see when exactly.

As usual, I would love to hear your thoughts!