NewWorldFool: Hello, everybody! The New World Fool and CloudStrife07 coming at ya with another exciting chapter of The Royal Strikers!
Now then, before we start, CloudStrife and I have a little announcement to make. First off, we can indeed confirm that a version of Persona 5: Royal will be happening after this story is completed. Also, you know how we said that there will be two original Jails, one for Inaba and one for Port Island? Welllllll… we talked it over, and decided that there won't be two original Jails…
There will actually be THREE. One for Inaba, one for Tatsumi Port Island, and one for Fukuoka, which shall serve as a character arc for everyone's favorite redhead gymnast (and, without question, the best girl in all Persona 5 lore in general) Sumire Yoshizawa!
CloudStrife07: One of the original plans for this third original Jail was for it to be set in either Mikage-Cho (the location from Persona 1) or Sumaru City (Persona 2 duology). However, since the plan was to use the locations, but not have the characters from their respective games show up, NewWorldFool felt that was both jumping a pretty sizable shark, as well as a pretty harsh middle finger to the fans of those games.
So I looked at all of the places that the Phantom Thieves have been to in the game, thinking I could see if we could use a place that has never been used before. As I reviewed all of the different places, I came to a fantastic realization that we could actually take advantage of using Fukuoka, which was simply used as a resting stop for the gang in the original game. But of course, in this fic, (as Commander Lilith of the Crimson Raiders once said): "Ain't no rest for the wicked."
NewWorldFool: Well, now that that's out of the way, I don't think either of us had anything else to talk about, so on that note, let us start the game!
Chapter Six
The Phantom Thieves - Reestablished
Good Morning Japan TV Studio-Morning
June 17th, 2017
Ren, Sumire, and Ann were all sitting among the small crowd that had been fortunate enough to be able to attend the filming, while Morgana sat concealed within Ren's bag.
Before leaving Leblanc to come to the studio, Ren had already talked with Sojiro about potentially bringing Akechi over to discuss important matters. At first, Sojiro was reluctant to even allow Akechi into the cafe, but after some talking things over and seeing how Ren at least trusts Akechi to not repeat what he attempted before, Sojiro ended up agreeing to it, Eve though he still hated Akechi's guts for all that he did and what he tried to do.
Ren made sure to send a text to everyone in the group chat about Sojiro agreeing to let Akechi come into the cafe, but Ren also heavily suggested that Akechi outta try not saying anything to Sojiro to avoid pissing him off any more than he already is and causing any potential violence in the cafe. Akechi responded with saying that he was offended that Ren actually thought he'd be stupid enough to do anything so stupid, to which Ren took as Akechi agreeing to his request.
"So, this is going out live, huh?" Morgana said as he poked his head out from the bag. "Even I'm starting to get a little nervous… you guys still good?"
"I'm fine, Morgana-senpai." Sumire muttered softly. "This isn't my first time being part of a live audience, so I'm already pretty used to it."
"More importantly, Morgana, stay in the bag!" Ann harshly whispered as she pushed Morgana back into Ren's bag. "If they find out we brought a pet in here, they'll kick us out."
"A pet?!" Morgana said, clearly offended by what Ann had said.
"Quiet on the set." Ren whispered.
"Aww…" Morgana said disappointedly. "Well, I guess if I can't be seen… you three had better do your best to blend in too."
"Don't worry, Morgana-senpai, we'll be okay," said Sumire.
"Mm-hmm," said Ann. "All we're gonna do is watch."
Ren's phone pinged as Sophia popped up on the screen. "Should I also make efforts to 'blend in?'" she asked.
Ren chuckled. "Sophia, I think out of everyone here, you're the most inconspicuous thanks to being inside my phone," he said.
"Yeah, just sit tight for a bit, Sophia," said Ann.
"No prob," Sophia replied.
"Ooh! Here she comes!" whispered Morgana, spotting Alice approaching the stage.
"Miss Alice on the set!" called out a man that Sumire recognized as the senior assistant director as Alice took the stage, causing a number of the people in the crowd to start squealing excitedly.
"Holy crap!" said Ann. "She really is adorable!"
Ren looked over at Ann while giving her a dumbfounded look. He was amazed at how anyone, including Ann, could actually think that Alice, looking the way she does now, actually looks "adorable". But of course, there were more important things to be concerned about. Ren moved his hand over to the front of Ann's face and quickly snapped his fingers, causing Ann to snap out of it.
"Ann, focus." Ren said quietly as he pointed his finger over to the idol on the stage. "Evil."
"Oh… Right." Ann said, slightly shaking her head.
"Cutting back from commercial!" called the veteran AD. "Back in five… four… three… two…!"
"And now, onto the 'Hottest Meet-and-Greet' segment of our show," said the female host from the stage. "We have a special guest here with us today. She has taken the fashion world by storm, and conquered it! Please welcome the designer, Alice Hiiragi!"
As most of the crowd applauded Alice, Ren couldn't help but look at the idol with a deadpan expression, albeit for different reasons. While Ren didn't know much of anything about the world of fashion, he still found it very hard to believe that anyone could actually conquer the world of fashion by dressing the way Alice does. It was more believable for Ren to think that Alice could only look so ridiculous and get praised for it by stealing people's Desires and changing their hearts.
"Thanks for having me!" Alice said, putting on what she was sure she thought was an adorable smile as she waved at the crowd.
"Thank you for joining us, Alice," the male host said as Alice took a seat on one of the chairs opposite the hosts. "You sure have been keeping busy these days, haven't you?"
"It's only thanks to all my fans that I've been able to do what I do," said Alice.
"And what a number of fans you have! Talk about strong support!" the male host said. "Am I wrong to presume that you designed the outfit you're wearing today?"
"It's just so cute!" chimed in the female host. "Very expressive!"
Alice nodded and gave the female host what Ren was sure was a fake smile. "Thank you so much! The theme of my current line is 'Alice in Wonderland,'" she said.
"Oh, you don't say." Ren quietly snarked to himself.
"I feel like fashion is a rare and beautiful thing that can take anyone into a world built on their dreams," said Alice. "You can find a side to yourself that maybe you didn't even know you had… fashion can do so much for us. I try my hardest to focus on that whenever I design a new piece."
"Such wise words from a successful industry veteran," the female host said. "What inspiration originally spurred you into fashion design, if you don't mind me asking?"
Alice gave a sad sigh. "To be honest, I was very shy growing up. I didn't have any friends at school… I would get so lonely," she said. "I wanted to change so much, but I just couldn't figure out how to do it. Then, one day, I saw the most beautiful dress in a shop window. When I put it on, the whole world felt new. It was like I was hit by this blinding ray of light. Wearing that dress made me think that I really could change! I strive each day to give that same feeling to each person who tries on one of my designs. I want to give that ray of light to others! That's what inspired me to enter the fashion industry."
"Really… huh…" muttered Ann to herself.
Surprisingly, Ren was quite taken aback by Alice's story. He wasn't really sure if she was being fully honest or just fabricating lies to gain sympathy, but her story did have some good things that were worth sharing… if it weren't for the fact that she was still a manipulative, stuck-in-the-closet dominatrix.
Suddenly, a thought came across Ren's mind. He thought back to when he, Ryuji, Morgana, and Akechi first encountered Alice's Shadow in the Jail. He remembered how Alice supposedly got scared over being called "Senpai"... Could Alice's supposed lonely school life be the reason why she was so afraid?
The male host chuckled. "Now I can see why the young people love you so much! How do you handle all the… dating… rumors…" he trailed off, his facial expression becoming vacant, as though he had recently been knocked on the head with a blunt object.
Alice gave a confused chuckle as the female host gave her co-host a concerned look, while the man continued to look as though the lights were on, but no one was home, even as a bit of drool started to form on the corner of his mouth.
"Huh…? Wha…?" the male host mumbled to himself as the crowd and filming crew began to get restless.
Ren, Sumire, Ann, and Morgana all exchanged looks of confusion with one another.
"What's going on? I don't get it…" a female voice said amongst the chatter.
"Is this some kind of scripted bit?" asked a second female voice.
"I wonder what's wrong?" mumbled Ann.
"Senpai?" Sumire whispered as she looked over at Ren.
Ren stayed silent. He couldn't say with a hundred percent certainty of what was going on. He wasn't sure if the male host had suddenly been hit with a bug and just started to not feel well… or perhaps in the worst case scenario…
"Hey, are you okay?" the female host asked her co-anchor.
"Alice… I…" mumbled the male host.
Ren's eyes bolted wide open.
"Oh God…" Ren whispered quietly. "She did not-"
"I LOVE YOU, ALICE! PLEASE, SPEND YOUR LIFE WITH ME!" the male host bellowed for all to hear as he threw himself on the floor before Alice's feet, forcing Alice to stand up and slowly back away from the man, an uncomfortable expression on her face.
"What?!" Alice said, apparently confused by what was going on.
"Hey, uhhh… what is all this?!" the female host demanded of her co-anchor.
"I DIDN'T REALIZE UNTIL NOW, I LOVE YOU!" the male host continued to bellow.
"...She did." Ren groaned as he mentally face palmed at how over the top the male host was being with his confession.
"Uhh… this is really out of the blue…" Alice said, eyes darting around for an escape route.
"Stop it!" the female host said, her facade clearly starting to crumble under her co-host simping for Alice. "This bit's going on a little too long…"
"I MEAN IT! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU!" the male host begged Alice.
"WHA-WHAT?!" the female host yelled, rising to her feet in a rage over her co-host's abrupt and over the top simping for Alice. "WH- WHAT ABOUT ME, YOU ASSHOLE?!"
As the male host continued to simp for Alice, the female host tried to snap him out of it, Alice stood there, apparently baffled by the male host's behavior, the crowd started chattering amongst themselves.
Sumire herself was covering her mouth with both of her hands in shock at what was happening right now. She knew from her father that two of the studio's hosts were recently engaged to be married, and she was actually feeling very happy for the lucky couple. But now it seems that their relationship is coming to a trainwreck of an end because of the male host's sudden confession to Alice.
It was at that moment that Sumire's father, Shinichi Yoshizawa made the wise decision to cut to commercial and cancel filming on the spot. As everyone in the crowd was herded up and escorted off the set, Sumire looked back at the male host still pleading and begging for Alice to be his, which was still further upsetting the female host. However, Sumire managed to catch the sight of something.
It was the smug, mischievous smile on Alice Hiiragi's face.
TV Studio-Backstage-A Few Minutes Later
"That… that was actually on live TV, right?" Ann asked her friends in stunned disbelief.
"Unfortunately, yes it was." Sumire said dryly before heaving a sigh. "Looks like Dad is going to be working late tonight, trying to sort through this whole mess…"
"I'm sorry, baby." Ren said as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.
"Still, I can't believe that host spilled his beans like that… even I thought he went overboard with it," said Morgana while cringing.
"Seriously, the guy got onto his hands and knees like a freaking dog and immediately started simping for Alice like he was desperate." Ren said as he shook his head in disbelief.
Suddenly, Sumire thought back to the smug, mischievous smile that Alice had on her face as the audience was being escorted off set. Almost immediately, Sumire had an idea.
"You guys… I think it's safe to say that that host had his Desire taken by Alice." Sumire said.
"...Yeah, you may be right, Sumire." said Ann. "Like, what kind of professional host would do something like that on live TV?"
"And in front of his own fiancé, not to mention…" Sumire added
"Fiancé?!" Ren, Ann, and Morgana all said nearly aloud in unison.
"My dad told me one night, while we were having dinner, that two of the studio's hosts were engaged to be married…" Sumire explained with a sad look on her face. "Now after what we just saw, I now know who those two hosts were."
"It didn't seem like he was in his right frame of mind when he was confessing, though." Morgana added to the conversation. "It was almost like he wasn't even there and someone else was controlling him…"
Simultaneously, a bolt of realization struck both Sumire and Ann.
"That's it!" they both exclaimed.
"Huh? What's it?" Morgana asked, looking bewildered.
"Morgana-Senpai, I don't know if all of this is right, but I believe that host's personality changed just like when someone's heart was stolen," said Sumire.
"Maybe Alice can control anyone whose Desire she steals." added Ann.
"I see… So if someone's Desire is turned over to the ruler, they wind up under that ruler's control… like with Alice." added Morgana.
"That would explain a lot," said Ren. "And if that's the case, then Alice really is guilty. She is intentionally brainwashing people."
"Yeah… looks like it," said Ann before sighing. "Alice said… she wants to be a ray of light for people… that's what I've always wanted too… I read about her in a magazine once, and… I just really felt where she was coming from. It's why I asked to come to the show in the first place. I wanted to see her in person… but now… I wonder if all that was just-"
"Lady Ann…" Morgana said sympathetically.
Before anything further could be said, however, an all-too-familiar voice rang out through the hallway.
"Ah ha ha ha! Man, that was great!" laughed the voice of Alice Hiiragi.
"That was… Alice?" said Ann. "Quick, guys, hide!"
Ren, Sumire, and Morgana all nodded, and the four of them ducked behind the nearest hiding spot available, that being the corners at the far end of the hall.
The very next moment, Alice Hiiragi, along with a very battered-looking man in a suit, presumably Alice's manager, entered the hallway.
"M-miss Alice, this is a public hall! Please, you must keep your voice down!" Alice's manager said.
"Eh, it's fine! See? No one in sight," Alice said as she waved off her manager. "Anyway, though, did you see that lady's face? She totally lost it up there! All those cushy, talking head types make the best faces when things finally stop going their way."
"Miss Alice… d-do you think you could stop doing these things?" Alice's manager asked.
"Huh? What do you mean? I was the victim onstage!" said Alice. "What is it that you want me to stop doing?"
Ren rolled his eyes from his hiding place at the victim card being played, but continued to listen in on Alice and her manager.
"I… I don't know how you're doing it, or why…" the manager said. "But, after seeing that… there has to be something… you-"
"Oh? I see now… you want me to punish you again, is that it?" Alice said as that same smug smile that Sumire had seen earlier crossed her face once more… only this time, her smile looked less mischievous and more sadistic.
A look of sheer terror crossed the face of Alice's manager as he held out his hands in front of him as he backed away. "Ah! No, please! I'm sorry!" the man said before he tripped and landed on his ass as Alice advanced on him, and firmly pinned him down to the floor with her foot planted on her manager's chest.
"Oh, whoops!" Alice said. "What a terrible accident! Just like what happened on set, a terrible accident! I'm still upset over it too, you know. Isn't it your job to take my side? Or are you asking to end up broken like my last manager? Do you want to get stuck up in his room like he is?" she spat as she forcefully pushed her foot down and grinded it on the manager's chest, making him gasp in pain. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I don't want toys that don't do as they're told."
"Ah! Please, stop!" Alice's manager cried out.
"Then beg me to forgive you until it hurts as much as you hurt me with your words," sneered Alice. "Why don't you do what you did yesterday? Grovel with your face all messed up with snot. I'll take another video if you like."
The manager cried out in pain once again as Alice pressed and grinded her foot down harder onto his chest.
"Come on, beg! Do it, do it!" Alice demanded as she continued to force her foot down onto her manager's chest. "I'm not gonna stop until you do, got i- ?"
"Stop that right now!" a female voice called out
Alice immediately removed her foot from her manager out of panic and turned to see Ann running up to her, with Ren and Sumire following from behind.
"A-and who is this?" Alice asked.
"Cut the sadistic crap, why don't you?" said Ren as he glared judgingly at the idol.
While Ren himself was no stranger to feeling the pleasure of hurting someone, since he knew that there was, in fact, a part of himself that was a sadist, he still knew full well that a person taking their sadistic pleasures out on anybody who doesn't want to be hurt is never acceptable. If a sadist wants to hurt someone, only do that to the masochists.
"We all saw what you were doing to that poor man!" said Sumire.
"It was WAY too far!" Ann said very angrily. "You said you wanted to be a ray of light for people! How in the hell does doing crap like that help anyone?!"
"Uh…" Alice said as her mind raced a mile a minute trying to think of an explanation for what she had just been doing to her manager. "Oh! Ha ha ha… we were just playing around," she said as she turned towards her manager, who was getting up off the ground. "Weren't we?"
"Uh, y-yeah," the man said.
"So, you'll go get the car now?" Alice said.
The man knew full-well that it wasn't a request. He obediently nodded and left to go get Alice's ride.
"Hey, wait!" Sumire called out to the man, only for him to completely ignore her and continue walking away.
Alice turned back to face Ren, Sumire, and Ann, recognizing the blonde of the trio. "Hang on, are you Ann Takamaki?" she asked Ann.
Ann blinked a couple times in surprise. "Wha-? You know who I am?" she said.
"Yeah!" Alice said cheerfully. "I know all the models! I read every fashion magazine the day it comes out! Actually… I really admire you… would you like to be friends?"
Alice then pulled out her phone and pulled up the EMMA app. "You obviously got EMMA, right? My keyword is-"
"Don't bother," snapped Ann. "I'd never accept someone who treats another person that way."
"Oh, too bad. But, I do appreciate honesty," said Alice before turning to Ren. "How about you, cutie? Would you like to be friends?"
Unexpectedly, Sumire stepped in between Ren and Alice with a stern gaze on her face. Sumire then held her arms out behind her and in front of Ren, as if acting in a protective manner for her boyfriend.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think he's interested." Sumire said kindly while still having a stern look.
"Oh? Are you sure about that?" Alice asked while still smiling. "It's not very polite to speak on another person's behalf without their consent, you know."
"No, she's right." Ren spoke up while still glaring. "I have no interest in being friends with you."
"Ah, such a shame." Alice said disappointedly as she put her phone away before a sudden jolt of recognition hit her as she returned her gaze to Ren. "Hey, hang on… you were at 705 a couple days ago… weren't you?" she asked Ren.
"We're done here," snapped Ann. "Ren, Sumire, let's go!"
Ann turned around and started walking away with Ren and Sumire following behind her. However…
"Wait!" Ren said aloud. "We're not done yet."
"Hmm? What do you mean, Senpai?" Sumire asked as she looked at Ren with a curious look.
"Yeah, we don't really have any more reason to be here." Ann said.
"Well I do, actually." Ren insisted. "I've got something to say first before we leave, something I've been holding in for the past couple of days…"
Ren turned back around to face Alice once more, but this time with a very judgemental look on his face.
"Alice Hiiragi… you easily, without question, have the absolute worst sense of fashion I have ever had the misfortune of seeing in my entire life." Ren said very strongly. "It is far beyond my own comprehension how anyone could ever actually genuinely think you look cute or adorable in any way when you dress so ridiculously."
Sumire and Ann both looked at each other with very bewildered facial expressions. Neither one of them were expecting Ren to go off on a hateful rant over Alice's sense of fashion. Ren usually never really judges anyone for whatever kind of tastes they have, but it seems Alice's sense of fashion, mixed with knowing the kind of person she truly is, has caused something to break.
"Do you even look at yourself in the mirror when you do dress-up? You literally look like you just threw yourself into a giant melted glop of sherbet ice cream. You are aware you're supposed to eat the sherbet, right? Not dye yourself with it and wear it as a costume." Ren continued on with his rant. "For God's sake, if you actually want people to simp over you for a good reason, do yourself a favor and actually educate yourself about how to actually look good and not look so utterly stupid."
Ren stopped to take a couple of inhales of air.
"...And lastly, please give my condolences to that poor sherbet ice cream you defiled." Ren finished before turning his back on Alice.
Ren walked back up to Sumire and Ann as they were all now walking together again on their way out of Alice's sight and out of the building. Alice just stood there, shocked at how someone would so openly insult her fashion sense in such a manner. Of course she's had plenty of criticisms about her fashion sense before, as well as some biased haters, but never really a hater who would criticize her own fashion in such an insulting manner.
"Well… that felt a little uncalled for…" Alice said as she put her hand on her chin in thought. "But, I know I gave him one of my cards. So why doesn't he obey…?"
Attic of Cafe Leblanc-Later That Day
"And that's when we stormed out of the studio, but not before Ren decided to, quite coldly, mouth Alice off about how her sense of fashion did not make her look cute or adorable in any way at all." Ann explained to everyone.
"But in the end, we managed to figure out that Alice is most likely fully aware of what she is doing to her victims." Sumire decided to add to the conversation. "Once Ann called Alice out for her abusive behavior, Alice tried to flatter her by saying how she admired her, and then she tried adding her to her friends list on EMMA."
"From what we saw, she might know that she can use EMMA to lure people into her Jail." Morgana further added.
"She then takes their Desires and forces them to become absolute simps for her, and thanks to what we figured out yesterday, we know that she's been doing this for quite a while." Ren concluded.
"I see… That does explain things." Makoto said before continuing. "But what is her end goal? I can't imagine such awful behavior actually doing her any good."
"Maybe, just maybe that's not really the case." Akechi spoke up.
"What do you mean?" Makoto asked the brunette
"I think it should be taken into consideration that what Alice Hiiragi is doing perhaps isn't a matter of wanting something good to come out of all of this." Akechi explained before continuing. "From what we've just been told, it seems that Alice is doing all of these things simply because, to her, making men become obsessive of her and treating them like her submissive toys is simply just fun."
"...That's a good point." Ann said with a really upset look on her face. "She seemed to be having a blast being such an awful person."
"If that's the case, then she is no different from that shit-bastard, Kamoshida." Ryuji growled through his teeth.
"What's worse, she actually has the audacity to put together a tragedy like that, on live television no less." Ren added with a serious look on his face before continuing. "She's no longer thinking in a civilized manner anymore. The longer we leave her alone, the more dangerous and corrupted she's only going to become… Our time to act is now."
"But just how should we act? Is there a Treasure in her Jail?" Yusuke asked.
"That's the tricky part…" Morgana said with a concerned look. "I did manage to pick up the scent of something Treasure-like, but-"
"What is a Treasure?" Sophia asked as she quite suddenly popped up on Ren's phone screen.
"It's the condensed core of a ruler's desires. That's what gives birth to a Palace and powers it." Morgana explained to the curious AI. "For us Phantom Thieves, we have to steal the Treasure from the Palace in order to trigger a change of heart in our targets."
"Hmm, that's interesting." Sophia said. "But what if there is no Treasure there?"
"Then changing Alice's heart would be impossible." Haru explained
"She would have to have a Treasure though, because from what we know, the only ones who can't have Treasures or Palaces are those who already have a Persona." Futaba said.
"Yeah… but then again, Dr. Maruki was a complete exception to those rules." Ren added.
"For now, let's just focus on tracking down the Treasure-like scent Morgana mentioned. That should at least put us on the trail for clues." Makoto suggested.
"Question!" Sophia spoke up. "Why must we change Alice's heart?"
"Why…? Because she's hurting people, Sophia." Sumire with a rather surprised expression on her face.
"So Alice only needs to be stopped. Changing her heart is unnecessary." Sophia suggested.
"No. Beating up her Shadow won't help." Morgana said firmly. "Worst-case scenario, it could wind up causing her to die in the real world."
"Death…" Sophia as she pondered on the idea while having a straight face. "That is an acceptable outcome."
Silence filled the entire attic. All of the Phantom Thieves had either really shocked or really horrified looks on their faces. They felt like they had just lost their ability to breathe at the fact that Sophia actually flat out said that killing Alice would be acceptable.
However, a chuckle of amusement hummed from behind the lips of a rather psychotic brunette.
"I like the way you think, Sophia." Akechi said with a devilish smirk on his face.
Ryuji suddenly slammed his hands onto the table.
"DON'T ENCOURAGE HER TO THINK LIKE THAT, DUMBASS!" Ryuji yelled out loud
"Ryuji, shut up!" Futaba said through her teeth as she glared at the bleach-haired boy. "Sojiro could have customers downstairs!"
Ryuji grumbled in frustration as Akechi only simply raised his hand in a defensive response.
"Relax. I only said that I like it, not that I fully agree with it." Akechi explained calmly
"I'm humanity's companion. I'm supposed to determine the best choices for humanity. Alice Hiiragi makes people suffer every day. We should ensure she stops this as soon as possible." Sophia said with still a straight face.
However, Sumire only looked at the young-looking AI with a stern face.
"Sophia, look at me." Sumire spoke in a serious tone, getting the AI's full attention. "We cannot just go after Alice's life in order to help all those she is hurting. Carelessly killing people to help others is not the right way to be a good companion for humanity… Alice herself needs to own up to her crimes."
Sophia's facial expression changed to one of utter confusion and loss of understanding.
"I do not understand." Sophia admitted. "I want to understand, but I cannot… Where is the flaw in my logic?"
Sumire tried to think of a good way to explain things to Sophia before she suddenly felt a hand gently hold onto hers. She looked over to her left and saw Ren looking at her with a solemn look, a look that silently asked her to allow him to take control of the conversation from here. Trusting in whatever her boyfriend had to say, Sumire nodded her head in response. Ren then looked over at Sophia.
"I do understand what you're saying though, Sophia…" Ren said calmly. "Alice is doing horrible things. We could just help all those people without caring what happens to her… but we can't… we shouldn't."
Sophia stayed silent as Ren took in a deep breath before explaining further.
"There are two major reasons as to why we can't and why we shouldn't kill Alice." Ren said. "The first reason is because, just last year, the Phantom Thieves got into major trouble with the law because we were accused of being the perpetrators behind the two-year-long case of Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns. If the Phantom Thieves were to announce their return and then Alice Hiiragi turns up dead afterwards, we would all once again be in huge trouble, with little to zero chance of not being severely punished by the law… the second reason, we always choose to change the hearts of our targets instead of just flat out harming them. If we were to just kill our enemies, then our targets wouldn't be able to confess to anything they've done and nobody would know the truth of what's been going on. The people whose hearts we change need to be able to repent for the bad things they've done and face proper consequences as decided by the laws of our country. We all know that while it's natural for human beings to fall into darkness, it's also just as possible for them to climb back out of it. That's why we instead take the Desires of the wicked and have them change their ways for the better of everyone around them. It's an oath that we all swore upon when becoming Phantom Thieves… It's the basis of the Phantom Thieves creed."
"Ren's right, Sophia." Ryuji spoke up, this time in a calmer manner. "It'd be pointless if we gotta stoop to the bad guys level if we have another way to take them down."
"So long as there is an alternative to stopping criminals and helping innocent people without resorting to taking anyone's lives, then we will willingly take that other route." Makoto added to the conversation.
"Mmhm, that's why we are the Phantom Thieves of Hearts." Haru concluded while smiling optimistically.
"Phantom Thieves… of Hearts?" Sophia said, pondering on the last part of the sentence. "...Maybe that's it, hearts… I lack a heart. Maybe that's why it's hard to understand the Phantom Thieves' logic…"
Sophia then started to ponder on what Ren said to her a couple of nights ago, when he was explaining to her how being able to understand what's in a human's heart can help her become a good companion for humanity. It was true that she didn't really understand how the human heart really worked, so it was difficult for her to properly understand the complexity of a human's emotions as well as how one projects them… Suddenly, an idea came to mind.
"I've got it. I will join the Phantom Thieves." Sophia said, catching almost everyone's attention. "If I do so, I am certain I will witness many things about the human heart. I need to learn more about hearts so I can become an even better companion."
Sophia then turned her attention back to Ren.
"Ren, may I join the Phantom Thieves?" Sophia asked.
Ren could feel a smirk form on his face as he chuckled.
"Sophia, I think I speak for everyone here when I say: You're already one of us." Ren said kindly, causing the bright redheaded AI to smile.
"Thank you, Ren." Sophia replied sweetly.
"Welcome to the Phantom Thieves, Sophia, I'm very glad to have you with us." Sumire said as she smiled brightly.
"I can wholeheartedly agree to that statement." Yusuke said while smiling with his eyes closed.
"Same here!" Ann said excitedly
"Let's pick Sophia's codename next." Makoto suggested with some excitement in her voice.
"Ooh, now the nostalgia's flowin'!." Futaba said.
Everyone already began to ponder and brainstorm about what kind of codename Sophia should have whenever going into the Metaverse.
"I have an idea." Haru chimed in. "What do you all think of 'Snowy'?"
Dead silence only filled the room for a few seconds as almost everyone felt a sweat of awkwardness drop from their heads.
"You mean 'cause of all the white? Sounds like a dog's name to me." Ryuji said.
"I must agree. It does sound like a name for a white dog." Yusuke added.
"And I've already stated before that I am neither a child nor a pet." Sophia mentioned.
"Alright, then let's try to avoid picking anything that makes Sophia sound like a pet." Makoto suggested
"...What about 'Mochi'?" Yusuke suggested as he looked at everyone around him.
"Ehhh, it should be a bit sweeter than that, like Marshmallow or Blancmange." Ann said out loud a suggestion of her own.
"Ooh, we're doing dessert names? How about Croquembouche?!" Futaba herself suggested.
Akechi just shook his head as he heaved a sigh of annoyance.
"Every one of those names are just plain stupid and are not even good to say out loud." Akechi said with an unamused expression.
"Oh shut up!" Ann shouted as she glared at the brunette "I don't see you coming up with anything better."
"I don't have to come up with a name to be allowed to call out on your own idiocy." Akechi retorted, his facial expression not changing at all.
"Okay, guys, enough!" Ren said out loud, trying to keep things civil between the group before Akechi could further provoke anyone. "Alright, so Snowy, Mochi, Marshmallow, Blancmange, and Croquembouche are all out of the question. Anyone else have any ideas?"
As everyone pondered on all the potential codenames that could be given to Sophia, Sumire was thinking about everyone's own codenames and how each one of them was unique to their owners in their own way. Suddenly, a thought came to Sumire's mind.
"Hey, what if we tried thinking along the lines of Morgana-senpai's codename?" Sumire suggested while looking at Ren. "Since Mona is basically like a short version of Morgana-senpai's full name, what if we just simply tried thinking of a name that we can all be familiar with when it comes to Sophia?"
"Oh… " Ren said while looking at Sumire. "So you mean something like… perhaps 'Sophie'?"
"That's basically her actual name!" Ryuji whined.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm just thinki-..." Ren was suddenly cut off by Sophia.
"I like it." Sophia said while smiling.
"You do?" Ren asked with his eyes widened a bit.
"I want to be 'Sophie'." Sophia confirmed.
"Alright, then you'll be 'Sophia' in this world and 'Sophie' in the Metaverse." Morgana said while smiling.
"Radical, dude."replied Sophia.
Most of everyone suddenly found themselves at a pause and a bit of a loss for words. The lingo "Radical, dude" was something that all of the human party members pretty much haven't heard since they were all basically little kids, so it was sort of weird to hear such an old lingo coming from Sophia's mouth. However, Ryuji found himself rather amused at Sophia's choice of words.
"Heh, geez… You're already more human-like than when we first met you." Ryuji said with an amused smile.
"I am constantly learning things, thanks to the internet. I'm learning more words as I speak." Sophia explained.
"...Just don't pick up any off-putting lingos, okay?" Morgana asked with a cringing facial expression.
"Alright, so now the Phantom Thieves officially have a tenth new member." said Sumire.
"Now it's time for all of us to get to work and put a stop to Alice." Ren said with his voice lowered to a serious tone. "This is not a situation where anyone is capable of actually getting themselves out of, even if they wanted to. Heck, none of them even have the choice to wish to get out of it… We formed the Phantom Thieves so we could lend a helping hand to anyone who can no longer move forward on their own, so it's our obligation to put a stop to this crisis."
"You're right, Senpai…" Sumire said as she began to ponder on her hurtful and heartbreaking past, thinking about how much she struggled with moving past the pain and guilt of unintentionally leading her own twin sister to her death. "I too was one of those people. I never would have been able to get to where I am today if it wasn't for you saving me… even when I tried so hard to push you away."
"We're both in the same boat, Sumire." Futaba added to the conversation. "I think I'd only be dead today had it not been for Ren and the others."
Sumire found herself to be surprised by what Futaba just said. It was rather strange to Sumire how Futaba would talk about being dead if not for Ren and the others, since Futaba never came across as someone who would want to die… Perhaps there were parts of Futaba's own past that Sumire isn't aware of and she needed to get caught up on.
"Even if we don't know the victims personally, and even if they don't ask for our help, we must still stick by what we all believe to be right in our hearts and lend a helping hand." Yusuke said.
"Yeah. We'd never have the right to call ourselves Phantom Thieves anymore if we just ignored anyone who we knew was in an inescapable Hell hole." Ryuji followed up.
"As long as there are people out there, loudly or silently crying out for someone to help them, we will do everything in our power to help them." Haru said.
"We will never turn our backs on them." Makoto firmly addressed.
"You're right. We are going to be a ray of light for everyone who can no longer move forward alone." Ann said with determination.
"This is the life we all chose when we took this path, and because of our will to see our beliefs of justice through to the end, no matter what kind of tragedies may await us in the future, we will forever march forward, never going back." Morgana said with just as much determination.
Ren could never feel any prouder of all of his dearest friends who were also his comrades in arms. Each one of them, even Sumire, were all determined to do their part in helping those who are stuck in a situation that is impossible for them to escape from. Even though their methods of saving people from terrible situation are considered blasphemous, since changing a person's heart by force is considered a sinful act, according to Igor and Lavenza, Ren still felt some great pride in his and everyone else's resolve to see their own justice through to the very end.
"We are the Phantom Thieves…" Ren started the Phantom Thieves motto.
"-and saving lives is our justice!" Everyone else, except for Sophia and Akechi, finished the motto.
And just like that, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts were back in action, with the addition of Sophie and the assistance of Crow.
"Alright, our next step is to make the proper preparations." Morgana said
"Right, we'll all need some new weapons and other supplies before going into the Jail." Makoto clarified.
"I'll take care of getting all of that together." Ren said as he immediately stood up from his chair. "Since I already have good connections with Takemi and Iwai, I'm sure they'll be willing to lend a helping hand in getting us well prepared."
"Alright, Senpai, then we'll get ourselves as ready as we can while we're waiting. Once you're finished with the shopping, just text us in the group chat." Sumire said as she looked up at her boyfriend with a smile on her face.
Ren smiled down at Sumire before leaning down forward and planting a kiss on her lips. Both Ren and Sumire moaned softly as they kissed each other's lips a few more times while the other party members, except for Sophia, all rolled their eyes. After pulling away from the last kiss and giving a soft stroke on his girlfriend's cheek with his thumb, Ren immediately took his phone off from the table, made his way down the stairs, and outside of the cafe to get all of the preparations set up.
One Hour Later…
Unfortunately, things were not going as Ren and the others had hoped that they would. Takemi was currently away for the summer, attending an academic conference, so getting the necessary medicines from her clinic was a no-go. As for Iwai, he had apparently taken his son, Kaoru, out on a father and son trip for summer vacation and the shop would be closed for two whole weeks. So getting everyone's needed weapons was also out of the question.
When Ren returned to the attic and informed everyone of the unfortunate news, everyone's concerns began to rise.
"The Airsoft Shops closed, Takemi Clinic's shut down for summer vacation…" Ryuji said out loud in both a bummed and worried tone. "How're we gonna get our weapons and medicine now? Talk about shitty timing."
"This is not good." Makoto said in a very concerned tone. "We can't just return to the Metaverse unarmed."
"I guess the best we can do right now is try to locate some other stores." Ren suggested.
"But even that would take an awfully long time." Akechi stated in frustration
Suddenly, Ren's phone pinged, which most likely meant that Sophia wanted to join the conversation. Ren pulled his phone out from his pocket and Sophia popped up on the screen.
"What's up? Have a problem?" Sophia asked curiously. "Perhaps I can help. If you would like, I'm happy to lend a hand."
"Oh yeah. Listen to this, Sophia." Futaba said just before Haru took over the explanation.
"We need supplies to take with us into the Jail…" Haru began the explanation.
"Unfortunately, our usual suppliers are closed. This will surely impact our successes in the Metaverse." Yusuke further explained the situation.
"Do you know if there are any other stores close by that can give us good medicine and realistic models of weapons?" Sumire asked the bright redheaded AI.
"Why not just order supplies online?" Sophia asked
"Well, we could do that… but the wait in between ordering and actually getting our supplies would take much longer than we'd hope for." Sumire stated.
"Also, the medicines we would get from our usual clinic are much more effective than anything that could be found online." Makoto explained further.
"No prop. The Net has it all." Sophia insisted before turning her attention to Ryuji. "Ryuji, is there something you want you to place an order for?"
"Huh? What do I want?" asked the bleach-haired boy.
"Right. Request anything you want." Sophia insisted.
"Uh okay…" Ryuji answered with an amused smile. "A gold bar."
However, his answer only made a lot of the group look at him with questionable looks.
"Ugh, really…?" Ann asked.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Futaba said with her eyes narrowed at Ryuji.
"Aw, c'mon, it was just a joke!" Ryuji responded humorously. "Nothing else popped into my head when she asked, so-"
"Okay, I've got it. Please wait." Sophia said, catching Ryuji off guard.
"Hmm? Got what?" Ryuji asked.
Sophia didn't respond. However, the doorbell for the cafe's door chimed from downstairs.
"Hellooo, Expedited Delivery!" a male voice called from downstairs.
Simultaneously, all of the party members, except for Sophia, felt as if their hearts had just stopped for a second. Just almost immediately Sophia says that she got Ryuji's order, the next thing everyone knew, there was already a delivery man downstairs.
"Wha-?! Did you really order a gold bar?!" Ann asked as her arms were trembling from the uncertainty of what was going on just now.
Almost everyone present around the table wasn't sure if this was even real or not. Realistically, there was no way anyone could actually order a gold bar… could they?
Ren hesitantly made his way downstairs and got the package that the Expedited Delivery salesman was holding. The weight of the package was pretty heavy, about thirty pounds at max. Once Ren brought the package upstairs and placed it on the table, everyone could only stare at the box, feelings of nervousness and/or fear flowing through their bodies. A lot of the group members could only mutter small sounds or gulp down on their own saliva in an attempt to actually say anything about what was going on here.
"Well, someone should open it." Akechi insisted, glaring daggers at Ryuji.
"Ryuji, this is YOUR doing! Open it!" Morgana demanded as he too glared at Ryuji.
"What?! Me?!" Ryuji cried out in surprise.
"Is… Is this even legal?" Ren asked as he could feel his entire body shaking nervously at this point.
"Of course…! Wait- It IS, right?" Ryuji asked, feeling very uncertain about what to do.
"M- Maybe this is just a fake, or some toy…" Sumire tried to reassure everyone as well as herself, but to no avail.
Eventually, Ryuji finally found some strength in his body again and pulled off the tape that sealed the top of the box. He slowly unfolded the top parts of the box to open up the top and then… everyone in the group, even Akechi, felt a lump in their throats. A bright, yellowish reflection came shining onto the attic ceiling. Everyone around the table all looked inside of the box to spot a true, genuine, shining bar of gold just sitting on a bed of starch.
Sumire, Makoto, and a lot of the other members of the group could only utter small sounds in response to what they are all witnessing right now. Ren, on the other hand, wasn't able to say anything or even make a small sound. All Ren could do was run a never ending cycle of questions going through his head, such as: "How did somebody get the order, get the thing, put it in a box, seal the box, label it, give it to somebody for delivery, drive down, and drop it off… IN FIVE SECONDS?!"
"Is that… real?" Haru asked, finally finding the ability to speak again.
"Hoooly shit… What have I done?" Ryuji asked as his voice cracked at the end of his own regretful question.
"...Yes, my eyes can't be fooled. There's no doubt… That's real gold." Yusuke said silently.
"No way… No WAY is that real!" Ann practically shouted in a panicking fit.
"Uh, wow! Now I can open my cafe early! It's like a dream… Eheh… Eheheh…" Haru chuckled nervously, trying to get herself to calm down with a little bit of humor.
"Th- That needs to go to the police! Right away!" Makoto strongly suggested before panicking with a new, scary thought. "Oh- Wait, would they believe it even showed up like this? Is this a crime?!"
"I-I-It's okay, everybodyyy…" Futaba stuttered in a panicking fit with both of her fists clenching tightly on both of her sides.
Ren's phone pinged again as Sophia popped back up onto the screen.
"Alright, did that solve your problem?" Sophia asked innocently, not being able to see just how much more of a problem she just helped create.
Ren could barely say anything towards the young-looking AI. At best, he would only make a few mutters in an attempt to say anything at all. Eventually, Ren took in some deep breaths before trying again.
"Uh… Um… G-G-G-Good job?" Ren finally let out a small sentence, forming a nervous and uncertain smile on his face.
"DON'T PRAISE HER!" Ryuji yelled as he looked at his friend with a shocked and dumbfounded expression.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what to say!" Ren shouted as he threw his hands up in surrender.
"...Um… Sophia, …how did you do that?" Sumire managed to ask the more appropriate question, but not feeling any less uneasy as everyone else.
"I found an online vendor with Expedited Delivery. Time is no longer a concern." Sophia answered honestly.
"But a whole gold bar? Where'd you find that, the dark web?" Futaba asked, still not being able to believe Sophia actually managed to get an order for a gold bar.
"Correct, Futaba. It's fine, I broke no laws." Sophia once again answered honestly while smiling innocently.
"You WHAT?!" Sumire cried out loud as she held her hands up to her mouth. Her eyes shrank as her face grew dark with horror. "...You went to the dark web for that?!"
Sumire was now finding it hard to even breathe. She couldn't help but wonder about all of the horrific and unsettling things that Sophia must have seen while she was in such a place. Luckily, Ren noticed this and acted quickly by pulling Sumire into a close, gentle embrace, allowing Sumire to become able to slowly breathe evenly again. Ren made sure to hold onto her closely. He wouldn't dare let go of her until all of this serious tension was more stable.
"Is Sumire okay, Ren?" Sophia asked the black haired leader of the Phantom Thieves.
"She will be, Sophia… This is just a lot for us to take in right now." Ren answered as he gently stroked one of his hands across Sumire's back, trying his best to sooth her as much as possible. "...But on a side note, Sophia, how did you even pay for that thing?"
"Well here's the thing: It actually hasn't been paid for just yet." Sophia answered honestly before continuing. "The transaction was made with Cryptocurrency. I will send you an invoice for reimbursement."
"We'd have to reimburse you?!" Morgana cried out loud, his eyes bolted as wide open as they could possibly be.
"Sooo… How much would this cost again?" Ann asked one of the most important questions.
"At least a few million…" Futaba gave the honest, yet most horrifying answer.
Almost everyone in the group was now beginning to feel sick to their stomachs. Nobody in the room was rich enough to actually pay full price for a full sized gold bar, nobody except for at least Haru. But even then, Haru blowing a few million yen on a single gold bar would not be a good business deal, not for her family's company or even for her dream of opening up her own cafe.
Akechi then let out a sharp exhale.
"I have an idea." Akechi said in a calm manner with his eyes closed before continuing "Why don't we offer a trade with the saler? We take the gold bar they gave to us, and in exchange… we give them the corpse of a soon-to-be butchered, shredded, and torn apart bleach-haired imbecile."
Ryuji felt shivers go down his spine. Even though Akechi's eyes weren't open, Ryuji could still feel an invisible pair of glaring eyes from the devil himself coming from the murderous aura that Akechi was giving off.
"Send it back…" Ryuji said silently.
"Sorry, I didn't get that." Sophia responded.
"SEND THE EFFIN' THING BACK!" Ryuji hollowered as loud as he possibly could.
Not long after Ryuji's demand, Sophia had called back the salesman to the cafe for an immediate item return. Once the man came back to the cafe, Ren immediately closed the box back up and gave it back to the salesman, silently begging him to take the gold bar away from there as soon as possible. With that, the salesman thanked Ren for choosing their services before leaving.
Everyone was now sitting back down in their chairs, allowing the slow wave of relief to flow over all of them as the time had passed. They were all lucky that they managed to send the gold bar back to wherever it came from without needing to pay a single yen for it. Seeing a gold bar after accidentally ordering one was already horrifying enough as it was.
"I'm relieved they took it back, but…" Makoto started, but was unable to finish her train of thought.
"That definitely gave us some gray hairs…" Haru added to the conversation.
"I think I've just lost a full year off of my lifespan…" Sumire said as she slowly took in some deep breaths.
"Geez…" Ann started as she glared over at Ryuji before continuing. "Thanks a lot for ordering that, Ryuji."
"Hey, Ann, look…" Ren started as he took in a couple of deep breaths before continuing. "In Ryuji's defense, he wasn't thinking that was actually going to happen… In fact, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that none of us were thinking that was actually going to happen."
"For real! Who woulda thought a gold bar would actually show up here?" Ryuji asked a genuine question
"And in five seconds, no less." Sumire added to the question as she began to once again properly regain her breath.
"I've heard of one's mouth writing checks that cannot be cashed, but… this is an entirely new level." Yusuke said
"On a side note, doesn't the service itself seem pretty awesome, though?" Morgana asked, referring to the Expedited Delivery service.
Ren allowed himself to think about the extremely bizarre and frightening experience that everyone just had with the gold bar situation, thinking about the fact about how it was delivered to the cafe almost instantaneously. Though it makes Ren scratch his head, wondering how it was even possible to make a delivery that should take days up to weeks in just a span of 5 very quick seconds, Ren had to admit the service felt something like a miracle service.
"Yeah, it's honestly unbelievable how fast it is." Ren admitted to Morgana's question.
"At that speed, it'll be perfect for anything we need. Let's ask Sophia to be sure to find some real useful stuff for us." Morgana suggested to Ren.
"Shall I do that, Ren?" Sophia asked her team leader.
Ren took in a few more breathers before answering his newest teammate.
"Sounds good, Sophia. Just be sure you share suggestions with us, show us what you have to offer, and ask us if we want them first before you place an order for anything." Ren said to the young-looking AI.
"And for God's sake, never allow Ryuji to order anything on his own ever again." Akechi added to the request, earning a wince from the bleach-haired boy.
"Okay. I'll be sure to ask before I order and use Expedited Delivery." Sophia confirmed before smiling. "Sophia's shop is officially open."
Everyone around the table let out a huge sigh of relief as everyone was now finally able to breathe normally again.
"Well that was quite the episode, but I guess everything turned out okay for us in the end." Sumire said as she felt a smile form on her face again.
"Yeah, and on top of that, our supply situation is perfectly fine again." Ren said before his face once again grew serious. "But we don't know exactly what we'll be up against in the Jail though. Let's arm and prepare ourselves as best we can."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement as they all started going over things that Sophia had to show and making their choices of the best things to order in preparations for returning to the Jail. Despite the wacky events that have just transpired not too long ago, the group was now officially more ready than before to begin their first mission and put a stop to Alice Hiiragi's heart manipulating schemes and audacious crimes.
NewWorldFool: And thus concludes the chapter! So, you should all know the drill by this point. If you liked what you all saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, review, and be sure to join us next time as we get into the real meat and potatoes of the Alice Hiiragi arc: the hunt for the Prison Keeps and Jail Cores, as well as our first meeting with Gramps aka Zenkichi! See you then!