All rights to Miraculous Ladybug belong to Zagtoon, Method Animation, Thomas Astruc, and Disney. All rights to Persona 5 go to Atlus and Sega. This is my own creative work.
Another day came, and with it, another destructive tantrum from Archangel.
Cat Noir carried on from the battle to his windowsill, an in a flash left behind a battered Adrien. He hopped to the floor and the tremor vibrated throughout his body reawakening the wounds. Ladybug's Miraculous never erased the feeling of the many bruises he endured in battle, only the bruises themselves. It painted a pretty picture out of Paris buildings and structures, but metal could never feel pain as the body did.
His legs, as though tied to a city bus, dragged slowly on the wood floor to his bed. Adrien didn't really sit on his bed once he got there so much as his knee bumped the mattress and he fell limp into the bedspread. The softness caressed his cheek as he rolled back to face the ceiling. Its white expanse mingled with the flash of memory.
Archangel had been especially aggressive today – that constant holy aura of his had almost morphed into a fiery blaze that melted the sidewalk. Silva's Akumatization and promise of divine vengeance upon inferior mortals had today been triggered by an incorrect order on a box of chocolates. The man once seemed like an upstanding citizen, devoted to his work, whereas now he could get angry if the sun didn't rise quick enough. It was a far cry from the comic books when Hawk Moth could create supervillains over the silliest of reasons.
Adrien winced, taking in a sharp breath of chilly afternoon air. Silly reasons did not stop Akumas from hitting hard. He raked his ring hand through his unkempt hair.
"Care to explain where you were?" A cold, professional voice asked.
Adrien sat straight, life rushing back into his limbs. Nathalie stood at the door, tablet in hand. She had entered as silent as mist and now stood before his bed rigid as a glacier.
"I was…" His pupils darted to the side. "Out?"
The secretary's eyes narrowed behind her frames. "You missed an important fitting for the first shoot this weekend. Your father is very displeased."
"I tried calling him before. He didn't answer."
"Mr. Agreste was handling other matters." Nathalie spoke with ease.
Adrien looked away as the rest of his body shifted to face her, almost robotically. "I don't understand, though. My father should have finished the designs before. They know my measurements and everything."
"You know your father prefers to have you close, Adrien."
Close, or rather joined at the hip. Adrien winced, slapping his inner self for daring to complain. This was his father, so despite the rolling waves of hot and cold blood rolling from this throat to this stomach, he took a breath.
"Nathalie, could you… help me convince my father to let me attend school?" The boy gulped. His hands gripped the sheets, digging into fine cotton of all things for strength. "I don't need to attend classes or anything. I just want to help my friends decorate for Christmas and help set up the events. Just for a couple of days!"
"You know I can't do that."
"But, Nathalie!"
"You've been taking too many liberties lately, Adrien. Disappearing at random intervals without any explanation. Your father has insisted that you devote the coming month to your career." The woman adjusted her glasses. "One day you will inherit the Gabriel brand. A standard high school will ultimately contribute nothing to that."
Her words triggered a defensive instinct in Adrien that called his attention to his schoolbag settled on the arm of the couch before the window. For a month it would gather dust, have its pages wrinkled, and otherwise sit there unused. He stood despite the ache in his limbs to the bag and reached for his science booklet, almost cradling the spine in his hand to soothe it from the pain of neglect. The book sagged ever slightly as if knowing what was to come, painting a grimace on his face.
Nathalie, oblivious, looked to her tablet and began swiping and tapping the screen. "I'll be rescheduling your fitting and moving up the time for your rehearsal. I'm sorry Adrien, but I won't be able to do anything for you."
Adrien nodded.
"…What were you doing, by the way?"
Adrien's grip tightened on the book, gentleness clouded by turmoil. Ultimately, he shoved the book back into his bag and dropped it by the strap onto the seat. "Nothing… I wasn't doing anything. Just going for a walk."
Her face was a mystery to him with his back turned. Heels clacking up to the creak of a closing door signaled she left the room with a silent nod, her standard response.
Once again, he was alone in his room with his kwami indulging himself in a drawer full of fermenting cheese and his inner boot to the face. Sighing and taking his mental lumps, he returned to his bed and reached for his phone in his pocket. He opened the text app and found Nino's icon and set his thumbs to work.
Adrien: Sorry, it looks like I'm not going to be helping out after all.
Nino: Dude, seriously? He's going Scrooge on you again?
Adrien: It's my fault. I haven't been putting enough work into the campaign.
Nino: Exactly what is your old man's definition of 'enough'? And what are you up to, anyway?
Adrien: I've got a lot on my plate. Lots of things, you know?
Nino: What kind of things, exactly?
Adrien stared at the phone, picturing Nino's confused face on the screen. The one who was supposed to be staring back was… Adrien. His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Adrien: Just… things.
…
Nino: Right. Things. Must be big things if you can just blow off your dad of all people.
Nino: Well, this ain't exactly going to get us into the Christmas spirit. Everybody'll be bummed but I'm sure we'll manage. TTYL, once you get out of model jail!
Adrien stared at the phone screen. For a moment, he imagined the collective fists of his classmates squaring him in the jaw. His face scrunched feeling the impact from each.
He exited the chat with Nino and moved on to Kagami. The key matter, he remembered as his thumbs hovered once again, was to make it sound as formal and delicate as possible. Nino could at least try to sound supportive, whereas with Kagami, there was no roundabout speech, no self-induced illusion. She'd say it flat out.
Adrien: I won't be able to do our get-together this weekend. My schedule's packed.
A minute of staring and tapping his foot with unkempt energy later.
Kagami: Unfortunate.
Kagami: You should redouble your efforts to make room for unexpected circumstances. I do not wish for our only get togethers to be defeating you in fencing.
There it was.
Your efforts are never enough – you need to work harder. It had become something of a mantra once Adrien grew out of his kiddie clothes and could fit into designer T-shirts and jackets. Now his supportive efforts for this father's sake were just making his friends miserable. He could believe that old mantra in full now. They were right to be angry at him for all that he failed to do in managing his own life.
So was Ladybug.
She hadn't exactly been eager to chat with the cat before or after their meetups and their usual business. Anyone could call it the wear and tear of numerous battles with the same psychopathic man-turned-hostile-angel, but she was all business. All his attempts to cheer her up suddenly weren't scoring him any points at all. Those attempts were, of course, leading to lackluster movements in battle.
Tossing the phone away, he trudged to the window and leaned his head onto the chilly glass. The icy smoothness pressed the weight down on his shoulders even more. He kept his eyes trailed to the floor to refrain from looking at his sorry reflection.
Plagg zipped and plopped onto his shoulder, a trail of stench in the wake of his flight. "Oh, stop moping!"
"What else can I do outside of my schedule?"
"Sacrifices like this are just part of the whole double-life routine." The kwami swallowed the chunk of camembert in his paws. "You knew what you were getting into when you signed up. Least, I hope you did."
"I did… I guess."
Plagg shrugged. "Eh, works for me."
Adrien huffed the gloom out his nostrils. "I want to make it up to someone, Ladybug at least. Archangel's just getting tougher, and I've been a total joke lately."
"About as funny as your normal jokes too."
The boy turned to the kwami perched on his shoulder. "Would you, uh, happen to know any special Miraculous tricks, or-"
Plagg's large black head turned away. "Sorry, kid. My lips are sealed, even if you bribe me with cheese like last time."
"How many times do I have to say sorry? Or please?" Adrien jerked, the simple motion like an earthquake that ejected Plagg off and facing him, floating. "Plagg, you've gotta give me something here!"
The kwami gagged. "Ugh, those puppy dog eyes! I need 20 ounces of camembert, stat!"
Plagg floated back to the mound of odor in his side drawer filled with all his fermenting cheese. In mere moments, his mind would be wiped by a brush of foul camembert stench. Even then, there wouldn't be much point in asking again, Adrien though, as the cycle would just repeat. Plagg was as good at secrets with him as he was with everyone else.
The boy sighed and retreated to his desk. His laptop came alive and he scrolled through the pages with click after click. His usual pages were shrunk: the Ladyblog, the local news, the TV station, and any social media posts. Superhero stories were not as satisfying to read or live these days. In fact, Alya was barely even covering Archangel anymore.
Ladybug. His friends. His father. Now, the public. He disappointed them all.
The last page. The school website.
On the homepage was a brightly colored poster with holly trim and lightbulbs in the corner. He blinked, drawn to the small billboard of an announcement.
'FRANCOIS DUPONT SCHOLASTIC DECATHALON. DECEMBER 20. COME SIGN UP!'
It came with a small video adjusted to fit the screen. A pop song played as they went across shots of people throughout the campus and special effects far beyond the meagre skills of Professor Damocles. Max clearly helped, most likely since he'd made it no small secret he was signing up. A shot of Damocles in his not-so-secret hero identity, the Owl, wrapped it up with a public announcement to draw the kids in, finishing with his signature pose.
"Support your school! Hoo-hoo!"
Adrien swallowed. Math and science were nice changes of pace from just standing around and looking pretty. It meant using his mind other than a bragging point for articles and pooling into the overrunning attraction factor as a model. If he were any other kid, he would be laughed at for liking it, but like it he did.
He sighed.
"Wouldn't that be nice…"
He closed the top of his laptop. It wasn't what his father wanted.
Journeys could take unexpected detours. That applied to trips between reality and the Metaverse as well.
Akira adjusted his eyes to the darkness that appeared out of the swirling blotches that dotted the real world. Chains rattled with a gentle series of clinks and a drop of water resonated throughout the air. His hand reached out to his side and brushed upon a soft padded wall with such a smooth feel it near lulled him to sleep. With a sense of nostalgia he shifted his feet from where he laid on a bench to the floor. His shoes clacked almost silently on the smooth floor.
He walked to the doorway, blocked by iron metal bars. Everything looked the same – a single desk beneath a lone lamp, with azure mist pooling from a rotunda lined with cell doors. A silent, ghostly hum blew in turn with the chains behind, creating a resonance that soothed him to the soul. He stood at the bars, feeling no need to cry out for help or freedom.
It was already his.
"Welcome back, Trickster." A young girl's voice came out of nowhere.
Its source was quick to follow from the side of the door. A girl in a blue dress, regal and silent in her steps and taut in posture with the large book in her hand, approached him. Her pale blond hair flowed in slow motion as she turned to him as if lifted by some unseen force. The butterfly charm in her headband twinkled with the light.
"Lavenza…" Akira whispered.
Her familiar smile reached up to her golden eyes brimming with force like the sun. "It seems that even in a prison cell, you are a free spirit. It suits you, though, I must say."
Akira looked down. He had become accustomed to the black and white-striped rags and the ball and chain he wore whenever he entered this room in the past. It reflected his role as a 'prisoner of fate', a pawn in someone else's game. This time, he was still in his overcoat and scarf, the same items when he'd arrived. With no sense of temperature in this place, he'd barely noticed either way.
"Welcome once again to the Velvet Room. It seems that once again, you have become entangled in a strange fate." She nodded shutting her eyes. "Such is the destiny of the Trickster, I suppose."
"A strange… fate?"
"Indeed. That fate is what has bound you to this place once again. As you know, the Velvet Room is a place for guests who have entered a contract, and we residents provide aid along their journeys."
Akira hummed.
"Your mission is to find and quell the one who promotes false bonds."
He blinked. "False… bonds?"
"You possess the power of the Wild Card, the ability to transform bonds into power." She bowed, as if in respect towards that ability itself. "The potential of humanity, their greatest strength, is found in the bonds they share with one another. It is as a cycle, a string, tied between individuals and creating power, flowing into infinity. I fear ruin shall come once again as the distortion within human hearts is being utilized to duplicate those bonds."
So someone was doing something strange. And once again, it ties into the Metaverse and Palaces.
"We're looking into it now."
Lavenza smiled once again. "I knew you would rise to the challenge. I did see fit to aid you in your endeavors already."
Akira smiled. "So that's how Futaba did it."
The girl covered her mouth. "I would not want to insult your confidant's abilities. The evil god who once controlled your fate granted you access before. Reaching the Metaverse is no easy task for human minds, even with their great potential. I too can grant you access, as the ruler of power. Use this gift well."
"We will." Lavenza nodded.
The room began to go dark. The blue light and comfortable cell, even Lavenza herself, began to slip into shadows.
Her voice called out. "Be aware, Trickster. Soon enough, another will cross paths with you. Once with a special fate of their own. The paths you create and where they lie… will be up to you…"
The undulating waves of rooftops led the Phantom Thieves to the Palace proper.
From the ledge, a black form leapt and twirled around the distorted rays, bending them into a shadowy swirl. The tails of his overcoat swallowed the gleam and his red gloved hands captured and snuffed it out. Its last glint was caught on the edges of his white mask. His boots landed with precision and carried the force of weight into a tumble, righting himself vigilant by the next ledge. Joker, the trump card who laughed at the rules of reality.
Other figures joined him at the ledge – his friends in their familiar thief garbs. Skull in his armored vest, Panther in her skin-tight suit, Fox in his baggy flowing garb. Queen joined in her suit more akin to steel plates, Oracle in her cybernetic garb, and Noir in her musketeer outfit and Mona rounding out the group.
"This is it, huh?" Joker murmured.
The heavenly castle's light was now blinding. Even from up close they had to hold their hands up to block out the rays. All that aided them in the encompassing light were dumps of foliage, grown out of the trees enveloping the buildings.
He scoffed as his sight adjusted once more to the Palace's glow. Pernet seemed to love making impressions.
"Is it just me, or did she turn it up since last night?" Panther groaned.
"Wait, look!"
As the Thieves' eyes adjusted, they noticed the trees in turn churn and shake, coiling their bark bodies. Their enveloping twists and turns unraveled, quivering, shaking off the wood and leaves and chasing off whatever exotic birds rested on their branches like unkempt layers of grime. In moments they soon became solid towers with its leaves crystalizing into symmetrical shapes. Waves of gold washed over them, polishing them and sending unease through the team.
"What in the… t-the trees!" Queen balked.
"Maybe she… doesn't like natural fashions?" Skull asked, scratching his head.
"Boo." Oracle pouted.
"Whatever the case, these trees now seem to match more with the heaven aesthetic rather than the rainforest one." Fox surmised. "They have lost a sense of organic appeal."
"Everyone, get down!" Mona cried.
The human thieves followed the cat creature's call. Brows in line with the surface of the ledge brushing on the brick, they spied guards in golden armor with metallic wings at the pearly gates. Angels flew and swirled baring their spears for any sign of those that wished to cheat their way into the Palace.
One of the many gorillas that swung from the transformed trees flapped his wings and touched down near the gates. From there, the beast galloped on his knuckles and feet as any gorilla would. At the final step the two gatekeepers crossed their spears before the gateway, triggering a bow from the hairy gorilla with a screech. The first few moments were a silent standoff before the gorilla dared to look up.
"Ooh, ooh, please." The gorilla chanted in a deep voice. It was clearly a male. "Me want to go in, ooh, ooh. Me want to see goddess. Make pretty, ooh, ooh."
The guards remained silent. Nothing indicated thought; they looked as still as statues.
Until finally, the one to the gorilla's left spoke.
"Will you swear fealty to Her Radiance?" It spoke. An echo carried its metallic-tinged voice.
"Say what?" Panther jumped. The gorilla grunted.
"Offer your vision and beliefs so that she may guide you to the promised heights." The guard continued. "Swear fealty."
"Ooh, ooh. I swear…"
The guards uncrossed their spears. With a rumble that sent quivers into the surrounding clouds, the gate opened. The bars parted to reveal hints of a shimmering garden past the misty glow. The gorilla grunted joyfully and galloped past the sentries into the light. His hulking form vanished, swallowed, as the gates screeched closed once more.
"The Promised Heights." Queen surmised. "We've interpreted those gorillas as normal people through her cognition. They swear loyalty to her in exchange for her guidance."
"Does that mean those people ignore her criminal acts?" Noir asked.
"Wait." Joker held out his hand. "Here comes another one."
The gorilla this time was slightly smaller and hooted in a higher pitched voice. This one had to be a female. She galloped almost faster than the male from before did, and the guards seemed quicker to bar her entry.
As before, the gorilla bowed. "Ooh, ooh! Me want to be pretty! "Ooh, ooh! Let me in!"
"Do you swear fealty?" The guard to the right asked this time.
"Yes, yes! Ooh, ooh! Me swear, me swear!"
The time dragged on even longer. The guards' spears didn't lift. There was no heavenly choir as the gates opened to some envisioned paradise. Joker and the others had the collective sinking feeling as to why.
To the side of the top step a path of golden bars appeared, step by step. It trailed around the main grounds of the Palace off into some unknown distance. Skull and Oracle craned their heads trying to catch a glimpse of the end goal, but Joker surmised they had no such luck, for good reason.
The right guard spoke without raising his spear. "Take this path. At the end is the Holy Shrine of Judgment. It is there that the goddess shall take heed unto your unworthy self. The goddess will deliver divine judgment."
As if without sense or thought, the gorilla took the path. Joker saw her eyes clouded with tints of gold.
Fox lifted his head as he and the other Thieves came to their knees. "Alright. We assume this scenario we saw unfold is in correlation with the models she employs. There is to be an additional step for the women?"
"For real?" Skull asked. "Why do the girls gotta do extra?"
"I don't think it's so much a necessary requirement…" Queen mused in thought.
"Why don't we investigate for ourselves?" Mona raised his paw. Like Queen and Fox, he too had his brow scrunched in thought, drifting to the worst assumptions that were usually proven true. "We might be able to learn more. Let's go in like the gorillas."
"I don't wanna be some model!" Skull pouted.
"Relax. Not like you're cut out for it anyway…"
The Thieves jumped and reached the streets in unison. The stairway up to the gates had to be a few miles in length, the gates themselves almost slipping from their reach the higher they climbed. Even with the enhanced stamina and endurance their suits gave them, aches began to creep into their legs. Oracle especially was starting to heave from exhaustion.
Only a fraction of them were still fit enough to stand upright by the time they had reached the top. Oracle and Panther sunk to their knees in exhaustion, while Fox had near keeled over. That was the lack of nourishment no doubt. Skull was still standing tall, not even his damaged leg enough to slow him down. Joker had to give a smile at his friend's own.
As before, the guards crossed their spears. This time they both spoke. "Who goes there?"
"Eep! I don't have the stats for this!" Oracle squeaked.
"We wish to pass." Joker stated unwavering. "We want to see the goddess."
"How strange to be using the front door. It's not very thief-like…" Noir spoke to herself.
"Do you swear fealty to Her Radiance?"
"Of course." The words almost slid off Joker's tongue.
The others balked at how quick he was to speak. He either signed them up for imaginary hell or gave an invitation for those spears to end up in front of their faces. Queen was shaking her head in disbelief out his peripheral.
Nonetheless, the scrape of metal released came and the gates groaned open. "Only the four males may be granted entry. The rest are to be sent to the Holy Shrine."
"Hold on a minute." Panther cocked her brow. "Why do only the boys get in with no strings attached?"
"Be silent, wench." The second guard replied. "Swine are not allowed to sully the heavens."
"EXCUSE ME!?" Panther glowered. The other girls were clenching their fists as well.
"Do you wish to be cast to the depths?" The first guard spoke.
"Alright, now I'm pissed!" Panther broke out her whip. Joker's hand caught her wrist.
"Wait a minute. Let us proceed ahead." Joker whispered in her ear. "We need to check every possible route for the Treasure. Plus, we don't really know what this 'Holy Shrine' is supposed to be about. Could be our chance to get some clues." His gaze steeled on the guards for any sudden movements that might lead to a rise in security.
"Don't worry, Lady Ann!" Mona pounded his chest. "I'll tear these Shadows to shreds for daring to insult a lady!"
Panther nodded. "Thanks, Mona."
A holographic screen with lists of numbers and code formed from behind them. Already, Oracle was typing away on a keyboard with text scrolling across her goggles by the second. "Okay. If you guys are heading in, look for a terminal of some kind. Anything that might look like a computer. I think I can get a scan of the layout here."
"You really expect us to find some tech in a big ol' heaven-y place like this?" Skull gestured to the large towers before them.
"Every game world's got a glitch or two." Oracle chuckled. "Just keep an eye open."
"We'll approach from the back." Queen added. "We'll try and figure something out about this 'Holy Shrine.'"
Joker nodded. The two groups went off their separate ways. Though keeping his cool as always there was still that old tingle in the back of Joker's spine. Splitting up in enemy territory was never a good idea, even with supernatural powers.
The first thing they noticed going through the gates was the smooth, reflective ground outside giving way to a vast field of greenery in full bloom within walls of clouds. Flowers and butterflies lined the edges of their sights and water flowed so serenely into pools as clear as crystal, sparkling upon hitting the surface. Birds chirping, the occasional thunk of ripened fruit hitting the ground, and a warm sensation that refreshed the soul. It was so perfect; it was mocking to whatever trash dumb had been near forgotten behind them.
Joker led the team to the large stone archway at the end of the vast field. Angelic beings above them paid them no mind, even in their rather obvious attire. Anyone who passed through the gates was no threat, no possible danger to their 'goddess.' The thought extended from the ruler to her Shadows – who in their right mind would sacrifice such paradise as the one she would grant in exchange for fealty?
Passing through the arch, the crossed another column-lined flight of stairs to a subsequent platform. A left and then a right turn led them up another stairway that spiraled around a long cloud tower. Heaven was as up above as it got, Joker thought; the addition of multiple flights of stairs was ridiculously redundant. Perhaps Pernet placed herself as higher than even the gods. A final right at the top led them into a small building lined with streams falling into a cloudy, bright abyss. Whatever area looked to be the shadiest seemed like a good hiding spot, although such spots were limited in a Palace based on heaven.
They ran down a long hallway lined with torches lit with orbs of light into a small room. There was not much else inside save for a pedestal with a floating scroll. Set in the middle of the room, with seemingly no defenses to it. Joker's senses were a screeching red sign – no way that this wasn't important.
"Think that might be the terminal?" Mona asked.
"Only one way to find out!" Skull cried.
Gathered at the scroll, Joker's senses came alive. This was the moment. In an instant, haloes surrounded them and unleashed beams of light. The glows subsided and they found themselves surrounded by at least eight guards at spearpoint. The boys spun and pressed their backs simultaneously.
"Halt! Outsiders are not allowed into this room!"
The Shadows burst out of their armor in explosions of black liquid. Shapes rose from the pools beneath them. Creepy and grotesque by any standard, but experience had made Joker numb to the sight. The guards had now become angels bound in chains suspended by their wrists.
Fox's hand rested on the hilt of his katana. "Well this wasn't entirely unexpected."
"So much for boys getting a free pass." Joker murmured.
"Oh, shut up! Skull cried. "This is the good part!"
"RAVAGE THEM, ARSÉNE!"
"BLAST 'EM AWAY, CAPTAIN KIDD!"
"ZORRO, SHOW YOUR MIGHT!"
"GOEMON, STRIKE!"
The boys tore off their masks. The torturous sense of skin ripping from their faces and pools of blood passed instantly. That blood would burn in blue flames, releasing their Personas behind them.
Arséne, clenching his fingers with a fiery grin on his mask, unfurled his wings and unleashed a black whirlwind. The toxic energy churned and hummed in a sinister air. At his side was Goemon, his Japanese garb flapping as he sucked in a breath from his elongated pipe. He breathed it out as a chilling smog, sparkling and freezing the ground mere inches away. The ice and darkness swirled in a dance that tore the immediate Shadows to pieces.
Half of the remaining guards were knocked by a pulse of swirling wind. In between the gaps was the black clad Zorro, pointing his rapier that carried green gusts. The other half were blasted by blasts of electricity that rang like cannon shots. Captain Kidd, surfing the flames atop his skateboard-sized ship, grinned as he pointed his cannon arm.
White and black darts exploded out of the colliding mists. They darted and bounced around the room and slashed into the Shadows. They flailed their arms in vain, the movements too fast to see or guard. To the Thieves, their enemies were at a near stand-still until the final moment. They returned to the mist as the enemies exploded with blood.
The shadow and ice expanded, bursting in a flash. Only the four thieves stood, in a dark pallor with glittering ice showering them. A hidden code of the Phantom Thieves – look stylish while kicking butt.
Footsteps came from the hallway. The boys turned and relaxed. The girls' forms came into view.
"Looks like you guys did okay." Panther laughed.
"What'cha expect?" Skull flexed his arm grinning.
"Is that the terminal we need?" Noir looked past them to the scroll behind.
"Maybe." Oracle moved towards it. "Give me a sec."
Her fingers moved with blinding speeds. If it were any other keyboard, it might have been set on fire. Joker crossed his arms with a rise to his chest. Everyone on the team had their skills, but Oracle's was never a bore to behold.
"Okey-doke! I got us a map!"
"Shall we move onward?" Fox asked.
However, just as they all took the first step out the room…
The space swirled and warped. The lights dimmed and flashed in intervals. Their feet slowly gained weight and feeling returned beneath their heels. Joker looked into his hands which lit with flame, his gloves and coat peeling off and revealing normal skin to his widened eyes.
"W-What the hell's goin' on!?" Skull shouted. The echo was the last thing that came to ear…
…Before they found themselves back on the street corner they met at.
Traffic was buzzing in the mid-to-late shopping rush that came with Christmas. Families and lovers were walking down the street hand in hand. It was becoming rare in their eyes to see anyone walking alone in the sidewalks of Paris. Volunteer figures were ringing their bells for donations, all dress in red with accent of holly with fresh pine scents.
They themselves stood balking at it all, not so much happy as they were head-spun. They were back in their winter wear, staring at the scenery as if it were an alternate planet. The Metaverse was hardly fun with all the fighting for their lives they had to do, but no one was ready to call it quits just yet.
"W-What's going on?" Ann asked. "How did we come back so soon?"
"No one reactivated the Nav, right?" Makoto followed, looking at all of them.
"I don't believe anyone even reached for their phones." Yusuke mused. "It simply happened."
"Looks like my homemade Meta-Nav had some glitches after all. It might have some kind of time-out function." Futaba admitted, sagging. "I was so proud out it too…"
"There, there, Futaba-chan." Haru tried to console. "You couldn't have known."
Akira didn't have the heart to tell her the app only worked in the first place due to Lavenza's interference. Futaba was proud of her hacking and programming skills. It just proved there were things even the original Medjed couldn't do.
"Well, this sucks." Ryuji said. "Should we just jump back in, then?"
"I think we might just run into the same problem. It would be ineffective to jump back if Futaba's Nav can only get us in for periods at a time." Makoto hummed to the group.
"So, what?" Ann shouted. "We just call it quits for the day? What about finding the Treasure!?"
"Calm down. Everything's all right." Mona appeared, back in his cat form, at their feet. "We don't have the pressure of a time limit this time. We can take our time as we investigate, and we'll have to learn to make the most of our time as well."
Akira nodded. "Either way, we're going to have to work a little smarter here. This'll be harder than we thought."
And that wraps this one up.
Fun story about this chapter. At first it was going to be very different. I had planned for them reaching the Treasure already just jumping past everything else. I feel like the step-by-step progression of traversing through the Palace wouldn't work in what could be akin to a novel. Then I remember viewing my notes for the plot of the story and saw that I was supposed to include that scene for Adrien that explains his character arc in this a little more.
Then came the reviews for the last chapter – one user on Fanfiction wrote that it was a bit farfetched that Futaba could create her own Meta-Nav. I did have an original reasoning for this in mind but it would have been hard to explain for anyone who didn't know about Persona 5 Scramble's plot. I can say another reason was because of Wakaba, who somehow managed to discover the Metaverse herself without any divine intervention, as far as we know, hence her cognitive psience research. I even gave a hint as to that being the source of the idea in the last chapter if anyone caught it.
On top of that a user on AO3 asked if I had plans to include the Velvet Room crew in this. Honestly, I did not. I didn't have anything planned for them at all. But regarding the issue of explaining Futaba's Meta-Nav, I felt like it would have been a simpler approach to just say Lavenza intervened.
To sum it up, this chapter was half-planned, half-improv on my part. I hope it turned out well; I'll let you decide on that end.
As always, review, favorite, follow! Until next time!