NewWorldFool: Hello, everybody, NewWorldFool and CloudStrife07 here, coming at ya with another new chapter of The Royal Strikers! But, before we start, if you have optical receptors of the functioning variety, you may have noticed that we have some shiny new cover art, courtesy of DarkRose–Chan, a fellow fan of Sumire and Akechi, so big thank you to her for that. Be sure to go check out her own project, Persona 5: Infinity, which is currently on hiatus and undergoing revisions, but what's there right now is awesome. You can find it on either Ao3 or Wattpad.
Also, I would like to apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out to you guys. The delay was mostly on my end. You see, I was getting ready to move into my new apartment and I needed to get everything set up and taken care of for my big move. But, now, everything should be settled down, so now I can focus on this thing once again.
CloudStrife07: As for me, I have been mainly focusing on working on and completing my math course for the second semester of my first year back to college. Also, I (admittedly) have been addicted to playing Persona Q for the past couple of months (I've played the P3 side of the game). And almost immediately after beating the P3 side of the game, like the next night, I unexpectedly came down with a cold that took a few days for me to recover from. But now that I'm healthy again and have no more distractions, I can better focus on the story.
NewWorldFool: Also, I would like to point out that pestering us over ideas in the reviews and comments will make us LESS likely to use them. Additionally, telling us to hurry up and update the story won't make us get the chapter out any faster, and might just result in delaying the release. Well, I don't think there's anything else to go over, so on that note, let us start the game!
Chapter Seven
Down The Rabbit Hole
The Jail of Lust-Entry Point
"All right! Let us commence the operation!" Joker said as he tugged on one of his gloves before turning to face his comrades. "We'll all just try doing the same old song and dance as before. Scout out the area, secure the route to the Treasure, send a calling card the next day, steal the Treasure, send the Shadow back to the target's real self by whatever means necessary, and then we yeet ourselves out of here as the place self-destructs… If we find out that this Jail is in any way different from our experiences in the Palaces, then we'll adjust our plans accordingly."
"Hold on! Shouldn't we be designating who's on the frontlines and who will follow from behind?" asked Mona.
"The Shadows are coming in far greater numbers than they did in the Palaces and Mementos. Odds are, even the backup members are going to be doing some fighting." Joker explained. "So I believe that sticking together as a bigger group is probably a safer bet, even if it makes it a bit easier for us to be detected by enemies."
"Hmm… Well, you're the leader, so if you think tackling this Jail as a single large group is the right call, I won't argue." said Mona.
"In any case, Mona, where did you say you were picking up that Treasure-like scent?" Queen asked
"I remember sensing something Treasure-like over that way, towards 705." Mona answered, pointing his paw towards the distorted, castle-like version of the 705 building.
"That's where you were taken when they captured you, right, Senpai?" asked Violet.
"Yeah, it was." replied Joker as he narrowed his eyes from behind his mask.
"Just thinkin' about it just pissess me off," said Skull. "That piece o' shit was so full of herself…"
"So, Alice is there now, huh?" said Panther.
"Most likely. After all, if the Treasure-like thing that Mona sensed is over there, then there's a good chance that Shadow Alice is there as well," reasoned Joker.
"You know, 705 does sort of look like a castle from here," said Noir.
"A castle ruled by a Monarch…" mused Fox. "I admit, it's rather fitting."
"And it'll make kicking her off of her little throne and then forcing her to scream so much more pleasing." Crow said with a sinister cackle.
"We are not killing Alice!" Panther snapped at Crow while glaring at him.
"I didn't say I was going to kill her, you deaf imbecile," Crow said with a snarl. "I said I'm going to make her scream."
"So, we're headin' to the castle?" asked Oracle.
"Yeah, that sounds good," said Mona. "This Jail is crawling with Shadows, though. Watch your backs out there."
"Okay," said Sophie. "I'll 'watch your backs out there.'"
Oracle chuckled. "Sophie's inaugural heist as a phantom thief! This'll be great!"
"Remember, everyone, we don't know what kind of opposition we'll face, so we need to proceed with caution," said Queen
"All right." Joker said. "Now, let's get a move o-!"
Joker suddenly heard something that he thought to be like a very brief, yet loud clang of shackles, causing him to come to a complete pause. This noise, however, was something that felt very familiar for Joker.
"Trickster…" a familiar voice came from the left side of Joker's view.
Joker looked over to his left and noticed Lavenza standing right in front of what looked like a blue, transparent, misty projection of a cell door. Joker walked up to the little lady in blue.
"Please come inside." Lavenza requested as the cell door opened up behind her.
"Joker-Senpai?" Violet's voice came from behind.
Joker turned around to look at his teammates, who were all giving him a look of either confusion or concern, or even a mix of both.
"Just give me a minute, guys," Joker said as he held up an index finger. "I need to talk with Lavenza for a short while."
"Huh? Lady Lavenza is here?" Mona asked.
"Yeah… Can you guys not see her?" Joker asked as he tried holding out his hand to show Lavenza to everyone.
"Joker… there's nobody there." Oracle said with her head tilted to the side.
Joker cocked his eyebrow in confusion as he began to continuously look back and forth from Lavenza to his group. How could none of them be able to see Lavenza when she was clearly standing right beside him? Joker's teammates were all either tilting their heads in confusion or looking at their leader with looks of concern.
"They are unable to see nor hear me, because the matters I have to discuss only involve you." Lavenza explained to her Trickster. "But that aside, we must hurry into the Velvet Room."
Joker heaved a sigh as he looked back at his group.
"Just hang on for a few minutes, okay? This won't be long." Joker said to the team as he turned around to face the opened door.
Joker walked into the door with Lavenza following from behind him as the door closed from behind. The other side of the door was nothing but a dark blue void, which started to fade into black, causing Joker to feel drowsy and eventually lose consciousness despite still walking on forward.
The Velvet Room
By the time Ren came to, he was already back within his prison cell, wearing his worn-out and dirty prisoner's clothes. Lavenza was also standing on the other side of the cell door, with a very concerned look on her face.
"The gears of fate turn yet again, bringing you close to calamity once more." Lavenza said in a fearful tone. "While your hope may be the smallest of seeds now, and its true power unknown…"
Lavenza's facial expression changed to one that looked more reassuring and positive.
"By nurturing the possibilities within you, this seed shall sprout and become your strength against calamity." Lavenza said as she then began to open up the giant book that she had been carrying under her arm. "Now, I shall act in my master's stead and watch over you through your journey. Due to my master's absence, I will help you perform the Persona execution rituals with my own personal fusion equipment."
"Fusions?" Ren asked with an eyebrow raised "Hold on, do I really need to perform more fusions? I thought I had already completely filled out the Persona compendium back in January."
Lavenza's face once again changed back to a look of concern and even sadness.
"...I'm afraid I know not of how to explain this to you, so I'll just say it plainly." Lavenza began. "It seems that by whatever force of nature, one that I am afraid I cannot explain… you have unfortunately lost possession to all of the Personas that you have registered before."
Ren's eyes bolted wide open in disbelief. He felt his body leaning forward as he grabbed onto the bars of his cell door.
"Are you kidding me?!" Ren practically shouted in disbelief "You're telling me that after all that hard work of gathering Personas, and the hours I put into doing fusions to make Personas that I couldn't even get beforehand… You're telling me that I have to start from scratch all over again?!"
"Worry not, Trickster." said Lavenza with a reassuring look. "You already have the knowledge of how to properly perform fusions and, quite fortunately for you, I have chosen to reduce the number of needed Personas for this new compendium. Instead of gathering or fusing two-hundred and five Personas, I will only require that you gather or fuse sixty-five."
Upon hearing what Lavenza had to say, Ren felt a huge wave of relief sweep over him. While it still majorly sucked that Ren had lost all of those Personas that he had spent nearly a full year gathering or fusing to complete the compendium, it was certainly a huge weight off of his shoulders, knowing that Lavenza has removed a total of a hundred and forty Personas for this new compendium in comparison to the last one.
"Though you are unfortunately unable to harness some of the Personas you once harbored within you, this journey is sure to once again draw out your true potential should you make the most of your meetings." Lavenza continued.
"My meetings?" Ren asked in confusion.
Lavenza then giggled in amusement.
"Soon you will understand what I mean." Lavenza said.
Suddenly, the table where Igor usually sat vanished and a pair of two large Iron Maidens materialized to the sides of the room.
"Now, with that addressed, let us turn at once to Persona fusion." Lavenza proclaimed
Almost instantly, Ren felt his Persona mask appear on his face. Slowly, the mask moved away from his face and floated through the bars of his cell door and into the middle of the room. As the mask stopped moving, the mask then began to multiply into three separate masks, which all floated into three separate positions in the room.
The masks began to take shape into the three Personas that Ren had been carrying ever since he escaped from the Jail the first time he re-entered the Metaverse. In the middle, Arsene appeared in the middle of the room while Pixie appeared on the left side and Jack-o'-Lantern appeared on the right.
"Choose which Personas you'd like to fuse." Lavenza instructed.
Between the three Personas that Ren currently had in his possession, the choice of which ones to fuse was pretty easy. Naturally, since his journey as a Phantom Thief began, Ren had always been holding onto Arsene while fusing his other Personas. Ren did this because he always believed since Arsene is the true manifestation of his soul, it'd be wrong to get rid of him just to make another Persona. So Ren always made sure to continue training Arsene to be as strong and powerful as he possibly could, teach new skills and techniques to Arsene, and strengthen Arsene as much as possible by sacrificing other powerful Personas to the nuse.
"Pixie and Jack-o'-Lantern." Ren answered.
"I see." Lavenza responded as she opened up her Compendium book and looked through some of the pages. "With the fusion of these two Personas, you'll be able to bring forth Bicorn. You should also be able to give it a new skill with its power enhancement upon fusion."
"What are the options?" Ren asked.
"Bicorn already has Lunge and Garu skills, but your options for a new skill are Agi, Rakunda, and Dia." Lavenza explained.
Ren silently pondered at his choices for which new skill to give to Bicorn. An Agi skill would be good if he wanted to let Bicorn have a variety of elemental skills, and Dia would allow for Ren to keep himself and his teammates on their toes. But then again, Ann herself already brings the most literal firepower to the battlefield and there are already plenty of healers on the team. Plus, Rakunda would allow Ren to weaken a set of Shadows so the team won't take as much damage, which would be very beneficial.
"I choose the Rakunda skill." Ren answered
"Then let it be born anew." Lavenza said as Arsene morphed back into a domino mask and slowly floated its way back onto Ren's phase before disappearing.
With Pixie and Jack-o'-Lantern still floating in the middle of the room, Lavenza quickly got to work as she threw a large, velvet-colored blanket over each of the Personas before tying them up with steel chains. The Iron Maidens slowly opened up, revealing the insides to be covered with razor-sharp, pointy spikes. Lavenza lured the covered and tied-up Personas to the Iron Maidens, one Persona in each one. Once they were inside, Ren decided to immediately close his eyes. Despite the fact that he had been fusing Personas for well over a year, he never got used to the gruesome method of making it happen.
The Iron Maiden's eyes opened up and glowed a bright cyan blue light, just before the doors quickly closed, the spikes inside quickly piercing, puncturing, and instantly killing the Personas inside. The mouths of the Iron Maidens then opened up, and cyan blue rays of light came shining through the mouths as well as the eyes. The lights began to merge with one another and the fused light got brighter and brighter until a flash of light filled the entire room. As the light died down, Ren opened his eyes back up and they beheld the brand new Persona that stood on its own four legs in the middle of the room.
"I am Bicorn." The Persona spoke. "Impure motives are what grant me strength. Here, take care of this mask for me."
With that said, Bicorn morphed into a domino mask and slowly floated its way onto Ren's face and disappeared.
"Well done, Trickster. You've obtained a new Persona." Lavenza said with a soft smile. "Remember, when fusing new Personas, they will be immediately registered into the Compendium. You can also summon Personas you have already registered before, whenever you wish."
"Thank you, Lavenza." Ren responded with a smile of his own. "Alright, I need to get back to the others."
"May luck be on your side." Lavenza said. "Whenever you feel the need for more, come visit me at any time. Until then, farewell."
With that said, Ren turned around and faced the back wall of his cell. Ren slowly walked towards the wall and everything started to once again fade into black, causing Ren to once again feel drowsy and eventually lose consciousness.
The Jail of Lust-Entry Point
As light and color came back into view, Joker found himself wearing his usual Phantom Thief attire again and realized that he was back at the entry point of the Jail, where all of his teammates were looking at him with looks of either relief or concern.
"Joker, are you okay?" Mona asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Joker responded. "Don't worry, everyone, just had some business to take care of."
"What kinda business?" Skull asked
"Not much, just a quick Persona fusion." Joker explained. "It should definitely give us an edge in fighting the Shadows."
"Huh? I thought you finished filling out the Compendium." Mona said with a confused look on his face.
"Persona fusion? Compendium?" Violet asked with her eyebrows slightly raised from behind her mask. "What are you guys talking about?"
"We'll explain that later, Violet." Joker reassured his love. "But for now, it's time to get a move on."
Joker launched himself over the railing and landed on the street below, his teammates following suit, save for Oracle, who summoned Necronomicon and was pulled into the UFO-like Persona by its tentacles and darted away to a safe distance, hacking into the Metaverse as the others made their way towards the 705 building.
Maruku City-A Short While Later
As it turned out, getting into the castle was easier said than done. As per the norm of Phantom Thievery, waltzing through the front door was out of the question. However, that didn't necessarily mean getting in via an alternate route was any easier, especially considering that there were automated sentry guns stationed at the only other route into Shadow Alice's citadel, forcing the Phantom Thieves and Crow to have to disable the power source to the turrets, located in Maruku City.
When the Phantom Thieves arrived in Maruku City, however, they discovered that the area the power source was in was surrounded by a wall that seemed virtually impenetrable, even more so since most of the Thieves had left the Grappling Hooks that Mona made for all of them back at their houses, mainly due to having been under the assumption that their adventures in the Metaverse were over. So, after scoping out the section of Maruku City that was walled off from a high vantage point, the Phantom Thieves decided to try breaching the gate by popping up from the underground waterways that Shadow Alice had dumped Joker, Skull, Mona, and Crow down a couple days prior.
One trek through the sewers and a few run-ins with Shadow Alice's minions later, the Phantom Thieves now stood before the tower that apparently housed the power source for the turrets blocking their progress into Alice's citadel. However, when they got there the Phantom Thieves' attention was drawn away from the tower and towards what was surrounding it.
"Hey, what's going on here?" asked Skull as he and the others looked around the area.
"Are these jail cells?" asked Violet, a serious look on her face.
"Look at all the prisoners!" cried Noir.
Indeed, surrounding the tower that contained the power supply for the sentry guns blocking the Phantom Thieves were a large number of prison cells that, now that Joker got a good look at them, bore a strong resemblance to the prison cells that were found in Yaldabaoth's Prison of Regression, each one containing what closer inspection revealed to be someone's Shadow. Most of the prisoners were male, and seemed to be in some sort of trance, worshiping Alice as if she were some goddess or something.
"Are these the people whose Desires were taken?" Queen mused aloud.
"Well, considering the fact that literally everyone is simping for Alice I think it's a pretty safe bet that we've found where they're being kept." said Joker.
"Joker's right. I'm seeing some familiar faces from yesterday." said Mona. "There's no doubt these are the same people."
"So, we've discovered where their Shadows are being held…" said Fox.
"We have to rescue them!" said Panther.
Crow scoffed. "Don't be so stupid. What would letting them out of their cells accomplish?" he said.
"Crow's right. Considering their behavior, letting them out of their cells right now wouldn't help. Worst case scenario, they could turn on us and attack." said Mona.
"If they've lost their minds and had their Desires stolen, then they'll need them returned first." said Fox.
"Shit… how could someone do this to people?" seethed Skull.
Crow scoffed. "Well, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black…" he said.
"That aside, Skull… need I remind you that we've already dealt with several people who are, arguably, just as bad as Alice by this point?" said Joker.
As soon as Joker finished, a large horde of Shadows materialized from the ground in front of the Phantom Thieves. "Where'd you come from?!" one of the Shadows demanded.
"Uh, the entrance." replied Joker as he pulled his knife out of his coat sleeve while everyone else readied their weapons. "Come on, everyone! Let's take 'em down!"
Before the combined might of all ten members of the Phantom Thieves, as well as Crow, the first wave of Shadows crumbled like a house of cards.
"There's more on the way!" called Skull as more Shadows materialized into the area. "Don't let up, people!"
Catching sight of a large decoration shaped like a piece of candy, Joker used the Phantom Dash ability that was innate to all his comrades to dart up to the candy piece and severed the ropes attaching it to a set of balloons, dropping it on top of a number of Shadows, defeating some of them while knocking some to the ground, which Joker proceeded to finish off by slicing and dicing through them with his knife, as well as by summoning Arsène, Bicorn, and even a couple more that he had picked up enroute to Maruku City, Silky and Cait Sith.
"Great!" Oracle said after the last Shadow dissipated into nothingness. "Now the tower is all that's left! Lift those knees up, one, two! One, two!"
"Roger that, Oracle." said Joker as he led the charge up the spiral staircase that led to the top of the tower, where the Phantom Thieves and Crow found a small glowing orb waiting for them.
"Oh yeah! Made it!" cheered Skull.
"Nice work, everybody!" said Joker. "Now, let's check out that glowing orb."
As they approached, the Phantom Thieves and Crow were surprised to find that the glowing orb was in fact a dress that looked like it was ripped straight out of Alice In Wonderland.
"So, that was the searchlights' power source?" inquired Fox.
"Is that… a dress?" inquired Violet. "It's actually rather cute, I must admit…"
"Wait a minute, I've seen this before…" said Panther. "Yes, this is a dress in Alice's lineup. I recognize it from a fashion magazine."
"Wait, that dress made the searchlights move and made those turrets shoot at anything that got too close? Howzat make any sense?" asked Skull.
"Well, we're in the cognitive world." reasoned Queen. "Maybe that dress holds some sort of power here?"
"Hmm… perhaps this isn't merely the searchlights power source…" said Crow. "Perhaps this is actually Alice's own power source."
Joker smirked. "Funny you mention that, Crow. I was thinking the same thing." he said.
"Ah, I see…" said Mona. "This could represent the power of a Monarch! One could say that Alice's brand is what allowed her to become what she is today. Proof of her dominance here! And this core must be the power source for the Jail's equipment!"
"Well, now that we have it, the searchlights should be off, right?" said Noir.
"Eh, looks like two of them are still up and running. They must have their own Cores powerin' em." said Oracle, tracking the Jail's data through her goggles. "Let me see here… bingo! The first one is east of here… real world location wise… I'd say around Miyamae Park."
Skull groaned. "What a pain in the ass!" he complained before heaving a sigh. "Well, let's get it over with."
As they began to depart from the tower, Noir spoke up. "I wonder if the other cores are in jail cell-covered towers like this one," she wondered aloud.
Fox hummed. "Some form of short-hand reference would be more convenient… how does 'Incarceration Zone' sound?"
"In-car-sor..?" Skull said as he tried to pronounce the word 'incarceration,' before ultimately giving up and asking "Dude, why the Hell would we call it that?"
"These places are for protecting the Jail's power sources, so… how about 'Prison Keeps?'" suggested Mona.
"Whatever we're calling them, let's just hurry it up and get to the second one!" said Crow.
Miyamae Park-A Short Time Later
Getting into the Prison Keep of Miyamae Park proved to be significantly easier than getting into the one in Maruku City, although it wasn't without its challenges. Almost as soon as the Phantom Thieves and Crow had set foot in the area near the tower, they found a welcoming committee of Shadows waiting for them, containing a mix of Mokois and Agathions. However, they once again proved to be no match for the combined strength of all ten of the Phantom Thieves plus Crow.
Apart from this, however, there proved to be no real obstacles of note between the Persona-users and the second Prison Keep. Well, that is, until they found themselves confronted with a seemingly-impassable barrier. Well, impassable until they saw an access terminal right next to it, which, naturally, wouldn't be a problem for the resident hacker and computer genius of the Phantom Thieves. However, when Oracle had started hacking into the terminal, a swarm of Shadows appeared out of seemingly nowhere, each of them glaring in Oracle's direction
"What the-?! Where did they come from?!" cried Skull in surprise as he drew his weapon.
"Never mind that! Protect Oracle, don't let a single Shadow reach her until she finishes her hack and gets that barrier into the Prison Keep down!" instructed Joker, to which all those present, save for Oracle who was focused on her hacking, nodded in confirmation before launching themselves at the Shadow horde.
As the fighting progressed, Joker caught sight of a nearby stack of skateboards and suddenly had a crazy idea. Jumping onto one of the skateboards, Joker ran over a large group of Shadows, knocking down or defeating some of them, before launching the skateboard at the Shadows like a rocket.
It wasn't too much longer before Oracle called out, "Ladies and gentlemen, your hack is complete! Been a pleasure!"
Almost as soon as the barrier preventing the Phantom Thieves and Crow from entering the Prison Keep was deactivated, the remaining Shadows also dispersed.
"So what was that all about? Why did all of those Shadows appear and attack us?" asked Noir.
"Either the impossible happened and Oracle somehow tripped a failsafe or alarm…" said Joker.
"Could be. I mean, I can't remember the last time I skronked up a hack, but I suppose it's possible." said Oracle.
"Or, those terminals are rigged to send swarms of Shadows whenever someone tries to hack into them." said Joker. "Which means every time we hack into one of those terminals, we'll need to protect Oracle from getting attacked by Shadows. And that means I'll have to poke around online to see if I can find some form of hacker protection gear… good thing I still have a small fortune left from bleeding the Takases dry."
"Huh? Who are the Takases?" asked Violet.
"A couple o' assholes we dealt with in Mementos a while back." explained Skull. "Now that I think about it, the only other times I've seen Joker get that pissed off without gettin' inflicted with Rage by a Shadow is when we were dealing with that cat killer, that asshole doctor guy, that swindler psychic guy, or pretty much anyone who had somethin' to do with the other contacts Joker made…"
"Ooh, you guys shoulda seen him go off at my Uncle over all the BS he did to me while I stayed with him, not to mention the crap he was trying to pull on Sojiro…" said Oracle.
"Not to mention the fact that he swore to make Dr. Maruki bleed after he hijacked Violet's Persona and used it as a puppet to fight us." Crow added to the conversation with a sickening grin. "That was an exhilarating thing to witness."
"Hey, can you blame me?" asked Joker with a knowing smile. "A lot of our Mementos targets were real Grade A assholes who were making innocent people and creatures suffer, including my friends and those I care about… Plus, Dr. Maruki had my fist in his face coming. He already made the ultimate sin of hurting Violet and turning her into his puppet. No way was I going to let him go unpunished for that."
"Joker-Senpai…" Violet said softly with a small blush hidden behind her mask.
"Now come on, let's get that Core!" Joker issued the command.
Top Of The Prison Keep-A Short Time Later
Of course, getting to the top of the Prison Keep was easier said than done, as the Phantom Thieves and Crow soon found that there was a welcoming committee in the form of one oversized Archangel along with a small horde of regular Shadows. Thankfully, Archangel proved to be weak against Skull's lightning attacks as well as Joker and Crow's Curse attacks, courtesy of Arsène and Loki, so with the three of them focusing their attention on Archangel, the inconvenience the Shadow Mob caused the Phantom Thieves and Crow was taken care of with little trouble, and all that remained was the Core, which turned out to be a magazine with Alice on the cover.
"This core is Alice on a… book?" Sophie asked, confusion in her voice.
"Actually, Sophie, that's a magazine." clarified Joker.
"And that's not just any magazine, that's Un Un!" said Violet. "That's one of the biggest and most popular pop culture magazines in Japan!"
"Oh, yeah, I was on the cover of that once, when I was at the height of my fame as the Detective Prince." said Crow.
"A widely recognized symbol of fame and power…" mused Fox. "Crow, Mona, and Joker's theory is being proven with every turn."
"She would have been famous even if she hadn't started doing this…" muttered Panther.
"Panther…" Mona said sadly, placing what was supposed to be a comforting paw on the back of Panther's knee, mainly because he was too short to reach her shoulder.
"Sadly, things like this are much too common in our world." said Joker, shaking his head. "So many people let their fame and fortune get to their head and lose sight of their original goals… we ourselves fell into that trap once."
"Still, the question remains, what reason does she have for doing any of this? Does she have one at all, or is she really only doing all of this just for fun?" asked Queen.
"Whatever the case is, the next core is the last one." said Oracle. "It's just a bit west from here, near Bunkamachi."
"Bunkamachi?" asked Fox. "That's quite the cultural hotspot…"
"Returning to the Shibuya Crossing and using Central Street would probably be the quickest way there." suggested Queen.
"All right. Let's go get that last Core and shut down the defenses!" Ordered Joker.
Bunkamachi-A Short While Later
The trip to Bunkamachi was eventful to say the least. It started out simply enough. First, the Phantom Thieves had to protect Oracle while she hacked into another terminal. Then they had to turn on a series of generators in order to power up another terminal for Oracle to hack while protecting her. There wasn't much in regards to incidents until they reached Bunkamachi proper, where they decided to spin a nearby ferris wheel in order to tighten a banner that seemed to lead directly into the Prison Keep.
However, while they were on their way to the ferris wheel, the Phantom Thieves took a wrong turn and ran afoul of a particularly powerful Shadow that Oracle dubbed a Dire Shadow that turned out to be none other than Bugs, which nearly wiped out the Phantom Thieves and Crow within a few attacks, forcing them all to run away in terror.
In the end, however, the Phantom Thieves made it to the ferris wheel, and after a struggle with an oversized Mokoi, gave the ferris wheel a spin, tightening the rope and allowing the Thieves to use it to slide directly into the Prison Keep, where they swiftly disposed of a few Shadows before seizing the Core, which turned out to be one of Alice's CDs.
"Yes! Mission complete!" cheered Oracle.
"So, the last core is… a CD?" said Panther, sounding sad as she spoke.
"Oh! I recognize that album!" said Noir.
"Me too." said Violet. "I think its songs are in a lot of commercials nowadays…"
"That's Alice's biggest album, Macaron Cannon." Panther said sadly. "The one that's been at the top of the charts for weeks now…"
"Eh, if you ask me, Risette's Facing My True Self and Kiria Kurono's Reincarnation have that beat, hands down." said Oracle.
"So, zat mean it's a scam?" asked Skull. "Did she only blow up 'cause she changed so many hearts?"
Panther made a noise that indicated that she wasn't exactly fond of that possibility.
Queen cleared her throat and spoke up. "That should be the last of the Jail's power sources." she said.
"Correct!" chimed in Sophie. "The searchlights should be deactivated now."
"Finally!" said Crow as he then smiled creepily. "Time to make that wannabe idol scream."
"All right, guys, what do you think? Should we enter Alice's castle now?" asked Joker.
"Yes. We need to stop her as soon as possible!" said Mona to which the rest of the Phantom Thieves all nodded in agreement.
"All right, then team! Let's move out!" Ordered Joker.
Meanwhile, At Alice's Castle…
"What's with the comotion out there? It'd better be good!" Shadow Alice said to her subordinates.
"Well… your majesty, the group we dumped underground have returned… and they've brought a lot of reinforcements." one of the Sentries said.
"Those boys and that cat thingy from the other day?" asked Shadow Alice, contempt evident in her voice. "And they've brought friends, you say?" Shadow Alice chuckled malevolently. "Probably come to get back at me… but, whatever. I can't seize their Desires, so they're useless to me… Not like I'd let that one in the black knight mask anywhere near me after what he said to me anyway… But, in any case, couldn't you handle something so simple on your own?"
"Our deepest apologies… we've sent an army's worth of men at them, and they keep mowing them down…" the Sentry who had spoken earlier said.
Shadow Alice growled in frustration. "You are all useless! Get it done, or I'm getting rid of you, simple as that." she said, twirling her flamingo cane as she spoke. "So, remind me, why are you still here when you should be getting rid of the uninvited guests who've invaded my Wonderland?"
"W-we'll get it done, ma'am." the Sentry said.
"Great! I can't wait." said Shadow Alice the two Sentries departed, leaving her alone in her throne room.
Shadow Alice got up out of her throne and made her way to the back window, where she gazed upon her "kingdom" from above.
Shadow Alice chuckled malevolently to herself. "I have to admit, you're a real surprise, Joker… now I'm starting to want you all to myself… only problem is that mouth of yours, but that's an easy fix. Like any quality boy toy, you simply require some breaking in is all…"
Meanwhile, At Shibuya Crossing…
As the Phantom Thieves and Crow were making their way across the Shibuya Crossing when suddenly, an alarm blared loudly throughout the area, and a large number of searchlights turned on directly over the group's head.
"What the-?!" Panther cried in surprise.
Directly in front of the Phantom Thieves, a massive steel barricade rose up out of the ground, completely sealing off any and all access to Alice's Castle, as a veritable army of Sentries, Drones, and even the helicopter-looking things that Joker, Crow, Mona, and Skull had seen earlier, along with a number of other types of Shadows that all looked as though they could take some punishment.
"Crap! Roadblock!" cried Oracle in alarm.
"Just look at their numbers…" said Queen.
"Well this is just great!" growled Crow. "Now we can't reach the castle!"
"And we'd just finished off the searchlights too…" said Noir.
Mona sighed. "I guess we raised some serious Hell in here today… looks like we got Alice's full attention." he said.
"Well, to be fair, we have killed a small army's worth of her Sentries and Drones…" said Joker.
"Oracle, do you see any way we can get around this?" asked Queen.
"Hmmm, this one's a real toughie…" said Oracle. "I'm not seeing any alternate paths right now…"
"Staying here will only get us surrounded and likely beaten to a pulp…" said Joker. "Okay, new plan. Let's head back to reality for the time being, let things cool down here, and hammer out our next course of action from there."
"Roger that, Joker!" said Mona before he and the rest of the Phantom Thieves along with Crow made a beeline for the nearby exit portal back to the real world.
Shibuya Accessway-Nighttime
After returning to their world, Ren and the others looked out the large windows of the Shibuya accessway and realized that it was already dark outside.
"It's grown quite late, hasn't it?" Haru asked with her eyes widened a little.
"Nevermind the time." Ryuji intervened. "What are we gonna do? That wall ain't goin' anywhere."
"Relax, Ryuji." Ren said with a hand up. "That's why we're going to discuss the matters of the situation and come up with a strategy."
"Wait! A more pressing issue's arisen." Yusuke said just before everyone heard the loud sounds of a stomach growling. "I'm quite famished…"
"I'll say. You must be starving with how loud your stomach just growled." Ann said.
"...Actually… That was me." Sumire said with a sheepish smile on her face. "I'm actually quite hungry myself."
Ren chuckled in amusement. "Okay, let's grab ourselves a bite before figuring out how to get past that wall."
Suddenly, Ren's phone pinged, meaning that Sophia wanted to join in on the conversation. Ren pulled his phone out of his pocket and it showed Sophia on the screen.
"Hungry? I'll find a restaurant for you." Sophia insisted.
"No need, Sophia, our destination's already been decided." Futaba interjected. "Sojiro's curry or bust! I bet he'll hook most of you up too!"
"Do you mean it?!" Yusuke asked excitedly
Makoto heaved a sigh. "Take it easy on Boss, okay? He's already treated us free of charge plenty…"
"Plus I doubt he'd willingly give me anything to eat…" Akechi added to the conversation.
"Oh yeah, that's true. Boss would probably be more willing to force Akechi to choke on his curry than actually feed him." Morgana said.
Ren heaved a sigh. "Alright, then why don't I order some Big Bang Burger for everyone? We can all eat while discussing our next course of action at Leblanc."
"...Normally, I would prefer some properly made sushi… But I wouldn't mind a cheese burger." Akechi said.
"I can go for a Double Big Bang burger. It actually is my cheat day today, after all." Sumire added.
"Ooh, a Double Big Bang burger sounds fantastic right now." Yusuke commented with his eyes closed.
"I'd like three normal cheeseburgers all with bacon added to them and some sweet potato fries." Ryuji with stars in his eyes.
"I think I'll just go for a regular cheeseburger with normal french fries." Makoto added
"Hey, is it okay if I just get a salad? I've been trying to eat more healthily lately." Ann requested.
"Ooh, I'd like a salad too." Haru said eagerly.
"Well then, I'd like some chicken strips with onion rings." Futaba added to the list.
Ren found himself chuckling heatedly. This was something that never changed even when they all went their separate ways three months ago. Ren's friends, even Akechi, never stopped loving Big Bang Burger.
"Okay, Big Bang Burger it is then." Ren said as he then looked at Sophia on the phone. "Sophia, I need you to list down what everyone wants for a Big Bang Burger delivery order."
"Will do." Sophia responded with a smile.
Yongen-Jaya - Some Time Later
After placing a big order for everyone in the group and sending out the order to have the food delivered to Leblanc, Ren and the others all took the train over to Yongen-Jaya, where they would all discuss how they were going to get past Shadow Alice's defenses and get to where the Treasure-like scent is coming from within the castle while waiting for their food to arrive.
However, as the group reached Yongen-Jaya and were nearing the cafe…
"Ehhh, Ah don' even CARE!" An adult man's voice came slurring from up in front of the group.
Ren and the others all looked ahead and noticed a guy in a suit, presumably and office worker, walking towards them all wobbly while another man in a dress shirt and tie, perhaps a co-worker, was following behind him with his arms up like he was trying to make sure the suit didn't stumble and fall. It was apparent that the suit was drunk.
"All thoooose stuperd bastards…" The Drunk Office Worker slurred "Makin' me look like CRAP!"
"Oh, it's okay, sir-" The Placating Office Worker said before noticed Ren and the others in front of them. "Hey! Kids! Get outta the way!"
Ren only narrowed his eyes at the Placating Office Worker's choice of words and his tone of voice.
"I beg your pardon?" Ren asked in a displeased tone.
"Huh?" The Drunk Office Worker spoke up as he looked at the young group. "Whadder these lil' shits doin' out…"
The Drunk Office Worker suddenly caught a glimpse of Ann. His eyes were moving up and down, observing each and every inch and curve of the young model's body. The drunk office worker had a devilish smirk on his face as he walked up to Ann.
"Hey, you're a real looker!" The Drunk Office Worker slurred. "Howzabout you'n'I go back to my place'n… Eheheheh!"
"Hey-Cut it out!" Ann said as she glared at the Drunk Office Worker.
Suddenly, Ryuji got right in between Ann and the Drunk Office Worker, surprising the both of them.
"Get the hell away from her right now, or you're gonna regret it." Ryuji threatened as he glared daggers at the Drunk Office Man.
"Ryuji…" Ann said in surprise at Ryuji's defensive actions.
"Aw, you wanna fight?!" The Drunk Office Worker asked.
"Come at me, bro!" Ryuji declared with determination.
The Drunk Office Worker lifted up a fist as if he was going to punch Ryuji in the face while Ryuji held up both of his fists to his own face, ready to throw down with the drunk moron. However…
"Alright, break it up. That's enough." A mature, male voice came from the side.
The group all looked to their right and saw a middle aged man, presumably in his early forties, walking up to them from the direction where Leblanc was. The man had shoulder length black hair, dark grey eyes, and a goatee. He was wearing a set of rimless glasses with a square narrow frame and a black suit with a black tie. Underneath the suit, he had a light turquoise long-sleeved shirt with golden buttons on each end, and black buttons on each side of the collar. He was also wearing a pair of white sneakers.
"The hell is this?" The Drunk Office Worker slurred at the bearded man.
"Hmm, how should I put this?" The Bearded Man asked while having a playful smile on his face. "I'm just a knight in shining armor."
"...What?" Akechi asked with a deadpan expression.
"Knight'n shinin' armor my ass! I'm gonna… punch yer lights out!" The Drunk Office Worker threatened as he then attempted to throw his fist at the bearded man.
However, the fight between the two men was over before it even began. The Bearded Man quickly countered the Drunk Office Worker's punch with a right hook to the jaw, a knee to the gut, and finished it off with a swift uppercut to the chin. The Drunk Office Worker stumbled backwards until he fell down onto his side and lost consciousness.
"Careful now… You really ate it there." The Bearded Man said while looking at the unconscious drunkard.
"Um… You totally knocked him on his ass." Ryuji said awkwardly.
"Oh c'mon, you totally saw it. That was legitimate self-defense." The Bearded Man responded, completely unfazed.
Ren felt himself snickering at the Bearded Man' response. He found the Bearded Man's response amusing because it was actually true. The Drunk Office Worker really did throw the first punch and was immediately countered… Although, a single punch to the drunk man's face most likely would have been enough.
"Hey, this is assault!" The Placating Office Worker shouted at the bearded man "You want me to call the police?!"
Suddenly, the Bearded Man's face grew serious as he reached into his left breast pocket on his suit and pulled out a golden police officer's badge.
"I am the police." The Bearded Man said in a serious tone. "Now scram."
Almost immediately, Ren stopped snickering as he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach; the feeling of nausea reaching up to his throat. An officer of the law, one of the biggest threats to the Phantom Thieves, apart from any ruler of a Palace, was standing right in front of him and all of his companions.
"Wha- a cop?!" The Placating Office Worker practically shrieked in surprise. "I'm so sorry!"
The Placating Office Worker quickly turned away from the Beared Officer and started running away at full sprint.
"No, wait! Take the guy with you!" The Bearded Officer called out in surprise with his arm reaching out in the direction of where the placating office worker ran off to. "Wow, not a great subordinate."
The Bearded Officer then turned around to face Ren and the rest of the group.
"Well, folks, you alright now?" The Bearded Officer asked while smiling kindly.
"...Uh… Yeah, thanks." Ren answered hesitantly.
"Don't worry about it. My job's to protect civilians." The Bearded Officer responded.
Ren felt himself internally cringing at that last comment. While by definition, it is the police's job to protect civilians and sustain law and order, it doesn't change the fact that the police have been doing nothing but giving the Phantom Thieves trouble since last year. Ren especially could not ever forget all the physical torment that the police put him through when he was being interrogated after getting captured and arrested. All of the punches, the kicks, and near bone shattering experiences that Ren was forced to endure while also being overdosed with a truth enforcing drug. Ren still remembered how much his body ached all over after Sae successfully broke him out of the interrogation room and secretly brought him back home to his friends. In truth, it was nothing short of a miracle that he not only successfully gained Sae's trust, but that he remembered the plan he and his friends had devised beforehand in time.
After returning home, Ren couldn't do much of anything but try to rest his bones and let his bruises and cuts heal as much as they could. Of course, since she hadn't been officially a member of the team, nor had she and Ren been dating yet at the time, Sumire had never known the exact details of what the police had done to him. Ren wasn't sure how to honestly tell her the truth as to why his body was covered in bruises and cuts and why he was going to be walking with a limp for a couple of weeks. So rather than explaining how he was beaten senseless for hours and had the forceful foot of a fully grown man trying to crush his knee into powder, he passed off his injuries as the result of him trying to be a daredevil and jumping through a second floor window and his failed escape from the cops getting pretty rough in the heat of the moment.
"Don't get too chummy with him, Ren." Yusuke said in a serious tone as he walked up to his friend. "This man is most likely with Public Security."
"Don't worry, I'm not." Ren responded reassuringly.
"Ooh, good guess. Although, it may be more like common knowledge, considering the number of tails on you…" The Bearded Officer interjected as he then pointed over to a street light pole not far away from Ren and the rest of the group. "For example, you noticed the one over there yet?"
Simultaneously, Ren and the others all turned around to look in the direction where the Bearded Officer was pointing. Much to everyone's surprise, there was a half of a body visible hiding behind the street light pole. Another man dressed up in a suit, apparently a fellow officer.
"Dumbass! What are you doing?!" The Lurking Officer practically shouted in a whisper, causing the Bearded Officer to laugh a little.
"Sorry, my bad." The Bearded Officer responded before pointing down at the unconscious drunkard. "Could you bring this drunk in for me?"
After some mumbling of disbelief as to why the Bearded Officer was making him do something that wasn't even his prime concern, the Lurking Officer walked out from behind the pole, picked up the unconscious drunk, and walked away with him, leaving only the Bearded Officer alone with the group.
"The hell is with this guy?" Ryuji asked while looking at the Bearded Officer.
"His suspicion level's off the charts." Futaba added to the conversation.
Ren could only hum in agreement to Futaba's comment.
"What exactly are you and your pals doing around here?" Ren asked the Bearded Officer in a serious tone and with his eyes narrowed.
"Aw, no need for that look. I myself actually do have a reason to be here." The Bearded Officer responded. "Ren Amamiya, I need to speak with you."
Ren felt his body grow tense as he clenched his hands into tight fists. Noticing the clear signs of physical nervousness in Ren's body, Sumire didn't hesitate to quickly grab hold of Ren's right fist with both of her hands.
"Why him?" Sumire asked the Bearded Officer.
"What say we discuss matters over there?" The Bearded Officer asked as he pointed over into the direction where Leblanc was. "I hear that their coffee and curry is pretty killer."
A Short While Later…
When the group and the Bearded Officer reached Leblanc, Sojiro ended up asking who the stranger was, to which Ren bitterly answered that he was an officer of the law, earning the Bearded Officer a sour scowl from Sojiro. In fact, almost everyone in the group, apart from Sumire and Akechi, was giving the Bearded Officer a look of hate.
Sumire wasn't entirely sure why the rest of the Phantom Thieves were looking at the Bearded Officer with such disgust, but she at least understood that an officer in the presence of a Phantom Thief, especially her own boyfriend, was never a good sign. Sumire didn't dare to let go of Ren's hand the entire time as she kept her eyes narrowed at the officer. As for Akechi, while he knew about the physical torment that his former fellow companions on the force did to Ren, given how he remembered how banged up the cognitive Ren in Sae's palace looked, the only thing he really cared about right now was the potential threat of the police getting in the way of the group trying to stop Alice from manipulating people's hearts any further.
As the Bearded Officer took a seat in one of the booths, Sojiro walked up to him with a glass of water. Sojiro quite firmly set the glass down in front of the Bearded Officer.
"Enjoy." Sojiro said bitterly as he glared daggers at the Bearded Officer before shooting Akechi a look that would have killed him again if such a thing were possible and returning behind the counter.
"...Um… Are you all normally like this to strangers?" The Bearded Officer asked the group of teenagers and young adults.
"No. We just despise the police, is all. " Haru answered with a sweet smile on her face, causing the Bearded Officer to feel a shiver go down his spine.
"It's kinda weird when you say it with a smile like that." The Bearded Officer said with his eyes closed while scratching the back of his head.
"So I'll ask again. What is it you want with me?" Ren asked the Bearded Officer in a demanding tone while still glaring at him. "And do me a favor and just get straight to the point. No bullshit."
The Bearded Officer sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll skip the runaround and just tell you… I'm Zenkichi Hasegawa, an investigator on loan to Tokyo's Public Security branch. I'm officially an inspector. It's not a rank to sneeze at."
Suddenly, Ren's phone pinged from inside his right pocket.
"Inspectors are not to be sneezed at. Okay, I've got it." Sophia's voice muddled from within Ren's pocket, causing Ren and the rest of the group to tense up.
"Stupid AI." Akechi snarled under his breath with his eyes closed tightly.
"Uh, who said that?" Zenkichi asked Ren before realizing that his question was off topic and sighed. "Whatever. Amamiya, I need to ask you something… Did you hear at all about that mess on Good Morning, Japan earlier today, the one with Alice Hiiragi?"
The tension in Ren's facial expression began to soften up a little. So far, it seemed like this Zenkichi Hasegawa was asking a rather harmless question for the time being. But Ren was still making sure to be cautious for whatever the inspector had to ask next.
"...Yeah, I do…" Ren answered honestly. "In fact, I was there at the studio when it happened."
Almost everyone in the group were now looking at Ren with utter disbelief at his full honesty towards a member of one the biggest thorns in their sides of the Phantom Thieves, even Zenkichi himself was looking at Ren in surprise with his eyes bolted wide open.
"I… can't believe you just told me that." Zenkichi said. "You sure you're on the same page as the rest of your friends?"
"Your question didn't seem to have any harm, so I see no reason to lie." Ren answered the inspector.
Zenkichi cleared his throat. "Well, there's already been a full investigation into the incident. There was no indication the MC was planning to propose - everyone questioned said he didn't even know who Alice was before this week. Not only that, he'd already been engaged to his co-host for however long. There isn't a whiff of motive to be found."
"I see…" Ren said quietly. "...So what does this have to do with me?"
"Well, I was just getting to that." Zenkichi said before continuing. "The police have concluded: 'Doesn't this sound like the work of the Phantom Thieves?'"
Simultaneously, everyone's eyes widened in worry at the reveal for what the police have concluded to be the cause of these sudden changes in people's normal behavior.
"Wait…" Makoto started with her eyes narrowed. "You're saying- "
"A whooole lot of similar cases from last year, no?" Zenkichi asked while still keeping his focus on Ren. "Personality shifts, abnormal behavior, etc. If that MC went bonkers from a change of heart, you're gonna be suspect number one: …Ren Amamiya, the leader of the Phantom Thieves."
Ren could only grit his teeth from behind his lips while also clenching his fists tightly, and Sumire clung to her boyfriends arm and pulled him closer. Ren hated to admit it, but the way Zenkichi put it, the police did indeed have a very fair reason to believe the sudden changes of heart amongst the public could be the doing of the Phantom Thieves. After all, the only other suspect that the police could ever have is Masayoshi Shido, and he's already behind bars.
"We don't know if it's drugs, hypnosis, or what, but they wanna charge you with criminal mischief." Zenkichi said. "It's only a matter of time before you're arrested."
Almost everyone in the room, except for Akechi, felt a lump in their throats. Once again, Ren was in trouble with the potential of being arrested and sent to jail for a fourth time, and for whoever knows how long. Ren could only ponder in worry about what this could do to him and the rest of his group, even to the people who were suspected of aiding the Phantom Thieves. Sojiro, Sae, everyone who would try to side with them.
"This is outrageous!" Yusuke shouted dramatically. "What proof do you have?!"
"Sure it's outrageous, but we don't actually have any proof yet. That's why I'm here." Zenkichi said to Yusuke before looking back at Ren. "So, Ren, level with me… Are you?"
Ren cocked his eyebrow in confusion. "Huh?"
"Are you the one doing this?" Zenkichi asked more specifically.
"Absolutely not!" Sumire raised her voice, grabbing everybody's attention. "...Senpai would never condone this kind of behavior. That's not the kind person he is."
Ren felt a small smile form on his face while he looked down at the girl he so happily called his love. He then looked back at Zenkichi with a more stern look.
"She's telling the truth." Ren started in a serious tone. "This kind of behavior completely goes against everything that the Phantom Thieves stand for. The Phantom Thieves only work in stealing the hearts of corrupt individuals and bringing their crimes to light. The Phantom Thieves would never just go around stealing the hearts of random individuals just for the fun of it.
"Yeah… Yeah, that's what I thought." Zenkichi said before he pulled his phone out from his front right pocket on his pants. "Just a second."
Zenkichi turned his phone on and opened up what looked like his phone's phone call app. As Zenkichi dialed the number of one of his contacts, he patiently waited until he heard the line on the other end pick up.
"Ah, hello, Commissioner, yes." Zenkichi began talking to who was apparently the police commissioner on the other end. "I'm with the Phantom Thieves' leader. I just asked for a confession, but he says he's innocent."
Almost everybody that was present were all watching this bizarre scene play out with their eyes bolted wide open. This inspector, who had just questioned Ren about his innocence behind the weird changes in behavior amongst the public, was having a phone call with his boss and informing her of everything that has just been said, right in front of all of them. However, Akechi himself was keeping a straight face because he already had a good idea as to why Zenkichi was doing this.
"Huh? Kidding? No, no, this is all real." Zenkichi said to the commissioner on the other end, who seemed to respond in a stern manner. "That's enough nonsense? Oh, okay… I'm on my way to the office."
Zenkichi pulled his phone away from his ear and pressed his thumb on the red button, ending the phone call. Zenkichi then placed his phone back into his pocket and he crossed his arms while looking around at the group.
"Well, as you all saw, I reported what you said to my boss…" Zenkichi said to the group. "But if you ask me, I don't think she's convinced."
"Did he really call his boss? Right in front of us?" Ann asked a rhetorical question.
"Holy shit…" Ryuji spoke up. "What is WITH this guy?"
"What are you trying to prove here?" Makoto asked in a demanding tone with a stern look.
Before Zenkichi could answer, Akechi heaved a heavy sigh.
"He's basically showing all of you that your pleas of innocence are not going to be enough to stop the police from trying to arrest Ren." Akechi answered Makoto's question before continuing. "You can try as long and as hard as you want to claim to be innocent, but without any solid evidence to back up your claim, your pleas are going to be nothing but empty words."
"Yes, precisely." Zenkichi confirmed Akechi's explanation. "Thank you for tha-"
Zenkichi suddenly pauses in the middle of his sentence. His eyes were now locked onto the shaggy brunette, and he could only stare as his eyes were now gleaming with disbelief and curiosity.
"Hold up…" Zenkichi started. "...Goro Akechi?"
Akechi didn't respond. Instead, he let out a soft breath of annoyance through his nostrils while keeping his eyes closed. Eventually, he finally answered with a slow nod.
"Well I'll be damned." Zenkichi said with a smile. "At long last, I finally get to meet the famous young Detective Prince."
"...Former Detective Prince." Akechi corrected the inspector. "I left that position behind."
"Oh…" Zenkichi paused in surprise with his eyes wide open. "...I, uh, see."
Despite the awkward feeling of finally meeting the young celebrity who was now apparently not even an official Detective Prince anymore, Zenkichi then turned his attention back to Ren.
"Anyway, if the police ever get your hands on you, Ren, you're done for - and I'll be up the river too, 'cause then this case'll never get solved." Zenkichi said in a serious manner. "So I wanted to make you an offer… Or maybe, more like a deal."
Ren felt his body tense up again. Zenkichi's offer to make a deal was already setting off a lot of red flags for Ren due to how familiar this situation felt compared to the events from last year.
"A deal with you?" Ren asked in a defensive manner.
"I want to solve this case." Zenkichi started his explanation. "To do that, I'll need the Intel you've gathered. At the moment, I don't have anything that even resembles a lead. I'm totally at a loss. You though, you just don't wanna get arrested. I can do what needs to be done so that won't happen. Bureau men are a trustworthy lot on the force. There won't be any problems."
Zenkichi then gave a friendly smile. "Sounds like a fair deal to you?"
Ren was hesitant. While the idea of being given a helping hand in keeping him out of trouble did sound nicd, he still couldn't help but remember the last time he and the rest of his friends placed their trust in someone who worked with the police and offered to help keep them out trouble with the law, Ren ended up being betrayed by getting sold out to the police, getting arrested, physically tormented, and even nearly shot in the head by his own betrayer.
"Sorry, but I don't feel comfortable with putting my trust in anybody working with the police, even if you bureau men are as trustworthy as you say you are." Ren answered honestly.
Zenkichi had a disappointed look on his face.
"Well that sounds like a no… Although, I can't blame you, considering what you've been through." Zenkichi said.
"You have no idea what I've been put through." Ren retorted strongly.
"We don't have any reason why we should trust you." Ryuji said to the inspector.
"I can see that… But I don't plan on giving up on offering my helping hand just yet." Zenkichi responded with a smile. "You know how they say the wise cat hides its claws? Let's just say that applies to me too."
"I've literally never heard that…" Futaba deadpanned.
"Why don't you take some time and give my offer some thought?" Zenkichi said to Ren. "Feel free to get back to me once you've thought it over."
With that said, Zenkichi took his glass of water and chugged away at it until there wasn't a single drop left in the glass. After carefully setting the glass back down, he carefully stood up from his booth and stood by the cafe door, facibg the whole group.
"I hope you'll see things my way… Phantom Thieves." Zenkichi said with a smile before looking over at Sojiro. "Alright, Boss, I'll be back soon for some curry."
Sojiro scowled at Zenkichi. "Sorry, the curry's eighty-sixed. For you."
Zenkichi's face turned into one of shock and a bit of emotional pain.
"Oh, now that hurts…" Zenkichi wined.
With that, Zenkichi turned around and walked on out of the the cafe. It wasn't long afterwards that Ann stood from her booth and slammed her hands down onto the table.
"What is WITH that guy?!" Ann practically shouted angrily. "Ugh! He is absolutely ridiculous!"
"He appears to have a great many bats in his belfry." Yusuke added to the conversation.
"Zenkichi Hasegawa… What a cool name for such a dweeb." Futaba said a bit bitterly.
"But, if he was telling the truth just now…" Haru started with a worried look on her face.
"They're actually going to arrest him?" Sumire asked while looking scared and clinging onto her boyfriends arm.
"Ugh, what a bullshit "deal"! I say it's more of a threat!" Ryuji shouted angrily.
"...Clearly, you can't tell the difference between a deal and an actual threat." Akechi said to Ryuji. "He didn't say that he was going hand Ren or any of you straight over to the police if you didn't cooperate. He was even nice enough to actually give Ren some time to think about his answer."
"True. It's definitely not like when you blackmailed us into letting you help us." Makoto said to the Phantom Thieves' past traitor. "Plus, choosing to cooperate with Hasegawa still beats having Ren arrested. Walking into a trap isn't smart, but the Intel might still pay off for us."
"Right. Now that we know that the police are on the move, we've already benefited from that guy." Morgana added to the conversation before getting a worried look on his face. "But now, the big question: how much can we trust him?"
"To be honest, I don't know if we can." Ren said a bit silently. "I may just be being anxious about all of this, but I can't find it in me to believe we won't just get stabbed in the back again."
"I'm right there with you." Morgana said in an understanding tone. "It'd just be too risky."
Suddenly, Sojiro cleared his throat.
"Mind if I say something?" Sojiro asked, getting the entire groups attention.
"What is it, Sojiro?" Futaba asked.
"Do you really think you have to cooperate with that officer in order to keep Ren from getting arrested?" Sojiro asked the group.
"What else can we do?" Sumire asked with a worried look. "Without any evidence of his innocence, Senpai is more than likely to be thrown in jail."
Sojiro then smiled confidently.
"Then it's up to all of you to get that evidence." Sojiro said. "If Alice Hiiragi is the one behind all of this, as Ren says she is, then all you'll have to do is do what you all do best and get her to confess everything."
"Oh right! Then we wouldn't even need to make a deal with that Zenkichi guy." Ann said more confidently.
"Chief really nailed it there." Morgana said with a smile.
"If you ever need anything more, just let me know." Sojiro said.
Ren felt a smile form on his face. Once again, Sojiro was right there to help him out of a jam. Despite their tough start during the beginning of Ren's year long probation last year, through time and after saving Futaba's life, Sojiro eventually became a very trustworthy and very protective figure for Ren. Ren couldn't ever forget when Sojiro swore to keep Ren safe after finding out about his life as a Phantom Thief, when he heard Sojiro cheering him on along with the rest of Ren's friends during his fight against Yaldabaoth, when Ren heard from his friends that Sojiro would never allow any of the police to dig up any kind of dirt that could be used against Ren to keep him in jail, and when Sojiro willingly lent Ren a hand in helping him plan out his White Day date with Sumire. Sojiro has always been there for Ren when he needed it the most, and Ren was more than happy to call Sojiro his legal guardian.
"Thank you, Sojiro." Ren said, to which Sojiro responded with a nod.
"Alright, I'm heading out for the night." Sojiro said as he walked out from behind the counter. "Make sure you lock up once you're all finished talking, and don't stay up too late either. Got it?"
"No worries, Sojiro." Ren responded. "I've already got Morgana to annoy me about going to bed."
"Hey!" Morgana shouted, causing both Ren and Futaba to chuckle.
Sojiro made his way over to the cafe door, opened it up, and walked on out of the cafe. Although, not long after Sojiro left, the doorbell chimed once again as it swung open with another man in a Big Bang Burger delivery driver's uniform behind it, holding multiple bags of food with one arm.
"Um, hello." The delivery man said. "I've got a large order under the name: Amamiya?"
"That's me." Ren said as he walked up to the delivery man and grabbed the bags from the man's arm. "Thank you, have a nice night."
"Thank you, you too." The delivery man said as he then walked out of the cafe, leaving Ren and the rest of the group alone with their food.
Ren sorted out everyone's food one by one. Ren, Sumire, and Yusuke each got a Double Big Bang burger with some regular french fries, Ryuji got his order of three regular cheeseburgers with bacon added to them and some sweet potato fries, Futaba got her order of chicken strips with some onion rings, both Ann and Haru got their orders of plain salads while Makoto and Akechi both got regular cheeseburgers with regular french fries, and Ren also made sure to get Morgana a couple of fried fish.
With everyone's food laid out, Ren decided to go ahead and brew everyone some coffee to go down with their food. It didn't take long for the coffee to brew and eventually, Ren set out hot cups of coffee for everyone.
"Alright, everyone, let's get down to business." Ren said, getting everyone's attention. "Now that we know that all we have to do is continue doing what we've been doing, our next course of action is figuring out how we're going to get past that huge wall."
"That wall is our biggest problem…" Morgana said.
Suddenly, Ren's phone pinged again, meaning Sophia wanted to join the conversation. Ren reached his hand into his pocket and pulled his phone out to see Sophia already on the screen.
"In trouble? I can help." Sophia said.
"We're trying to figure out a way past that damn wall." Ryuji said.
"I'm sorry, I don't have a solution to that." Sophia said before turning her attention to Futaba. "How about hacking it, Futaba?"
"Hmmm…" Futaba placed her hand under her lower lip. "I could prooobably do something if it's linked directly to a terminal, but…"
"A terminal?" Sophia asked quickly. "There is a control panel on the other side of the wall."
"What - for real?!" Futaba asked excitedly
"Take a shot!" Everyone but Sophia, Futaba, and Akechi all shouted as everyone took a sip of their coffee.
"It was saved in my memory when we first confronted it. Therefore: for real." Sophia said.
"Take a shot!" Everyone but Sophia and Akechi shouted again as they all once again took a sip of their coffee.
"Ignoring everyone's stupid little drinking contest, I'm actually impressed you remember that, Sophia." Akechi complimented the young looking AI with a small smirk. "You're not so bad for an AI."
"Praise accepted." Sophia said before she started humming some musical notes again.
"Now we have to figure out how we're going to get Futaba on the other side of the wall." Morgana said.
"Perhaps we could try climbing it with her?" Haru threw out her suggestion to everyone. "I don't think it's too high for us…"
"There are too many searchlights in the area. We'd be quickly surrounded." Yusuke argued.
"Damn it. If only we had some sort of clever decoy that could distract the shadows while we try getting over the wall." Ren said with his fist under his lower lip.
"Wait, that's it! A decoy!" Morgana practically shouted. "If one of us acts as a distraction for the shadows, we can put a dent in their defenses and help Futaba get over to the other side."
"One decoy? Who do you think could actually pull that off?" Ryuji asked
Simultaneously, almost everyone in the group turned their attention towards Ren. It seemed like Ren had, once again, been given the secondhand volunteer work by his friends. Ren heaved a sigh.
"Does it really have to be me?" Ren asked
"Sorry, Ren, but you're the only one with a chance of pulling something like this off." Morgana replied.
"This still sounds too dangerous, even for Ren." Ann commented with a worried look. "Shouldn't someone back him up?"
"I will!" Sumire said eagerly. "If Senpai is going to be put into the most danger, then I'm going to be there to help lighten the load off of his shoulders."
"...I think I'll join in on it too." Akechi said with a malicious and sick smile creeping on his face. "All of those Shadows that'll be present, all that'll be ripped and shredded apart by my blade, all of the hopeless screams of agony and pleas for mercy before they all die… Oh it's going to be beautiful."
Most of the Phantom Thieves, except for Ren, could only shudder or wince in disturbance from Akechi excitement at the idea of inflicting unbearable torture amongst the Shadows.
"Anyway…" Morgana started as he tried to get his composer back. "Ren, Sumire, and Akechi will act as our decoy. You guys make sure to cause a huge commotion to draw as much of the Shadows' attention as you can for us."
"Wait, what if the numbers of Shadows still prove to be too much for them to handle?" Makoto asked with a worried look.
"I can provide support." Sophia volunteered. "I will draw the enemies' attention between the three of them and myself. This will lighten the burden placed upon them."
"That would actually be a huge help, Sophia." Sumire said with a smile. "Just don't push yourself too hard. If the dividend numbers prove to be too much for you alone, please be sure to run and keep your distance."
"Okay, I'll make sure to do just that." Sophia responded.
"Alright, we finally got ourselves a plan." Ren said with determination. "Now we'll just have to figure out and assign roles to the rest of the team."
Ren and the rest of the group began discussing the next parts of their plan and how everyone was going to take part in getting through Alice's final lines of defense. Tomorrow, the team will all finally storm the castle and take back the Desires that Alice stole from all of those men.
NewWorldFool: And thus concludes the Chapter! Again, apologies for the lengthy wait. But now that the chapter is finally finished, we promise to try to make sure that it doesn't take nearly as long. So, if you liked what you saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, review, and join us next time as the Phantom Thieves and Crow storm Alice's Castle! Oh, and remember to please be sure to check out DarkRose–Chan's story, Persona 5: Infinity, available for your reading pleasure on Ao3 and Wattpad! See you all next time!