Speechless.

That was the only word that could describe the silver-haired prosecutor. Absolutely speechless. She thought that it was the Phantom Team leader that was the fool for accepting her offer, but now she saw she was the idiot for being so confident in victory. In mythology, Izanagi was the patriarch of the Japanese pantheon, the greatest and most powerful of them all, responsible for siring the children that would shape the world. And now, he had come for her.

Izanagi floated forward, and Sae took steps backward. It had been a long time since the silver-haired prosecutor had felt genuine terror, but it's chilling claws were no less familiar. The woman tripped in her haste to get away from the creature, landing flat on her ass. This… thing, Izanagi, grabbed its weapon, and Sae fought to keep her pants dry. Izanagi raised it…

And tossed it like a javelin over the building, sending the blade far away from Sae as he could manage. The woman looked back, and saw that he extended his hand to help her up.

"I am not your enemy, Sae Niijima. Come, let's get you up. It's indignant for a woman of your stature to be lying on the floor."

Sae looked at Izanagi for what felt like decades before forcing herself to wobbly feet, not accepting his help. Izanagi continued to just hover while Sae's mouth opened and closed like she was a school girl who was called on to answer a question she didn't know. Finally, she managed to find her voice. And she couldn't help but notice that his sounded oddly similar to Yu's. But that couldn't be right. It had to be a trick made by this… this…

"What are you?" She finally breathed in a hushed whisper.

"I already told you. I am Izanagi, the leader of the Phantom Team."

"That's not what I meant." She replied, taking deep breaths to calm her pounding heart.

"I know. But we just met, Sae Niijima. You can't expect me to give away all my secrets."

Sae had successfully managed to calm down, or rather calm down enough to think straight. This thing wasn't going to hurt her, that much was clear now. Her brain worked overtime, trying to find some kind of scientific and logical explanation for what she was seeing. Finally, an idea popped into her head.

"That's a nice little display you have!" Sae shouted, loud enough for anyone else on the roof to hear.

"Why thank you." Izanagi replied, flexing his arm muscles. Sae completely ignored him.

"But I asked to meet you, not some illusion!" She continued to shout, looking around for someone else.

Meanwhile, Yu stood in silence with Akechi, focusing all of his attention onto his Persona. Sae's sentence caused him to smile sadistically.

She thinks you're a hologram Izanagi. I think it's time for some payback for that spanking session, don't you?

Izanagi gave a silent nod, and gripped her hips tightly. He could feel her tense up at the sudden contact, but before she could even squirm, Izanagi hit her with some electricity, forcing her to stand at attention. There wasn't enough to actually hurt her, but enough to make her uncomfortable, and her face twitched in response to the stimulation. He lowered his voice to a whisper as he breathed down her neck.

"Does this feel like a 'hologram' to you?"

Sae's cheeks only got the smallest tint of red from anger, accepting that this hovering thing was real enough to interact with her, and it would be the best thing she'd get to actually meeting the leader. The Persona let go, and she turned around to face the god. Izanagi could tell that with the hologram idea debunked, she tried once again to find another logical explanation for what, or rather, how, this was happening. After a few tense, quiet moments, her eyes lit up.

"Are you… are you here to kill me? To give me a mental shutdown, or change my heart so I'm suicidal? Is this how you do it?!" She asked in a panic.

"No, it isn't. We may use similar methods, but my Team isn't responsible for the shutdowns. As for stealing your heart, the way we do it is a longer and more demanding process, but it guarantees the target's survival."

Izanagi hovered towards Yu's guardian only for her to pull out a taser and attempt to use it on the Persona. As one would imagine, it didn't prove to be of any use, and horror decorated Sae's face. Her eyes darted towards the still open door, but Izanagi spoke up.

"Don't bother. You and I are the only ones in this world, and I can follow you wherever you go, Sae Niijima." Izanagi informed, annoyance dripping from his voice.

The prosecutor let out a gulp as she put away the taser and sweat dripped from her brow. Finally, she choked out a few words.

"Alright. So… you're really not here to hurt me?"

"Of course. I wanted you gone, you'd already be dead."

"You wouldn't have… changed my heart?" Sae breathed, slowly backing away from Izanagi.

"That only works on distorted individuals. And that doesn't apply to you."

"So you say." Sae responded, looking again at the door. Izanagi groaned.

"Look, if you want to see for yourself, you can go downstairs. You'll find that the team you no doubt had ready to ambush me isn't there."

"I… actually came alone."

Izanagi cocked his head to the side, pretending to be surprised by the confession

"Seriously? You're confronting the leader of a group composed completely of unknowns, and you came alone?"

"Well… truth be told, I thought I could take you by myself. I… also didn't expect you to actually take my offer." Sae admitted shamefully.

"It took a lot of convincing to actually take it. Robin Hood pushed for me to meet you at every turn."

"Robin Hood? Is that one of your teammates?"

"But of course. He's a very big fan of yours. If he had his way, we'd also be meeting your partner and the two of you would be talking to the whole Team."

"Akechi feels a similar way, and I can't say I'm surprised by your teammate's attitude to me. A lot of young men are fans of mine. Though, not because of my accomplishments or intelligence." Sae added, gesturing to her body snuggly hidden within her suit.

"Robin Hood admires you because of what you stand for. He sees you as an incorruptible symbol of righteousness, which is exactly the problem. He forgets that you're human, just like everyone else."

"Including you?"

"Including me. But… just because my nature is human, doesn't mean I am."

"Interesting." Sae muttered to herself, fear starting to vanish.

"A few others advocated for not meeting you at all. That declaration of yours didn't do you any favors among the Team."

"Can you really blame me?"

"Of course not. In fact, that's just one of the reasons why I'm meeting you; to put your fears at ease."

Sae placed her hand to her chin in contemplation.

"One of the reasons? What were the others?"

"Simple. You have certainly proven yourself resourceful, with all the despicable people you've put away, regardless of their class in society. And the SIU is one of the most well-equipped departments in the country. We both want the same thing Sae Niijima; to uphold justice."

"Well that depends. What is justice to you Izanagi?"

This very question plagued Yu when he was asked that. But his inner self had no such doubts.

"Justice is doing the right thing."

Sae scowled at that answer.

"Doing the right thing, huh? What a vague and non-committal answer. Let me ask you a question. There's a pedophile that you've caught, one that's raped 20 different children, and even murdered a few of them. But he's willing to offer you a deal; in exchange for freeing him and protecting him from retribution from the families of his victims, he's willing to give you information on human trafficking rings. You have the chance to bring down dozens of monsters like him, but at the cost of making sure his victims never get closure. The murdered will have funerals attended by family and friends, and the survivors of the raping will have to go through therapy, and that's even if they recover at all, but you will help lock away degenerates like him. Tell me, oh high and mighty Izanagi; what's the right thing to do?"

The Persona was silent, but not breaking his gaze with the woman. She scoffed.

"Exactly. Justice is subjective, and at times circumstantial. If you can create a code of morals that can apply to every situation without any exceptions, then please share it with the rest of us."

"I wouldn't compromise." Izanagi finally answered.

Sae blinked, her face a silent 'what'.

"I have the power to change hearts. I could make the pedophile confess. I could make him tell me everything he knew about the human trafficking rings."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but not all of us have that power. The rest of us just have to make compromises, let a few criminals go to catch the many. That's just the way the world works."

"Then the world needs to change. And I have the power to enact that change."

"And who are you to decide what must be done? What gives you the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner? Who holds you back?"

"My Team and I keep each other in check. As to what gives us the right… allow me to ask you; what good is a book with no words? What's the value of food that cannot be eaten? What purpose do power and knowledge serve if they're not used? We have the ability to change the world, and we refuse to squander it."

"So you do it because you can?"

"We do it because we must."

"How can you be so certain that you're needed?"

Izanagi placed his hand to his chin and looked away, debating just how much he should tell her. Or rather, to put it in a way that didn't reveal his identity.

"Because I have someone close to me that the system failed. The law damned her at the behest of another man, one infected by distorted desires. Simply put, my friend's case has proven to me, and my Team, that the system cannot be relied upon to deliver justice. How many pieces of scum have gotten off scot free because they greased the right palms, or kissed the right ass? How many innocent people have been locked away because either they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or because the police are just desperate to close the case? How many are afraid to speak out against those who abuse their power because they know what will happen if they do? The answer is too many. But what we're doing is going to change that."

"No it won't. Just targeting big-wig figures won't be enough to bring about societal reform."

"If I'm alone? You're probably right. But if I have you? That change could happen, and it could be permanent."

"So you want me to be your little assistant? Just come at your beck and call? Walk in your footsteps as you get all the glory?"

Izanagi stopped hovering, his razor shoes touching the ground and revealing he was just as tall as Sae. The god placed his hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes as he spoke. This time, Sae didn't back down.

"I don't want you to walk in front of me and be my leader. I don't want you to walk behind me and be my follower. I want you to walk by my side and be my friend. I want to save society from itself, and to do that, I need help. Yours."

Had he said those words before Dojima arrived, Sae would've laughed at him. She would have accused him of thinking she was naive, that she was some little girl enraptured with the chance of a bold and breathtaking hero coming to save the world. But Sae didn't believe in heroes, not since she lost the one that sired her and her sister.

But then she remembered Dojima's words about keeping an open mind, and she decided to review the evidence. The Team had only targeted criminals, or at the very least, criminals that everyone was too scared to stand against. They also delivered calling cards, which meant they weren't afraid of letting the scum of the earth know that they were real, and that they wouldn't watch evil go unpunished.

Sae felt something thrum in her chest, like some idealistic piece of her soul was brought back to life. She was assigned to bring him down, to clamp him in chains, receive her reward and rest on her laurels. But he had a point; he could effect change where it shouldn't be possible, and she knew which parts of the world needed change the most. And she told herself she'd give him a chance, fair and square…

"Are you sure we can do it? Do you think such a goal is achievable?" She asked as he took his arm off her.

"Do you? You harbor a criminal in your own home, so you can't think it's impossible for people to change."

Sae shot her signature glare at him.

"Do not call Narukami a criminal!" She growled.

Izanagi was taken aback. He knew Sae actually bothered to get to know him when so many others had passed judgement. But he didn't think she'd try to defend him. He thought all that talk of being family and sticking together was just that; talk. And apparently he thought wrong.

"So, you actually believed him when he told you he was innocent?"

"Of course I do. He isn't like you; he hasn't broken any laws. That record he has was the result of him being framed. A bit like your lady friend."

"He hasn't broken any laws? What about that time he broke into Mitsuyo's office?"

Sae flinched at the question.

"T-that… was a one time thing he did at Akechi's behest! And he's been properly disciplined for it!" She justified hastily.

"Easy Sae Niijima. I've seen his heart. I know he's innocent as well. I just didn't think you did."

"You saw his heart? And you expect me to believe you didn't look at mine?"

"I'm trying to make an alliance with you. Invading your privacy doesn't seem like the way to go for that."

"O-oh. Thank you."

"You're welcome. And it's because of people like your ward that my Team and I fight. We want to go to war with this broken and bloody system; to see it set on fire and replace it with one that will reward the righteous and won't turn a blind eye to the truth. I agreed to meet you because I believe you hold similar beliefs. Your partner, Goro Akechi, said that as massive as the SIU is, it can't be everywhere at once. The same is true for my Team. We can't change everyone's hearts, but we can change the ones that matter the most."

He held out his hand for her to shake.

"What do you say? Will you help us?"

"Hold on. What exactly will this alliance entail? How will it work?"

"It's simple. You compile a list of criminals who you think should have their heart stolen, and we'll take your opinion into consideration, but the final say of who we go after will be ours."

"Not sure why I should bother making a list. I could just give you a single target. Or you could go after all of them."

"This is a proposition, not a job interview. The Phantom Team is just one group after all, and it's essential we manage our time wisely. Of course we'll eventually get everyone on the list, if they're guilty and you truly can't catch them."

Izanagi debated whether or not to inform Sae about the Puppet Master. If they were working on two fronts, they could track down the culprit faster. But he also quickly decided against it; Sae had no reason to believe him and Akechi said that the SIU Director had blocked all attempts to interrogate Mitsuyo now that her trial was over. He didn't know who to trust, and neither would she.

Sae, meanwhile, considered her two options. Decline, and she would make him an enemy, and that would put her family in harm's way, but it would also keep things straightforward and simple. Accept, and not only would she guarantee that her family stayed safe, but would also get a powerful ally. The only real problem would be that accepting would complicate her orders. And then there was the possibility that he was using her, and planned on betraying her later down the line. Even so, this would be her one, and only chance.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"I'll accept. On one condition."

"What is it?"

"I want to be kept in the loop as to who your next target is. If you keep doing this, criminals will notice the pattern, and before long, they'll be rushing to kill anyone with a calling card to keep them from squealing. But if you let me know beforehand, we can be ready to swoop in and nab them before something happens."

"Very well. Sae Niijima, you have a deal."

Once again, he extended his hand. Sae looked at it and gave a gentle smile. Her slender fingers wrapped around his gloved ones, and the two gave a firm squeeze. The verbal contract had been sealed, the alliance was formed, and both hoped for the best. Izanagi began to float around the little brick tower that acted as the ceiling for the stairway to the roof. Robin Hood had already come out, and Izanagi did his best to make sure that Sae wouldn't see his teammate. Finally, they stopped right in front of the pile of boxes; close enough to be in range of the Nav, but far enough that Robin Hood was out of her field of vision.

"The next time you hear from me, it will be on how to contact me. I look forward to our future endeavors, Sae Niijima. I'm glad I have you as an ally."

And with that, Robin Hood pushed the button, and Sae once again felt a headache. This time, she closed her eyes much faster, and when she opened them up, she was back in the real world. The sky was blue, cars were honking, reality felt normal again.

And Izanagi was nowhere to be seen.