Persona X TWEWY X Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Trapped in an unfair game? Fighting against society? Changing the hearts of evil adults? Save the world? Discovering oneself? Nothing out of the ordinary for these teenagers.
Chapter Twenty-Eight.
The Museum of Plagiarism.
* Afterschool: Tuesday. 17/5*
"Phantom Thieves going by train…whew, just as well Ryuji didn't tag along…" Neku says with a sigh as holds onto the handles on the train. The teenager comments that the boy probably would have had a less than stellar reaction to this choice of transportation, given how eager he is to get them to higher places of fame and awareness.
"Guess it isn't any different than going to and fro from school," Riku comments, "But this is the only way to Yusuke's place without a vehicle of our own and it's a hell of a lot cheaper too".
Naminé hums in agreement and settles into her seat as they await for their arrival, staring at the bypassing walls in silence while Riku and Neku converse while Ann texts on her phone and Beat lazes nearby, nearly falling asleep from the boredom. She adjusts herself and focuses on the likely confrontation they'll have with Yusuke, going through all the possibilities of the conversations to happen and how they can address the question about his master's potential plagiarism. Much as she wishes she could be confident that he'd open up to her a fellow artist she wasn't naïve.
Thinking back to their previous adversary who had an entire student body and volleyball team so scared of him they'd rather take his abuse to stay off a far worse form of punishment, and considering he lives with the man who likely provides for him, Yusuke may be more difficult to get information. And worst of all he could be entirely blind or intentionally ignorant of his master's crimes for the sake of maintaining his livelihood or devotion to his master. All the reason she didn't want to bring Ryuji in case he'd, in his usual good intentions shenanigans, would be the first to shut down any questioning.
Beat at least knew when to read a room…probably the most reading he'd ever do.
"Yo, ya really thinkin' that Mada-whatever is a copy-cat?" Beat asked, looking at Naminé, breaking her ponderings. She turns to him and nods, affirming that the connections between Nakanohara dropping his name and how Yusuke was acting around him was too obvious to just ignore. "What's more, no matter how skilled you are in art, you have your own style and can only replicate someone else's. Never own it yourself".
"I'm with blondie here," Neku says, holding his phone out to Beat to take, "Rhyme sent me some of his drawings and honestly what she's sayin' is making way too much sense when you look at this". Beat scrolls through the pictures, seeing the many pieces of Madarame, each with their own styles and unique forms. If Beat were honest, if you put two of these pieces in front of him he'd probably only guess Madarame did one of them, not two with different styles.
"Plus even if you spend years on it, its hard to break away from a style you've specialized in for years just to do something else. Kinda like how you have a method of cooking and trying a new way always makes ya stumble at first," the former player explains.
"Shit man…you probably aight…".
"So…how exactly do we ask Yusuke about all this? Like do we just flat out ask him?" Ann pips up, looking between the boys and Naminé.
"Not up front like that, we'd probably scare him off or he'd tell us to get lost," Riku chastised, "Remember how hard it was to get intel from the students last time?".
"A direct approach won't work; we need to be smart about this and not straight up accuse him. Plus, its likely his haters have probably accused him in the past so Yusuke would probably write us of as just haters," Naminé added, "And us having Yusuke suspect us won't do anyone but Madarame any good".
"Right, so maybe we let Naminé do all the talking?" Ann offers, "I mean apart from me being the model, she and he have more in common. Plus he seems way more open to her than us". Riku clenched his fight in his pocket and nearly made a sour look on his face before reeling it in before anyone caught it. Why did Ann have to be smart when it came to Naminé and that guy?
"It's a start…" Naminé utters softly.
Soon the train arrives at the next station, and after getting off it they checked the distance between them and the shack the two artists supposedly live in. According to maps on the terminals the quickest way to get there is through station square and head for central street, which would put them at least thirty minutes away. When they climbed to the surface they spotted a reporter with her camera man interviewing an older gentleman in a suit, Riku's hearing catching Madarame's name and his exhibit. Subtly Naminé and Ann got closer acting like they saw something on their phone and listened in.
When they were done, they came back to the boys.
"The old man was talking about Madarame being Japan's apparent gift to the artists world, and how humble he is…" Ann groaned.
"Not only that, but according to that news reporter the tickets for the exhibit sold exponentially well…the whole thing was a massive success despite only opening yesterday…" Naminé says with a deep frown, "Clearly his name alone makes a lot sells".
"And if he really is as bad as that city worker makes him out to be, he's benefitting from everyone else's work…" Neku says. They continued on their journey, Ann mentioning that there is a residential area just past central street but where exactly would still take a bit of a walk about. Neku chuckled that it couldn't be too hard to find, a shack would stick out like a sore thumb.
After reaching the area and a quick split up to find their target's location, Beat managed to find it and text everyone his location. Before the group was indeed a rather shabby shack that matches Madarame's description and credit to it. Rustic looking walls with a second floor that seemed like a dwarf compared to the other buildings, nary any piece of modern technology on the outside and though it looked to be in use, they believed it was only serving its purpose to the artists residing within.
"Looks like the place…and it has his name on the door…" Ann says checking her phone, "So…who wants to ring the bell?". The other four looked at her with confusion and even bewilderment, Beat voicing the sudden cold feet. "I mean…i-it won't collapse when I do ring it…right?".
"It's a shack, not some thousand year old house!" Neku groaned and approached the door with a grumble, opting to ring the bell. Yusuke's voice comes through the voice speaker attached to the bell, and quickly Naminé announces herself. Like a puppy, Yusuke affirmed he'd be there in a second, and just as true to his word, next thing the party knew the door slides open and the boy in question is there before them. He greets Naminé but then narrowed his gaze at the two boys and somehow his own glare intensifies when he saw Riku.
"Hello Yusuke," greeted Naminé, "I'm so sorry for suddenly dropping by unannounced but…". Her voice seems to bring him back from his intense staring contest with Riku and back to her, which Naminé rubbed her arm and clears her throat. "Umm…I uh, I was hoping we could speak about our…collaboration".
"Oh! Yes, certainly!" he says brightly, then frowned, "But why have you brought the others?".
Neku stepped in and introduces himself with casual blank smile, and added he was an artist in his own way. Yusuke gave him a look as if he were evaluating him and based on how tight his brows were, the gang guessed he and Neku may have a very different idea on what's art. Sensing this, Neku whips out his notepad from his backpack and showed him a few pieces he worked on. "What…are these?" asked Yusuke, enraptured by the strange yet amazing pieces of graffiti styled drawings.
"Graffiti, with spray paint and other paints, but these are drawn by me by hand," Neku explained, "Naminé mentioned you had an issue with artist's block so we thought maybe seeing a different style could help break you out of that cube".
"I must say…I usually find graffiti so…obscene but these are magnificent…" praised Yusuke, looking back at Neku. The orange haired teenager smirked as he was handed back his notebook, which gave Naminé a moment to prepare herself for what she had to do. "Yusuke, about our collaboration, there's something I need to talk to you about," Naminé explained. She takes a breath and when he had his eyes on her, she starts.
"I know you hold Madarame in great regards, and I myself have nothing but respect for him…and it is possible these are indeed just baseless hate thrown at him but…Madarame has been accused of plagiarising and even abusing his students," she says. She had Beat shown him the post on the aficionado site and when Yusuke peered at it with a disdainful "this?" spat out, he suddenly laughed, uproariously. Even held his head as if he heard the most silliest thing the human mind could conjure up.
"Preposterous! The plagiarism is already impossible but abuse!? He welcomes into his own home! Would you not consider that to be an act of charity?" he says with anger and added that they should consider that he resides here and studies under him. "I'm saying its foolish and untrue, so it's beyond doubt".
"Or you could be lying," Riku challenged. Yusuke looked away and denied it, but from her point of view, Naminé could see the look of anguish and pain in his face. "Say it again and while you're looking at me," Riku said. Yusuke raised his head but instead of answering to the call of the silvery haired youth's challenge, he revealed the levels of gratitude he owed the old man. "How could you dare accuse the man who took me in? Raised me and formed me into what I am today when I had no family of my own?".
"So you owe him a debt? And that justifies how you're defending him?" Riku asked, "Gratitude doesn't excuse what he's doing".
"If you continue this…ridiculing the man I owe my life to, you will rue this day…" threatens Yusuke as he and Riku standoff, eyes burning into each other. And there Naminé was worried about Ryuji antagonizing him.
His raised voice granted the party an audience with Madarame, who came out to see the potential conflict between the two boys. "Yusuke? Is everything alright, I heard yelling," says Madarame. Yusuke takes a breath and composes himself, apologizing for his outburst and explains that Riku and his friends, bar Naminé, were slandering his master with "baseless rumours". Instead of taking the same response as his student, Madarame shakes his head and asked his student to forgive them.
"You know as well as I do, Yusuke, that there are endless rumours surrounding online and around public areas. They must have heard some and came to check on you," Madarame rationalized. Yusuke, looking as if he just shamed his master, looked down and acknowledges his master's theory, and while he laments, the old man turned to Naminé. "I'm sure you don't believe in these ridiculous rumours, but I also understand as an artist who is still trying to find her footing, having your work stolen would be awful".
Naminé clutched her arm and sheepishly apologized for causing a strife with Yusuke, confessing that was worried about him. Madarame chuckled lightly and assured them that it was unlikely a cranky old man like himself was liked by everyone. Though he asked, after apologizing for interrupting their conversation, if they could keep their voices down because of their neighbours. After what seemed like him scolding them like they were kids, he bows and returned to his shack to work.
Out of sight at last, Yusuke turned and apologized to his guests for his outburst, which made Riku grunt an apology as well. However the blue haired teenager suggested that they'll be able to believe in his master if they saw that painting. From his phone Yusuke shows the gang a portrait of a woman in red looking down a plume of grey smoke, expressing that this was the painting that inspired Yusuke to become an artist.
"His maiden work as well as his most represented piece, it is titled "Sayuri", revealed the teenager, and Neku commented it meant "Little Lilly". The gang had no doubt that this was indeed a wonderful piece of art, even the ignorant artist Beat couldn't doubt it's beauty. Yusuke expressed that when he saw Ann, she inspired the same emotion he had for the piece, and in order to pursue beauty like this, he near begged Ann to seriously consider his offer, as well as Naminé for the collab.
With a bow, he apologizes for them coming all the way out for this, but he couldn't stay long and had to assist his master for the day. They bid him an apologetic good evening and walked away from his shack as he closed the door.
The gang huddled up by a railing near the road to evaluate their meeting with both the master and student. "Yo, maybe we got the wrong dude…" Beat says, "Mean they seem like good dudes…".
"Yeah I think Beat's right…maybe the one Nakanohara was talking about was a completely different person?" Ann suggested, "He seemed to nice to be the bad guy". Riku scoffed at that notion while folding his arms, though Neku argued that maybe Yusuke didn't encounter anyone who was slandering his master in person, and maybe that first time set him off. Naminé had her arms crossed and bites her inner cheek in thought, unable to shack these feelings of doubt within her heart. No matter what Madarame said or how strongly Yusuke feels to defend his master, something wasn't right between them.
Every time the old man was around, Yusuke would shrink and looks of pain take over his expression, and when Riku challenged him, bullheadedly she'll admit, he couldn't look at him. "Is Yusuke covering for Madarame? Is that debt to him what keeps his tongue in check and just forces him to grit and bear potentially having his own work stolen? And even if Madarame isn't abusing him like the other students, he's clearly causing him pain…" she thinks.
Just as they debated on whether or not they had the right target, Riku's phone goes off and after one quick glance, he answers his phone and switches on loudspeaker. "Everyone shut up, Ren's calling", he says. He shows the others one of their bosses on the other side of the screen with Ryuji in the background in the subway and Morgana on his carer's shoulder.
"Hey there, how'd it go on your end?" he asked.
"Seems like a bust. Madarame didn't even sound pissed at the accusations, even brushed them off and defended US against Yusuke," Neku explained, "Ann and Beat are pretty much convinced he's the wrong one".
"And you two?" Riku asked.
Ren's face shifts into determined concern, and he recounts their meeting with Nakanohara. The target revealed his identity to both teens and acknowledged he was the one the post was talking about, even remarked his personality had completely changed. And Mishima had contacted him to meet with a student from Shujin with a cat in his bag, which doused the doubts in the party that it was a prank. He wanted a change of heart to someone, and as Naminé expects, it was Ichiryusai Madarame. The very same they had just "interrogated".
"He said he was one of his former pupils. Gave him lodgings in his own home and apparently all he thought about was art, he genuinely wanted to be an artist," Ren explains.
"Yusuke said the same thing, but there's a lot personal reasons why he remained with the old geezer," Neku revealed. Ren nodded and added that there was also another pupil alongside Nakanohara, older by a few years his senior. "He kept tabs on him, every original painting he's ever done was claimed by Madarame," Ren says, "And worst of all he wasn't the only one…".
"Well shit man! We got somebody!" Beat says excitedly.
"No, we don't" Ren sighed with slumped shoulders, "Nakanohara said after Madarame stole his work, and practically ruined his credibility as an artist…he committed suicide". The others looked horrified, though Riku believed that seeing his work being credited to someone else must have been too much for the poor man to bear. "It's a likely situation, and why Nakanohara left him. Sadly Madarame pressured other parts of the art world, and just like that Nakanohara's life as a painter was destroyed," Ren says.
"And so he tried to turn over a new leaf, but because of his attachment to art, his emotions were warped and that's when he started to get attached to everything," Morgana says, "Even turning into a stalker…".
"That son of a bitch…" Neku growls, before cursing, "Damnit that's how he got where he is today!".
"Stealing people's work while they were being mentored by him, then as soon as they're no longer of any use to him, toss them aside and then take credit for their work…like tools…" Naminé whispers, voice going lower and quieter as she theorizes his manipulative lifestyle. "And when they try to resist or call him out, he'll use his influence to destroy their credibility and either force them to change careers or worse," Riku added.
"And with Yusuke being indebted to him for taking him in…he has no choice but to do what he wants," Neku finishes.
"Nakanohara mentioned Yusuke too. According to him, Yusuke was taking in after his mother died, and his skill as an artist makes him a perfect target for him to use until he serves no other uses," Ren says, "He even mentioned he spoke to him a few times and even asked if he found it painful to stay…".
"He replied: "If I could leave, I could".
"He has no one…no financial aid, no other family and worst of all even if he could strike out as an artist, Madarame would just claim it as his and ruin Yusuke's life," Naminé says, "He's trapped".
"So that means this is the same Madarame we're after…but how are we gonna prove he's guilty?" Ann asked, "Without a witness, Yusuke's help or even evidence, we're screwed". Neku tapped his foot in thought, looking at Morgana however sparked a memory within his mind, and the weight of his phone made him express a thoughtful look. "Maybe not…" he said, yanking his own phone out and opens the navigator app.
"Remember how we found about Kamoshida? If we use the key words here, maybe we'll find Madarame's Palace," he says, making the team grin at his forethought. "Morgana?" Naminé chirped.
"Neku's on the ball there," praises the furball.
"Okay, so lets see…" Neku hummed, " "Madarame,"…crime is "plagiarism" and then "shack,"…so now what?".
"Remember Kamoshida? He thought Shujin was his castle, so we need to figure out what the old man mistakes his shack for," Morgana explained, "So you got any ideas?".
Ryuji and Beat just spouted random locales and Ann even suggested castle again, but much like trying to get a bullseye by shooting it with a tommy gun, they hit everything but the mark. "You idiots…how about a place that Madarame would go to like an exhibit," Neku sighed while placing a hand on his hip. Naminé folds her arms and hummed. Thinking hard, she calculated Madarame's humble nature might begot a cruel heart and perhaps like Kamoshida, he was hiding an ugly entitled ego that would destroy his reputation.
"A place where he'd be worshiped…where anyone and everyone could see his creations…" she thinks, before snapping her fingers. "A museum!".
And like that, their world shifts and melds into the bizarre world of the Metaverse.
*Palace: Madarame's Museum*
Shaking off the strange transportation after affects, the party of five find themselves within the Metaverse once more. Instead of the bizarre pink sky, it seemed more of the real world with it being black and dark blue, even the pinkish puddles were nowhere to be seen.
Naminé looks around, glanced at her Phantom Thief friends in their uniforms and then turned to where Madarame's shack used to be. Instead it was a tall tower shaped like cubes stacked upon each other, turned ever so slightly with each block made in gaudy yellowish golden material. In large kanji, it spelled Madarame's name attached to the main golden gates. Just like Shujin academy in Kamoshida's own distorted world, it turned a shack into a museum where Madarame's works would be born and worshiped in.
"Whoa, yo! Look at that shit!" Beat says, "Guess that old geezer really thinks his shitty shack is really somethin'!".
The rest turned to the museum, surprised by its design. Ann commented that the extravagance of its design was so over-bearing it came across as more gaudy than grand, and even Neku expresses surprise on how Madarame could consider his own run down place a Palace of this epic proportions. Not only that but as they were outside of the building, the thieves were seemingly near a parking lot with several cars strewn around them. Also at the entrance of the museum is a large mass of people waiting to enter.
"Remember what Mona said about the palace being a world formed by a mind twisted by desire? Its just like how Kamoshida saw Shujin," Naminé reminds, "But its strange that he would have a museum as Palace, since his art is shown in museums in reality".
"Plus the guy already has plenty of people praising his work, and nothing here is really pointing to plagiarism or abuse either," Riku added, "But we're only outside the building, so its pretty likely the story is different on the inside".
"Wait, are we gonna just get in line?" Ann asked, pointing at the huge sea of people. Neku sighed tiredly and asked rhetorically what she thought before pointing at himself and reminding her of what they were. "If there's a way in legally, then there's definitely an illegal way in," he said and gestured a parked truck near a wall. "Up and over folks, try and stay out of sight".
"Whoa hold it! What 'bout Naminé?" Beat said, gesturing to the girl with his thumb, "She ain't a Persona user or whatever, we gotta send her home!". Neku and Riku opened their mouths to voice their agreement, but Naminé spoke first. "Wait! Please let me tag along" she implored, "There's something I need to see first before I leave!". The blonde expressed that if Kamoshida carried a slave book detailing everyone he's ever harmed, had his eyes on or worse, then chances were Madarame must be keeping a log on every student he's plagiarised from.
Ann scratched her cheek with uncertainty in her eyes while Beat rubbed his neck awkwardly, but Neku says: "Keep close to Nightmare then, and don't do anything stupid". Riku turned to Neku with a "what are you doing" look on his masked face as the leader walked to the truck with a wave of his hand. The leader uses phantom dash to scale the truck and wall, followed by his best friend and Ann while Riku sighs and turned to Naminé. "Hang on," he says. Next thing the blonde artist knew, Riku sweeps her off her feet and then dashes after his teammates.
Blissfully unaware of the crimson cheeks adorning Naminé's face, hidden behind her hands slammed against her soft face.
Using the gardens as a way towards the building, the Phantom Thieves scoured the green covered pathways and uses a few adjacent block shaped buildings to hop and skip across above the patrolling security that paled in comparison to Kamoshida's own. Neku commented on how light security was as they dashed through the area, and Riku reminds his friend that if this was anything like how security tensed up when they were going after the pervert king, it was likely the level of security stemmed from how the Madarame from the real world was acting.
He added that because he's gotten away with this for some time it was likely he was lowering his guard and is totally relaxed, meaning the cognition here would reflect on his mental state of security. They reached the museum building rooftop and found their entrance. A skylight.
With some careful pulling, Riku opens up the skylight window and using Ann's whip, he descends down first with Naminé riding on his back. Down below the others, the guardians of light look around the museum and were shocked to see that much like outside, it was silent. Riku's words did ring out in Naminé's head but even then shouldn't there be at least some form of security within this place. They see the walls were plastered with giant portraits of not landscapes or even some of Madarame's works, but they were people.
"What the…are these his paintings?" Riku asked.
"No, and I've seen his gallery online, none of these are part of his works," Naminé said. She approached one of the portrait while Riku grabbed the red rope from the metal barriers and tossed the rope to the others. The portrait in question was distorted and wobbly like the image was alive, but while Naminé knew not who the person is in the image, near it is a nearly invisible plaque on a stand. Peering her eyes and leaning closer, she was just about to make out the words: "Yashiro Tatsuku" and even his age. "If the Palace reflects the hearts of the ruler…then these portraits must have a connection to Madarame", she thinks.
The others joined her and Riku and expressed the same confusion as them. "The hell is all this?" Neku asked, "I don't see anything like Madarame's works".
"Maybe there's more further in? Mean we just started," Riku said.
Together they explore the very silent and even near empty museum, devoid of patrons, visitors, and security guards. Which was a massive red flag for the party when they take in consideration that there was a small army worth of people outside so surely, cognitions or not, there should have been at least a few people ogling the art here. Concerningly all the art here was images of people that had names and ages but nothing else linking them to Madarame. They passed through two rooms before coming to a hallway where it is littered with more portraits.
"Hey, ain't that Mada-dick known for lots of styles in art? How come we ain't seen anythin' like that here?" Beat asked, "Fo' real man, all startin' to look the same ta me".
"Yeah, and there all starting to look the same to me…" Neku concurs.
"Guys, look behind you," Ann says, pointing to one ahead. Behind them, the see a more straight and larger portrait that looked a little more detailed compared to the others. But what struck out the most was it looked VERY familiar to the gang, and when they read the plaque stand nearby, the pieces started to come together in a very horrible image.
"Natsuhiko Nakanohara…the very same one Joker and Skull spoke to just there," Neku growls, "Why's that here…?".
"And more importantly why is his name there? Shouldn't the artist's name be there instead?" Ann asked. Naminé folds her arms and stares at the image, then to the other ones in wonder before a thought occurs to her. She suddenly runs down the hall, startling the others into following her just until she reached the door to the next room and stares up at the portrait before her. When her friends joined, they all look to see it was Yusuke's portrait before them, name and all.
"Even Yusuke's here…" Riku points out.
"Oh my god…these are trophies…" Naminé gasped, then turned to the others, "Nakanohara said it wasn't just him or Yusuke, there have been others! Every portrait here must have been students of Madarame, and each one of them must have suffered the same fate as Nakanohara!".
"Be taken into his tutelage, then once their styles flourish, take their works for his own and either force them to create or destroy their careers as artists," Neku explains, "So that means Madarame's "artist block" could just be a cover up for his stolen art".
"And judging by how many portraits there are…he's been doing this for probably most, if not all, of his career," Riku added. Neku agreed darkly with a grimace before he gestures the others to keep going, that there might be more to explore before leaving. Much as he'd like to cover some more ground, with their team too small, having a civilian in the party and a new Palace altogether, this would have to be a quick scoop.
They moved further into the museum and arrived at what they guessed to be the main lobby, devoid of life as usual. But Beat did find what he, and the others presumed, to be a piece of the map. Granted Morgana would have to confirm it but it was still a start. Further in, they come to a large space where another gaudy statue stands in the centre of. It seemed to form like a fountain of gold with golden statues swirling within the greedy waters.
Ann approached the plaque and reads aloud:
"The Infinite Spring? A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame created with his own funds. These individuals must offer their ideas to the director for the rest of their lives. Those that cannot do so have no worth living!".
"In short, his pupils are his property…everyone whose ever tutored under him is nothing more than a machine to produce art for him and give up their ideas so he can maintain his lifestyle and place in the art world," Riku simplifies, "A complete phony".
"That asshole! So that's how he is! Everybody he's taught was screwed over!", Beat growls, "He can't call himself a artist if that's the shit!".
"He's forcing an ultimatum on his students, hand over their ideas in exchange for their livelihoods," Neku added before he clenched his fists and says: "Damnit, that's why Yusuke can't get away from him. Even if he flat out says it, Madarame can overrule him and destroy his life with just a single word".
"He's treating his pupils like they're slaves, or tools!" Ann gasped, missing the look of pain on Naminé's face. Ann also mentioned one of the pieces she complimented at the exhibit, he acted odd rather then expressive and passionate about it like all the others. "Which means that must have been stolen too, and worse, Yusuke might have been the victim there".
"So boss, ain't that enough?" Beat asked, looking at Neku, "With that Nakano whatever's story and all this shit, we got everythin' we need to go after this faker, aight?".
Neku looks at the statue and then thinking to the portraits, just one of the two alone was more than enough. Not only is this man stealing art and passing it off as his own, but he destroys the lives of promising artists and potentially turns them into monsters who commit crimes to just hang onto anything they have. But much as he wanted to go full throttle and shout yes, he wasn't the only leader in this gang.
"Doubtfully they'll argue, but we need King and Joker to agree too, we're all in this together," Neku reminds. Bar Naminé everyone nodded and with their initial search done, they head for the exit while Naminé stares at the statue in disdain and even hate. "Tools…tools to be used until you squeeze everything from them, then toss them aside like trash when they can't be of use to you…" she whispers to herself, clenching her fists and shaking her shoulders, "Madarame…you degenerate…loathsome…thieving piece of garbage…".
She storms after the others, her eyes darkening with resolve. "I won't let you; I won't let you destroy Yusuke…".
* Evening: Tuesday. 17/5*
*Wildkat*
Once the scouting band returned to the real world and informed the others to rendezvous at Wildkat, the gang united at the hip café with more intel from Naminé's group and Ren's. Thanks to Rhyme getting a head start after Naminé texted a few names from the Palace, she had already messaged Mishima if he could try and ask the other potential victims to tell their stories to the Phantom Thieves, and while she was doing that Eri was checking out more of Madarame's exhibit.
"So he's essentially treating his students like slaves, taking their ideas and passing them off as his own. And if they don't like it or can't provide, he'll get rid of them and destroy their hopes of becoming an artist," Kairi sums up, "I can't believe it…".
"Bad enough he steals their ideas but to abuse them like this is inhuman," Ventus says, then turned to Naminé and asked the amount of portraits they saw. She counted it was at least in the double digits, but whether or not they were the duplicates or not is something they'd have to check when they go back. "But we still have Yusuke to worry about, if he's so dead set on defending his master".
"Any ideas on getting the truth out of him?" Roxas asks, "Something that doesn't include us doing something illegal?".
"We could bribe him with snacks!" Xion chirps.
"…we'll…put a pin on that one…" Riku sighed.
"Maybe we can get the truth out of him if me and Naminé go with his offer," Ann suggested. She surprised the others, recalling how feverishly she was quick to reject his request, and she only replied that if Naminé and Neku tagged along she won't be so scared.
"Sorry, but Neku can't go," Shiki said with a small voice. When the others looked at her, she showed her phone and to their dismay, there was the Reaper's skull on it. "I just saw this earlier on my way here, and its…a mission".
"For real!? NOW!? Ryuji shouts, "We've got a target to deal with and now this!?".
Neku groaned, checking his phone along with the other former players and checked what this new game had in store for them.
"Emotions dying out within the heart of a citizen of Shibuya! Cleanse their souls of the Noise and revive their vigour and passion! Failure to do so will result in erasure", Neku reads aloud, "You have until the 20th".
"TWO DAYS!? WE ONLY GOT TWO DAYS TO DO THIS SHIT!?" Beat shouts. His friends shared his sentiments with rue and deep sighs, worst of all Eri pointed out that the mission didn't even tell them WHO they were supposed to help. Neku frowned and looked at the message again, and then frowns. "Hey there's a name. Ichika Kobayashi".
Shiki and Eri both sit up properly and looked at him with shock, "Kobayashi-Chan? Boss? She's the target?" Eri asked. When asked, she explained that she was their boss who runs Bleu Élégant and has been the owner of the brand for twelve years. "She's been coming back to the store for a few days now, but what's the mission mean?" she asked.
"No idea, but maybe it has something to do with personality change or something…any idea if she's had a change in character or…?" Neku asked.
"Nada! She's been as chirpy and cheerful as Xion with candy!" Eri defends, "You sure we got the right mission?".
"We've never gotten an mis-sent mission, so I doubt it," Neku argued, "But point is, if your boss is the target then we need to go to UG and see what we can do". He implores that someone should at least check on her while they were gone to see if they can spot a change in her or something to clue them in on the mission. Xion, who had nothing else to do, offers her service while Ren and Sora's team goes into the Palace.
"Meanwhile me and Ven can help Mishima meet up with the other victims, maybe get more information on Madarame and heck, even get some support," Roxas offers, "Least we can do something".
"So while me and Ann try to get information from Yusuke, Neku's group handles the Reapers' Mission, Ven and Roxas get some help from Mishima, Xion on recon, the Phantom Thieves handle the Palace…" Naminé planned, "I have to say I don't like the idea that we're thinning out so much".
"Don't have a choice," Morgana reminds, "If Neku's team doesn't finish that mission we're screwed, and Ven and the others can't help us in either realm".
"We've a lot of work tomorrow…" Sora sighed.
Everyone agrees and once they set up for meet ups, the gang disperse.
A/N:
So that ending was a lot of "oh yeah here's this".
Figured it's time we introduce the Reapers' Game, cause ya know that's a thing in this story. But I did skip a few things and had a bit of an out of order thing going on but I think everyone's ready for the PT to get back to work.
QUESTIONS:
Q1: Thoughts?
Q2: Naminé in this arc?
Q3: Yusuke getting along with Neku and starting a rivalry with Riku?
Q4: Eri's time to shine?
Q5: Any cast from TWEWY you wanna see again?
Q6: Everyone getting a part in this?
As always everyone, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!