Shadows of Shibuya: A TWEWY x P5 Story
The following story takes place in an alternate world where two stories both occurred in the same city. The following games events are considered canon to the material which you are about to read:
The World Ends With You [Original w/o A New Day or NEO references]
Persona 5 [Not-Royal] and Persona 5 Strikers.
I hope you enjoy this tale of adventure and intrigue.
Of all the places in Tokyo, none have shown to be quite as important to the history of Japan as the Scramble Crossing. For it is in this place, where people from all walks of life go about their day to day, that two special individuals awoke to their destinies.
One, a reclusive rebel who learned to embrace the people around him, and in doing so saved Shibuya from extinction.
The other, a youth with a righteous heart, who was gifted the power to overthrow corrupt powers, and formed a team who helped him to stop a false god's ascension.
Two unlikely heroes from humble beginnings, thrust into worlds unthinkable to the common man. Neither knowing of the other's existence.
Little did they know that great forces would soon set into motion events which would cause them to interact.
PROLOGUE
The Velvet room was filled with a gentle rhythm as Igor tapped his fingers against… well, to say it was a desk would be inaccurate. In truth, much like everything else in the Velvet Room, the desk was a manifestation of whatever the current inhabitant's journey needed it to be. In the past, the desk had been a table with a blue tablecloth draped across the top. However, the incident of the Phantom Thieves of Heart had occurred not too long ago, and so the room remained in its current jail façade. It always fascinated Igor to watch how the Velvet Room changed from Trickster to Trickster. So much could be learned from the details in its design. Igor wondered to himself what form would come next. It had been a few months since the Arc of the Covenant had attempted to bring humanity to the promised land. That had been the last incident where the Phantom Thieves got involved. Would there be another?
Igor continued to ponder this train of thought, fingers continuing their tapping against the hard wood of the cognitive desk. At the other end of the room, reading from her Grimoire, was Lavenza. She was sitting on the bed of Ren Amamiya's cell. The attendant let out a mental sigh as she watched her master contemplate the room's inhabitants to come. She had grown quite fond of the current trickster in the months they had spent together. After all, were it not for his valiant efforts, she would never have been made whole once more. Not to mention his heroic actions that dispelled a future of ruin the world had been heading down. Lavenza felt her heart flutter in her chest, and she involuntarily looked away from Igor. It was pointless to try and hide her feelings, as Lavenza knew all too well. After all, Igor could sense how she was feeling with but a glance of those omniscient eye. Still, it was hard for Lavenza to admit to herself how she felt about the trickst- … about Ren. She had started thinking of him by his true name, and not just his title of Trickster. That was a telling sign if ever their was one. Still, Lavenza knew that her feelings could never be anything but a flight of fancy. After all, as an attendant of the Velvet Room, she was bound to Igor's service. Should Ren no longer have need of the Velvet Room, when his journey inevitably ends, then she would vanish from his life along with it. Not for the first time, Lavenza turned to her master in an attempt to ask the question which had been festering inside her all this time.
"Um… master…. I-"
"Wow, this place certainly has changed. I think I prefered it as a limousine." A new voice suddenly spoke out, causing Lavenza to immediately switch her attention to where it was coming from.
Standing against the wall of the Velvet Room was a youth Lavenza had never seen before. He had wavy and thick hair, a platinum blond shade so light it appeared almost white in color. His build was slender, and his skin pale. But what truly alarmed Lavenza was the look in the stranger's gray eyes. Despite the nature of the Velvet Room being otherworldly, the stranger seemed completely at home within its blue walls. He smiled at Igor as one might greet an old work friend. Lavenza had never seen anyone look at Igor in such a manner.
Immediately, Lavenza draws her chainsaw- usually only used for persona fusions- and wields it at the stranger.
"Master, allow me to take care of this trespasser! I won't allow you to be harmed again!" The memory of Yaldabaoth flashing in the attendant's mind, she hurled herself at the intruder with murderous intent.
Igor said nothing, merely watching the stranger with interest to see how he reacted.
The stranger looked towards Lavenza with an expression one might give to a puppy doing a cute trick. This only angered Lavenza, who proceeded to slash away at the intruder before her.
When the rage subsided, Lavenza looked up to see the damage.
The intruder… was uninjured. She had merely cut open his shirt.
"Aw, I really liked this look. I assume you'll be buying me a new one to make up for it, Igor?" The intruder smiled at the master of the Velvet Room, who returned the expression with a grin of his own.
"Ah… it truly is you, Yoshiya. I had not expected your arrival." Igor's voice was a mix of reverence and familiarity, which only served to confused his attendant further.
"Master… I don't… I don't understand… who is this individual?"
Igor turned back to Lavenza and gave her a gentle smile. "My dear attendant, this is the Composer of Shibuya's Reaper's Game: Yoshiya Kiryu."
"But Mother and Father call me 'Joshua'." Joshua said with an arrogant grin.
Lavenza's face shifted from a look of confusion to one of utter shock, with a slight mix of fear and reverence. The Composer was a term she knew, but had never actually heard used during her time in the Velvet Room. A being from one of the Higher Planes, whose powers bordered on what humanity attributed to deities. His authority surpassed even that of her master, albeit solely within the confines of Shibuya. With a look of abject terror, Lavenza went into a deep bow, her voice returning to the soft tones once held by Justine. "My apologies, Composer. I was merely doing my duty as attendant of the Velvet Room to defend against intruders. I hope I did not offend you through my actions."
Joshua smirked at Lavenza's actions, crossing his arms playfully "Well, I can't very well refuse such a sincere apology. So I guess I can forgive you." Joshua knelt down and lifted Lavenza's face towards his own with his hand. "But I will be expecting a new shirt sometime in the future."
Lavenza could not tell if the Composer was serious or not, and decided to ask her master later.
Meanwhile, Igor finally decided to speak up. "I'm curious, Yoshiya. Why is it that you did not come in your true form as you have previously? This new form… surely it tires you to have to maintain it." His voice was polite, as it was with every person who entered the Velvet Room.
At this question, Joshua smirk disappeared. He shrugged nonchalantly. "I've grown fond of this appearance. And besides, it makes it easier to get around without being detected."
Igor raised an eyebrow in interest. "I see. I take it things in the Underground have gotten… out of hand?"
Joshua smiled at Igor's knowing words. They both understood the power of leaving things unsaid. "Something like that. Normally, I would simply get my dear partner to handle things again. However, I doubt Neku has the skills to handle things alone this time. Which is a shame. I was looking forward to some more one on one time with him."
Igor did not react to Joshua's provocations and insinuations. After all, from what Igor could infer, things were indeed dire. "And is that what brings you here to the Velvet Room? You need something from me?"
Joshua looked Igor directly in the eyes, his own giving off a slight twinkle of mischief. "A few things, actually. A little group… called the Phantom Thieves."
To Be Continued...