A New Route

by Nevermore-the-Dragon-Sings

Something strange happens after Sayori is deleted. Now she's fallen into a new environment with no clue how she's gotten there. Luckily, a seemingly harmless detective has her back. Soon a new mystery arises, connections are made, and Sayori has to decide. Who should she trust? Unfortunately, not everything is as it seems.

74. Chapter 73

I own nothing.

The Phantom Thieves all stood in the entrance to Mementos, glancing down the dark staircase, unable to fully process what they were about to do. Where would they even go? In the end, would they really be able to bring themselves to do it? No one bothered to hide how terrified they were as they kept glancing over to Valiant, who glanced back at them with a smile that was meant to be reassuring.

Fox felt his phone unexpectedly vibrate in his pocket, taking it out and glancing at it, knowing it wasn't supposed to work in the Metaverse. What he saw surprised him. "Hey, check out the Nav." Everyone quickly got out their phones to see that they too had gotten the strange notification.

"The door to the depths of Mementos has been opened…" Panther read aloud, looking at everyone with wide-eyed confusion. "Wait, does that mean-"

"...We're really gonna do this, right?" Mona cut in, looking at everyone sternly. When they all nodded, his eyes softened as he looked back at Valiant once again. "Valiant… Are you really still sure?"

"There's no other choice…" Valiant replied, sighing to herself and smiling back at everyone once again. "Don't back out now, when we're already so close… I'm the one that's going to be most affected by what might happen… and I'm okay with it."

"I don't think any of us will ever be able to accept the thought of you dying…" Noir said softly, walking over and taking Valiant's hand into her own. "You're sure that this isn't because you still want to… you know…?"

Valiant shook her head, absolutely sure of herself when she said it now. "If there was a better option… I would be the first to want to do it. I don't want to die… I'm just… prepared for it to happen."

"Valiant… Even if this fixes the public's cognition… How could you think doing this is worth your life?" Joker asked, his voice cracking painfully as the girl closed her eyes tightly. It feels like a stab in the back… to Sayori and to Goro. By doing this, we're killing her… I don't want her to die because of us…! She has as much a right to live as everyone else… And if I can't protect Sayori now… I would be letting Akechi down more than if I let Shido walk free… More than anything, Akira hoped they would be able to find a way to prevent Sayori from disappearing.

"I know you're thinking about him, too, Joker… My life meant more to him then his own… My life means a lot to you guys, too… It means a lot to me… but right now my life is a small price to pay to reveal the truth… In a way, my life is my greatest weapon. I'll use it to steal the Treasure in Mementos! I'll use it to help the public realize what is the truth, and what is the lie…" Valiant smiled and winked, hugging herself. She was terrified on the inside… but she could convince herself of what she was saying, just by talking to her friends.

"We decide what our life is worth through our actions…" Queen mused, resting her chin on her fist, nodding thoughtfully. "How fitting for a noble thief... "

"And for us!" Mona exclaimed, turning in a circle to address everyone. "Alright… If we're all sure, then let's get going!" The cat turned back around and ran through the entrance to Mementos.

Everyone gave a shout of agreement and began to run through as well. Oracle went into her UFO and hovered in place for a few seconds.

"Mona sure seems hyped up!" The navigator observed, tapping a few buttons around the complex Persona and pulling Sayori's drive out of her pocket. "While we make our way down there… I'm also going to work on digging around in the flashdrive… Maybe I'll be able to find something that could help Valiant…"

"Good luck," Fox said, his voice kept cold as he refused to let his hopes get too high. The two also crossed through the entrance to Mementos, with only Panther and Noir left.

"Say…" Noir observed, "Isn't Mona-chan behaving… a little odd?"

"You know, you're right…" Panther agreed, remembering how he had also wanted the thieves to confirm they were really going to do this heist. "We've been so caught up with Valiant that I almost missed it… Mona is acting strange, too."

"Yeah…" Noir trailed off, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"..." Panther went silent, stressed as she once again worried her teammates knew something she didn't. She wondered if they were keeping what might happen to them away from her… to spare her feelings.

"I shouldn't have brought that up. Shall we get going?" Noir stated, trying to smile, though it felt uncomfortable on her face. Panther nodded, and the two ran down the stairs, trailing after the other thieves.

No one noticed the light blue glow in the corner of the room, on the opposite end of where Joker's Velvet Room normally sat.

---

What most of the Phantom Thieves didn't know was that to get to the bottom floor of Mementos, Joker had used teleportation to place them there. Because of this, they had skipped going through the floors in the middle, and thus, had not seen Goro Akechi or Monika, sitting on the floor of one of the safe areas, nibbling on some of the snacks Monika had gotten from her most recent excursion into "the real world," which was said with air quotes for the benefit of Goro, who was still processing the truth he had been told only a few days before.

"How do your injuries feel?" Monika asked, searching through a pile of items she had either found in the Metaverse, or bought from the stores she knew the player often frequented. Her skin prickled with the sense that they were no longer alone, and sighed. Whether they healed on their own or with healing items, Goro would want to be ready to go soon, with what Monika was about to tell him.

"The feel… manageable," the detective answered, looking up at the girl, eyes laced with suspicion. "Why…?"

Monika closed her eyes, trying to focus on that familiar prickle in the back of her mind, and nodded. She had been right. "Well… Sayori is here in Mementos, along with the rest of the Phantom Thieves."

"What?" Goro got up onto his feet and staggered over to look at the tracks, causing Monika to sigh.

"They most likely teleported, so they're already below us."

"Wha…?" The boy rubbed his forehead tiredly, exhausted from the constant mental gymnastics his brain had been forced to do since he woke up. He walked back to where he had been before and slumped against the floor, sweat making his bangs stick to his forehead as his black armor chafed at his skin. He had been wearing it for weeks, apparently, with no opportunity to bathe, and the unfortableness of it had flared up the moment the possibility he would be meeting other people had come up.

"I figured I should tell you… I didn't say anything yesterday because I wasn't sure what to make of it, but Shido's men are protecting his reputation with an effectiveness that is almost scary… The public is refusing to acknowledge what Shido has confessed, too," Monika frowned as her hands fell into a resting position on her lap. "And yesterday, Sayori was arrested… for your disappearance."

Goro went pale, panic immediately seizing him as bile rose in his throat. The voice of reason in his head was too quiet to hear, trying and failing to tell him that Monika had just said she was with the rest of the thieves in Mementos, so obviously she wasn't being imprisoned anymore. He shook his head and tried to rid himself of the panic and anger as his impulses were egging him on. His self control was almost gone at this point, and Sayori getting arrested for his disappearance, which Monika had perpetuated, was close to being the final straw.

"Why didn't you take me to the hospital?!" He asked, even though he knew Monika would only give the exact same answer she had already given. "I never wanted or needed your protection! You should have been focusing on helping Sayori!"

"I am!" Monika shouted back. "I'm telling you this because we both have an opportunity to help!"

Goro was still for a second, trying to calm down and take deep breaths. Monika watched him, frustrated as she was forced to wait once again for him to calm down. These past few days, they had both realized how much of an effect Loki's spell had taken on him. By driving himself psychotic, Goro had wrecked his brain, making him impulsive and enraged at the drop of a pin. For Monika, she imagined this must be what it's like to take care of a toddler.

"...Go on. I'm listening…" Goro said, breathing heavily and keeping his eyes trained on the ground.

"Alright," Monika said, turning towards the train tracks of Mementos. "Well, the Phantom Thieves are down here to steal the Treasure of Mementos. By doing that, the distortions within the general public will be lifted, and they'll finally see Shido for what he really is… But for us, it will come at a cost. By removing the core of Mementos, they will destroy Mementos, and all of the potential Palaces that grow from within it-"

"The glitching!" Goro shouted almost immediately. "Are they insane?! What about Sayori? She'll die!"

A sly smile formed on Monika's lips, as she knew something that Goro didn't. "Actually, that's not the case. While Sayori may disappear from this world forever, along with me, and our other two friends who are here with us… None of us will be dying."

"How can that be?" Goro asked, reviewing the information that he did know in his head. "What will happen to you guys, then?"

"Well, to understand that, I need you to understand something else…" Monika said, tilting her head up proudly. "There's a reason for everything that I've done, even more so than it might already seem… In truth, when I first came here, I discovered that Sayori… that all of us were already in danger of disappearing from existence. Just by digging around in this game's files, I found out that there is… something hiding here, in the very fabric that this game is made of. It knows that Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, and I don't belong here, and like an antivirus, it's been trying to delete us from the game ever since it detected us… And I noticed, by watching Sayori and you, that this thing… this entity has an interest in keeping you and Sayori from deepening your bond."

"None of this is making it sound like Sayori won't die when Mementos collapses…" Goro muttered, even as his muddled brain went over the information he had just been told. An entity…? It wanted to keep Sayori and I from becoming close… What kind of entity would…? Wait, could it be…?

"Let me continue," Monika chastised. "While you were all busy with your own problems, I have been trying to find out more about it, and how to keep myself and my friends safe. It was easy for Natsuki, Yuri, and I. They were still… inactive when we arrived here. They were basically in a coma. All I needed to do was hide them somewhere safe, where the entity would never think to look. I also hid, using a disguise whenever I went into the real world, and staying in safe areas in the Metaverse all other times. However, Sayori did not have the benefit of being aware of all that was out to get her when she arrived here. Unlike the rest of us, Sayori has been an obvious glitch in the system. To the entity, it was obvious she shouldn't be here… But to notice her so quickly, it had to have been keeping an eye on you…"

"...Are you talking about that time… before Sayori's Palace was discovered? Was...the entity using the same techniques as you… trying to use her affection and happiness against her… to kill her?" Goro grit his teeth at the thought, wondering how there could be more than one evil being who would do such a thing to Sayori.

"I believe so…It was using the same strategy as me, but with a different method. It was using the core of her distorted desires against her, building her Palace up faster than one would normally form. After all, normally a Palace would form over the course of a few years, but for Sayori, it was only maybe a month… with maybe one more week if you count what I did to her back home… So, knowing this, I quickly tipped off the Phantom Thieves, as well as you… It was pure luck that caused Sayori to wind up there herself. It bought her a lot of time before the glitching started."

"How did that buy her time?" Goro asked, genuinely curious. Despite his consistent hatred of Monika, he knew any information she would give him was invaluable.

"Because it made her integrate slightly more into this reality. When she got her Persona, it was no longer a weak link like her Palace. That place was solely created to kill her, and it would disappear as soon as she was gone. By giving her a Persona, it tied her will and soul to this world… Or at least it tied her will and soul to the Metaverse," Monika explained, watching as understanding dawned on the detective's face.

:"So that's why she stopped glitching after spending time in the Metaverse? And when she began to glitch, it was because the link she has was starting to grow weak?" Goro put his hand on his chin as Monika nodded in affirmation. "I see… So it's like a cycle of renewal. By once again visiting the place where the bond was forged, and by using her Persona, she strengthens her bond with it once again."

"Yes, that's right!" Monika smiled,before looking serious once again. "Still, even though Sayori has been safe so far by keeping to this pattern, the entity isn't just going to remain passive the entire time. Actually… it already has decided to interfere once again."

"Really? When was that?"

"When Okumura died," Monika answered, watching as Goro's face fell. "This is hard for me to say, Akechi… but technically, you did still murder Haru's father."

"What?" Goro asked, springing up and looking at her incredulously. "No! That couldn't possibly be!"

"But it is."

Goro squeezed his eyes shut and sank back to the floor, hunching over and looking like he was about to vomit. After a moment of silent retching, he looked back up at Monika with a miserable expression. "How?"

"It's difficult to explain… but from what I can tell… the entity reloaded one of the player's saves to before you stopped yourself from killing Okumura, and made it so that you did actually kill him, because that was how the story was meant to progress. However, you don't remember it that way because by the time that happened, the player had created another save file after Okumura's Palace had collapsed. Basically, all of us remember events differently from how they actually happened, because something else overwrote what had already happened." Monika looked down in sympathy as Goro went pale, his limbs shaking as he got back into a sitting position and curled in on himself, looking like he simply wanted to check out of the situation entirely.

"Even when I thought I succeeded in changing myself… I was still a puppet all along, without even realizing it…" Goro said softly. "I get it… The thing that gave me my Personas is what is doing this to me… There's no other entity I can think of that could bend reality in this way… And it made me kill Okumura, to make Sayori afraid of me, and not trust me. It made me lie to her…!"

"It didn't succeed in keeping you apart, and that's the important thing, Akechi. You can't let it stand in your way, any longer…" Monika said, her voice timid as Goro began to tremble in anger, now too lost in his own rage-filled thoughts to pay her much attention.

Monika sighed and closed her eyes. "Finally… I need to explain to you, that by removing the Treasure of Mementos, the Phantom Thieves will destroy the link Sayori has to this game, along with the tenuous links Natsuki, Yuri, and I all have. But it won't kill us, because in collapsing the Metaverse, they will also destroy the entity that is trying to kill us…" Monika paused for a moment, before forcing herself to smile. "Instead… destroying Mementos will send all of us home… I think."

"You think…? You aren't even sure…?" Goro asked, his spirit now broken as devastating blow after devastating blow landed in his mind. All of the progress he had thought he had made was worthless now. It had never even meant anything, actually… He had killed Okumura, even if he couldn't remember it. He had never been able to improve, then. He was a danger to be around, and Monika talking as if she thought it was a good idea to send him out there where Sayori was would be a good idea… it made his face burn in anger and shame.

"Akechi… I know it's a lot to take in, but you deserve to know the truth. Everyone does… Sayori deserves to know you're alive before we go home…"

"What horrible thing did she do to deserve me…?" Goro rasped, shaking his head vigorously as tears seemed to burn tracks down his face. "Everyone would be better off if I just…"

Monika gulped and stepped in between him and the subway tracks of Mementos. With how broken his spirit now sounded, she wouldn't be entirely shocked if he suddenly wanted to try throwing himself on them to be killed by Shadows. "Akechi… I'm sorry that you had to find out this way… But progress isn't linear! Even if the game refuses to acknowledge it, you've felt the progress you've made, right?! You don't want to be that person anymore, and you aren't a puppet, now. You're the furthest thing from a puppet, cognizant of reality, and able to stare directly into the vo-"

"SHUT UP!" Goro screamed. "You keep prattling on and on! Like that's going to make a fraction of a difference concerning what I've done!"

"What you've done!" Monika shouted back, stamping her foot on the ground in frustration. "I don't care at all about what you've done, and you shouldn't either! It matters more what you're going to do. This is the final battle, Goro Akechi! It's your last chance to see Sayori… maybe for forever! Are you really going to pass that up… when Okumura's death was barely even your fault?! To you and your memories, you talked yourself out of it! It was only through the actions of an entity that's hellbent on controlling you, and keeping you away from anyone that wants to help you, that this 'relapse' happened!"

Monika took several deep breaths now, calming herself down. She glared at Goro Akechi as she sat on the subway station floor. "Are you really going to bow down to this entity… Are you going to let it have this last victory over you? With or without us, the Phantom Thieves are going to have to take it down to win the game. Why are you going to let it take away your chance to help your friends… to get back at it for controlling you all this time… and your chance to say goodbye to Sayori…?"

Goro refused to look at the girl, barely acknowledging her, even as her words sank into his heart like a lashing. Everything suddenly felt like it was happening so fast, and he could barely process any of it… much less ask himself what he wanted from this… But he couldn't deny the pain and hopelessness welling in his body… feeling as though he would always be stuck in place… He was always going to be this horrible person that no one wanted, no matter what he did.

Still, he also couldn't deny the feeling in his heart, as though he were being pulled in one certain direction… It was a warm, pleasant, and safe direction he knew. It made his breath catch with how much he wanted to be near it… near her.

But do I even deserve that…?

---

The Phantom Thieves had just entered into the newest area, Iweleth, when Valiant suddenly began to feel strange. Her stomach churned furiously, and the rest of her body suddenly ached. She felt very frail, hugging herself tightly as she walked with the rest of the Phantom Thieves. She looked up at the creepy hallway and shuddered, taking in the bone-like arches and stationed subways. For some reason, she felt particularly like she was unwelcome here.

"The hell is this…?" Skull could be heard muttering at the very edge of the girl's senses.

"... Is that … treasure...?" Oracle's voice was very quiet, and Valiant could barely make it out over the haziness clouding her brain.

"..." Fox exclaimed, glancing over to the stationed subway trains. "... This is where that crowd of people was trying to rea-?"

Queen said something too, but Valiant couldn't hear, until suddenly it felt as though the strategist was screaming into her ear. "...Wait, it's not a wall, but a giant door…?"

"Guess that means the Treasure's not here. C'mon, let's stay focused," Skull said with a shrug, and suddenly everyone was running forward. Valiant struggled, doing her best to keep up but feeling as though she were going to collapse on her own feet, the weight of her own body suddenly feeling very top-heavy.

"Is this thing seriously a door? How're we s'posed to get past…?

As soon as Skull had said that, the group reached the front of the giant wall and doorway. Just as they did, the wall was brought up in large strips, revealing a darkly lit area on the other side. The Phantom Thieves all looked inside nervously, gazing into the abyss, when a terrified scream suddenly split the air.

Everyone turned around to see Valiant fall to her knees, a look of terror and astonishment on her face as her voice died. As soon as the door had fully opened, it suddenly felt as though the room had no air in it, and Valiant knew what the breathless feeling in her throat meant… She just couldn't understand why it was happening here.

"Valiant! What's-" Joker's concerned shout was interrupted as, before everyone's eyes, the girl glitched, flickering like a lightbulb for a few dreadful seconds, before settling back into a solid form once again.

Noir ran towards Valiant and pulled the girl to her feet, allowing her to weakly rest her head against Noir's shoulder. Queen walked up as well and began to examine her for any signs of illness. With Valiant's breathing being so weak, it was a wonder that Queen found nothing physically wrong with her at all… Not even a fever or a weakened pulse.

"But how…?" Oracle asked quietly, looking at her scanners and also finding nothing wrong. "We're in Mementos… This shouldn't be able to happen… It's never happened, before, right?"

"Who can say that it's impossible? Even though there has been a pattern up until now, we have been basing our methods of helping Valiant on mere speculation," Fox said quietly, looking somberly at Oracle, before they both turned to see Joker, Panther, Mona, and Queen all tending to the girl, despite the fact that she was evidently perfectly healthy.

"Maybe… we should turn back?" Panther asked quietly, looking at Queen and Joker to hear what they had to say.

"No," Valiant objected weakly, lifting her head off of Noir's chest. "This happening just means… It wouldn't make any difference if we steal Mementos's Treasure or not… I'm going to glitch anyway, so destroying this place won't make any difference."

"But…" Noir looked down sadly as she, and everyone else, was forced to acknowledge that Valiant was right.

"We… can't let what's happening to you influence our decision… right?" Mona asked, his ears drooping sadly. "It wouldn't make any sense, now…?"

"Still, do you want to go back by yourself?" Panther asked. "You look like you can barely stand…"

"No… I can manage… I won't slow you down either." To prove her point, Valiant stood straight up, not letting Noir support her weight any longer. "Besides, I would feel better being down here with you guys, rather than up there in the real world, where I could get arrested again…"

"Okay… If you're sure…" Joker consented with a sigh, looking at the girl nervously for a few more moments, before turning to face the passageway that had opened up, along with everyone else.

"Well… it opened right as we reached it… It's like it senses that we're here…" Mona observed, looking at the door suspiciously. "And right as that happens, Valiant glitched…"

"That feels too suspicious to be a coincidence," Queen agreed, feeling as though they were walking into a trap.

"It doesn't want us here… That means the inner depths must be right ahead," Mona stated, determined to carry through with what he and his friends wanted to do.

"Hold on," Oracle observed nervously, as everyone stopped before they crossed through the door. "The door only opens from this side…"

As Oracle described how once they entered through this doorway, they wouldn't be able to get back out, Valiant began to zone out. She looked ahead into the eerily colored abyss now, wondering what awaited all of them in there. More importantly, with what had just happened to her, Valiant wondered if she and her friends would leave this place alive.

"Wait, so you're saying that the people going in there are choosing a life of imprisonment…?" Noir asked incredulously, grabbing Valiant's attention and making her go pale.

What would that mean for us… Going in there willingly? They would be trapped in there for, with no escape. Maybe they too would become imprisoned by whatever was keeping society hostage. Valiant's guilty conscience suddenly brought up a dark thought, which she quickly tried to ignore, only for her brain to focus on it even more.

Unlike me… My friends still don't know about… what this reality is…? By keeping them ignorant… Am I imprisoning them, too? Valiant gulped and shook her head, even as the weight of the self-accusation rested heavily on her shoulders.

"I have never felt such eeriness before… What is this place…?" Fox asked, his voice serious, aware of the dire circumstances that would come with entering this place.

"We'll find out once we reach the depths. Come on, let's go!" Mona exclaimed, jumping forward and crossing the threshold that separated the train stop they were currently standing in, to whatever waited for them on the other side.

Everyone took steps to calm themselves, breathing deeply and stretching their limbs, before running forward and into the unknown. The slabs of wall slammed down harshly behind them.

---

Goro sat hunched over on the ground, silent and brooding as he was left alone with only his thoughts. Monika had disappeared after their argument earlier, and had given no hints of where she was going or when she would be back. Goro could only assume she had gone to help the Phantom Thieves win their final challenge. He wondered if she would mention that he was still here, alive and injured, or if she would just leave him abandoned here to die with the rest of Mementos.

"You should be helping, too…" A voice that sounded like Robin Hood said in his head, and the boy only growled in response.

"Get out of my head… You're a Persona given to me by that bastard entity that's responsible for all of this… How do I know you aren't feeding it my thoughts…?" Goro asked quietly, feeling foolish for talking aloud to his Persona. Even though there was no one around to notice, it still made him feel foolish and crazy…

"All of which you are…" Loki chimed in. "She was right you know… Why are you giving in so easily? Whether we are spies or not, use us to destroy the one responsible for ruining everything you have tried to accomplish…!"

"I said leave me alone…" Goro whispered, sinking forward and hugging his knees. "They'll be better off without me… Everyone would be better off if I had just never existed…"

The Personas went quiet, yet the silence left a deafening gap in his heart. They had been some of his only guiding voices these past few years, and with how that had gone, he couldn't trust them anymore. He didn't want to continue on this destructive path any longer… He didn't want to travel any path… He just wanted to stay in one place and rest.

"Goro… I'm happy you're safe." She hugged him tightly as he lifted them both off of the floor, the exhaustion of leaving the Metaverse hitting them both, yet already she seemed more lighthearted than he had ever seen her. Her Palace was gone now, and he knew she could feel it, because he could, too…

He suggested they watch something together, and they sat in silence for a while. For the most part, Goro was lost in his thoughts, wondering what to do.

Sayori was on the verge of falling asleep, when she shifted and looked up at Goro, leaning against his chest and smiling. With his new knowledge that she liked him in that special way he had heard about, it made a blush spread faintly across his pale face, not visible in the dark room.

"It's so weird…" Sayori giggled. "In the past there would always be this heaviness in my heart when I did things like this. I always thought that I could be happy as long as I could make everyone around me happy… or at least I would have no reason to feel unhappy. But now I really do feel happy… How are you feeling, Goro?"

"I'm happy, too. I'm happy…" But Goro could feel the heaviness Sayori had talked about on his own chest, as he had for a long time. Still, her tired smile pushed through, like sunbeams shining through glay clouds.

"I hope it stays like this… Probably not, because I know I'll never be entirely okay… but still…"

"Don't think so much about that… Focus on how you feel right now…"

Sayori had a playful but thoughtful look on her face. Then she smiled fully. "I'm happy to be with you, right now. Can it stay that way?"

"Me too… We can stay this way for as long as you want…" Goro said quietly in agreement, watching as Sayori went to sleep, curled up against him. As the credits rolled, the memory faded.

As if to fill the aching hole of silence left in his mind, memories just like that filled Goro's head, as though Sayori were right next to him. However, Goro knew not to look, knowing he wouldn't find her there with him. It hurt that she wasn't, with how he longed for her presence, and how he fruitlessly wished time could reverse and they could start over, and not have to worry about the world around them. He cared nothing for this world, after all… He just wanted to go back to better times, when they could hug and kiss with no strains on their relationship.

No… that's not it, either. I just want things to be okay now… Where I could be myself with her, and that could be enough… with no higher power getting in my way… With a real chance to fix all of these problems I have created for myself. I can never bring back the lives I've taken, but I could pay off my debt, and not make the same mistakes ever again…

But that couldn't happen, because soon enough, Sayori would be gone. The Phantom Thieves would win, and she would go home. He supposed that he should be happy about that, but the thought of being with her now, only to lose her once and for all hurt too much to even comprehend. He didn't want to lose her… But that begged another question that he didn't want to answer. Was he really willing to push her away because of that?

Having Sayori in his life had changed him… It had changed everything in his life. It had changed-

It had changed the story.

And now Goro was worried. Did Sayori's presence in the story change other things? Did it change how this story ends? Would… Would the Phantom Thieves still be meant to win?

Or… could the entity kill Sayori before that? What if she were killed before the Metaverse is destroyed… Before she is able to go home?

The Entity… It and Shido had been interfering with, and ruining things in his life for so long already. They had made his life hell. They had made Sayori's life hell. They had brought that same hell into the lives of Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru… and probably most of all, Akira. Shido and that Entity… God or Demon, or whatever it was, had no right to do that to any of them!

Goro wanted justice to be served. It made his skin crawl that it hadn't been done yet, when the Phantom Thieves were trying so hard… And it was hard to remember that they were going above and beyond to keep their promise to him.

They kept their promise to bring Shido to justice. Sayori… She's kept all of her promises to me… and when I have a chance to send her home like I promised her, I end up buckling…

But I still have a chance… I can still help Sayori get home… and I can help everyone else, too. I can finally do something right. I can tell them all the truth, and put a stop to this madness once and for all.

With Shido already behind bars, and the only thing left to do is change the public's mind about the bastard to put him on trial, Goro could easily put the man out of his mind. This was about himself, now… Along with the people who actually mattered to him.

He would tell Haru the truth about her father, as well as everyone else. He wouldn't be controlled or silenced ever again… As long as he lived.

Even if it wouldn't last for long, he could have a future with Sayori… He could finally make the choice to keep someone in his heart that made him happy.

I can finally be free of these chains… I want to be so badly...

"I've been waiting for you to realize that. Good job!"

Goro groaned in pain as an entirely new voice, which sounded so childish and cheerful, spoke directly into his ear. "I thought I told you Personas to be gone!"

"I'm not a Persona! I'm… something else. Anyway, I've been waiting for forever to be able to speak to you! I tried a couple of times, but you could never hear me… Now that my voice is reaching you, though… That means a new path has been opened for you!"

"A new path…?" Goro questioned, before shaking his head. "Nevermind that… Who are you?!"

"I'll tell you everything when we meet each other! Just know that I'm here to provide you with assistance, which is separate from the God of Control!"

"The God of Control… Is that the name of the Entity that gave me my Personas?"

"In short... yes! Again, I'll tell you everything you need to know when we meet!"

Goro frowned, looking around. "And how exactly are we going to meet? I don't exactly know how to meet a disembodied voice in my head…"

"Oh! About that… I'm kind of stuck right now. I was locked away and hidden by the God of Control, so you'll need to come find me!"

Goro Akechi was surprised by his own lack of surprise at the new, childish voice speaking in his head. It had come without warning, and he didn't know if he could trust it. Maybe he really was just crazy at this point…

But he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. With a sigh and a shrug, he got to his feet and stepped to the edge of the subway platform. "Lead the way," he spoke aloud to the air.

"Yay! Is your friend coming with you, too?"

Goro wondered what the voice meant by that, only for Monika to step into his line of sight almost immediately.

"Are you finally getting back your ability to reason?" Monika asked snarkily, crossing her arms with a smug smile. "I'll tag along… To keep Shadows out of our way."

Goro grimaced, knowing very well that he couldn't fight on his own with the high Shadow security level his presence now brought. He nodded to Monika begrudgingly, granting her permission to go with him, though it wasn't like she was going to take no for an answer.

The two went over to the staircase that would lead them to a different floor, and began to run in a downward slope, towards the bottom of Mementos, when the childish voice once again chimed in.

"Actually, mister, you need to go up to find me!"

Hearing that, Goro slowed to a stop and turned around, catching Monika off guard. Confusion bloomed on her face as she watched him cross to the opposite staircase that would take them up.

Seeing her confusion, he sighed once more and shook his head. "I'll explain on the way."

---

The Phantom Thieves entered an inescapable nightmare within seconds. With the door already closed behind them, they were forced to look at the red and grey dingy environment, coated with large red veins that entwined through the walls and gathered in a stream heading farther down below. Bones littered the floor, and seemed to make up much of the wall's structure as the thieves passed through hallways, and jumped across platforms. The air smelled like blood, and with the red mist that permeated the air, it was no wonder that was the case.

Eventually, the thieves came across a group of Shadows, all congregating in front of a door and begging to be let in. Everyone had a bad feeling as they tried to see what the Shadows were trying to get to, fearing that they were about to walk into some sort of slaughterhouse.

They finally found an open window around the side, glowing with a menacing red light, and wide enough to act like a grand entryway of its own. The Phantom Thieves wondered if this was the "true" way to get into this area, judging by how simple it was.

"Wh-What is this!?" Oracle stuttered, hiding behind Noir, Panther, and Queen as they entered one large room at the end of a hallway. None of the thieves answered her though, as they were too busy looking around in horrified awe.

Seemingly going upwards for infinity were floor and floors of jail cells, filled with people. Every single wall was covered with a wall of bars, giving the thieves full view of the prisoners standing calmly inside.

"So… that really is the distortion behind this place… The public wants to be imprisoned," Mona said gravely.

Valiant gulped, a horrible feeling welling in her gut. She stepped up to one of the jail cells and grabbed hold of the bars, hoisting herself up to get a better look. Everyone in them looked so… content. They all seemed happy to accept their imprisonment, and the words they spoke only confirmed that.

"C'mon, don't be out there and come on in."

"Don't open the cells, okay? I have no intentions of leaving this…!"

"That's right… this place is the best in the end…!"

"In the depths within is a system that grants desires…!"

"You end up searching for stuff or being troubled because you're outside the prison. There are things you don't need to know to live on…"

On and on the Shadows talked, making Valiant tremble, lowering herself to the ground and then letting go of the jail bars.

"They feel safe being here…?" Fox surmised, after listening to their words for a few moments. "How can that be, though? You're all in a prison!"

Valiant looked down at her feet, recognizing this horrible feeling as guilt. She looked at her friends' faces. Now, they were twisted in terror, but often enough they were perfectly calm… and content, even as their minds tricked them into believing in something false.

I never told them… So they could feel safe… Imagine what they would think now, knowing what I've kept from them this whole time… Reality isn't even… reality. It's a world created to be entertainment for someone else… But I never said anything, because I thought they deserved to feel like they had control over their own actions, without having to go through the existential crises that I always do…

Valiant looked at the infinite number of cells surrounding them, and realized that in a way, she was keeping her friends in a cell of a different kind, making them conform to a false narrative… And immediately she knew that this couldn't stand.

"Hey, guys... " Valiant said, her voice tentative. Immediately, everyone looked at her with wide, curious eyes, which were relieved to look at something besides the morbid sight surrounding them, though they had also just been discussing the "Quarantine" Cell one of the prisoners had mentioned. "There's something I have to-"

"Hm? Why are you out and about? Where are your restraints!?" A patrolling guard suddenly shouted, appearing around the corner.

"Oh crap…!" Skull shouted in panic.

"Sorry, Valiant, but what you want to tell us will have to wait!" Mona said, suddenly stern as he summoned Zorra, preparing for the fight about to occur.

"Removing your restraints is not allowed," Another Shadow Guard suddenly appeared, twitching uncontrollably, obviously only seconds away from transforming. "Outsiders… Must be eliminated!"

The two Shadows suddenly transformed into powerful looking, brightly colored robot Shadows, raising their fists up in a mighty, taunting fist.

The Phantom Thieves acted quickly, with Valiant quickly throwing up her best shields on everyone, and everyone working to raise their attacking skill while lowering that of their enemies.

One of the Shadows leapt forward and went straight for Joker, getting stopped by the shield, and allowing the thief leader a clear shot, sending a strong gust of wind towards the enemy. The giant robot went flying back and slammed into one of the barred walls, having evidently been weak to wind.

Mona quickly sent an attack towards the other Shadow, bringing it down with his own powerful wind attack. The Phantom Thieves proceeded to deliver an All-Out-Attack, though the battle wasn't quite done. The Shadows stubbornly got up and attacked again, though were stopped once again by Valiant's shield, clearly not having learned their lesson.

Once again, wind attacks were of great effect. The Phantom Thieves repeated this cycle for a few more minutes, occasionally healing themselves when the Shadows finally seemed to be learning. Soon enough, however, the two guards dissolved into piles of black matter that quickly dispersed.

The Phantom Thieves all hid around a corner, out of sight as they considered what to do next. Would they continue to search this large prison, or go back to exploring outside of it? Oracle, Queen, and Joker all consulted the maps Oracle had made, discussing possibilities.

Valiant watched them for a couple of seconds, trying to put together in her head what she would say to them and everyone else. It only took her a few seconds to realize how foolish that thinking was, when she had just been about to confess things then and there, before being so rudely interrupted.

So, stepping into the center of the group again, Valiant cleared her throat. "As I was saying earlier…"

Everyone looked up at her expectantly, and the girl tried to find some comfort in their smiling faces. She opened her mouth to continue…

And found that she couldn't speak.

Everyone watched in worry as Valiant touched her throat and tried to speak, looking more and more panicked by the second. Eventually, they all could understand as once again, without warning, Valiant glitched away. She was gone for a good ten seconds, before reappearing, gasping for air, and finding that she was finally able to talk again.

"That's not good… It didn't take that long for her to glitch again… And it lasted so long, too," Oracle mumbled.

Everyone looked worried and somber, knowing that at this point, there wasn't any helping it. They could only watch as it got worse.

After a moment, Joker quickly reacted, going up to Valiant and putting his hand on her shoulder. "What did you want to say?"

Valiant stared down at the floor, unsure of what had happened. She hadn't been able to say a word, or make even a single sound when she had tried telling her friends the truth. The terrifying thing about it was that somehow she knew that if she tried again, similar things would happen… But worse.

"Nevermind… I'll tell you later…" I hope so, at least. I'll have to try to find a better opportunity I guess…

But Valiant knew she would tell them today, even if it killed her… She was already dying anyway. Right now, though, she wanted to see this battle through to the end.

She took several deep breaths and sent everyone a reassuring smile as they walked further into the prison.

---

"So… the voice currently talking in your head is a kid?" Monika asked. She and Goro were currently walking along the tracks, having to find the next staircase that would take them up. Monika had offered to just teleport them, only for Goro to shake his head, explaining that the voice in his head said that what they were looking for would move to a different floor if they didn't make their way up to it.

Goro was walking ahead, looking lost in thought, but was most likely simply listening to the voice he was claiming to be hearing. Monika still wasn't sure if the boy was just crazy, or if he was actually hearing some strange disembodied voice. Either one was believable to her.

Currently, Monika was in charge of keeping Shadows away from them, deleting or dissuading those that came near them. Goro was leading them both towards wherever it was that they were being summoned. They were doing their best to go fast, but it was difficult to constantly run when they had no vehicle, and were also constantly going was especially difficult since they constantly had to go back the way they had come, unable to find the next set of stairs to take. Retracing their steps also meant it was much easier to get accosted by Shadows, and it didn't take long at all for the Reaper to show up since both Monika and Goro were intruders on the game itself now.

Still, despite their exhaustion, the voice in Goro's head urged him to keep going, like a child urging their parents towards a theme park ride.

Monika trailed behind Goro, annoyed and nervous. She didn't have a voice in her head to distract her from the perils of the situation. Not to mention, in these quiet moments when she was alone, with no one to answer her questions, her mind would wander into dangerous areas of nihilism and existentialism. Looking ahead at the boy who wouldn't even answer her thoughts, despite the fact that she was asking for the company, made her even more frustrated.

I wish Sayori was here… She would talk to both of us, Monika thought to herself sadly, knowing her old friend all too well. Despite genuinely missing her friend though, it only filled Monika with more existential dread. Was her wanting the literature club's vice president back simply because she was a game character that depended on Sayori's calming presence?

What if that's the entire reason people like Goro and me like her in the first place? We're so disrupted and chaotic inside that-

Monika stopped her brain from heading down that path, knowing that thoughts like those would only hurt her, and hurt Goro if she were to say them aloud. That, or if she said that out loud the boy would attack her again.

When she stopped her thoughts, she suddenly noticed something that had previously evaded her attention in her distracted state.

Footsteps were coming from behind them. They didn't sound the sound like the warped stomps Shadows made when they moved towards you. These footsteps sounded… human. What unnerved Monika even more was that whoever was behind them wasn't running, but walking. They were confident, and not at all desperate.

Whoever this person is… Is trying to be intimidating on purpose… And it couldn't be any of the thieves. They're all the way at the bottom of Mementos, Monika thought to herself, walking up to Goro to get his attention.

"Mister, be careful. There's something else there with you. I can't tell what it is, but normally that always means trouble," the voice in Goro's head warned. The boy narrowed his eyes and turned behind him, now hearing the footsteps as well. Monika had been just about to tap him on the shoulder and tell him what was going on when he did so.

Monika turned as well, just in time for whoever was following them to come into their line of sight. Goro's eyes widened in immediate recognition of the man who appeared, while Monika noticed another concerning detail that made her go pale. He came from behind us, which means that before I even came here with Goro, he was below us… Maybe even on a lower floor. Maybe he's even from the depths!

"Yaguchi?" Goro asked, curiosity and suspicion tangling themselves up into an ugly mass as one of the men he hated walked up to them. Goro stood in front of Monika on some chivalrous instinct, despite knowing that Monika was much more capable of easily killing this man if that was needed.

A nonchalant smile rested on Yaguchi's face, as though this situation were completely normal. Goro felt himself walk backwards a few steps, forcing Monika back with him as they both kept a cautious distance from the man.

"Hello, Akechi. I see you're here with a girl. She doesn't look like that Sayori girl, though. Are you cheating now, too?" Yaguchi asked, smiling calmly.

Goro took a deep breath, keeping himself calm. Normally in a situation like this, such a weak insult would have meant nothing to him, but now it stung. Perhaps it was because the mere insinuation that he would cheat on Sayori with the girl who killed her, or cheat on Sayori at all, made his stomach turn. Maybe it was simply because he detested everything that Yaguchi said and stood for. All he really knew was that his mind was growing fuzzy with anger.

"...ster! … Ple... Don't listen…!"

"Yaguchi, what are you doing here?!" Goro asked furiously, putting his hand on his mask instinctively, ready to rip it off. He didn't trust his Personas right now, not knowing if they were truly his or not, but they were all he had to defend himself.

"Oh, I guess the same reasons as you. Sae-san told me to go hide somewhere after you failed to kill the Phantom Thieves' leader. So just like you, I'm hiding from the law. Also… just like you, I'm looking for something," Yaguchi stepped closer still towards Goro and Monika, smiling charmingly.

Monika raised her eyebrow and frowned, noticing that this time as Goro tried to back away, it was a lot more… clumsy. He was like a tipsy person trying to walk. The girl felt her nerves spike as the strange man got closer, wondering if he had done something to affect the boy. Monika grabbed Goro by his shoulders, pulling him further back.

"...What are you looking for?" Goro asked, still cautious. The voice in his head was drowned out by his racing heartbeat and muffled headache.

"Well… Actually, you," Yaguchi answered. "If I remember correctly, Shido put out an order to find you and bring you back after he learned that you failed him."

"I'm not going back to Shido…!" Goro shouted, before grimacing and pinching the bridge of his nose, moaning quietly.

"...ster…! Ru…!"

"That's fine…" Yaguchi smirked, and Monika didn't like it. Too many things weren't making sense. Alarms were set off in her head as he didn't even care that she was there, like she was dried gum on his shoe… Not even annoying enough to scrape away.

"Akechi… I just think it would be wise if you came with me… We don't have to go back to your bastard father. I just want to help you… We can help each other and put him behind bars! After all, I've done much more to help you than him. I found that nice little callout post that was made about your girlfriend. I kept you on task so that you could get your revenge…" Yaguchi was almost on top of them now, Goro looked like he was about to pass about from dizziness.

Monika's eyes widened as she immediately put the pieces together about this man. Her eyes narrowed, knowing she only needed one more piece of evidence before she deleted him then and there. If it turned out she was wrong, it might be more useful to keep him alive.

"Goro… Come on!" Yaguchi whined. "I'm the one who made it possible for you to get your revenge on Shido in the first place! I'm begging you! We have a game to finish! What has that yellow eyed little brat done for you? Nothing!"

Monika raised her hand and glared at the man icily, stepping in between him and Goro. "I've heard enough!" She shouted.

os . remove ( "characters / yaguchi . chr" )

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Monika's eyes went wide with panic as Yaguchi did not disappear like she had hoped. Yaguchi looked at her coldly, a disgusted sneer on his face as he regarded her. "Does a tramp like you really think you can do anything? Get out of our way." He reached around her to try and grab Goro by the arm, but Monika used that opportunity to punch him in the jaw. She cringed and brought her hand to her chest, shaking it out. She hadn't clenched her fist right at all.

Her pain in her hand became nothing though as Yaguchi glared at her, and suddenly it felt like she was drowning in empty space.

For Goro, the past few minutes had become blurry, unable to comprehend what was being said, or what he was even thinking. The child's voice in his head had practically faded to nothing. He was a limp doll that was subject to the influence of others… Weak willed, just like before. It was a horrible feeling, unable to even move or think for himself. If it went on for much longer, Goro thought he might start crying… like some stupid drunk.

But then Monika disappeared right in front of him.

And then reappeared.

She continued to disappear and reappear in flashing intervals, her choked screams becoming louder each time she came back, only to be muted when she disappeared again. Eventually, she collapsed to the ground, tears in her eyes as her body continued to fade in and out over and over again.

Goro stared at her prone form for a few silent moments, his bangs hiding his eyes from view as Yaguchi once again tried to advance on him. Goro's fists clenched as his brain came to the immediate logical conclusion.

"Monika is… glitching because of you… She's glitching… just like Sayori," Goro spoke softly. Yaguchi didn't react, his face blank as he waited to see what would happen.

"You're the one whose been making her glitch…" Goro seethed. "If you take another step towards us, I'm going to-"

"You can't do anything to me that would matter, Goro Akechi," Yaguchi said with a smile. An army of Shadows appeared, boxing Goro and Monika in. "I think it should be very obvious now that I'm the one running the show… You're my pawn, and I'm going to win this game, even if I have to turn you into a husk to do it. As long as you kill Joker, it doesn't matter if you're cognisant."

"Mister!" the child's voice shouted desperately as the Shadows began to close in around the two teens.

---

The Phantom Thieves had been going down still, deeper into the twisting labyrinth in the depths of Mementos. It seemed to go on for forever. The deeper they went, the more the uneasiness grew in the group as they passed through the dim, red, ugly atmosphere. Bones and Shadows desperate for imprisonment passed by as they made more and more ground within Morgana's vehicle form. However, eventually they did come to a breaking point, in another layer of prison cells. Walking through the narrow doorway, they saw faces they never thought they would see again.

"What!? You're…!?" Panther looked around, seeing the faces of several past targets all around them. Everyone paused, looking around themselves and gawking.

"K-Kamoshida!?"

"Sens- No… Madarame…"

"Fox…" Valiant interrupted the shouts of shock, hugging the artist lightly. She glanced over at Panther and Skull, who were sending hostile glares over to a blank-faced Kamoshida. "Panther… Skull… Are you…?"

"Yeah, don't worry about us," Panther said, keeping herself calm. She knew that even here, Kamoshida was on the other side of the cell now. He wouldn't be able to do anything to anyone now.

"Kaneshiro's over here," Queen said, unimpressed as she stared at the former mob member.

"Is President Okumura here too…!?" Oracle asked, hopeful as she looked around them. "Maybe even Akechi, too!?"

"Father- they aren't around anymore…" Noir said, eyes downcast as she reminded the girl of what they all knew.

"...Sorry," Oracle mumbled, looking at both Noir and Valiant and knowing it had been insensitive.

"It's alright. I wasn't getting my hopes up anyway…" Valiant said with a calm smile, before looking around at the cells more seriously. But I wonder if he was ever here in the past, since it seems to imprison all the people we've fought before.

"Yeah, it's okay. More importantly, look there," Noir said as she pointed over to the other side of the room. In that cell was a face they had all seen too recently.

"Masayoshi Shido…!" Queen exclaimed angrily.

Valiant went deathly quiet, and the Phantom Thieves were worried her desire to kill the man would reappear. However, instead she just hid her head, burying her face against Fox. She had still been hugging him, so he had been the closest one. His sympathetic pats were comforts that she appreciated, but it was less that she wanted that comfort, and more that she just never wanted to see Masayoshi Shido's face again.

"The hell's goin' on!? These guys shoulda had a change of heart from their Palaces disappearin'!" Skull shouted angrily, gritting his teeth and stomping the ground angrily.

"Mm, your bod's good as always. C'mon, come closer," Kamoshida said to Panther, his voice flat, but still managing an attempt at a seductive tone. He also looked at Valiant, still turning her head away from the criminals. "You, too. A little bird told me your finally without your guard dog…"

"You creep…!" Panther yelled, crossing her arms and snarling. "Go to hell and leave us alone!"

"Hmph… I'm joking. I don't want anymore trouble," Kamoshida muttered, before smiling. "I finally get to live without having to think for myself now."

What!? Living without having to think…? That sounds… Valiant peeked her head up at the man, knowing that it was how she had lived before. She thought she had the ability to think for herself, but it was false in many ways. The same could be said for the rest of the thieves, trapped in lies before they awoke to their Personas. I wonder now… if any of us were ever imprisoned here...

"These people seem completely different than they were before…" Fox observed, looking around at their past targets uneasily.

"I don't think it's because they had a change of heart though…" Queen said, serious as she tried to deduce what exactly was going on.

"Wait… Have they chosen a life of captivity after they lost their distorted desires…?" Mona exclaimed, his ears folding back as he looked worried, feeling that this truly must be the case for everyone they had seen in the jail cells.

"Unfortunately, Okumura isn't here with us."

Everyone looked over to see Shido frowning sadly, standing right behind the bars and staring at the group. "Nothing can be done for the dead… I'm sorry." His eyes trailed from Noir, and then to Valiant "Truly, I am... for what happened." Valiant felt her nails bite into the skin of her palm, and she turned away from Shido, overwhelming anger making it feel difficult to breathe.

"...Yes, I know. Thank you for the details," Noir said coldly, crossing her arms. "Now if you don't mind, what in the world is this place?"

"It's supposedly called the 'Prison of Regression,'" Shido began to explain, looking around the dark jail cell he was stuck in.

"Regression…?" Oracle trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"More importantly, does this look like captivity to you?" Shido asked, a smirk appearing on his face. It seemed like it wasn;t possible for anyone in these cells to smile genuinely. The man gripped the bars like they were a crutch. "Why, it's the exact opposite. The utmost freedom is available to anyone who desires it here. This is the freedom to not make decisions… The release from having to think for yourself."

"Doesn't it sound much more preferable compared to your lives? I know at least one of you thinks so…" Madarame suddenly spoke up, looking over at Fox with a raised eyebrow, confusing everyone.

"What are you implying?" Fox asked, his voice a biting acid as he glared at his former mentor. The aspiring artist knew he would never want to give up something as precious as his freedom of thought.

"You learn things, listening to what other prisoners have to say, and we know… Matsu-chan, you want to come back in here, don't you?" Kamoshida asked, his voice smug and knowing as all of the thieves looked surprised, yet also sad, at the accusation.

"What?" Valiant asked, her voice low as she raised her head and glared at their past targets. She was surprised they would be able to accuse her of such a thing. How could they claim to know her thoughts?

"Leave her alone!" Skull raged, slamming his weapon against the bars of Kamoshida's cell. "For someone who said they're jokin,' you sure don't seem like it!"

"She knows what we're talking about, though," Kaneshiro muttered, smirking himself as his beady little eyes stayed trained on the girl. "Ever since she left this place with you escaped convicts, she's wanted to come back. The weight of her pointless existence hangs over her shoulders every day. She's trapped in a spider's web, unable to move or change her circumstances… She can only watch as her life withers away. It's so much easier to be stupid and ignorant."

"We said SHUT UP!" Queen said, taking her turn at slamming against the bars, her armed fists creating a dent in the bars.

"Valiant, it's not true is it?" Noir asked quietly, walking nervously over to the girl to check on her reaction.

"Um… it's… that's…" Valiant stuttered, trying to find words to truly explain her thought process. It was difficult, when everyone stared at her with so much expectation, despite not even understanding a fraction of the inconceivable truth that she knew.

"Sayori?" Oracle asked, watching as the girl twisted and fidgeted nervously, looking as though she was being burned by the questions.

"Usually… that's not true…" the girl mumbled, finally settling on something to say. "But sometimes, I do feel that way... " She folded her hands in front of her and stared down at the ground, nervous as her mind raced. It would be easier to cope with everything if I didn't know that this reality is out of all of our hands. Even this is part of a game's story. I'm just intruding on a place I don't belong. My pain… my grief doesn't even matter. I'm tired of trying to change things, to save people… It never works… it never will… I just want to forget… I want to be happy without also feeling the weight of a reality that feels like it will break me every second I''m conscious… Those were all things she felt and thought, when it became too much.

"We didn't know that…" Mona said sadly, his face drooping. He managed to look slightly hopeful, though. "But you won't… Right?"

"N-No," Valiant was once again feeling incredibly overwhelmed, this time by the stares of the inmates in the cells around them, and the ones of worry from all of her friends. "I know it's better for me, to be like this… Thinking for myself, thinking of myself, is better than being depressed and not being able to do anything about it.

But… I'm still keeping it all away from you guys…? Would you break like me, knowing what I know about reality?

"I suppose there are some fools who cannot stay put in this place," Shido muttered, shaking his head as if he were disappointed. "In other words, they are escaped convicts… Like our past selves. Such people are segregated from this peaceful world and locked away in their own Palace."

"So those are the Palace rulers…" Queen concluded, her tone not giving away only shock or question. She wasn't looking for approval from the likes of any of these people.

"I really gotta thank you for changin' my heart. I got to come back here, after all," Kamoshida drawled, a dreamlike expression on his face.

"We... sent 'em back here…?" Skull asked, eyes wide in complete shock as his brain put together the pieces.

"I don't understand…" Fox whispered, his voice uneasy as he suddenly looked vulnerable to fling over from the slightest breeze. "Just what have we been doing by using the cognitive world…?"

"It's too late to ask that now…" Joker stated, putting a hand on the artist's shoulder.

"Get a hold of yourself, Inari," Oracle chastised, though her voice held none of her usual teasing.

"They had their chance, and they decided to be horrible people," Valiant muttered darkly, finally looking up at all of these people that had hurt her friends so much. No matter how she searched, she couldn't find any sympathy for these villains in her heart. "We can't feel bad about our decisions when we've prevented the suffering of others. Or at least… we saved ourselves." It's selfish of me… But I don't care if these guys are here, imprisoned like they should be. I'll always be more worried about my friends… And about the innocent, naive public that's trapped in there, too...

"Yes, you're right… I'm sorry…" Fox said, quickly composing himself, though all of the thieves could tell it was a struggle to keep his face impassive. The artist briefly wondered if his former mentor could tell, too. The thought terrified him, making him feel as though he would never be able to separate himself from his time with the man.

"Don't be… You're allowed to feel what you feel…" Valiant said, trying to sound as soothing as possible. It was the least she could do for her friends, who once again had to adapt with this new information they were learning about her.

"Having the freedom to not make your own decisions only means that someone else is controlling you!" Queen suddenly shouted at Shido, clenching her fists and hitting them against the bars of Shido's cell this time. "Tell me. Who is the ruler here? Who made all of this…?"

"What an odd question to ask, it should be obvious: every member of the general public," Shido stated, smirking cockily in a way that disgusted all of the thieves. "Haven't you learned anything in school? The collective ruler of a democratic party is its people."

"D-Don't lie outta your ass like that!" Skull shouted. "I mean, there was a guard here earlier! That means someone's gotta be lookin' out for you guys, right?"

"You may be right. We are the ones 'looking out' upon everyone else," Shido stated, causing something to click in Valiant's head as those words left his mouth.

Valiant felt sick. "I was looking out. And he, on the other side, was looking in." I know… I've seen those words. They were in one of Monika's poems! Does that mean… Maybe Monika would know about all of this, too… If she were here? As though to stop those thoughts in their tracks, Valiant glitched once again, shocking all of the Phantom Thieves once again as her disappearance seemed to last a few seconds longer than normal.

"No…" Panther ran over to Valiant and hugged her, terrified. She knew there was no turning back, but now she was starting to just want to get out of this nightmare, where she would probably lose her friend very soon.

"S-So the ones who least want the prison to be tampered with… are the prisoners themselves…?" Queen asked, her voice shaking after what she had seen, even as she still tried to piece things together in her mind. She took a great big sigh abd shook her head. "Nevermind… We should go."

"It don't matter what this guy's talkin' about…" Skull muttered, fully agreeing as he grabbed Mona and lightly grabbed Oracle's wrist to lead the remaining thieves out of the room. "We're gonna erase all of Mementos anyways! C'mon, let's keep goin'! Mona! The Treasure's in the deepest part, right!?" Before the cat could answer, three guards suddenly appeared in the room, looking around in shock.

"What are you doing here?" one exclaimed.

"Guards again!? And there are more of them this time!" Panther shouted, joining Skull in his efforts to shove all of the thieves away, pushing the group into a run, even as the others already knew what to do.

"Dammit... We got careless!" Mona shouted in frustration, zooming along.

"Wait!" Shido shouted as the Phantom Thieves ran from the room. In the back of the group, Valiant slowed, despite the pushes and pulls her teammates gave her to urge her forward. Joker joined in listening as well, as Shido looked down with a face of true regret. "Tell Akechi…! I'm sorry for what happened to his mother!"

Once again, Valiant's temper flared. Was this the man's way of telling them he thought they were all going to die? "Tell him yourself!" the girl screamed. "Just go die already if you're so determined to apologize when it doesn't even matter anymore!" With that, she dashed from the room, fully caught up with the rest of the group in a few seconds.

"No… you don't know…" Shido put his hands down and looked down at the floor in shame, disappointed that the thieves could be so clueless.

"I've discovered some escaped inmates! Catch them at once!" the leader of the group of Shadows pursuing the thieves shouted. The security level went up, and the Phantom Thieves spat curses.

"Tch, they just had to come pilin' out… Let's do this!" Skull exclaimed as several more Shadows appeared. The Phantom Thieves all nodded in determination as they got leapt into battle. All the while, their minds were racing with questions, still not fully understanding what this place was. Valiant, most of all, wanted answers, as she began to think that maybe she wasn't as alone in her experience as she first thought.

---

Monika was vaguely aware that she and Goro were completely surrounded. Powerful Shadows surrounded them, with Yaguchi at the center. Goro was backed up as far as he could get without being grabbed by Shadows, squeezing his eyes shut and covering his ears. Whatever Yaguchi had done to him earlier hadn't worked, but it was very clear just by talking he could try again, and maybe succeed. Goro was doing his best to drown him out, but that left them both completely defenseless to attacks from the Shadows, which seemed to be growing more bloodthirsty by the second.

We can't even trust Loki and Robin Hood, if they truly were only a given to Goro by… whatever this guy is. Goro couldn't even summon them if he wanted to, covering his ears like that. We can't run anywhere without being caught by these Shadows…

Monika's entire body ached as she raised her head and looked around at the army, her vision blurring in and out with tears. Her body was still rapidly glitching, seemingly even more painful than when it happened to Sayori. It felt like getting deleted, over and over and over again.

Delete… Monika raised her hand up weakly, looking at the stalking Shadows that were closing in tightly around them. Yaguchi was ignoring her, deeming her to no longer be an issue since she was currently too weak to even get up, or delete him.

But he didn't consider… That I can still delete other things…

Monika still felt so weak, unable to get up onto her feet. She knew she wouldn't be able to run in this state. However, what was important right now was getting Goro Akechi where he needed to go. She reached over and patted the boy on the shin. Goro cracked his eyes open and looked down at her with a surprising amount of concern. She supposed her condition was making him worry about Sayori even more.

She didn't give either of them much time to ponder, raising a shaking, glitching hand up towards the mob of Shadows, finding the area with the smallest concentration of Shadows gathered around, and firing off several commands in the code. The Shadows all screamed in pain, before promptly disappearing.

Goro's eyes widened as he looked at the hole in Yaguchi's army, big enough for him to run through. Yaguchi himself had been forcing more Shadows to appear, trying to fill in the hole, only for Monika to continue deleting them. At the same time, the other Shadows that had already been there were charging towards Goro and Monika.

"What are you waiting for? Go?" Monika said, her voice weak. She did her best to annunciate her words, as Goro was still covering his ears.

In the next second, Monika was picked up and thrown over Goro's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, sending jolts of pain through her aching body. Somehow the boy managed to keep his balance, despite being injured and holding a girl that weighed as much as him over one shoulder.

Goro raced through the gap in the Shadows, the child's voice in his head once again getting louder as he continued to go up.

"Good job, Mister! But be careful. Those Shadows and that guy are chasing you."

"Figures," Goro grunted. "Just keep telling me where to go, and we'll be fine."

"You would move faster if you just…" Monika tried to say, only for Goro to interrupt her protest.

"I'm not leaving you behind. Aside from being someone that is important to Sayori, you also need to keep deleting the Shadows that are after us!"

"I was going to say if you carried me differently," the girl grunted, stomach and back aching as she was bent over the boy's shoulder.

"I can't really stop if you haven't noticed!" Goro barked back. "How much farther do we need to go until we get to where you are?" he asked the voice.

"You're almost on the right floor! Just keep going up!"

"Are you sure you want to continue that way?" Yaguchi said from somewhere behind them, causing Goro to shake his head vigorously, as if that would banish the noise.

"The further up you go, the deeper the Phantom Thieves are in the depths of Mementos. So far down in that domain, Sayori is in more and more danger of disappearing forever!" Yaguchi shouted after them in hopes of getting the two to give up their little rebellion.

It had the opposite effect, as Goro only forced himself to go faster, wanting to get as far away from the man as he could. The man's words made him want to turn around so badly, but he couldn't. He had to trust in the strength of the Phantom Thieves to keep themselves safe, and hope that Sayori could last long enough with Yaguchi's obvious influence over her glitching.

Right now, there's something else I need to be doing, and that includes keeping myself out of Yaguchi's reach! Goro thought, unable to speak as his lungs burned with how fast he was running, with Monika draped over his side as well.

"He wants you for a reason, Akechi," Monika said, able to talk despite how weak and glitchy she still was. "For some reason it has to be you who kills Joker…"

Goro nodded, exhausted as he saw in the distance the staircase that would take them to the first floor. I think I know what's going on, now… At least, I can put together a lot about Yaguchi.

---

The Phantom Thieves continued through the Palace, going further and further underground with each enemy defeated and every puzzle solved. They traveled for so long, that it was becoming a genuine concern that they might run into lava. The only marker of time they really had was Valiant's worsening condition.

No words in existence could describe the emotional turmoil each thief felt as they were forced to watch their friend glitch, sometimes for almost a minute at a time, almost every fifteen minutes. When Valiant was with them, she acted as though she were sick, coughing and shivering. The further down the Phantom Thieves went, the worse Valiant became. It was as though her body simply couldn't handle being so far down in Mementos, her resistance in battle becoming weaker, too.

The girl refused to let herself submit, though. As she felt more and more ill, Kore would act as a crutch, giving her energy like sunlight giving to a flower. The Phantom Thieves were also very helpful, giving her their food, water, and medicine whenever it looked like she needed it. Valiant felt so loved, with the attention and care that they gave her, even as they did their best to put their focus into their goal. It was nice to know that she still had people around her that truly did care. Not even the natural guilt that came with feeling as though she were wasting their resources could stop her happiness and appreciation.

However, for as much as Valiant tried to remain happy and optimistic, the Phantom Thieves were now sad. Watching as she wasted away, they were beginning to lose hope and faith in this mission, and even more so, knowing they had no choice to turn back.

"It's getting worse as time goes on," Oracle spoke up suddenly. "Your glitching I mean… I don't think it's ever been this bad before, and we've only been down here for a few hours…"

"Will you even be able to make it to wherever we're going?" Noir asked, her eyes downcast on the floor as she tried and failed to do the math in her head. Even now, there was no way to tell how much further they had to go.

"The only thing we can do is wait…?" Skull asked, still not wanting to believe it. "It's scary thinkin' about it."

"Eventually… you'll disappear, and you won't ever come back…" Panther whispered. "I still don't understand. I don't want to!"

Valiant smiled softly. "We've been over this… I don't blame you, though. After that happens, you'll all still be here. I'm the one who won't be around to miss anyone."

The girl froze as she glitched once again. She folded her hands together and rested her chin on top when she came back, wanting to lean against something. "Don't worry… I'm just happy I get to spend the rest of my time with you all… doing the right thing. It feels right."

"You won't be there to see what will happen afterwards, though," Fox objected.

"You deserve to see it!" Queen cried. "How can we enjoy any of it when you're not there?"

"Yeah, and what about the promise we made to you!?" Mona whined.

"Your promise…?" Valiant asked, forgetting what they meant.

"We were going to help you get home," Oracle sniffed, shaking her head. "But at this rate, you won't be around long enough to go home, or to meet your old friends again!"

Valiant's smile seemed to wobble, as she tried and failed to not let that thought affect her. Yuri and Natsuki were most likely right there with her, but she had no way of interacting with them. She didn't know where Monika was, and was worried about how much the girl actually knew. Was she hurt? Had she been even more affected by knowing about reality than Valiant had, if she knew?

The girl sniffled, and even as she forced herself to accept it, the thought of how much she truly didn't die stung her, over and over again. It wasn't that long ago that she had been sitting here in Mementos, and had truly, finally come to that conclusion… She didn't want to die. She no longer wanted to take her own life… But her life was about to be taken anyway.

"That's…" Valiant sniffed, and cleared her throat. "Don't make me think about this yet, guys. There's still so much work we have to do. If we get hung up on this now, we really will be too late…" With a final deep breath to clear her throat, the girl began to walk forward, the group going forward with hesitation.

"Sorry for talking about it," Joker said quietly.

"Joker, you never said anything about it," Valiant said with a smile.

"I know… I was thinking the same thing as them, though. I figured I would apologize on behalf of all of us."

"Oh," Valiant said, her eyes widening slightly, until she closed them and grinned. "Well, thank you. Apology accepted.

It became a little bit easier for the Phantom Thieves to breathe and walk forward.

---

"We're almost to the top floor," Monika said, causing Goro to glance at her from his higher place on the stairs. "It's probably a good thing that we decided to go the long way… With Yaguchi being… whatever that thing is, it would probably be dangerous to rely on game shortcuts to transport us there…"

"Yeah…" Goro trailed off, looking down at the ground distractedly. "How do you think the thieves are doing?"

"They're alright. If they died, the game would just go back to a save point, and they can try again," Monika explained, before pausing and shaking her head. "That's how it's supposed to work, but maybe it doesn't work that way, anymore. Joker is the player character, so he can just heal everybody with a menu, and if he dies, the save point reloads."

"Hm…" Goro sighed. "Of course that's how it works… I really never stood a chance against him, not that I even want to do that anymore… I want them all to be alive..."

"Yeah… especially Sayori," Monika shivered and hugged herself, blinking in and out of existence for a few seconds again. "She's in more danger than any of them… With someone gunning against us like this, she won't just go home like she's supposed to… I know that now." She frowned and shook her head, wanting to stay focused.

"Yaguchi has to know that you never stood a chance, though. Or at least have suspicions of that," she objected. "Then again, I don't even know if he's aware like us. He seems so single minded, wanting you to go back to working on his side as a game piece, it contradicts what the game itself wants. You're supposed to be dead, so it's going to kill you, but he doesn't want that…"

"Well, supposedly it will all be explained to us soon," Goro stated, tapping his head. "Right?"

"Yeah! I'll do my best! You're almost there, mister!"

Goro nodded to emphasize that the voice was agreeing with him to Monika, who groaned.

"I hope that voice goes away after we see whatever it is that it wants to show us. It will only make everyone more convinced you have more screws than you should… I know what's going on and I still think that."

"Maybe… Or I could just get used to it, like all the other voices in my head. Loki and Robin Hood… they're two different parts of myself that keep arguing against each other. It feels like I'm being torn apart," Goro's eyes shut tightly in discomfort. "I can't even really be sure they're me, though…"

"I think they are… Maybe you just… didn't get them the way you were supposed to," Monika guessed. "Actually, I have a question. Which came first? Loki or Robin Hood?"

"They both came to me… at the exact same time, actually. It's strange. The other Phantom Thieves described their awakenings as feeling… awake and clear headed, single minded and absolutely sure of themselves and their goals. I tried to be that way, and for a while I was, with my revenge, but it also felt like I was ignoring another part of myself… The awakening itself felt like I was being… torn," Goro's head ached at the thought, and he trembled.

Once again, that same feeling of anger and desperation paralyzed his senses. Just like when he had only been sitting down in that same spot with Monika… He was either incredibly lethargic, or flooded by this sense of rage and desire. He kept himself still, trying to breathe through the feeling of having absolutely no control, not knowing why he felt like this now of all times.

Monika saw, and did her best to keep her distance and be quiet. Whenever this happened to the boy, it was because of something she said or did. This was mostly because it had only been happening since Goro had woken up from his injuries, and had only had her to talk to.

"Hey, mister! What's wrong?" the voice asked in concern.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore… I shouldn't be talking about it…" Goro said, grinding his teeth together.

"Oh? We don't have to talk about it anymore, then!... Do you want to talk about why you don't want to talk about it? Or… why you shouldn't be talking about it?"

"Yes… No… I don't…" Goro forced his mouth to relax, pain flaring up from the constant teeth gnashing.

"I don't want to talk about this stuff with Monika…" Goro said, the girl's name sounding like a horrible disease coming from his mouth. "This stuff… I want to talk about it with Sayori... We never really got to just… talk about my Persona, or her Persona, or any of that stuff, because I ruined it all with my bullshit…! And then after the God of Control is defeated, we won't get a chance then, either!"

"I'm sorry that things turned out this way. It's not fair."

"It is fair… It's exactly what I deserve…"

"Oh, bullshit!" Monika shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. "Get out of that pathetic mindset! It's great that you acknowledge that you're a horrible person! I respect that! But stop saying you deserve bad stuff happening to you! Maybe it's true, but that's just a coward's way of talking! And a quitter's!"

"She has a point, mister. If you give up like this now, you'll never strive for anything again. You'll never grow into someone who deserves nice things…"

Monika sighed as Goro kept quiet, hunching over himself and shaking. She walked up to him cautiously, already worried she had riled him up even further. "Maybe it's wrong to keep bringing her up, but Sayori would barely care. Even after all this time, she hardly has a grasp on her own sense of right and wrong in this reality… And she's selfish, and she knows and believes in you… She believes… that all of her friends deserve good things. Does she not deserve a chance to talk with you about these things you want to discuss with her?"

"Of course she does… If she wants to…"

"Then it is unfair that neither of you will get that chance. So you're allowed to complain and be mad, because it sucks, and it's my fault. So you don't have to talk to me. You can save all of this other information for when we hopefully see the Phantom Thieves again." The girl got up and walked around Goro.

Goro, finally having succeeded in breathing through his lapse in sanity, got up and began to trudge up the stairs, feeling worn out. He pitied himself now more than he ever had in his life. The least he could do was continue up these stairs and do what he needed to do, but instead he had slowed everyone down with pointless melodrama.

"Good job!" the voice suddenly said, surprising the boy, who began to walk up the stairs a little faster. "You managed to get through it pretty well this time! That's really good… because unfortunately I don't think your mind is ever going to be the same. So… I'm glad you haven't forgotten how to acclimate to new environments!"

Goro snorted, feeling that what he had done was hardly worthy of praise. "You're just scratching at the bottom of the barrel for compliments now, aren't you?"

"No… I mean it!" the voice sounded frustrated, and Goro could imagine the person that the voice belonged to was pouting. "I wish things could be different… I have for a long time, but I can't let what happened before get in the way of my mission… My purpose… My goal. I'm going to make up for lost time, Goro! I'll help you get to where you need to be!"

"What does that mean…?" Goro asked, still hopelessly confused. He was beginning to get frustrated with the cryptic answers.

"Just go up these last few stairs, and you'll find out soon!"

"Just a few more stairs…" Goro sighed as he straightened up his posture and began to walk up.

It was odd, how comforting the voice was, despite being so frustratingly unclear.

---

The Phantom Thieves had just entered a new area of cells after traveling even further underground. Looking to one side of the room, however, they found that this area differed from the others in one key way.

"Guys, look," Noir called, pointing to the side of the room. Everyone turned towards where she was pointing to see a large iron clad door, with deadbolts and jail bars blocking it even more so. "Doesn't that cell seem… different from the others?"

"Wait… Could this be that Quarantine Cell?" Queen asked, agreeing that it was much more guarded than any of the other cells they had been able to view.

"Supposedly the most sinful, most dangerous inmate is held within…" Fox said, recalling what Shido had said. As the teens all considered the blocked off cell, Mona looked down, a conflicted look on his face as he tried to tussle with something in his mind.

"This…" Mona began, getting the thieves' attention. "This place smells familiar for some reason…"

"Mona-chan…?" Noir asked in concern.

"...There's no mistake," Mona suddenly exclaimed, looking up solemnly. "This is it. I… was born here."

"Born…? Inside the prison?" Noir questioned, full of shock as a possible revelation came to her.

"Wait, then are YOU the dangerous inmate!?" Panther asked as well, coming to the same possible conclusion.

Valiant was the only one to notice that something about that sentence had made Joker deeply uncomfortable. He was staring at the door tensely, as though he were waiting for whatever was quarantined in there to break out and attack all of them.

"No… the inmate wasn't me…" Mona clarified, something about the word "inmate" not sitting right with him at all. He looked at his friends with a serious expression, checking over them all suddenly. "But I remember this place… Someone created me here… To guide all of you…"

"Guide…? And who is this someone…?" Noir asked.

...The player? Valiant guessed to herself, looking back at Joker, who looked like he desperately wanted to change the topic. Out of a desire to help, and her own curiosity, Valiant stepped towards the cell. As soon as she did so, however, she could feel her strength and sense of balance desert her. She trembled, barely able to stay on her feet, and backed away from the Quarantine Cell like it was a hot stove. She immediately found that she felt a bit better, which was to say she had returned to her previous state. She still felt sick and miserable, but it was still a minor improvement.

"Keep your distance. You can sense it too. There is a malevolent force within. It seeks to harm you all… Especially you," Kore spoke into the girl's head. Valiant nodded, trying to clear away the remaining dizziness.

"Ngh… I can't remember…" Mona grumbled, sadly folding in his attempt to drag up memories. "Damn it… I'm so close… but my memory is too foggy…"

"Y'know, hearin' all this just makes me wanna know what's inside," Skull remarked idly.

Just as he said that, the Guards from earlier ran in, spotted the thieves, and immediately began to surround the thieves.

"We found them! The escapees are in front of the isolated cell!"

"Alert! Alert! Capture them at once!"

"Does anyone want to sit this fight out?" Joker asked, no one missing the way he was looking at Valiant in concern.

"No, I think I can handle another fight," Valiant said, getting into her normal battle stance.

"I'll have her back if anything goes wrong," Queen volunteered.

Joker nodded, and with that, the Phantom Thieves began the desperate fight to escape their pursuers.

---

It was only seconds after Goro and Monika made it onto the topmost layer of Mementos that it happened. Shadows spilled from some unseen location, surrounding the two instantly. Among the army's number was none other than Yaguchi, who smirked evilly at the two teens.

"Well, you made it pretty far, but I figured now would be a good time to offer a final ultimatum. You were right, after all. I'm the one making your girlfriend disappear, and her time is almost up. Come with me, if you want to-"

"We aren't interested in taking any offers," Monika interrupted, her voice sweet as sugar as she glared daggers at the officer. "The two of us are here to prevent that. We're here to stop you!"

"Well, then by all means, stop me…" Yaguchi said coldly. He stared at Goro intensely, causing the boy's eyes to flick to the side for a moment, before looking back at Yaguchi menacingly.

"I will never let myself be used again… You would only hold her over my head for the rest of my life," Goro snarled. "Now get out of our way!"

Yaguchi tsked, shaking his head. "Didn't you hear me, or is your little puppet head really that empty? You'll have to stop me. If you fail, I'll drag you out of here myse-"

Monika ran up so that she was right under his head, her hand lifting to reveal a calligraphy pen with a razor sharp tip. She rammed the pen towards Yaguchi's throat, only for the man to catch her wrist when she was only a few centimeters away from slicing skin.

Monika froze as his hand seemed to burn into the flesh of her arm, making her scream out before being thrown away, her glitching renewed as her body fazed in and out. She was unlucky enough to still be there in time to slam into the wall, slumping down to the floor right behind Goro.

Goro gritted his teeth and tried not to back away as he could sense the incomprehensible amount of power coming from Yaguchi. If there was any doubt in his mind before that Yaguchi was the God of Control, it was gone now.

"If you're truly not interested in making deals, then perhaps I'll make a promise instead. You have five seconds, and if you aren't standing right next to me when the time is up, I'll force you to watch Sayori suffer and die until she's just barely tangible."

The boy froze at the image that was suddenly forced into his head by Yaguchi. He saw her just barely conscious as her body was practically disintegrating, dead pixels and broken code peeling off of her and fading away.

Goro shook his head furiously, trying to clear away the image, only for it to dig in even further, showing the girl screaming and begging for help, reaching out towards him with a mostly faded away hand that barely even had a palm.

"Stop it!" Goro screamed, falling to his knees as the sudden loud ticking of a clock rang in his hand, bursting his eardrums as five seconds was quickly counted again, desperation filled him, and this time Goro let it happen.

"Still not coming? Maybe just for fun I'll have you be the one to put her out of her mis-"

"Help me!" Goro screamed, his voice shrill. In response to his call, Robin Hood burst from the boy's back, rapidly firing off arrows at Yaguchi.

"Did you really think that trick would work?" the man asked, unfazed as the beams of light seemed to go right through him. "I gave these to you, remember?" the man's voice seemed to drop several octaves, and Goro yelped as Robin Hood suddenly went still and faded away.

Inside himself, he could tell the same was true for Loki, both Personas suddenly fighting to be released, screaming inside his head as they were forced deep down into the recesses of the boy's brain.

"I'm sorry… I am afraid we cannot show you the true depths of your strength anymore…" Robin Hood said, before suddenly his voice was gone.

"This isn't forever," Loki grumbled. Gift or not, we are thou, so we will never-"

The Personas' voices went dead, and Goro suddenly felt most of his strength leave him, yet the effects of Loki's desperation remained, eating away at him as Yaguchi walked up to the boy's crouched form and grabbed him by his wrist. He grabbed Monika as well and yanked both of the teens up to their feet.

"Now, why don't I show you a little preview of what you'll see later… After all, I can't have this brat continue to get in the way," Yaguchi seethed, forcing Monika closer to Goro and making her glitches even more intense. It was painful to watch, as the girl screamed and cried for mercy that they all knew wouldn't come.

"I'm… orry…" Monika yelled, tears spilling down her eyes. "Sayo- uri-Nat-"

Goro watched this going on for what felt like an eternity, Monika's suffering never seeming to end. He tried to pull away, or scratch at Yaguchi with his clawed gloves, but the man's grip was unbreakable and unflinching. The boy felt the beginning of tears prick his eyes, hopelessness settling into his chest like lead.

"Mister…" the voice in his head suddenly whispered. "I don't have much time, but I'm going to try to help! When you see stars, you need to attack the being holding you with everything you've got!"

"What…?" Goro asked, before realizing he actually had no time to question anything. Out of nowhere, what appeared to be shooting stars streaked across the room, cutting through anything in their path. This included many of the Shadows that had surrounded them in the first place, as well as right across Yaguchi's back. The man yelled out and let go of Monika for a moment.

Goro saw his opportunity and took it, yanking the hand Yaguchi held towards himself, bringing the shocked man close enough for Goro to punch and scratch at his face and chest with the boy's free hand.

Yaguchi was forced to release Goro's wrist, as he was now blinded from the boy's attacks, as well as one of the powerful stars slashing across his wrist.

Goro ran forward and once again picked Monika up. The girl looked incredibly upset and guilty, though Goro found it surprisingly hard to fault her for anything when Yaguchi had such an iron grip over her glitching.

Goro took Monika and ran through the path that the stars had quite literally carved out for them. Goro could feel now that they had to be getting close to the voice, if it could help them to this extent. He kept his eyes peeled as he dodged getting captured once again by Shadows.

As Yaguchi searched blindly for the boy, he sudden;y sensed something, deep down in the depths of Mementos. He smiled once again, and glared in the direction he could tell the two teens were in.

"Well, I suppose for now we can wrap this up! I have something even more important to attend to! If either of you were wondering, Sayori is as good as dead, now!" With that, Yaguchi once again disappeared.

All of the other Shadows faded away as well, leaving Goro and Monika alone on the top floor. Monika kept fading in and out as she looked over at Goro in fear and worry.

"Now what do we do?" the girl asked.

"Now," the boy looked conflicted as he scanned the different hallways heading in different directions. "Now we start looking for whatever it is that the voice wants us to find…"

And hope and pray that I didn't make the wrong decision to listen to that voice…"

---

The Phantom Thieves had reached a large chamber filled with cells at the end of the long path they had been traveling. In the center was a large chalice shaped machine, with gears that whirred continuously. Veins sprouted from the top, connecting to the walls and winding around the cell bars, going further and further up to what must have been the rest of Mementos.

"The hell…!?" Skull said in shocked awe as they took in the large room.

"Look at how many there are… Are these all prison cells?" Fox asked, looking upwards at the endless rows and columns of barred windows.

"And… what's that thing in the middle?" Oracle gestured to the giant chalice shaped machine.

"Whatever it is, it looks disgustingly grand…" Panther commented in distaste.

"There are no other passages leading out of this room," Fox said, a serious expression on his face as he scanned the walls for any other door or hallway. "It appears this is our final destination… the depths of Mementos."

"In that case, is the Treasure of Mementos somewhere in here?" Noir asked, figuring that they would be looking for a glowing orb of light like all of the other times.

"That should be the case," Joker said calmly, his own suspicions on the structure in the middle of the room.

"I think you're right…" Mona confirmed with a nod. "I've never been here… but I can sense it. There's no mistaking that presence. If we get rid of it…" the cat trailed off, before shaking his head as he came back to his senses, looking at the chalice, "If we get rid of it, the public should come to its senses!"

"But something that large will be impossible to carry out of here," Fox said, noticing how they would also have to find a way to detach it from all of the veins that came from the top.

"We just gotta make it disappear, right? If we can't move it, then we'll just hafta destroy it!" Skull shouted, hitting his palm with his fist, immediately thinking of the most direct route to victory.

"Yeah… that will work," Mona said, an uneasy frown on his face.

"Once we do that, the entire Metaverse is going to disappear, right?" Panther asked. She frowned, not wanting to think about what that meant. "This is finally it…"

"Yeah… let's do it…" Valiant said, standing up to her full height, looking incredibly dizzy and sick.

"Are you feeling okay?" Queen asked, knowing that the answer was no, but also wondering if the girl was not fine in other ways. She took off one of her gloves and felt the girl's forehead, noticing how a fever had actually started to make its presence known.

"Mhm," Valiant hummed with a nod, before jolting and taking step away from Queen, glitching like crazy. I'm not fine… But I can't be dead weight now… They've had to watch me getting worse this whole time, so I have to make sure they see that I came down here for a reason… I can help! The girl looked up as the room became an even deeper shade of red.

The Treasure was glowing red, lights coming from the top flashing and spinning like siren lights. A deep moaning cry seemed to be coming from the room itself as the prisoners all wailed in protest at the thieves' presence.

"Hm… Looks like we've been discovered," Oracle observed, cracking her knuckles and summoning her Persona. "That thing isn't gonna sit back and let itself get destroyed."

"Even the inmates are starting to liven up. How eerie… Are they planning something?" Fox wondered out loud.

"That must mean this thing's gotta be the Treasure. They saved us the trouble of checkin'!" Skull exclaimed eagerly, as though there were any other option.

"...Hold on. Something's off," Queen suddenly exclaimed, looking thoughtful as the rest of the thieves frowned, worried and confused. "Shido said the masses are allowing themselves to be held captive here… Could they truly be operating this gigantic system that eliminates intruders on its own? The prison guards and soldiers were very organized too…"

"Are you trying to say that someone else rules this place? Is it not the public?" Fox asked, looking around nervously for another presence.

Malicious laughter suddenly came from somewhere above, startling the teens. They all grouped together, getting into battle stances with their shoulders touching and their backs turned from each other.

"What was that!?" Panther shouted, before one of the bodies pressed to her side suddenly leaned forward. She looked over to see Valiant nearly fall to her knees, coughing. Vomit spilled out of the Valiant's mouth, falling down the front of her black coat and onto the floor. At some point in the chilling moment, blood had started to flow out of her mouth, too as she faded in and out, flickering like a dying candle.

"Valiant!" Fox shouted, running up and holding the girl up, before thinking it would be best to sit her down. "I think you need to rest…"

"No… I can still help," Valiant protested, knowing her argument probably came off as ignorantly stubborn. "I didn't come down here just to sit out on our most important fight."

"You can't be for real!" Skull yelled in frustration, pointing to the blood that had luckily stopped flowing out of her mouth.

"I am, though. What would even be the point of me tagging along? This was going to happen sooner or later… Just let me help protect you guys…!" Valiant said, tears spilling down her face. Unprompted, Kore suddenly emerged from her back, vines spreading from her legs and wrapping around the girl's arms, torso, and legs, keeping her upright.

Joker found, much to his dismay, that he literally could not say no. Even though he wanted to deny his suffering friend the opportunity to get even more hurt, something wasn't letting him. "Fine… But if it starts becoming too much to handle…"

"I promise to look out for myself," Valiant said, putting her gloved hand over her heart, causing most of the thieves to gag at the stain on the front of her shirt.

"All right, guys! We better not lose now!" Mona shouted, doing his best to get over the immense worry he was feeling. They couldn't allow themselves to lose now. "Let's hurry up and destroy this thing! Everyone… give it your all!" Mona

"All right, let's do it!" Oracle shouted as well, disappearing inside of her UFO.

The Phantom Thieves got to work, charging their strength and firing spells at the giant whirring cup. Valiant put a shield up, and shot spells at it as well. She quickly realized that with her limited mobility, she wouldn't be able to get as close as she normally liked to attack. Still, she made it work, and after all the thieves had gotten a chance to attack, they had damaged the Treasure quite a bit. Scratches and burn marks now marred its faded surface.

What none of the thieves were expecting was the angered cries of the prisoners around them. Suddenly, the veins coming from the top glowed a bright red, and the damage done to the Treasure was suddenly fixed. In the cries and protests of the prisoners around them, the thieves heard mention of a "Holy Grail."

"What was that!?" Oracle shouted in dismay, analyzing what had just played out in front of them. "Don't tell me… Are the inmates giving it their strength…!?"

"Dammit! This is never gonna end!" Skull shouted, kicking at the floor as the thieves tried to think of something they could do.

"It seems hopeless if there are this many inmates supporting it…!" Fox said in lament.

"You fools. Human, yet wishing to eradicate the desires of humanity…" The voice that the malicious laugh must have belonged to suddenly spoke from somewhere. The Phantom Thieves grouped together again, looking for the source of the voice.

"Who's that!?" Panther shouted angrily, looking for the thing they needed to focus their actual attacks on.

"Repent," the voice boomed, and the teens' heads all snapped over to find that the voice was undoubtedly coming from the Treasure.

"The Treasure's talking!?" Queen shouted incredulously.

"I am revered as the granter of dreams for all who behold me..." the Treasure boasted. "A being most commonly known as the Holy Grail…"

"Most commonl-" Valiant's question was interrupted by her sudden disappearance. It took a solid thirty seconds for her to come back, worrying all of the thieves.

"The Prison of Regression is representative of the collective desires of humanity," the Holy Grail said, his voice sending shivers down the teens' spines, the voice coming in all different directions at once. "They wish to be chained down, surrender their cognition, and neglect the world around them… These feeble-minded commonfolk will make your 'social reform' all for naught. The shared heart of the masses has fallen into an excess of indolence and transformed into a prison."

The sounds of moaning and worship came from the cells as prisoners praised the Treasure. The Phantom Thieves looked around nervously as it continued, showing no signs of ever stopping.

The more we're around this thing… The weaker I feel. Do none of these prisoners understand that this distorted desire is only making them weak like this!? Valiant thought to herself, Kore having gone away now that they were no longer fighting. Simply standing on her own was a strenuous task now.

"Thus… the only suitable end for them is to perish within the prison they wished for themselves," The Holy Grail finished. As though on cue, Valiant's strength felt incredibly sapped. She fell on the ground, barely supporting herself on her knees as she coughed up even more blood. A giant laser suddenly shot out from the side of the Holy Grail, striking Mona, who hopped away and yowled in pain.

Oracle couldn't be sure, but seeing how close Mona had been standing next to Valiant, it began to seem to her as though it might have a specific target in mind. "Is that thing… Causing what's happening to Valiant!?"

"If that's a possibility, then we give it no mercy!" Noir exclaimed, gripping her axe angrily.

Over and over, the Phantom Thieves attacked the Holy Grail with everything they had, and every single time, it was all for naught. The prisoners kept giving the Treasure their energy, and with each renewal, it's shine grew more bright. All the while, Valiant lay on the ground, her health deteriorating rapidly. The Phantom Thieves tried to help her, but none of their methods of healing were working. The teens were all worried that she might actually die, and there was nothing they could do about it!

The battle came to a halt when another laser shot out at the Phantom Thieves. All of a sudden the prisoners were screaming in anger, before an endless chant began. "Get out of here!" came the endless symphony, unaware or uncaring that a young girl was practically dying at their feet.

"If this is really how people feel, there's no way we'll be able to steal their hearts…" Mona shouted, looking down hopelessly. "We've come here for nothing…" We need to get out of here…! Sayori is going to die if we don't get away from this thing! But how could they if it was really a trip they couldn't return from?

"You imbeciles are intoxicated by an undesired 'justice'..." The Holy Grail boomed, tremors shaking the ground the teens stood on. "This is the will of the children of man who have fallen into sloth. My shine is proof that they desire my existence. As long as humanity yearns for me, I shall never perish…"

"Undesired justice"? Valiant didn't know why, but she found that statement incredibly funny. She chuckled, blood trailing down her lips. How could you call it undesired? We desire it… So it's not completely unwanted.

"Is she starting to bleed out…?" Panther asked, terrified as she broke her stance to check on the Valiant once more.

"It's possible. Panther, stay by her in case she needs help," Oracle said, her voice a whisper that was barely amplified by her Persona. "I'll continue to monitor her condition..."

"I'm… sorry," Valiant murmured, ashamed of how little she had accomplished, while still scaring her friends so much. "I just wanted to…"

"Don't talk, and don't be sorry. We wanted you to rest after you had enough, and I think we've finally gotten to that point," Panther said, forcing a smile onto her face as she elevated the girl's head. It had been resting on their supply of healing items before that point, but that definitely looked uncomfortable.

"The humans I look up to aren't like that…" Mona shouted, looking at all of his friends. They had gotten hurt coming down here… They were dying by coming down here. Seeing what they had done as worth less than the general public's desires was a horrid affront. "No matter how painful reality is, it's all over if you don't try to change how things are! I'm not the only one who believes that. Everyone here agrees… We don't want to turn back into the people we used to be! That's why we risked our lives coming here!"

"Mona-chan…" Noir said softly, touched by her friend's words.

"He's right!" Panther shouted from where she sat.

"Mhm… Reality isn't so-" Valiant was interrupted by another interval of coughing and glitching, and she was starting to suspect that it was happening on purpose.

"Humanity already wishes for their distortions to be actualized," The Holy Grail stated. "I am merely the being that will ultimately grant those wishes. Now, it is time I refrain from my place in this world, and begin to encroach upon reality itself." With that, the golden chalice began to glow. Lights from the top flickered and spun around the room as the tremors that shook the chambers increased tenfold.

"Mona! What should we do!?" Fox asked the cat in desperation as the thieves struggled to keep their footing.

"I don't know what you are, but you can't keep arbitrarily deciding all this on your own!" Mona screamed at the Treasure, his face twisted in rage. "Humans aren't all stupid like you say they are!"

"Hmph. Indolent, foolish humans. You shall offer your hearts to me…" The Holy Grail stated. Shooting another laser that seemed to be aimed at the floor. The teens all screamed and rushed to get out of the way. It became clear as Panther tried to get up and carry Valiant that the Grail had a specific target in mind.

"It's trying to get Valiant!" Queen yelled, running forward. However, just as the deadly beam of light was about to hit the girl, Kore rose up, and in seconds had wrapped her body around her user, using her body as a shield.

"...Now, the time for the fusion has come…" The Holy Grail did not acknowledge its clear intent to kill one of the teens, instead continuing on its spiel that no one could comprehend. The tremors in the room suddenly stopped, and when Fox looked down at the ground, he instantly knew why,

"Hey, the ground's…!" Fox pointed down to it, getting everyone else's attention.

"It's vanishing…!?" Noir shouted in panic, stepping away from the white glowing panels where nothing but empty space remained.

However, within seconds it didn't matter, as soon the entire floor was covered in the glowing white light. Everyone rushed towards the immobile Kore, still covering Valiant, wanting to all stay together.

Then everything went white.

---

Goro and Monika were still wandering around the top floor of Mementos when the ground began to tremble and shake. Cracks appeared in the floor and ceiling, with chunks of cement beginning to rain down on the two.

"What's happening!?" Goro asked, covering his head with his arms as he and Monika began to run, though they didn't have anywhere to run.

"I don't know!" Monika shouted back nervously. "Maybe… maybe the Phantom Thieves beat us to it? This seems like Mementos is collapsing!"

"Well then where are they right now!? To escape, they need to get out of the Palace, and the only way is up through here!" Goro shouted anxiously. Shit! What if they die before they can get out?

"Don't worry, mister! The Phantom Thieves don't have to worry about getting out!"

"What about Sayori!?" Goro screamed, half mad as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Yaguchi kept saying she was almost dead... I keep trying to tell myself that he's lying, and that they're looking out for each other, but…

"Mister, go to your right! You'll see where I needed you to go to, and it will provide an escape from Mementos!" the voice shouted, not answering the question and sending spikes of fear and rage through Goro.

Nevertheless, he grabbed Monika by the arm and veered to the right, spotting what he hoped was what the voice intended for him to see.

"Where are we going!?" Monika screamed, trying to fight her way out of Goro's grip as she was still glitching like crazy. "Have you really lost it!? Running into a wall isn't going to help us!"

"Can you not see it!?" Goro asked incredulously, able to see what the voice must have been pointing him towards as he rushed Monika and himself towards it.

A glowing blue door stood against the wall right in front of them. Goro could swear he had never seen it before on any past trip to Mementos. However, there it stood now. It seemed to be made out of a deeply blue colored wood. It was covered in burn marks and scratches, sitting crooked in its frame.

Goro ran up to it and twisted the knob, surprised as the rusted metal broke apart in his palm and scattered into the windless air, crystal dust that in reality only he could see.

With the knob broken, the door suddenly swung open, with no time to swear. A bright white light was coming fast down the hall, engulfing all of the Shadows in its wake.

"Akechi, what are you- Ahhh!" Monika screamed as Goro threw her through the open doorway. She surprisingly managed to pass through, despite not being able to see it at first. Her expression turned into shock as she found that she wasn't colliding with a wall, but sailing through a door that she could only now see.

Goro didn't waste his precious time examining this. Instead, he jumped through the door himself, hearing it slam behind him just as the bright light from before slammed into the door like a roaring wave.

---

"Ow…" Ann moaned, standing up and looking around in worry. Everyone else was picking themselves up off of the ground with her. "Is everyone okay…?" However, there was someone she didn't see at first. "Sayori!?"

"I'm here," Sayori called out, having been put on the pavement a few feet away from everyone else. She picked herself up nervously and checked herself over. "I feel… I feel… completely fine?" the girl murmured, amazed as she felt completely healed, not even feeling sick like she had earlier.

"Your glitches seemed to have stopped, too!" Futaba pointed out, noticing that by now, with how things had been going in Mementos, that Sayori should have been glitching.

"But, wait… Ain't this weird?" Ryuji questioned, gesturing to Sayori and then to everyone. "We're all doin' fine, and our clothes are back to normal, too…"

"Look!" Morgana tilted his head out towards the sky, and everyone was shocked to see the familiar buildings and people of the city in the daytime.

"Huh…? We're back in Shibuya?" Haru asked nervously.

"But… we never went back on our own," Yusuke said uneasily, looking down at the ground.

"We must have been driven out by the Holy Grail," Morgana said, his eyes narrowing as he tried to recall what had happened after that. He could have sworn he had heard someone speaking to him.

"Did we lose…?" Makoto asked sadly, knowing the answer already.

"We can't give up," Akira stated, looking at his team in determination.

"Yeah, especially since I'm okay, now… Maybe my glitching is suddenly working in reverse?" Sayori said enthusiastically in agreement. She clenched her fists to her chest and gave an equally determined smile. "If we get down there faster each time, then-"

"While it's true we cannot give up, that does not mean you will accompany us after this!" Yusuke interrupted, looking at the girl with a stern frown. She had already nearly died going down there, so they had to take that as a learning experience.

"Guys, come on!" Sayori whined, her face turning into one of heartbreak.

"Don't try to-" Makoto was interrupted by something small and red falling in front of her face, landing on the ground with the sound that rain makes when it falls to the ground.

The entire conversation stopped as the teens all looked up at the sky. There wasn't a single cloud, yet the red rain continued to fall in droplets, increasing with intensity with every second. It took a few seconds for the Phantom Thieves to process what was really going on.

"It's raining… blood?" Sayori asked, her voice faint as a sick, familiar feeling invaded her system.

Futaba suddenly yelped and ran behind Makoto. Right by where she had been standing, large spikes shot up from the ground, twisting around each other to form a giant rib that curled over the city. The sound of that repeated across the city, transforming the skyline so that in every direction the Phantom Thieves looked, they saw these bones rising towards the sky.

Makoto was the first to put it together through her shock. Quietly, she murmured, "Mementos… here in Shibuya? Is this what it meant by 'the fusion'?"

Morgana hopped onto the ledge of a building to get a closer look. "To think this would happen…"

"No way… You gotta be shittin' me!" Ryuji yelled, attracting stares from people who walked by.

The people around the teens went about their day as though nothing was wrong. They talked about the usual news, or about how nice the weather looked. They were completely oblivious to the ruined city around them.

"What were the Phantom Thieves all about anyway?" One woman asked loudly, which seemed to cause a noticeable shift in the air.

"Oh man, hearing that brings back memories! I feel so dumb for even believing they existed."

"It was fun news, though. Well, I doubt anyone believes they're around anymore."

"Why isn't anyone noticing this abnormality?" Yusuke questioned in frustration.

"They've been conditioned not to…" Sayori murmured, looking around the city uneasily. They don't notice how wrong this reality is...

"What? Sayori, it sounds like there's something you need to get off of your chest," Haru stated, going over to the girl who was now avoiding the looks everyone was giving.

Everyone suddenly heard a loud thud. They turned around to see Futaba on her knees, groaning in pain as she gripped her head.

"What's wrong!?" Ryuji shouted, running over and putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Ohh… I feel… woozy," Futaba whimpered, before she grunted and curled up even tighter on the ground.

"Futaba, grab on!" Ann urged, holding her hand out to the girl, before she suddenly flinched. With a cry, she fell to the ground as well.

"Ann-chan!?" Haru shouted, before collapsing herself. Like dominoes, Akira, Ryuji, Yusuke, Makoto, and Morgana all fell too, crying and yelping in pain.

"What's wrong!?" Sayori cried, before grabbing her head as it throbbed painfully. That same hiccup-like feeling came up in her throat, and she screamed. "Oh no, of all the times to come back!"

"Is this… by the Holy Grail, too…?" Makoto asked weakly.

"That… son of a bitch…!" Ryuji gritted between clenched teeth, trying to get to his feet. "Goddammit…! What is this creepy-ass shit abou- Ugh!" With a grunt, he suddenly fell forward, his chin hitting the pavement. He opened his eyes, with his vision starting to blur. "Ow… Huh…?" His face went deathly pale, and he screamed, looking at his hand, which was slowly but surely disappearing. "My…! My hand…!"

"No…" Sayori whispered falling to her knees, realizing what was happening as she looked around at her friends, finding they were all going through what she was going. "You guys… It's…"

"Ryuji…?" Ann asked nervously, before falling onto the pavement. She looked down at her body to find that her legs were fading. She screeched, waving her hands through where her legs were supposed to be in desperation as tears began trailing down her face.

"We're glitching, too…?" Makoto asked, looking at her own fading hands. Tears welled in her eyes. "This can't be real... How…?"

Sayori felt her own legs give out, this glitch seeming to go even slower, going over her whole body, instead of all at once, for only a second. Tears pricked her eyes as she begged whatever force that would listen to save her friends. "Why is it… affecting you guys now!? This shouldn't be how it…"

"What happened to us… to cause this…?" Yusuke grunted, hugging himself tightly s pain spread throughout his body.

"No… No…!" Haru cried desperately, watching her fading arms.

"We're all… disappearing…" Futaba whispered, tears spilling down her face.

Morgana struggled to get up, his brain connecting the dots as he helplessly looked at all of his friends. "Don't tell me…!"

"Indeed. This isn't my doing," the Holy Grail's voice suddenly boomed from within all of the thieves' skulls. "You imbeciles are about to disappear from the people's cognition."

"That damn voice…!" Ryuji grunted, pounding his arm against the ground.

"Mementos and reality have become one… Thus, those who have disappeared from cognition cannot exist anywhere!"

"Disappear my ass… What the hell…!" Ryuji suddenly released an ear splitting scream, which died in the wind as he disappeared entirely.

"Ryuji!" Ann cried desperately, before disappearing herself.

"Is this really it…?' Yusuke grunted and threw his whole body back with his scream, disappearing, too.

"No! No-" Futaba cried, clutching her head as she disappeared as well.

"Morgana… Where did we… go wro-" Makoto went next, her question going unheard as she faded away.

Haru was speechless, crying as she faded away. The remaining thieves watched in pain as their friends had all disappeared.

"No!" Sayori screamed desperately, looking up at the blood-red sky desperately. "They… aren't the same as me… Take me instead!" She curled up helplessly on the ground, barely having any limbs left to do so. What do I do…? This shouldn't be happening to them! Why do I have to be here when they can't!?

"Is this all my fault…?" She could hear Morgana ask with utter despair in his voice. "Because I… brought you all there…?

"It's not your fault," Akira said weakly, looking at the cat sadly.

"No…" Sayori agreed quietly, tears spilling down the side of her face as her face curled and twisted in pain. "It's not…"

"I didn't mean to…! I'm…" Morgana began to cry as he looked at Akira. "I'm sorry… The mission's… a failure…" The cat disappeared, leaving Sayori and Akira alone.

Akira rolled onto his back and looked at the sky silently, reaching up towards it in sorrow.

"No… please, stop disappearing… I can't take it!" Sayori screamed, her breaths coming in short gasps.

"I'm sorry, Sayori, but…" Akira trailed off as he faded away completely.

"No, don't apologize! Come back! Please!" Sayori screamed, whipping around, but having no strength or means to prop herself up. "I'm the one that's sorry! I'm sorry, Akira!"

She squeezed her eyes shut as images of her friends all flashed through her mind. They shouldn't go through the same pain as me… "I'm sorry, Ann… I'm sorry, Ryuji... Sorry, Morgana, and Yusuke, and Makoto, and Futaba, and Haru… Sojiro, Sae…"

Tears fell anew as she opened her eyes and looked at the ground, as people walked by her without a care in the world. "I'm sorry, Monika… I'm sorry, Yuri… I'm sorry, Natsuki…" Pain shot through her body, and she released one last desperate scream as she finally faded away completely.

"I'm sorry, Goro!"

---

Monika opened her eyes, exhausted as she looked at the room she had just landed in. She noticed that she felt different… Stronger. She sat up and looked down at her body, waiting a few seconds, before sighing in relief. Her glitches seemed to have stopped.

Goro grunted, sitting up and looking around the darkened environment. The voice in his head was no longer there. He could no longer feel its presence. It felt weird to feel so alone in his head.

"Monika, are you okay?" He called out to the girl.

"Never better… I think," Monika stated, looking down at her hands, before looking over at Goro. "Where are we?"

"I don't know… I was just following the voice's instructions," Goro said sheepishly, getting to his feet and beginning to inspect the room. "It was the right call, I guess… Coming here seemed to save our lives."

Monika got up and looked around the room with him, taking the environment in. The original color of the room was probably predominantly blue, but it was hard to tell. The furniture, walls, and floor, were all nearly completely black. Ashes and cinders littered the floor, with the walls suffering from smoke damage. The furniture that was still intact was just barely a shell of what it must have been.

Empty bookshelves covered the walls all the way up to a ceiling that neither teen could make out. What might have been a desk and a set of chairs were black shells of what they had once been. In the corner of the room, what seemed to be an abandoned piano and microphone set were burnt beyond repair, their owners nowhere to be found.

Monika grabbed a handful of ash and cinders off of the floor, noticing how incredibly cold they felt between her fingers. "There was a fire here… It seemed to have happened a long time ago."

"Hm…" Goro hummed, taking off his black helmet. He didn't know why, but the room felt familiar to him. It was comforting, or at least, he felt that it was supposed to be comforting. The silence of the room felt unnatural, as he stared at the piano and microphone in the corner.

Monika looked down sadly at the floor, noticing the burnt remains of what must have once been the pages in books. It hurt her heart, as someone who enjoyed and respected literature. "What is this place…?"

"More importantly, why has no one ever noticed it before?" Goro asked. "And… where is the voice?" So far, he and Monika seemed to be the only ones in the room.

"Here I am, mister!" the voice suddenly shouted, and the teens both looked up, seeing a small shape clinging to one of the burnt out bookshelves. Monika and Goro could barely make out the shape grabbing something off of the bookshelf, before it suddenly dropped down, landing in a large pile of ash and sliding down to the floor.

A young boy stood in front of Monika and Goro, somehow immaculately clean despite being surrounded by all of this dust and ash. Gray hair fell down his face, jagged and flat, like the shell of a broken egg. Yellow eyes stared unblinking at the incredibly uncomfortable teens. The small boy hugged himself shyly, giving the teens a clear view of his unnaturally defined, round ears, and goggles that rested on top of his head. He suddenly put his hands on his waist, proudly showing off his star and moon patterned sweater, black leggings, and white boots. "Sorry… Where are my manners…?"

The boy held out his arms, as though to hug the burnt out room he was in. "Welcome to the Velvet Room! My name is Jose!"

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry that it took so long. I was trying to figure out life stuff before I decided I wanted to wait to finish this story first. The end is in sight, though it will still be a few chapters. Until then, I would really appreciate reviews! I don't want to get into details, but today has been difficult, and hearing from you guys and your thoughts would be very nice! Anyway, I also hope you don't think Jose's appearance was too sudden. If Royal had been out back then, I probably would have put him in closer to the beginning, when it would have been better, but as it stands, the best place to put him in would be near the final battle, rather than in the middle of Okumura's Palace or something. However, if it helps, I was always planning to have Akechi make a Velvet Room visit around this point. More details concerning Jose's appearance will come next chapter.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you have a good day/night. I'll see you all next time!