A/N: AAAAAAAAAAAH! I ALMOST FORGOT TO UPDATE THIS TODAY! here ya go, guys!
Arcana of Tricks
The Surgeon and The Rebel
Chapter Nine
Soon enough, the train pulled into the station. Yusuke stepped off, Akira following close behind and motioning Sans to follow. Yusuke was the one to lead them this time. After they got out of the station, they stepped into the hustle and bustle of the city known for gambling. And now, smelling vaguely of marijuana. The hustle and crowd of the city felt normal to Akira, but he wasn't sure he'd get used to that smell.
They walked through it instead of hiring a cab, mostly because it was quicker.
Eventually, in no more than twenty minutes did they arrive at a mildly busy art exhibit. Standing off to its side were a blond delinquent-looking guy, a blonde model, a prim and proper college council lady, a redhead sitting on her feet against a brick wall, and a finely dressed pinkish-haired woman in a nice dress with a cat in her bag. The blond perked up when he saw them and waved. "Hey, you there! got some time to spare?" he called out. Akira couldn't help smirking.
Sans stepped up to them along with the other two. He eyed them closely. Morgana was one he recognized, as he was the only cat. Haru must have been the one holding him. He smiled a little, glancing towards Akira. "So.. these are your friends?"
They all looked unique - no one in here was the same. That was nice. He liked a little variety. He hoped they wouldn't react negatively to him being there. And, thankfully, the meet seemed to be starting sooner than expected, if they were all here that is.
The group all stared at Sans. The model lady yelped with disgust and fear, while most of the others looked curious, and the redhead actually got off the wall to start messing with Sans's face. Sans wasn't surprised when the model yelped like that. It was normal, after all, but the curiosity was kinda new. The touching though was very new and it made him uncomfortable.
Yusuke huffed. "Futaba, must you be so tactless and rude?"
The redhead stopped fiddling with Sans's face and looked up. "Oh hush, Inari."
"How many times must I tell you not to call me that?"
The councilor lady stepped up to her, holding a hand out. "Futaba."
Futaba huffed and pulled out a yen. "If I need to visit another bank, it's your fault, Makoto."
The blond delinquent guy looked over to Akira. "Woah - is that like a persona or somethin'?"
Akira shook his head. He'd let Sans explain more. Speaking of whom, he chuckled then, furrowing an eyeridge. "Sup? the name is Sans and I'm happy to meet you all. I dunno what a persona is, but I do know that's not what I am. I'm a monster hailing from.. uh.. Places." He explained with a slight, nervous smile, looking into their eyes. None of them seemed to be magic users, at least.. not the Soul kind. "But not monster as in the kind that hide in your closet or in the dark. It's a species actually."
The blonde cringed more, scrunching up her face, "You certainly look like a monster."
Sans held back a flinch. The council lady glared over at her. "Ann!" then she looked to Sans. "Please excuse her. I'm Makoto Nijima."
Haru admired Sans for a moment. "I think he looks lovely. Like a shadow, but good!"
The cat in her bag meowed in annoyance. Akira shook his head as Yusuke told the cat, "He already checked to make sure the skeleton wasn't a shadow."
Meanwhile, the thuggish-looking guy was thinking to himself, before he spoke up, "Wait, so does this mean all those old bedtime stories about monsters that jackass told me about are real?"
The older skelebro looked at all of them, but avoided Ann's gaze and nodded to Haru and Makoto with a smile. He had a lot of questions to answer, he supposed, and sighed, answering the thuggish guy. "You could say that. What bedtime stories though? Were they about the legend surrounding Mount Ebott?"
The kind of attitude Ann was showing.. was the kind of attitude that messed up the harmony between humans and monsters. He didn't like that.
"No, not mount edit or whatever. Things like werewolves, vampires, that guy with the giant scissors." At that, all the humans looked at him. The blond in turn glanced at them. "What?"
Ann spoke up. "What kind of stories did you read, Ryuji?"
"Giant scissors..? Edward Scissorhands? well, I'm not quite sure about those…" the skeleton rubbed at the back of his head, frowning. "They might exist. But among us monsterkind, they don't. You could say they slipped under the radar." His gaze fell on Morgana for a few seconds. The cat didn't seem to react to the fabled mountain's name. The skeleton chuckled then, "Also, it's Ebott, not 'Edit'."
Ryuji scratched his head. "Wait, so then what kind of monsters exist then? just the good ones?"
Makoto gave him an annoyed look. "That's not the issue, Ryuji."
"Hey! I don't know what bullshit rules you follow anymore, but I need to make sure I'm on the right side!"
Yusuke nodded. "He could have worded it better, but Ryuji's right. We can't always jump to conclusions. We need to be sure this man isn't justified in his beliefs before we act, even if he does have a palace. We don't want to end up fighting for the wrong cause."
Haru nodded, "And make sure it's not a trap."
Morgana then started a medium length series of annoyed meows, to which Yusuke himself gave an annoyed glance of his own.
Akira nodded to the cat. "Yeah. I met him, and you're right." He looked to the others. "We won't be on the wrong side."
Sans couldn't understand what the cat was saying, so the question would have to wait. Everything he wanted personally had to wait. To say he was a bit peeved that they were questioning this was an understatement. "I guess Joker didn't make that clear to you. This man tried to kill the former king of our people. He hates us for no reason and wants us all dusted, even the innocent, and believe me when I say we all are. Any bad things we had done were all out of desperation…" and that's where he stopped. He couldn't really justify killing six children to be free.
"Dusted?" Ann echoed, confused. Akira shrugged. But all of the Thieves took a moment to let what Sans said sink in. They all understood desperation. Futaba especially, and it showed with how she looked to the ground.
After a time, Makoto looked to Joker. "When's our deadline?"
Akira looked back at her with a quiet, "I don't know," to which she looked a little surprised. He took a moment to look around the group before continuing. "We need to infiltrate as soon as possible. Meaning as many of us as possible need to get there by tomorrow."
Yusuke brushed a bit of hair out of his face. "Whatever anyone else has planned, I can just follow you back. This exhibit's not inspiring anyways, so I've no reason to stay."
"And I can scope out shop locations later," Haru added. Morgana seemingly meowed with agreement.
Ryuji glared, catching his own fist. "Like I'll let some petty stuff get in the way of takin' down some asshole!"
Akira nodded, looking to Ann and Makoto. He knew they had the most demanding reasons for being here, and it showed with their anxious looks. After a second, Makoto sighed. "I'll see what I can do. But no promises."
Ann, on the other hand, answered, "I need at least a few pictures done, and I don't think I can make it by tomorrow. I, uh-" she struggled to think of a way to help. Then she spotted Futaba. "Futaba, you're staying near my room, right? I can send some stuff back with you."
Futaba nodded with a faint smile, "I'll be the gift-carrying email!"
With that settled, Akira and Makoto both looked to Sans. She beat him to asking, "So where can we stay in your town without raising any suspicions?"
"Well.. Flowey knows you guys are on your way," there seemed to be a devious grin stretched on his "lips". Apparently even though they reconciled, he still pulled pranks on the poor surgeon. "I'll text my bro Papyrus, tell him to.. give me the surgeon's address." And he pulled out his phone, pulling up Papyrus and texting him a simple "Sup?". It, again, didn't take long for a reply.
[SANS! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME YOU ARRIVED! I WAS WORRIED SICK!]
[sorry, bro. got caught up. but i'm gonna need flowey's home address.]
The grin stayed on his face, and he chuckled. No worries about Paps hearing it. There was, for once, some pause before the next response. [WHY DO YOU NEED HIS ADDRESS?]
[i'm sending him a little gift. and it's a surprise too.]
[OOOOH, WOWIE. FLOWEY WILL SURELY BE HAPPY. OKAY, IT'S 399-7 SOUTH DANHA.]
[thanks, bro.] a strange shadow came over Sans's face, and the grin never left. With Papyrus's return of the older brother's gratitude, that was the end of that conversation. He turned back to the group and replied, putting his phone away, "399-7 South Danha. It's not in town, a few ways away, but it's still fairly close. Also.." he lost his grin, sighing, "dusted… when a monster dies or is killed, they turn into dust. That's how it was coined."
"Dust?" Ryuji echoed as he, Ann, and Morgana all reeled back a bit. The others widened their eyes, Haru clasping a hand over her mouth and Yusuke gasping. "Dust immediately?!"
Dust immediately. It made Akira think of that phrase, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Unlike a human body, they don't decay. They were gone immediately. If they turned to dust then it'd no doubt be hard to tell a murder from natural death, wouldn't it?
As Akira was thinking, Yusuke spoke up to ask, "What purpose does that serve? your bodies just letting go of their lovely form and turning to dust?" And he was about to ask more when he was stopped.
"Hon." Akira looked to him. "Not the time."
And then when Yusuke said nothing more, Akira looked back to Sans. "That address." Something about how Sans worded it was awkward. Wouldn't he just say the name if it was a hotel?
Yusuke nodded a bit. "It sounds like a house."
Sans found the nerve to chuckle, albeit nervously. He took a deep breath, shuffling his slippers. "That's just how it is, Yusuke.. And yep, it's a house. Big enough to accommodate all of you, luckily. Flowey's pretty rich."
Of course the flower would be, working as a lone surgeon every day and night. He did have breaks though, and on weekends when the reports of injuries died down he was at home. And today just so happened to be a Friday. It was perfect. Perfect for his little prank. Of course, there was some plan to it. It wasn't just a prank, in a situation so dire. They needed a place to stay and that was the first place he thought of.
Makoto huffed. "And he knows we'll be coming, right?" and as she crossed her arms, she gave him a glare with more scornful authority than Undyne could ever manage. Akira looked to the side, fiddling with his hands. He leaned against Yusuke, acting as if he was adjusting some gloves. Even he couldn't stand up under that gaze half the time, and this was in that half of the time. Yusuke, in turn, wrapped an arm around him and looked away from Makoto as well. Ryuji's eyes widened, and both he and Ann stepped away from the councilor lady.
"Oh, he does know you're coming," Sans wasn't the slightest bit intimidated, turning his stare upon her now, with that stupid grin. He'd faced worse, after all. "I ain't kitten ya. And, tibia honest, he'd be artsy to meet ya." Three puns in a row, what a record. He hoped Papyrus didn't tell the flower though. That'd ruin things.
Makoto stared at him for a moment with a stone-crushing glare. "Good." And then she relaxed her glare before she turned to Akira, "I'll let you know later if I can come."
Akira looked back at her with a nod. He straightened up, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Anyone who can come, get a ticket asap."
Ryuji laughed, "Like I need to wait! I'll follow you two back and buy a ticket with ya!"
Haru nodded. "I'll get a ticket for me and Morgana online."
"Then it's settled. We'll head to Flowey's house on the double," the skeleton monster then turned to Akira. "Hey, Joker, mind sharing the snacks you got from Muffet and Grillbs with the crew?" He hadn't forgotten. Hopefully they'd take the offer. Even though monster food hardly ever spoils. Sans shuffled his feet against the ground slightly. He wondered how Asgore was doing after that. Despite the guy's hardened and what you could call tough exterior, the boss monster was rather sensitive. Perhaps Papyrus was helping him at this moment. He smiled at the thought.
Yusuke was immediately interested. "They gave you snacks? what kind? Sushi?"
And Morgana immediately meowed, interested as well. Ann smiled, "Did they give you any desserts?"
Futaba adjusted her headphones. "What food do monsters even have?"
Joker held up the hand that'd still been holding the food. He set the fries down before opened the donut bag. Ann was the first to grab one, with the others following. Yusuke took two.
"We have many kinds. And get this. It has healing properties too," the jokester revealed, reaching to take some fries and a donut after they had their share. "Any aches and pains you may have will disappear. Like they weren't even there at all." Sans then stuffed the fries in his mouth, chewing fast but slowly enough so he wouldn't choke. "Good to eat too."
Ann practically moaned as she finished the donut. "Oh, you're so right! my back's been aching all day from these picture poses, and now I feel so much better!"
"And I feel so energetic now - these are absolutely inspiring! it feels like my soul is being swallowed by a muse of sugar!" Yusuke stuffed another bite into his mouth before continuing, "I need a sketchbook!" Akira set a hand onto his shoulder. Yusuke swallowed before adding, "I could sketch on the way to the airport!"
Sans chuckled, nodding. That was good. Even though Akira had to set him back in line. He ate the donut after the fries he had, to get rid of the salt. "Alright, fellas. Let's take what you want, and get back down to Sovereihn Town, Oregon."
He was glad at least two were coming along right now. He understood how business could interfere, but this was urgent. He felt it could all wait. But he didn't say it out loud this time. Yusuke nodded, grabbing one of the things of fries to take along the way. "I need to pack a few things for the trip!" and then his eyes glowed. "My suitcase! I have sketchbooks there! I'll bring the whole thing!" and then he was off towards a hotel across the road.
The others started heading back, with Morgana offering a meow over his shoulder and Ann and Haru taking extra donuts. Ryuji stayed, however. When Akira arched an eyebrow, he shrugged. "I brought my wallet - I can just buy some clothes at the town."
Soon after, Yusuke came running back with a suitcase in one hand an a sketchbook and pencil in the other. Sans shoved his hands into his pockets again and glanced at those coming with, pinpricks of white light scanning them. He still smiled. "Alright, ready to head off and get tickets? I'm a celeb 'round these parts so you could get back for free." And when he said "'round these parts", he meant the entire country. "All I have to say is that you're with me and you'll be all set."
"Wait, we're hangin' with a celebrity? man, we hit it big this time!" Ryuji grinned like an idiot as he shoved his hands into his own pockets.
Akira shook his head with a faint smile. "This isn't about fame, Ryuji."
"Hey, lemme have this!"
The young man then shook his head again with a faint laugh. And then he started walking back to the station, with Yusuke already sketching as he followed. Ryuji might be excited about the fame part, but Akira knew he was still doing this for the right reason. Ryuji had a surprisingly good heart. And, chuckling, the stout skeleton could sense it. He once again fell into step a little behind them.
A/N: Alright, now we have the Persona crew involved! Clock was all of them - Ann, Makoto, Futaba, Morgana, Akira/Joker, Yusuke, and Ryuji. And I had Sans. xD Woooooooo- I hope you enjoyed!
