On the off-chance that you want to see the art mentioned in the A/N in the previous chapter: fanfiction dot net doesn't allow links so I can't really put it here now, can I? See the AO3 mirror of the story, or alternatively: cough deviantart dot com slash funnypopgirl slash art slash 870786873 cough

Joker stared at the man in front of himself, unsure if he hadn't just died and went to hea-, to he-, somewhere.

Black jackboots. Matching trousers. Unbuttoned dark gray dress uniform jacket with black lapels. White shirt and red tie. One hand in a white glove reaching out to him, the other holding a carved black cane like a bludgeon. Cocky, confident smile. Black-and-red peak hat with an ivy leaf symbol on it, same as on the shoulder insignia.

And, in lieu of a mask, thick-rimmed black glasses with rectangular opaque lenses.

"…so hot," Joker whispered.

Goro raised an eyebrow. "Really? I think it's kind of chilly in-"

"Arrow of Light."

The attack struck the detective with enough force to make him tumble back a bit, but at that point he was in good enough shape to tank it. He turned to the assailant, "What did I fucking say about interrupting me, Grail?"

"I don't know and I don't care," 'Igor' glanced at the wardens. "The punishment for defying me is death. Execute them both."

Joker sprung up from the floor and him and Goro stared down Justine and Caroline. "Get 'em!" Ryuji shouted in encouragement.

The detective adjusted his glasses by the bridge and let out a chuckle. "Very well then, let me demonstrate what other tricks my new Persona-"

"Foolish Whisper."

The left lens in his glasses cracked. An astute lip-reader would've been able to identify the expletives that would've come out of his mouth if he still had his voice.

"Anticlimactic," Makoto remarked.

"You have survived for as long as you did because I permitted it," the Grail gloated. "It is futile to-"

Goro reached into his jacket's inner pocket and produced a firearm - a suppressed dark gray revolver with a red grip. He cocked it and fired at one of the wardens.

It sounded, for lack of a better word, weird. Quiet. Unsatisfying. Like the hammer struck an empty chamber. The only proof that a bullet came out of the barrel was a barely visible puff of smoke and the fact that one of the twins clutched her chest and hissed in pain.

"Justine!" Caroline cried out. Goro pointedly cocked the gun again.

Unable to just tell both sides to stop, Joker stepped between the detective and the wardens with his hands raised. Then, slowly, he reached into his coat and pulled out a Life Stone, then tossed it to the wounded twin, who used it on herself.

"What the hell are you doing, Joker?" Ann said what was on the mind of every other imprisoned Thief.

The brunette attempted to wordlessly reassure them, and the detective put away the cane and started gesticulating with his free hand. The two's non-verbal argument was interrupted by 'Igor' casting Arrow of Light again, which they nonchalantly dodged by stepping away from one another at the right moment. The flash went between them and fizzled out, and Goro then gave the god the finger with his right hand, keeping the gun in his left pointed at the wardens.

Realizing this won't work without the element of surprise, Grail turned to the twins. "Why are you just standing there? I believe I ordered their execution. He has only five bullets left, doesn't he?" Goro grabbed Joker by his hand and started drawing spirals in his palm with the thumb. At the third one, the brunette realized he was actually writing the number six. Six bullets left. He squeezed his hand back and nodded. "We all know it isn't enough to take both of you down."

"Yes, but-"

"Get on it, then."

The twins continued to hesitate. "This isn't right…" Justine muttered. "We… we aren't supposed to be doing this…"

"We're supposed to rehabilitate them," Caroline added. "We're wardens, not executioners…"

"You are supposed to follow my orders," 'Igor's' voice gained a reverb, "and my order is for both Wild Cards to die!"

Predictably, 'that's an order' wasn't a convincing argument, and for a noticeable while, Justine and Caroline just stood there, unwilling to pick a side. Goro, unable to shake off the feeling of deja vu, carefully decocked and lowered his revolver, and Joker smiled at the twins, awkwardly yet reassuringly.

"They might listen now, do your thing."

"Do wha- I remember now."

Everyone present started scanning the room for the two voices coming from nowhere in particular. The Thieves realized that all this time they were one member short.

"The Velvet Room was taken over by a malicious presence," the familiar voice went on. "It imprisoned its master and established its rigged game to grant itself justification to enslave the people!"

"Slander!" 'Igor' reacted.

"And yet…" Justine turned to Caroline, "do you think our Master would've forsaken humanity like this?"

"Of course he wouldn't," the voice replied. "And the thing in front you isn't your master."

"How dare you!" the Grail stood up in indignation. "Who do you think you are?! Show yourself!"

"Oh, nobody important," the voice said, "just a creation of the actual Igor. Made out of humanity's collective hope just before you imprisoned him, to guide the Trickster on his journey."

Something materialized between the brunette and the detective.

"Me Mutudi!"

The cracks in both of their masks repaired themselves. They glanced down and saw Morgana standing between them with a defiant smirk on his face. The impostor stared at him.

"Nice parlor trick, you will not repeat it. Foolish Whisper!"

The masks got re-broken, but the smirk remained on the cat's face. "Three words: Null Mute."

A beat followed, and then the Grail raised an eyebrow. "And the thi-"

"Makajam."

A crack appeared across 'Igor's' face, like it was made out of porcelain. Unable to retaliate, he glanced at the wardens expectantly. They then turned to the three Thieves. "We… will not interfere. Do what you believe is appropriate."

"Got it. Me Mutudi."

Joker lifted Morgana from the ground. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see you, you catty little scamp."

"We can play with the cat after dealing with the villain in front of us," Goro put away the revolver and grabbed his cane. "You can go after humanity, they all had it coming. You can go after me, for many of the same reasons. But you went after my friends, and for that, you di-"

He was interrupted by Joker grabbing him by the wrist.

Admittedly, the brunette wasn't sure where the line was between those he was willing to try and talk down and those that were past that. Maybe he was softer on those he considered friends. That didn't change the fact that a being that had enslaved humanity and used him and his friends as pawns to justify that was firmly in the 'past diplomacy' category. For a very brief moment, he considered stopping him and dealing the killing blow himself, but then he realized that letting Goro do it, the same Goro he had anointed to be his trump card in his rigged game, would've been that much sweeter. He smiled.

"Tarukaja." The detective felt power coursing through him, and then the brunette let go of his hand. "Get him."

Goro let out a sinister giggle. "Where was I? Ah, yes - you die! Come forth, Woland!"

A Persona manifested behind and above him. He was humanoid in shape, wearing a gray three piece suit and a beret, cocked in such a way to reveal a barely noticeable devilish horn on his head. If he had arms, he would've carried a walking stick with a knob shaped like a poodle's head under one of them, but there were no arms to speak of, just floating black gloves.

"Bleed for me!" Goro screamed. "Eigaon!"

Woland grabbed his stick and pointed it knob-first at the impostor. The Persona's face normally lacked any features, but at that precise moment a green light flashed where his left eye would've been. A burst of dark energy came out and connected with the target. 'Igor's' face ended up badly shattered and falling apart in places.

"You…" he hissed, "you stubborn…"

"Uplifted delinquent with a firearm?"

"Ooh, that reminds me," Joker turned to Goro, with a grin to match his, "I've got a skill that allows me to breach enemies' Gun resistance. Can I borrow that revolver?"

The impostor shot them a venomous glare. "This isn't over." He then dissolved into thin air.

A period of terse silence followed, finally broken by Ann: "'Bleed for me'? Really?"

"I just sent a god running with his tail between his legs," the detective gave her a confident glance. "I'll be as cheesy as I damn want."

"Yeah, whatever, Ak-edgy."

After a moment to let that sink in, Goro turned to her, "How are you more creative with insults and nicknames than every school and orphanage I ever attended?"

"It's 'cause we care," Futaba grinned.

All the cells unlock and open. Stop doing that.

"Uh, did we win?" Ryuji asked, stepping out.

"That was probably just the first phase," Joker muttered. "But we've got a moment to regroup and prepare for round two."

"I know it's a detail," Makoto glanced at Goro, "but how did that suppressor work on that revolver? There's a gap between the cylinder and the barrel, the gases should've gone out that way."

The detective pulled the gun out and started fiddling with the ejector rod. "This looks like a Nagant. These have a gimmick where the cylinder moves forward when you cock it," he opened the loading gate and pushed out a cartridge, "and it uses special ammo, with the bullet fully seated in the case, and it completes the gas seal when fi-" The realization hit him. "This thing has live ammo in it. It's an actual firearm."

"That would explain why it dealt so much damage to Justine," Morgana remarked, as Goro loaded the cartridge back and hid the handgun. "I mean, what will make a gun look more real to the target than a real bullet fired at them?"

"If I may interrupt," the warden herself spoke up, "do you happen to know where our master is?"

"Right here."

Everyone turned to notice another person present - looking remarkably similar to the Grail, except lacking the damage done to him by the detective and with heavy-looking chains around his ankles.

"Master!" Justine and Caroline knelt in unison.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor (?) said. His voice was different from the impostor's - higher pitched and more scratchy. "I apologize for the inconvenien-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Goro pointed at him with his cane. "How should we know that you're the real deal and not just the Grail with the voice changed?"

"That is a good question, Mr Akechi." Unfazed, he turned to Joker. "Mr… how should I address you?"

"Akira," the brunette responded. "Or Ren."

"'Akira or Ren' is a mouthful. Can I call you Akiren, for short?" He nodded. "Very well, Mr Akiren, did you notice that the impostor has never fused a Persona on his own, and left that to the warden?"

"Uh huh."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "Fused a Per-"

"I'll explain between chapters, I promise."

"So, hypothetically," Igor went on, "if I were to perform a fusion, would it be enough to prove my identity to you, and the group by proxy?"

"I think so."

"Very well then."

Two cards floated up in the air behind him.

"If you'll allow me…"

The cards connected and a flash of light blinded everyone present. Once it faded, there was one person less in the room. If we're being precise, the twin wardens were replaced by a single girl, with long flowing hair and a thick tome under her arm.

Igor's smile widened just a tiny bit. "Welcome, Lavenza."

"Welcome, master," she smiled. "It's been far too long."

"If everyone considers this enough proof…" Nobody protested, and Igor shuffled over to his desk. "Allow me to provide a unified summary for everything up to this point. Tie up any loose ends." He sat down. "My name is Igor, I'm the master of the Velvet Room. I guide and support my guests."

"Guests?"

"People that, in some form, have to go on a journey and overcome whatever trials appear on their way. Coincidentally, the last few journeys involved Wild Cards assembling a team and battling Shadows. I helped them manage and grow their Personas." He glanced at Joker. "There was a chance of us meeting in different circumstances, Mr Akiren. Alas, a few years back… evil took over. Subjugated me and split my assistant in two, to ensure she remained docile, and established the 'game' he had described to you."

"I'm sorry," Lavenza lowered her head in shame, "I wasn't strong enough-"

"It isn't your fault," Igor interrupted her. "If there's someone to blame, it's Yaldabaoth, for orchestrating this farce."

"Who?" Ryuji asked.

"That's the real name of the Grail," Goro responded. "Don't ask me how I know that, I am unsure myself."

"In a last ditch attempt to throw a wrench in his plans," the host went on, "I have gathered humanity's collective hope, given it form, and sent him to guide the Trickster. But Morgana had already told you that part. What he didn't tell you is that I managed to get a hold of him as you had ceased to exist, so that I could grant him powers to counter Yaldabaoth's spells and release him to aid you at the right moment."

"If I can ask," Morgana said, "why am I a cat of all things?"

"This form allowed you to operate beneath notice, and a talking cat is much more convincing when talking about supernatural matters than a humanoid would be. Also, cats are awesome."

"We sure are," he grinned.

"And that's why you were cringing when we called you one over the past nine months," Ryuji muttered to himself.

"Any further questions?" Igor asked. "I reserve the right to be vague with my answers."

Ann raised her hand. "That Y guy is the Treasure of Mementos, isn't he? Why is he, y'know, alive? Sentient?"

"We're talking about the representation of a distorted desire of millions of people, Ms Takamaki. All of them coveting the same thing - order at all costs - unable or unwilling to shake off the stagnation. It grants him tremendous amounts of power." He rested his palms on his desk and tented his fingers. "He does still operate on normal rules for Palace Treasures though, which means destroying him will collapse Mementos and return the world to how it was. I can offer you some support with that, to give man a chance at reform." He glanced at his assistant. "Lavenza, could you please get in touch with Margaret and arrange for a few Silence-related skill cards? Both for casting and for nullifying it."

"Right on, master." A detailed blue door materialized out of thin air and opened. Lavenza marched through it and it closed itself, but remained present in the room.

"One thing bugs me," Joker spoke up, "if Yaldy wanted me to fail, why did he play the 'mentor' part for as long as he did?"

"Truth be told, I don't know. Maybe he wanted to supervise you, maybe he considered your opponent too unpredictable and uncontrollable - no offense, Mr Akechi…"

"None taken."

"Or," he glanced at the readers, "if you can forgive a blatant fourth wall break, maybe this was just to trick the players and work around my voice actor's passing." He then looked back at Goro, "But I feel there are more important things to discuss right now. Can we have a word, Mr Akechi?"

The detective lowered his head. "I accept my responsi-"

"It is not my role to judge," he firmly yet politely interrupted him. "I just want to have a conversation about your powers, since they seem unlike anything I've seen before."

"You've said your past few guests were Wild Cards," he pointed out.

"And so is our leader," Yusuke added.

"If we define a Wild Card as someone with access to multiple Personas, then yes, both of them fit that definition. But there appear to be… differences." He glanced at Goro. "Mr Akechi, please switch to Robin Hood."

"O-okay, I can- whoa!" He expected it to be difficult and painful, like switching between Robin and Loki, but the process was instantaneous. To an outsider, it looked like a ring of blue fire swept over his costume, replacing the black-and-grey dress uniform with the white-and-red toy soldier one. Only the glasses and the peak hat remained, and the latter's turned white with a red ivy leaf on it.

"Wait, the mask changed, I think." He removed the 'mask' and realized: "Wait, my mask is now glasses?"

"You'd be surprised how those things change the shape of your face," the brunette commented, and the geek nodded in agreement.

"A complete… well, near-complete costume change," Igor pointed out.

"Hold on a second," the detective raised his hand, "my abilities have changed. Now it's… Bless skills, Samarecarm and Megidolaon."

"So what, Woland's now the Curse skill specialist?" Makoto guessed.

"Yes. He also has Riot Gun and Diaharan."

The president made a mental note about that. "And resistances? Each resists their own element while being weak to the opposite?"

Goro switched to Woland to double-check, then back to Robin Hood. "Weird… You guessed right, but also, both of them are strong against Gun attacks now, apparently."

"Acquired immunity." Haru snickered at her own joke.

He realized there's something in the uniform's inner pocket. He reached in and pulled out the suppressed Nagant, now light gray and with ivory grips. "And I can access this thing even with Robin Hood out, apparently." He wanted to check if that version still has six bullets left, but realized Igor was intently staring at him. "Oh, sorry, did you want to say something?"

"Do not worry, it is understandable to want to explore new abilities," he reassured him. After a pause, he went on, "Do not take this as an insult, but… you do not have the potential Mr Akiren has."

"Rude," the princess protested.

"Serves me right for being imprecise. What I meant is, you should have a single Persona at most. You appeared shocked that the switch worked without problems, did you have difficulties changing Personas in the past?"

"Y-yes. And they also had different masks."

Igor rubbed his chin. "Wild Cards are a rarity among rarities nowadays. This is pure speculation on my part, but considering Yaldabaoth needed a… certain type of person for his rigged game, I wouldn't put it past him to grant you a facsimile of Wild Card powers for a paper-thin veneer of abiding by his own rules."

The detective let out something between a sigh and a groan. "So, I'm just a knock-off," he said, taking off his glasses to inspect them. "A bad ersatz of the real deal."

"It's a starting point," Yusuke said. "Imitating others' art styles is the first step to developing your own."

"And with all that awakening business that just happened," Ryuji added, "your powers are now your own thing, distinct from what we all have."

"None of us have a cool antique revolver with live rounds, for starters," Makoto said, just a bit jealous.

The door opened, and disappeared after Lavenza had reentered the scene with a few cards in her free hand. "On a short notice, I could only get two Makajams and three Mutudis."

"Good enough for us," Joker took the cards from her. "Makoto, think about how we could split that between the team."

"We probably don't have to overthink that," she pointed out. "The Grail seemed reluctant to reuse attacks when they don't bring the desired outcome." She turned to Goro. "Do you have some free spell slots?" He nodded and she looked back at the brunette. "So, a pair for him, a pair for you, and I'll take the last dispel."

The assistant stood by the side of the desk. "So, that's that, then. I would offer words of encouragement, but you don't really need any at this point, do you?"

"No, not really," Goro put away his revolver. "The word of the day is 'deicide'."

A stray thought appeared in the brunette's head. "One last question, if I may."

"Of course."

"You…" he minced his words for a moment, "you mentioned that Y needed," cue air quotes, "'a certain type of person' for this mess." The detective, realizing that the conversation is about him, turned towards the two. "How much… influence did he have on Goro?"

The detective's expression turned sour. "What are you implying?"

"I mean…" There was no good way of putting that. "If he was willing to muck with you to force two Personas on you, he would be willing to muck with your moral compa-"

"Don't go there," Goro interrupted him. "I was not a good person before this whole fuckfest."

"As in?"

"Petty crimes. Pickpocketing. A fight or two or ten in the orphanage."

"That's still a long way from a string of politica-"

The detective put a finger on the brunette's mouth. "I said don't go there," he growled. "If believing I was just a poor brainwashed victim of a big bad evil god makes you feel better about your decision to spare me, then believe that, but keep me out of your delusions." He turned to Igor. "How do I leave this place?"

"With the stairway that just materialized behind you."

"Good. It's been a pleasure to meet you, sir, but we've got a god to go Nietzsche on, so I bid you farewell." He marched out of the room and up the staircase.

Joker glanced at Igor, still expecting the answer to his question now that Goro was out of earshot. "I don't know the truth," he said. "As I said, this is something I've never encountered before. Only those who witnessed that first-hand could tell you with certainty, and both of them are biased towards a certain answer for their own reasons."

"Are you guys going?!" Goro shouted, standing by the exit.

"Don't let me detain you," Igor gestured. "Join your friend and finish your journey."

"Okay," Joker turned to the team. "Let's move out."

"Does anyone have a tissue?" Haru asked. "I've got my friend's blood and saliva on my hand."

"No sarcastic quotes?"

"I mean, with all that happened it is a sort of friendship at this point..."

The voices got quieter as the group joined Goro at the top of the staircase and walked out of the Velvet Room. Igor let out a relieved sigh and the chains binding him fell off his ankles and disappeared.

"Why didn't you remove those earlier, master?" Lavenza asked.

"If I regained full control over the Velvet Room, our guests' Metaverse outfits would have reverted to normal, since they aren't a threat to me," he explained. "That would've been distressing to them and prevented Mr Akechi from exploring his new powers."

"I see." Pause. "Do you believe they can take on the impostor if he knows they're coming for him?"

The host's grin widened just a bit. "Most certainly. I don't know if you had noticed, but Mr Akiren has one more trick up his sleeve…"