"…so," Mishima spoke up, "are we just going to stand around and wait for something to happen?"

"You've got any better plans?" Sae replied, ever so slightly dead inside.

"No, not really. And you?"

"All my plans are cance-"

She was interrupted by a massive barred metal door popping into existence in front of them. The bars lifted themselves and the door creaked open and out came Goro, in a white-and-gold toy soldier uniform, peak cap and glasses. He noticed the two waiting there, glanced around and then went "'Ello, random citizens," in a voice an octave lower than usual.

"Hello, random vigilante," Mishima winked.

"Where's the rest?" Sae asked.

"Roight be'ind-"

"Drop this stupid accent."

"Right behind me." He turned around and stuck his head in the door. "Are you guys going?!"

After a moment, Sae heard footsteps of multiple people and an ongoing conversation: "…it is a sort of friendship at some point."

"So, we can, like, not mind him on a personal level and you won't mind?" Ryuji asked.

"At this point," Makoto continued, "it's hard to blame him specifically for all that had ha-" She reached the door and walked out and stood face to face with her sister. "Okay, I know that bodysuit looks-"

Cue a hug, returned as soon as the president processed what just happened.

"Told ya they'll handle it," Mishima grinned.

The Thieves were all back in Shibuya and the door locked itself behind them. Joker turned around and realized something. "…isn't that the quarantine cell thingie?"

"A what?" the Phanboy asked.

"Deep in Mementos," he explained, "we found this exact door. Apparently it was holding the most dangerous inmate they haaaa-" The realization struck. "I was that inmate, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, I kinda wondered why you were wearing that prison garb," Ann added.

"…I am even more confused now."

"Those are just details," Joker waved him off. "The main thing right now is: this whole mess is caused by a god born out of the masses' desire for order at all cost. The Thieves messed up his plans and he decided to drop the pretenses, enslave humanity, and take over the world. Or maybe just Japan, we're not sure."

"What we are sure of though, is that killing him will free the people and reverse this mess," Haru smiled, "so, to quote Crow, the word of the day is 'deicide'."

The prosecutor's hug tightened, and Mishima went: "Speaking of, I talked to Crow earlier today and he insisted it's all his fault."

"Yeah, that's ten pounds of crap in a five pound bag," Ryuji spoke up. "He gave him the powers to wreck shit and then said him wrecking shit is proof that humanity's past rehabilitation."

"Merely an excuse for what he wanted to do from the beginning," Goro added.

An awkward pause followed, finally broken by the Phanboy: "So, you're gonna try and kill a god, huh?" Another pause. "That's… you know, I won't tell you how to do your thing, but shouldn't you be a bit more… bothered? Scared, maybe?"

"Eh," Joker shrugged, "I mean, in comparison to everything that happened this year, this is straightforward."

"Step one, locate the Treasure, step two, get to the Treasure, step three, a big fight inevitably happens," Ann added. "Like with most Palaces."

Morgana focused, trying to pinpoint the current localization of the Grail, then noticed something in the distance and stopped trying. "You guys see this thing ahead?"

Everyone turned in the direction the cat pointed. A massive tower, as big as other Shibuya buildings, was visible in the distance. It appeared to be made out of the same black-and-glowing-red blocks as the Grail's panopticon from earlier.

"Gee, I wonder where Yaldy could be," the cat muttered.

"Hm…" Futaba rubbed her chin. "You know, I was able to nudge some things around in Mementos with my Persona…" A flying saucer materialized around her and floated above the ground. Rapid beeps and boops of a tapped interface could be heard from the inside and then one of the skeletons wrapped around a skyscraper straightened itself out and gently laid itself at the Thieves' feet, like a ramp.

The geek dismissed her Persona. "And that's how you get the shortest path in linear time."

Joker smiled at her. "I don't get what you just said, but excellent job. Phantom Thieves, moving out…" He glanced at the Niijima sisters, still embraced. "…whenever you're ready."

Sae finally released Makoto. "You have to deal with that, don't you?"

"I do. On my behalf, yours, and the people's."

After one last brief hug, the prosecutor released the president and the Thieves made their goodbyes and went on their way.

"Kick his butt, you guys!" Mishima cheered them on.

"Please come back," Sae said to herself.

The Phanboy, the prosecutor, and two random pedestrians - a white American and a dark-skinned Brit - watched the group as they marched ahead. An angelic guardian materialized in front of them, but one of them produced a revolver, took him down with a single shot, and the group proceeded forward.

"Who are those guys anyway?" the Brit asked.

"The Phantom Thieves of Hearts," the Phanboy explained. "They're actual literal heroes, about to take down a malevolent god."

"Never heard of 'em." the American spoke up. "What's their deal?"

"Do you want the short version or the long one?"

"Hit us with the long one."

Mishima gladly obliged. As he was telling the story, a crowd began to gather around him. Some people started recording him. Some started recapping things to friends elsewhere. A few people remembered that a friend of a friend had inexplicably changed their behaviour after a Phansite post. The word about the Phantom Thieves of Hearts began spreading among the masses again.

A couple people claimed that one of the Thieves, the one in all white and a peak hat, kinda looked like that celebrity detective that helped to get their leader arrested a month before.

Those rumours were naturally dismissed as ridiculous.

Futaba raised her hand. "Can I have Crow's lightsaber? You know, now that he has a cane in his melee slot."

"Yeah, sure." Goro handed it over and she waved it around for a bit, making vzoom noises with her mouth.

"So, no on-topic questions?" Joker asked. "Everyone's clear?"

"I believe so, yes."

The group continued moving forward, as the brunette looked at the detective. "Can I ask a personal question?"

"Hit it."

"You admitted you couldn't care less about humanity," he pointed out. "Why are you going to the final boss fight with us? I mean, it can't be guilt at this point. Yaldy would've enslaved the people no matter what you did, this isn't on your hands."

"It's… complicated." He gestured at the group to stop, and turned to them. "Can I- can I be edgy again?"

"If you must."

He inhaled and gathered his thoughts. "My Metaverse wetwork was…" He paused. There was no polite way of putting it, so he might as well rip that band-aid off. "It was satisfying. I was a bottom-feeding second-class citizen all my life, being finally in control of something was exhilarating. I finally had agency, not dragged down by the," cue air quotes, "'sins' of my late mother." He sighed. "And then it turned out that I was just a pawn," he glanced at Joker, "playing the antagonist to your protagonist, and given a head start and training wheels to boot." He gestured at the temple in the distance. "I need to take Yaldabaoth down for myself, to prove that I can, that I'm my own person now."

"And that's so edgy?" Ryuji remarked. "I mean, we can all relate to this."

"We were all pawns in his rigged game," Yusuke added, "if on the opposite sides of the board."

The detective took a few steps towards the edge of the bony walkway and glanced down, at all the people below, still carrying on with their lives. "Am I… contradicting myself again?" he asked nobody in particular.

"Why would you?" the brunette asked.

"I went on a monologue about being my own man, but at the same time…" he began stammering "uh, b-b-but at-at the same t-time…"

Futaba put away the lightsaber. "You like us?"

"Yes!" he burst out. "I'm… fond of you but I'm scared that-that saying this out loud will make you d-disagree because I put you all through hell and-and-"

"Calm down," Haru commanded. "Deep breaths."

After a few inhales and exhales, Joker stepped forward and put his hand on the detective's shoulder. "There's no contradiction here. You're working with us as an equal, because you want to, not because we're forcing you to. Honestly, I'd rather force you to skip that fight, you look drained after the awakening."

"Out of the question," Goro growled.

The brunette pulled out a can from his coat. "At least have an energy drink then."

"And it's like Queen had said," Ryuji added, "between you doing everything you can to fix your mess and," he gestured vaguely at everything, "the situation being a bit more high-stakes than we assumed, it's kinda hard to hold a grudge against you at this point." He turned to the rest of the team. "Am I right?"

The rest of the Thieves - Haru and Futaba included - nodded and murmured in confirmation.

"I…" the detective opened the energy drink and drank a large gulp, "I still think you're too forgiving towards me."

"It goes both ways, you know," the princess said. "I mean, we've almost executed you on a whim - and please don't give me the 'not the same thing' speech."

Goro cracked a faint smile. "Only because you said 'please'."

"You've done… awful things to a lot of people," Haru went on, "and we've done an awful thing or two when reacting to that. But if we all understand our errors and want to make amends and be better people… this friendship might not end up a trainwreck." She smiled back at him. "I do reserve the right to kick you in the shins if you're a jerk though."

"I am quaking in my boots."

"No, no, no," Futaba spoke up, "if you wanna discourage him you've gotta use a different method. Lemme demonstrate:" She outstretched her arms with a grin on her face. "Come gimme a hug, Crow!"

Startled, Goro took a few steps away from her, tripped on some uneven ground, and tumbled backwards, spilling the remaining drink and crossing an invisible line before Morgana or Futaba could warn him. Another angelic miniboss materialized in front of the Thieves.

"Return from whence you came," she commanded. "Proceeding further shall only serve to shorten your lives."

Without bothering to get up from the ground, the detective pulled out his Nagant and took aim, only for Makoto to step forward and gesture for him to hold fire. "Hold on a second." She looked at the guardian. "Could you please move out of the way?"

"It is not an option."

"Okay then, I tried." The president turned to Goro. "Can I shoot her? I really want to fire a real gun." She smiled, like a small kid asking a parent for more dessert. "Please?"

"Yeah, sure." He handed over the revolver. "Just cock it manually, the trigger's absurdly heavy."

"Ah… Greet me with weapons in hand?… Me seemeth-" The angel didn't finish the sentence, as Makoto pulled the trigger and killed her with a single shot.

Morgana turned to Joker. "Are you sure using up the few real bullets we have is a good idea?"

"The Grail will probably be resistant to them, like in the Velvet Room," he pointed out. "And if they work on the minibosses, that means we can save up spells and other resources for the big bad." He reached out to help Goro to his feet. "Does anyone want to say something before we move on?"

"If I may," the president turned to the detective, "Crow, I do believe that I am speaking for all the Thieves when I say," she handed his gun back to him, "we like you too."

Goro put the weapon away. "It is an honor to fight alongside you." He then faced the leader. "Let us go."