a/n: Name comes from the King Crimson song. Enjoy.


The Phantom Thieves of Heart stand in the middle of the Velvet Room. Under the watchful eyes of Philemon and Igor, they have been plotting out their final attack against the false god known as Yaldabaoth - gathering together the needed supplies, training for the fight upon which the world rests, and conversing.

Akira, for example, is sparring with Yukitaro. Yukitaro swerves around Akira's attack, firing off a burst of lightning from near Akira. Akira chuckles, and in one fluid twist of his hips, kicks Yukitaro right in the face. Yukitaro skids back on his feet, looking up with a bloody nose and a grin. He wipes his nose free of blood, chuckling.

"Maybe I'll concede for now.." he says, going up to Akira and holding up a hand in defeat.

When they shake hands, Yukitaro feels this strange sensation bubble up in him. It's familiar - the same as when Kinbote became Enkidu.

"Akira.." he says, stepping back as he grabs his head.

"Yukitaro, what's wrong? Yukitaro?!" Akira rushes forward, moving to support Yukitaro, but the stern arm of Philemon stops him with soft words: "No, Joker. Observe."

Blue flame flares up around Yukitaro, and Enkidu appears, outstretching its muscled arms in delight. It shakes with silent laughter as its body shifts and glows. Upon its head appears a short crown of sharpened bone, animal claws and twisted metal. Its enormous body slims slightly to a more sinuous but still muscled one, fur and feathers giving way to slightly hairy skin. Its eyes glow, showing a distinctly human figure with long, tangled hair.

Yukitaro laughs at the feeling, relishing in it. "This is my new Persona.. What even is it?"

Philemon smiles, walking up to observe it. It chuffs at Philemon, moving forward.

Philemon turns his head towards Yukitaro. "A character from an old book - the Lord of the Jungle, Tarzan. I'm receiving the distinct impression this won't be the only Persona evolution we'll see today.."

Margaret watches onward from the sidelines. Her lips purse, her head turning away slightly. Her grip on her book clenches tighter, her gaze flicking from the delighted Yukitaro towards his father. Tohru appears to be talking with Ryotaro, watching onward with an uncharacteristically soft gaze. Her grip goes so tight on the book that she can feel the pages crease under her fingers, her eyes going subtly wide. "It's all wrong," she whispers to herself, "this is all wrong."


As they move to fight Yaldabaoth in his newly risen domain in the real world, Ryotaro stops Tohru. His grip is tight on Tohru's arm, his heart seemingly pounding out of his chest.

"Tohru.." Ryotaro breathes.

"There's something I need to tell you," Ryotaro begins.

Tohru raises an eyebrow and says "Go on?"

Ryotaro's face goes red as he bites his lip. "You'd better not die on me today, because, well.. I.."

"You what?" Tohru prompts. He stares right into Ryotaro's eyes.

He can see home there - the ceramic mugs on the Dojima coffee table, the sound of the Junes commercial jingle, the warm winter meals from Aiya's or Junes laid out there. The very thought of it makes his shoulders relax with relief.

"If we don't get out of this.. I.."

"Just spit it out, Dojima-san."

Ryotaro's breath hitches, and he closes his eyes tight before he turns to look at Tohru with a determined expression.

"It was you, Tohru. It is you. You've been.. You've been there for me. You've been my sanctuary."

Tohru goes silent, pale as a sheet. His face is drawn in a wide expression, mouth agape.

It's Akira that drags him out of the Velvet Room by the hand - along with an oddly quiet Yukitaro - but Ryotaro knows he understands.

The white-hot flare in his chest, and the way his Persona shifts to meet the new declaration he has made, shows him he made the right choice.


Once they get up Yaldabaoth's Domain, the fight against Yaldabaoth himself - even with the ample healing and resources given to them by the Velvet Room - is no slouch. Yaldabaoth cuts a rather horrendous figure; made up of sharp, jagged geometries, it stares down each and every one of the Thieves with nothing short of concentrated spite. It holds many arms, a swirling halo around its head.

Their new Personas help, the ones they gain during the fight.

Take Ryotaro's new Persona, Sarutahiko. A bipedal wolf-man, clad in traditional daimyo armor and holding a Japanese broadsword. Its neck is covered in all sorts of traditional amulets and ruler's regalia. When it laughs, smoke and fire and lightning pour from its jaws in a terrifying symphony. It leaps up at one of Yaldabaoth's many arms and bellows out a black cascade of thunder, shattering the arm altogether.

Yaldabaoth shakes slightly, and then bellows out the sort of words preceding a massacre:

THAT IS IT… I WILL NOT HOLD BACK ANY LONGER… YOU SHALL ALL HIT YOUR LIMIT, STARTING NOW.

Its thin and spider-like arms lift up, an emanation of energy beginning to form in its grasp.

The Phantom Thieves of Heart all collectively brace themselves, both Akira's team and Tohru's alike.

The energy that launches out indeed sends them to their very limit. All at once, the Thieves fall to their knees. They've already been healing up as best as they can, but their injuries are grave and the attack has done them no good favors. Makoto spits up blood, coughing. Yukitaro trembles, eyes haunted. Ryuji hisses, grabbing the gash along his chest with wide eyes. Ryotaro's breath has become even more labored than usual.

But Tohru Adachi pulls out his phone, fumbling with it.

"Electronics.. don't work in this world.. dumbass!" Akira hisses, staring at Tohru. "Now put it away! We have to.. We have to do something, or we're going to.."

"What does it LOOK like I'm doing? I'm trying to contact them, the Velvet Room, Margaret, Philemon.. We had a deal, we had a plan!"

"WHAT? And you didn't bring this up at the plotting meeting?" Ann snaps.

Tohru smiles one of his venomously passive-aggressive grins. "I didn't even think we were going to have to use it.."

Ryotaro lets out a sharp exhale of breath as he yells, in a familiar disgruntled tone, "ADACHI! WE'RE LITERALLY ABOUT TO DIE AND YOU LEAVE THIS OUT?"

"Just let me do this.."

He texts the words to Margaret, the ones he'd agreed upon as the codeword for this little contingency plan of his - Fire, walk with me.


Margaret receives the message. The Velvet Room does not discriminate between how messages are sent, only that they are conveyed. She shivers, stumbling into the wall.

"Margaret," Igor asks, "what troubles you so?"

At that moment, something snaps inside her, and she throws her book from her hands into a wall. She grabs both sides of her head, grinding her teeth.

"It is not as it should be. Nothing is as it should be. Not this scenario. Not the people inside it. And especially not the Jester. His influence, the ways in which Philemon has assisted.. It is a perversion of the highest order, Master! The Jester holds memories he should not, acts as he should not, acts in ways unnatural. Even how he influences others makes them act in the most uncharacteristic ways!"

She grips her hair, throwing her head back. "And he asks me to break the laws of my station for him! This damnable Fool is nothing but a turncoat among the court, poison inside the bloodstream corrupting everything I know, even up to humanity's own embodiment of virtue! No, I will not assist in his plan, I will not assist him in anything!"

Igor looks behind her, eyes ballooning wide. "Margaret.."

"NO! No, you will not dissuade me from this. For the sake of Narukami, for the sake of my dearest siblings, I will cast away my station if Philemon himself dares command me to assist that wretched, hungry creature that seems to dominate people's minds and souls so utterly!"

Igor goes white as the sun. "M-Margaret, behind you."

She bares her teeth, slamming her hands down on the table. She thrusts her face into Igor's personal space, bloodshot eyes and sharpened nails. "WHAT. IS. IT."

She whirls around, and the pressure from the room seems to weigh heavier on her shoulders than ever before. Teeth bared and eyes livid, she stares into the even more horrific force of an absolutely infuriated Philemon.

The air about him chills her skin so thoroughly she swears she's getting frostbite.

His gaze stares down at her with unspoken invectives and damnations so potent her breath cuts itself off in her throat. There is something awe-inducing about it, inspiring such terrifying anger in the master of her master.

"I strip you of your position, Margaret. I want nothing more than to see you out of my sight."

Her body begins to shake. Tears begin to flow from her eyes as she tries to grab at his hands, whimpering excuses, but one gesture from him and she finds herself frozen in place.

All he says are simple words made chillingly cold by his very presence: "I cannot afford you standing in the way of my plan to subdue the Crawling Chaos."

He picks up the book and for one moment, the Velvet Room glows so bright it nearly unspools itself from the sheer energy Philemon has emitted. Margaret falls to her knees and watches in utter horror. People are contacted, plans are set in motion, and all at once, Philemon achieves what Margaret could not.


Tohru's hands shake. They have been dodging further attacks from Yaldabaoth. It has been five minutes. His eyes are eerily calm given the horrifying situation, and the sinking in realization that the Velvet Room will not help him.

The Velvet Room will not help him - his plan has failed.

Those words echo in his head, and he finds himself falling to his knees with laughter that grows ever louder.

Ryotaro pauses, running over to him and trying to place a hand on his shoulder. "Tohru, what's wrong.."

Tohru turns on him with hungry eyes - yellow eyes, eyes he stared at Yu Narukami with in anger and hatred and fear - and he snarls out: "SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! YOU IDIOTIC WHORE!"

Quick as a flash he pulls out a gun, placing the barrel to Ryotaro's forehead, and in an instant many of the others in the Thieves are dodging Yaldabaoth's attacks to run over to Tohru. "A-Adachi-san, stop this!" Akira yells, but Tohru turns the gun on him.

Tohru's voice comes out wrong - not exactly that of a Shadow's, but wrong in that it's filled with a twinge of anger too potent: "My plan failed, Akira.. My plan failed, so what good is this all? We'll all die here. Why not die by my hand, quick and easy, instead of a god's?"

Ryotaro stares into Tohru's eyes, taking a step closer. "Tohru, this isn't you.."

Tohru fires off a shot right at his feet. "Don't.. fucking test me. I'll do it. I'll kill you all."

Ryuji is the one to point it out: "Uh, guys? I think the floor is.."

Tohru looks down. The floor under them appears to be taking on a familiar swirling pattern, the kind he's seen over and over..

Under them, a portal is forming.

Tohru Adachi looks up, then down, then back up again.. and then he throws his head up towards the heavens with a smile, calling out in utterly demented glee: "THANK YOU, PHILEMON!"


It's not just the Thieves who fall into this portal, but Yaldabaoth himself.

As a matter of fact, Yaldabaoth can sense the instant change in the air, the feeling as if his power has been greatly dampened, the way the skies shift from a normal hue to a bloody red.

When his perception clears, he finds himself surrounded by a throng of Persona users - not just the Thieves, but two more groups, each as strong as the Thieves if not more. He is in the distorted facsimile of a town - the town of Yaso-inaba.

As they're fighting their way up Yaldabaoth's Palace, Tohru had mentally reviewed his impulsive plan. He'd received everybody's contacts in his phone - all of the people he knows from the Phantom Rebellion. He'd realized the Metaverse manifests incredibly similar to the Midnight Channel, what with how often the famous manifest Palaces inside it. He'd known the complete, utter control he held over Magatsu-Inaba like the back of his hand.

Yaldabaoth looks upon the throng of Persona-users, and in the crowd he sees Tohru Adachi - he feels Tohru Adachi's energy. Tohru has gained his new Persona, Izanagi-no-Mikoto, and right now he's riding the high. Tohru Adachi looks that god in the eyes - a king in his domain, forcing a god to their metaphorical knees and commanding them to kiss the king's ring, go right ahead.

Tohru Adachi chuckles. Yaldabaoth knows he's been more than outplayed at that moment - he's been put in checkmate.

Tohru throws his head back and makes the vital command: "SHADOW OPERATIVES, INVESTIGATION TEAM, PHANTOM THIEVES.. THREE! TWO! ONE! FIRE!"

Yaldabaoth can't even muster up the power to scream when the concentrated, most powerful attacks of that throng hit him, tearing his very life away. Someone must have put him to this - someone must have placed him in this very position.

But it's too late for Yaldabaoth, the pawn amidst all pawns, and he knows that clearer than ever. He lets out a bellow as his very essence is ripped apart in Magatsu-Inaba: "I WAS CHEATED.. I WAS PLAYED…!"

And as the corpse of a god falls, his body dissolves into a torrent of black butterflies. They surge up into the air, the wicked laughter of something further sinking through the air. The minute it hits Tohru's ears, holding the familiar snake-rattle quality of Not-Takuto, he knows this will not be the end of it, this will never be the end of it.


They are thrust from both the Midnight Channel and the Metaverse, ejected onto the streets of Shibuya. They all seem to fall in a heap, Operative, Investigator and Thief alike all falling on their feet.

When they realize what happened, there is celebration. People hug each other, kiss each other in those streets.

Tohru Adachi and Ryotaro Dojima, for example, look each other right in the eyes after Ryotaro's helped Tohru to his feet.

"Tohru," Ryotaro begins, but it's cut off by Tohru grabbing Ryotaro by the shoulders and pulling him into a kiss on the lips, a kiss so oddly tender Ryotaro can't help but melt into it.

Yukitaro Adachi finds Akira Kurusu in the crowd. He's looking up at the sky, chuckling slightly. "Hey, Akira.. Before we fought Yaldabaoth, you made me a promise. We had a deal."

"I suppose we did, huh." Akira looks down, clearing his throat. He smiles a little, turning towards Yukitaro.

"Well, how about this. We introduce ourselves again. Start over. Turn around, Yukitaro."

"What?" Yukitaro's brow furrows, and at that moment, he looks the striking image of his father.

Akira chuckles again, one of his elusive and charming chuckles.

"I said turn around, Yukitaro. Trust me."

So Yukitaro turns around. "Ok, you can turn back now," Akira sighs.

Yukitaro turns around to see Akira outstretching his hand with a grin.

"Hey, I'm Yukitaro Adachi."

"I'm Takashi Kido. It's.. it's nice to meet you, Yukitaro Adachi."