Akira watched Raphtalia fight against the porcupine enemy while pulling out a needle in his shoulder. "Should we help her?" A voice asked beside him. Despite asking this Morgana was laying on the rock still in his cat form. Though if one looked closely they could tell his muscles were tensed and ready to leap into action.

"No she seems to have it handled." Akira said while feeding the needle into the shield. Looking over the new shield that was unlocked Akira compared it to the other shields he had unlocked. It was weaker in defense compared to most of his other shield but gave a bonus to attack. Though when he gave it a bit of thought Akira really didn't need to focus on attacking seeing as he could just summon a persona to beat whatever he was fighting.

"So can we talk about it?" Turning to face Morgana Akira just rose a brow asking what he was talking about. "Well it's not everyday you see a ten year old turn into a fifteen to sixteen year old." Oh that.

"Yeah we really should have read a book about Demi-humans." Akira muttered to himself. When they noticed the growth in Raphtalia they had hunted down a book on Demi-humans and found out what happened. Both were very thankfull that her clothing grew with her. "Though I guess it explains why she had been eating a lot recently."

Almost as if hearing this Raphtalia swerved her head toward them while the two thieves acted innocent while Morgana turned into his thief form and launched a ball at the monster. The injured monster let out a yelp and Raphtalia took the opportunity to stab the creature killing it. "Good job Raph," Akira praised with a smile as he walked forward.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to it sooner." The racoon demi-human mumbled while looking down.

"Don't worry your still learning." Morgana said while turning back to his cat form. As all this was going on Akira had taken out a spare knife he started cutting up the monster while feeding small bit to the monster. "Now let's start heading back to the castle town."

With that suggestion they started walking forward. They had decided against using Morgana's vehicle form due to its large size and the possibility of the spys spotting them. Besides it wasn't very far and he was in a mood to walk.

XXX

"This is quite nice." The old man said while looking over the leathers they had collected. "Yeah you could use these and the old sword for a trade in."

"Thank you." Akira said with a bow. "So what kind of weapon-"

"Mr. Akira I think we should get some armor for you and Morgana." Raphtalia said interrupting him. "With the Fallen Paradise, and my current I have more than enough attack power but you two have started getting hurt." That was true…

If they had been prepared they could have brought their own equipment but the only personal equipment he had was the gun and knife. Currently the knife was with Raphtalia while he still had the gun, which was currently the only other thing he could still use beside the shield. Still needed to look into that one.

So taking a little bit to think about Akira nodded his head. "Yeah I'll take some better armor and," Akira stopped before taking a chance to look around using his Third Eye, "do you know anyone who can make transforming clothes?"

"Huh I don't see anyone in your party that can transform so I don't get why you would need it." Before Akira could respond though the shopkeeper moved over to the side. "I'll give you a recommendation though, vist the old magic shop lady she should know something about what you want."

Taking a mental note of that and then to look for the magic shop Akira gave a nod. "So what do you got for me?"

"Well the best I have for you is this." The owner went to pull out some chainmail before seeming to think better of it and slowly but it back. "On second thought I don't think you would want that."

"You thought correctly." Akira said with a nod.

"Well the other thing I got is this." With a wave he showed a set of armor. "I could shave some of it off to make some nice Barbarian Armor."

"No," Akira flatly said. "I don't want anything weighing me down in battle." Even shaving down most of it it would still be uncomfortable for someone of his build to move in it. "Hmm, do you take requests?"

"What you got in mind?" So they spent a while talking about what they had in mind. So with that decided they headed out to the witch's shop.

"You sure your going to be okay with that?" Raphtalia asked tilting her head.

"Yeah, I think it will look good." Akira said while going in his head the clothes he had ordered.

"Okay, so what is with the transforming clothes?" Morgana hopped up on his shoulder and gave her a flat look. "Oh, right. So do you think we can really find transforming clothes."

"I think so…" Akira mumbled while making sure to occasionally glance around. "Man they are getting persistent." The ninjas that usually tried following him were really starting to tail him.

"They must be getting annoyed with how we are avoiding them." Morgana suggested while also glancing around. "The king must be going crazy with how little he sees of us."

"Nice to know he misses us." Seeing the shop he was, hopefully, looking for. With a glance around the group of three walked into the shop.

"Welcome." The owner of the shop said happily while walking out of the back of the shop. The women looked like a typical short old witch, even wearing a witch's hat. "What can we do for you today." Good seems she hadn't heard or didn't believe the rumors about him.

"Yes I would like to inquire about transforming clothes." The trickster questioned while walking up to the counter.

"Transforming clothes? That isn't a request I hear very often and can be quite costly." The owner informed while seeming to examine both him and Raphtalia.

"How much?" Was he wrong? Was this some type of trick.

"Well that is largely dependent on how big we need to make it. I would recommend seeing a taylor to get me the measurements, then I can give you an estimate." Well that made sense but he will have to do a bit more research to make sure he wasn't getting robbed.

"Okay, do you have any recommendations?"

"I have one but she is a bit…" The owner seemed to take a moment to look for the right word, "eccentric."

She sounded interesting so with a nod he was given the directions and after following them found himself in front of a plane looking store. Heading in the the saw rows and rows of clothing. After waiting a bit and not seeing an employee Akira was about to yell out.

"Oh customers!" A happy voice yelled out while charging forward. "Hello how can I help you?" The women looked young and much like the store, plane and average.

"I was wondering if I could get some measurements-" Akira found himself cut off as the woman burst forward and started measuring him. "No not for me it's for-"

"Oh, a racoon dem-human!" Now she was measuring Raphtalia, who looked frozen by the sudden invasion of her space. "You look way better than the other racoon spices I have seen." While taking a mental note of that Akira cleared his throat again.

"It's for me." Morgana proudly declared while transforming. Morgana was standing on the desk and had taken a proud pose as if posing for a picture.

The women had frozen where she was about to grab the poor slaves tail. Slowly as if afraid to scare the phantom thief away she knelt down. "I'm making clothes for you?"

"Um, yes?" Morgana asked trying to keep his pose and confidence up.

The women let out a happy noise while jumping up. Within seconds she had the tape measure around the thief. "Whoa you are fast with that thing."

"Stay still." Morgana froze up at her command. "Show me your other form." Doing as he was told in a burst of blue fire she started measuring his cat form. "Interesting it seems you have some form of transforming clothes, so you must want some new ones."

"Yeah some more sturdy ones." Gaining back some of confidence Morgana took a regal sitting pose. "One that shows off my full glory."

"Yeah I get what you are saying." The women nodded while Akira leaned over and started whispering to Raphtalia. Getting a nod Akira cleared his throat.

"Morgana do you mind if we leave and go check the church."

"Oh to go check that hourglass thing?" Receiving a nod Morgana just gave a wave. "Yeah sure I'll catch up."

Waiting one more moment Akira walked out of the room followed closely by Raphtalia. As they walked down the road Akira saw a few people stare at them and mutter to each other. Honestly it wasn't anything he wasn't used to. As he ascended up the steps of the Church Akira stopped and looked at the map of the church. "Looks like it is this way." Turning Akira caught sight of a glaring sister. "Can I help you?" Seeing that she was caught the sister straightened and walked away.

"Come on Mr. Akira let's go." Raphtalia said while tugging on his shirt. Following along they walked forward as they found a giant room in which the center stood a grand hourglass with falling sand. "Whoa."

Walking forward Akira felt his arm tug forward as the shield let out a beam of light. When the light hit the hourglass a countdown timer appeared on the shield. "Well that is convenient." The countdown was set for two days from now, hopefully both his and Morgana's new armor would be ready.

"Well look who it is." A condescending voice called out. "Here I was thinking you would never show your face." Turning Akira saw Motoyasu walk forward followed by his, all female, party.

"Ahh, a good day to you Kitamura." Akira said with a bow. "I would love to stay and chat but I am needed elsewhere."

Moving Akira made to leave as Raphtalia made to follow but was stopped on the way out. "What a beautiful women." The spear hero said with a happy smile while grabbing her hands in his.. "Why would a women such as yourself be traveling with a dirty thief like him."

Akira could only stare at the man with a flat stare. "Um," Raphtalia looked at a loss for words at Motoyasu's forwardness.

"Sorry to cut this short but me and her need to head out." Stepping forward Motoyasu let go of her hands and shot him a hard glare. Using the chance Raphtalia walked behind him, staying as close as possible. While heading out Akira stopped and nodded towards the other two heroes. "See you all soon."

Not given the chance to respond the heroes watched the shield leave. "Damn monster, I should have saved that girl!" Motoyasu ground out while slamming his spear's but down.

"To think he would show his face now of all times." Itsuki said almost sadly. "I was having such a good day."

"Well at least we know he isn't such a coward that he would hide from his duties." Ren mumbled, "Though I must wonder where he has been hiding or what he was doing."

"Practicing his thieving abilities." Motoyasu huffed out before looking at the confused faces of the other two. "Oh right, you two wouldn't know. It happened not that long ago..."

XXXXX

Akira kept his head high as his thoughts ranged about what he would need for the coming wave. "Ah, Mr. Akira," Turning he saw Raphtalia, "about the other heroes." Looking at her Akira waited patiently. "I don't care what they or other people say about you, I believe in you."

"Thank you," Akira honestly said, if a bit confused at where this was coming from. "Now let's go retrieve Morgana from his biggest fan."

XXXXXX

It was coming soon now Akira thought to himself as he looked down at the clock counting down. Letting go of his current Persona Akira felt around for a good all around Persona for what might come next. Hmm, maybe Phoenix might do, he doubted most things here had a resistance to nuclear.

"Behold the Most Gallant Thief!" A voice said beside him. "The one who saves the depressed in the east and helps the needy in the west." Turning Akira saw Morgana toss back their cape. "Yes I Morgana am here to help you!" Their new clothes closely resembled a black tux with a cape fluttering behind it. It more resembled Zorro, his first Persona, but trimmed down on the frills.

"Hurry," Raphtalia flatley cheered for him. "Thank you for saving us from the waves!"

"You are the Hero this world needs but not the one it deserves." Akira stated while standing up. He now wore a long blue coat with a tan clothing underneath along with a blue slash and two belts. The defense rating wasn't that high but it gave really good speed and mobility.

"You know it!" Morgana cheered while turning back towards the other two. "Now we remember the plan right?"

"Protect the village while the other 'heroes' fight the big bad baddie?" Akira asked mockingly.

"Right," Morgana gave a nod before turning toward Raphtalia. "I know it might not seem far to have you being the one to evacuate the villagers but it is the most important role."

"No, I get it." Raphtalia said with a smile, "In fact I am quite thankful for what you two have done for me." Raphtalia looked like she was about to continue before the scenery blurred around them.

"We can talk more later!" Akira shouted while looking around. "It seems we are near that mining town!" As they were going to head over there the other heroes charged past with their party members following behind.

"They are like clockwork with how predictable they can be." Morgana said almost sounding sad.

"We are wasting time here." Raphtalia ground out before pointing towards the town. "Let's go."

Watching her go Akira ran behind her as the blue flames transformed him into Joker. "You think she is mad that she didn't get to say what she wanted back at Castle Town?"

"Joker the heart of a woman is one that is delicate as it is mysterious." Morgana nodded sagely, "So yes I'm sure she had something important she wanted to tell you and is now mad that it was interrupted."

Citizens ran in terror as monsters came running from the forest. Zombies waved their swords around trying to hit anything while Interdimensional Insects dove from the skys. Siblings, two sisters ran together before the younger sister tripped over a rock. Looking up she saw a zombie standing over her as it's sword descended to end her life. Before her sister could throw herself in the way a green transparent shield appeared between them while a racoon demi-human lunged at the monster with a drawn sword. The sword ran through the monster with ease as her full weight came at him. The zombie went down with ease as another adventure appeared.

"Raphtalia remember the plan." The black haired man said while drawing a strange weapon that made a loud popping noise. A thump was heard as an insect fell from the sky. "Please follow her to safety!" The little girl was pulled to her feet by her sister.

"This way!" Raphtalia shouted as the siblings followed the demi-human while she tore through more monsters. "Stay safe."

"Don't worry," The black haired man said with a large amount of confidence that made them feel relief. As they ran they heard a cry that sounded like a spell, properly was judging by the white bluish explosion that went off behind them.

They traveled through the village collecting more and more people, one of which told the adventure the location of the safe house. So on their way to the safe house they came across a large mass of Zombies. "Damn," The racoon girl muttered while pulling out a sinister feeling dagger. Before anything could happen though they heard a voice.

"Maguru!" A torrent of wind was sent up from the ground hitting all the zombies as a figure jumped down in front of them. "Fear not citizens for I," with an amazing twirl the figure turned around as their cape danced in the wind, "Morgana have come to rescue you!"

Hope bloomed in her chest as the cat like man turned around and dogged out of the way of an axe strike. "To strike when I have my back turned!" So with that they charged into the fight striking at the zombies.

"Come on he has this!" The adventure said while striking down a few insects came close. So they kept running toward the safe house. As they neared the safe house the adventure threw open the door. "Quick get inside!" So they did as the door shut they gathered together to wait the wave out. "Don't worry we will protect you."

AN: Well this took longer than I thought. Anyway next chapter wraps up the wave and gets to what inspired this fic, well what got me thinking about it.