Begin!
~Normal POV
Despite their swift efforts to kill all the Shadows coming their way, more kept showing up. Eventually, it got to the point where retreating was the better option. They took the first possible opening and hurried to a nearby alley away from the street to recuperate. Shadows weren't usually this numerous in the Palaces either. Not to mention, the place felt way larger than most of their previous ones. (With two very major exceptions.)
"All things considered, we didn't do too bad for being out of practice…" Akira said, after catching his breath.
"Yeah, I guess all that working out pays off," Morgana replied.
"So, Alice Hiiragi has a Palace…" Ryuji muttered, looking around. "Wonder why. She's a little weird, but she didn't seem that bad. And how did we even get here?! We don't have the Nav anymore!"
Akira pulled out his phone. As was always the case in this situation, there was no service and no other apps were functioning. The Metaverse scrambled with most outside tech for some reason.
"You're right. We don't have the Nav, we got in through EMMA."
"That thing is connected to the Metaverse?!" Ryuji said, quizzically. "Well… eh, nevermind that- we gotta get outta here! Everyone's gonna be waiting for us back at the hideout."
He was right. Plus, with the existence of the Metaverse and the return of their powers, Lavenza's warning had been real; not that he truly doubted her. (She wasn't likely to joke about such things.) But the idea that the world was distorted again was a huge concern. Especially since this whole thing felt stranger than what could be called "normal" for them. Whatever this Palace was about, it felt unsettling to be here.
"Even if we wanted to fight our way out, there's way too many Shadows for just the three of us," Akira said, conclusively. "We'll have to sneak around to find an exit."
This proved fruitless right away. Almost immediately after they started walking, a net dropped down to catch them. A gang of Shadows had sprung the trap. It wasn't long before they had the three of them subdued with their hands tied behind their backs. (Morgana had a rope around this small body to pin his paws down instead.) The Shadows brought them to the 705 building, which was apparently where Alice's Shadow was hiding.
~...
"Ow, watch it!"
"Get moving! Our queen wants a word with you!"
The Shadows shoved the three of them into a door leading to their "queen's" throne room on the top floor. Akira took in the room with unease. It was not a type of room he ever wanted to find himself in for any reason. He was vaguely reminded of Kamoshida's castle… Right down to the red throne in the room's center.
Sitting on it was Alice's Shadow. She was dressed in a very provocative black and pink outfit, with purple heels. With a striped pink and blue cane in her left hand that had a flamingo head on top. Akira took a wild guess that her sin had something to do with lust… just a hunch based on the imagery in the room and what she was wearing. As much as he detested her real world counterpart's design choices, he greatly preferred those to what he saw here… One odd thing about her though was that for some reason her Shadow was taller than her real self. The three were forced onto their knees before her.
"Who are these little guys?" Alice asked, smiling in a sadistic way, and sitting up in her chair with interest.
"Your Majesty, we captured these thieves, but we couldn't seize their Desires. We have instead brought them to you," One Shadow-guard said.
"Couldn't seize their Desires?!" Alice shouted angrily, standing up and approaching Akira. "Explain your-"
She stopped and stared down at Akira with a curious look in her glowing yellow eyes. He didn't like that look… Nor did he like where this might be going…
"Hm… Hey there… you look pretty cool." Alice said, softening her voice to a more sultry tone. She leaned down and stared right into his eyes behind his mask. "I'm Alice Hiiragi, what's your name, cutie?"
In all respects, Akira could have simply chosen not to dignify her with any kind of response… but he didn't think to try that. Instead he went with refusing to answer her question properly.
"Flattered, but I have a girlfriend. Now, let us go." He answered, bluntly.
Alice's flirty smile disappeared instantly. In one swift motion she whacked Akira upside the head with her cane, knocking him onto the ground.
"Fuck!" Akira shouted.
Before he could try to sit back up, Alice stepped on his shoulder with her heel to hold him in place; making sure to put down enough pressure to hurt him.
"Joker, are you ok?!" Morgana asked, worriedly.
"Do I look ok…?!" Akira replied, dryly; trying to ignore the pain of this woman stepping on him.
"Ah, so you're Joker, huh?" Alice said, smiling again but not moving from her position. "Come now, Joker. You need to answer properly when your Queen asks a question."
Akira rolled his eyes. To him, a queen was just a politician with a little extra jewelry. There was only one person with the title that he held any respect for, and that was Makoto.
"I only got respect for one Queen in this world, and she sure as shit ain't you," Akira answered. "Now, seriously, let us go."
"Yeah, we don't gotta listen to you!" Ryuji added, bluntly.
Alice snapped her gaze to Ryuji. "Shut your mouth! Or are you looking for punishment too?!"
"Fucking try it, ya bitch! We've taken down way worse scumbags than you!" Ryuji argued, glaring at her.
Alice rolled her eyes boredly and sighed. "Oh, never mind them… Let's talk about us, Joker. You know, you could stay here with me. I don't bite… unless you're into that…"
Akira felt sick to his stomach just listening to her proposition. Ann was going to flip when she heard about this… Making Alice more angry wasn't going to help them out either. He'd have to try talking their way out of this. Plus, he hoped to avoid her getting any ideas about hurting Ryuji or Morgana as leverage over him. His job as leader was to protect his team after all.
"That's a… bold offer…" He replied, shifting uncomfortably. "But it'd never work because, in case you didn't hear me, I have a girlfriend. And even if I didn't, I'd still say no. There are thousands of other guys out there who'd appreciate your offer but not me. You see, I have this aversion to handcuffs- it's kind of a long story-"
Alice wasn't listening. She finally stepped off of him and groaned. "Ugh! What a bore! I just stopped caring. Get rid of 'em however. Too bad about you, Joker, we could have had so much fun together…" She glared down at him. "But I don't want toys that don't do as they're told."
The Shadow-guards dragged the three out of the room, while Alice twirled her cane and returned to her throne without a care.
~...
The punishment the guards decided upon was to throw the three of them down a trash chute. Ryuji landed on the ground first, and Akira landed on top of him, on his back. While Morgana landed softly on his paws beside them. On the bright side, they weren't tied up anymore. Downside, they were now stuck in here.
"Owww…" Ryuji grumbled. "Hey… You guys ok?"
"Yeah, luckily…" Morgana answered.
Akira groaned and sat up. "God, my back is killing me…"
Ryuji got up and stretched. "Yeah, mine too…"
"Sorry about that, bro." Akira said, sheepishly.
"Nah, you're fine. Wasn't your fault for falling where ya did." Ryuji replied, dismissively.
The three looked around. They were in a dark underground chamber. Huge piles of trash and junk littered the room. There were no Shadows in the immediate vicinity, so they were probably safe for now. Aside from needing to find the exit.
"Man, that was some real shit… Even worse was that fucking bitch…" Ryuji muttered, "So that's what she's really like, huh?"
"Yeah; it looks to me like her fans need a serious wake up call if they worship someone like that," Akira said.
"Totally. You alright, Joker? She really whacked you good," Ryuji asked.
Akira rubbed the sore spot on his head. "I'll be fine. I've been through worse."
"Well, if you're ever not fine, just say so. Tch, who'd have thought she'd take rejection so hard?"
"At least you didn't get hit too, Skull," Morgana pointed out.
Ryuji scoffed. "I'm thankful! At least I don't have to explain something like that to Noir. But she might still be a little annoyed that I had to see Alice wearing… that…"
Akira held back a wince. Explaining this situation to Ann wasn't going to be pleasant. Alice's "interest" in him was uncomfortable enough in reality, but to see her Shadow act even worse wasn't helping. He wasn't exactly used to being flirted with, especially not in such an aggressive manner. As he said, it would have been uncomfortable even if he wasn't with someone already. He did know from Futaba's browsing of the internet that there were more than a few people out there who'd like a piece of the Phantom Thieves' leader, but some naive people daydreaming online was quite a different beast to deal with than this in-person interaction.
"Damn that Alice, acting like she's hot shit… Uh, by the way, where are we?" Ryuji asked.
"I'd say it's some kinda garbage dump," Morgana answered.
"There's gotta be a way out somewhere… You two wait here, I'll scout ahead." Akira said. Time had a tendency to get away from them in the Metaverse, it was best to move quickly. Who knew how long they were already gone from reality. As he started walking, he heard his two friends talking still while they examined the area.
"This place is disgusting. Who just dumps people into garbage like that?"
"She does, apparently…" Morgana answered, dryly.
Akira didn't get far in his walking ahead before an obstruction blocked the path. It was a huge metal box with odd markings all over it. The reason it stood out was that it looked too clean to be just part of the trash around them.
"The hell…" He muttered. "This doesn't look like it belongs here-" He reached out a hand to touch it, wondering if he might find a way to open it.
The box lit up with a bright blue light, making him step back and cover his eyes. As he did, he didn't see what had changed until he dared to look again after the light was gone.
The box had disappeared, and its place stood a girl. She was quite a bit shorter than him and Ryuji. (With the two of them having gotten taller recently.) If he had to guess her age, he'd say a year or two younger than them at most. She had a heart-shaped face, with wide cyan irises with large black rings around them. Her hair was bright red with M-shaped bangs, and was very short in the back, with rounded tips. Her lips were pink with lipgloss. Her pigtails, if they could be called so, looked even stranger. They were the same color as her hair; and were shaped like hearts, she had seven on each side, and they curved inward in a similar way to pigtails and got smaller as they went down, but they seemed like they weren't really part of her hair. She was wearing a white sweater with a puffy circular collar and puffy sleeves, with black shorts that were mostly obscured under her long sweater, and she had black boots that almost reached her knees.
He didn't know what to make of her at first. She must have been trapped in that box somehow. Maybe Alice tossed her down here for her own personal reasons. In any case, Akira was happy to have helped this girl out, even if she did look a little strange.
She stared at him curiously with her wide eyes and asked. "What is this place?" Her voice was young sounding and her tone seemed naive. She cocked her head to one side as she examined him. "Who are you?"
Akira didn't really know if stating his business here was wise, but on the assumption that this girl was another of Alice's victims, he figured being honest would be the better approach.
"I'm a Phantom Thief." He answered, simply.
"You are… a Phantom Thief." She smiled. "I am Sophia, humanity's companion."
~End of Chapter
