Literally: scratch open old wounds
Meani- oh, you know that one already

Wednesday, January 11th, After School

Sumire entered Mementos and narrowly dodged a wild haymaker from Goro.

"Shit!" he cussed, then made a T-shape with his palms. "Timeout, Queen!"

The detective appeared immensely roughed up. His nose was broken, his tie and glasses were missing, the peak hat was crooked and he had a slight limp. There were a few scratches on the president as well, but she seemed to be in much better shape, if a bit out of breath. The door to the Velvet Room, and Lavenza by it, were in a different spot, probably to stay out of the way of the two.

"Oh, s-so Go-Crow-san agreed to that duel with you, huh?" Sumire said.

"Yup!" Makoto raised her guard. "We'll continue as soon as you walk over there," she pointed with her thumb at the remaining Phantom Thieves, watching the fight unfold from behind the fake ticket gates. A few of them had snacks and drinks.

"We won't," the detective showed his palms to her. "I surrender."

She didn't expect such a turn of events. "Huh?"

"I didn't get a good hit on you for the past few minutes. I can either give up now, or tire myself out and lose later. Everyone's here already, so let's not waste time." He outstretched his hand and glanced at her expectantly.

After a pause, Makoto carefully approached him and shook it. "I won't lie," she remarked, "I expected one last dirty trick from you."

"We have agreed to stick to unarmed attacks from the front," he reminded her. "And what would a cheap shot prove at this point? I would rather lose with dignity."

The president smiled. "Alright, who are you and what did you do with the real Crow?"

"I murdered him and hid his body under the floorboards in Leblanc," he smiled back. "Sometimes I can still hear his heartbeat."

She released his hand. "But jokes aside: you have strength and endurance to put up a good fight, and your left-handedness is unusual enough to give you an advantage. You just lack technique and form, a good sensei would fix that in no time."

"I…" Sumire finally dared to speak, as Goro walked to the audience to fetch a few things. "You creep me out. Like, with how you like to fight."

"It's a hobby," Makoto shrugged. "And since we're in the Metaverse now, we can just heal whatever damages with-"

"Queen, catch!"

She turned just in time for a bottle of OTC painkillers to conk her in the head. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" Goro shouted, then swallowed a pill and put his glasses back on. He held a necktie in his hand for a moment, before cycling to Robin Hood and back to Woland – the tie ended up disappearing from his hands and reappearing around his neck, and the damage done to his outfit was gone.

"Convenient," Ann remarked.

"It is now, now that I can switch Personas with little effort," he corrected. "Before that I only used it when the…" He coughed. "...various stains were too much to handle."

"Do not dare to elaborate."

He zipped up his mouth in response.

"The plan is to explore that new Mementos layer, yes?" Sumire glanced at Lavenza. "Can you take us there?"

"Not this time, unfortunately," the assistant replied. "I can safely create doors only in locations that were previously visited. The furthest I can take you is the Path of Iweleth, right before the entrance to what used to be the Depths."

"We'll continue on foot from there," Goro adjusted his peak hat. "Phantom Thieves, moving out."

Lavenza opened the door and moved aside. "I promise the return trip will be less of a hassle – I will be able to create a door as soon as you reach a safe spot."

The group marched through and found itself at the Iweleth terminus. The trains stood there on the multiple platforms on the sides, their interiors still obscured by some crimson glow, but no people were exiting them. The gate leading further was already opened.

Goro turned to the group. "If anyone wants to turn back now, I won't hold it against you." His eyes lingered on Sumire juuust a bit too long and she took that as a challenge. She marched past the group and through the gates, and the rest followed.

Things on the other side remained vaguely familiar in shape, but Maruki has obviously redecorated. For starters, the omnipresent red glow was replaced with a marginally more calming blue. Among the expected cables – some looking like the ones in upper layers, others like the wood-textured ribbons in the Palace – there was a thicker column of sorts, protecting a certain bundle of them. On the ceiling, there were three cylinders, retracting and extending, each with something resembling a lens at the bottom – the whole thing looked like the business end of a microscope. Instead of the expected prison, there was only a ramp leading downwards, with convenient safety railings.

A Velvet Room door materialized next to the group, with Lavenza by it. "I must admit, this colour palette is vastly superior to the previous one."

"Reds and blacks, for the record," Yusuke told Sumire.

"This used to be the Prison of Regression," Goro continued. "Shadows of humanity gathered here to 'willingly' submit to Yaldabaoth." He turned around and scanned his surroundings again. I won't lie, I didn't expect Maruki to dispose of it altogether in lieu of a nice wide roa-" Realization. "Mona, it's your time to shine."

Morgana needed no further encouragement. "Watch carefully, Green!" he announced, then leapt high into the air, much higher than what a human (or a cat) should be capable of, and a large van with a cat's tail swinging to and fro landed on the road with a loud thud.

"Hm," the gymnast reacted. "I expected… more intermediate stages, I guess."

"Wouldn't landing in your car form like this ruin your suspension?" Makoto asked.

"I'm sturdy enough to run over weaker Shadows," the cat's voice came from somewhere. "Stuff like this won't hurt me. Now hop in!" he encouraged. "I wanna show Green what it's like riding in a high purr-formance vehicle." Yes, this line comes from canon; I just won't top that pun.

After everyone boarded the Morganacar, it took off with Makoto behind the steering wheel. With the railings in place, the cat/car permitted driving at more reasonable speeds than the last time.

"I wonder about something," Yusuke broke the silence.

"Yeah?" went the group.

"When I was talking to Maruki with Crow and Green, he seemed fond of the Phantom Thieves. Why, then, were we separated in his ideal reality for the most part?"

"Because he thought of us as a threat?" Goro suggested.

"Did he?" the artist seemed unconvinced. "He thought he could talk us down once we reentered the picture."

Nobody had a good response to that. After a few more minutes, the car arrived at the very bottom. The group got off and Morgana shifted into his human form.

"You all seem on edge." Sumire once again felt left out.

"The last time we were here," Ryuji explained, "we ended up fighting a mad god that tried to enslave humanity. That's the kinda thing you don't expect to do twice in a row."

"That Yadda-yadda guy, right?" He nodded in response. "And now all the cables in Mementos connect to here."

"M-more like g-grow from here," Goro stammered out, screams from the last time echoing in his head. "I think M-maruki dropped that pipe with… with his cables from his Palace as a-as a starting point. Yal-yal-the Grail c-controlled the m-m-masses from this s-spot, it m-makes sense to-to start here."

The gymnast realized that a single bundle was going in a slightly different direction from the others – more sideways than up – and glanced to the side. Among all the empty cells with blue backlight, there was a hole in the wall and some black escalators leading up to it. "Erm, was that here before?"

Everyone turned towards what she was pointing at, glad for the distraction. "N-no, it wasn't," the detective remarked. "Let's fi- let's fi- fuck!" he cursed in frustration.

"Nobody's in the mood, I think," Morgana quipped.

Goro just turned to him, his face contorted into a scowl. "Let's find out where it leads."

"Maybe somewhere with soft beds, and some smooth jazz pla-"

"Morgana."

"Alright, shutting up, let's go." With noticeable haste, the group moved towards the escalators, then up them. "Look, everyone's nervous, I just tried to break the tension," the bishonen defended himself.

The stairs led to a faux subway platform, like all the other Mementos levels, but remarkably cleaner in appearance than what they had expected at that depth. It was brighter than the upper layers, with more modern-looking tracks and halogens hanging from the walls. The Thieves found themselves bothered by the sterility of it all, but still preferred it over the emotional baggage of the previous room.

"A new area has been confirmed," everyone's phones went in unison. "Updating guidance information."

"The Path of Da'at," Goro announced. "I'm positive not even the real subway is-"

He stopped and spun on his heels, startled by the sound of a toy buggy approaching. An overloaded tiny cabriolet rolled over, with a few star-shaped balloons floating tied behind it. Behind the wheel was a small boy, dressed in white with light gray hair, and inexplicable golden eyes.

"Oh. Hey, Jose," he waved halfheartedly, then glanced at Sumire. "Yes, that's how he wants it pronounced."

"Hello!" she smiled. "I'm Green."

He stared at her in response. "You weren't with them before, but I've seen you. Back when they weren't exploring this place."

Sumire was confused. "Uh, this has to be a mistake…"

"Did she have golden irides back then?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" Jose asked.

The artist glanced at the detective expectantly, and he sighed in response. "Way back when," he explained, "Green's Shadow was roaming around Mementos, seeking… an end to her suffering."

"Did she get it?"

"In a way," Sumire replied. "Not the one she wanted, but the one she needed."

A thought popped in Ryuji's brain and he turned to the boy. "By the way, have you ever seen a guy in a weird head-covering mask, dressed in black and purple, roaming around Mementos alone?"

"Skull," Goro hissed.

"Hm," Jose put his hand to his chin, thinking, "Maybe? I saw someone in those colours, but I only got really close once, a long time ago. He was sitting on the ground, curled up, rocking back and forth and muttering something to himself."

"Let's move on," Goro grabbed Morgana by his cape and pulled him towards the tracks. "Come on, car form. Vroom vroom."

"I haven't seen him for a few weeks now," Jose finished. "I hope he's alright."

Ann glanced at the detective, trying to convince the bishonen to get him out of there. "For the most part."

Finally, the Morganacar took off with everyone on board. Jose's vehicle overtook them with unexpected speed.

"Who was that kid, by the way?" Sumire asked.

"We're not quite sure, truth be told, but he seems harmless," Makoto explained. "He's been living here and we've been collecting these Mementos flowers for him and trading them for equipment."

"We also got some sort of magic item from him," Morgana added, as a glove compartment opened on its own, revealing a star-shaped trinket. "It allows us to do Showtimes – special two-person attacks. We'll try and demonstrate some later."

"I've seen the flowers before, when training with Crow-san. He said they weren't important at the time." Sumire reached out the window and grabbed one as they passed by. "It it just me or is this one more arti-"

Suddenly, the car sped up, then collided with something. Sumire, taken by surprise, ended up headbutting the seat in front of her. "Gah!" she clutched her head, and felt blood trickling underneath her fingertips.

"Shit, what happened back there?" Goro turned around from the shotgun seat.

"I banged my head," she hissed. "What did we even hit?!"

"A Shadow," Morgana explained. "That's how we open skirmishes when driving me around. If it's weak enough, we don't even have a proper fight."

"This cut looks bad," Goro reached into his inventory. "Have some aspirin."

"Don't toss the bottle this time," Makoto ordered.

He handed it over to Sumire, who promptly swallowed a pill and felt the cut mend and the headache disappear, the healing effect boosted by the Metaverse's intrinsic properties. "Should I be warned about some other stuff that might happen?"

Makoto thought for a moment, tapping the steering wheel with her thumbs before replying: "I don't think so. Brace yourself, there's another Shadow ahead."


Smr: You look malnourished, Fox-san. Do you want to drop by for dinner afterwards?
Ryu: Careful with offers like that, you'll have half the team lining up for a meal.

Ysk: This new area is giving me inspiration… if only I had my brushes and easel.
Ann: I think this car is cramped enough.

Mkt: You've used both semi-autos and revolvers, which handguns do you prefer?
Gor: My semi-automatic jammed disproportionately often. I've heard revolvers are more reliable in comparison.

Har: I do hope you're not getting too tired carrying all of us up instead of down
Mrg: Up, down, all the same! I'm that good!


"Things are… uneventful," Ryuji remarked.

"Don't jinx it, Skull-san!" Sumire reacted.

The mooks of Da'at were about as threatening as the ones in Maruki's Palace, that is to say, not really. Sumire found herself lagging behind again, and while the rest didn't mind it, she felt insecure about her shortcomings.

The group marched up to Area 11. It looked like any other Mementos safe spot, just in the colours of the current level. Lavenza's door, with the assistant by it, materialized on it without fanfare as soon as they all walked off the stairs. The group waved at her in greeting, and she smiled back.

"Let's take five," Goro ordered. "I've got some candy bars if you need to recuperate."

"You know," Makoto remarked, "Joker's healing items were slightly more varied than painkillers and candy bars."

"I am open to suggestions," he shrugged, then tossed one at Sumire without asking if she wanted one.

The group entered the passenger shelter, and noticed something lying on one of the seats. Goro picked it up and inspected it in his hand. It was a sleek chunk of white plastic, and judging by the buttons on it, was some sort of audio recorder. He pushed the button and Maruki's voice came out of it:

"Is it recording? Good. Ahem… If you are listening to this message, this means you are still trying to dismantle my perfect reality. Get your snarky comments out of the system now, Goro."

Cue a pause in the recording. The detective remained silent out of spite.

"With that out of the way," Maruki continued, "at the topmost layer of this section of Mementos, I placed a powerful enemy, taken directly from my headquarters. Unlike me, he will not hesitate to use violence against you, and he cannot be reasoned with. Turn around now and you will remain unhurt." A sigh. "Look," he added, sounding more desperate, "Akira asked me to not hurt you. Don't force my hand. Please."

The recording finished with a quiet beep. Sumire glanced at the group to gauge their reactions, which ranged from nonplussed to satisfied. "Finally, a challenge," Makoto cracked her knuckles. "No offense, Crow."

"What is wrong with you?"

Everyone turned to the gymnast as she realized she had just said that out loud.

"Oh." She turned pale. "I'm sorry-"

"Nobody's offended," Ann interrupted. "But if something's bothering you, you need to vocalize that so we can avoid making you uncomfortable."

She took a breath and braced herself. "Fine then, I am incredibly bothered that you all seem to have a death wish. I-I mean, you just got told that there's a dangerous baddie at the end of the road and you all seem friggin'... excited to fight it."

Silence followed, before Ryuji spoke up: "I mean, I guess we're kinda numb to the dangers at this point."

"Not without reason, though," Ann added. "I mean, we've been going at this for months – or years, in Crow's case. We know what to expect, we know how to counter whatever's thrown at us."

"And we can heal the damages or bail and regroup if things get too spicy," Morgana added.

"Not to mention," Yusuke smiled, "if whatever's upstairs is important enough to warrant special security, it must be essential to our further progress."

"Don't worry, Green," Haru put her arm on her shoulder. "We have this under control."

She sighed, then unwrapped the candy bar. "If you believe so..."


Mrg: The Shadows here are stronger than ever, so don't just rush in, Skull.
Ryu: You're the one crashing into them!

Har: Have you considered photography, Fox? There are so many cameras and lenses and-
Ysk: I have a hard enough time getting lunch and paints...

Ann: (in English) [Red lorry, yellow lorry.]
Mkt: I can pronounce the English R and L, but "th" keeps eluding me.

Smr: Is my gun a pistol or a rifle? I've never held either before.
Gor: I would say a pistol, but "short-barreled rifle" also fits.


The group emerged from yet another escalator and was greeted with a single platform, with thick hexagonal pillars going up to the ceiling, and speeding trains on the tracks on both sides. On the other end of it was an exit, more lit up than everything around it.

"No enemies?" Sumire asked.

"To the contrary," Makoto replied. "Every time we had a level like this, there was an enemy waiting for us."

"Probably the one Maruki warned us about," Goro added. "Guard raised, everyone. Alright, you bastard!" he raised his voice. "We know you're here, so step out and face us!"

"How apt a description," it snarled.

The Thieves found themselves taken aback – they remembered that voice well enough. "Hold on a second..." Goro muttered. "Did he really put…"

"Your worst nightmare, yes." The thing stepped out of the shadows. Despite the mask covering its (okay, his) head, you could tell he meant business just by the deranged smirk and the glint in the eyes, as seen through the visors. He held a long, serrated blade in his left hand, and a suppressed handgun in his right.

"A cognition from Maruki's Palace, as expected," Yusuke commented. "That black-and-purple costume is tackier than I remembered."

"Said the fruitcake with a tail," cognitive Goro snapped back.