The streets of Shibuya hustle and bustle as Neku and Shiki make their way towards the subway hand in hand.
"Y'know, you still haven't told me where we're going tonight," says Neku
"Wouldn't be much of a surprise if I did." Shiki teased as they made their way to the station. She had heard of this great place in Shinjuku and had planned on bringing Neku there for a long time, but the two only now had the time to go there together.
As they walk to the station Shiki trips and nearly falls to the ground, but Neku, still holding onto her hand, manages to stop her mid-fall.
"Are you okay?" he asks as he pulls her back onto her feet.
"Yeah, thanks." Shiki and Neku stop go to a nearby wall beside the station entrance. Shiki goes to tie her shoes while Neku pulls out his phone to check his messages
"Anything going on online?" Shiki asks. Neku shakes his head.
"Nope. Everyone just seems to be talking about those thieves."
"Really?" Shiki asks, to which Neku nods. "I swear it's been nothing but those thieves on the news for the past few months.
"Yeah. Here, let me filter out the word thieves and I'll see what else is going on." Neku refreshes his feed, and after a moment, his phone returns with nothing. "That's odd, looks like I have a bad connection."
"Hmm? Hold on, let me-" Shiki says, looking away from her shoes only to be stunned by the sight of the blood-red sky above. "Neku look!" Neku looks away from his phone and is shocked at not just the red sky, but the sudden disappearance of all the people around them.
"What the hell! What's going on!?" The two look around for any signs of people. They see no one, but they definitely hear people nearby.
"Is it. . . coming from the station?" Shiki asks. The two fall silent as they try to listen in on the conversation, but the voices are too deep into the station to be heard, and they fade away the longer they listen.
"Should we check it out?" Shiki asks
"I don't think we have much of a choice. . ." Shiki pulls out Mr. Mew from her bag, while Neku clutches some loose pins he keeps in his pockets for safekeeping before they dash into the subway station.
"Do you think our psyches will even work here?" Shiki asks
"No clue, but it's better than having nothing at all," Neku says as they continue deeper and further into what looks like the station at a glance. It doesn't take long for Neku and Shiki to notice the creepy atmosphere of the station. Vein-like pipes running along the walls and ceilings. Black dust flying through the air, and many floors below the city than what should reasonably exist.
The pair run along the tracks as they navigate the maze-like layout of the floors, only stopping when Shiki notices something.
"Most of these tracks don't go anywhere. They either stop at dead ends or lead to the stairs that take us to the next floor."
"Yeah, it's strange. If this is in the UG, then it's somewhere we've never seen before," says Neku, as they continue to navigate through the winding tracks, only to stop as they see a strange sight ahead of them. A large black humanoid creature with masks on its face and body.
"What is that thing?" Shiki asks nervously. The creature turns as it notices the two, the creature shakes viscerally before exploding into a black sludge, leaving behind a new snowman-like creature.
"Aww, it's actually really cute," says Shiki, giggling to herself.
"I am not cute-ho! I'll kill you-ho!" The creature raises its hands into the air and gathers energy towards it. "Hee-Ho!". Ice suddenly runs along the ground and forms like spikes as it approaches the two.
"Watch out!" Neku shouts. He pushes Shiki behind him and pulls out his Pyrokinesis pin. Fire spews from the pin and melts the ice in front of them, before eradicating the creature that assaulted them. When the pin is out of charge, there is nothing left but some puddles of water. The duo take deep breaths as they take in what just happened.
"Well. . . it looks like our psyches work," says Neku, in between breaths.
"Yeah. . . We'd be snowmen ourselves if they didn't." Shiki says, still shaken by the power of the small snowman. "Thanks for doing that."
"Don't mention it. We've been through hell together, This is nothing." Neku says as he manages to crack a smile. Shiki smiles and nods.
"Alright then. Well, If you're okay, then I am too."
"Heh, well. This place is dangerous. We might want to go back and talk to Beat and Rhyme bout what we've found." Neku suggests.
"Yeah, and maybe Joshua will know something about this too." Shiki thinks aloud. The two turn back in the direction they came and start walking back to the entrance, not realizing the commotion they had made.
"What do you think that sound was Joker?" Asks a young blonde man wearing a skull mask.
"I. . . don't know," says Joker. "It definitely sounded like people though." he thinks for a moment, before coming up with a plan. "It didn't sound too far away, and this rest spot is at a good location. Mona and I will go to check it out "
"Very well, just give us the signal if you need backup." says a young man wearing a kitsune mask.
Shiki and Neku are running along the tracks, working out which paths are the dead ends and which ones lead back to the surface. They stop dead in their tracks, however, when they hear something behind them.
"Did you hear that?" Neku asks. Shiki nods, and the two turn around. They see nothing along the tracks, but they hear the sound of chains and shackles clashing together. The two back away as the sounds get closer, and eventually, they see it. Rounding the corner comes a large figure in a trench coat. The creature carries two large guns, one in each hand. It doesn't walk along the ground, but hovers above it, with seemingly no legs under the tattered bottom of the trench coat. The coat itself has splotches of blood and bullet holes in it. Two sets of chains swirl around the creature, acting almost like a shield for the torso area. Over its head, the creature wears a white with splotches of blood on it. The cloth is tied around its neck creating a tight fit, and a single tear reveals a singular eye on the left side of its face.
"What the hell-!" Neku barely has any time to react as the creature raises one of its guns and fires. The two dive out of the way and barely dodge as the ground explodes where they once stood. The two quickly get on their feet and run from the massive creature behind them.
"What is that thing!?" Shiki asks as they sprint down the tracks.
"No clue, but we can't take it on right now!" Neku yells as they turn a corner. They run along the tracks, only to stop as they're faced with a dead end. "Crap-! Not now!" Shiki looks behind her while Neku faces the wall, only to see the creature has already caught up with them. It raises a gun and takes aim at Neku.
"Neku! Watch out!" Shiki pushes Neku out of the way and is immediately blasted by the creature's attack. Neku pushes himself off the ground and looks back. As the dust settles, he sees Shiki lying on the ground, unmoving.
"Shiki!" he cries. Neku runs over to Shiki. She unconscious, but alive. Neku takes a small sigh of relief before turning to the creature. It raises its other gun and takes aim at the pair. Neku gets up from off the ground and stands in front of Shiki, he braces himself for the oncoming attack, but instead, hears the sound of a car running
"Persona!" Shouts a young man in a black trench coat. He jumps out of the moving van which stops as he exits. He tears off his mask and behind him appears a spirit-like apparition, taking the form of a humanoid creature with large black wings, a red suit, a black and white mask, and a large top hat. The spirit, called a persona by the man, raises its arm, from which darkness spews forth, and collides with the creature.
The young man turns to the pair. "Get in!" he yells as he gestures to the van behind him. Neku nods, before turning to Shiki. He picks her up from off the ground and runs past the creature while it's distracted by the man's persona. He jumps into the back of the van and shuts the door. The man in the trench coat commands his persona to attack one last time before turning and running into the driver's seat. The persona disappears and the man's mask returns. He puts the car in reverse and floors the gas pedal.
"I'm Joker, leader of the phantom thieves. We're gonna get you out of here," says Joker.
"We?" Neku asks the three of them are the only ones in the car.
"Mona's here too. You probably didn't notice him. He's the car." Joker explains. Neku thinks this is some cruel joke, but things change as he hears a disembodied voice.
"I'm not a car!" Mona snaps. The van shakes as the ground behind them is blasted. Joker puts his hand in a bag that sits in the passenger seat, and pulls out two drinks which he tosses to Neku.
"What are these?" he asks.
"They're Somas. They'll help you two recover faster." He explains as he continues to drive at full speed. Neku looks suspiciously at the drinks, before looking to Shiki, still unconscious. He sits her upright and helps her drink the Soma, before taking his own. And in little time, the two feel immediately better, with Shiki regaining consciousness after only a minute.
"Are you alright?" Neku asks.
"Yeah. . . I'm alright." She responds. She looks outside the window to see them speeding by the rails of the subway "Is that thing gone?"
"Sort of. It's probably disappeared once we left the area, but it could come back if we stay in one place for too long." Joker explains.
"What was that thing anyway?" Neku asks
"That was the reaper." Mona chimes in, the name catches their attention.
"It's a strong shadow- a monster so to speak," Joker explains. "It's very territorial, and it attacks anyone that stays in its territory for too long."
"Why is it called the reaper?" Neku asks
"No clue. That's just what it's always been called." Mona explains. This puts Neku and Shiki's minds at ease, knowing that at best, this doesn't have to do with the Reaper's Game.
"Anyways, thanks for saving us back there." Says Neku
"No worries, it was probably our fault you came here in the first place," says Joker.
"What do you mean?" Shiki asks.
"Well, the only way to enter this world, the Metaverse as it's called, is to use an app. " Joker explains. "The only way to get the app is to be given it. Since you two probably don't have it, that means we accidentally dragged you in here when we used it."
"That explains how it happened so suddenly. . ." Neku thinks aloud. "Still though, thanks for coming back for us." Joker smirks and nods, before slowing down the van.
"Alright, we're here," says Joker. Neku, Shiki, and Joker step out of the van, and in a puff of smoke, the van disappears and is replaced by a small cat-like creature.
"Oh my gosh! I didn't know you were such a cute kitty!" Shiki teases, much to Mona's dismay.
"I am NOT a cat!" Mona shouts. The three get a laugh out of this, before calming down.
"Follow me, these stairs should lead to the exit," Joker explains. Mona hops on his shoulder as the two begin to climb the stairs, Neku and Shiki follow behind them. Joker pulls out his phone taps on a red icon on the home screen. Space around them begins to distort and after a moment, they find themselves in Shibuya station, the real one.
"Woah! Mona! You're a cat!" says Shiki. Mona is no longer a small humanoid cat-like creature but is now just a regular cat. Joker has also changed. His mask has been replaced with a set of glasses. His trench coat is gone and is replaced with a white button-down shirt with the long sleeves rolled up, and the buttons undone to reveal a black top underneath. Alongside this, he wears regular blue jeans and grey shoes.
"I am not!" Mona argues, leading to the three laughing at his expense yet again.
"We should really be getting back, the rest of the thieves are waiting on us," Joker explains.
"Right, well. Good luck," says Neku, but he stops, he doesn't even know his name. "By the way, I never caught your name."
"It's Ren, Ren Amamiya"
"Nice to meet you, Ren, I'm Shiki Misaki."
"I'm Neku Sakuraba."
"It was nice to meet both of you," Ren says politely. He pulls out a small card and writes something on it, before handing it to the pair. It's a phone number. "If you ever need our help, give me a call. We're always willing to help someone who needs it."
"Thanks, we'll keep in touch," says Neku. "Good luck Ren, Mona." Ren smiles and nods. The two turn around and walk down the stairs from which they came. Ren pulls out his phone and presses the red icon again, and the two fade away as if they were ghosts. Shiki and Neku look down at where they once stood for a moment before Neku lets out a nervous laugh.
"Well, uh, are you still up for that date?" Neku asks. Shiki can't help but laugh
"Of course, though I think I know what we're gonna talk about all day," says Shiki
"Yeah. . . To think though, we actually met a phantom thief that steals hearts." Neku says, still dumbfounded by the experience.
"Everyone will get a kick out of this." Shiki laughs. The pair grasp each other's hands as they walk down the set of stairs Ren disappeared on only moments ago, sure to remember this experience for a long time.
