Akira felt himself being teleported from the auditorium. He suddenly found himself in his own mansion appointed bedroom, yet felt much more lightheaded than normal from the teleportation. So he decided to lay on his bed for a minute or two, and pulled out his phone to message the other thieves.

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Group Chat
7 Online, 3 Offline

Joker: Anyone else sent back to their room?

Skull: Yep.

Oracle: Yeah.

Queen: Same for me

Panther: Yes, I've been sent to my room.
Panther: Morgana is with me too.

Noir: At least Mona-Chan is safe.

Fox: I'm currently in my room too.

Oracle: Can I also just say, I hope Sholmes is away from Sephiroth. Dude was almost subjected to Mario's fate

Queen: That was quite the punch from him though, he sent Sephiroth flying.

Oracle: I mean... It's not the most mind-blowing feat here.
Oracle: Sephiroth is 7th lightest in this roster

Noir: Regardless, it was quite unexpected from Jacob-Sama. I didn't suspect him as the kind to throw hands.
Noir: He seemed to have done it to protect Hazel-Chan. What a good friend!

Fox: Now that you mention them, has anyone seen them?

Skull: I think we've all been teleported to our rooms, so they've probably been sent to the guest rooms.

Oracle: Jacob most likely has, but Hazel did make it out of the room in time to not be.

Noir: So Hazel-Chan is somewhere in the mansion alone, scared from her encounter with Sephiroth?

Oracle: Most likely.

As soon as Futaba sent her message, Akira could hear fast footsteps passing outside his room. He didn't take long to realise that Haru went out in order to look for Hazel.

Joker: Anyone else hear Haru run out of her room to look for Hazel?

Skull: Yep.

Queen: You know, they have a cute friendship going on. I'm not surprised that Haru-Chan wants to make sure Hazel-Chan is safe.

Oracle: I'm with you on that. I guess people who wanna open café's seem to bond really well.

Joker: I'm gonna go after Haru too. I don't want anything to happen to her or Hazel.

Panther: Morgana says he's joining you too.

Joker: Wouldn't have it any other way.

Panther: He's just left my room, he'll be outside yours in a second.

Joker: Thanks for the heads up.
Joker: I'm heading out to find/protect Haru and Hazel. See you guys in a bit

Akira put his phone onto his beside table changed out of his winter casual outfit, into his Phantom Thief attire. Once he removed his glasses, the familiar feeling of blue flames surrounded his eyes. Signalling the white mask forming on his face.

He pulled on his red gloves, and grabbed his dagger. As he put his gun into his pocket, he heard a knock at his door. "Joker..." the voice of Morgana said. "You ready to roll?"

Akira, now in full Joker attire, opened the door and walked out.

*Play Song: Anime 01 (From Persona Q2)*

He met Mona outside. "Yeah. Let's go." he said.

"Alright..." Mona began. "Let's begin the operation!"

Joker simply gave a "Hmph." in response, as he and Mona began to run through the corridors. After turning a corner, Noir noticed them coming behind. She slowed

her running speed to allow the other 2 thieves to catch up.

"Heading for Hazel-Chan too?" Noir asked.

"Of course." Mona replied. "As Phantom Thieves, we have a duty to help those who have no one on their side."

"And due to the way the evacuation went..." Joker began. "Hazel-Chan looks like she has no one on her side. So that's where we come in!"

"Right on the money!" Mona said.

Haru giggled, before exclaiming: "Now, let's go save Hazel!"

"Let's do it!" Joker said, before the trio ran off towards the auditorium. As they ran, a thought went through Noir's mind. "Please be safe, Hazel-Chan... "

*Stop Song*

Jacob found himself and the others hiding backstage. Evidently, there was not enough rooms to accommodate for the 7 visitors. Master Hand could only teleport them backstage as a safe alternative.

He peeked outward towards the swordfight between Cloud and Sephiroth, and was surprisingly underwhelmed. He couldn't make everything out, but it looked like both parties were tiring out.

To Cloud's amazement, Sephiroth dashed away from him and retracted his Masamune. "Already surrendering, Sephiroth?" Cloud asked, holding his sword towards Sephiroth.

Sephiroth smirked. "I made an agreement to not destroy anything outside of battles." He said. "I shall keep that promise, but that means I have to retract from this fight."

"..." Cloud said nothing, his face showing a little bit of confusion at Sephiroth's sudden change of heart.

"That said..." Sephiroth continued. "Expect a rematch at some point." He said as he was walking towards Cloud. "...Where we don't have to hold back."

Cloud still held his sword towards Sephiroth, but eventually retracted it when he walked right past Cloud, and towards the auditorium doors.

Cloud didn't turn towards Sephiroth. "If you want a rematch, I have one condition. Leave the two kids from earlier alone."

Sephiroth continued walking towards the doors. "I have no desire to hurt them, in fact, I admire their courage." Sephiroth walked out of the room, before flying through the corridors of the mansion.

Cloud sighed, and placed his sword over his shoulder, before leaving the room himself. As Cloud shut the door behind him, The visitors backstage (barring Hazel) began to pile out.

Jacob was the first to walk out. He looked around. "...It looks like we're all clear."

"Yeah. For now." Scooby replied, following Jacob.

Trucy walked towards Jacob, a slightly stern face present. "Dude! Don't punch Sephiroth like that!" She said, her hands on her hips. "Have you seen the shit this has caused?!"

"Language, miss!" Phoenix called out from backstage.

"Oh, cut her some slack, Mr Wright!" Jacob called back. "It's Sephiroth we're talking about here! He's a villain to the highest degree!"

"He's what?!" Phoenix exclaimed walking out from backstage. "How the hell did he get an invite into this place?!"

"It's simple, he didn't."

The group in the room turned their attention to the door, and saw Joker.

"Sephiroth arrive here uninvited, but we had to let this slide." Joker said. "We knew what would happen if Sephiroth was told to leave, so we had to let him stay."

The visitors in the room just stood in silence.

"Ever wondered why there were six fighters this time?" Joker continued. "Sephiroth just showed up to torment Cloud more, and then nearly kill Mario."

"Yikes." Athena said, as her and Shaggy walked towards Joker. "This Sephiroth guy sounds like trouble."

"You... don't know who he is, do you?" Jacob asked Athena.

"Nope." Athena replied. "Not a clue."

Joker looked at Athena bluntly. "Just know that he's evil. Not just a villain, he's a damn monster."

"Joker? She in there?" Noir suddenly called from outside.

Joker looked across the group in the auditorium. "No. Hazel-Chan isn't here."

"You're looking for her too?" Jacob asked. "Let me come with you."

"And me too!" Trucy exclaimed. "There's no way in hell that I'm leaving Hazel in potential danger!" She added, her normally cheery façade replaced with genuine determination. "Let's go save Haz-"

"Found her." Jacob suddenly said. "Just texted her and she turned on the find my phone feature on her phone, so now I've got her location." Jacob walked towards the doors of the auditorium. "Follow me."

Hazel was hidden behind a large bush in the garden area. Even though she was far away from Sephiroth, she was still incredibly shaken up. She could still feel herself shaking a little, and she saw in her phone screen reflection that she was still a little pale.

"Hazel! Over Here!" She suddenly heard the loud voice of Trucy exclaim.

Hazel peeked up from the bush, and saw the agency's members running towards the bush she was hiding behind. Hazel raised her hand, and she waved it so her

friends could see her.

Jacob ran towards Hazel, who slowly stepped out from behind the bush. Hazel quickly dashed towards Jacob.

"Oh thank god!" She said, with a huge sigh of relief. "You made it out ok."

"By some miracle." Jacob said. "I thank Master Hand for that."

"Hazel-Chan! Oh thank goodness! You're ok!" Noir called out, running towards Hazel.

"Okumura-Senp-" Hazel called out in response, before being cut off by Noir enveloping her in a tight hug.

"You're safe! I was scared that Sephiroth would've gotten to you..." Noir said.

Hazel reciprocated the hug, but felt herself go even redder than the last two times. Attempting to mask the feeling, she carried on the conversation. "D...Does...Sephiroth scare you?" She asked.

"Very much!" Noir replied. "He just showed up one day, and it was terrifying. He roamed around the mansion like he owned the place, and he had all of the villains of the mansion join him! It's apparently the only time the mansion ever went into a lockdown." Noir was clearly scared as she recounted the events, so Hazel stopped her.

"You can stop, if you're scared." She softly said. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."

"No, no. It's fine." Noir said, as she let go of Hazel. "Sephiroth just gives me the shivers."

Hazel let go of Noir too. "I can understand. I know someone who thinks the same too."

The mood was pierced when Noir's phone went off. "Excuse me." She said. She picked up the phone. "Oracle? What do you need."

Hazel turned to Jacob and Trucy. "Not a word of my blushing fits to anyone, you two. I've seen you notice them as they happen."

Jacob held his hands up, in mock surrender. "I had no desire to. After all, is anyone from High School gonna believe we met these guys?"

Hazel realised that Jacob missed the point completely, taking her constant blushes as signs of fangirling instead of something more. She breathed a sigh of relief before continuing. "That's true." She said.

"And that definitely makes talking about today much easier." Trucy said. "When we're back home, we can play it off as if we're brainstorming a joint headcanon for Smash Ultimate."

"Well, we can't talk about Sora yet. Or that Kazuma guy, was it?" Hazel thought. "Well, him too, for that matter." she quickly added.

"Oh yeah!" Jacob said, with a chuckle. "I'll probably just act like I have faith that Sora will show up. That'll be fun to be correct on." Jacob's tone quickly changed, as he pondered on something for a few seconds. "I've not seen him around, but the guy you're referring to might be..."

"Kazuya Mishima. From the Tekken series." Joker said.

Jacob deflated. "C'mon man...! I've had enough villainy for one day!"

"Wait what?!" Noir suddenly exclaimed, still talking with Oracle. "A fight's about to break out?!"

Everyone turned their attention to Noir. "What's going on down there?" Joker signalled to her to put it on speaker, so she obliged.

"Bad-Anon have taken after Sephiroth, and have started antagonising their respective protagonists." Oracle began. "This kinda happened after Kazuya's reveal, but it's in even higher gear today. All because a certain someone just had to deck Sephiroth right in the stomach."

"He was going after my friend, there was no way that I'd let Sephiroth hurt her!" Jacob interjected.

"Yeah, Yeah. Your little stunt of chivalry has gotten a brawl brewing." Oracle replied. "In all seriousness, I'd recommend that you and Hazel stay out of the mansion for the time being. I know it's not fun, but this is for your safety."

"We're in the garden area currently." Hazel responded.

"Good." Oracle said. "Steve and Alex should be in their little area, see if they can camp out with them for now. I'll let you know when you can return."

"And for the others?" Joker spoke up.

"They can do whatever." Oracle said. "They've got no reason to be attacked. That said, it's best stay with them."

Joker looked around, and noticed Master Hand in the distance floating towards them. "Never mind, I see Master Hand approaching. I'll see what he suggests."

"That's probably best. See you later, Joker." Oracle said before hanging up.

Master Hand noticed the group, and quickly darted towards them. "There you are!" he said. "Thanks for keeping them safe, Phantom Thieves."

"No problem, Sir!" Mona said.

Master Hand turned to Jacob. "I'm not holding you in any trouble for that punch. I understand why you did so."

"Thank you, Master Hand." Jacob said. "But I must accept responsibility for this current issue."

Master Hand sighed. "To be real, I can't really do much to Sephiroth. He's pretty difficult to deal with."

"Like, I can imagine." Shaggy said. "After all, this is Sephiroth we're talking about here."

Master Hand paused for a moment. "It seems the other villains are taking after the brief Cloud VS Sephiroth affair. So we need to do something."

Jacob spoke up. "It's clear that the villains are itching for a fight. So give them what they want."

Everyone looked to Jacob. "Make this a tournament. Heroes Vs Villains." Jacob added.

Master Hand pondered for a minute. "That... That's a great idea!" Master Hand exclaimed. "It'll let everyone blow off steam, it will be a great send off to the "Ultimate" tournament and it makes the best of a bad situation." Master Hand quickly snapped his fingers teleporting himself away from the group. Unbeknownst to Jacob and the others, that started an announcement that would be broadcast through the mansion.

"May the following mansion-goers please proceed to the auditorium. Mario, Bowser, Donkey Kong, King K. Rool, Link, Ganondorf, Samus, Ridley, Kirby, King DeeDeeDee, Fox, Wolf, Pit, Dark Pit, Ryu, Kazuya, Cloud and Sephiroth. Once again, I would like the aforementioned mansion-goers to come see me in the auditorium."

The cafeteria, which was just full of toxic backchat between hero's and villains, suddenly fell quiet at the announcement. Never, in the history of the Super Smash Brothers tournaments, had more than 4 fighters been called via Master Hand. But today 20 fighters had been called to see Master Hand.

Being his Right Hand man, Mario lead himself and the other fighters towards the auditorium. Once everyone arrived, Master Hand turned towards them.

"Gentlemen..." Master Hand began. "...And Samus too." he awkwardly added. "I have a proposition for the lot of you."

To Be Continued...