Date: 5/7 – Saturday
Location: Shujin Academy, Aoyama-Itchome
It was strange but also nice to be able to connect with Weiss during the school day… even if it happened only because of Ruby. Said girl woke up close towards the end of the school day looking better than she did when she showed up this morning. She was all smiles but I could see the pain in her eyes.
I told Sun about how when Ruby woke up, she didn't know that she was resting on Weiss' legs and when she locked eyes with Weiss, she moved so fast that she was sitting against the door and was breathing heavily. He nearly fell over as he laughed out loud.
"Be sure to stop by your classroom to retrieve any work that was left." Weiss said as we left the Student Council Room. I could help but notice Weiss sporting a troubled look… which was old considering what happened.
Stepping foot into our classroom, Toyoguchi-sensei and a few others students were there as well, one of them being Arc. We left Sun at the door as we walked over to Toyoguchi-sensei, who handed over a small stack of paper to both me and Ruby, and as I was walking back to Sun and putting the papers away, Sun nodded his head to look behind me. I noticed Toyoguchi-sensei walk out the room with no words to Sun like she normally did.
What I did saw shock me ever so slightly as I was sure that Ruby had told Arc to stay away from her, so to see him talking to her was very risky for his health. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Sun take a couple of steps forwards and that was when I saw Ruby wave her hand, (out of the sight of Arc,) that made us stop in our tracks.
It didn't take long for the convocation that they were having to turn, as we watched Ruby close her eyes and ball her hands' ups, I don't know what she said but Arc all but ran out of the room… which was made Sun laugh.
With Arc gone, we noticed that Ruby had turned to look out the window. "I wonder what he wanted?" I said as we walked over to her.
"Let me guess, he still wants to make it up to you?" Sun said with a light tap Ruby's shoulder.
"Huh, sort of… he's the one behind the Phansite, and he believes that the three of us are the Phantom Thieves."
"Don't you mean four?" We heard Zwei say through Rubys' bag.
"He would if he knew about you, Zwei." She said with a small jostle.
"I have to say, that's some fast work he did to create that site." Sun said, but my focus was on Ruby, who was grimacing.
"The worst part is, is that I've formed a bond with the guy."
"Tough luck, now, can we go? I've got something I want to so you guys." Zwei said as popped his head out.
When Ruby, Zwei, Sun and I were standing in the alleyway in front of Shujin, Zwei told us to head to Shibuya but he wouldn't tell us why.
Location: Outside of Shibuya Station, Shibuya
"So, what's this all 'bout Zee?" Sun said as we made it above ground.
"You guys did originally promise to help me out with my mission, after all." Zwei said after he popped his head out of Rubys' bag.
"What mission?" Sun asked as he scratched the back of his head.
I laughed when Zwei slips back into her bag. "He has amnesia, remember?" I said and watched as Zwei hops out of her bag and onto a ledge near the stairs.
"Just do as I tell you and open the Aficionado site." Zwei said as the three of us pull our phones out and bring the site up. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Ruby tapping her foot.
"Now what?" I asked before noticing that Sun had taken a seat on the floor near Zwei.
"Look for a post with a full name in it." He said patting Suns' head.
"There's no info on any big shots, I've already looked… but man, it's some scary shit that people actually go an' put someone's real name on here." He said batting Zweis' paw as my eyes are brawn to a post.
"He won't listen to what I say" … No wait, there's no name on this one." I scrolled farther down.
"Someone's bad-mouthin' me in online chat rooms" … This one's got a-" Sun started but Ruby cut him off.
"That's the internet for you, I'm a prime example of that."
"There has to be more serious posts." I scrolled to the top to see if anything new showed up and that's when I saw a couple of familiar names. I look at Ruby and saw that she was staring off into the crowd of people passing by. I nudge Sun and show him and Zwei the post.
"I don't expect you guys to go along with me," She turns and looks at Zwei. "Just tell me how to and I'll go alone."
"I thought that we agreed to be unanimous when it came to our target and not for personal gain?" I said looking between the three of them.
"She is right, Ruby?" Sun said and I was surprised that he did, seeing as it looked like wanted to do that.
"I know, that's why I'll go alone, but there's nothing stopping them from doing it again."
"But they got arrested, so they-"
"There parents are on the school board, we have no idea what they are capable of."
I watch as Sun stands and dusts himself off before looking at me. "She's not wrong, Blake, just look how everyone covered up Taurus."
"Ugh," I look down at my phone and notice a new post about a City Hall teller who's stalking his ex. "fine… We can do this one as well if you want." I show the post to them. "A City Hall teller by the name of Bolin Hori, he's stalking his ex and she doesn't know what to do anymore."
"Yeah, sure."
"I don't see why not."
"That's a more suitable target."
I nod my head. "Then it's settled. What's next Zwei?"
"All right, now get the Meta-Nav ready." The corgi said with a cheerful look.
I Notice Ruby flip her phone around. "Already done."
"We're just gonna jump right into a Palace? Fine by me!" Sun said pocketing his phone. "So, we just to enter their name and a Palace, right?"
"Actually, we don't need a location this time. Just enter exactly what I say. The keyword is… "Mementos."
"Huh? What're you tryin' to pull?" Sun said as he looked at Zwei.
"Just listen to. It should work… I think?" Zwei said and before either of them could do anything, I felt the world shift around us.
Location: Outside of Shibuya Station?
After the feeling faded, the four of us was standing outside the station still but the obvious difference was that no one was around.
"Everyone disappeared!" I took a quick glance around before looking back at the others and couldn't help but notice that Ruby and Zwei were the only ones not freaked out. "It… kind of feels like I'm walking on air?"
"Is this a Palace?" Sun said after he gained whatever composure the monkey lost.
"That's half right, but half wrong. This is a type of Palace, but it's different from the normal ones." Zwei said as turned to face down the stairs with Ruby already heading down. "Come on, let's head down. The Shadows here lurk underground."
As me and Sun followed them down, Zwei hopped from the railing and onto Ruby. "I don't quite understand why. It may be because they're drawn to something."
"I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this." Ruby said reaching back and patting Zwei on the head.
When we got to the bottom of the stairs, there were red vein-like roots that were along the corners of the walls and on the ceiling… and there was an odd red tint to the lights.
"The hell is this place?" Sun said as he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. It's then that I realized that we had changed into our other clothes.
"Looks like something out of War of the Worlds." Ruby said as she moved over to one of the root things and began to poke it with her shoe.
"Seeing as we are in these clothes, I take it the Shadows know we're here?" I ask Zwei as he jumps onto the central divider that led down.
"Since the moment we stepped in." Zwei said with a smug look.
"You should've told us!" Sun stomped his foot as he spoke.
"We're safe, Skull, otherwise we would have been attacked by now." Ruby said with an air of confidence that she always got whenever we were in the Palace.
"Joker's right. I've come to investigate several times and the Shadows never come up to this floor." I watch Zwei turn and look down the escalators. "But it's a different story once you go down. This place is simply teeming with them."
I walk over to Zwei and poke his cheek. "More importantly, what is this Mementos!? It's about time you start explaining."
"It's everyone's Palace, I believe…" Ruby said as she joining us over by the escalators holding some of the vein root things.
I smacked the thing out of her hand when she brought it up to her mouth. "Don't you think about that, Ruby!"
"What? I haven't had anything to eat since I woke up today… Plus, they kinda look like gummy worms."
The look I gave her spoke volumes. "Just, no!"
"Anyway… she's right. Mementos is everyone's Palace." Zwei said as he looked at the thing that Ruby almost eat with disgust.
"Whaddya mean "everyone's?" Sun said, scratching the back of his head.
"A Palace as grand as that castle only forms when a person's wishes are extremely distorted. So, instead of many individual Palaces, the general public has one gigantic shared Palace. That's where we are now… Mementos." The little corgi said as he placed his paws on his hips.
But now that he mentioned it, this place did fell… off. "You're right, this place feels different from Taurus' Palace."
"When you say shared… you mean they're all put together? Even though they're just strangers?" I heard Sun say as I look down the escalators as I thought I heard something down there.
"Think of it as the collective unconscious, Sun." Ruby said as she started to head down with Zwei following her.
"So, by using this place, we can even change the hearts of people who don't have a Palace?" I asked as I clasped my hands behind myself and followed them.
"Correct Lady Blake! Though the step to do so are slightly different." Zwei said before jumping back onto Rubys' shoulder.
"But this place looks pretty huge. Are we gonna be able to get around just by walkin'…?" I heard Sun say after he caught up to us by sliding down the railings.
When we got to the next floor, it looked like the normal subway apart from having the root-veins along the walls and pillars and having a darker look to the area instead of the reddish tint from above. The air felt colder too… and I was glad that my catsuit covered enough not to show how cold it was.
As soon as Ruby made it towards the edge of the platform, I watch as Zwei jump off of Ruby and land onto the tracks. "It seems the time has finally come…" I chuckle as the corgi punches the air a couple of time before placing one paw on his hip and bringing the other up and then sweeping it left and down. "Zweiii… transfoooorm!"
We watch as Zwei jumped up and in a puff of smoke, a grey van with three red stripes that started on the hood and run along the roof towards the back, a small golden emblem on the grill, his ears were set on either side of the roof and his eyes were where the headlights would be. He did look familiar though.
"Come now, Panther. Ladies first." It was super strange to hear Zwei speak when he was a car.
"No way!" Sun said with shock as he stood to the left of me and Ruby.
"This comes from the way cognition materializes in the Metaverse… plus a bit of extra training." Zwei said as he bounces a little from side to side. "It's not dissimilar to how you guys transform."
"You turnin' into a car is totally different than our clothes changin'!" Sun said before the three of us dropping down.
"For some reason, "animals turning into buses" is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public."
"Why a bus though?" I said as I crossed my arms.
"He is Catbus or rather Dogbus." Ruby said and then it dawned on me why he looked so familiar.
"Oh my god, he's Totoro!" I brought a hand up to my mouth to try and stifle my laughter. "It's a shame that Ilia can't see this, she loves Totoro."
"Wait! Why didn't you do this at the castle!?" Sun said as he walked up to Zweibus and kicked the wheel.
"I would have if I could!" The bus made what looked to be an angry face. "But the castle was cramped, there were tons of stairs, and no way this fits on top of a chandelier!"
I watched as Sun moves down the bus enough to open the side door and start to climb in. "Hey, Skull! Ladies first!" I said jogging so I could get in before him. It didn't surprise me that he let me in first and I'm sure he just wanted to watch my ass and even though I've felt repulsed by seeing a lot of older men undress me with their eyes, yet when Sun looks at me like that, it didn't bother as much. Maybe it was because we've been friends for so long and that he's been open about it from pretty much the start that I find it more endearing than anything else.
Being pushed up against the other side of the van by Sun due to Ruby getting in and closing the door brought me out of my thoughts.
With the door closed and the three of us sitting in the back, I heard the creak of the leather seat as Sun crosses his legs. "All aboard! Let's go!"
"Why are you all just sitting back there? I'm a car, remember! I'm not going anywhere unless someone drives me." Zwei said in a disappointed tone.
"So, a sentient van can't drive itself then?" Ruby said as she leant forward and placed her arms on the seat in front.
"Do you know how to drive, Bro?" Sun asked before I could.
"Time to bust some moves." She said opening the door and stepping out.
As she walks around, Sun scoots over and closes the door before looking at me. "Yeah… we should be fine…"
When Ruby sat behind the wheel, I leant forward and tapped her on her shoulder. "Um, safety first… OK?"
She nods her head before oddly enough starting the engine before Zwei could even say anything. "Let's roll!"
I didn't think she actually knew how to drive, but the speeds we going at and how well she was able to keep us upright and still in a straight line told me otherwise. The main question was, how she gained the knowledge in the first place, as I don't think video games could impart that much info. After we left what looked like a normal station, things took a weird look as the rest of the place twisted and turned and at some points, even split off in all directions.
The Shadows looked even more disturbing here as they were mainly just black ooze with a few blank faces around the main mask. And when we did run into one, Ruby would handbrake turn towards it before launching herself out of Zwei and pulling her mask off it before me and Sun could get out and Zwei to transform back. It was clear that Ruby had a lot of pent-up anger in her as she was able to take down most of the Shadows by herself with only minimum damage taken.
After some time, we turned a corner and came across a black and red swirling wall that had the tracks lifted and twist into it, did we stop just in front and Sun climbed into the front. "Dude, the hell is this? It's all wavy and shit."
"This is the place…" Zwei said with a slight rock of the bus. "Now. Are you guys ready?"
"Yep." "Ready whenever you are!" "Let's roll!"
I don't know how but with a hop, Zwei leapt forwards into the wall, only for us to appear at the end of the tracks and a dead end. When Zwei pulls to a stop, the three of us get out and started to head towards two black pillars of smoke.
"So, what do you think that is?" Sun ask as we get to the end of the tracks.
"It's their Shadows." Ruby said as she took the lead.
As we got closer, the black smoke that was around them seemed to lessen to the point that I was able to see the Albain brothers standing there, the only real difference was their golden eyes. It was the one the ears that spoke up when we get closer to them.
"Look, bother, the broken toy has returned to us and has even brought Taurus' bitch with her." The fox eared one said as he elbowed the one with the tail.
"Thank god that Schnee bitch isn't-" A gunshot was heard before the tailed one could finish talking and taking a glance at Ruby showed me that she was the one that pulled the trigger. My hand reached rested on my SMG just in case.
"I'm not a broken toy, you shits!" She shouts as she took a few steps forward. "You sound just as bad as Taurus did."
"Yeah, we've come here to whoop your ass's!" Sun said as we both came to stand next to Ruby.
"I doubt the broken toy, Taurus-sama bitch and the track traitor could best us." The fox eared one said to his brother with a nod before the both of them turned into the black and red slime, just like the Shadows in the Palace did.
When Ruby turns to look at us, I couldn't help but notice that her eyes were slowly turning gold despite her Mask still being on. "Fan out and if the worst comes to it, deflect them my way."
As we did what Ruby said, the two piles of slimes burst into two Incubus' and after a flex of their wings, they came straight for me and Ruby.
"Erm… I think there only after us, Joker." I said before backing up and switching to my whip and attacking with that and hoping that would stop the creep from advancing. I was correct for the most part as the creeps kept on dodging most of my attacks with only a few of them hitting or nicking them.
"Leave her alone, you perv!" I heard Sun shout before he appeared behind the Incubus before bringing his pipe down.
Unfurling my whip and letting the thong fly toward the creature, I cheered internally when it cracked and wrapped around the things arm as it hit the floor. I tighten my grip on my whip and pull on it when Incubus tried to move and smile when Sun stood up.
"Let's end this prick, Skull!" I shouted as I grabbed the edge of my mask and called for Carmen to heat things up a little.
Over the roar of flames, I could see the loose sparks of Captain Kids' lightning and the stary shotgun pellet. It's only when the other Incubus gets thrown into the fire that I forgot about Ruby and Zwei were fighting the other one.
Looking over to my right, Ruby looked rough around the edges but otherwise looked fine, whilst Zwei look liked he had ran a marathon.
"Let's finish this, everyone attack now!" Ruby said before ripping her mask off and calling for Obariyon before seeing bullets come from nowhere above the little red daemon.
"An all-out attack, got it." Zwei said as he chewed on a Soul candy before summoning Zorro and a lot of wind.
Looking back at the two creatures, I let Carman burn them some more before calling her back. The headache that was forming was starting to annoy me.
"That's enough." I heard Ruby say and when the others stop, what were two Incubi, were now two piles of that black and red bile. I felt the tension in my whip slacken to the point that it fell to the floor
"Remember Joker, even though we're not in a Palace, the rules still apply to them." Zwei said as I started to annoying process of wrapping my whip back up.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed that the two piles of bile had turned into the two Faunus brothers and that Ruby was walking towards them with her gun out.
When I had finished wrapping my whip up and hooking it on my hip, I look over at Ruby and my eyes go wide when I see her pointing her gun at them.
'Wai… she can't be thinking that!' I take a step forward to stop her but I end up bumping into Zwei.
"We're so sorry," They both said as they both knelt and pressed their foreheads to the concrete floor. "we were only following Taurus' orders."
I watch her shake her head. "You still had a choice."
"We didn't have a choice, given what he had done for us." They said before looking up at her. "If things were different…"
"Well, things aren't. Now," I watch Ruby press her gun against the forehead of the fox eared one. "you two have two options, one, you guys can go back to your real self's and reveal your crimes to the authorities or two, I can pull this trigger and end your miserable life."
The way Ruby spoke sent a shiver down my spine and the look on brothers' face spoke a thousand words.
"Yes, yes, you're right." The panic looked on their faces changed to one of acceptance as a glowing light started to cover them, just like it did the Taurus. "We will go back and do as you said."
When the light covers and takes them, what was left in their place was a small ball of light, which Ruby snatches up.
"For a second there, I thought you were going to kill them, Joker." Sun said to fill the silence.
"Jokers more of a professional than you Skull." I heard Zwei say before bouncing up to Ruby and jumping up on her shoulder.
"Oh, I thought about it." She said in a sunny demeanour. "But that would go against our code, so…"
"Damn bro, you can be kinda scary sometimes."
"Anyway, you feeling better now?" I asked when I notice her look happier.
Location: Mementos
"Much better." I said and I really did, knowing that those two couldn't carry on what Taurus had started felt great.
"So, what was that ball of light that showed up after we beat them?" Skull said as he and Panther walked over to me.
Opening my hand, I saw a few keys on a small keyring. 'I have the keys, but where are the locks they belong to?'
"It's their treasure, idiot." Zee said as I held the keys up.
"I know that, you mutt, I wanted to know what it turned into." I couldn't help but chuckle at the way Skull and Zee always seemed to be at each other's necks despite having the feeling that if one of them were in trouble, the other would come running.
"A set of keys, Skull… I can only say that they might belong to Shujin." I said before pocketing them.
"Knowing that bastard, then they probably are." Panther said with a morose look.
I pick Zee off my shoulder before stretching. "Shall we get going then?"
Finding our next target wasn't as hard as I thought it would have been, all it took was taking down a few Shadows and doing down a floor to find him. Of course, when we made it through the vortex and into the area, the place looked the same as the other with our target standing on the far side.
"Hori's Shadow sighted." Zee said as we walked up to the Shadow.
"So, some front desk guy at City Hall becomes a stalker." I heard Skull say before hearing him complain about the strap on his shotgun.
"I don't know how much evil he's done, but we have to do something if bothering other people." Panther said as I heard her heels click on the floor.
We could hear Hori talk about how his ex was his and that no one was going to have her and it was only when we got closer to him did he notice us. "Huh? Who are you!?" He asked as he turned to look at us. A few strands of his longish hair dropped in front of his glasses.
"Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels?" Anger was clear in Panther's voice.
"What? She's my property! I can do whatever I want with her!" Shadow Hori said as his face twisted into a more angry look. "It's not like he didn't treat me like a plaything! What's wrong with me doing the same!?"
"You can't treat someone like shit just 'cause they did it to you!" Skull said and it was clear that he had enough of this guy already.
"That's why we, The Phantom Thieves, are going to change the hearts of all the bastards like you!" I said before noticing the smoke around Shadow Hori start to get more violent.
"There are millions of people far worse than me!" It's then the bile takes over the smoke and pile up. "What about Ueda? He stole everything me, but you're letting him off the hook!?"
'Ueda…? Who the hell is that?'
"Get ready! Here he comes!" I heard Zee say and upon focusing back to the Shadow, I saw that Shadow Hori had turned into the pile of bile. Signalling the others to move back, I draw my dagger and switched over to Bicorn. Out of the corners of my eyes, I notice the others doing the same.
"Now that I finally have what's rightfully mine… I'm not going to let you take it away…" We heard Shadow Hori say as a taller Obariyon burst out of bile.
"What the…?" I said as I wasn't expecting to see a Persona I had to become a boss. With my mind occupied on that, I failed to notice that he was coming straight at me.
If I was paying attention, then I would have tried to dodge the punch, but yet there I was, lying on the floor, struggling to breathe and feeling like that punch did more damage than it looked like. Hearing a bit of commotion and some gunfire meant that the others were keeping Shadow Hori busy. Bouncing onto my feet, I summon Bicorn to lunge whisht I took in a couple more lungsful of air, I was glad that I was able to clip him.
"Eat this!" I heard Skull say as he brought his pipe down onto Shadow Hori, only for him to miss. "No way!"
"Leave this to me!" Panther said before calling on Carmen to send out some fire, all of which three missed.
When I notice green dots fly off me, I realize that Zee healed me. "Thanks, Zee." With the fact that Bicorn didn't do a lot, I switched over to Pixie with the hope that she could do more.
"Ravage them, Pixie!" I said as I pulled my mask off and watching Pixie fire off a lighting blot and catching Obariyon perfectly and knocking him to the floor.
'And there's opening.'
"Everyone, attack!" I shouted before hearing everyone confirm. It didn't take long until Skull and Panther started to unleash a rain of bullets and elemental powers and then Zee joined in a few seconds later.
With the all-out attack in progress, a stupid idea came to mind and before I realised it, I was sprinting towards Obariyon with my dagger out. As I got close enough, I took a couple of swings that both landed before kicking off and over several pellets from Zee.
I landed just in time to watch Obariyon burst into the black and red bile. "Good job everyone."
"That was really ballsy move Joker." Panther said as she hooked her SMG back on.
"It worked so I can't complain." I said as the bile faded and left Shadow Hori kneeling on the floor.
"I-I was wrong… Please forgive me… That evil teacher used me and then threw me out onto the street. That's what caused me to fixate on her." He said with a downcasted look.
"Evil teacher?" Skull said, scratching the back of his head.
It then that I hear Panther speak up. "Could you be talking about Ueda?"
'So I wasn't the only one to hear that name.'
"Yes." Shadow Hori said. "I just didn't want anyone to leave me out again…"
"So, some selfish bastard was making you suffer too… but still though, you shouldn't have dragged an unrelated person into your mess." I said a little too coldly.
"Yes, I know that now… I'll put an end to my love for her…" Hori said as the familiar white light started to engulf him. "Hey, you can change people's heart right?" I nod my head but before he could tell us the light covers him and left behind the same ball of light that was his treasure.
"You think he wants us to change that Ueda guy's heart?" Skull said as I took the steps towards the ball and grabbed it.
"From how it look liked, I can only assume that he hid." I heard Zee say as I open my hand to reveal a few peals on a necklace.
'A gift from him to her maybe?'
"Trainin' against the Shadows down here is the best. It's great prep for our next target." I heard Skull say as I pocketed the necklace and turned around.
I watch Panther brush one of her pigtails back over her shoulder with a bright smile on her face. "Plus, it's also nice to be able to give courage to the people who post their problems online."
"And on top of that, we can sell whatever treasure we get for some cold, hard cash!" Zee said as he hopped up and onto my shoulder.
"Sounds like things are goin' pretty great for us!" Skull said with a glint in his eyes and a smile on his face.
"Well, we're done here, so shall we leave?" I said as a started to walk towards the black and red vortex.
"Wait! Hold on." Zee said as I felt him grab a hold of some of my hair and pulled backwards, making me nearly fall over. "There's somewhere I want to show you guys before we leave."
"Did you need to grab my hair to tell us that?" I asked as I rubbed the spots that were pulled.
"I had to stop you somehow." He said and I couldn't help but look over at the vortex.
'You could have told us as we were walking there.'
"Anyway, it shouldn't take too long." The Corgi said before walking towards the vortex.
When we left that room and reboarded the Zee-bus, we had made it about ten feet before hearing Skull speak from behind me.
"So, where else are we goin'?"
"We need to head further down, there's something I want to check out." His voice was heard through the speakers. "Look for another platform, it should lead us down."
"To a platform then." I said as we turned a corner and into another Shadow.
As we made our way through this place, Zee mentioned that this place's layout would change every time we enter, so a map would have no meaning here. This place gave off a bad vibe, like something was watching us at every turn and the vein-like things on the walls and ceiling just added to that… even though I almost eat one.
It didn't take long for Skull and Zee to start arguing about something or other to the point that even Panther was getting tired of it, to which she climbed into the passenger seat. "Do you think those two will ever get along?"
"Who knows. I just hope that they don't say anything they don't mean." I said as we came to T-junction, on our left was a closed door and on the right, the "subway" carried on a bit more before turning left. I tapped my fingers alone the wheel. "Left or right?"
"Right." She said after looking both ways. "I hope your right about them, the last thing we need is infighting."
"Indeed." I was glad that I had asked for Panther's input as it turned out that heading left was the right way to go. Thankfully, I was just happy that Zee and Skull had stopped bickering.
Pulling up to a platform and getting out was when we could hear something coming our way.
"You guys hearin' that?" Skull said before a train pulled up on the other side of a bared wall. "The trains're totally runnin'!"
"I wouldn't have guessed that." I said as I noticed a few shadowy figures disappear into the sold red light that the subway cars were emitting.
In a cloud of smoke, the former Dogbus turned back into his bipedal form. "Of course they are." Zee said, jumping up onto the platform. "We're in the subway, you know."
"But, isn't this place a Palace though?" Panther said before leaning forwards a bit, like she was trying to look past the wall of red.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Zee scratch the back of his head. "Then maybe this is how the public views this place? I don't know."
"Then people have to go through this darkness… every day?" The dour look and sombre tone spoke volumes as Panther straighten up.
"Forget that!" Skull said as moved towards Zee and picking him up by the back of he is collar… watching Zee flail about was fun to watch. "You sure we're cool runnin' about on these tracks!?"
"I'm no train expert… but we should be fine as long as we're not on the same ones…"
"Shall we get going or do you want me on Panther to give you two some space…?" I said knowing that that should get us moving again.
My words must have stunned Skull as Zee was able to escape from his hold. "Yes, let's head to the lower area. It should be right after that escalator."
The next floor was, if by anything I've seen, more normal-looking than the rest. The escalator we took brought us to a central platform, minus any sort of seating and the like, there were about half a dozen pillars all sporting the red veins along the bottom… the only difference this place had was the set of trains that were speeding along on either side.
It was only after watching them for a minute or two that I realized that it was going to be a never-ending cycle and that there was little noise coming from.
"All right, there it is! What I want to check is just on the other side." Zee said as he walked ahead of us and towards a large stone wall.
"What is the place? It's kinda creepy." I heard Panther say as we made our way towards the wall, which I noticed had quite the intricate, red design to it.
"I kinda like it… then again, my favourite colour is red, so…" I said which earnt me a weird look from Panther and a chuckle from Skull.
"Why I'm not surprised that you like this!" He said just as we made it to the door. "And this is a dead end. Why's it even exist?"
I watch Zee step closer to the wall. "Now hold on… Just watch. This is most likely not an ordinary wall."
'Great… this is definitely a video game trope.'
"If my hunch I correct…" We watch as Zee takes the last few steps towards the wall and pressing his paw against it. I wasn't surprised when the whole place starts to shake and rumble and the "wall" slides open.
"A new area has been confirmed in the depths. Updating guidance information…" We heard the Metta Nav say as the darkness loomed over the way down.
"See! It's just as I thought." Zee said as he jumped up on one of the centre railings.
"So," I pocketed my hands and lent back a bit. "we now have more to explore?"
He nods his head. "Yep, that wall wouldn't budge when I came here by myself before… but it'd be weird for the deepest part of Mementos to be some normal place like this, wouldn't it?"
"So you were thinkin' there's gotta be more?" Skull said as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Yeah! Now that Taurus's Palace is gone and people are actually starting to talk about us… I knew something had to have changed down here!"
"How deep is it?" Panther said as she walked over to the top of the escalators and looked down. "Should we try going further down?"
"Let's not, we don't know how powerful the Shadows are down there… and after the two boss fights we've done, I don't like the idea of fighting harder enemies." I said, knowing that Zee was more than likely going to agree with me.
Location: Outside of Shibuya Station, Shibuya
Getting out of Mementos was nice and all, clean air and whatnot and I don't know if this was because of my Shadow or not, but I had a small niggle in the back of my head that was calling me back there.
"Mementos, huh…?" Sun said, leaning against the train car and I pushed that feeling aside. "I still don't really get that place. Oh, and what was that wall thing at the end?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but it would have blocked us from going past a certain depth. If Mementos is the public's Palace though… it might be affected by the general public's belief in us." Zwei said with a flick of his ear.
I watch Blake cup her chin with her right hand. "You have amnesia and yet you somehow know so much about it."
"My memories are a bit foggy in that area… however, I need to know what lies in the depths of Mementos, no matter what."
"No matter what… huh?" I mumbled before Zwei stood up on all fours.
"Mementos is not just everyone's Palace, it's the source of all Palaces. It used to be that Palaces like Taurus's with one ruler simply didn't exist. So, if we can do something about the greatest cause of distortions, I'm certain my appearance will…" He said, looking down.
"You wanted someone to save you too.." Blake said as moved to pet Zwei.
We all chuckle when Zwei shakes Blake's hand away. "I-I just needed pawns."
"I see… So that's why you came pokin' your nose around with us." Sun said as he pushes off the train cart.
"We did promise to help you, Zwei." I said as I opened my backpack up for him.
It was only after Sun had spilt (as lived in a different direction) and Zwei had climbed in and had started to make our way home did Blake speak up. "By the Zwei… are you a boy? Or a girl?"
"Can't rule out car." I said which earnt a chuckle from Blake and a headbutt from Zwei.
"Of course, I'm male! I mean, I…" he began before tapering off.
"What is it?" Blake said as I felt our shoulders bump together occasionally.
"No… It's nothing. We're done talking about that." He said before sliding into my backpack.
"What was that about?"
"I don't know… I'll try and find out when we get home."
"Okay, let me know if you do."
"Will do."
Out of the corner of my eye, I swear I saw an off the side, white ponytail duck behind a book.
Location: Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya
When we made it back to Leblanc and back into my room, Zwei didn't really talk much, he just curled up on my bed and fell asleep. He didn't even move when I brought him some food.
'Whatever is on his mind must be a hard subject to approach.'
Even when I had changed into my night clothes and brushed my teeth, he was still curled up. With I sigh, I sat down on my bed next to him and ran my hand over fur.
"Is everything okay, Zwei?"
I moved my hand when he rolled over. "Of course, why wouldn't it be?"
"Well, you've been too quiet since we left Blake."
"It's nothing, Ruby."
"You sure, you've got me, Blake and I know he won't say it, but Sun worried about you."
He turns over and we sit in silence for a few minutes before I talk up. "I understand you not wanting to talk about it, Zwei, but talking about it can help."
"You're very persistent, Ruby." He said without looking at me.
"I find it one of my more favourable traits." I said before picking him up and sitting him on my lap. "Come on, tell me what's wrong."
"I wouldn't call it that." He wiggles a bit to get comfortable. "But fine, I'll tell you… I've been having nightmares… of something that lives at the bottom of Mementos."
"So, that's why you were awake the night of mine."
"Yeah, that's why."
"Did you get a good look at the creature?"
He shakes his head. "The only thing I could see was the golden eyes… like when you guys call your Persona's."
"Really?" He nods. "Huh… so it could be a Persona user then."
"It could be, but remember that it's only a dream."
"True, but you do have a connection to that place, so…"
"You might be right." He said before I notice a smile back on his face. "Anyway, it great knowing that we can perform minor changes of heart in Mementos."
"It is, now we can help as many people as possible." I said using both to scratch behind his ears.
I laugh when he shakes me loose and dashes away from me. "Why do you and Blake like petting me?"
"What? You're a cute Corgi." I said as I moved towards to the head on my bed and pulled the covers over me. It's then I heard my phone ping telling me I had a message.
Snow White: I'm sorry to message you so late, Ruby.
Red Rose: It's no problem when it's you.
Snow White: Interesting. Anyway, my Sis has updated me on
the situation that happened the other day.
Red Rose: Well, they are already locked up, so what's better news than that?
Snow White: Well, how about that they "had a change of heart," just like Taurus did.
Red Rose: Really? Well, that is good news.
Snow White: It is, though my question is, is how the Phantom Thieves knew to go after them.
Red Rose: Who knows… I did see their name pop up on that Phansite.
Snow White: Phansite?
Red Rose: It's the Phantom Aficionado Website, or Phansite for short.
I've heard a few classmates talk about it.
Snow White: Huh… I did hear a few things as well.
A lot of people want their help it seems.
Red Rose: It would look like it.
I have to say though, that whoever made that site, made it fast.
Snow White: Seeing as the Phantom Thieves are a couple of days old. They did.
You wouldn't happen to know you created that website do you?
Red Rose: I don't… why do you ask?
Snow White: I just thought that you would have heard who was
seeing as you have an ear closer to the floor than I do.
Red Rose: Yeah, I haven't heard who, sorry.
Snow White: It's not your fault, Ruby.
Anyway, I've taken most of your night.
Goodnight Ruby, sleep well.
Red Rose: Goodnight, Weiss.
Putting my phone on the window along with my glasses, I look to find Zwei curled up but looking at me. I could help but smile.
"Well, some good news on my part."
"Is about our Thieve work?"
"Yeah, the brothers shouldn't be bothering anyone else anytime soon."
"At least we got clear proof then."
"Yep, dealing with those Shadows work the same as Palace rulers." I said, lying down.
"Palaces and Mementos are on and the same, so of course it should."
"So then why do the Shadows that we fight look like they do then?"
"I don't know, Mementos is the collective subconscious, so they came up with that."
"A good enough theory. Goodnight Zwei."
"Goodnight Ruby."
Location: The Velvet Room
As a cold feeling washes over, I groggily sat up and reached for my covers, but when the shackles around my wrists clank, I groan instead. "Great, this place."
Swinging my legs over the side, I stand and walk over to my cell door.
"First off… I'd like to begin by congratulating you." Ozpin said before adjusting his glasses ever so slightly.
"To think our Master would give words of praise." Miltia said and any sort of tiredness I had seemed to leave me.
"You better treasure this moment, Inmate!" I heard Melanie say and I wish I could turn her volume down a couple of notches.
"I can only think that, that congratulatory is about entering and successfully completing a few requests in Mementos?" I asked as I gripped one of the bars with one hand and I rested the other alone the large chain that went from the top to the large key plate.
"Indeed, you have also encountered allies who share your aesthetics, and you have found your place in reality." He chuckles briefly before continuing. "The time has come… Your rehabilitation will soon begin."
"My rehabilitation!? What do you mean?"
I watch him prop his right elbow on the desk before resting his head on the back of his hand. "I shall explain it to you… You have a special potential. However, that must be refined into a useful power." He uncrosses and recrosses his legs. "It is weak now, but continued use of the Metaverse Navigator shall grant you the strength to stand against the coming ruin… That is the rehabilitation cast upon you."
"Ruin? You've mentioned that before, but what ruin are you talking about?"
"There are various means by which you may gain the power to resist the ruin. Fighting Shadows and mastering the Metaverse Navigator is one way. The fusion process I taught you prior is another." Ozpin said as he pushed his glasses up again.
"This is all possible because of our Master's guidance, Inmate!" Melanie said after hearing her baton tap the cell bars.
I notice Miltia turn to look at me. "Though it may be presumptuous of us, we have words of wisdom as well."
"When you're out in reality, you better hone your relationships with those you have contracts with!" I heard Melanie say.
"Spending time with those people… will lead to the cultiva-" I interrupt her as I knew what she was going to say.
"I know how relationships work, Miltia and Melanie."
I notice Miltia look away as she spoke. "Well, that is another source of power to evade the ruin that our Master has mentioned."
"Thanks to the contracts you've formed, your heart is steadily gaining the power of opposition." I watch Ozpin tap a couple of fingers on the desk. "It seems the rehabilitation is going well. This is a truly joyous occasion… I shall grant you an ability befitting of your newfound growth. Consider it a gift. May the devotion to your rehabilitation grow even deeper."
'It feels like my bond with Ozpin has grown deeper… Shit…'
Feeling my back beginning to warm, I braced for the little pain and when it did, I gripped the chain and bar till my knuckles turned white. By the time it passed, I was left breathing heavily.
"The time has come, Inmate. Return to your brief moment of rest." I heard Milia say before a heavy feeling washed over.
The last thing I heard was Ozpin saying "I have high hopes of you" before being encased in darkness.
Authors Notes
After nine months, I have finally updated Beneath the Rose-Tinted Mask. While yes, I have posted other stories, I have been working on this none stop… I just could not get the fights right, hence why they are short, I do have a few one-shots that are more combat oriented, so I hope they help improve me in that aspect.
Apart from finding out that writing fights scenes is not my forte, writing some of this chapter was fun, like Ruby nearly eating some of the root-vein. I had the transition from Blake to Ruby planned shortly after starting this chapter.
I do have a lot of one-shots planned, so I'm interested in knowing what you guy and gals want.
At the time of writing this note, most of E3 has finished, I did watch most of them and I'm really interested in Elden Ring, (never really played a Souls game before (unless you count Jedi Fallen order and Code Vain) but from what was shown, it looks good,) Tiny Tina's Wonderland, Hades (for the fact the last time Supergiant Games put a game on Xbox was Bastion,) Halo Infinite look good and the fact that the Muitleplayer is free is awesome, Slime Rancher 2 was the biggest shock as Monomi Park has been quiet for a long time and Slime Rancher 1 was such a chill game to play. (I've probably missed some announcements.)
What games are you guys and gals looking forward to?
For those of you who somewhat care and want to ask stuff, I have Twitter (Under the same name,) so come say hi. At the current moment, I'm trying to post most, if not all the photos I've captured when playing games… mostly Assassin's Creed to be honest.
If you do like my work and you have an idea for a story that you want writing, then please, feel free to comment/review and I'll see about writing it at some point.
Walk Tall and Be Fierce, my Friends.