"Freaking Phantom Thieves of Hearts, my left butt-cheek…" Akira grumbled as he crouched from atop one of the nearby rooftops, sniper rifle scope in hand sans the actual sniper rifle. Within the Sea of Souls, Odin and Ongyo-Ki stood at the ready.
Huginn and Muninn, fragments of Odin and therefore fragments of Akira flittered through the dark distorted skies of Madarame's Palace, weaving and bobbing through gales as they traced the path of the Phantom Thieves. Huginn stood perched in the rafters where Rem would inevitably be lowered down via the cable above the now manifested treasure while Muninn was perched on the rooftop of Madarame's Palace near the distorted exit at the very top where the Phantom Thieves would inevitably escape to.
"You couldn't have just wait one day, just one day!" Akira hissed to himself, annoyance bubbling in his chest before he quickly squashed it down. He let out an aggrieved sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose just beneath the black-mask he wore as he shook his head.
In the Sea of Souls, Odin shook his head in disapproval of his actions while Ongyo-Ki was indifferent.
"Yeah, yeah…" Akira muttered, waving away the imaginary but truthfully all-too-real disapproving look he was receiving as he focused on Huginn as the one-half of the twin ravens noticed Rem tearing through shadows just a few levels below it as they made their way up to the control room.
Akira knew that there was a Safe Room just adjacent to the control room so why was Rem killing Shadows? Was she grinding them?
RED
Akira clutched at his head as the sound of a jail cell slamming open tore through his mind, causing a sharp gasp to leave his mouth in surprise. He wasn't the only one as his entirety of the Sea of Souls roiled in confusion.
"Wh-What?" Akira gasped out as he cradled his head. It wasn't painful… just surprising and unexpected. All of his Personae were in different states of confusion but there was one that stood out above them.
The Ultimate Persona of the Star Arcana rose above the rest of his brethren.
He felt as the left side of his rib burned, Akira quickly scrambling to remove the holster for Tyrant Pistol, and the pistol itself as it began to glow a hot-red. A gloved hand held it within his grasp, watching as the winged pistol glowed before Lucifer disappeared from his Sea of Souls leaving an empty void behind.
"What the-?" Akira sputtered as he looked at his pistol, the Tyrant Pistol beyond rhyme or reason was stronger in his grasp while Lucifer was missing. The hand not holding the Tyrant Pistol flew into his back pocket and withdrew the compendium, the pages flipping to the Star Arcana by themselves, a single entry blazing to life as Akira summoned Lucifer from the compendium and the void was filled once more.
Akira sagged in relief as he was whole once more. "So… wanna explain what that was?" Akira asked aloud, the question directed inwards while the rest of his Persona looked at the Ultimate of the Star expectantly.
The Red called for Greater Power. The Star answered the call.
Thou hast been bestowed upon with thy power once more.
Lucifer rumbled within the depths before falling silent.
"So… red… weird things happen. Good to know…" Akira rubbed his temple and the newest thing in this world to be on the lookout for. So, if he wasn't bleeding out and near a prison cell; chances are weird shit was happening that would affect his Persona.
"I swear this reality is a mess…" Akira groused as he allowed himself to reconnect with Huginn; only to find that-
"Oh, fucking hell!" Akira growled as he noticed that alarms were blaring throughout the inside of the museum while the Treasure was gone. "You couldn't have let me know earlier?" he asked rhetorically as he severed the connection to Huginn and connected with Muninn outside. The whole thing with the red had left him more than frazzled.
Muninn took to the skies as it circled the gaudy golden statue that was the holder of Madarame's Treasure, or at least, it was until Rem and company had stolen it was were now somehow in the courtyard, most likely through one of Madarame's distorted teleportation doors.
Akira disconnected from Muninn and dismissed the twin birds, the two of them returning to Odin within the Sea of Souls while Akira leaned over the side and watched as Morgana took the front. The heritor of hope was looking quite ridiculous with a purple clothed painting held over his back, it's entire length large than his body. The rest of the Phantom Thieves, Rem, Ryuji, Ann, and their newly added Yusuke taking up the rear.
Mona was getting angsty, wanting to look at the treasure and it wasn't long until the Velvet Room attendant gave in and unravelled the Treasure in the centre of the courtyard. Only to reveal that it wasn't a Treasure at all but a counterfeit.
Akira watched as the electrical fencing rose from the ground, the group jumping away just in time while Madarame strolled into view, two guards at his beck and call.
Ichiryusai Azazel Madarame; the Fallen Angel of Vanity had taken to the stage.
Akira was glad he hadn't brought his rifle, otherwise, he wasn't all too sure he wouldn't have blown Madarame's head off the moment he'd displayed the real Sayuri, the sole memento of Yusuke's mother, a self-portrait displaying the loving gaze of a mother towards her child.
Odin called for blood.
Akira ignored the hounds of war ringing in his head as the Ultimate of the Emperor fell into a blinding rage and uncaring reason, the once wise god-king of Asgard become nothing more than a wild beast baying for blood.
He ignored the blinding headaches as every Arcana moved to shutout the Emperor for the time being. So long as Odin had lost his reason and wisdom, Akira wouldn't be calling upon him.
Maybe it was a mistake for Akira to concentrate inwards rather than outwards as a jagged blade erupted from the right side of his chest. Long since dulled battle instincts whirled to life at full capacity as pain blossomed.
The Ultimate Persona of the Judgement Arcana lost itself in fury.
'Phantom Thief investigation my right ass-cheek!' Akira growled mentally as the blade was torn out; thankfully having missed any vital organs while also passing through the empty space where some of his ribs had once been before they'd been shattered into dust. It didn't change the fact that it hurt like hell.
But Akira had survived the wrath of a god and this only amounted to as much as a flesh-wound. Already, Ishtar was casting a Diarahan from the Sea of Souls, the injury disappearing in a matter of seconds leaving naught but a scar behind.
A black-gloved hand encompassed Goro's head, clutching at his helmet and the black mask with it before hurling him with inhuman strength supported by the Voice of God out of the Palace and into the nondescript streets and buildings that made up their neighbourhood. He needed to remove Goro from the Palace before the two of them inevitably drew the attention of the Phantom Thieves.
Already Akira could hear the sound of fighting begin as they Phantom Thieves fought Azazel. Hopefully, it would mask the sound of the fight that was going to take place. Taking a running jump, Akira landed in the middle of the Metaverse streets of their neighbourhood with little fanfare well over ten blocks away from the Palace proper.
Goro in his Black Mask outfit looked little worse for wear even though he'd crashed through a building before the force of the impact created a trench in the Metaverse's asphalt from where his body had slid through. He did, however, seem more than staggered as he got to his feet, what was likely a concussion already developing.
Akira rolled his eyes as Metatron within his Sea of Souls looked at Goro torn between fury that he'd hurt his master and indignation at his master 's actions against their fated contractor. Metatron relented as it seemed like Goro wouldn't back down, Loki phasing in and out of existence behind him.
"Who are you?!" Goro hissed caustically, crouched low to the ground with a jagged-toothed sabre in hand while he bayed like a rabid animal.
Akira drew Tyrant Pistol and levelled it at Goro. A tiny dancing ice-demon formed at his side without Akira removing his mask. It wasn't wise for Akira to show Goro all of his cards. As much as he loved him like a brother, sometimes you just needed to beat the stupid out of your little brother, or in this case, Akira's sociopathic older housemate.
"Time to die-ho!" Jack Frost greeted as he gave a little dance.
"Are you… mocking me!?" Goro growled as he clutched at his mask before ripping it free, "I just wanted to take you out since you seemed like a good target at the time. But now… now you've just pissed me off!"
Goro's true persona flickered into existence. Laevateinn, a pair of pliers holding a red-hot sword appeared in the air before slamming into the asphalt. Immediately the ground began to bubble from the sheer heat exuding from the blade, too hot to touch safely without the pliers. Atop the pliers, or more accurately, floating atop it in a mockery of sitting was a golden zebra-footed humanoid head to toe in a black and white pattern displaying a lack of loyalty.
Akira couldn't help but notice that Goro truly was a wildcard, more than able to segment parts of his personality so he was true to each and every one of them. The Goro that Akira knew as his housemate was as much a true facet of himself as the Black Mask that stood before him.
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get lost in thoughts. If Goro was here, it likely meant he was trying to go around and kill either the Phantom Thieves or Madarame, or less likely, gather information. Actually, gathering information on the Phantom Thieves was the more likely of the two if he wanted to gain their trust.
"Laevateinn!" Goro roared, the red-hot blade once wielded by the fire god Surt lifting from the liquid asphalt and came careening down at Akira.
Akira watched as it sliced down towards him.
"Ice Age."
Goro sighed as he put down his phone.
What a great friend he was, lying to Akira about investigating the Phantom Thieves. Well… it wasn't exactly a lie so much as it was an omission of the truth. He was technically going to be investigating the Phantom Thieves… just not in an official capacity.
He looked down at the innocuously hand-crafted calling card sitting between two gloved fingers. Shido was ordering for him to investigate possible entities capable of entering the Metaverse and gather information on them for future use. Goro could already tell what Shido was plotting, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts made for an effective scapegoat for every past and future crimes he would and will commit.
The method that the Phantom Thieves has used on Suguru Kamoshida was astonishingly similar to the way in which he himself induced mental shutdowns… and it seemed the PE teacher and now disgraced Olympian wasn't their only target. Their next one was Ichiryusai Madarame, one of Shido's financial backers and it seemed his use was in danger.
"Sir Ichiryusai Madarame, a great sinner of vanity whose talent has been exhausted," Goro muttered to himself as he read the card. Thankfully, rather than being at the precinct, he was currently at home in his bedroom reading it. "You are an artist who uses his authority to shamelessly steal ideas of his pupils," Goro continued reading, "We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth. We will take your distorted desires without fail. From, the Phantom Thieves."
Goro placed the card down at his desk and stared at in contemplatively.
He was beginning to notice the correlation between this calling card and the last one, and while there were some large aesthetic differences between them, they were still following the same vein. They targeted adults or individuals that had committed crimes that were being hidden from the general public.
Additionally, these individuals seemed to have a Metaverse distortion that centred around a single sin. Suguru Kamoshida had been Lust. Ichiryusai Madarame was already stated to be Vanity. Goro himself could think of two more of Shido's associated that had Palaces and also had distortions centred around a specific sin while also fitting the criteria of hiding crimes from the public.
Junya Kaneshiro with Gluttony for money.
Kunikazu Okumura with an ambitious Greed.
And if Goro counted Shido himself who he knew had a Palace… Masayoshi Shido, the Prideful future president of Japan.
Huh… wasn't that a thought?
"The Phantom Thieves of Heart…" Goro muttered as he looked at the card. One change of heart had already been proven successful. If he could find their method as they change Ichiryusai Madarame's… perhaps it was possible to replicate its effect.
…
Dammit.
Goro rubbed the uncomfortable feeling in his chest as he entertained the idea of changing Shido's heart. Not destroying it, but changing it.
And it wasn't all too hard to realise why.
He didn't want to be looked at as if he was a monster… he didn't want Akira to somehow find out the things he'd done from the moment he'd set foot in this house, lived under his roof, and gained his trust.
He didn't want Akira to look at him and only see the monster he really was. Just like he didn't want his mother to know of the murderer her son had become all for the sake of eventually killing one man.
Deep in his mind, Loki growled in discontent. Goro's representation of his malevolence, ill-will and hatred. The part of him that wanted to tear Shido's beating heart out of his chest and crush it in front of him.
But Loki was discontent, not enraged.
Loki liked Akira. Loki was a part of himself, just as much as Robin Hood was. And for Akira… they'd threatened to kill a man and were more than willing to go through with that threat. But to not kill a man and instead force him to confess his sins… to force Shido to confess his sins with his own mouth.
Goro would admit that it held an appeal. Maybe this feeling meant that at the end of this path, Goro would finally find somewhere he belonged. He wanted Akira to be there at that end.
Deep in his psyche, Robin Hood nurtured the budding facet of Goro's self. This bud was unlike Robin Hood's Justice or Loki's Chaos. Loki watched in interest as something was forming aside from just the two Persona.
Goro shook his head. He was getting off-topic. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the address Shido's janitor had supplied as Madarame's atelier. His brow rose as he noticed it was in the exact same neighbourhood as his and Akira's house.
His hand finger hovered for a moment atop the Metaverse application that had appeared on his phone more than three years ago. He thought about it for a moment. To gather information for Shido… a part of him wanted to ignore him… but another… the alluring call of finding and replicating the methods of the Phantom Thieves…
Goro's gloved finger tapped the Metaverse icon.
Please input candidate.
"Ichiryusai Madarame."
Result found. Please input location.
"Madarame's Shack."
Candidate found. Please input keyword.
This one gave Goro pause, but he recalled exactly where the officers at his precinct had found the calling card.
"Ueno Museum and Exhibition Centre."
One of them had to be the keyword.
Candidate found. Beginning Navigation.
"Heh… easy," Goro smirked as the world wavered, his own room dying itself red before falling to dark with an umbral blue. He rose a brow. Nothing seemed all that different to him when he looked around.
He opened the door to his room and looked around. At the end of the hallway from the singular window sitting innocuously allowed vibrant rays of golden light to enter the house. Goro had a feeling he'd be able to find the Palace easily enough.
Goro growled as he made his way through the hallways of the goddamn gaudy structure that situated itself in the middle of his neighbourhood. The Palace of Ichiryusai Madarame was a giant golden plated building, a vain mass of distortions that made it more than evident as to why he'd earned the moniker as the 'great sinner of vanity' from the Phantom Thieves.
Loki's burning sword swiped through the torso of an approaching guard, the building on high alert. The top and bottom half of the Shadow fell to the ground before dissipating into motes of black.
"We have a second intruder! He's wearing a black-mask-urk!" was all the Shadow was able to yell into his walkie-talkie before he was cleaved in half.
Weak shadows were pathetic and had no use in putting in any effort. Goro just allowed Loki free-reign as he made his way through the winding corridors. It didn't take long before Goro found himself in a room full of distorted paintings.
"I… am not doing this," Goro growled as he realised the painting was a labyrinthine structure that required him to enter in order to proceed through the Palace. He chose the easier option of backtracking his way through the Palace and returning to the entrance via the skylight.
Loki stood behind him, readying Laevateinn as he exited. Goro gave a small hop, Loki swinging the flaming sword akin to a bat, the soles of his feet meeting the sword without a single iota of pain before rocketing upwards towards the rooftops and landing with a muted thump.
It was a shame that the Shadow had been able to get a good look at him as it meant the more likely than not, Madarame's Shadow was now aware of him. His feet silently patted against smooth stone as he walked over to the edge and found himself pleasantly surprised to be overlooking a courtyard.
He found himself even more pleasantly surprised when he found himself catching sight of a group more than likely being the Phantom Thieves while the 'great sinner of vanity' gloated before them. Strangely fortuitous, but he would take it.
He crouched behind the ledge, his mask reappearing as Loki faded out of existence, his presence no longer required for the moment.
"I suppose I can grant you a gist before you die – a glimpse of the genuine 'Sayuri'!" Madarame gloated, his distorted voice more than audible even upon the rooftops. It was unfortunate that the Phantom Thieves below weren't as audible.
Goro watched as Madarame revealed some sort of painting towards the Phantom Thieves. "…The 'genuine' Sayuri?" Goro couldn't help but let out as he saw the famed painting. He knew that Madarame was selling counterfeits of the original in order to create a profit but what use did it have in the Metaverse?
Actually, looking closer, this painting seemed more complete than the one that Goro knew of. This 'Sayuri' seemed to be holding a babe in her hands. He noticed the blue-haired one recoil.
"Indeed, it is. This was painted by your mother. It's a portrait of herself. A woman who knew her death was coming painted her last wishes, for the son she would leave behind. That is the truth behind the mystery of 'Sayuri's' expression!" the vain shadow gloated
…
Goro… had never felt this before.
This… anger that raged in his chest. It actually made the rage her felt whenever he thought of Shido pale in comparison. Loki and Robin Hood bayed like wild hounds.
Goro looked a the self-portrait of a mother staring lovingly at her son. This… This son of a bitch took a mother's last gift to her son and turned it into some kind of fucking of profit scheme?!
Goro could feel as red began to consume his vision, a bloodlust filling the air because if this bastard. He didn't know what was happening.
Through the bloodlust, a small noise caught his attention on the rooftops, a dark figure crouching in the shadows overlooking the courtyard and down at the Phantom Thieves.
Goro didn't care who this was or what they were doing but goddamit he needed to stab something!
In moments, he's found himself standing behind the crouched figure, serrated sword raised high before plunging it into the figure's back. Goro shivered in delight, the bloodlust in his veins dulling slightly at the needless violence, shivering once more as he tore the sword free.
The delighted smile on his face turned into once of confusion as the figure didn't keel over like a normal person would or even burst into dark motes like a shadow. Instead, the figure, and in the moonlight was more than easily able to be made out as a male as he stood up, the hole in his coat showing the wounded flesh where Goro's sword had been stabbed through his body re-knitting only leaving traces of a scar.
In the moonlight, Goro was able to take a good look at the figure. He had slicked back raven hair, a black mask with two flat red lenses, a black duster coat, and similarly black clothes covering the entirety of his body. That was the last thing Goro was able to see before a black-clad palm encompassed his vision and he felt his body go weightless.
It was interesting to feel the distinct lack of anything except for gravity pulling you down into the hard-unforgiving earth. He laid there for a moment as his vision blurred, his mind filled with a certain fogginess signifying the onset of a concussion.
Then the bloodlust came rushing back, Loki joining the fray as that bloodlust shot to eleven when the sound of someone landing just a few feet away. Goro staggered to his feet, his serrated sword at his side as he stared down the black figure. He could feel as Loki began to manifest behind him, out of control.
"Who are you?!" Goro growled as he crouched low, sword at his side. The figure didn't say anything but simply levelled an extremely detailed pistol at him. At the figure's side, a small dancing white thing appeared, a grin on its face.
Goro recognised it from Mementos. It was an ice demon. So, this guy was a Persona-user as well
"Time to die, hoe!"
Goro stood still as he processed exactly what the little fucking piece of shit of a Persona had called him. "Are you… mocking me!?" Goro growled as he gathered his wits, looking at the silent black-clad figure and the little dancing piece of soon to be dead shit.
"I just wanted to take you out since you seemed like a good target at the time. But now… now you've just pissed me off!" Goro admitted with a feral yell, both hands reaching up to his black-mask and tearing it free with a roar.
Goro felt as his bloodlust increased, Loki joining the fray. "Laevateinn!" Goro ordered, the red-hot blade once wielded by the fire god Surt lifting from the liquid asphalt and came careening down at the black-figure.
The figure didn't even seem the slightest bit concerned as he watched his approaching demise.
"Ice Age."
The street became hoarfrost, a cold so intense that it turned the buildings and street around them into solid ice. Goro watched shocked as Loki disappeared, his mask re-appearing on his face and extreme mental fatigue entered his mind.
"Wh-What…?" Goro chattered out, the cold seeping into his bones.
Loki… Loki had just been killed. He could still feel the being inside his head but he knew his strongest Persona was extremely weakened. Weak enough that Goro couldn't even summon him. Goro would have slumped if he could but that cold had frozen the very fibres of his clothes solid leaving him trapped in his outfit.
The sound of snow crunching beneath feet echoed through the street, cut out by only the sound of fighting emanating from Madarame's Palace which now that he looked at it was much farther away than he'd realised.
"Wh-Who are you?!" Goro managed to growl out even with the likely oncoming of frostbite and likely death. The black figure continued his approach until he was face-to-face with him, black mask meeting black mask. Beside him, the stupid little ice demon danced in the snow. it had created.
A small smirk appeared on the figure's face. "I… am just a remnant," the figure spoke, voice deep with a timbre that sent shivers up Goro's spine. "As much as I'd have loved to get back at you for this little addition you've added to my body," the figure motioned to the open hole in the right side of his chest, "That's just not my style."
Goro collapsed to the ground as the intense cold disappeared, the buildings that had been turned to ice from the sheer cold also vanishing leaving a large chunk of empty space surrounding them. The mental exhaustion from Loki's death began to set in, his body unable to move.
"I do have to thank you, however," the figure said as he crouched over Goro, withdrawing a small can of something from his pocket, popping it open and taking a sip before setting by Goro's side. "I've been getting a little frustrated with a certain bunch of idiots and I needed to let loose, so I guess… thanks for stabbing me!"
The figure said as he stood up. "That'll give you some energy since I killed your Persona," he waved. "Do me a favour and don't try that again, yeah? I'd hate to have to do more than just kill your Persona. Toodles~" he gave a backwards waved before disappearing.
Goro just laid there for a moment, staring up into the moonlight of Madarame's Palace an exhale of weakness emanating for his mouth as he did so.
Deep in his mind, Robin Hood stared contemplatively at the recovering from of Loki.
Goro barely had the strength to drink whatever the figure had drunk, displaying it wasn't poisonous and in a rare display of wisdom, decided to drag himself home. He was thankful it was less than a block away from where he'd been tossed.
Exiting Palace.
Who knew curb-stomping the ever-living shit out of a physical manifestation of your best friend's mind was so therapeutic? Akira sure hadn't.
Metatron made a keen sound of disapproval at Akira as he returned to his perch. "What? he stabbed me without any warning! The least I could do was kill Loki, besides it's not like they won't recover," Akira waved a hand dismissively. Metatron peered down at him in silent displeasure once more from the depths of his mind, before disappearing.
At least looking down at the Phantom Thieves, it was nice to know they could win a fight without him watching over them. Akira watched began to sob uncontrollably as Yusuke forced him to confess all of his crimes in exchange for his life.
"Wh-What about the other one though? The one with the black mask?" Madarame's Shadow whimpered out.
What.
What?
"Fucking Goro…" Akira let out lowly as he realised Goro was never one for subtly and had probably sliced his way through tons of Madarame's guards while he was here.
"Hm?" Yusuke uttered confused.
But Akira could see as Rem, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana looked at each other in concern. Akira felt a pit appear in his gut.
"You guys don't think he's talking about Remnant… right?" Ann asked.
Ah, fuck-sticks…