Akira slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a room a familiar shade of blue, but where once had been a prison block now was what looked to be more like a theater or cinema room, with a few chairs lined up in front of a screen, as well as multiple bean bags and a single double couch.
Looking around, he could see the rest of his team, save for Akechi, as well as Sojiro and none other than their current target, Sae Nijima. Further ahead he could also see a long haired man and a girl who looked to be even younger than Futaba.
As he looked around, trying to see if Igor or the twins were around, the others started waking up.
"The hell is going on here?!" Ryuji oh-so-eloquently exclaimed what most people were feeling at the moment.
"That's what I would like to know myself." Sae spoke up, the other adults nodding.
"Sis!" Makoto exclaimed, just now noticing her sister.
"Makoto, are you alright?" the elder Nijima asked.
"I-I'm fine Sis."
"Is…is this a kidnapping?" the young girl asked, some fear in her voice.
"If it is I have no idea what the purpose is." Sae stated
"Don't worry Akane, I won't let anything happen to you." the long haired man said.
The girl, Akane, scoffed.
"Yeah, right…" she grumbled under her breath, causing the man to wince.
"Maybe we should start by introducing ourselves?" Yusuke spoke up "Perhaps a connection, and a motive, might be clearer if we know who everyone is."
"Doesn't hurt to try," the man spoke up "My name is Zenkichi Hasegawa, I'm an Inspector from Public Security that operates mostly from Kyoto. This is my daughter, Akane."
"'Daughter' he says…" the girl grumbled under her breath once more before looking up and offering them a half-hearted wave.
"I am Sae Nijima, Prosecutor." Sae introduced herself before gesturing at Makoto "This is my sister, Makoto Nijima"
"Hello everyone." Makoto spoke "I'm a third year at Shujin Academy."
"I'm Haru Okumura," Haru spoke next with a small smile "like Mako-chan, I'm also a Third Year at Shujin Academy."
"Hi! I'm Ann Takamaki," Ann chimed before pointing at Ryuji beside her "and this idiot is Ryuji Sakamoto"
"The hell?! I can introduce myself you know!" Ryuji exclaimed, annoyed, before sighing "Anyway, we're both Second Years at Shujin."
"Greetings, I'm Yusuke Kitagawa" Yusuke introduced himself "I'm a Second Year from Kosei High."
"And I'm Sojiro Sakura, I run a coffee shop named Leblanc back in Yongen-Jaya" Sojiro spoke up before gesturing at Futaba and Akira, the former half-hiding behind the juvenile "And these are my daughter, Futaba Sakura, and my charge, Akira Kurusu."
"H-heyo!" Futaba reluctantly piped up from behind Akira as the boy shifted his bag in front of him, Morgana poking his head out of the opening "I-I'm home-schooled."
"I'm also Second Year at Shujin." Akira spoke up before nodding at Morgana "And this is Morgana." he introduced the not-a-cat who, from the perspective of Akane and the adults, let out an admittedly cute meow.
"That's everyone then." Sae spoke up once more "but I still can't see why anyone would kidnap us all."
"Indeed," Zenkichi added "Nijima and myself make sense to a certain degree, considering our professions, as do the younger Nijima and my daughter by association. I can understand Okumura as well. But a group of high schoolers and a barista? Not so much."
"I believe I can answer that question." A young female voice spoke up.
With everyone quickly whirling around to face the new voice, what they saw was certainly not what anybody expected, not even Akira.
Instead of either of the twin wardens he was used to seeing in this place, it was a young girl about the same age as the twins, if a bit older, who looked like she might be their older sister. The main difference was her wearing a long blue dress instead of the twins' warden uniforms, and having her silver hair loose instead of in a bun or braid.
"My name is Lavenza, and I welcome you to the Velvet Room." she continued.
'So this really is the Velvet Room' Akira thought as he looked around 'Someone remodeled…can't say I don't like it better this way though.'
The girl smiled gently while raising her hand to placate Sae and Zenkichi as they opened their mouths to speak up.
"The truth is that I have brought you here for a very specific reason." she explained.
"And what would that be?" Sae asked, her eyes narrowed.
"I believe everyone here know who the Phantom Thieves of Hearts are?" Lavenza asked, making everyone widen their eyes while Sae's narrowed even further.
"So that's it? You work for them? Did they get scared we were getting close to them and resorted to kidnapping?" she accused the girl, not noticing the panicked looks her sister and the other teens gained at her words.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken." Lavenza calmly stated, her smile never wavering "They don't know I'm doing this, this is simply my way to pay back at their leader for saving my life."
Everyone froze at the girl's words, the Thieves looking at their leader in surprise, only to find him even more surprised than them.
"Um…" Haru began "I don't think kidnapping is the best way to repay them…"
"That's not what I'm doing though." Lavenza clarified "You see, in about a year, the Phantom Thieves will be involved in another big incident, in which everyone here will be involved. My way to repay them is showing you those events so you shall be prepared."
Her audience was shocked into silence by the implications of her words. Save for Ryuji that is.
"The hell?!" he exclaimed "You're talking about time travel here!"
"Indeed," Lavenza agreed "it's only possible due to the special properties of this room."
Akira nodded absentmindedly, he knew this place was pretty weird so that might be true.
"I shall show you their future journey." Lavenza said "I hope you pay attention."
With a clap, the screen turned on, showing the Phantom Thieves' signature logo.
"I suggest you take your seats." she said while pointing at the seats.
Akane all but bounced to take a seat, the other teens walking after her as well to take their seats. Reluctantly, the adults did the same.
The teens all sat in the bean bags in front of the chairs, Sojiro and Sae took a chair each, while Zenkichi and Akane sat on the double couch. As they waited for a bit, the logo disappeared and a new image came on:
The screen soon came on, showing what seemed to be an areal view of the Shibuya Crossing at night, a couple of patrol cars parked there. Suddenly, a figure could be seen running across the roof tops in the background.
"Okay…seems like we are starting off strong." Makoto said.
"This music's pretty kickass!" Ryuji added, his head bobbing to the beat of the background music.
The camera followed the figure before they came to a stop at the edge of the rooftop. The camera then panned from the figures boots all the way to the their face, revealing Joker in all of his masked glory.
"Watch out Joker! We've got one incoming!" a voice could be heard saying, presumably through the comms.
Seeing the familiar sight of their leader in his Metaverse outfit caused the Thieves to quickly pay close attention to the screen.
'If he's in those clothes, it means this is probably a Palace…' Makoto thought 'but what is the police doing there? Did Akechi's plan not work and they're trying in another one?'
Akira, meanwhile could only sigh in relief.
'Well I'm clearly not dead or in prison, so I'll take that as a win.'
Meanwhile, Sae zeroed in on Joker's face, trying to memorize as much as she could. There was no guarantee this would show the Thieves' identities, so she would keep a close eye on everything this showed of them instead.
On the other side of the spectrum Akane had to do her best not to squeal in excitement at the first look anyone had gotten of a Phantom Thief as she squirmed on her seat. She couldn't wait till the others showed up!
Just then, a helicopter with some kind of mask instead of a cockpit flew up in front of Joker, somehow possessing a pair of arms that held a freaking minigun.
"What…the hell is that?" said Akane, her confusion beating her excitement for a moment.
"Language!" her father quickly exclaimed, despite being genuinely dumbfounded himself.
'That confirms it.' Makoto thought, narrowing her eyes. 'This is definitely the Metaverse.'
As the helicopter opened fire on the Thief, Joker jumped off the rooftop, somehow managing to land on the side of it and run towards the helicopter, somehow dodging the bullets until successfully jumping on top of it.
"Alright how the hell did he manage to do that." Sojiro said "That shouldn't be possible whatsoever."
'What is even going on?' Sae asked herself.
At first she had thought this might be an operation to try and catch the Thieves, but seeing the strange helicopter put doubts in her mind.
Quickly tearing off its mask, Joker held on as the copter suddenly plummeted to the ground below, jumping off just before it hit the ground and landing a couple feet in front of the resulting explosion.
"Dude, that looks so badass!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"Just like in Featherman!" Futaba added.
Akane, meanwhile, had stars in her eyes as she saw a true Phantom Thief at work.
'It's even cooler than I imagined!'
The camera then showed what seem to be cops getting out of their cruisers and slowly walking towards Joker with their heads down as he stood back up.
"I do believe there's something wrong with these officers." Yusuke observed.
"They do seem to be acting quite strangely." Sae agreed.
The officers then raised their heads as one, showing masks similar to the helicopter's.
"I…get the feeling those aren't cops." Ann sheepishly said.
"Whatever they are," Sae said "I think it's safe to say they're related to that strange helicopter we just saw."
The Thieves exchange looks, all thinking the same thing.
'Shadows.'
"If anything, their outfits look more like prison guards than actual police officers." Zenkichi added.
As the Shadows closest to Joker bursted into some weird crimson substance, revealing themselves as Pyro Jacks and Pixies, Joker took out his Rebel Knife before pointing it at the advancing Shadows with a smirk.
"…"
Those not in the know about the Thieves, and even Sojiro as well, could only stare in stunned silence at the bizarre scene before them.
"…What the hell just happened?" Sojiro, oh so eloquently asked.
"Alright." the voice from before spoke up, this time being accompanied by a darkened portrait, supposedly the speaker. "Let's begin the operation!"
"Umm…what's that?" Ryuji spoke up.
"It'x something I added to make keeping track of who's talking easier." Lavenza explained "Of course, right now it's darkened and the nameplate just reads '?' since the speaker hasn't been actually showed yet."
'That was definitely Mona-chan' Haru thought to herself.
A new voice spoke up as a new portrait appeared, this one outlined by a faint green glow.
"That was one hell of an entrance, Joker! They're all riled up!"
'Definitely Futaba.' thought most of the Thieves.
"Just keep at it!" the voice continued "Go ham until you've drawn every last bit of attention!"
"So this is merely a distraction?" Zenkichi asked, not really expecting a response "If so then it sure is a big one."
"I wonder though," Sae continued "what their real plan is then."
'Believe me,' Akira thought to himself 'I'm asking myself that right about now.'
With a smirk, Joker responded with a quick "Roger!" Before diving straight for the nearest Shadow, a Pyro Jack.
As Joker dodged the fireball sent at him by the Shadow before defeating it with a few quick slashes of his knife, the voice kept speaking, the portrait now in the top right corner.
"Everyone else, proceed as planned! Joker's got the diversion covered, so now's your time to shine!"
"Gotcha!" A new voice spoke up "Leave the searchlights to us."
'Ryuji.'
"And we're to support Oracle at the terminal, correct?" another voice then chimed in.
"Right. Let's secure the area in front of the gate first." another voice confirmed.
'Yusuke and Makoto.'
Sae stared intently at the screen. That last voice seemed awfully familiar.
As Joker quickly danced between the lightning called down by the Pixies while slicing at a few of the untransformed Shadows along the way, the glowing portrait returned, the nameplate now reading Oracle.
"Yes! Slice them and dice them!" the voice cheerfully exclaimed "Joker's got the enemy BIG time mad! Hang in there just a little bit longer!"
"How is he so fast?!" Akane wondered out loud as they watched Joker continue flipping his way through the battlefield.
'So she's called Oracle?' Sae noted 'Considering her codename and what we've seen of her so far, she's probably their mission control.'
"He's doing it all by himself too…Now that's our Joker!" the first voice chimed in once more.
Taking out his gun, Joker quickly downed the annoying Pixies before smirking.
"I could do this all day."
Yet another voice chimed in with a chuckle before adding.
"I bet Skull wouldn't pull it off that smoothly."
Ann snickered to herself, mentally patting herself in the back for completing her daily quota of making fun of Ryuji.
"How many of them are there?" Zenkichi asked, surprised at the number of Thieves confirmed, not to mention the possibility of there being more.
Akira, meanwhile, couldn't help but blush at all the compliments his teammates kept throwing his way. Haru, seeing this, giggled to herself.
'He's cute when he's flustered…'
"The hell's with this deja vu?!" the third voice, now labeled as Skull, exclaimed.
Ryuji huffed to himself. He had managed to keep his mouth shut, revealing his team to one Nijima was more than enough, thank you very much; but he certainly had wanted to snap at Ann for her comment. And while he didn't know what his future self meant with "deja vu", he was glad he hadn't taken it laying down.
By then, Joker had managed to fight his way to the middle of the crossing, but was now surrounded by Shadows.
"Mwehehe," Oracle cackled, not sounding worried at all about her teammate "teach 'em a lesson Joker!"
'I wonder what else you've got hiding beneath your sleeve kid…' Sojiro thought to himself, seeing the smirks and grins on his daughter's face as well as her friends', even the cat somehow.
With a smirk Joker cried out: "Showtime!"
Jumping into the air, Joker took off his mask, the camera turning so it only showed his back, his face still hidden.
While Sae, Zenkichi and Akane all mentally groaned at the lack of reveal, albeit for different reasons, the screen soon showed something that took their minds off of it.
With the mask bursting into blue flames, the Pillager of Twilight himself appeared beside Joker. With the teen calling out the famed thief's name, Arsene quickly blasted all the Shadows below them into oblivion with what seemed to be concentrated darkness, the screen fading to white right afterwards.
While the non-thieves clearly had a LOT of questions after that, the screen quickly lit up once more, turning their attention towards it before they could voice their thoughts.
