Joker was free. The fact that his team was missing would traditionally be cause for alarm, but this set of circumstances was singular in that Joker had been granted total control of a situation meant to be chaotic. Mementos was a vast cesspool comprised of the ill-intentioned desires of the masses, ever-shifting and impossible to accurately map out. Normally this would be the perpetual case, but the sinkhole that had opened up to swallow Joker and his team had deposited him in a network of tunnels he was familiar with. The reasoning wasn't clear to him, but there was a certain consistency to the patterns of paths that made up Mementos. While they might operate in varying degrees of connectivity or not show up at all, every floor was comprised from a group of set pieces, like tracks from a child's toy train set. Makoto had been the first to notice this pattern, which was confirmed later by Futaba. One of the most blatant consistencies were the stations that existed between floors. No floor of Mementos failed to have an exit, and these entrances and exits were relatively safe from interference from shadows so long as one didn't wander too far onto the tracks. With this and the nature of Mementos in mind, a detailed plan had been designed by himself and Makoto in the event that they were ever to be separated in Mementos without Futaba's assistance. They were to move to the entrance of the floor above them and wait for the others. If nobody showed up in half an hour, they were to move up or down a floor depending on where they started and repeat the process. With Mona serving as the go-between, everyone should be picked up within an hour or so. The worst-case scenario involved this strategy leading their friends to being abandoned, but it was a far cry better solution than all of them perishing alone. There were certain risks to being a Phantom Thief, after all. The only problem was someone in their group hadn't been briefed on this plan.
It was unclear how many floors down they'd fallen. Based on the length of time of the fall Joker would presume it was somewhere around 2 or 3, but guesses like that could extend the time he spent searching by precious hours he didn't have. A small part of him had wasted energy blaming his team for not understanding him while the conscious part of himself continued to inspect his surroundings. It was unlikely that any of the shadows nearby would pose a threat to his team so long as they didn't gather in large numbers. His primary concern was the intimidation factor Mementos could inflict on people with its creepy hallways and off-putting shadow content. None of this was a problem for Joker, but Kasumi's presence was once again complicating things. It was at this point that Joker came to his epiphany. His role here was to keep everyone safe. The best way to do that was to ensure there were no enemies coming after his friends, meaning that he'd been handed a golden opportunity to loose the raging spirit of rebellion within him that had remained tempered for over a month now, feeding on small pockets of time he could give it in between Palace missions.
The leader of the Phantom Thieves snuck his way through Mementos, finding the distinct lack of shadows more intriguing than relieving. It was possible someone had landed near here and cleared them out already. Though he wasn't certain, the bump on Joker's head warned him that he might not have been fully conscious since his fall began as he would have liked to believe. The walls shifted between brittle bone and soft, fleshy rubber as he ran his hand along them. He was mostly used to the atmosphere of this place at this point, only just now realizing how much of it he'd been able to experience from the luxury of the Mona car rather than in person. Before he could think too much about it, a lumbering form came into view. On instinct, Joker pressed up against the wall, seeking to avoid as much attention as possible until he was ready to strike. When the shambling mass revealed itself to simply be a weak shadow, Joker relaxed. Under normal circumstances they would either run the shadow over or avoid it and go about their day, but right now the mask Joker was wearing was looking for any excuse possible to be taken off.
With a snap of Joker's fingers, Arsene appeared behind him and surged forward, long claws tearing into the shadow before it even had a chance to reveal its true form. The mass of masks screamed in agony as the cursed energy dripping from Arsene's fingers melted the shadow's body into a pool of black liquid goo. Somewhat disappointed that only one blow had been necessary, Joker recalled his persona to him and stared down at the quivering lump that had been a shadow seconds ago. Curse energy was truly terrifying, especially when a persona that didn't have to worry about its surroundings or the security level in the palace was using it. As much as Joker appreciated the opportunity to engage in battle with any persona of his choosing, there was a distinct pleasure he found in allowing Arsene to run wild. The voice of Arsene in his head practically encouraged it whenever the need arose, leading him to make use of his old friend even when more powerful personas made themselves available.
That wasn't to say that Joker had no need for something a bit more powerful when the situation called for it. As two more shadows rounded the corner to investigate the noise made by their fallen comrade, they too cried out as a bolt from Thor evaporated both of them instantly. If Joker was lucky, this wanton destruction would draw the attention of his team. If he was luckier, it would draw the attention of an old friend of his. When he'd first proposed making as much noise as possible in Mementos as a plan to bring the party back together in the event of a separation, one shadow in particular had been the reason the plan was shut down. That shadow was the Reaper, the blood-curdling reason the team had been instructed to spend long periods of time waiting at the entrances and exits to the floors of Mementos rather than spending time scouring them for their comrades. Though together they might stand a chance against the Reaper, alone they were simply asking to be executed. As this thought crossed his mind, Joker reconsidered his options one more time. He'd done a terrible job of explaining the nuances of Mementos to his newest confidant, naively believing nothing would go wrong. There was a very real chance that he wouldn't be able to reach her while she was wandering around on whatever floor she was wandering around on before the most dangerous customer in Mementos caught up with her. That meant her best bet for survival was to have someone deal with the Reaper first. Surely his team would at least agree to this assessment. "Arsene, you think we can kill the Reaper ourselves?" Joker asked quietly.
There was no response for a moment before the persona spoke in Joker's mind. "I do not."
The leader smirked. "Good thing we have friends then." With that sentiment in mind, Joker took off to find the nearest shadow.
While Joker was busy executing his ill-thought-out plan to assault an innocent shadow for doing its job, others from his team was busy gathering their bearings above him. Having sensed the impending danger of the sinkhole first, Mona had been prepared to protect the most vulnerable of their party members. He'd transformed into a car underneath Kasumi and allowed her to fall into him safely. It meant that the fall was that much less pleasant for the cat, but it was far from the first time such a misfortune had befallen him. Instead of bemoaning this, Mona had focused on reducing the length of their fall by leaning in toward the edge of the sinkhole. This strategy resulted in them tumbling out of the dark tunnel downward after descending only two floors rather than the three his companions fell. Mona only knew this because his headlights happened to glimpse Panther and Skull disappearing under him as he tumbled over himself and into a wall. Once he was sure Kasumi was physically okay, Mona set about inspecting himself. His paint job was ruined, meaning he'd have to get Joker to brush him again, but otherwise he could have come out much worse for wear. Kasumi groaning in his backseat meant she was alive, which was always a strong start in ensuring someone was okay. "Kasumi, can you hear me?" He asked, hoping she remembered he was the car she was sitting in. "Are you hurt? There's a first aid kit in my glove box."
"Uh, not too bad, I think," Kasumi responded uncertainly as she stumbled unsteadily out of the car. "Is that a normal occurrence? What about the others? Are they okay?"
"They fell below," Mona explained, indicating with his headlight the closing sinkhole nearby. "We didn't fall as far because I turned into a car in time. The sinkhole isn't just a pit, it's more like the floor around us become malleable, letting small stuff slip through. You could think of it like a cullender too, I guess. These sinkholes can appear in Mementos sometimes. I think it was because we spent too long in that room after Iwai's shadow left."
Though he couldn't see Kasumi's face while she looked around at their new surroundings, he hoped the lack of a response meant that she understood. There was an awkward silence as Kasumi continued to look around, refusing to turn back to her vehicle. It had been a while since Mona was responsible for taking the initiative in a conversation without Joker around. The cat started the sound of his engine in what he hoped sounded like an encouraging manner to a high school freshman. "Hey, cheer up. We just have to pick up the others and get out of here. They're probably not that far down. We won't find them messing around up here though, okay?"
Kasumi shook her head. "It's not that. I mean, well, it is that, but it's not just that. This is all my fault. If I hadn't sent that calling card, then Joker-senpai and the others wouldn't be in this situation. I'm risking their mission and their lives just because I felt the need to be helpful."
Mona was quiet for a moment, which Kasumi took as a sign that she was right. "I'll never go into the Metaverse again, okay? I just wanted to make sure senpai was safe, and-" Kasumi's explanation was cut off as her throat tightened in a mix of regret and frustration with herself.
There was little Mona didn't know about the Metaverse. Had Kasumi been having problems with her persona, then Mona would easily have been able to resolve her trouble. Issues between denizens of the human world, which Mona was definitely also a part of, were more complicated. Fortunately, he had been considering Kasumi's very problem himself in the long nights Joker had spent wandering about since he'd been killed. Being forced to stay inside most of the day had led to his leader spending longer and longer periods of time wandering outside of Leblanc once the sun went down, to the point that Mona sometimes didn't see him until morning. "What's going on might have been started by you, but it was a long time coming," Mona reassured the girl. "Whether you know it or not, Joker needed the truth about this situation to be flung in his face to make him seriously consider the danger he's taking on and what we're going to do after this heist. So let's focus on finding him to make him realize that, okay?"
This speech seemed to rouse Kasumi into action. She finally turned to face Mona, a somewhat forced smile on her face. Whatever emotion had overcome her a moment ago was thoroughly suppressed. "Yeah, okay. So we just need to go down a floor or two, right?"
"Yup. The others will handle themselves until we find them, I'm sure. So let's get moving."
There was another awkward silence as Kasumi nodded and proceeded to get into the back seat of Mona. After a more than polite pause she cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we go down there to get them then?" she asked cautiously.
"Were you going to drive me down there or were you planning on walking?" Morgana replied sarcastically.
Realizing her mistake, Kasumi quickly climbed into the driver's seat. "Right, sorry about that! Uh, how do I drive a car?"
There was one more brief silence from the driver that made Mona anxious with every minute that passed as he taught Kasumi how to drive him. He could sense that the exit to the floor was somewhere nearby, but that didn't mean anything if they couldn't actually find it before the shadows found them. After a few misfires and more than zero collisions with the wall, Mona was being driven cautiously in a random direction both hoped would contain the exit. Queen had her license, so she had no problems driving, and Joker always handled Mona like he'd been driving his entire life despite claiming to have never done it before, so to have a true beginner behind the wheel was an experience Mona didn't realize how unprepared for he was. It was the first time in his life that he was actually concerned that damage to his paint job might permanently negatively affect the condition of his fur when he transformed back into a cat. If Kasumi was bothered by this atrocious crime to Mona's impeccable fashion sense, then her only method of showing it was trying as hard as possible to run him up against every wall in Mementos. They travelled on for some minutes without so much as running into a shadow, which told Mona that the sinkhole they'd fallen through was likely not the only one that had appeared on that floor, sending shadows hurtling down to the lower floors much as it had them. As they drove, however, Mona could sense more trepidation from Kasumi as they continued, fear clearly not borne from suddenly being thrust into the driver's seat. "Something still on your mind?" he asked cautiously, flashing his headlights in warning of an upcoming corner.
"You mean besides trying not to crash you? Not really," Kasumi responded in a strained voice as she barely made the turn in time.
"I can tell that something else is bothering you. Is it Joker?" Mona guessed.
"Of course that's bothering me. I'm worried about him. It just seems like he's doing his best to get himself killed because he doesn't feel like this can end any other way. Shouldn't he want to do everything he can to get back alive and be with his friends?"
Mona stewed on this perspective for a moment. He'd had plenty of time to think on that exact problem ever since he started to notice Joker's aberrant behavior. A shadow would be defeated with a bit more prejudice than normal. They'd select a route that was unnecessarily dangerous for the sake of loot that might not even potentially be there. Since Joker had come out of that interrogation room, there'd been something distinctly different about him that he'd refused to share with anyone, even Mona. The only other person who knew what had happened in there was far out of reach for the cat, meaning that he'd have to wait for Joker to be ready to open up to him if he wanted answers. "Deep down, he knows that we're getting close to the end of things," Mona spoke quietly. "No matter what happens with Shido, it's unlikely we'll ever be able to pull off any large heists again. I can see that it's bothering him, but I think what happened with Akechi is bothering him more. It's the first time someone he truly trusted turned on him."
The choice of words clearly bothered Kasumi by the way she gripped the wheel more firmly. "If that's the problem, then I'm only making it worse by forcing him to doubt his confidants," she pointed out.
"If he's doubting them, that's his choice. Don't put it on you," Mona advised. "Everyone has to deal with their shadows in their own way. It's the only method to understanding yourself we have."
"You sound awfully unconcerned about this entire situation."
If Mona could shrug, he would have. "I've seen him through worse. If there's one thing I can always count on, it's Joker." This statement was punctuated by the exit to the floor coming into merciful view.
Kasumi expressed her excitement for this development by flooring it, nearly running over Panther and Skull as they came out from the floor below to investigate the noise. Both blonds went wide-eyed when they saw Mona barreling towards them and dove to opposite sides of the vehicle as Mona slammed into yet another wall. "This is why we have age restrictions on driving!" Mona yelled out in agony.
"Sorry! Sorry! Is everyone alright?" Kasumi apologized, leaping away from the driver's seat and all the culpability it entailed.
Panther's response was to heal herself and Mona, groaning as she stretched out her back. "I'm gonna feel that tomorrow. What the hell, Mona?"
"L-lady Ann, it's not what it looks like! I normally have much more control than that, it's just-"
"Cut the sideshow crap for a minute. Have you seen Joker?" Skull interrupted, standing up straight for once.
Kasumi shook her head, cowed by Skull's sudden decision to sound authoritative. "No, senpai. Mona thinks he's on a lower floor."
Both Panther and Skull cast a doubtful look toward the floor beneath them. "If he's down there, he's in some deep shit," Skull explained vaguely. "There were puddles of shadow goo everywhere. Something is tearing them apart down there."
"Isn't that good? What else would be defeating shadows in Mementos besides us?"
Kasumi's innocent question brought to mind a possibility that nobody had wanted to entertain. To erase this possibility, Skull pumped his fist in the air. "It doesn't matter. If he's down there, he's gonna have the Reaper on his ass before too long. Panther and I booked it to the exit just to be safe. We were about to go back down to investigate more when we heard you coming. If Joker's not with you, we have no choice." Skull required no further explanation to get his point across.
"I'll drive," Panther volunteered, already hopping into the driver's seat. "You're right for once, Skull. Joker might be trapped down there. Even if it's him, he can't beat an army by himself." Kasumi clearly had several questions about the evident concern on Skull and Panther's faces about this Reaper character but thought better of voicing them as the group descended to the floor below. As long as they found Joker and got out quickly, they could just put this whole excursion behind them and she could get started trying to make amends for her mistakes. This sentiment calmed Kasumi's nerves as Skull pursued the sound of rattling chains into the heart of the floor below them.
Joker was winning against an army by himself. Without his allies to rely on, he was forced to unleash his full potential with every attack, inciting mass destruction at the cost of more stamina than he usually consumed for his moves. If a skill burned away everything that wasn't him, it was welcomed instead of siphoned into something else. Even when the shadows started piling on in groups of four and five they were still blasted away easily. But Joker was beginning to tire of the small fry. There was only so much havoc he could wreck before the lack of an appearance of his target started to make him antsy. Was he not doing enough to draw the attention of the Reaper? Surely he'd spent enough time on this floor by now. It was because these thoughts raced through Joker's addled mind that he rejoiced when he heard the sound of rattling chains behind him.
Quickly, Joker dispatched all the nearby shadows with a single strike from Thor's hammer. He didn't have as much time to prepare as he would have liked, but it would have to do. Thor disappeared and was replaced with Alice to give him time to use Concentrate before she was replaced with Chi You. Without hesitation Joker sent a blast of Psycho Force energy in the direction of the rattling chains. The momentary pause in the rattling was Joker's only indication that his attack had made contact before it resumed, growing ever closer despite Joker's inability to make out exactly where it was coming from. Even with his third eye's sight, the disturbed cloud of dust from his constant battling had clogged the area with a miasma that prevented him from seeing too far in front of him. There was no time to formulate a better plan. Alice was brought back for Concentrate, Chi You was summoned for another Psycho Force, and the cycle continued for what felt like hours, the chain rattling slowing down but never stopping. Joker's stamina began to reach dangerously low levels as he switched back to Chi You for what he presumed would be his last attack before a new strategy would be necessary. He had to have slowed it down enough to put it in a state where victory was achievable. There was no way anything could stand up to that many presumed direct hits from his strongest attacks, not even the Reaper. Without concern for his friends forcing him to dull the impact, there was nothing holding him back from crushing the Reaper utterly, just as he'd been doing for the past week.
As he opened his mouth to order another attack, however, a white light suddenly filled his vision. A massive bullet came flying out of the smog, impacting Joker directly and sending him flying into a wall. Chi You disappeared, the only reason Joker was still alive being the persona's resistance to gun-based attacks. With how ragged his breathing had become, Joker almost wished that shot from the Reaper had killed him. He'd challenged the beast, and this was its answer. Every previous bout had been on his own terms with hours of preparation. He thought this would have given him insight into the shadow's weaknesses, but the Reaper that faced him now was like an entirely different shadow. No remorse, no sign that it was even injured. As the creature lumbered over the air into view, it showed Joker that its rotting corpse of a body was very much intact despite Joker assaulting what he'd presumed to be its weak point. Despite this discouraging result, Joker felt no fear for his life, only adrenaline surging through his veins. "You're late," He informed the specter as he changed persona one more time.
The Reaper said nothing, instead levelling one of his two guns down at the fallen Phantom Thief. The specter was truly horrifying, a bloody gunnysack over its head complementing the black blood-soaked cloak surrounded by rattling chains, but Joker could swear he could see it smiling as it pulled the trigger and swatted away the fly that had been bothering it ever since it had arrived on this floor.
Unfortunately for the Reaper, this wasn't the first time that Joker had faked being shot in the head. The persona Attis appeared behind Joker, its master standing up as vital as he would ever be. Taking the moment of confusion from his foe to consume a soul food to restore his mana, Joker met the bulging, bloodshot eye of his enemy with a deranged grin of his own. "It's showtime." The Reaper responded to this by leveling both guns at its foe and firing.
There was no longer time to think or devise a plan. Joker acted on pure instinct, dodging away from the attacks of the Reaper while striking out with his own gun or knife when appropriate. His personas acted independently of him, blue flames lighting up Mementos as personas appeared long enough to fling an attack at the Reaper without regard for Joker's position before disappearing again to be replaced immediately. The Reaper would score hits, of course, but Joker was no longer able to stop himself. It didn't matter if his body and mind was torn apart so long as his friends were safe. Slowly, the expression on the Reaper's face lost its blood-crazed luster, replaced by an expression it had only ever seen on its victims. The raging demon confronting it had only ever used cheap tricks to fell the shadow before, never stooping to the base instincts of rage and pain that the Reaper used to fuel its attacks. For the first time in its life, the Reaper began to understand fear.
It was some time before Mona was able to pinpoint the source of the rattling chains. The pits in everyone's collective stomach grew larger and larger as they continued without so much of a trace of their leader before the rattling suddenly stopped. Whether this was a good thing or the worst-case scenario wasn't discussed by anyone present. Mona's reasoning that the rattling had stopped despite them being on the floor seemed to imply Joker had escaped, but nobody was willing to commit to his optimism, least of all Kasumi. Only when they passed their fifth group of shadow corpses did she speak up. "Why aren't they disintegrating like the others?" she asked, looking away as Mona ran over a puddle that used to be a shadow.
"They're probably still trying to reform into a whole shadow," Mona explained. "Mementos is where shadows that are defeated go, so when a shadow in Mementos is defeated, it doesn't necessarily disappear, more like it gets banished somewhere else. If shadows like these get blown apart without manifesting their true form, they're more likely to try to reform rather than be sent away. At least, that's what Futaba and I were able to figure out from our investigation."
"You've seen this before?" Ryuji asked from the driver's seat. "Where?"
Mona was silent for a moment before responding. "Joker likes to take walks in Mementos at night sometimes," he admitted. "Never on the deeper floors! Just deep enough that he can be alone. I think it's to help relieve stress from carrying so many personas within him."
"And he never thought to tell us?" Ann questioned. "Is that why he's been so tired since we started infiltrating Shido's palace? That could jeopardize his leadership!"
"The point is, if we follow this path, we'll probably find him," Mona repeated firmly, unwilling to justify Ann's accusation with a response.
Forging ahead, the party was greeted with a truly bizarre sight. Joker was very much alive, sitting in the center of the railroad and holding what looked like a gunnysack in one hand while he stared at the ceiling. "Joker!" Mona cried out, ejecting everyone from the car as he transformed back into his fighting form. "Are you alright?"
Joker turned to face his team, but his eyes were slow to light up in recognition. "Oh… it's you all. What are you still doing down here?"
There was a pause as everyone took in the sight of a battered and beaten Joker. His clothes were torn and he had clearly been bleeding in multiple places before he healed himself. Had he put the gunnysack on, Mona might have mistaken him for a miniature version of the Reaper. "You… you did all this?" Skull half-accused, kicking what was left of the Reaper's cloak on the ground.
"Yup. Someone had to make sure this guy didn't go after you guys. Figured it might as well be me. I didn't think he'd put up this much of a fight though. I'm beat."
While the Reaper was exceptionally powerful, it had plenty of habits and weak points that the party had exploited to get away from it before. They had never pressed their luck in an attempt to bring the monster down for good, fearing the risk of casualties for no discernable reward knowing that he would just come back, but Joker had evidently studied up on these chinks in the boss's armor for some time to have been able to pull this stunt off. His party might have been impressed had the look in Joker's eyes not been so unnerving. Mona in particular was concerned. Joker usually only had that look in his eyes when he went wandering out at night, far later than even Mona dared to explore, his eyes flickering between normal grey and startling yellow depending on the light they were being seen in. He'd always returned with that self-satisfied look, like he'd accomplished a goal worth being praised and reviled in equal measure. Kasumi was the one to step forward. "I don't really get it, but it sounds like you decided to take an unnecessary risk instead of sticking to our plan," She surmised. "And for that, I have to say I'm disappointed in you, Joker-senpai."
Joker tsked and shook his head. "Didn't I tell you? Joker's a different person than Akira, more than you know. I'm not concerned about being able to handle Shido's palace because I know exactly what we're all capable of, what I'm capable of. It'll get done when it's supposed to get done."
"Then you shouldn't have held back when we were actually infiltrating the palace," Mona accused, drawing a sharp look from his owner. "Don't think I haven't noticed you sneaking off to train. Clearly you're fighting something here, but if you don't let us in, we're not going to be able to help you."
Joker shook his head in disappointment as he stood up. "The fight's over. I won. I've been trying to tell you all you've had it wrong this entire time. There's no need to let things end this way. I won't end things this way, not after I crawled my way back from nothing just to bring down that bastard that put me here once and for all. Just follow me and-" Joker's request was interrupted as he received a punch to the face from Skull.
The leader reeled, collapsing on his back and revealing just how injured he actually was. If Skull regretted this, it wasn't reflected in his glare. "Enough shit, man. Get the hell out of your own hea- whoa!" Skull's threat was interrupted by a ball of cursed energy flying by his head.
Joker had recovered from the punch terrifyingly quickly despite the battle he'd gone through, Arsene shimmering behind him. "None of you understand," he muttered to himself from the ground as Skull's persona appeared behind him. "You don't know what it's like to have everything stripped from you again and again and again. How many times am I supposed to keep getting up, huh? How many times do I have to do the right thing before I break? We take down Shido and the cycle starts over. I have to start over. There's always going to be the next threat, and if we stop fighting, we're not a team anymore. Why can't you see that, Ryuji?" There was a resignation nobody had ever heard in Joker's voice before, and it scared everyone present.
Sensing that the moment was getting out of control, Ann attempted diplomacy once more. "Guys, please, let's not do this. We should at least get out of Mementos before-"
"Before what? The Reaper shows up? News flash, Ann, he's gone. You know why? Because I killed him. Because I'm keeping us safe. That's my number one priority. That's all I need to think about."
"You got a weird way of showing it," Skull scoffed. "Don't turn this ugly, man. I'll knock your head around as much as I need to to stuff some sense into it."
Joker scoffed right back, rising to his feet again with some clear effort. "You don't have the sort of influence over your personas that I do. None of you do. I won't sacrifice those connections for anything, do you understand? You can't defeat me, so I have to-" Joker suddenly slumped forward, his world going black as Kasumi appeared behind him, holding the hilt of her sword above her foe's head.
"Was that too hard? Is he dead?" the gymnast fretted, kneeling down to inspect her work.
Fortunately, Joker was still breathing, though he'd probably have a nasty headache when he woke up. "You did the right thing, Kasumi. Let's get out of here. No need to stick around," Skull decided, holding on to the leadership role for the moment.
Before they could leave though, Mona noticed something strange. "Arsene is still here. Heads up," he pointed out, looking at the ghostly form of Akira's first persona.
The gentleman thief wasn't actually doing anything, but the fact that he persisted despite Joker being unconscious was an unnerving enough fact that everyone was instantly put on guard. "Arsene?" Skull asked, the most uncertain of himself he'd been all night.
Arsene turned his gaze to the party. "I have to protect everyone," the persona stated. "No matter the cost. No matter…" Unable to sustain itself, Arsene finally disappeared, whatever consciousness Akira had been holding on to slipping away.
Mona turned his gaze to Akira, who was fidgeting in his induced sleep. "He's so attached to his cause that he's even manifesting his persona unconsciously… We need to get him out of here as soon as possible." With that sentiment in mind, the party finally took their leave of Mementos, nobody commenting on the fact that the person they relied on for what to do next was currently unconscious in the back of the car.
Author's Note: Sorry for the slight delay in uploads. No delay for the final chapter though. Look forward to it next week!
