New World Fool: Hello, everybody! The New World Fool and CloudStrife07 coming at you with a brand new chapter of The Royal Strikers! We hope you've all enjoyed your holidays, because now that the most wonderful time of the year is over with, it's time for us to get back to work for 2022.
Now then, I have a little announcement that might delight you all. CloudStrife07 and I are considering the possibility of doing a Persona 5: Royal adaptation to serve as a prequel-sequel to this story. That being said, us doing a Persona 5: Royal story that explores the events leading up to this story, while it is definitely on the table, is not an absolute certainty at this point, and it definitely wouldn't be happening until this story is completed, as this story is already a decently sized beast to tackle on its own, what with the expansion of certain story elements, the additions of Inaba, the Investigation Team, Tatsumi Port Island, the Shadow Operatives, and what they've all been up to since we last saw them on top of the main Persona 5 Strikers storyline, that we don't exactly need a second massive project on our plates at the moment. But, for now, know that a Persona 5: Royal project after this one reaches its conclusion is a possibility for the future.
Additionally, CloudStrife07 has recently informed me of some wonderful news. This story has been added to the Persona 5 fanfiction recommendations in the Crossover Fics file on TVTropes! While neither of us are expecting this story to get a full-on TVTropes page (although it would be awesome if it did) we are nonetheless tickled pink that people thought this story was good enough to get a recommendation on TVtropes alongside some of the greats like Ace In The Hole, so a big thank you to AmityDreams and Mitis for helping to put the word out about this thing.
Well, I don't think either of us had anything else we wanted to go over before we got started. So, on that note, let us start the game!
CloudStrife07: P.S. On behalf of me and NewWorldFool, we apologize for not getting this chapter out for January as planned. We were both really caught up in playing some new games that we got for Christmas, plus I myself have been busy with working on my college work for the new semester.
Chapter Five
The Alice Hiiragi Investigation
Ren, Morgana, and Ryuji all waited patiently by the rails that stood in front of the big wall of windows at the Shibuya Accessway. It has already been half an hour since Ren called Sumire and asked her to get in touch with everyone else and ask them to gather up at the very destination that Ren and the others are at right now. Ryuji was nervously tapping his foot repeatedly on the ground while Ren, in a similar manner, was nervously drumming his fingers on the rails.
"Senpai?!" a very familiar voice called out.
Ren, Morgana, and Ryuji all immediately turned their heads towards the source of where the voice came from. Sumire was walking up to them, along with Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, and Haru following behind her. Ren moved away from the rails and walked up to Sumire. He embraced his girlfriend in a tight, yet gentle hug, and Sumire buried her head into her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Hey, Sumi. I'm really happy to see you again." Ren said softly as he smiled.
"I'm just so glad that you're okay, Senpai." Sumire said in a soft tone with her eyes closed.
"Speaking of which, Ren, why weren't you or Ryuji answering your phones all day?" Ann asked with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.
"Do you have any idea how worried you made all of us, especially Sumire?" Futaba asked with her arms straightened out beside her hips.
"I am really sorry I worried you guys, but there is a reason why neither of us were able to answer." Ren said before he took a deep breath "But before I answer your questions, I first need to know if you guys are prepared for what it is that we have to show you."
"Ren, we've all been to a realm where we fight against monsters and steal the sources of people's distorted desires. We even fought against a god that was hell-bent on destroying our world, as well as a man with arguably godlike powers." Ann stated with her hands on her hips. "I don't think there's really anything that can shock us any more than we already were."
"Is that really what you think? Well then…" A familiar voice came from behind both Ren and Ryuji.
Ren let go of Sumire and moved over to the side, allowing the other members of the group to witness the unimaginable sight that was walking towards them. The all too familiar shaggy brown hair and the nearly emotionless eyes. It was the person who was responsible for killing criminals in the Metaverse, which sometimes resulted in innocent lives getting caught in the crossfire. The person who was responsible for the slaughter of Futaba's mother and Haru's father. The person who requested to join forces with the Phantom Thieves, only to betray them and attempt to murder Ren before judgement could ever be passed onto him… the person who was manipulated by his own father, Masayoshi Shido, who planned to murder his own son just to save his own future and his own life. The misguided, semi-apathetic, psychotic, and tragic arcana of Justice: Goro Akechi.
The other members of the Phantom Thieves all felt themselves at a loss for words and even breath. How could they have ever expected to be prepared to see someone who was not just once their enemy, but also a former ally who was supposed to be dead, especially with all the clear evidence that both he himself and Maruki provided that Akechi never made it out of Shido's Palace alive? Just how? How was Akechi standing right in front of them all, alive and in the flesh?
"...Akechi-san…" Sumire first spoke up, her voice quiet with disbelief.
"...No way…" Ann followed suit, her voice just as quiet.
"How is this possible…?" Makoto asked, her voice slightly raised.
"How are you still alive?" Yusuke himself asked in his usual dramatic tone.
Futaba, on the other hand, only narrowed her eyes at the mere presence of her mother's murderer.
"Better yet, why are you still alive?" Futaba asked with clear disdain in her voice.
Some of the members of the Phantom Thieves were a little taken back by Futaba's sudden cold attitude, but most of them fully understood the justification for her change in behavior. Haru herself was also narrowing her eyes at her own father's killer, but she didn't need to say anything since Futaba pretty much spoke on both of their behalfs.
"Well it's nice to see you all again too." Akechi said sarcastically, his facial expression not changing at all. "But before any of that can be answered, what really needs to be discussed first is where Ren, Ryuji, Morgana and I all went for the whole day."
"And just what exactly do you mean by that?" Haru asked, with some clear disdain in her own voice.
"Well if you will just be quiet and let me talk, I will get to that." Akechi snapped back at Haru.
From then on, Akechi began to explain the whole story from his own point of view. He explained how he was attending the Alice Hiiragi special event because he was on business there, and he told everyone that just as he was leaving the 705 building area, he found himself getting pulled into the Metaverse just as he was walking past Ren and the others when they weren't looking. From that point on, he made the decision to approach them and make his presence known.
Ren then took charge of the story and proceeded to explain what had happened after Akechi had popped up, how they had fought a horde of shadows with only their base Personas and how all of their Personas strength had somehow reverted back to when they first awakened to them. Ren further explained how they were captured by a small army of Shadows and were taken to Shadow Alice, who promptly dumped them into an underground garbage dump. Ren made sure to leave out the details on how Alice had treated him as her submissive toy as well his witty retort to the pop idol's Shadow, since he was able to come to the realization of just how inappropriate it was thanks to now being back in his normal world. Ren further explained how they had met Sophia, an Artificial Intelligence who had apparently copied their abilities and gained some form of Persona-esque summon called Pithos, used Yo-yos to fight, and had taken up residence inside Ren's phone once they had escaped the Metaverse.
"I see…" Yusuke said once Ren had finished his story. "You're saying you've entered the Metaverse with Alice Hiiragi's invitation, and met a sentient AI named Sophia, who is now in Ren's phone."
"When you put it that way, you make us sound crazy!" Ryuji said in embarrassment.
Ren sighed.
"Look, I know it all sounds insane, but we're telling you the truth." Ren said.
"I really didn't want to believe it myself, but we all know what a cognitive world like that means, after all." Morgana added with his eyes facing down.
"Senpai… I believe you." Sumire said as she held onto her own hands "None of us would ever make up something like this."
"And Akechi-kun's presence only makes the story even more believable." Makoto added with her eyes closed. "However, there's a chance that this 'Sophia' may know more than we do about the situation."
"Don't count on it." Akechi interjected. "She said that she has no memories, so she'll most definitely be useless in that regard."
"Well, regardless of whether or not she can tell us anything, it is still about time we introduce her to everyone." Ren said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
Ren then turned his phone back on, opened it up to the home page, and faced the screen of the phone towards Sumire and the rest.
"Sophia, come on out and say 'Hi' to everyone." Ren said invitingly.
Right on cue, Sophia popped up onto Ren's phone. The bright-red haired AI smiled sweetly at the group.
"Yo, Phantom Thieves." Sophia said politely.
Sumire, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, and Haru all stared at the AI in both awe and surprise. The adorable child-like appearance of Sophia was absolutely captivating, but what was even more surprising was how Ren didn't even have to open up any kind of apps to show Sophia. It amazed everyone how Sophia could respond to Ren's invitation with just a call of her name.
"What in the world…?" Sumire asked with her hands covering her mouth.
"W- W- W- What is that?!" Futaba asked while stuttering and with her eyes bolted wide open.
"I am Sophia, humanity's companion." Sophia answered.
Akechi only groaned and shook his head in annoyance at hearing that same statement for either the fourth or fifth time today.
"That's really… Sophia?" Makoto asked in disbelief.
"Wow…" Haru started. "I can't believe this is happening."
Sophia looked at all of the other members of the Phantom Thieves; her eyes beaming with intrigue.
"Is this some sort of hideout? There seem to be quite a number of Phantom Thieves present." Sophia said just before she started humming some musical notes to herself.
Ren and the rest of the group found themselves to once again be surprised by Sophia's own self-awareness. Not only was she able to respond to a call from Ren without the need to open up any kind of app, but she's also able to randomly hum some kind of song.
Ren looked over at Sumire, who seemed to have a tiny blush around her cheeks. Though Ren wasn't fully aware of it, Sumire herself could feel her heart begin to melt at Sophia's behavior. Seeing the child-like AI humming to herself was a sight that was just too pure for Sumire to endure.
"She's humming to herself?!" Ann exclaimed in surprise.
"My goodness..." Sumire said with her cheeks still slightly red.
"Such an adorable design…" Yusuke said with a smile on his face. "I can feel the charm, the pain, the tenacity within!"
"Wait, what?" Makoto asked while looking at Yusuke in confusion.
"So yeah, this is Sophia." Ryuji said while holding his hand under Ren's phone, as if presenting Sophia to everyone.
"Nice meeting you." Sophia commented politely.
"Okaaay… An AI with a genuine will is just waaay too advanced." Futaba said with her eyes still bolted open.
"Right? We couldn't believe it either." Ryuji commented.
"...So, would you all like to introduce yourselves to Sophia?" Ren asked Sumire and the rest of the group.
"Oh, that's right. Where are my manners?" Sumire said as she clasped her hands together and smiled sweetly at Sophia "I am Sumire Yoshizawa. I'm a second-year high school student and I aim to become the best in the world of gymnastics. I am very pleased to meet you, Sophia."
"Nice to make your acquaintance, Sophia. I'm Makoto Nijima. I'm studying in college to become a police commissioner one day." Makoto followed suit.
"My name's Haru Okumura." Haru added "Both Mako-Chan and I are college students, but I also help with my family's company."
"I'm Ann Takamaki!" Ann followed up excitedly "I'm a third-year in high school, and I do some modeling too."
"My name is Yusuke Kitagawa." Yusuke said politely "I'm a third-year student at Kosei High, and I continuously strive to master the arts as we know them."
Suddenly, a silence filled the area. As awkwardness started to consume everyone, Ren looked over at Futaba.
"Futaba, it's your turn to introduce yourself." Ren said
"O- Oh, right. I guess I am next huh…" Futaba said awkwardly
Futaba did her best to gain some composure by taking a deep inhale.
"I'm Futaba Sakura! I'm a first-year in high school, and I kinda suck at socializing, b- but I wanna be friends… and stuff." Futaba blurted out very quickly.
Ren smiled at the young girl who he grew to see as a little sister figure over the course of last year. Though Futaba still had ways to go, Ren felt nothing but pride in how far Futaba has come with being able to interact with people, without the need to do it over texting or with a creepy mask on.
"Futaba, you did great." Ren said kindly. "I think you and Sophia are going to get along just fine."
"Sumire, Makoto, Haru, Ann, Yusuke, and Futaba. I'll remember that." Sophia said before continuing "You all have much more normal names than Joker, Mona, Crow, and Skull."
All of the sudden, Ren, Morgana, Ryuji, and Akechi all felt themselves sweatdrop in embarrassment.
"Ohhh, right. We skipped that part." Ryuji said with his eyes closed.
"You see, Sophia, we only call each other by codenames whenever we are in the Metaverse." Ren began explaining "It's sort of a safety precaution to ensure that nobody figures out who we are and suspects that we are up to something while in that realm."
"Code names." Sophia commented as to ensure she remembered those fine details.
"My real name in this world is Ren Amamiya." Ren explained.
"Mine's Ryuji Sakamoto." Ryuji added.
"I'm Morgana in this world." Morgana followed suit.
Once again, silence filled the area. Everyone then suddenly looked back at Akechi, who then just let out a sigh of annoyance.
"Not that it really matters, but… Goro Akechi." Akechi answered.
"Ren, Ryuji, Morgana, and… Goro Akechi?" said Sophia as the mention of Akechi's name seemed to have caught her interest.
"Wassup, Sophia?" Ryuji asked.
"The moment I heard the name Goro Akechi, I noticed and looked at a whole lot of old articles that are all about him." Sophia said before continuing. "According to the internet, Goro Akechi was said to be the second coming of the Detective Prince, with the first being… a woman…? Strange…" Sophia muttered before continuing. "The articles say that he was a widely popular junior detective who worked with the police for two whole years while still attending high school, and was said to have a 'charming' and 'charismatic' personality… Though, it also says that he used to oppose the Phantom Thieves when they first appeared last year."
"Yeeaah…" Ren awkwardly started. "Akechi wasn't exactly one of our biggest fans."
"I don't understand. If he opposes the Phantom Thieves, then how did he come to be an associate of yours?" Sophia asked.
"Let's just say that I've supposedly grown a certain sense of tolerance towards these people." Akechi said. "Also, a word of advice. Don't buy into any of that bullshit about me being charming or charismatic. Those imbeciles on the internet don't know what they're writing about."
"Hey, it's not their fault you purposely gave them a bunch o' bullshit to buy into." Ryuji pointed out with his eyes narrowed.
"We're getting off topic here." Makoto intervened with her voice raised a little. "Sophia, do you know why you were in the Metaverse?"
"I do not know, because I have no memories." Sophia answered honestly
"No memories?" Sumire asked suddenly "Then could you probably have some sort of AI version of amnesia?"
"I don't think something like that is possible." Futaba argued "But if Sophia's data was crashed, I could try looking into her codes and restoring it if possible."
"It is impossible." Sophia rejected immediately "I have already tried every potential solution."
"Ehhh, yeah. Based on your specs, I guess it's not surprising that you've already thought of that." Futaba said in sad embarrassment.
"Can you recall anything at all, Sophia?" Yusuke asked
"...Only the command I received at initialization." Sophia answered before continuing "'Be humanity's companion.' That was the command I was issued. But other than that, I remember nothing else."
"See? Utterly useless." Akechi said carelessly.
Sophia's facial expression turned into a mixture of both disappointment and sadness. She let out an unhappy sigh at the fact that she wasn't of much help with the lack of knowledge she possessed. Ren suddenly felt a small vein on his head before he turned around and glared disapprovingly at Akechi.
"Was that really necessary for you to say?" Ren asked the shaggy brunette with a hint of anger in his voice
"Are you trying to say that I'm wrong?" Akechi asked, his blank facial expression still not changing.
"Akechi-san, that's not the point." Sumire interjected with her eyes narrowed. "The point is that your choice of words are just unsettling and discouraging. Sometimes your brutal honesty just does more harm than good."
"You don't like it when I'm fully honest? Well then, I'm afraid you're just going to have to deal with it." Akechi retorted with his eyes narrowed too. "It's not my problem whatsoever if this AI is so spineless that she can't handle another person pointing out her own incompetence."
"Dude! What the eff is wrong with yo- ?!" Ryuji practically shouted before being cut off by Akechi
"Plus, you all seem to have not been listening to what I said earlier." Akechi said with his eyes becoming more normal again. "I only said that she was going to be utterly useless in regards to her knowing anything about herself and why she was in the Metaverse. She can still fight decently against Shadows, so she's at least still useful in that regard."
Ren felt the vein on his head soften up a little. Though he still hated how Akechi would just call out somebody's flaws and weaknesses in such a mean manner, with no care whatsoever as to how his words would make them feel, Ren at least found some appreciation in Akechi's attempt to reassure that Sophia's lack of knowledge didn't make her a complete liability.
However, Sophia's disappointed and sad facial expression didn't change.
"How am I supposed to be humanity's companion if I can't answer your questions?" Sophia asked sadly.
"Don't worry about it so much, Sophia." Morgana said reassuringly. "I was in a rather similar situation when I first met Ren and the rest of the Phantom Thieves."
"Thank you…" Sophia responded while feeling uncertain
"I've still got a shit-ton of questions about Sophia, but we have some real work to do first." Ryuji pointed out.
"Right." Ann continued. "From what you guys said you saw, Alice Hiiragi has a Palace of her own in Shibuya, right?"
"Yeah. She was callin' herself the queen, bein' all high and mighty, orderin' Shadows around, all that kinda shit. She even had the nerve to whack Ren in the head with a cane and she then proceeded to- '' Ryuji suddenly paused as he felt the awkwardness of hearing Ren's retort coming back. "...step...on...him."
Simultaneously, Ren, Akechi, Ann, Morgana, Makoto, Futaba, and Haru all cringed at the disturbing and inappropriate mental image. Yusuke, however, looked completely confused by what Ryuji just said and everyone's reaction to it.
Ren glanced over at Sumire. Her eyebrows were up high just as her eyelids were open wide, though there was some visible twitching in her eyes. While Sumire's facial expression didn't show any kind of changes, she did, however, ball both of her hands into tight fists.
"She did what to you?" Sumire asked while looking over at Ren.
The tone in Sumire's voice was soft and it sounded rather gentle, but Ren knew better than anybody else, apart from Sumire's father and Coach Hiraguchi, that Sumire's way of showing anger was much more subtle than how either Ann, Makoto, Futaba, and even Haru would express their own rage... unless, of course, whenever they were in the Metaverse and all of their behaviors showed some clear changes. Ren immediately took hold of Sumire's hands and gently stroked both of his thumbs on her tremendously soft skin while looking into her ruby colored eyes.
"Sumi, I'm okay. I promise you that I'm alright." Ren said reassuringly as he then looked over at the others. "But putting that aside, we need to discuss some things me and the rest of the guys have seen that were different from our past experiences with Palaces."
"What is it?" Futaba asked.
"For starters…" Morgana started before pausing as his facial expression grew serious. "Real humans were getting dragged into the Metaverse and then attacked by Shadows."
Everyone who wasn't present inside of the Metaverse today all had their eyes bolt wide open in shock.
"People were getting pulled inside?" Sumire gasped.
"Does that mean that they all had access to the Metaverse Navigator?" Yusuke asked.
"But that's impossible." Makoto claimed with a serious look on her face. "The Meta-Nav disappeared for all of us after we defeated Yaldabaoth and Dr. Maruki. Even the last time we all checked our phones earlier today, the Nav was still gone."
"And that…" Ren said as he tapped his thumb onto his phone. "Is where this comes in."
Ren held up his phone for everyone to see as the EMMA app was opened up to the main screen.
"You mean… EMMA?" Makoto asked in surprise.
"Yep. For some reason, this thing worked just like the Meta-Nav did." Ryuji explained
"We ended up entering Alice's EMMA keyword and it somehow sent us straight into the Metaverse." Ren elaborated as he then exited out of the EMMA app.
"Wait, that means EMMA is dangerous!" Ann practically cried out.
"But you can just uninstall it." Futaba pointed out "The Meta-Nav never worked like that, no matter how many times we all tried to get rid of it."
"There's another thing that's been bothering me..." Morgana continued "When we all got back to this world, EMMA said we returned from 'the Jail'."
"Jail?" Sumire asked with her head slightly tilted to the side.
"The main thing we've figured out is that this new place is being referred to as a Jail. But we unfortunately have not been able to figure out anything else about the area other than that…" Ren paused as he felt a little hesitant with his next question. "...I apologize if this brings you all any kind of discomfort, but would you mind helping us with figuring out exactly what this jail is?"
"Ren… of course we'll help." Makoto said kindly.
"There's no use progressing any further with our knowledge of this new part of the Metaverse unless we see it with our own eyes." Yusuke said.
Ann, however, looked rather doubtful.
"I'm honestly having a hard time buying Alice as the ruler of a Palace." Ann said feeling conflicted
"To be fair, Ann, you said practically the same thing about Madarame, and look how that turned out." Ren pointed out.
"I… I know." Ann said as she sighed disheartened.
"Are we going to scout it out together? I think the sooner, the better." Haru recommended.
"I have no objections to that." Akechi said nonchalantly.
"Is it even safe for us to enter, though? What if we all just end up captured?" Makoto asked with her facial expression being a blend of seriousness and concern.
Suddenly, Sophia popped back up onto the screen of Joker's phone.
"There were no enemies in the vicinity of the exit. It's fine to enter through there." Sophia stated.
"Well then, we officially have our mission." Ren said with determination "We'll all meet up back here tomorrow at noon and start our investigation."
"Very well. I look forward to seeing this Jail." Yusuke said calmly.
Ryuji, on the other hand, only groaned in disappointment.
"Aw maaaan…" Ryuji whined. "This is what happens when we all get back together? Talk about an ass-busting summer vacation."
"Don't worry, Ryuji-senpai. Once we take care of everything with Alice, we'll have the rest of our vacation to have fun." Sumire said positively as she smiled.
Suddenly, Yusuke gasped in realization.
"Huh? Something wrong, Yusuke-senpai?" Sumire asked as she looked at the blue-haired artist
"What about our life-changing Kyoto excursion? Our barbeque extravaganza?!" Yusuke asked the suddenly disheartening question
"Extravaganza?... You mean our camping trip?" Ann asked.
"It looks like we'll just have to postpone it." Haru said with a look of disappointment.
"Damned Metaverse…" Yusuke said in a dramatic fit of anger "I vow to slice you to ribbons!"
Akechi heaved a sigh as he shook his head.
"You cannot slice the Metaverse, you imbecile." Akechi said crudely, "Save it for the Shadows."
A Short While Later…
Ren and the rest of the group all said their farewells to each other for the night, but not before Ren and Sumire swiped some goodnight kisses from each other, causing all of the other party members to roll their eyes. On the train ride back to Yongen-Jaya, Futaba said that she wanted to take a look at Sophia's code, mainly just to see how Sophia works as an AI and to see if she can find out anything about Sophia's origins, like who her programmer may be. The idea of it made Sophia look rather uncomfortable, which in turn made Ren himself feel uncomfortable. But in the end, Ren decided to place his trust in the team's quirky little techie.
When they both arrived back at Leblanc, Ren and Futaba made sure to talk with Sojiro about their surprising reencounter with Akechi. As expected, Sojiro was practically livid to hear that Akechi was still alive and not behind bars where he belonged. When asked what Ren and Futaba were even thinking of allowing themselves to be around him, especially after what Akechi did to Wakaba and what he tried to do to Ren, Ren decided that it was best to inform Sojiro about his experience with returning to the Metaverse, and how it seems that his work as a Phantom Thief is not, in fact, over. He further explained how he knows how Akechi is not out to kill either him or anyone else in the group since he is officially being his more natural, honest self… despite being an utter asshole about it. Sojiro wasn't exactly buying into Akechi not being out to kill Ren or any of the others, so in the end, he only advised Ren and Futaba to be extra careful around him.
Once upstairs in Ren's room, Futaba sat down on the couch that sat right next to where Ren's old styled TV stood. Futaba pulled up the table that was used for when everyone was snacking yesterday, popped open her laptop, linked Ren's phone into her laptop via USB cord, and got straight to work on accessing Sophia's code. Ren and Morgana both watched silently as Futaba occasionally showed signs of interest and understanding, episodes of surprise and amazement, and moments of being utterly impressed.
"So, how does Sophia's code look, Futaba?" Ren asked.
"Well, her programmer's a genius. No doubt about that." Futaba answered as she kept her eyes locked onto her laptop's screen. "You can figure a person out by their code, and not just their skill level. Their habits, thought processes, even their personalities are there… However, this code is so advanced that even I can't read it and comprehend it right away. It'll take me weeks, heck even months at most to grasp how Sophia works."
Both Ren and Morgana's eyes bolted wide open upon hearing Futaba's response. Knowing how good of a hacker Futaba is, given how she was the original Medjed, and how many times her computer skills have gotten the team out of a jam, they were both flabbergasted at how Futaba was having trouble with something she was naturally good at.
"Take you months?!" Morgana practically cried out.
"Hoo boy, talk about a serious code." Ren followed suit.
Suddenly, Ren's phone opened up with Sophia on the screen.
"I don't understand. Do you mean I'm impressive?" Sophia asked curiously.
"Impressive?" Ren asked before chuckling. "Sophia, you're more than just 'impressive'. You're outstanding."
"No kidding. You're like some kind of Super AI." Futaba added with an acknowledging smile "If you ever went public, everyone would be calling EMMA 'Old hat'."
"'Old hat'?" Sophia asked.
"It's an old saying that basically means 'Yesterday's news' or 'Nobody talks about it anymore'." Ren explained to the bright redheaded AI. "When something that was popular at one point stops being popular, it becomes known as 'Old hat'. Also, quite ironically, 'Old hat' is something that most people these days don't really say anymore."
"Ooohh. Okay, I've got it." Sophia said while smiling sweetly.
"While we're at it, Futaba, did you find anything about Sophia's past? Her programmer's name or even a company's brand?" Morgana asked.
Futaba sighed in disappointment.
"Sadly no." Futaba admitted. "Most of these leave a signature of some sort in their work, too."
Sophia's facial expression changed to a look of sad disappointment.
"Anyway, I'm going to keep on cracking away at it from home. I'll let you know if I find anything else interesting." Futaba said as she unplugged the USB cord from her laptop, handed Ren's phone back to Ren, closed her laptop and carried it under her arm.
"Thanks, Futaba, but just be sure not to stay up so late." Ren advised the young gremlin. "Remember, we all need to gather up at the Shibuya Accessway tomorrow at noon."
"Aw, cut me some slack. I'm already in VayCay mode." Futaba wined before she walked down the stairs and out of the cafe from the obvious sound of the door bell chime.
"We should probably go to bed ourselves, Ren." Morgana advised, to which Ren sighed in slight annoyance.
"Yeah, I know." Ren said.
Ren and Morgana both made their way to Ren's bed and Ren began changing out of his regular clothes and into a really thin layered shirt and some light pajama pants. With how hot the summer air was outside, Ren's best chances of not getting too hot were to sleep with as little layers of clothing as possible, with the exception of the light pajama pants.
"Boy, was that a hell of a day." Morgana said as he stretched his muscles.
"Tell me about it." Ren said as he pondered on all of the events that happened today "I never would have imagined getting dragged back into the Metaverse nearly just as soon as we got back together with everyone… And I still cannot believe how Akechi is even still alive."
"Oh yeah, and then there's also the mystery about Sophia." Morgana added.
Suddenly, Sophia popped up on the screen of Ren's phone again.
"Did you call for me?" Sophia asked.
"Oh, sorry Sophia, but no." Ren apologized.
"We were just talking about how you're a huge mystery." Morgana explained.
"Says the talking cat." Sophia shot back at Morgana in sort of a cheeky manner.
"...Uh, good point." Morgana responded in defeat with his head lowered.
"Though it is still strange how you don't even have any memories other than your directive. An AI shouldn't be able to just forget any important pieces of information since the AI's mind basically works the same way as a computer file." Ren added to the conversation.
"That is… inarguably true." Sophia said as her facial expression once again changed into one of disappointment and sadness. "I'm supposed to be humanity's companion, and yet I don't know anything that is supposed to allow me to be helpful to humans. If I can't do anything helpful… then I'm useless, as Akechi said."
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself." Morgana said comfortingly. "You at least remember what your purpose is, right? Then that must mean what you remember is important for you. Even if you don't know how to be helpful to humanity, there's nothing that says you can't learn how to do it."
"But let me ask you something, Sophia." Ren interjected. "Is being helpful in the sense of doing tasks really all you need to do to be a good companion for humanity?"
Sophia's facial expression suddenly changed to one of intrigue.
"Is that not how it works?" Sophia asked. "Please explain. How else can one be a companion?"
Ren began thinking of all of the things Ren had done with his friends and all of his confidants from last year. Truthfully, Ren found it hard to find a good example of explaining how to be a good companion without the need to be helpful in the sense of actually doing anything. As Ren pondered, his mind began to drift to thoughts of Sumire, the one person who he remembered wanting to help more than anyone else.
And then, suddenly, it hit Ren. He remembered how during the events of last year, when Sumire's cognition was changed to make her think she was 'Kasumi', he didn't really do much of any actual tasks for her. However, he did always lend her an open ear and told her everything she needed to hear, which would lead her to finding all of the answers that she herself needed to find. And even after she finally went back to being Sumire, Ren continued to listen to her whenever she felt down and needed his input, and he always encouraged her to believe in her own choices, which led to her becoming much more confident in herself and her goal to reach the top of the gymnastics world.
Ren felt a smile form on his face.
"Sometimes, all you really need to do is just be there for someone when they need a person to talk to. Lend an open ear and listen to whatever issues a person is having, and help them understand whatever it is they need or what they are looking for. Heck, even if they are feeling sad or hopeless about something, give words of encouragement to help them feel better and motivated." Ren said confidently. "It really helps one to be able to help another if one understands what's in the other person's heart."
"Heart?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah. Once you understand what people are feeling in their hearts, you'll be able to empathize with them and it makes talking to them easier. It makes you more capable of saying to them what they need to hear." Ren further explained.
Sophia then looked like she was becoming deep in thought.
"The human heart…" Sophia said as she pondered. "... Strange, I feel like I heard that word before."
"You probably just looked it up when you were browsing the internet earlier." Morgana said.
"Anyway…" Ren interjected once again. "Sophia, if you want to learn about the human heart in order to learn how to become a good companion for humanity, then all you need to do is stick with us and learn from all of the different kinds of people we interact with."
"And in exchange, you lend a helping hand to the Phantom Thieves in dealing with Alice." Morgana suggested. "What do you say, Sophia, do we have ourselves a deal?"
Sophia made a small nod in agreement.
"Okay... That is a decent deal, especially since it should help me become a good companion for humanity." Sophia said.
"Then it's a deal." Ren said with a smile. "Glad to have you on board, Sophia."
"We've got plenty of scouting to do tomorrow, so we should get some rest." Morgana suggested.
"Okay. Goodnight, Morgana, and you too, Ren." Sophia said sweetly with a smile.
Ren once again felt his heart melt at hearing Sophia wish him goodnight with such a sweet smile.
"Goodnight, Sophia." Ren said softly.
Ren held down the power button on his phone, turning it off. Ren then placed his phone right next to his pillow as he then began to lie down onto his bed. Morgana laid down near the end of the bed, next to Ren's leg, and eventually they both drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
The Shibuya Accessway-Noon
June 16th, 2017
"You know, now that I actually think about it, I'm not entirely certain having our hideout here is a good idea, at least not for a group as big as ours," said Makoto.
Indeed, the Phantom Thieves, plus Akechi, had a significantly larger headcount than when they had first started to use the accessway as a hideout, back when they went up against the vanitous plagiarist of Japanese art, Ichiryusai Madarame, and even the gluttonous, money-grubbing mafia boss, Junya Kaneshiro. Their numbers were now to the point where they could all stand in a line and nearly block off the whole hallway.
"Well, we don't really have a whole lot of options right now," Ren pointed out. "You, me, and Haru aren't students of Shujin anymore, not to mention the fact that the school is closed for the summer. Plus, it's still too risky to get Akechi anywhere close to Sojiro without there being a potential murder that could go either way, so we can't use Leblanc's attic. This is the only hideout we still have access to."
Makoto gave a reluctant sigh. "I guess you're right, Ren. Sorry," she said.
Morgana cleared his throat. "All right, now that everyone's here, let's get down to business. We're going to be infiltrating the Jail. Are we ready?" he asked the group.
"We've all done this many a time. I can't imagine any of us being fazed by this." said Yusuke before looking at Sumire. "Then again, Sumire is still rather new to all of this since she's only helped us scout Dr. Maruki's palace."
"It doesn't matter." Sumire said with determination. "I already have a good understanding of how palaces work and I haven't forgotten what my experience in the Metaverse was like."
"We're still very short on intel, so we need to be cautious," Makoto suggested. "If what Ren said is true, and all of our Personas have reverted back to the strength of when we all first awakened to them, we'll just scout the general area for this trip."
Sumire nodded in agreement before looking over at Ren. "We use the EMMA app to get in, right, Senpai?" she asked her boyfriend. "Is there anything special we need to do?"
"Not that I recall." Ren answered honestly. "All we really did yesterday was enter Alice's name, then her keyword, and then we were taken straight into the Metaverse… That was also when we apparently pulled Akechi in with us too."
"Find the right name in EMMA's search results, then enter the correct keyword on the friend request screen," Futaba summarized.
"Yeah, you got it Futaba!" Ryuji cheered. "Leave it to the super hacker to explain this stuff."
"Ryuji, I may not be as good with computers as Futaba is, but even I could figure out that had absolutely nothing to do with hacking. Honestly, even the world's biggest idiot such as yourself should understand that." Akechi said, irritation evident in his voice.
"Ah shaddap, asshole!" snapped Ryuji.
"Behave, you two," scolded Makoto sternly, to which Ryuji responded in a fearful shudder while Akechi only scoffed and looked away from everyone. "Getting back on topic, it seems that all that's left is to choose our point of entry."
Ren's phone pinged as Sophia's voice came through. "There will be no enemies in the area from which Ren, Akechi, Ryuji, Morgana, and I escaped yesterday," she explained. "Upon reaching the relevant location, you will only need to speak the keyword."
"Well… it seems all that's left is to trust Sophia and see where she leads us," said Sumire.
Ryuji then nodded firmly. "Then let's do this thing!" he said.
Ren nodded and smirked. "Down the rabbit hole we go," he said.
The Jail of Lust-Entry Point
Joker, Skull, Crow, and Mona led the way into the Jail via the entry portal, where the accessway turned into what looked like a railless walkway and all of Shibuya was turned into what looked like a nighttime atmosphere. Right behind Joker and the rest was Sumire, or rather Violet in the Metaverse. Violet wore a black mask with silver highlights and had a black ribbon tied to her ponytail, a strapless black leotard, a chain belt with two silver rose motifs and a rapier scabbard attached to it. She also wore a black choker around her neck, red gloves, a black bolero jacket with gold buttons, ruffled sleeves and three floor-length coattails, thigh-length hose and stiletto-heels that resembled ballet shoes on the tops.
Joker couldn't help himself when looking back at his dearly beloved to admire her appearance. Truth be told, Joker really missed seeing Violet in her Metaverse attire. Though he never before said it out loud to anyone, whether as Joker or as Ren, he always had some sort of natural attraction to women who dressed all in black. He always believed that women who dressed that way were always very sexy looking. He did, in fact, have a bit of an attraction to Makoto's elder sister, Sae Niijima, who always dressed so professionally in black clothes as well as black heels, but her nasty attitude and during the time back when she was an enemy to the Phantom Thieves always made Joker regret how he was ever attracted to Sae.
Luckily, however, Violet turned out to be who Joker could only properly describe as the perfect girl for him. The fact that she had both a very sexy outfit and a one-of-a-kind lovable personality just meant that she was absolutely everything to him. Granted, Violet's Metaverse attire was created based off of her admiration towards Joker and his ideals of justice and helping others, which is why both of their outfits are so similar, but Joker didn't care much about the statistics. Joker was just always beyond happy to see Violet in her black outfit as well as her sexy black heels. Plus, getting to see Violet's bare thighs was always a bonus for Joker.
Following Violet was Ann, or rather Panther, who wore a skin-tight red latex catsuit with a cleavage cutout and zippers, a matching red panther mask, pink gloves, dark red thigh-high boots, and a clip-on tail on the back of her catsuit.
Following Panther was Makoto, or rather, Queen, who wore a a two-toned (dark blue and black) skin tight suit that is worn with a long black scarf, a dark gray corset-style leather breastplate, shoulder and knee pads with spikes mixed with boots that sport metal heels and toes, white gloves and an iron mask.
Following Queen was Yusuke, or rather, Fox, who wore a traditional kitsune-style half mask, a black high-collared puff-sleeved jumpsuit with a foxtail attached, a striped sash worn across his hips, white motorcycle boots, and bright blue gloves.
Following Fox was Futaba, or rather, Oracle, who wore a skintight black bodysuit with fluorescent neon green glowing circuit stripes and matching black boots with steel kneepads and neon green soles that looked as though it came straight out of a sci-fi movie, and a pair of big black goggles with orange lenses.
The last of the Phantom Thieves to enter the Jail from the portal was Haru, or rather, Noir. She wore a dark purple cavalier hat with a feather plume tucked into a royal purple hatband, a black mask, violet gloves, a long-sleeved pale pink blouse with a white neck jabot that was held in place by a red jewel pin, a black corset vest with gold buttons, bloomers that match her hatband, black pantyhose, a holster belt carrying grenade launcher ammo and black lace-up pumps.
"Well? Did we make it?" asked Oracle.
"Yeah, this is the place," said Joker. "It's just as I recall."
Fox gasped in his usual dramatic way. "Your Phantom Thief attire!" he exclaimed.
"Uh, yeah, you too," said Mona.
Fox smiled as he looked down at himself and got a feel for his Metaverse outfit once again. "Ah… I'd forgotten this feeling. The fusion of form and function… truly magnificent!" he said.
"Oh boy…" said Joker, rubbing his forehead and shaking his head as a fond smile crossed his face.
"Look! It's Beauty Thief!" Panther said, smiling at Noir.
"My name is Beauty Thief!" said Noir excitedly and confidently as she did her trademark 'Beauty Thief' pose.
"...what the hell was that?" Crow asked while cringing.
Joker sighed as he shook his head.
"That was what Noir introduced herself as when we first met her in the Metaverse. Before deciding on her code name, she originally called herself 'The Beauty Thief' as instructed by Mona." Joker explained.
"H- Hey! Don't tell him that!" Mona cried out in embarrassment.
Crow simply stood there in silence, his face completely blank from behind his mask, unable to comprehend the reason why Mona, one of the team's most intellectual members even thought calling Noir something like "The Beauty Thief" was ever a good idea.
"Well, as much as I'd like to understand why Mona even thought of calling Noir by such a stupid name, we have far more important matters to discuss." Crow said, earning himself a scowl from the refined and feminine, yet sadistic ax wielder herself
"Ignoring that rude comment regarding Noir's beta name, Crow does have a point." Joker said as he looked over to the side of the walkway and pointed out into the distance. "Take a look at that."
The Phantom Thieves and Crow turned their attention to where Joker's hand was pointing and saw that the 705 building had been transformed into a rather bizarre-looking castle with balloons floating away into the air. They could also see what looked like giant Jack-In-The-Boxes bobbing up and down in the distance, and hear the faintest sound of what seemed to be circus music of some kind.
"So this is… the Jail?" Queen asked.
"Just what is that building?" Oracle asked no one in particular. "This place is bonkers…"
"If this place is supposed to be Wonderland, then I think being bonkers is a requirement. After all, they're all mad in Wonderland," Joker pointed out.
"Eh, fair point," replied Oracle.
"Be that as it may, it seems that nothing escapes the atrocious color scheme of this place," said Fox.
"It looks that way because of someone's cognition, correct?" Noir asked.
"Right, most likely Alice's. The distortion has to be exceptionally strong there for a reason." Mona said.
"So you mean to say that the 705 building is where Alice is ruling over this place?" Violet asked as she stared out to the heavily distorted building. "Well, it's appearance does make it seem that way."
"The buildings around here still look pretty normal, though." Crow pointed out as he observed as much of the scenery as possible. "It seems like the 705 building only has a limited range of distortion."
"The first time we came here, we all ended up in the middle of the Crossing down there." Joker explained as he pointed down towards where the Shibuya Crossway was. "That's where we saw a group of cop Shadows taking these… strange things out of people's chests."
"Oh, you mean those jewel things we saw? The hell was up with that?" Skull asked.
"Those may have been Desires." A familiar voice came from the side.
One by one, the thieves and Crow turned to the side and saw a humanoid Sophia walking up to them in the same outfit that she wore when she helped Joker, Mona, Skull, and Crow fight against the Shadows yesterday. It seems apparent that this look was officially going to be Sophia's Metaverse attire from here on out.
"Yo, Phantom Thieves." Sophia greeted everyone as she raised her hand high in the air.
"AAAAAH! SOPHIA?!" Oracle screamed out loud with her eyes bulted wide open from behind her goggles. "Holy crap, an actual AI in human form!"
Every Phantom Thief who wasn't present for the events of the day prior, they all couldn't help being completely mesmerized by seeing Sophia actually in front of them in a physical, child-like human body and not just as a 2D figure behind Joker's phone screen. However, what everyone else in the group found to be just as stunning as Sophia's human body, if not more so, was her own outfit. The fluffy white one-piece dress and her black rubber boots that could still be mistaken for black stockings with cozy white slippers, it was an outfit that none of them could ever dare say was not cute. Violet held her hands up to her mouth as a blush appeared on her face and her eyes sparkled.
"Is that really how you normally dress, Sophia?" Violet asked as she lowered her hands from her mouth and a great big smile formed on her face. "Oh my gosh, you look so adorable!"
"I have never seen an outfit like that!" Panther exclaimed excitedly as her eyes then widened with sparkles in them. "Can I try floofing it?"
"Oh! Can I get to do it too afterwards? Please?!" Violet pleaded with her hands clasped together
"Um… What is floofing?" Sophia asked curiously with her head tilted to the side.
"I think it means both Violet and Panther want to get a feel for the fabric of your clothes while hugging you, Sophia." Queen answered as best she could.
"Request denied." Sophia said bluntly as she shook her head in denial. "I am neither a child nor a pet."
Feeling the harsh pain from Sophia's blunt refusal, both Violet and Panther were now sulking with their heads hanging low.
"Aww, no floofing..." Both Violet and Panther said simultaneously.
"By the by, how does age work for an AI?" Yusuke asked curiously.
"Sorry, Fox, but that's not important right now." Joker interjected before looking at the child-like looking AI. "Sophia, you said that those jewels were called Desires, didn't you?"
Sophia nodded her head in response.
"That is the term used by the Shadows here. They say things such as 'Seize their Desires!', and 'We must offer these Desires to the Monarch!'" Sophia explained before going further. "Based on their language and behavior, I speculate the aforementioned 'jewels' are in fact Desires."
"Hmm… That does make sense." Mona said with his paw on his chin "When we saw Alice in the castle, she and the Shadows mentioned 'Desires' too."
"But these 'Desires', are they actually made up of the things people desire?" Noir asked.
"So that's what it is." Crow said suddenly, causing everyone to look at him.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Joker asked.
"Isn't any of this seeming rather familiar to any of you?" Crow asked the entire group of thieves. "Alice Hiiragi is forcefully taking away people's desires, causing them to start behaving abnormally in our world, behaving in ways they normally would not. Doesn't it sound like what Alice Hiiragi is doing is no different from how you dealt with all of your targets from last year?"
Immediately, Joker understood what Crow was referring to as his eyes bulted wide open.
"You mean that the 'Desires' that Alice is stealing are actually people's treasures?" Joker asked while looking dumbfounded from behind his mask.
"Hold up!" Skull interjected. "I hadn't seen nothing weird going on about Alice besides what we saw yesterday. I hadn't seen no one talking about how people are doing a bunch of bad shit because of Alice."
"Actually…" Oracle started, causing everyone to turn their attention to her. "About a month ago, I came across an article about how some people were doing some really questionable stuff, and how it was all for the sake of Alice."
Panther looked down at the floor of the walkway, her eyes filled with dread, disappointment, and sadness.
"Seizing people's Desires, of all things… What use would she even have for those?" Queen asked with
"Maybe looking into her victims could tell us something important," Violet suggested.
"Where could those victims be now?" Fox asked as he looked around the area. "I don't see a place from here where they may be held…"
"I don't know… maybe they're being held somewhere else." Mona answered
Suddenly, a thought came across Queen's mind which forced her to face Oracle.
"Hey, Oracle, did you ever happen to see any articles about people going missing, like people vanishing out of the blue?" Queen asked the young techie.
"Hmm… No, I've never seen anything like that." Oracle answered honestly.
"Why do you ask, Queen?" Joker asked.
"Well, those people you guys saw…" Queen paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Are you sure they were humans?"
"Whaddya mean?" Skull asked.
"Well, couldn't they have been people's Shadows or something?" Queen asked, causing everyone to widen their eyes a bit. "Think about it. If there actually are humans getting captured and imprisoned in this Jail right now… Wouldn't there be a huge commotion in our world? Groups of people going missing, out of the blue?"
"Hmm, that is actually a good point." Crow admitted with his hand on the chin part of his mask. "People are being affected in the Metaverse without being dragged into it… It's their Shadows that are actually being affected."
"Shadows? You mean the creatures that we fight?" Sophia asked while tilting her head.
"Well, yes and no, Sophia. We're not really talking about the Shadows we normally fight." Joker explained to the bright-redheaded AI. "The Shadow of a human being is like the embodiment of the parts of themselves that are suppressed within their subconscious. You could say it's basically their other self."
"Then does that mean that their main selves are alright?" Sophia asked further.
"No. Both the main self and the Shadow are two sides of the same coin." Joker further explained "If the Shadow is in any way affected, like say someone or something were to hurt the Shadow emotionally or physically, that would also have an impact on the human in our world."
"Which just begs the question: If Alice truly is forcing people to have changes of heart by stealing their Desires, what is she doing it all for, and why?" Mona asked.
"Well, right now, we only know what's going on in the Metaverse, but we still don't know precisely how Alice's victims are being affected in our world and what kind of odd behaviors they are doing," Violet spoke up. "I think what we need to do next is look directly into Alice and her victims to get the full picture of what's going on here."
"Violet's right." Queen stated. "We need to get the story straight before we make any real moves or we'll just be doing damage."
"Alright, then let's leave for now and start looking into Alice's victims." Joker suggested and everyone nodded at him.
The Shibuya Accessway-One Hour Later
After a full hour of being split up into groups and gathering any kind of intel on Alice's victims and their behavior in the real world, Ren and all of the others had reunited in the Shibuya Accessway to share what they've all discovered.
"So, how'd it go?" Makoto asked the million dollar question of the day. "Anyone learn anything useful about potential victims?"
"Yeah. Me, Sumire, and Ryuji ran into some familiar faces by the Airsoft Shop on Central Street." Ren answered before his face grew serious. "And get this… They were the same guys who me and Ryuji saw at the 705 building, as well as in the Jail when the Shadows attacked."
"You really found them?!" Ann practically cried out.
"Then that confirms that the ones who were ambushed in the Jail were indeed only their Shadow selves." Yusuke stated.
"Yeah, and there is also something else that's pretty unsettling…" Sumire started before pausing for a few seconds. "...A lot of the people we saw today are just obsessed with Alice, and I really do mean obsessed."
"For real. Some of them just won't stop askin' for loans from their friends or family just so they can buy more shit at her store. That's really weird." Ryuji said with an uncomfortable look on his face.
"One of the guys we ran into apparently even went to a loan shark to try and get some cash to blow on Alice merch, and this one guy was just standing around grumbling about how he'd sign over his entire life to Alice if he could. Didn't even notice us, even after I kicked him in the shin to try to snap him out of it," Ren said with a similar look of discomfort. "In all honesty, it kinda reminds me of how everyone got really obsessed with us after we took down Medjed. The level of fanaticism is eerily familiar."
"You might be right about the fanaticism, Ren," said Makoto, frowning as she spoke. "I was over at the movie theater to see if there was anything good playing that we could all go see after this was over, and I overheard some chatter about a lot of their employees getting let go from their jobs because they weren't fans of Alice. No employer in their right mind would fire someone for such an absurd reason."
"I was over at the sweets shop on Central Street getting a crepe when I overheard an argument between this one couple. They nearly broke up after the boyfriend paid little to no attention to her and bought every last bit of Alice merchandise he could find." said Ann.
"I poked my head into one of the clothing shops on Central Street, and they told me that when they put some clothes from Alice's line out, they were completely cleaned out in ten minutes," said Haru.
"Sophia and I looked a little deeper into those reports about people behaving erratically for the sake of Alice, we came across some really disturbing stuff, like outspoken critics of hers getting hospitalized after getting beaten almost to the point of death by whole mobs of deranged fans," revealed Futaba.
"I actually happen to have some photographic evidence of those kinds of assaults." Akechi spoke up as he turned on his camera.
Akechi shuffled through his old photos on his camera until he came across the pictures he managed to take of the past assaults that the deranged Alice fans had committed. He held the screen up for everyone to see as he manually did a slide show of all the brutal acts of violence that were done, causing everyone in the group to shudder in horror and even causing some of them to feel nauseous.
"I always thought that Alice was just the latest fad, but… this seems so much worse than that." Haru said.
"From the looks of it, it seems that a lot of the people who are committing these abnormal behaviors are mainly men. It seems that hardly any women are being affected by Alice stealing Desires." Yusuke said with his hand on his chin.
"Yusuke and I even came across this one woman who went on and on about how Alice was a cruel and manipulative bitch who toyed with people's lives and only cared about fans lining her pockets…" Akechi added on before narrowing his eyes in a serious manner. "Maybe it's just that part of me that still thinks of myself as a detective, but it kinda felt like there was something deeper there… maybe something more personal."
"Either way, I think we've all learned enough to ascertain that legitimate damage is being done here, and Alice seems to be the most likely cause of it because of her stealing these men's desires." said Ren with a serious look on his face.
"If that's the case, then we have to do something, and fast." Makoto said with her face also looking serious.
"If such aberrant behavior continues to rise, there's no telling how much damage will be done, not just to Alice's fans and her outspoken critics, but to our society as well." Yusuke added.
"With the Metaverse involved, we are the only ones who can put a stop to all of this." Morgana said.
"Yeah. We have to help these people, no matter what." Ren said with serious determination.
Suddenly, Ren's phone pinged once again as Sophia popped back up onto the screen.
"It looks like you've finished gathering intel on Alice's victims." Sophia stated. "Would you like to investigate her next?"
"Gaining direct access to a pop star and fashion model does seem awfully tough," admitted Haru with a look of worry.
"And we'd need to do it when she isn't swarmed by her brainwashed fanatics," said Akechi.
Ann suddenly started to look nervous. "Umm… about that…" she started to say.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Lady Ann?" asked Morgana as he poked his head over Ren's shoulder.
"Well… I may actually get to meet Alice tomorrow…" Ann said, hesitantly.
"Wha- For real?! How?!" Ryuji asked, dumbfounded.
Sumire seemed to remember something too. "Oh! That's right… you were talking to my father about that…"
"Are you two gonna let us in on the secret, or do we have to guess?" asked Ren.
"Well… I was talking with my modeling agency's president if I could meet her sometime. I'd heard she'd be filming for an interview on Good Morning, Japan, so I asked if I could visit the set. I was hoping to learn by watching her in action," Ann explained. "I gave up on it when I made plans to meet up with you guys… but I think I might be able to get the ball rolling again in time."
Yusuke's jaw dropped in surprise at this information. "The timing is nothing short of kismet…" he said.
"Yeah! Way to go, Lady Ann!" cheered Morgana.
"That said, I'm not making any promises about it, and there's no way we'd get to approach her, either," said Ann. "Plus, our full group is way too big. The most I would be able to ask to bring is just one more person."
One after another, almost the entirety of the group turned to look at Ren. Once again, it seemed like Ren had been volunteered secondhand by the group. While he loved all of his friends very deeply, Ren always found it rather annoying whenever his friends would have him doing something without him having a say in anything. Ren let out a sigh.
"Alright, I'll do it." Ren said with his eyes closed
"Well, that settles that!" said Futaba. "We're counting on you, Ren!"
"Give Alice shit when you meet her so you can get some evidence out of her," said Ryuji as he clapped Ren on the back while smiling. "You can think of it as payback for what she did to you."
Ren's eyes suddenly shot open. Truthfully, the idea of getting back at Alice for stepping on him did sound rather exciting.
"Ooh, I cannot wait." Ren said as he let out a mischievous cackle.
"Hey, you'd better not think of trying anything funny!" Ann warned with a serious look on her face. "l'll be the one who'll suffer for it!"
"Oh… right…" Ren said as his excitement died down.
It was true. If Ann were to bring Ren with her to the set and if he were to cause any kind of trouble, it'll only make Ann look bad for her modeling career.
"Hey, Ann-senpai, I think I'll be able to join you and Senpai for getting any information out of Alice." Sumire spoke up.
"Huh? What do you mean, Sumire?" Ann asked, looking at the crimson haired gymnast. "I just said I can only bring one person with me."
"You won't have to take me with you, because I can get in on my own accord." Sumire responded with a confident smile. "Remember, my dad is actually the director for Good Morning, Japan, so I'm pretty much allowed to get free access inside the studio with my VIP pass. Plus, since it's currently summer vacation, my Dad says I'm practically welcome into the studio at whatever time."
"That's my girl." Ren said as he smiled at his girlfriend.
"Plus…" Sumire paused for a few seconds, her face turning into a look of nervousness. "I just want to make sure that Alice doesn't try doing what she did to Senpai in the jail. I don't want him to have to go through that again."
Ren looked at Sumire with a solemn look before taking both of her hands and gently stroking her soft skin with his thumbs.
"That will not ever happen again, Sumi, I promise that it won't." Ren said softly to the love of his life.
"I believe you, Senpai, I just want to be there with you to be a hundred percent sure." Sumire said back softly as she leaned her head into her boyfriend's neck.
"I think I'll tag along too," said Morgana. "We should be fine as long as no one sees me."
"Fair enough," said Ren. "So, Sumi, Ann, Morgana, and I will meet up tomorrow at the TV Station. Afterwards, we'll give you guys a call to meet up and discuss what we've learned."
"Good luck with the Alice visit, you guys." Makoto said to Ren, Sumire, Ann, and Morgana.
Ren looked at everyone with a serious look on his face. "Alright, everyone, let's disband for the day."
NewWorldFool: Whoo! That is quite the lengthy chapter, I gotta say… I think CloudStrife and I could do with a breather after this, but we do hope it was worth the wait! If you guys liked what you saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, review, and join us next time as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and Akechi, officially set their sights on Alice Hiiragi! See you then!