5/3/20XX
Wednesday: Daytime
Shibuya: Untouchable
With their heist completed, the thieves laid low for a bit as to try and avoid suspicion. Two weeks later, they decided it was time for a proper celebration for their deed. But in order to do that, they needed cash. Thankfully, Kamoshida's confession wasn't the only thing of value to come out of stealing his Palace's Treasure.
"Where the hell did you guys get this?" Chris asked as she and her boss, Munehisa Iwai, examined what Miku, Hibiki, and Ryuji handed them: An Olympic Gold medal. "Last I checked, there's no possible way for someone like you to have earned this."
Hibiki chuckled nervously. "Well, that's because it's not mine." Hibiki confessed, which only made Chris and Iwai more suspicious of her. "W-What I mean is-"
"My cousin from Osaka gave this to me in the mail!" Miku interrupted. "A friend of theirs gave it to them to sell, and they decided to give it to me as a sympathy gift after they learned about what happened to my parents..."
Iwai and Chris looked at the medal, then back to Miku, who looked like she was about to cry. "What should we do, Boss?" Chris whispered to Iwai.
Iwai said nothing, but he answered Chris' question by stuffing the medal into his pocket and placing three 10,000¥ bills on the table. "Here."
The trio and Chris were shocked by the trade, but the former were not going to question it. "Thank you very much!" Miku said, taking the money from the table. With their trade successful, the trio left the store. "Have a good day!"
"Thanks for stoppin' by." Iwai said in a deadpan tone, not even turning to see them off.
"Boss?" Chris asked. "Why did you give them 30,000¥ for that medal? For all we know, they could've lied and stole it from someone."
Iwai glanced towards Chris. "Sometimes, it's best not to question where people find their things." He said. "You only risk getting involved in something more dangerous than you bargained for if you do."
Chris took Iwai's advice and went back to work. However, something about that trade still bothered her. "If it were anyone else, I wouldn't question it. But after all of those rumors around school... Just what are they up to?"
5/4/20XX
Thursday: Daytime
Fancy Buffet
The next day, the thieves met up in Shibuya and used the money on a Buffet in a fancy hotel that Shirabe showed them. After paying their way in, the five students quickly went through the buffet and found a table for their food. "Alright, one, two..."
"Cheers!"
The five students clink their drinks together before digging into their plates, enjoying the heavenly meals that they deserved. "Mmmm... So good..." Ryuji said with a satisfied chuckle.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say it was a great idea letting Shirabe choose where we had our celebration dess." Kirika said, getting nods from the entire group.
"Of course it's good, Kiri-chan." Shirabe said. "Ann-san told me this lunch buffet is famous, so it was only natural that this was the best spot for our celebration."
"'Kiri-chan'?" Miku asked.
"That's Shirabe's nickname for me." Kirika said with a little blush.
"Aww! I like it!" Hibiki exclaimed, which made Shirabe start to blush a bit too.
"And you're right about this being a great spot for our celebration, Shirabe-chan." Miku said, changing the topic so as to not embarrass Kirika and Shirabe further. "I've always wanted to go to one of these places when I was younger, but my family and I never had the time or money to spend on it."
"And it's all thanks to that 30,000¥ we got from pawning off the medal!" Ryuji added.
"Still, it's odd to think that Kamoshida's Treasure would be a gold medal." Hibiki said.
"To Kamoshida, that gold medal was worth as much as a crown." Kirika stated. "That's my guess at least dess."
"So it was a symbol of his past glory that he was desperately clinging on to?" Ryuji thought. "All the more reason for us to get rid of it when we did."
"It would've been weird for us to keep it." Shirabe added.
The group nodded in agreement, but Kirika could tell that something was bothering Miku. "Do you feel guilty?"
"Well, maybe a little bit." Miku admitted.
"That medal was a fake. It was created from Kamoshida's desires." Kirika said. " Regardless, we changed his heart and set him on the right path, so we deserve this little bonus dess!"
"...I guess that does make sense." Miku replied.
"Of course it does, Miku!" Ryuji added. "Kamoshida admitted his crimes and is cooperating with the judicial process."
"Ann-san just texted me saying Shiho starts rehab next week!" Shirabe added.
"See? There's no reason to feel guilty for doing the right thing!" Hibiki said. "So let's celebrate by eating our hearts out!"
Suddenly, Shirabe gasped at her phone. "Oh no! We've already used up half of our time!"
"Seriously?!" Ryuji gasped as well. "I haven't had my fill of beef yet!"
"I still need to get more rice!" Hibiki added as herself and Ryuji rushed over to the buffet to get more food.
"I still need to eat every last dessert they have on their menu dess!" Kirika exclaimed as she dragged Shirabe with her to the buffet, leaving Miku to keep an eye on their still pretty much filled plates that covered up a good majority of the table.
However, Miku wasn't bothered by being left in charge of watching the table. "I've got all the food I wanted anyway." She said to herself. "I just hope Ryuji-san, Kirika-chan, and Hibiki don't go overboard with how much they eat."
And as luck would have it, the girls and Ryuji did exactly what Miku was hoping wouldn't happen...
"There's no way I would've been able to hold that in while they were cleaning the bathroom downstairs..." Ryuji sighed.
"Preaching to the choir, Ryuji-san.../Dess..." Hibiki and Kirika added.
"You three ate way too much." Miku sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose in disappointment. "I at least expected a bit more self-control out of you, Hibiki."
"But Miku... It was really good foooooood..." Hibiki groaned.
Miku rolled her eyes. "Let's just hurry back to the table. Shirabe-chan's waiting for us."
"Y-Yeah..." the trio replied, following Miku to the elevator.
Once she reached the elevator, Miku pressed the button and waited for the doors to open. However, before the elevator would arrive, a man wearing a fancy business suit with a matching fedora surrounded by four other men walked over to the elevator. "Pull the car around." The man with the fedora ordered to one of the four men. "We'll head back to party headquarters until the MLIT meeting."
"Yessir." One of the subordinates replied before arriving at the elevator and pushing the four thieves away from it.
"Has there been an update on the case yet?" The man with the fedora asked.
"N-No sir." One of the other subordinates answered. "If I may ask, why are you so involved? This really isn't something you should be concerned with..."
The man with the fedora scoffed. "I believe my question was about an update on the case, not a useless opinion on my involvement with it. When I say pick up the pace, you do it!"
"Yo, Pops, we were in line here first." Ryuji interjected.
However, the man in the fedora didn't care about what Ryuji had to say either. "How intriguing. It seems the customer base has changed since my last visit." He said with a chuckle. "Have they started a daycare?"
"What was that?" Ryuji said, clenching his fist in anger as the man and his entourage entered the elevator. "Hey, wait!"
As the elevator door closed, the man in the fedora gave Ryuji a smug grin, which only served to anger Ryuji more. "What was his deal dess?" Kirika thought aloud. "Acting like a big shot..."
"I dunno, but he pissed me off!" Ryuji answered. "Lookin' down on people like that..."
"You shouldn't let people like that get under your skin, Ryuji-san." Miku said. "They're not worth the effort."
"Yeah!" Hibiki cheered. "Let's just forget about that guy and go meet up with Shirabe-chan."
The group nodded as Miku pressed the button to call for another elevator. However, despite her words earlier, something about that man bothered her. "That's the first time I've ever seen that man, but something about him made it seem like it wasn't..." For now, Miku just pushed those thoughts aside as the four thieves entered the elevator.
As they exited the elevator, they found Shirabe waiting for them in an empty part of the lobby. "About time you four got back!" Shirabe shouted angrily at the four thieves.
"Why're you all pissy?" Ryuji asked.
Immediately, Shirabe realized how her tone sounded and took a breath. "Sorry... I had a run-in with some woman a second ago."
"What happened?" Kirika asked.
"I was just getting some more desserts while I waited for you all to come back, and this woman bumped into me and then blamed me for her dropping her own plate." Shirabe explained. "But when I tried to call her out on it, everyone in the room looked at me like I was the one at fault."
"That's horrible!" Hibiki said.
"That lady sounds like a real bitch..." Ryuji added.
"Yeah... Thanks though." Shirabe said, letting out a sigh afterwards. "The world just seems to be full of adults like that. Not just Kamoshida."
The group was quiet for a moment, but then Ryuji spoke. "Hey, I've kinda got an idea."
Meanwhile
Public Prosecutors Office
Elsewhere, a man with a receding hairline and a woman with long pink hair were watching a news report of the man Miku and the others ran into at the hotel, named Adam Weishaupt of the United Future party, being interviewed by several reporters. "It pains me to say this, but the deterioration of this country's political systems knows no bounds." Adam said. "What the people seek is a fresh wind that brings reform."
"And now the question is raised if incumbent cabinet ministers should resign." The man with the receding hairline said before noticing how the woman was watching the report more intently. "It seems you've been hanging out with that girl as of late. You and Niijima really care about a string of crazy incidents that much?"
"Yes." The woman said.
"Very well." The man replied. "Like I told Niijima, pursue it if you like. I'll take responsibility if anything happens."
"Thank you."
Shibuya Station
Back with the thieves, Ryuji got an idea and decided to take the girls somewhere more private to discuss it. "Hey, Kirika. Everyone has a Palace, yeah?" He asked.
"As long as they have a strong, distorted desire, yes." Kirika answered.
"Same goes for them havin' a change of heart if their Treasure gets stolen?"
"That would be the case dess."
"Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden, Ryuji-san?" Shirabe asked.
"We had trouble earlier too. These selfish shitheads who just looked down on everyone else..." Ryuji explained. "...I was just wonderin' if we'd be able to change those kindsa people too."
"You mean... you want us to continue being Phantom Thieves?" Miku asked.
"Exactly!" Ryuji answered, glad that the others were catching on to what he was trying to say. "As the Phantom Thieves, we could help people who are in trouble!"
"I agree." Hibiki says. "If we ignore people who are in trouble, knowing there was something we could do to help them, I'd have a hard time living with that guilt..."
"But how would we do it?" Shirabe asked.
There was a moment of silence as they all thought about this question. "...The same way we did with Kamoshida, by stealing their hearts." Miku answered, getting surprised reactions from the group.
"Yeah! I mean, it's worth a shot!" Ryuji cheered. "Ya think it'll be the same as it was last time? 'Cause like, maybe we could try to change it! The five of us, we could change this lousy world of ours!"
"Dess! Those are the words I've been waiting to hear!" Kirika cheered. "Now I know I did the right thing by going out of my way to help you!"
"Hold on a second! Don't go running off half-cocked." Shirabe interjected before turning to Miku. "What do you think about this, Miku-san?"
"It'll work, right?" Ryuji asked Miku.
"...As long as we're together, I'm sure it will." Miku answered.
"Alright Miku!" Hibiki cheered, hugging her best friend.
"When you put it that way... Yeah, I think it will too." Shirabe added.
Kirika chuckled seeing the three girls and Ryuji wanting to continue being Phantom Thieves. "Even if you're just fledglings, this means we're an actual organization now." Kirika said.
"Fledglings, huh?" Hibiki thought. "Actually, that's pretty accurate for us."
"Then it's settled!" Ryuji shouted. "We'll catch all these shitty adults by surprise, and make ourselves known to the world!"
Thursday: Evening
Shibuya
With the matter of officially forming the Phantom Thieves settled, the group walks around Shibuya, continuing the discussion of their organization while spending time together and getting various supplies for Palaces in the process. "I think Miku-san should be our leader." Shirabe suggested.
"Agreed..." Ryuji sighed.
"Yeah... If there's anyone I'd trust as a leader, it's definitely Miku." Hibiki added.
"I don't remember being consulted on this dess..." Kirika pouted. "But, I'm willing to go along with it because it was Shirabe's idea."
"Well... I don't have much experience running an organization." Miku admitted. "But, if you all trust me to be the leader, then I'll do the best I can!"
"That's the spirit, Miku!" Ryuji cheered, playfully nudging her in the arm. "I mean, it's thanks to you we were even able to beat Kamoshida in the first place, so it doesn't matter if you're not the best leader at first as long as you try."
Miku smiled at Ryuji's motivational words. "Thank you, Ryuji, Hibiki, Kirika, Shirabe." She said, surprising the group. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Ryuji said. "I just wasn't expecting you to call me just 'Ryuji' like that."
"I just figured, since we're all good friends now, there's no need to be so formal, right?" Miku asked.
"Works for me." Ryuji said, which everyone agreed with.
"Then it's decided." Kirika said. "Miku is our leader. Everyone agree?"
"No objections here!" Hibiki, Shirabe, and Ryuji answered.
With that decided, everyone went back to their homes to get some sleep before school tomorrow. However, there was still something on everyone's mind that hadn't been decided yet.
Kirika: We should decide on a name for our group.
Ryuji: Wouldn't it be cool to put it on our calling card?
Shirabe: I think it should be something elegant.
Shirabe: What about "Pink Diamonds"?
Ryuji: I dunno. It sounds too much like a little league team name to me...
Kirika: Maybe we should let our leader decide on our name?
Hibiki: Works for me!
"What do you think, Miku?" Hibiki asked.
Miku thought for a moment. While she did agree with Shirabe's idea of having an elegant name, she also thought it would be more fitting to go with something the public might already be familiar with. And with that thought in mind, Miku knew what she wanted to go with.
Miku: "The Phantoms."
Everyone: Sounds good!
With everything settled, the group went to sleep and prepared themselves for the start of their new lives as The Phantoms.
Some time later...
Ryuji: Wait, so we're just called "Phantoms"?
5/5/20XX
Friday: After School
Shujin Academy
With everything settled, the thieves planned to have their first true meeting after school today to decide their next course of action. However, as Miku and Hibiki were getting ready to meet up with the others, someone approached Miku. "Hey." Mishima said. "Have you seen that Phantom Aficionado Website?"
Miku and Hibiki looked at each other, and then back to Mishima. "What site?" Miku asked.
"There are many more evil adults outside of Kamoshida. But I'm sure the Phantom Thieves will do something about them." Mishima continued. "So I put the site up to cheer them on in my own way."
"I mean, that's cool and all..." Hibiki said. "...But why are you telling us about it?"
Suddenly, Mishima moved in closer to the two girls. "I get it. You both have nothing to do with the Phantom Thieves, right?" Mishima asked, predicting what the girls were trying to say.
"Could you give us some space?" Miku asked, both avoiding the question and genuinely getting uncomfortable at how close Mishima was to them.
"Sorry..." Mishima apologized as he backed up a bit. "What I'm trying to say is, I made the site as my way of thanking you guys for stopping Kamoshida. But don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Anyways, I'm going to do my best on my end, so I'm counting on you!"
With that, Mishima grabbed his bag and left while waving goodbye to Miku and Hibiki, who were still really confused. "Should we look at this site with the others?" Hibiki asked.
"If they don't know about it already." Miku said, grabbing her bag and going off to meet with Kirika, Shirabe, and Ryuji.
Meanwhile
Principal's office
While the Phantom Thieves' stunt with Kamoshida happened weeks ago, there were still some people who were looking to find the ones responsible for it. One such example was that of Shujin's Principal, who was talking to two female students in his office about such matters.
"The culprit responsible for the calling card?" The girl with short dark brown hair and red eyes asked. "But I thought that was just some prank."
"I'd like to identify them so that I may handle the media and police in a correct fashion." The principal said.
"If I may, Principal Kobayakawa..." The other girl with longer light brown hair and teal eyes asked. "I'm not sure that spying on students is exactly the best way to go about this."
"I have to agree with Serena on this, sir." The short dark brown haired girl added. "And on that note, why ask us of all people to do this?"
"I'm asking because I thought you two were my best choices." Kobayakawa answered. "You both have been at the top of your class since day one. In my opinion, it's impossible to decide which of you are better. I could write you both letters of recommendation for any college of your choosing, Makoto Niijima, Serena Cadenzavna Eve."
"Th-Thank you." Makoto said.
"If you have that much faith that we can handle this task, sir. Then we'll do what we can to meet your expectations." Serena added.
"That's what I like to hear." Kobayakawa cheered. "I'd appreciate it if you'd look into this as soon as possible, but I ask that you begin at once."
"Yes, sir." Makoto hesitantly answered.
"If you'll excuse us then." Serena said as the two girls left the Principal's office.
Student Council Room
As they left the office, the two girls discussed what was being asked of them. "Are you sure we should be doing this, Serena?" Makoto asked.
"It was for the best that we accepted this task, Makoto." Serena said. "As much as I don't like the idea of spying on our fellow students, I could tell Kobayakawa wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer."
"That's true..." Makoto agreed. "But how exactly do we go about searching the entire school for these 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts'? We can't exactly stalk the entire student body."
"You're right about that." Serena agreed as she looked out of the window, seeing a group of students gathered around a single phone. "But I may have a good idea of where to start looking..."
Shujin Academy Courtyard
As for the Phantoms, Hibiki and Miku went on to mention this website Mishima told them about to the others, which Ryuji already had pulled up on his phone. "A Phantom Phansite?" Shirabe asked.
"Yeah!" Ryuji replied. "You guys haven't seen this yet? Get with the times!"
"Wait, what are those comments?" Hibiki asked as everyone got closer to Ryuji's phone to read them.
"Great job, Phantom Thieves."
"Now I can keep going, too."
"Thank you for giving us hope."
"I thought we'd just be ignored, but it looks like some people believe in our calling card." Ryuji said.
"I was just trying to do what I could for Ann-san and Shiho-san before." Shirabe said. "But now that I'm seeing all these people saying this..."
"I know!" Ryuji cheered. "It's pretty moving, right?"
"Yeah!" Hibiki said. "If there are people out there that believe in what we're doing, then it motivates me to keep going!"
While she too was motivated by all of the supportive words of the Phansite, there was something on the website that caught Miku's eye. "'Requests'?"
"Yep, there's tons of requests for us already." Ryuji said. "Mostly just people bitchin' about their parents or boyfriends, though..."
"Dess! That gives me an idea! " Kirika cheered. "Follow me, you guys! I've got something to show you."
Shibuya Station
Following Kirika, the thieves arrive at Shibuya Station and proceed to look through the requests. However, they weren't finding any that really seemed worth doing. Such as...
"'My friend is a shameless deadbeat, so I want to make him apologize.'" Ryuji read aloud.
"Rookie! Look for a more serious request!" Kirika barked.
"Then why aren't you lookin' with us, Bossy pants?!" Ryuji retorted.
"Wait you two, I might have found a good one." Shirabe interjected before Kirika could return Ryuji's retort.
"I don't know what to do about my ex who's stalking me. His name is Natsuhiko Nakanohara."
"Well spotted, Shirabe!" Kirika cheered.
"Okay, now what do we do?" Hibiki asked.
"Well, since you asked dess, bring up the Meta-Nav." Kirika said.
"O-kay?" Hibiki replied, doing what Kirika asked. "If I recall, I just need to input the name and place, right?"
"Not this time." Kirika answered. "This time, I want you to type in the key word 'Mementos.'"
"'Mementos'?" Hibiki asked, unaware that her phone overheard her say it. "Isn't that a type of candy that makes soda explode?"
"That's 'Mentos', Hibiki." Miku clarified, also unaware of the distorting world around them.
"Your destination has a hit. Beginning Navigation."
After the Navigator said that, the group immediately noticed that the once busy station square was now empty and the sky was tinted red. "Woah, woah, woah!" Hibiki and Ryuji both gasped.
"What the...?!" Miku and Shirabe gasped, equally as surprised that the station became a red ghost town.
"Alright! Follow me!" Kirika said, ignoring the shock on the four thieves' faces. Regardless, once the initial shock had left them, the four students walked down the stairs into the subway, unaware of what awaited them.
Mementos
"Geez, you four are slow!" Kirika mocked, sitting playfully on the turnstile gate in her Phantom Thief attire.
"Kiri-chan! You changed!" Shirabe gasped.
"She's not the only one!" Hibiki added, realizing that herself and the others were also in their thief attire.
"Kirika... Is this Nakanohara's Palace?" Miku asked.
"Man... You adapt quickly!" Ryuji said, shocked that Miku's demeanor changed without hesitation.
"Well... Yes and no." Kirika answered Miku's question. "Yes, this is a kind of Palace, but it's different from that last one, in the sense that it's everyone's Palace dess."
"I'm... Not sure I follow..." Hibiki said, rubbing the back of her head in confusion.
Kirika smirked as she pivoted herself to the other side of the turnstile and pushed herself off. "A Palace as grand as Kamoshida's 'castle' only forms when a person's wishes are extremely distorted." Kirika explained. "So, instead of many individual Palaces, the general public has one gigantic Palace they all share."
"So that's what this is..." Shirabe realized.
"Mementos." Miku added.
"Hold on a sec." Ryuji interjected. "When you say 'shared', you mean they're all put together? Even though they're just strangers?"
"Think of it as the 'collective unconscious.'" Kirika stated. "On second thought, never mind that. You might not know what that is."
"Hey! I'm not that much of a dumbass!" Ryuji shouted, much to Kirika's amusement.
"So, in short, we can use this place to change the hearts of people who don't have a Palace?" Shirabe asked.
"Exactly dess!" Kirika replied happily. "Which leads me to my next big surprise..." With a smirk on her face, Kirika turned around to face the railroad tracks behind her, held out her hand, and summoned a magic circle on the tracks.
"Come forth!"
With a voice that sounded slightly altered from her own, Kirika caused the circle on the ground to become engulfed in a red and black ball of energy. Moments later, the ball dissipated, and from it, came something no one was expecting to see.
"A car?!" Everyone except Kirika gasped. Sitting before them on the tracks was a large black camper van-like vehicle with a green stripe down the top of it.
"No way! How the hell?!" Ryuji asked, still in shock by the fact Kirika managed to summon an entire vehicle.
"Among the general public, 'Demons having powerful magic' is an extremely widespread cognition. So, I took advantage of that 'powerful magic' and made a vehicle for us to drive throughout Mementos in." Kirika explained, playfully patting the hood of the car. "What are you guys waiting for? Get in dess!"
Hesitantly, the four approach Kirika's car. "Now for the next question, who's going to drive?" Shirabe asked.
"I mean... I do have some experience driving with my dad where I used to live..." Miku said.
"Should be good enough for now." Kirika said. "Now let's get going to find our target dess! Also, be sure to use your codenames in Mementos, too. We may only run into shadows for the most part down here, but it doesn't hurt to practice Palace etiquette here, too."
Hibiki let out a small chuckle as the group entered the vehicle. "'Palace etiquette.'"
After driving for quite some time, and dodging as many shadows as they could along the way, the Thieves eventually came across a strange red and black portal with warped train tracks leading into it. Without a second thought, Echo floored it into the portal.
"Watch out!" Warrior screamed, pointing towards the terminus as Echo quickly slammed on the breaks.
"Ugh... I think I'm gonna be car-sick..." Skull sighed, looking completely dizzy from Echo's driving.
"Sorry, Skull..." Echo apologized. "I'm still getting used to driving."
"No need to worry about Skull's inability to handle motion-sickness, Echo." Imp reassured Echo.
"Hey!" Skull barked.
"In my opinion, driving the right way down here is overrated." Imp continued. "That is, as long as you don't crash into a wall."
"Thanks?" Echo replied, not sure if that was a compliment. However, at that moment, Echo looked ahead of them and noticed a black pyre of flame surrounding a man with glowing yellow eyes. "Imp? Who is that?"
"That would be Nakanohara's Shadow dess." Imp answered as herself and the other thieves exited the car. "Be on your guard everyone."
"Who are you?" Shadow Nakanohara asked.
"So you're the stalker, huh?" Warrior asked in return. "Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels?"
"She's my property!" Nakanohara retorted. "I can do whatever I want with her!"
"What a load of crap." Skull scoffed. "We're gonna change the hearts of all the bastards like you!"
"There are plenty of people far worse than me!" Nakanohara roared as his body started to contort and the flames around him dispersed, causing a massive amount of wind. "That's right. Madarame... He stole everything from me, but you're letting him off the hook?!"
"Madarame?" Echo thought.
"You ignore that scumbag... So why am I the one who gets persecuted?!" Nakanohara continues before his body bursts into a red and black ball that reforms into a strange anthropomorphic tiger with a bowl cut.
"Here he comes!" Imp alerted the group as Shadow Nakanohara pounced at them. "Get ready dess!"
Without hesitation, the Thieves counter Nakanohara's incoming assault, knocking him to the ground before they unleash their own assault with an All-Out Attack. Once their counteroffensive was finished, Echo landed next to Shadow Nakanohara and adjusted her gloves and smirked as he was defeated.
"The Show is Over!"
With that, Shadow Nakanohara returned to his human form, this time in a calmer state of mind with less intense black flames surrounding him. "I was wrong." He said. "I'll go back to the real me."
Saying this, Shadow Nahanohara faded into a bright light that was replaced with a ball of light where he once stood. Echo approached the ball of light and grabbed it. "What was that?" Maiden asked.
"That was the bud of a Treasure dess." Imp answered. "Had we left it be, it very well may have blossomed into a Palace."
"So now Nakanohara should have a change of heart, yeah?" Skull asked.
"Most likely." Imp said.
"Alright!" Warrior cheered. "Then, if that's all we need to do, we can head on back to reality!"
"Not quite, Warrior." Imp said. "There's still one more thing I want to check on while we're here."
While they weren't 100% sure what Imp was getting at, the group decided to follow her directions further down Mementos, until they came across a floor that was only a platform with empty train lots on both sides of it. However, at the end of the hallway, there was a giant wall with strange markings all over it.
While the other Thieves were hesitant to approach the wall, Imp casually walked up to it and placed her hand on it. After a brief moment of silence, the ground began to shake as the wall opened up to reveal another descending set of escalators. Once the wall finished opening, the Meta-Nav reacted to it as well.
"A new area has been confirmed. Updating guidance information."
"Just as I thought dess!" Imp cheered.
"What is this?" Skull asked.
"There's more ahead?" Echo added, equally confused.
"Yep. This was as far as I got last time I was here. It must have opened up because we've gained some fame from Kamoshida's case." Imp answered. "The cognition of the masses has changed, giving us the ability to go deeper."
"It's creepy..." Maiden said. "How big is this place?"
"That's the thing... I can't remember..." Imp admitted. "I don't remember who I am, or why I have these powers and inhuman appendages."
"Really?" Maiden asked, feeling sorry for Imp.
"I wanted to solve that mystery so badly that I wandered through the Metaverse, until I got lost in that castle dess." Imp continued.
"And Kamoshida captured you, huh?" Skull asked.
Imp nodded before continuing further with her story. "Mementos is everyone's Palace, but it's also the source of all Palaces. If I can solve this riddle, I'm sure I'll become fully human again... I hope." Imp said. "So I'm going to be a hard taskmaster, training you guys to help me dess!"
"Right!" Maiden said.
"Sure!" Skull added.
"Do your worst!" Warrior said, jokingly crossing her arms in a serious manner.
"I look forward to your training." Echo added.
Imp smiled when she saw the team was willing to follow her advice. "Then let's set some ground rules." She said, proudly putting her hands on her hips. "First, from this moment on, the Phantoms shall only target real fiends, the bigwigs."
"I'm with you there." Warrior replied.
"No objections over here!" Skull added.
"Second, all members must agree on a target before carrying out a plan." Imp continued. "It's all for one and one for all dess. We share a common destiny."
"So it must be a unanimous decision?" Maiden asked for clarification, receiving a nod as an answer.
"Works for me." Echo said, the others nodding in agreement.
"With that settled, let's go home!" Imp said, beginning to march back to the car, which the others soon followed after her to.
"I've got to admit, Imp, Mementos seems like the best place for us to train our personas!" Warrior cheered. "Thank you for showing us!"
"Yeah!" Skull added. "And the best part is that we're the... Only ones... here?"
He stopped himself once they ascended the escalator back to the top floor, only to be greeted by a child with grey hair, a car loaded with all sorts of things, and a mysterious set of flowers in a strange bubble. "A person?! In Mementos dess?!" Imp gasped.
The Thieves approached the child slowly as they watched what he was doing with the flower. He hummed out of curiosity before stretching out his hand towards the flower. Suddenly, the flower started glowing as it moved towards his hand, turning into a yellow smoothie. "Maybe it's this one?" The child said to himself before taking a sip. Judging by the expression on his face after the sip, it seemed he liked it. However, in that same moment, the child noticed the Thieves approaching him. "Oh? Hmm, I thought I felt something strange for a second... So, who are you guys?"
"WE should be asking YOU that dess!" Imp retorted.
"Good point. Sorry about that." The child replied. "It's customary for a human to introduce itself before asking another human for its name. Thanks for reminding me, Miss... Um, you don't look to be a normal human... Are you a demon of sorts?"
"I am too a normal human!" Imp shouted angrily. "I am not a demon!"
"Gettin' confused about that seems pretty normal to me..." Skull mumbled.
"My name is Jose. I'm looking for flowers." Jose said, giving a proper introduction. "I'm pretty surprised to see some normal humans running around. I didn't know people could just come here."
"Well, we are pretty special..." Imp replied, giddy from the unintended praise before snapping out of it. "W-Wait, that's not important dess! Who YOU are is what matters right now!"
"When you said you were looking for flowers, did you mean that floating thing?" Warrior asked.
"That's right, pretty lady." Jose answered. "Those seem to be the ones I've been looking for. I'm collecting as many of 'em as I can 'cause I'm studying humans."
"You're able to learn more about humans by turning those flowers into drinks?" Echo asked.
"Yup." Jose answered.
"Since when does drinking flower juice count as studying?" Both Warrior and Skull thought, getting some ideas that Echo may need to talk them out of doing later.
"Hey, could you guys help me with my research?" Jose asked. "All you have to do is collect flowers for me. Of course, I wouldn't ask you to do this for free. If you can collect flowers for me, I can trade you some of the things I find while you're exploring. I'm sure you can find good uses for the things I find."
"Whaddya think? Should we try an' get him some flowers?" Skull asked the others.
"Seems like it could do us some good..." Imp ponders aloud. "But, we don't know this kid... We gotta be careful dess."
"I'm sure he's fine. Let's give him a hand." Maiden said.
"I agree with Maiden on this." Warrior added. "He seems like he could use the extra sets of hands, and it shouldn't be too hard to pick flowers while we're exploring, right?"
"Okay, any OTHER reasons you agree with her on this?" Echo asked, which made Warrior blush.
"He called me 'pretty lady.'" Warrior chuckled.
"Why am I not surprised..." Echo sighed.
"Eh, it's prolly fine." Skull interjected. "I mean, he said he'd give us useful stuff an' all. Whaddya say?"
"Well, are you going to help me find the flowers or not?" Jose asked.
Echo thought for a moment. But it didn't take long for her to nod in agreement. "Let's help him."
"Thanks!" Jose replied.
"Wait, wait, hang on a second dess! We still have ZERO clue who this kid is!" Imp interjected, before giving Jose a death glare. "Don't go thankin' us yet, bud!"
"Are you okay, demon lady?" Jose asked. "You seem grumpy. Could you be tired?"
"I am NOT a demon!" Imp retorted. "And I'm NOT grumpy!"
"O-Oh, okay-then, are you hungry?" Jose asked. "I learned hunger can make a person turn grumpy." Saying this, Jose pulls out a bag labeled "Cookie: Milk Taste Cookies" "Here, you can have this."
With Jose's offer, Imp becomes agitated at Jose and concerned about the bag's true contents. "Thanks, but I'll pass..."
"You're making Jose-chan worry about you even more, Kiri-chan..." Maiden sighed.
After the group makes Imp take the cookies from Jose, the latter hopped into his car and started the engine. "I'll be looking for flowers around here, so stop by and say hi if you see me." Jose said.
"Will do, Jose-chan!" Warrior replied.
"Oh, and I guess just gathering flowers would be kind of boring, huh?" Jose thought aloud. "Since you humans seem to enjoy playing so much, I'll come up with some fun games for you."
"Th-Thanks?" Maiden hesitantly replied.
"Ah, I also remembered something humans like to say to each other: Good Job!" Jose continued, honking his horn as he thanked(?) the Phantom Thieves before he drove down the escalators... Somehow...
"Well... That was interesting." Skull said. "Still think that kid's dangerous?"
"Well, he didn't feel like a shadow... So I'd say he's fine... For now." Imp replied, knowing Skull's question was directed towards her.
With that settled, the Thieves head for the exit of Mementos, until suddenly. "I totally forgot!" Jose yelled while honking his car's horn, speeding up the escalators. "There's something I've been meaning to give to all of you."
"Something for us?" Echo asked.
"Yeah." Jose replied. "The thing is... I picked up something strange while I was exploring earlier." Saying this, Jose pulled out a star-shaped object. "Here it is."
"What the heck is that?" Skull asked.
"It's a star." Jose answered. "At least, that's what they look like, so that's what I call them."
The Thieves looked at the star curiously, then back to Jose. "So, what about it did you want to show us, Jose-chan?" Warrior asked.
"Humans make wishes on stars, right? That's so interesting." Jose replied. "So this star is going to grant your wishes."
"Our wishes?!" The group as a whole replied in shock.
"...Or, it would be nice to think that." Jose finished, leading to everyone letting out a defeated sigh.
"'Nice to think that'... Seriously..." Imp sighed.
"I'll give this to you." Jose said, handing the star to Echo. "It's so sparkly and beautiful, you want it too, don't you? It's a 'sign of our friendship.' I know what that is."
"Th-Thanks, Jose-chan." Echo said, confused, but thankful for the gift.
"Off I go now." Jose said as he hopped back into his car and started the engine. "Good Job!"
"Hey, wait!" Imp tried to stop him, but he was long gone by the time she shouted.
"Aaaand he's gone..." Skull sighed before turning his attention to Jose's gift to Echo. "A star, huh? He said it'd grant our wishes or somethin'..."
"I highly doubt something like that could actually happen, even in Mementos..." Imp doubtfully laughed. "But, I guess you can at least try making a wish."
"Okay... I wish for 150,000¥! So I can share it with Ann-san and Shiho-san!" Maiden wished aloud.
"I wish for an extra large beef bowl! With pork soup on the side!" Skull wished, which made Warrior's mouth start to water at the thought of how good that would taste.
"Ooh! I wish for loads of rice! Rice the size of Mt. Fuji!" Warrior wished.
The Thieves waited in silence for something to happen, but after a short while... "...Nothing's happening dess." Imp said.
"Was Skull's wish too petty?" Maiden thought aloud.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Skull asked, offended that his wish was singled out.
"To be fair, Skull, compared to a literal mountain of rice and a large sum of money, you could literally go buy your wish as soon as we leave Mementos." Echo interjected, playing devil's advocate.
"I guess things don't just happen that easily..." Imp added. "Regardless, we can't just throw the thing away... Hold onto it for now and head back for the day." The group agreed to this idea, heading back outside to return to the real world as Echo stuffed the star into her pocket.
Back in the real world, the Thieves discuss what they've discovered thanks to Kirika. "We now know that we can perform minor changes of heart in Mementos." Kirika stated. "If we come across any eye-catching leads, it may be worth dealing with them as soon as possible. Not to mention perfect for some combat practice dess."
"Combat practice?" Hibiki thought, before suddenly gasping. "Crap! I forgot I promised Master I'd help out at C.A.F.F.E. Café today!"
"I'll go with you then, Hibiki." Miku said. "There's something I need to do over in Yongen-Jaya anyway."
"Might as well call it for the day, then." Kirika replied. "See you two back at the house!"
"See you then, Kirika!" Miku answered while Hibiki pulled her away to get on the next train to Yongen-Jaya.
"Guess I better get goin' too." Ryuji sighed as he began to walk home. "Later!"
"See you tomorrow, Ryuji!" Shirabe said, waving as Ryuji left hers and Kirika's sight. "You ready, Kiri-chan?"
Now that the others were gone, Kirika let out a sigh. "To be honest, I'm still kinda nervous dess..."
"Why?" Shirabe asked. "It's not like we're asking them to let you marry me. There's still so much I want to do before I get married anyways."
"That's not what I'm nervous about dess..." Kirika said. "Well, I mean, yeah, I want to make a good first impression as your friend to your folks, but I'm worried about not being able to be effective help for our leader if I'm not close by..."
"Can't you use your magic to help her out when she needs it?" Shirabe asked. "For someone like you, that shouldn't be too hard, right?"
Kirika was dumbfounded by this idea. "How did I not realize that sooner dess?! Thank you, Shirabe!"
Shirabe chuckled. "Kiri-chan's very cute when she's clueless."
"Okay! I'm ready dess!" Kirika said with more enthusiasm than before.
With that, the demon and youngest of the thieves left for the latter's house, both unaware of a woman with blue hair watching their whole discussion from afar. "Could those rumors about that Shujin Academy teacher's confession be true?" She thought to herself. "Phantom Thieves..."
A/N: And with that, we end the chapter!
This chapter would've been much longer, but I decided, considering what I plan to show off, it would be better to split it into two chapters instead of one long one. However, I will say this: I'm curious to see how you all will react with what I plan to do in both this upcoming chapter and the next arc.
On another note, I wanted to make another announcement. I'm going to change up the upload schedule for this fanfic and my other one after I post the next chapter to the other fanfic. Instead of being every 2 weeks per chapter of each fanfic, I'm going to be pushing it back to every 3 weeks.
Don't get me wrong, I can still manage to make these chapters within 2 weeks, but I would also like to give myself some time to work on other types of content between working on chapters.
Rest assured, I still plan to continue making chapters that I hope you all continue to enjoy.
With that being said, thanks again for reading this chapter. I shall see you all in the next one!