"Well, well, well, how disappointing"

Akira knew that voice, the whiny, irritable tone of Caroline, one of the twin wardens of the Velvet room, he knew the rugged feel of the mattress beneath him, he'd awoken here several times and every time he felt groggy, every time his head felt light as he tried to remember what had happened before, why was Caroline so disappointed in him now? Then again, wasn't she always?

He rubbed his eyes and sat up on the bed, to find the familiar sight of Igor gazing back at him, the hunched humanoid, with his wide eyes and his menacing smile fixated in place made Akira feel uneasy. Caroline was scowling as per usual, while Justine looked neutral.

Ignoring the feel of his tatty prison robes, or of the weight clamped around his ankle, he dragged himself towards the bars and clamped his hands against them.

"What I have done?" he asked out of curiosity, his voice was raspy as memories circulated within his system, he'd been facing Ooe, Ooe…"

"Quiet inmate!" Caroline snapped, whacking the bars of his cell, with her all too familiar stick, "How reckless can you be!? How stupid can you be!?"

"Stupid!?"

"Ugh..." Caroline groaned.

"It appears you took a gamble" Justine intervened, speaking much more quietly than her sister "and because of your overconfidence, because of your lack of trust, one of your party has departed from this world".

It took Akira a few seconds for that statement to hit him, before he felt his heart rate accelerate, his fists clench tighter around the bars.

"Someone died!?"

The twins nodded and Igor let out an almost silent chuckle.

"Who!?" He demanded, faces flying through his head, had Akechi attacked the safe-room was Makoto... no. It couldn't have been her, he remembered the battle then, the gasp that escaped him as he realised how easily Ooe's snake-like shadow had defeated him. The battle wasn't done and it seemed likely one of them had perished during the carnage. But who? Ann, Ryuji, Futaba or Sojiro? But it seemed more likely it would be a rookie, Chihaya, Nagisa, Mishima or Ohya, or... or most likely Yoshida, who Joker had seen crushed by the rubble. If it was the middle aged politician that had met his end then... Joker could mourn for him later.

"It's not the one you think, trickster" Igor said helpfully.

Joker felt himself gulp, if it wasn't Yoshida who'd perished, then who had met their end!?

"Then tell me who it was!?"

"That's something you'll have to learn on your own" Igor said "A lesson is to be learnt from your failures, you've formed these bonds. But you've failed them in this world".

"I did all I could, I told them about...!" Akira protested.

"QUIET!" Caroline snapped, whacking his bars once again "Our master has some wise words for you. If you don't want to fall into ruin, you'll heed his advice".

Akira groaned but stayed silent, he knew arguing with Caroline of all people would only be met with more insults, or more outbursts from her, so with much effort on his part he forced his mouth shut and locked eyes with Igor's own.

"You took a terrible gamble, you took responsibility for all of their lives" Igor informed him "You took it upon yourself, a task that cannot be done by a single soul. Yet in your arrogance and overconfidence, you thought you could complete this mission".

"But..."

"There's no if's or but's about it" Igor said "You didn't tell your first group of friends about your other confidants, or what they knew. You kept secrets from them, considered yourself able to handle it all. Now you're out of the picture, how will they trust each other? You're the link that joins them, how will they cope without you, that's what will happen, that's what your worried about, isn't it?"

"No"

"Well I think it is" came a new voice, as someone appeared from behind Igor, a being with yellow eyes and messy black hair just like himself...

No, it was himself.

"Have you forgotten your place, inmate" the shadow Akira snapped at him, walking forward as the twin wardens and Igor remained silent, the shadow version of himself paced outside of his cell, grinning manically to himself.

"I'm going to get myself out of this cell" the real Akira snapped back at his dark counterpart, "I won't be trapped by..."

"Oh please" Dark Akira snarled back at him "You're in there and I'm out here, because I'm truly free! I'm the real you! I'm the awesome leader I know that I truly am! Forget what these guys are telling you, you are capable of doing this".

"I'm... I'm..." Akira couldn't formulate many words at this point, as the dark manifestation of himself grew more malicious in those moments.

"We'll go on, dust ourselves up and save them all and we'll deal with Shido!" his own shadow proclaimed happily "This is personal for you, why are you hesitating and being so humble, think about what we've done! Who we've saved! We've earned this, come on you know your friend Ryuji would tell you exactly the same thing".

That was the disturbing part, because Akira knew it was true.

"Such style and grace and such maturity for someone your age" his shadow said "The ladies love that, she loves it especially".

Akira gulped.

"Whoever died would have wanted us to go anyway" his shadow muttered "They knew the risks and they agreed to it, but that's what you want to tell yourself, that they died for something they chose to believe in. But let's be honest, this is your fight. This has to be perfect for you, you have to be the hero, no one else can be"

Akira was silent now, sweat starting to drip from his forehead.

"No one can die, that's a failure" his shadow self said "You want to be seen as competent, someone who can achieve the impossible. Besides, how can you truly trust anyone after such blatant misjustice was given to you? Your parents didn't care, society didn't care, no one was there to defend you. People you thought you could trust with your lives allowed for you to fall, the woman you tried to save, she reported you. The friends you thought you had in school, they all turned their backs on you, your parents didn't want anything to do with you, your family don't even utter your name at gatherings anymore..."

"Shut up" Akira growled.

"...so why would your new friends do the same for you? After you kept secrets from them? All these bonds you made, their just tools to aid in you getting rid of Shido and getting revenge. Why do you think you're the Joker? The ace card? The leader? You are something special..."

"Stop it..." Akira muttered, he felt like he was being dunked in something cold.

"...No one can be trusted to do this other than you! You're the leader! This is all your... I mean... all of our responsibility!" The shadow mused.

The shadow exploded into a pool of sludge, leaving Akira in shaken silence, which was only broken by Igor's low chuckles once again.

"I... I shouldn't have a shadow, Morgana said those that have Persona's..." Joker began.

"In that palace, even those with Persona's can become...corrupted" Igor informed him.

Akira didn't know what to say, was that really him? His true nature?

"Maybe seeing that will help you prevent your path to ruin, trickster" Igor said.

He became aware in those moments of something pulling him back, he knew he'd soon leave the Velvet room and be faced with his teammates back on the ship, but after being shaken with that encounter, he felt reluctant to leave. He wanted to stay here, in this cell and inquire for answers and...

"What!? are you scared!?" Caroline snapped at him, "You've chosen to walk this path a long time ago, you don't get to stop now"

"You have to see this through to it's ending" Justine added "Only then, can rehabilitation be reached".

He felt himself faltering, the velvet room was slipping away from him, as he was sucked back onto the Arc, the velvet room itself, remaining as another mystery to everyone else except for Akira. Because he knew about it and no one else did it was another thing that made it feel special for him, it wasn't like he could explain the Velvet room to anyone and when he gained or fused new persona's he simply told them all it was an ability he'd found out in Mementos while fighting with his persona's.

Yet this was another thing that made him feel like he was on pedestal to everyone else.

No. He had to stop thinking like that.

That was not a part of him.

"Joker... Joker... Joker..."

A faint, feminine voice, one he quickly recognised as Ann, he sighed in relief, so it wasn't her that had perished then. One of his oldest friends was still up and fighting, with a pained grunt, he pried open his eyes and quickly realised he was in a spotless cabin corridor. The red carpet below him was free of any dust, the walls were still tinged with that awful gold tint and the lights overhead were so bright they were stifling almost, he became aware of how stuffy and warm it was and how silent and sturdy everything seemed here compared to what had happened at the Restaurant.

"Ann" he breathed out slowly, looking at her face, underneath her suit was littered with bruises, he became aware then of how awful his own body felt and how every movement sent a spasm of pain shooting up his legs and arms.

"Codenames remember?" she smiled.

Joker grinned.

"Right, sorry Panther, what happened, where are we?"

"Ooe attacked you" Panther explained, her eyes wide with worry, which wasn't comforting to Joker at all "He then attacked all of us with such a force it sent the floor caving in. We fell through the ship, I was able to put up a shield just in time, that's how we're still alive".

He nodded at this information.

"Just us two?"

"No" Panther said, as another two forms limped over.

"You feelin' better Joker?" Mishima asked nervously, he looked shaken and bruised, but there was still an enthusiastic fire behind his eyes.

"No" he admitted "What about you two, are you ok?" he asked of Mishima and who he realised, was a dishevelled and dusty looking Ohya.

"Fine" Mishima muttered as Ohya groaned and said "I've felt better after the worst of my hangovers".

Joker nearly laughed, but then stopped himself as he realised the gravity of the situation.

"Where are the others Panther?"

"I don't know" she muttered, "I woke up, injured, bones broken and everything. I summoned my persona to heal us all. But then shadows came along to investigate so I had to blast the rubble away we were trapped under and drag us all here. My healing has kept us standing, but we'll need proper medicine Joker. We need to get back to the safe room and find out what happened to the others".

"That's just what I was going to say" Joker replied "Are you okay Panther, you look exhausted"

"I'm..." Panther began "I feel like I can barely move Joker, but..."

"Then you have to rest" he insisted "You got all three of us outta there, you've been healing us. If you carry on you're going to wear yourself out, conserve your strength".

"That's what I've been tryin' to say! Mishima exclaimed "Me and Ohya are fine!"

"Speak for yourself kid" Ohya mumbled massaging her head as she revealed the mangled remains of her camera "Guess I'll need a notebook for the scoop, hey? Even though the cat told me this camera was useless"

Joker smiled "Glad to see neither of you have changed..." he paused there before he continued "But what you did back there, during the battle. It was stupid and it was reckless, you got yourselves taken out by trying to play the hero, don't do it again".

"We were trying to help!" Mishima insisted "Besides you managed too..."

"You are valuable to us" Joker said, more harshly than he intended, which caused Mishima to recoil "I don't want to end up losing anyone else, not... on this ship at all. Understood?"

"Aye captain" Ohya said, mock saluting "So after we've rested up here, my deductive reasoning and analysis as a Journalist tells me we should probably find a staircase upwards."

"I have a map Mona gave me" Joker said, suddenly remembering the thing, as many faces lit up. Only to be downcast once again after the map was revealed to be nothing more than soggy scraps at this point. The black blood that had coated his uniform hadn't caused any permeant damage to it. His costume was a part of himself, so it could be healed. Yet the map was separate and now without it they were truly lost on the lower decks of this ship.

"Could we go back to the hole and climb up..." Joker began.

"I wouldn't have led us away from there if I thought we could do that" Panther informed him "Crowds of shadows were there Joker and we don't have the strength to fight them off".

"I suppose you're right" he said "All we got to do is find our way back to the main lobby, or somewhere near the restaurant and we'll find our way to the safe room."

They began to walk onwards, Joker supported a severely weakened Panther, while Mishima and Ohya tagged behind, there eyes peeled for any sign of shadows. The corridors seemed too quiet to be natural and Joker had the horrible sensation that he was being watched.

"Joker?"

Panther calling out his name drew his attention back to her.

"Yes?"

"Earlier you said you... you didn't want to end up losing anyone else, what did that mean?"

Crap. The others didn't know about the casualty at the moment, they could suspect one but they didn't know for certain and Joker hardly felt like explaining the Velvet room to her, not after all this time. Thinking about it now only reminded him of his own shadow and the things it had told him...he tried to push it to the back of his mind and give a generic answer.

"I don't know I just have a bad feeling" He said "I think after Yoshida was crushed by the rubble he... he... didn't make it..." he finished there, as Panther's eyes remained locked on the ground. But Joker knew it wasn't Yoshida who'd perished unless Igor was lying to him. But he suspected that wasn't the case, so who did that leave? Ryuji. Futaba. Sojiro? He prayed to whatever God was listening that wasn't the case, but he knew the loss of Nagisa or Chihaya would also sting as well. Ryuji couldn't lose his mother and if they lost their fortune teller who'd indirectly saved Queen's life, then they were in trouble. Of course there was also Mona to count, but Joker highly doubted the nimble cat had met his end.

"JOKER!"

There was a slamming noise from behind them, instantly Joker whipped around, the name of any persona on his lips ready to attack, only to see Mishima blindly pulling at a door that refused to open.

"He went in this room, but I can't open this thing...!" he panted.

"Who!?" Joker demanded.

"Some guy in a suit, he was just... watching us...!" Mishima informed him, which only confirmed Joker's earlier suspicions that they were being watched.

"Leave it then" Joker informed him, as he ripped Mishima from the door "We can't afford a fight, not now".

"But, what if he went to get more shadows...?"

"Then let's keep moving before he shows up" Joker told him, as the group hurriedly paced onwards, Joker now more keen than ever to return to the safe room and get his bearings and get them all back on track.

"They've been a while" Fox muttered.

"Well, they have gone to beat a shadow" Noir replied "I just hope everyone gets back safely, especially the newcomers..."

"Indeed" Fox replied, his eyes peeled on the wealthy guests that mindlessly past them by, absorbed in conversations that bored him to tears. The ship itself reminded him of Madarame's palace, due to the sickening, spectacle of smothering everything in repugnant, gold, it made him feel physically ill and the grandiose nature of his palace wasn't artistic for him, but bland and uninspired. Thoughts he'd already shared with Noir who didn't seem all that interested, her mind was clearly elsewhere.

"You've gone very quiet" Fox muttered, finally deciding to address the issue at last.

"I... I can't stop thinking about what's at stake here" she muttered, "Ever since my father died, this... this hasn't been a game too me. There's every chance we could end up dying at any time and I'm just... really thinking about it".

"What a morbid thought" Fox commented "But, we should be fine. So long so as Joker and the others..."

"I'm... maybe I'm overthinking this" Noir said interrupting him "But I feel... Joker might be putting too much pressure on himself".

"What makes you think that?" Fox muttered, too him despite everything that had happened, their leader had kept it together like he'd always done and if anything, he'd be more focused now than ever.

"I don't know, there's just so much going on and so many people to protect now" Noir muttered "He left us here to guard them. But if Akechi appeared now he could easily overpower us. We'd go down fighting but we'd still die and... and I have to start thinking about... what would happen if I did go? Do you think there's something on the other side? That all of this was worth it? That my father... despite his flaws, will he be there? Does he deserve to be there?"

Fox's head was spinning from all the existential questions being asked of him, before he could answer a troubled Noir, the door behind them opened and the pale-faced Kawakami emerged from it.

"The conversation is getting weird in there, I had to leave" she muttered.

"So you came out to me?" Fox inquired, raising an eyebrow as Noir (troubles temporarily forgotten) chuckled into her hand, as the teacher at her school, smiled at Yusuke.

"Yes, I just want to know..." she muttered, casting her eyes wildly around before they rested on some nearby guests "...have you erm… heard anything unusual, or seen anything yet?"

"Nothing" Fox confirmed "It's all very dull and..."

"WE'VE GOT INJURED!"

The door was slammed open, causing Iwai, Takemi, Karou and Hifumi to turn instantly and see what was going on, Makoto and Sae remained passed out on the opposite beds, as an exhausted looking Yoshida dropped an unknown man in the middle of the room.

"Tie him up, do something with him!" he yelled at Iwai who was closest.

"We need meds! They need treatment!" Chihaya yelled, at Takemi, whose eyes widened, to see that Sojiro back was bloodied and torn up, Chihaya herself was bleeding and her clothes torn, she'd need treatment as well as poor Futaba who didn't look in the best of shape and was unconscious. Yoshida himself let out an exhausted sigh and wheezed to himself, as he sat on the edge of the bed, the others had been playing Shogo on recently.

"Hang on, did you get a persona!?" Karou observed, noticing the politician's change in attire, yet (now drained of all strength) Yoshida's persona and clothes disappeared, as Iwai got to work in binding the mystery man, Hifumi felt herself sweating in panic at what was going on.

"What's happening!?" she exclaimed in the sudden rush, as Kamakami, Yusuke and Haru entered the room and began to help a flustered Takemi handle the sudden influx of the injured. Mona slipped in unnoticed as the chaos reigned and treatment was given.

"She's gone..."

Hifumi was in disbelief, it took a while for everyone to settle down and hear what had happened first hand from Mona. When Sojiro had been stabilised and the others all treated for, it left the survivors to hear the horrible news, that the first of their party had fallen and the others separated. Hifumi herself didn't know Nagisa too well, but she seemed like a kind and brave woman, she was the stranger to all of them. The casualty that should have affected them the least, yet the heavy silence spread around her allies was tangible, it made the air feel heavy itself and it wasn't only Nagisa's death that was bringing their spirits down.

"Akira, Ann, the Journalist and the fanboy got separated from us?" Iwai inquired "and that Ryuji kid... is... God knows where?"

"He could be with them, he could be separated I don't know" Mona answered "Chihaya saw what happened, she told me"

"We should go back when we're recovered and try too..." Takemi began.

"The place is crawling with shadows and they'll have moved on by now" Mona said "Trust me, I know they're alive. But... but..."

"You can't be certain about that, can you?" Chihaya said nervously "I know what I saw Mona, and I saw the Phantom thieves beat".

"Beaten after only obtaining one of the five letters" Yoshida mumbled sadly, still exhausted and holding up the letter itself which had remained intact, despite the carnage "I thought my persona unleashing was triumphant, yet now I realise I only managed to beat an weakened form of Ooe".

"Don't be so down on yourself, none of us would have gotten out if it wasn't for you" Chihaya said, offering him a compliment which he smiled at.

"Speaking of Ooe, what are we supposed to do about him?" Iwai growled "The bastard killed one of us"

"and we can't kill him, or Shido will know..."

"Does it matter though?" Takemi interjected "Shido knows we're in his palace already and when that asshole wakes up he'll start taunting us, someone is going to snap. In fact If I was Ryuji, I'd kill the guy that killed my mother".

"Then maybe we should tape his mouth shut or something" Kawakami suggested nervously.

"But he's still alive, he'll still mumble" Iwai commented darkly "We can end him".

"We are not killers!" Haru piped up hotly, surprising everyone "If you kill his shadow like that, you'll cause a mental shutdown, the same thing that killed my father! I won't let it happen to anyone else!"

"You're right" Karou said, supporting her "Dad, killing isn't the right thing to do, surely you know that by now?"

"I know, I just..." he sighed there "I don't think you're realising the implications of this. Someone always has to be guarding this saferoom, because Akechi is still prowling about and he could just wander into here and finish Ooe off along with anyone else we capture".

"Capturing them all, isn't wise" Takemi agreed "I've just used a ton of meds on Sojiro and the others and that was after one battle, it might be better to end it and spare our lives rather than the shadows".

"But killing is…" Haru piped up again.

"I don't know Noir" Yusuke muttered "I know it's wrong to kill. But if it's between us or them, who are you going to choose? If it was between saving you and Ooe, I know I'd save you, it will certainly not be subtle and Shido will notice his confidants falling, but..."

"It's better than us" Noir said sadly "I know, but I just can't agree to it".

"Plus, we'd be failures as Phantom Thieves if we ever got into that situation" Mona boasted.

"Which you just did" Iwai pointed out "You got beaten".

"Well, we'll be prepared next time..." Mona said nervously.

"Prepared my ass" Iwai growled "We were prepped and as ready as we'll ever be, before we started and people are dying..."

"You knew the risks and you agreed to it" Mona shot back.

"Wasn't like we had another choice however" Takemi said, backing up Iwai in his argument "We could hide, but let's be honest. Shido would have found us and I remember trusting Joker to do this. No offence to the rest of you, but I barely know you".

"I would like Akira back" Hifumi admitted quietly "I know everyone here is great, but... he's the glue that holds us together".

"This is wrong" Noir muttered "This is what I'm taking about Fox, we can't keep all relying on Joker to solve our problems, it's too much pressure on him. Why don't we use this as a chance to organise ourselves and learn to work together!? Despite everything we still have that first letter, we need to focus on getting the second".

"I'm not going to lie, that feels like a daunting prospect" Kawakami admitted "and how are we going to find it? In case you haven't noticed, half the party is missing, one is dead, the others are injured..."

"We'll rest up and decide our next move" Mona said "When Queen and Judge have recovered we'll have some numbers to go scout for the second letter and have some people back here ready to defend the safe-room".

"It might give time for the others to return to safe-room as well" Hifumi said hopefully, as Noir rolled her eyes. They were all so dependant on Joker and she couldn't see this ending well for any of them, if they carried on with this mindset.

"I don't like the thought of sitting around my ass again" Iwai growled.

"Well, unless you have a better idea, that's what we're doing for now" Mona muttered.

Iwai sighed, but found his voice once again.

"I know some people on the outside" he said "They're not the best of people admittedly, but they can hide you like no-one else if you don't wanna be found" he informed them all "I can head back the real world, contact them and get anyone out who..."

"and then head back in yourself?" Takemi predicted correctly "I'm sorry gun-boy but that's not happening".

"But... Karou I..." he began desperately.

"Forget it Dad, I've already said..." Karou began.

"This isn't about what you want" Iwai snapped back at him "You saw what happened to Nagisa and her son didn't you?"

"Well no, I wasn't there" Karou argued back with some sass.

"Well you just heard about it then," Iwai muttered.

"She gave her life for her son" Chihaya said quietly, before she faced the pair of them "Listen Karou, you might disagree with what your father is about to say, but just listen to him regardless".

Karou sighed and allowed the owner of untouchables to speak onwards.

"I won't be able to concentrate on the battlefield if you're there and you could get yourself killed, I could get myself killed" Iwai muttered "Karou, actually think about this. This isn't some cool game, or all of us trying to play the hero. Someone is dead. More of us will probably die, and it's time you thought about your own safety and future".

"I won't have much a future if Shido takes over" Karou replied "That's my take on this dad and nothing you say will convince me otherwise"

Father and son store each other down.

"It's admirable certainly" Yoshida interjected "But, young man, think about what your father is saying here, you don't have to feel obligated to stay. Or even you..." he said suddenly turning to Hifumi "Adults dealing with this are one thing, but children and teenagers..."

"We've been handling this just fine" Yusuke said "Yes, someone is dead, but we knew the risks and when we entered this palace we all agreed to it. That first brush with Akechi should have made you aware of it all".

"We were aware of it certainly, but none of us died" Takemi said "Look, my job here is too help people, Both physically and mentally and Nagisa was like the outsider of this group and if her death has affected us this much, then what's going to happen if someone else dies? Morale will go down and we have limited numbers to do this".

"Look we suffered a setback, but if we carry like this we going to die, that's for sure" Haru said passionately "So what if everything didn't go to plan? So what if death is a big risk, the other palaces you may have had a chance. But in this one, I can't guarantee all of your safety, we as Phantom Thieves are new to this palace as well, it's the most dangerous one we've encountered, but we're not giving up and neither should you".

A short silence followed this speech.

"Well, you certainly have a healthy mindset" Takemi eventually said "Let's just... not be reckless. Okay?"

"I understand" Haru said.

"and for now, I think resting up Is all we can do" Yusuke added.

"I agree" Mona said "We might not be Joker, but we can make this work out, we can still do this".

This was followed by a collective nod from the group, they'd suffered their first loss and it had made many of them weary, anxious and somewhat afraid to venture onwards. Hifumi herself thought of it as a game of Shogo, a piece had been taken from Shido, at the cost of one of their own. The first move had been made and casualties had been made on both sides, she couldn't predict the future, but judging from this alone, she knew one thing for certain.

This was going to be a close game.

A/N: So um... hi. A bit awkward seeing as it's been in nearly two years since the last update, when I said at the end of my last author's note the next chapter would be a while I didn't think it would be this long... yeah let's just say life got busy for me. But with Lockdown and everything, I've finally found the time to continue this fic once again after re-reading it I realised how much people loved it and I generally liked writing it, so I'm back again.

I realise many readers may have moved on by this point, but if you do come back, welcome! This fic is back in business, now for some obvious questions, yes I'll try to update at the most once a week, at the very least once a month depending on how busy or quiet things are.

As for the characters in Royal, lets say that will be changed for canon, Kasumi and Maruki will feature eventually but let's just say in this fic the canon events of Vanilla persona 5 have gone ahead. Next chapter will shed some more light on these two, but don't expect them to be massive influences. In this fic Shido is out for anyone who is close to Joker, I could get away with it for Shinya, but too suddenly have Joker "remember" Sumire and Maruki at this point would make no sense at all. So in short, they are too good to not use in this fic, but they are nowhere near as close to Joker as they were in Persona 5 royal at this point.

In fact while I enjoyed royal, it made me feel like this fic was outdated and I'd just leave it to rot, but I have found a way around that issue now and I hope you all like where it goes. Anyway thanks for reading hope you liked this waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy overdue chapter, and I'll see you next time!