Author's Note: WE GOT SORA! Okay so now I need to make plans to officially free him from where he is. Given the story's timeline right now both him, and Kazuya, will take a bit of time to get to the mansion. Now this is when we really enter spoiler territory. An update will be made to the cover art after this. First review comes from Generic Smash Bros Fan.

"So, Incineroar ... Son of a bitch,you're still alive.
Oh, I think I understand what is happening ... yes, I think I understand what is happening ...i think,idk. it's probably too early to come up with any theory.
Seeing Ratchet & Clank interact with more residents is always welcome. So Hector and Akechi are now alive ... this is very weird."

I welcome a Thor: Ragnarok reference. And I should probably clear this up here Akechi and Incineroar are currently alive due to reality being twisted, Hector is through the time vortex. Next review comes from Silver Wright

"I've been following this story for a good while now, and have been enjoying this story.
(Just before Min Min was revealed)"

I'm glad you've enjoyed the story this far.

But now, as a Persona fan, my respect has been doubled from your reference of "You're Nothing Without Me."

If you are a persona fan then we've only scratched the surface for what's going to happen in the next few episodes. Next review is from UltimateCCC.

"Joker can sing! Bet you a certain Violet is red-faced, ear-steamed, nose-bleed, eyes-hearted, and thirsty-tongued combined into the Pentagon Passion of Piety."

She was definitely three of those things. Final review is from a Guest.

"I also wonder if Master Hand sent a invitation to a character from the Darkstalkers series, who will you choose?"

I don't know much about Darkstalkers, so at the moment. No one really.

Season 6 Episode 7: False Identity
(February 22nd, 2021)

It's been a couple days since Samus's team had learned of what had caused reality to be twisted in such a way. So much that even the great Master Hand was affected by the changes. Ever since the group had learned that Maruki had a shadow form and was the main cause they have done their best to not speak so openly around him, even if he wouldn't understand why. Since it has started the group decided they may as well try to get more people on their team before setting off into the palace.

Kiria Kurono was the first to join the group two days ago, having offered her help. Giving the story that she wanted to see what it was like living in the mansion for a bit, Master Hand has since given her temporary resident status. Rex, the salvager, was another one to join the team when approached, having been the first one to discover that Kamui was somehow awake again in the first place. He was to make an effort to get either Pyra or Mythra to join them.

As for Joker, he would be working to get two important phantom thief members he felt like he would need in the palace. Morgana and Futaba, the once cat had been affected in the way that he was now a human. Everyone under the belief that he always was one. Futaba meanwhile was affected by her mother somehow being alive, having been killed when she was young.

The leader of the phantom thieves decided to focus on Morgana first. He was the metaverse guide after all and was the best one that could explain how the metaverse worked to the others. With help from Haru he was told that Morgana was sitting at the fountain in the courtyard, which is where Joker was now.

Morgana was still very much the young man he had somehow become a few days ago and looked like he was enjoying the sun. He was also on his back, a manner Joker did find that reminded him of Morgana's original form.

"Hello Morgana," Joker casually said as he approached the now human metaverse guide. Joker then noticed that Morgana was sound asleep, causing him to shake him awake. "Wake up, you're gonna get sunburnt."

"Huh, oh," Morgana ended up saying as he awoke before sitting up. "I didn't realize I had fallen asleep, thank you Akira." Morgana then swung his legs over and placed his feet on the concrete. Joker took to standing where he was. "Is there something you wished to talk to me about?"

"I was actually wondering if you had any specific plans today," Akira said in response.

"Ah well not many. Though I was thinking of something we could do as a group," Morgana said. Joker nodded his head, indicating he was listening. "I was thinking that we can all go to the movie theater in the city. Maybe I can sit next to Lady Ann."

Joker chuckled at that, human or cat Morgana was still the same. He felt like he thought of a good opening for the line of questioning before saying, "You're one handsome guy."

Morgana chuckled nervously, slightly confused. "Well that was sudden. I mean I appreciate the compliment, just… wasn't expecting that."

Joker was thinking he could continue, feeling like a subtle dig at his living situation in the attic of Leblanc was like for the two. Namely when Morgana was still a cat. "We used to sleep together," Joker said, fully knowing that anyone around would take that out of context. And it would as Falco was approaching the courtyard now.

Falco (The Wingman): ...What the **** did I just hear? Joker and Morgana, sleeping together. I thought he was already in a relationship. With uh, Futaba was it? ...Oh, their relationship is more sibling-like. I can actually see that. Regardless, I'm gonna listen in.

Falco proceeded to find the nearest bush and duck into it. He then poked his head out to see what was going on. Just in time to hear Morgana respond, "Haha, I remember that! You'd get so mad when I'd curl up on top of you." The sentence caused Flaco's beak to drop wide open. Morgana seemed to then catch himself, "Wait… curl up on… that… doesn't seem right."

Joker's eyes widened in realization, Morgana's memories were still there. He just needs to keep asking questions that'll get him to think. He wouldn't need to though as Morgana kept thinking on his own. "I got captured in Kamoshida's palace, and that was when I met you guys. Whenever we went to mementos I would transform into."

Falco was very interested in what was going on now. Closing his beak and leaving his bush behind, before diving into a closer bush. When his head was visible again Joker ended up saying, "I know you can do this."

Falco's brow raised in confusion. Morgana was confused as well and he said, "Huh? O-okay." Morgana then promptly held his head as he recalled something. When he was back he said, "What was? Wait a minute… Oh, I'm such a fool."

"Do I have the true Morgana back now," Joker asked.

Morgana chuckled before saying, "I think you do. Mind explaining to me what happened, Joker?"

"Maruki happened, he somehow has these abilities to rewrite reality. From the looks of it he changed reality to suit everybody's wishes," Joker explained. Falco held his own head in thought as he absorbed this information. "It seems your wish was becoming a human so you can finally swoon Ann."

"That does sound like something I'd wish for," Morgana said with a chuckle. "But no, I know what the truth is now. This form I took, it's not my reality. As such I think I can promptly reject it." In a flash of light Joker and Falco were both forced to shut their eyes. When Joker opened his he noticed that Morgana was no longer sitting where he was, but on his own shoulder. A cat once again. "So fearless leader, who do we need?"

"Okay what is going on here," Falco said, finally emerging from the bush. He pointed right at Morgana, all freaked out. "As far as I know you were never a cat. And what do you mean by rewriting reality? I thought we were dealing with time vortexes."

"You'll see soon enough Falco," Joker said before walking off. Leaving the avian pilot to his own thoughts.

Falco (The Wingman): Ah, hell no! I'm getting to the bottom of this, but on my own accord. But what to do?

Morgana (The Cat/Team Mascot): Joker filled me in on who's in the know already. We already have a 4-person team. But Joker wants to try and get Futaba at least before attempting to enter the palace.

Rex's attempt to get Pyra to see the light did not work. Instead the aegis thought he was running a fever and tried to get him back to his room. The salvager eventually managed to get away and was now with Decidueye. "That… could've definitely gone better," Rex said as he caught his breath.

"Didn't manage to convince Pyra I assume," Decidueye asked. Rex then shook his head. Decidueye then twirled his arrow. "I'm not getting much luck either, all I got confused looks or was brushed off entirely."

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. Maybe we need to try to convince someone that witnessed something that doesn't add up with what it looks like now," Rex suggested. He then held his head in thought. He then shot up saying, "That's it!"

"What? What's it," Decidueye asked, putting away the arrow he was twirling.

"Mythra witnessed the explosion on the Space Needle with her own eyes, the one Incineroar... supposedly died in," Rex said. "Maybe if I can bring that up with her she'll remember."

"It's worth a shot I guess, do you know where she is?"

Rex snapped his fingers at that, not currently knowing where the other aegis was. Decidueye then facepalmed at this as they did not have enough time to potentially find her before Akechi ordered everyone to group up. "Well I guess we can hope that someone knows where Mythra is."

"You guys are looking for the lady of light," said the Black Knight as he approached the two. Having heard the last sentence in the conversation. Both Decidueye and Rex both nodded. "I believe I saw her out on the front porch. She's been sitting there a bit recently."

"Thank you Black Knight," Rex said. The salvager and Decidueye then left the room quickly to get to Mythra before she left.

Black Knight (Sinister General): I can understand why Rex would want to find her, but what is Decidueye's business with her. Regardless it is not my affair so I will not pry into it.

Mythra was indeed out on the front porch, leaning over the railing. Looking out over the front yard with no intention of leaving, she was waiting for something. And that something was Rex barreling out the door of the mansion. He looked side to side before he spotted Mythra and ran over. "Mythra, something I need to tell you," Rex said as he came over.

"Things aren't as they supposed to be," Mythra said, much to Rex and Decidueye's shock. Mythra then stood up and faced the two. "I've figured it out yesterday, I was recalling the Seattle battle with someone and that's when it hit me. Since then I've been thinking of my next course of action."

"Luckily, we have that course of action," Decidueye said to the aegis. "What's going on involves the metaverse, the phantom thieves territory. We're gathering who we can to infiltrate the distortion of the one causing this later today."

"What do you say Mythra," Rex asked.

Mythra looked away from the two again before saying, "Okay, I'll help. When are we going?"

Today was an important day for Professor Layton. He's been assigned by Master Hand to learn if there's any connection to who's been pulled from the time vortexes so far. All to answer the question on if the vortexes are targeted to a certain aspect of everyone. Layton working theories that haven't gained much traction. One was that it was bringing back those that had once died, but Athena and the future Trucy put a stomp in that. Other theories didn't get much further.

The professor decided to inquire with his results so far, with one of the ones affected by the time vortexes. That very someone being Aerith, the flower girl having recently made a personal garden out in an area by the courtyard. Once was close enough he said, "Aerith, do you mind answering a few questions for me?"

Aerith stopped what she was doing and turned around. Upon seeing the professor she stood up. "Oh, Professor hello? Yes, I can answer something. What for?"

"Simply the circumstances behind when you were taken awhile back," Layton said as he put himself in detective mode. "First off what was your last memory?"

"My last memory would be when we entered the temple of the ancients," Aerith said. She then recalled something a bit more specific. "I think I was facing Cloud when it happened."

"Okay, was there anything you accidentally learned about your future since arriving here," Layton asked. He then watched as Aerith planted another flower. "Ms. Gainsborough."

"Other than the fact I died then no," Aerith said. She then dusted off her clothes. "Look Mr. Layton I don't really feel like talking about this so if you could please."

Professor Layton put away the notepad he had out and nodded. "Of course Miss, I'm sorry for bothering you." With that the professor turned and walked away he had more people to interrogate. Aerith meanwhile looked down, a lone tear had escaped her.

The group to head to the metaverse were all together now in the middle of the front yard of the mansion. Altogether it was Joker, Kasumi, Morgana, Futaba, Akechi, Samus, Kiria, Rex, Mythra, and Decidueye. The other decided to stay behind to try and convince more people.

"Okay team," Morgana had said once everyone was together. "What we're about to enter is no walk in the park. This is the metaverse; it can be very dangerous. As long as the cognition believes the weapons you have are real they should be able to do damage."

"Is everyone ready," Joker said as he pulled his phone out. The metaverse app is ready to go.

"Yeah let's fix reality," Rex enthusiastically said. Mythra nodded beside him.

Samus's suit then materialized around her. "I can scratch defeating cognitions off my bucket list."

"Did you ever learn the third keyword Akechi," Kasumi asked as Joker brought the phone to the desired spot.

"Yes, in fact I did," Akechi said before clearing his throat. "I believe he views the Smash Mansion as a Laboratory."

The phone beeped as the world began to distort around everyone. When it cleared up the group, minus the phantom thieves were shocked to see another building taking the mansion's place. It was a tower. "That is one big tower," Futaba remarked, "looks like we'll have to beat each floor one-by-one."

"That'll take forever," Decidueye said. "This isn't gonna be like one of those games Futaba."

"Well would you look at that," Kiria said as she examined her outfit. Having transformed into her mirage outfit. "I guess I'm an honorary phantom thief."

"Why an eyepatch," Rex asked, very much curious to the reason. He then got a look from Kiria that said 'Don't ask questions' and promptly shut up.

"What a girl decides to wear should be of no concern to you Rex," Mythra stated. Everyone then heard the sound of horrified squaking and all turned to see Flaco having the meltdown of his life. "What the-"

"Not again," Joker muttered as he ran towards Falco. Himself, Akechi, Futaba, Morgana, and Kasumi were all in their metaverse outfits now. "Falco, I need you to calm down."

"Calm down," Falco shouted. He then got up and walked towards the bulk of the group. "I'm standing nearby wondering what the hell is going on and the next thing I know everything is being twisted and I find myself in… in… Whatever this is!"

As Falco continued to ramble away Samus walked up to the avian pilot before slapping him in the face. Which effectively shut him up. "Listen bird brain this guy is messing with the heads of our acquaintances and it's up to us to stop him. And we cannot do that with your incessant rambling. So either you shut up and help or I'll throw you out of the Metaverse myself." Samus then walked away for a few seconds before turning back. "Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Falco said. The group then began to walk towards the tower.

Goro Akechi (High School Detective): Due to safety concerns this is the only head segment we'll be doing as we want the crew to record from a safe distance. This palace could very well prove to be the hardest one we face. We will need to be resilient.

After talking with Aerith professor Layton decided to go with the two that traveled together next. But since 2028 Trucy was busy he had to ask the questions to Athena Cykes alone. He eventually found the young lawyer in the living room. From the looks of it her fingers seemed to be dancing across a holographic screen of some kind.

"Oh man, hopefully the boss back in our time is doing alright," Athena said. She then put away the file she was looking at before closing out. Just as Layton was approaching her too. She took notice of this and stood up. "Oh Mr. Layton. Hello!"

"Good to see you, Athena. If you don't mind, I have some questions to ask about the circumstances of both yours and Trucy's traveling here," the professor asked. Once again he took out the notepad and pencil.

"Sure, what do you want to ask," Athena said with a grin. Widget was showing the same expression on its screen.

"The first one is of course, who was the last person you saw before going into the vortex. And the answer isn't going to be Trucy," Layton said as he had noticed Athena was about to open her mouth.

"It'd have to be the boss then, Mr. Wright told us to be careful when we went out. Trucy noticed the vortex the first time and then dragged me over," Athena said.

"I see. Okay next question, given that you are the future is there anything you've accidentally given away. Anything that hasn't happened yet," Layton asked. He felt like this would be crucial.

"Well, other than the boss eventually getting his badge back. I think some of the details behind the UR-1 retrial about a year ago for me," Athena said as she thought about it. She then snapped her fingers. "I think I may have also ended up telling Mr. Wright about Trucy's show."

"Ah yes I heard that from him myself, very intriguing," Layton said as he wrote down what he had learned there. "And the last question, what was the day?" He got a confused look from Athena at that before adding on. "This is to make a spreadsheet of where everyone was so we can send you all home when it's safe."

"Oh in that case the date was October 24th, 2028(2)," Athena said. Layton went ahead and wrote this down. "More than seven years off from now."

"That is quite the distance to travel. Though, there is someone that has traveled farther than that," Layton said, just like that it seemed he had one more person in mind. "I thank you for the answers Athena, I think the pattern is beginning to become clear." With that the professor turned around and walked out of the room.

Professor Layton (Ace Detective): Will this pattern hold to be true, I have no clue. These vortexes are unpredictable, even if this one turns out to not be true… I have a second theory.

While the main group worked on infiltrating the palace Otacon and Snake focused themselves on seeing if they could get through to Master Hand. Even if they could do it without him they would prefer it'd be with. The endeavor itself would be hard to pull off since he also does not believe anything is wrong. They were currently figuring out a way in the shed.

"There has to be something we can use to snap him out of the rose tinted glasses put on him," Otacon muttered to himself as he looked up footage from the past. It involved footage from the Seattle battle as well as Kamui's coma. "We have plenty of evidence."

"But there's no telling what could happen to him when he does figure it out," Snake said. The ex-spy was currently leaning against the wall of the shed. "Will he fall unconscious till it's over, will the binds try to take over again. There's no telling."

"Maybe if we can convince more people it will help us," Otacon said. "And not just anyone in general, maybe the ones directly affected by the warped reality."

"You're not saying," Snake began to say, he then noticed that Otacon was very much serious. "You want to try and convince Incineroar, Kamui, and whoever else that they're-"

"Dead or otherwise, yes. I'd say it's possible." Otacon then went ahead and sent the footage to his phone. He then pulled up the Seattle video and began to walk out. "Let's go, first we convince Incineroar and Kamui, and then we can-"

"Oh are we planning an espionage," said none other than Crazy Hand, who was at the other side of the door Otacon threw open. Causing the two to jump back in shock. Crazy Hand then laughed wickedly after that. "Couldn't help myself. But I can't help but overhear your little conversation. Reality? Twisted? Sounds like something I would do on Halloween!"

"While that is true this reality twist was not done by you. It was done by Maruki," Otacon said.

"The school counselor? I knew he was up to no good, you can never trust those people. They think they know what's best for you. I live my life the way I want to buster!"

Crazy Hand (The Brother): No! I've never had a counselor before! Did you not hear a word I said?!

Master Hand (Man of the Mansion): You have no idea how many times I attempted to get him to talk to Mario in his doctor persona. I wanted to find the route of his… psycho stuff. It took lighting the entire first floor on fire to get the message across.

Jigglypuff (The Sleep Causer): (Shaking) puuffff…
Lucario (Aura Pokemon): She still has nightmares. That's why you don't like going into the kitchen?

"Since I'm the way I am, whatever twisting is going on hasn't affected me," Crazy Hand said, which actually brought a bit of relief to the two. "So I can assist if you wish. Maybe if I pester my brother enough he'll snap out of it."

"You just want an excuse to do that in the first place don't you," Snake asked. Crazy Hand laughed again before teleporting away. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Let's not waste much more time Snake," Otacon said as he continued to walk back towards the mansion. "There's no telling how long the other will be in the Metaverse for."

Speaking of the Metaverse the group had entered the tower and were beginning to ascend it. Mona had a feeling that the treasure would be on the top floor. "I think if we're going to be doing this you need to clarify what this treasure is supposed to be," Samus said as she stayed on her guard(3).

"That's the thing, the treasure could be anything," Mona (Morgana) said as she went up the stairs to the next floor. "Could be the wheel of a ship, a painting, whatever. No matter what though it is the center of the desires. That's why we need to secure a route to it so we can properly steal it."

"I didn't realize being Phantom Thieves was so complicated for you guys," Decidueye remarked as the got up to the floor.

"You get used to it," Joker said. Everyone then heard footsteps and went against the wall. Moments later a shadow in a lab coat. "Shadows. So they are here."

"It took awhile for any to show up," Violet (Kasumi) said. "Do you think his shadow is luring us into a trap."

"No telling, but we may as well take down this Shadow and move on," Akechi said. The Phantom Thieves nodded to each other and Oracle (Futaba) motioned for the others to stay put and pay attention. It was time for them to show how they handle the shadows. Joker crouched and stalked a bit before jumping onto the shadow and ripping off the mask. The shadow then dissolved into multiple other shadows.

Music: Take Over - Persona 5 Royal
Team: Joker (Akira), Mona (Morgana), Violet (Kasumi), Crow (Akechi)
Support: Oracle (Futaba)
Personas (respectively): Arsene, Zorro, Cendrillion, Loki
Enemies: Macabre x2

Oracle immediately started off by giving an ATK boost to everyone. Meanwhile Crow was cackling. "Oh how I've missed this. Let's obliterate them," he said as he repeatedly fired the gun he brought with him at the two enemies. Both took damage though it wasn't much. "That's not effective."

"Arsene, Maeigaon," Joker shouted. The persona, Arsene, appeared behind him. Two dark pillars of flame then erupted, doing medium damage.

It was Mona's turn now, but as the not really cat tried to release a strong attack, it ended up being rather weak. "Huh?! I thought I discarded that move long ago!"

"Now that I think about it I don't think my boost actually worked on you guys either," Oracle said.

"How is that possible, you two should be just as strong as the rest of us," Violet questioned as she called out Cendrillion. She then unleashed Kougaon. One of the shadow dissipating within the erupting beam of light.

Crow snarled at this revelation. "We must be messing with what's supposed to happen in the game. Mona and Oracle are probably in the palace sooner than they're supposed to be. So it's limiting them so it doesn't alter much."

"Well that'll be a problem, and we've got incoming," Joker said as the other Macabre shadow. Only for it to dissipate in a beam of light as well, courtesy of Violet. "Thanks."

"That takes care of them," Mona said as everyone put their weapons away. "The fact that Oracle and I seemed to be weakened here is worrying. We may have to get everyone to snap out of things if we want to take down this palace for real."

"Well we do already have backup," Joker said as he addressed the others. "Now that you've seen us in action you can get a sense of how dangerous this can be. We'll probably come across harder and tougher shadows. If you want to leave now you can turn back here."

Samus didn't even wait a second before answering. "Someone has to be the responsible one in this group since it seems like it ain't gonna be Akechi." Crow gave a look of mock offense.

"I'm staying as well, Pyra is still affected. I'm not letting that stand," Rex said.

"Ditto, I at least want to have a peaceful March 4th when we're officially a part of the tournament," Mythra said.

Decidueye simply nodded and readied an arrow, he was prepared. Falco as well pulled out his blaster, "Dr. Maruki is going to regret ever doing what he did here."

"We still have to find the cameraman that went missing, until then I will stay," Kiria said.

"Well fearless leader, it looks like they're sticking around," Mona said. Joker nodded and the group continued to ascend the tower.

The last person for Professor Layton to question today was none other than Hector. The lord having been the most recent to end up in this point of time, and like Aerith, came from the past.

Hector himself was in his bedroom in the invite residential building and noticed Layton walk in. "Oh! That shocked me, I thought I closed that door," Hector said.

"Sorry for the intrusion Hector I just wish to ask some question behind what you were doing before coming here," Professor Layton said, taking out the notepad once again. "I'm developing a theory and I think it'll be vital to helping us predict who may show up."

"Ah that makes sense," Hector said. He then sat down on his bed. "Ask away then!"

"First off, who was the last person you saw before falling into the vortex," Layton asked. He was very sure he could prove his theory of Hector answered the question in a way he was expecting.

"You know my memory of that was fuzzy," Hector said. "At first I thought it was the guy that warned me of Armads's curse. But now that I look back, the last person I saw was Eliwood." The lord was now leaning back onto the wall.

That was a step in the right direction and proved his working theory, but he still needed to determine any others. "Was there anything you learned when it comes to your future? Not including Lilina of course."

"I've actually guessed that I died at this point in time because of the curse. It was written all over their faces," Hector said. "Other than that they refuse to tell me who my wife is going to be so there's that."

"Well it is against the rules to tell someone about their future right now," Layton said to himself. "And last question, how far back did you travel from?"

"That one shocks me the most. Twenty years they say! It's crazy I tell you," Hector said.

Professor Layton (Ace Detective): Well it would seem that one thing I was thinking is correct. I'll need to bring this up to Master Hand. The other one is not as accurate, but it shouldn't be tossed so soon.

"Thank you for your help Hector," Layton said, tipping his hat. The professor then left the bedroom, he had an urgent meeting with Master Hand to get to.

Otacon and Snake, now joined by Blythe, ended up meeting with Kamui in the dining room, apparently the Princess was late getting to lunch and was the last one there. After much deliberation it was decided the mercenary professor would talk to her. Which led Blythe waking up to Corrin with a laptop in hand saying, "Hey Kamui, I didn't know you were here."

Kamui looked over her shoulder and saw Blythe sitting down in the seat next to her. "Oh hello Blythe. Yeah I got here for lunch pretty late so I'm just eating now. Why are you here?"

"Wanted to catch up on something in my room and the villains were having a twister contest out in the courtyard. So I had to find a quiet place," Blythe answered.

Hammer Bro (Castle Enemy): It was a suggestion from Lord Bowser. He said it could help with flexibility.

*The camera pans to show King Dedede and Wario, both struggling to keep themselves steady.*

Hammer Bro: Clearly not going as well as he hoped.

"I imagine a lot of yelling between them," Kamui said. She then picked up her tray. "Well, I can move someplace else so you can work in peace-"

"Oh no no! Nothing like that, not since everyone back at the monastery has graduated at least. I meant the show."

"Oh you watch the episodes," Kamui questioned.

"I know a few people here that do, but I've fallen behind so figured I may as well catch up now," Blythe said as she pulled up the episode titled 'One-Winged Angel' and started watching. Kamui was minding her own business but did sneak a few curious glances over. Eventually Blythe got to the scene she wanted and turned up the volume.

When Kamui heard Wii Fit Trainer say she was in a coma her eyes widened and grabbed the laptop to see for herself. "What?! But that doesn't make any sense I'm right here. Agh!" Kamui held her head as memories of fighting Sephiroth flashed in her head. "What is this?"

"Kamui," Blythe said, concerned for Kamui's well being.

Eventually the flashes stopped and Kamui was breathing heavily. She then glared right at Blythe before asking, "How am I awake?"

Kamui (Dragon Princess): And I've been given the rundown, I can't believe this actually happened. Corrin's going to be devastated when this gets fixed. I know if it gets fixed I'll be back in a coma again, but it's not right.

Otacon (The Scientist): We've decided to put Incineroar on hold for tomrrrow. We'll have to wait for results from Crazy Hand now.

The group in the Metaverse had made a considerable distance up the tower. "Still not too many shadows," Joker said as the group came up to a large room. "Mona, status on the treasure?"

Mona (Morgana) looked around with curiosity filling his features before turning back to Joker. "I can feel it alright, its definitely closer than it was before."

"How many more floors," Falco asked. He had enough of climbing stairs at this point.

"Oh not to worry Falco, this will be as far as you go," said a mysterious voice. This prompted everyone to pull out their weapons and point them directly at the source. "Woah, let's not get hasty, I just want to explain myself."

"Is that," Samus said as she recognized this person as Takuto Maruki, they looked different then before though.

"It's Maruki alright," Violet (Kasumi) said. "Or his shadow at least."

"The fact you actually think this is exactly like a normal palace is honestly amusing," Maruki said with a slight laugh. "I am no mere shadow. I am the real Takuto Maruki. This palace is of my making. One of many things I hope to explain."

"And what is that explanation," Kiria asked.

"Why am I doing this of course. Tell me do you believe everyone deserves happiness of some kind at some point in their life?"

"Depends on who you ask," Samus replied. "Personally I don't believe I could ever be happy with my own life, not after what's happened to me."

"What if you could though? What if I told you I can change reality so that your parents never died, that your commanding officer never died," Maruki shot right back. Samus faltered a bit at the mention of her parents, before charging the arm cannon. "I just want to create a world free of misery, a world of happiness."

"Even if you truly want everyone to be happy, that is no way we live our life," Joker said. "No matter what happens, no matter how bad it gets. We have to build upon our past experiences and move on."

"I refuse to stand by in this happy world and not have to atone for my actions. I must accept responsibility," Akechi said. He looked like he was ready to pounce.

"But this world is better for everyone. And my abilities can have outstanding outcomes, just ask Kasumi over there," Maruki said.

This caused everyone a bit of confusion. Mythra looked at Kasumi confused before asking, "What is he talking about?"

"I can gladly show you," Maruki said as the screen behind him lit up. "While I don't know how many of you know it's important to note that Kasumi has a sister, one named Sumire Yoshizawa. Sumire was always jealous of her sister, and that jealousy led to the accident. A car was about to hit Sumire when Kasumi reached out and pushed her out of the way. Instead the car hit Kasumi, unfortunately ending her life."

"But then, that would imply," Rex began to say in shock.

"That's right! The girl you know right there is actually Sumire Yoshisawa!"

With those words Kasumi screamed as the illusion left her mind and the reality around everyone. Suddenly the girl was back in her original clothes. Along with that her hair was now down and she was wearing glasses. "No, no please, I have to live as my sister. It's the only way."

Joker, while overcome with shock, was still curious as to why. "Ka- Sumire, why-"

"Allow me to explain," Maruki stated. "She believed that the only way she could cope with the survivor's guilt is to live as her sister and continue her legacy. So in turn I made her think she truly was Kasumi, and that Sumire died in the car accident."

"Oh god," Akechi said. "That explains why I was always so confused. Why did I felt like something wasn't quite right."

"It was because you met her before it happened, and you saw her and thought she was Kasumi and not Sumire," Mona said.

"Here's what I'll do," Maruki said as the screen turned off. "Sumire, I will not be rewriting your reality again. I'm afraid that ship has failed. I will however give you all a week to decide. Are you going to accept what's to come and finally feel the happiness you so desperately want? Or will you choose to live in a world of unpredictability, full of sadness, grief, and anger forever."

"What," Sumire shouted in horror. "No please!"

"That is my option. See you next week."

With a snap of his fingers everyone felt a blast of wind and next then everyone knew they all crashed into the wall of the practice room of the mansion. Joker, Morgana, Futaba, Akechi, and Kiria no longer had their phantom or mirage clothes on.

Everyone soon steadied themselves and got up. Rex was helped up by Mythra though as he landed against his side pretty hard. "Well, that was… unexpected," Decidueye said.

"Ka- Sumire," Akechi said, rarely concerned for one in his life, "Are you-" Before he could say anything else Sumire ran from the room in tears. "Oh dear."

"So this whole time she was living the life of her dead sister," Futaba said as she picked up her glasses. "That's, honestly, messed up on many levels."

"She was overcome with grief, jealousy, and probably depression. She made a rash decision and Kasumi's death probably didn help matters," Samus said. She then powered down her suit. "In a way I can sympathize with her, I lost many people in my line of work, it… never gets easier."

"Hey guys," Crazy Hand said as he teleported in the room. "I felt a disturbance and came to see what happened. I know I'm not one that's usually concerned for you people, but I read the mood and well… that girl was crying as she ran past. What happened?"

"Maruki altered Sumire's reality," Rex said. "He made her think she was her dead sister because she thought it was the only way to properly cope."

"Oh dang that's uh… not… great. Speaking of not great, I assisted Otacon in getting my brother to snap out of things," Crazy Hand said, which got some looks. "Yeah I'm not affected anyway, you're gonna be mad."

"What is it," Samus asked with her arms crossed.

"Well~~~~~..."

(Flashback Start)

"Orders," Crazy Hand shouted at Master Hand. "What orders?!"

"I thought I told you this, were you not listening a week ago," Master Hand said. Although he should've expected this, Crazy Hand has terrible memory. Not to mention hardly actually listens to anything. "Atlus and Nintendo, don't want me to assist with the eighth palace trouble and wish for me to play along. Trust me brother this problem will get itself fixed in no time."

"What if it doesn't though. What if the phantom thieves fail and we're doomed to be happy for the rest of our lives!"

"Why are you so concerned! You never cared about what happens here. Why would you care about saving the island now?"

"BECAUSE I'M ONE OF THE IDIOTS WHO LIVE ON IT!" After shouting that Crazy Hand took what sounded like a deep breath. "Fine bro, you want to play along. I can play along. This is going to bite you though eventually let me tell you." With that Crazy Hand teleported away.

(Flashback end)

"And that's what the situation is," Crazy Hand said. And never before has he seen such and anger rise from Samus.

Samus growled. "That motherf-"

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: I would like to clarify how this series is going to be moving forward. It took a bit of time but I've decided that after this arc finishes with Season 8. The arc after will be the final arc of the story and will consist of 2 seasons. Season 9 will be "The Final Tournament". This will be the grand tournament where all characters will go head-to-head for the Post-DLC crown. Season 10 will be the end of the story and as such I will be keeping the events of it very closely guarded. I've enjoyed how this story has turned out so far so I hope you will see it to the end as I plan to.

(1) Scene was inspired very much by what actually happens in-game.
(2) Same date Otacon gave in Chapter 93
(3) Due to the larger group, not everything is going to be like it was in-game.