Rank 1

"Sorry about the short notice, but the agency doesn't have too many designers, and they're all super busy." Ann apologized as she and Joker walked down the halls of the stuffy office building that was home to the modelling agency. "This was pretty much the only opening for like, months."

"Better sooner than later." Joker said simply.

"Yeah, I suppose so. We really shouldn't leave this Shido business any longer than we need to." Ann sighed, the mention of the Phantom Thieves' current target bringing the mood down. "Anyways, this should be her studio. Whoo, okay Ann. You can do this."

An inquisitive look prompted Ann to comment. "Just hyping myself up. This designer is… kind of a personal inspiration, so I guess I'm a little nervous."

"Oh, Ann! What a lucky coincidence!" a man in a suit exclaimed, briskly jogging down the hall towards the two teenagers. "One of our models had a nasty spill, and I've been running all over looking for a replacement. Are you able to do a studio shoot right now? Shouldn't take more than a half hour or so."

"You got this?" Ann asked Joker, who replied with a nod. "Yeah, I guess I have the time."

"Excellent! Thanks a lot, you're really saving my bacon here."

As the agency manager led Ann down the hall, she turned over her shoulder and shouted some vital last-minute instructions. "Oh, and be sure to get her autograph for me!"

With an amused smile and a reassured nod, Joker turned to open the door and go inside. Whatever he had expected from a studio, it certainly wasn't this. Instead of a near sterile room with a backdrop and cameras, it was as if the entire room were another dimension. Joker even glanced down to make sure he was still wearing jeans and a coat instead of black leather.

After ensuring he was in fact still in reality despite the surreal surroundings, which he estimated to be roughly 20% whimsy, 20% random objects, and 60% pastel, Joker called out to bring attention to himself.

...

"Anyone home?"

"Hello?"

"Wassup?"

...

There was a small crash as he called out, followed by a quiet curse, before a short woman rushed out from behind a rack of half-finished outfits. She was shorter than he was, with mint green hair, either dyed or a wig, framing a cute face. Her outfit seemed perfectly at home with her surroundings, poofy and pastel, covered in cat faces and hearts and ribbons tied in bows.

"Can I help you with something? I'm really busy right now." It was the tone of someone trying desperately to be polite, when they wanted to be anything but.

...

"I'm looking for someone."

"Alice Hiiragi?"

...

"It's my studio and I'm the only one here." she huffed. "You're clearly not a fan if you have to ask that though. So who are you and what do you need from me?"

...

"My name is…"

"I need you to make some clothes for me."

"I need your autograph."

...

"You cut right to the chase, I suppose. I can appreciate that at least, if not your manners." Alice pursed her lips and glanced off to the side in thought. "I'm not above commission work, but like I said, I'm really busy right now finishing up my first full line of clothes. Come back in like, a month or two and I'll see what I can do."

...

"This can't wait."

"I need them yesterday."

...

A sadistic grin broke across Alice's face. "Alright then, you'll just have to pay the express commission fee and I'll get right on it. That'll be 100,000,000 yen." Joker blanched at the number. He'd have to ask Yusuke for recipes you could make on a budget.

"This fashion line is a big deal for me, I can't just drop it on a whim. Especially when I've hit a block like this." Alice turned around to head back to her work. "My while is worth a lot right now, and unless you're secretly loaded, you're not worth my while."

Joker weighed his options. Giving up wasn't an option at all, they needed that calling card for Shido. Acquiring that much money wasn't impossible, between a generous donation from Haru and a few days extorting every Shadow in Mementos, the Phantom Thieves might be able to scrape together the funds, but just having that much cash as a high schooler was going to raise some eyebrows, especially for a dead person.

But maybe there was another option.

...

"You hit a block?"

"What about help?'

"Take my body as payment."

...

"It's not a block per se, I have plenty of ideas. And even if I didn't, I wouldn't want yours. This line is mine, no one else's." Alice scoffed. "It's just slow going, because most of my ideas don't hold up well to… the physics of construction. And I don't have a good way of actually testing them out…"

Alice trailed off, then turned around. Placing a hand on her chin, she looked Joker up and down, appraising him like a piece of meat. "One second." Whirling back around, Alice dove into her racks of clothing, pulling things out before shaking her head and setting them aside, only to repeat the process. Eventually she had enough pieces that met her unknown standards to pick them all up and come back in front of Joker.

"Here, try these on. Don't give me that look!" Alice huffed. "Part of the problem is I don't have a model willing to work with me full time, especially since I can't afford to pay them until the line actually releases. I can try on the girls' clothes just fine with myself and a mirror, but that's only half the outfits. If you do a good job, I'll consider helping you out. Deal?"

...

"Deal."

"I don't have much of a choice…"

"Where's a changing room?"

...

"That's what I like to hear!" Alice said with a smile. "You can leave the design notes for the clothes you want me to make, and I'll look them over while you get dressed in some real fashion. Changing room is right over there." She gestured off to the side, and Joker could in fact make out a labelled door hiding behind an enormous teapot.

Joker handed her the reference sheets Yusuke had drawn up of their Phantom Thief attire and took the pile of clothes in return.

I am thou, thou art I…

Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion

That breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Art Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

Shall lead to freedom and a new power…

The outfit itself was covered in polka dots of varying bright colors, consisting primarily of a yellow jacket, oversized bow tie, and comically large hat. On closer inspection, the polka dots were actually card suits, matching playing card stuck in the hat. Exiting the changing room, Alice practically shook with excitement upon seeing him.

"Excellent, that's exactly what I hoped it would look like! Do a little twirl for me, I want to see how it holds up to movement." Joker complied with the demand, losing his sense of sight as the hat slid down over his eyes. "Okay, so the hat needs some slimming down, but other than that it's good, right? No awkward pinches or tight spots?"

Joker shook his head. "Wonderful!" Alice's phone beeped, prompting her to frown. "Ugh, just when I was making good progress too. I have a meet and greet to get to, so I'll just text you when I have some free time to give some more clothes a test run, okay? And in return, I'll see what I can do about these outfits you want done."

Joker nodded in thanks before they both left the studio and went their separate ways.

XXX

"Hey, how did it go? Did Alice agree to make the costumes?" Ann's response was an affirmative nod. "Awesome! And did you get her autograph for me?"

Joker could only awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

AN: The Art Arcana is from the Thoth Crowley tarot deck, same as Hunger and Aeon from Persona 4 Golden. While those correspond to Justice and Judgement respectively, Art replaces Temperance. I don't know enough about tarot readings for this to mean anything.