"There's something that I want to show you guys," Arthur said to the other Black Knights the day after the party.
"What is it?" Milly asked.
"You remember how I said that I was working with Kallen's brother for a time, before he died?"
"Yes," Lelouch nodded.
"That's all true… but the two of us had only recently discovered your teacher's Palace. Most of our time exploring the Metaverse was spent in another Palace… though it's a very different type of Palace than the one we just erased."
"My brother didn't mention such a Palace when he showed me the Metaverse," Kallen said, giving Arthur a curious look.
"He didn't want you getting distracted when there was already a Palace here," Arthur explained. "Granted, we didn't know at the time exactly what we would find in your teacher's Palace, but it was clearly nothing good."
"Whose Palace is it?" Milly asked.
"I could just tell you," Arthur replied, "but you'll understand it better if I show you."
"Where is it?" Lelouch asked, seeking a clue as to the identity of the Palace Ruler.
"We used to access it through the ruined subways under the Shinjuku Ghetto. But I think any train station will be fine."
"A transportation official's Palace?" Milly guessed.
"But if it doesn't matter which station we access this Palace from, then that means the distortion would have to cover the whole city!" Lelouch objected. "Who would see all of Tokyo as their Palace but the Viceroy?"
"Those are both good guesses," Arthur replied. "But no. The Viceroy does have a Palace of his own, judging from the of the reaction of the MetNav to his name." He glanced up at Kallen before looking back to Lelouch. "Her brother and I already tested it, and I assume you have as well. We also know it has to be at the Government Bureau. But we could never figure out the keyword describing the form of his Palace, and so we couldn't actually enter it."
Kallen clenched a fist. "Of course the Viceroy has a Palace," she snarled. You'd have to be pretty twisted to be so two-faced… All smiles to the Britannian public, even as he demolishes one Japanese neighborhood after another in the name of 'urban renewal. And he dares ask us to cooperate with his rule?"
"I see…" Milly murmured, her eyes downcast. "Of course that doesn't get reported in the media. But I can't exactly claim ignorance either… I know from Lelouch a bit about the atrocities that happened during the war. And more than that, anyone can see how badly deteriorated the ghettos are while riding the trains around the perimeter of the settlement, and how new construction projects keep replacing them. But it's something I turned my eyes from and pretended not to see."
"That's all well and good to realize," Arthur interrupted, "But as Zero pointed out, the scale of this Palace is utterly massive. It easily dwarfs your teacher's Palace, and I think it extends deep underground too. It's something we should definitely check out. If you guys want to look into the Viceroy's Palace later, that's fine with me, but I'd rather deal with the one under our feet at this very moment."
"I can't just let the Viceroy be, especially if he has his own Palace," Kallen said after a moment. "But if my brother was investigating this other Palace, I need to see it for myself."
"I promised you that I would continue to help you pursue your brother's dream, Kallen," Lelouch replied, "wherever that takes us. I'm all for investigating this Palace."
"Ooh, how romantic," teased Milly.
"It's not like that," Kallen said with annoyance.
"Don't worry… Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell anyone how the two of you were all hot and bothered in the steamy shower yesterday."
Kallen's cheeks flushed red. "What did you tell her, Lelouch?" she demanded angrily.
"Nothing. Our Student Council President has good intuition, but she also has an overactive imagination."
"And you have to be a killjoy again, Lelouch. You have to live a little!' Milly urged.
"Ever since I awoke to the power of Persona, I feel more alive than I have in years," he retorted.
"To be honest, I feel the same way," Milly replied. "And if there really is a massive Palace under the Settlement, Arthur's absolutely right that we should check it out. A Palace that only covered our school was bad enough. So let's do it together, not only as members of the Student Council, but as Black Knights."
xXx
No one thought anything of three Britannians arriving at a train station. Arthur may have been a more unusual sight, but Kallen let him ride in a handbag, which for the most part kept him hidden. Once they had reached a secluded corner inside the station, Arthur poked his head up and said, "Okay, we're here. Try using the MetNav now. The keyword is 'Mementos'."
"Mementos," Lelouch repeated while opening the app on his phone.
"Candidate found," the Metaverse Navigator announced. "Beginning navigation."
The world distorted around them. Cracks appeared in the station walls, faintly emanating a red, pulsating light from them. In front of them, a pair of escalators descended into the unfathomable darkness below. While they could no longer hear the crowds of the busy station, there seemed to be a whispering in the air. Perhaps it was just the wind, but it sent a chill down Lelouch's spine.
"This is it… Mementos… the public's Palace…" Arthur explained. "It's the product of the shared cognition of the people of Tokyo… Britannian and Japanese alike."
So those sounds really were voices, thoughts made manifest. Individually, they were too faint to make out clearly, and for the most part they blended together to produce a white noise, but there were certain currents in it that were more distinct, which was why he had initially thought it sounded like wind.
"Kind of spooky in here…" Milly murmured.
"So this is the Palace my brother was exploring…" Kallen whispered.
But Lelouch had noticed something else, that his fellow Black Knights were oblivious too. Behind them, there was a familiar blue glow. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Shi waiting nearby, the door to the Velvet Room beside her.
Turning, he approached the small green-haired girl.
"D-do you wish to speak to our master, Mr. Inmate?" Shi asked nervously.
Lelouch nodded.
"T-then I'll let you inside." She opened the door to the Velvet Room, and beckoned him through.
"We meet again, Trickster," Igor said. "You certainly found your way into Mementos quickly."
"Why didn't you say anything about this place?" Lelouch replied, causing Tsu to shoot him a warning glance. But instead of becoming angry, Igor simply let out a chuckle.
"You did not need to know at the time. But now that you are here, I shall speak more of Mementos. It is a vast distortion in the collective consciousness, of unfathomable depth, where the sinful thoughts of society lurk beneath the surface. It is from Mementos that all other Palaces are born. Unless your actions can produce a change in society's cognition, Mementos will only continue to grow as mankind inevitably approaches ruin. Yet Mementos also offers you great power…"
"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked, ever wary of Igor.
"You will see in time, Trickster," Igor said, waving a hand dismissively. "For now, our services are at your disposal as always. Shi! Tsu!"
"Yes, Master?" The two girls said in unison.
"See to it that the Trickster's preparations are in order before he descends into Mementos."
"Of course," Tsu replied. She turned to Lelouch. "That is the nature of our contract, is it not?"
He nodded.
Some time later, after he had finished reviewing the Compendium and fusing new Personas, including Jack Frost, who had the appearance of a snowman mascot dressed in a blue cap, a matching collar festively decorated by jingle bells, and boots.
"I'm Jack Frost, hee-ho!" the newly born Persona said jovially. The power of the Magician flowed into Jack Frost from his bond with Arthur, and Lelouch sensed a sudden chill. Jack Frost had gained Mabufu, the spell to encase an area in ice.
"That Persona…" Shi murmured.
"You've done well, Inmate," Tsu said with a mysterious smile.
"Um… can I see… Jack Frost…again?," Shi asked softly.
"There's no need to be so modest," Tsu said, with a warmth that Lelouch hadn't heard before, even as she glared at him as if to say, "Disappoint my little sister, and you'll be sorry."
Nodding, Lelouch called up Jack Frost from the sea of his soul.
The small girl's face lit up into a bright smile that Lelouch hadn't seen from her before, and she bounded over to his Persona, giving Jack Frost a hug, as if he was a big plushie. In turn, Lelouch lightly felt a phantom pressure over his own waist. Jack Frost was part of him after all.
Shi seemed to notice this as well, for she suddenly let go.
"Hee-ho?" Jack Frost said with bewilderment.
"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Inmate," Shi said, averting her eyes from Lelouch. "I… was so excited that I… forgot…"
"Don't be," Lelouch told her. "You can't just keep apologizing like I'm going to hurt you at the slightest provocation." He chuckled. "Given how much more you know about Personas than I do, I'd bet that you and your sister could probably put me on the ropes pretty quick. After all, knowledge is power."
Tsu smirked. "You have no idea how right you are, Inmate. One day, perhaps you could be a challenge to us. But you'd stand no chance at all with your current power, pathetically weak as it is."
Lelouch scowled, but he wasn't eager to put the idea to the test.
"You know, my little sister isn't the only one who's too uptight at times, Inmate," Tsu continued with an airy laugh. "As if I would seriously suggest challenging you. But you do show some potential… so I think it's time to give you another task." She paused, and her golden eyes seemed to light up with a wicked gleam. "Bring me Shiisaa with Frei."
"But-" Shi began, suddenly anxious.
"It'll be all right," Lelouch said reassuringly. "I'll meet your sister's challenge."
She nodded. "Okay."
"And if you like cute things like Jack Frost, you should have just said so."
"Are you making fun of my little sister?" Tsu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not at all."
Lelouch felt like he knew both of them a bit better know. Deep within him, the Death Persona resonated, and he felt a tiny bit stronger as well.
Tsu looked at him knowingly. "You're welcome, Inmate."
Igor chuckled. "How remarkable. To think the three of you would advance your bond so quickly… May you continue to pursue your rehabilitation with such vigor, Trickster. You will have need of your bonds for the trials ahead."
xXx
Lelouch emerged from the Velvet Room.
"Back in this world with the rest of us?" Milly asked, her tone playful as always, though there was a note of concern mixed into it.
"You can't just zone out like that when we're in the Metaverse," Kallen said. "And that's not the first time it's happened. Are you sure you're up to this, Zero?"
"You don't need to worry," Lelouch said. A suitable lie came to mind. "Pausing to collect my thoughts like that helps me organize my Personas so they're ready for peak performance." The best lies always contained some of the truth, but this way, he didn't have to explain the Velvet Room to her.
Kallen turned to Arthur. "Did my brother do anything like that when he was in the Metaverse? You said he had the same gift as Zero."
Arthur thought for a moment. "Yes… he often seemed lost in thought when we entered Mementos, so I'd say it's probably normal for someone who can use multiple Personas."
"Well, then what are we worrying about?" Milly said with a smile, obviously trying to put the others at ease.
"Don't get cocky, Diamond," Arthur cautioned her. "Up here at the entrance is like one of those safe rooms in your teacher's Palace, but as soon as we descend down those escalators and get past the platform below, it will be crawling with Shadows."
"You worry too much, Tama," Milly replied. "They'll never see us coming. Isn't that right, Zero?"
"Indeed."
"The Shadows aren't the only thing that we have to worry about in Mementos," Arthur said, shaking his head. "Let me show you."
They went down the escalator, and found themselves at the mouth of a large subway tunnel, which promptly split into multiple winding paths that quickly faded into the darkness.
It's so big…" Milly murmured.
"To start with, Mementos is like a maze, even moreso than your teacher's Palace. But while her cognition was twisted, it was for the most part stable, until you got close to the center of her distortion. But Mementos… it constantly changes from day to day… it's never the same path through these tunnels twice…"
"Then how are we supposed to get around in here, Tama?" Kallen asked.
"Mementos is shaped by the public's cognition," Arthur replied. "Before the Britannians built the monorail system to serve the Tokyo Settlement, there was much older transportation network…"
"Teito Rapid Transit… the Old Tokyo subway system…" Kallen nodded. "Before it was bombed out by the Britannians."
"Exactly, Queen. To this day, there are still far more Japanese people around Tokyo than Britannians, and so Mementos takes the form of the old subway, rather than the modern monorail line. But as you know, the old subways still see some use in the real world, even if no trains run through them anymore."
"The Resistance uses them to transport supplies undetected. The tunnels are even big enough to fit stolen Knightmare Frames, provided that they haven't caved in yet."
"I've heard rumors that the terr- err… Resistance used the tunnels to that effect," Milly said, correcting herself but still earning a glare from Kallen. "But I thought the military closed them off."
"Hah! As if a Viceroy who spends as much time preening as Clovis would bother to learn where all the routes were! They just built over central Tokyo and left the rest to rot," Kallen retorted, practically spitting out the words. "No, there are plenty of tunnels left for us to use."
"And members of the Resistance know exactly where to find hidden hardware in the tunnels!" Arthur added excitedly.
"But what has that got to do with…" Kallen began. Her eyes widened. "Wait! Since when was that there?!"
Across from Kallen there was a Knightmare Frame that clearly hadn't been there just moments before. The machine was over four meters tall, and roughly humanoid in shape, but boxier and bulkier, and with an elongated head that contained sensor equipment. At a glance, the Knightmare seemed to have a hunched back, but the protrusion was really the cockpit and ejection system. On its own, such a design would have been quite unwieldy, but Knightmares solved this problem with a pair of land spinners sticking out of the back of the legs, providing balance and allowing the machines to zip around as if on roller skates.
"It's a Glasgow," Milly said quickly, "a fourth generation Knightmare Frame. It doesn't handle quite as well as the Ganymede that preceded it, but the empire wanted something suitable for mass production."
"You're rather knowledgable about Knightmares," Kallen said, eying Milly.
"Well, my grandfather's company did produce them before it was shut down and the empire seized the plans."
"That's fair," Kallen replied. "Of course, these days, outside of the Resistance, you mainly see Glasgows being used by the Knightpolice. The military has upgraded to Sutherlands, fifth generation frames. I'd love to get my hands on one…"
"Both of you know that's not really a Knightmare Frame, don't you?" Lelouch asked. "From what Tama described, that's a cognition of a Knightmare Frame."
"Don't be a spoilsport, Zero!" Milly pouted.
"What's the difference in this world?" Kallen asked. "I mean, I was startled when I first saw it because I wasn't expecting it, but if it's something I can pilot, that's good enough for me."
Lelouch struggled to find a response.
"She got you there, Zero," Arthur smirked.
"Fine! So you can pilot it?"
"Absolutely, if it's anything like a real Knightmare. Let's take a look."
Kallen led them over to the Glasgow. As if sensing her presence, the cockpit opened up, and cables extended down so that she could access it.
Kallen paused, looking up at the Knightmare warily.
"It's just a Cognition," Arthur reassured her. "It's responding to your thoughts."
"I know… it's just a bit… spooky."
"Don't tell me that you're afraid of ghosts, Queen," Milly grinned mischievously.
"Of course not!" As if determined to prove Milly wrong, Kallen swiftly clambered up into the cockpit, and inspected it with a professionalism that only an experienced devicer would have.
"The controls look normal," she reported after a moment. "But I can't find an activation key. Wait a moment… what's this?" Kallen moved her arm slightly, as if she was pressing a button, and the Knightmare Frame hummed to life.
"All diagnostics check out…." Kallen murmured. "I think we're good to go! All this Knightmare really needs is a paint job."
"Oh? What color?" Milly asked excitedly. "I can help you come up with a really cool design for it!"
"What does the color matter?" Lelouch asked irritably.
"You just don't get it, do you, Zero?" Milly reproached.
"I'd go for red myself," Kallen answered, "like my Glasgow in the real world."
"Or your hair," Milly teased.
"Anyways," Kallen said, ignoring Milly,"it's definitely going to be cramped in here. A Knightmare Frame is designed to carry only one person, the pilot, though it can transport a passenger in a pinch without much of an issue. But three people…"
"Don't forget me," Arthur piped up.
"You're a cat, Tama," Kallen replied. "You don't take much room. You can just curl up somewhere."
Indeed, it was a tight fit inside the Knightmare's cockpit. While Arthur was able to find a spot between Kallen's feet on the floor, Lelouch found himself shoulder-to-shoulder with Milly as they huddled behind Kallen. He fully expected Milly to make some quip about it, but her attention had turned to the display as Kallen began to navigate the Glasgow through the snaking tunnels of Mementos.
"It just keeps on going…" Milly murmured.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Arthur yawned lazily.
"Shadows, dead ahead!" Kallen suddenly called out.
Unlike the Shadows in Villetta's Palace, which had taken the appearance of knights, the Shadows in front of them were tall, lumbering, misshapen things with too many masks in their backs, aimlessly shuffling around through the tunnels. In any case, the Shadows didn't seem to have noticed them yet, a fact that Kallen immediately exploited.
The land spinners of the Glasgow whirred as it charged forward.
"Why are you going faster?!" Milly said with alarm. "You'll run right into them!"
"I think that's her plan," Lelouch replied, a smirk spreading on his face.
"You can't be serious!"
But with every second, the gap between them and the Shadows closed.
"Here we go!" Kallen shouted. "Brace yourselves!"
There was a thud as their Knightmare crashed headlong into the Shadows, which let out shrieks of surprise and pain.
The Knightmare itself came to a halt, alarms flashing on its console, and suddenly Lelouch found himself thrown from it as if by an invisible force, while the Glasgow's hatch automatically opened behind them.
"Is everyone okay?" Milly called out.
"I'm fine," Kallen said, already on her feet.
"You shouldn't be so reckless, Queen!" Arthur protested. "Your brother never- "
"Never mind that!" Lelouch shouted as he quickly took stock of their surroundings. However rough their impact had been, the Shadows clearly had it much worse. "Thanks to Queen, the enemy is in disarray!
Let us take this chance to strike!" He ripped off his mask. "Ravage them, Jack Frost!"
Phantom chains clattered as Jack Frost appeared behind him in a swirl of illusory blue flames, though they gave off no heat, and did not seem to bother the snowy mascot.
"Hee ho!" Jack Frost laughed jovially. There was a sudden chill in the air as the Persona cast Mabufu against the enemy. He could now see that they were Jack o'Laterns, fiery cousins of Jack Frost and the first type of Shadow that Lelouch had ever fought, though that encounter in Villetta's dungeons seemed so distant now.
The Jack o'Laterns crumpled to the ground, violently shivering under the assault, and their flames seemed dim now. One was even frozen outright in a block of ice.
"Nicely done, Zero!" Arthur shouted.
"We surrender, hee-ho!" a Jack O'Latern moaned piteously.
"What have you got to offer us?" Milly asked, stretching her whip with an air of playful menace.
"Just cheap trash, I'm sure," Kallen said, brandishing her claw. "Just give the word Zero, and we'll wipe them out!"
"They're hardly worth killing," Lelouch replied.
"Hee-ho! We're saved!" The Jack O'Latern bobbed back up into the air. "Take this, hee-ho!"
"I'll never understand why there are Shadows carrying banknotes," Kallen sighed as the Jack O'Laterns departed and vanished into the darkness of the tunnels.
"Probably something to do with cognition," Arthur replied offhandedly.
"That doesn't explain anything!"
"At least we got something from them," Milly shrugged.
Lelouch nodded. "It may be a cognitive counterfeit, but you'd be hard pressed to tell this apart from the real thing."
They continued driving through Mementos, occasionally encountering escalators that let them proceed to lower tracks, fighting Shadows along the way. But soon, they saw something rather foreboding.
"What's that?" Kallen asked Arthur.
Before them, the tracks rose up from the ground and twisted into some sort of portal, glowing with an eerie red light.
"That's a Distortion," Arthur explained. "It's like a proto-Palace, formed around the germ of a Treasure. This is just a theory, but her brother thought that if left alone, the Distortion would continue to get larger until it breaks out of Mementos and becomes a full-fledged Palace in its own right."
That was consistent with what Lelouch knew from Igor. Had Kallen's brother had the same conversation in the Velvet Room?
"Whose is it?" Milly asked, bringing his thoughts back to the moment.
"I have no idea," Arthur admitted.
"There's only one way to find out," Lelouch said. "Shall we?"
Kallen nodded. "Here goes nothing." Bringing the Glasgow up to speed, she deftly launched it off the raised tracks as if they were a ramp, and steered them through the portal.
The inside of the Distortion appeared to be a small chamber with a stone floor. Its architecture resembled the rest of Mementos, but there was a higher concentration of glowing red vein-like structures pulsating along its walls. There wasn't enough room to maneuver the Glasgow further into the chamber, so the Black Knights disembarked.
"Wh- who's there!" A voice stammered, startled by their sudden entrance into the Distortion.
Standing in the center of the chamber before them was a figure dressed in the black of the male Ashford Academy uniform, emblazoned with an SSDF armband. But that was impossible… no other students knew about the Metaverse or Mementos… did they?
The student turned around, revealing glowing yellow eyes.
"I know him!" Milly whispered. "He's the student leader of the SSDF!"
"Or rather, his Shadow," Lelouch muttered.
"Y- you guys are the Black Knights, aren't you?" The Shadow SSDF Leader trembled as it pointed a finger at them.
"So what if we are?" Lelouch replied coldly.
"You're the ones who blackmailed Coach Nu! I can't believe it! Everything they said was true! You are coming for me next!"
"Who's 'they'?" Kallen demanded.
"Do you realize what you've done? If filthy Elevens like Kururugi are allowed to remain at Ashford Academy, it puts all of us at risk! Any one of them could be a terrorist! Besides, letting their kind come to our school might get them thinking that they're somehow equal to us Britannians!"
"Shut up!" Kallen shouted, incensed.
"Now you've done it!" The Shadow SSDF Leader hissed. "For the honor of our school, I will not let myself be bested by miscreants like you!"
Dark energy converged on the Shadow SSDF Leader, much as it had before Shadow Villetta had transformed into Leviathan.
"Watch out!" Arthur called. "Here he comes!"
The Shadow SSDF Leader let out a roar, transformed into a massive white hound with a scaly tail. "If I bring you to justice, then surely the SSDF will rise again!"
"We'll show you justice!" Kallen retorted.
The Shadow SSDF Leader charged.
"Come, Medea!" Milly called out, pulling off her mask with a flourish. The hooded sorceress materialized, and cast a burst of flame at the Shadow SSDF Leader.
The Shadow kept charging, completely unfazed by the attack. Leaping up, it clawed at Milly, knocking her to her feet, and snarled viciously at her.
"Pick on someone your own size! Suzuka Gozen!"
Kallen's Persona appeared in an instant and plowed into the Shadow SSDF Leader, shoving him away from Milly.
"Hang in there, Diamond!" Arthur shouted. "Master Cat!" The booted feline heeded his call and held its rapier high as healing energy gathered around Milly, knitting her wounds closed.
"Thanks, you two! I thought I was a goner!"
"Don't mention it, Diamond!"
Back on his feet, the Shadow SSDF Leader charged again.
"How predictable," Lelouch laughed. "Slime!"
The hound crashed into Slime's viscid mass. Lelouch winced slightly, feeling the force of the blow through his Persona, but it was blunted.
"Go, Queen!" he ordered.
"I'm on it, Zero! Frei!"
Suzuka Gozen blasted the hound with nuclear fury.
"You'll pay for that, Eleven-lovers!" The Shadow SSDF Leader shouted as he freed himself from Slime, much of his fur scorched by radiation but angrier than ever. Flames erupted around the chamber, knocking Lelouch off-balance. He should have anticipated that the enemy would have other modes of attack!
Lelouch saw a streak of black dart past him. Arthur leapt into the fray, deftly driving the knife that he held between his teeth into the Shadow SSDF Leader's hindquarters. Arthur then clambered up the Shadow's back, even as it furiously tried to shake him off, and delivered some well-placed bites.
Milly wasted no time while the Shadow SSDF Leader was distracted by Arthur, and summoned Medea again. As her spell settled on Lelouch, he found the strength to rise once more.
"Time to finish this!" If his opponent used fire….
"Genbu!"
The black tortoise appeared just as Arthur leapt off the Shadow SSDF Leader, and encased their foe in ice. Jack Frost's greater magical ability would have been even more damaging to the enemy, but unlike Jack Frost, Genbu was not weak against fire.
The Shadow SSDF Leader uselessly tried to free himself, but his icy prison held.
"Launch an all-out attack!" Lelouch commanded.
"Got it!" The other Black Knights shouted in unison.
The Shadow SSDF Leader didn't stand a chance. Like Shadow Villetta before him, the darkness that had empowered him dispersed, and he was left lying on the floor, his will to fight broken.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Kallen taunted.
"Who… even… are you guys?" The Shadow SSDF Leader asked in bewilderment. "How… can I… lose?"
"Don't you know that already?" Lelouch smirked. "We are the Black Knights… the ones who will tear down this rotten society and build it anew."
"What… do you want from me? I'll… give you anything."
"Answering our questions would be a good start," Milly said.
"I concur," Arthur said. "Someone was saying that we'd be coming for you next?"
"More like everyone. After seeing Coach Nu's humiliation the other day, the rumors were that you would be coming after the other members of the SSDF next. And they were right."
"After a fashion," Milly shrugged.
"Are you going to blackmail me like you did Coach Nu?"
"Oh, you have no idea…" Lelouch smirked.
"Don't you Britannians say the weak should follow the strong?" Kallen spat. "We beat you, so you're not in any position to be demanding answers from us."
Lelouch walked over to the Shadow SSDF Leader. Above their fallen foe, a faintly gleaming mote of light had appeared.
"Is that…" Arthur began.
"Yes," Lelouch said, seizing the object in a single motion. "It's a Treasure… or at least, what might have become one."
"But we didn't send a calling card this time," Kallen objected. "Didn't we have to do that to force the Treasure to materialize?"
"The students of Ashford Academy served as our calling card," Lelouch replied. "It was a false calling card, but it proved effective nonetheless. After seeing what happened to Coach Nu, it was able to convince him that his desires could be stolen as well, and that he would be our next target. And so they were." He turned to the Shadow SSDF Leader. "You will cease all attempts to harass Suzaku Kururugi or any other Japanese students, current or future, and you will turn yourself in to the headmaster for your role in helping Coach Nu frame Suzaku. Do you understand?"
The Shadow SSDF Leader nodded weakly. "This is truly the end of the SSDF… I expect that the group will unravel without me and Coach Nu to lead it. But you've made me see the error of my ways. I was wrong to frame Kururugi, and to underestimate the Elev-"
Kallen glared at him, the anger in her blue eyes clear through her lotus mask.
"Japanese," the Shadow SSDF Leader said, cringing away from Kallen as he corrected himself.
"That's better."
With that, the Shadow SSDF Leader vanished.
"Just a rabid dog," Lelouch pronounced.
"What was his Treasure anyway?" Milly asked.
Lelouch opened his hand. It was a pin, bearing the coat of arms of the SSDF Leader's family.
"He thought he was superior to everyone, especially the Japanese, all because of his noble family." Lelouch laughed. "How absurd. It isn't even a particularly powerful family at that. Like Coach Nu, he probably just saw the SSDF as a way to increase his own prestige."
"You know, if we can steal hearts within Mementos…" Arthur began.
"Exactly, Tama. We can change the hearts of anyone whom we send a calling card to, and not just the high-profile targets who have their own Palaces." A wicked grin spread on Lelouch's face. "Their reformation may not have the same impact on society as those of truly depraved Palace Rulers, but every heart we change makes a difference, no matter how small. This opens a vast range of possibilities to us."
"But we can't just use this power to settle petty grudges," Milly said. "Whenever we steal someone's heart, we take their very desires from them, permanently altering their personality. You saw how much of an effect that had on Coach Nu. We have to be sure that whoever we target is deserving of having their heart changed. It's not something we can do lightly."
"That's right!" Kallen agreed.
"Of course," Lelouch said smoothly. "The standards we use for choosing targets in the Palaces should apply to Mementos; the decision should be unanimous. But I think that we can all agree that we hate bullies, who prey on the weak just like parasitic nobles do. Many of them will never learn to be better people on their own."
The other Black Knights nodded.
"So let's start by cleaning up Ashford Academy."
A/N:
Jack Frost is the de facto mascot of Atlus, the company that makes Persona 5.
In the original Persona 5, the Phantom Thieves used a van to travel through Mementos (which was actually Morgana, transformed by the power of cognition). I didn't want Arthur to have the same ability to transform that Morgana did, but I figured that Knightmares would work as a method of moving through Mementos that connected well to Code Geass' setting.
At first, I was planning for this chapter to feature Shadow Jeremiah, but I decided it would be more logical to show the Black Knights changing the hearts of bullies at Ashford, like the SSDF Leader, first. Shadow Jeremiah will appear after the interlude.
Hopefully nobody minds too much that I didn't give the SSDF Leader a proper name, but he is a minor character in the scheme of things. As for his Shadow form, it was based on Cerberus. Technically, Cerberus is a far higher-level Persona in the game, but if Shadows like Belphegor can show up as a mid-boss in the first palace of the game, and as a regular enemy in the 5th Palace, I think having Cerberus as a Mementos boss is fair. It was that or Orthus, as I wanted the symbolism of a dog, and Cerbeus is traditionally the guardian of the underworld, which we could loosely compare to the Mementos, given its underground nature.
Thank you for continuing to follow this story!