Begin!

~Normal POV

When the hazy feeling went away, they found themselves in the Jail once more. Zenkichi was with them and so was Sophia. She was staring at their companion curiously, having not seen him up close yet. The inspector didn't bother looking at their change of location before speaking again.

"So are you gonna answer me now, or…" He blinked and turned his gaze towards the castle in the distance. "What the… What is this?!" He asked, his voice cracking with shock. "This… isn't real…"

"Everything here is real. Every last bit you can see." Makoto answered, smirking.

Zenkichi shifted his gaze back towards them, hoping to get a straight answer at last. But he was quickly distracted by noticing their change in attire. The kids were now wearing odd costumes and masks covering the upper halves of their faces.

"WHOA! What happened to you?! Where did those outfits come from?!"

"Yep, just what I expected," Ryuji said, grinning playfully.

"This is our Phantom Thief attire." Ann answered, simply. "And keep the gaze well above neck level, or I won't hesitate to smack you for harassment…" She added, warningly.

Zenkichi was too freaked out by what was going on to even bother acknowledging that threat. Instead he laughed nervously and asked. "What even is this!? Where am I?!"

"Questions!" Sophia said, perking up like an excited puppy. "This is a Jail. You are currently in a Jail."

Zenkichi looked down at her, only just now noticing she was with them. "WAIT, WHO ARE YOU?!"

"I am Sophie, humanity's companion. Nice to meet you."

"Eh…? N-Nice to meet you, too…?"

"Chill, inspector. And you can let us get to explaining," Akira said, getting his attention. "Welcome to the Metaverse. We are the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. This is where we do our thieving. I figure if you want to deal with us, you should see everything the way it is. And that includes a proper introduction. Are you with me so far?"

Zenkichi stared at him unsurely. That outfit looked familiar now that he thought of it. The coat, the mask, it was what he was wearing in the video calling card last night. He wondered about that but now he knew where it came from. Despite his freak out, he could follow along with the logic. They wanted to "deal with him in person." Not a bad idea, really. It put them on level playing fields.

"I-I think so…?"

"Oh, get a hold of yourself, gramps. This place isn't that weird." Morgana said, casually.

"MONSTER CAT!" Zenkichi screamed. "Ok, ok, ok- I get it now. I'm dreaming! This is all a dream! I just had too much to drink last night, that's all!" He added, running his hands through his hair while trying to calm down.

He was even more confused as to why the kids all started laughing. Why weren't they freaked out by a talking monster cat?!

"Oh, man, the look on his face!" Ryuji said, between giggles. "I wish I had a camera!"

"He appears to be having a meltdown." Sophia said, simply.

"This was the best idea ever, Joker!" Ann said, trying to catch her breath.

Zenkichi tried once again to regain his composure. "Er, what? Why'd she call you that?"

"You think we're stupid enough to use our real names on the job? We go by codenames in the Metaverse to hide our identities from our targets, and any potential other intruders." Akira answered.

Codenames? Ok, that was something he could understand. "So, you're… Joker?" Zenkichi said, quizzically. "Wait… seriously? That's the codename for the leader of the Phantom Thieves? Wow. I mean, I can't say I knew what to expect, but I figured you'd pick something more intimidating… Why do they call you Joker?"

"Because I like making little kids laugh. Fuck off, you don't need to know."

"Well, he's seen it; we should head back before we get spotted by Shadows," Makoto said.

~...

Zenkichi's panicking didn't cease once they'd returned to reality. He was more freaked out by the sudden return to normalcy.

"How did this….? What's happened to me?! Did I drive myself crazy trying to crack this case?!"

Ryuji snickered. "It's pretty fun watching him lose it."

"His brain overloaded and he can't catch up." Futaba said, grinning.

"Then why did we bother explaining?" Ann asked.

"We all reacted similarly our first time… Such innocence," Yusuke commented, smirking.

"Get a hold of yourself, gramps," Sophia chimed.

Zenkichi was too busy muttering to himself to hear her. "Hey, earth to Zenkichi!" Morgana shouted.

"Huh?" The inspector said, snapping his gaze back to Akira where Morgana was sitting up on his shoulder again. "Oh, right, get it together- THIS CAT SAID MY NAME! Wait- are you the monster cat from that place?! It's the monster cat!"

"I'm not a monster and I'm not a cat!"

"Never gets old." Akira said, chuckling.

"Since you're cognizant of Morgana speaking in the Metaverse, you can understand him here now, too. Like we can," Makoto explained.

"...Cats can talk if I'm… cognizant of it?" Zenkichi laughed. "Th-That's really something…"

"Perhaps we should give him a moment to calm down before we negotiate," Haru suggested.

They allowed Zenkichi a few minutes to regain his composure. He seemed to be just as confused, but he was able to remain calm about the situation.

"Ok… sorry for losing my cool like that… I've taken in everything you told me and… I think I get it, but it also makes no sense to me… But since you allowed me to see it, I'm going to strive to understand it too…"

"Good to know. Now we can talk business." Akira said, slipping into all seriousness. "Let's get one thing straight about this deal, inspector: There is no trust between us. We don't trust cops on principle. And if you need our help, frankly we don't give a shit. We're doing this to clear our names and stop the people behind it. We are using you. Get the picture?"

Zenkichi nodded in understanding. "I see. You'll only do it on your terms. I can respect that. Anything else?"

"Yeah, I'm in charge. And they-" Akira gestured to his teammates. "Will not take orders from you. Fair?"

"Fair. You're the one who has their respect, after all."

"If for some reason I'm not available, you can speak to Makoto, she is my second in command." Akira added. "Next, we work on our schedule. You are here to point us in the right direction and then stay out of our way. If we are ever out of commission, then you wait for us. And finally: you have to swear that their names will never be reported as being involved. Are we clear?"

"Ok… if that's all it takes, then I can do all of that. It's nice to see a boss who actually gives a shit about his coworkers. I know a superintendent who could learn from you. Very well, I accept your terms. Your, uh, trust, for lack of a better word, will be repaid with mine. Help me figure out this nationwide change of heart business, and I swear you'll all be protected. As long as we can work peacefully, there won't be any problems. That's my vow." It seemed he didn't learn from the last time he tried as he assumed Akira would want to shake on it.

"If you screw us on this… Or if anything happens to this family…" Akira said, in a threatening tone; once again refusing to accept the handshake.

"You'll what? Drop me off in the Jail?" Zenkichi asked.

"Hm. Not a bad idea." Akira answered, smirking a bit.

"Ah… should have thought that through before I said it… Guess it's not only your lives on the line here…" Zenkichi paused momentarily. "And family, huh? You keep saying that, right?" He glanced at the whole group of Phantom Thieves. "I gotta say, you're the weirdest looking family I've ever seen."

Akira looked at everyone else with an impassive face, before smiling and saying. "We look perfect to me." This earned a few satisfied smiles from the team.

Zenkichi shrugged this off and changed the subject. "Well, now that we've made our deal, here's the first problem spot. PubSec has their eyes on Sapporo right now because of all the change of heart cases there. I know you just said you work on your own schedule, but I need you to be in Sapporo central by August 8th to investigate, or whatever it is you do in bizarro world. Before you get upset, it's because our primary suspect is out of the country on a business trip until then. We're starting the investigation as soon as they get back." That did bend the rule a bit already, but it was a fair enough reason.

"Then this suspect is likely another Monarch," Yusuke said, thoughtfully.

"Could be." Zenkichi replied. "And you'll want to avoid public transportation. You're gonna have to either drive or hoof it-"

"I'm sorry- I didn't hear you right. You want us to walk all the motherfucking way to Hokkaido from Tokyo? And, we have to make it there before the 8th?" Ryuji said, flabbergasted. "Even if we never slept or stopped for any reason, that trip would be impossible-!"

"Ok, ok, I get ya!" Zenkichi said, quickly. "Do any of you have a driver's license?"

"I do," Makoto answered, promptly.

"I have one, as well," Haru added. (For some reason, this information made Ryuji and Makoto look a bit nauseous…)

"Then you'll have to drive," Zenkichi said. "You revived the Phantom Thieves to deal with Alice. Any potential Monarch will have heard about it by now. The way they see it, you're a problem. Especially if you go after their Desires. There's no way to know who's been brainwashed until after they act. They might be the pilot of your plane. So, find a car and drive; it's the safest way. And I can't help you. This deal has to remain top secret, meaning if I set you up with a car, it'll immediately be lodged in my file. But I can help you with the Alice thing. I'll get you the info once I'm done interrogating her."

"Don't beat her," Akira said, warningly.

"I won't!" Zenkichi said, before finally leaving them. It didn't take a genius to see why Akira had made such a request.

~...

It was evening back at the hideout now. Akira looked around at the sullen faces of his teammates. Their vacation might as well have been tossed out the window. Not only that, but they had to find transportation, especially big enough to fit all of them. This deal was already a pain.

"Talk about a buzzkill…" Ryuji mumbled.

"Going all the way to fucking Hokkaido without a plane… there goes our vacation…" Ann added, grumpily.

Akira couldn't stand to see their gloominess any longer. "Hey, cheer up." He said, getting everyone's attention. "This may be a pain, but that doesn't mean our vacation is totalled. We're still going on a trip together. And we can make time for fun along the way."

This perked them up considerably. Akira was good at boosting morale and caring for them. He wanted to have fun too. That said, there were still some things they wanted to discuss before they started this trip.

"First up, EMMA." Morgana said, "It seems ordinary at first, but we know it can access Jails through keywords, just like the Nav."

"I've wondered about that too…" Akira replied. "It doesn't seem likely, but could it be that we can enter because of our powers? And we can just bring people in with us? Since nobody else seems to actually enter the Jail with the keyword besides us."

"That could be the case, but anyone could use the Nav…" Futaba pointed out. "It might work differently. And besides the Jail function, EMMA is totally normal; you can just delete her."

"Where did she come from anyway," Ann asked.

"She was made by a Japanese company called Madicce. International IT firm- with tens of thousands of employees," Futaba answered.

"That's quite the large scale operation," Haru said. "They have to be a top-tier international enterprise."

"So… they're an evil mega-corporation making Jails?" Ryuji said, casually. Though nobody seemed interested in taking his suggestion seriously; so they ignored it.

"Alice could have had a special version of EMMA or something." Futaba said, "If I got a hold of her phone, I could crack it and see if there's anything odd about it."

"I'll reach out to the inspector and ask him to confiscate it for us," Makoto said.

Now all that was left was to find a ride. This would be tough. Renting a car was out of the question. Even if a large enough one was available, the price would be too high and they needed the cash to survive during the trip itself. A suggestion was made to ask to borrow Sae's car, but Makoto quickly dashed the idea saying it wasn't big enough. (And she wasn't allowed to drive it.) Sojiro's would also be too small for them, but it did lead Futaba to a better alternative. The gang went downstairs to talk to him about it.

"Sojiro! We need a favor! We need a ride that can fit all of us as soon as possible!"

Sojiro raised a brow at his daughter's request. "A ride for you?"

"Yeah, big transportation but something that won't stand out, ya know?" Futaba clarified. "Didn't you say you talked with someone about that recently?"

"Oh, you mean the guy with the camper?" Sojiro said, "Yeah, he was whining about never getting to use it."

"That's perfect! Can you please go borrow it for us?! Please!"

Sojiro glanced suspiciously at the teens. "You need it to go clear your names, huh?"

"Yes…" Makoto answered, sheepishly.

"Then I don't have much of a choice," Sojiro said, chuckling. "I'll give him a call so sit tight until tomorrow."

"Thanks Boss," Akira said, gratefully.

"But don't go too wild out there." The old man warned.

He'd been around long enough to know that letting a gang of unsupervised teenagers, made up of guys and girls, (some of whom he was fully aware were dating each other) go on a camping trip together was bound to be a horrendously bad idea. All cozied up to each other under the stars, and moonlight… It couldn't lead anywhere good, to put it simply.

"I'll keep an eye on things, Boss," Makoto said.

Sojiro nodded in approval. He knew Makoto was responsible enough to keep her friends in line. He loved these kids, really, but they were still kids. "And you all have enough money, right? To get wherever it is you're going?"

"Yes, we've all been saving up to spend our vacation together."

With that settled, everyone went home for the night to pack up for the trip. They might have been doing this for serious reasons, and only to honor this deal with Zenkichi, but they had a few days before they'd make it to Sapporo. It wouldn't hurt to make a few stops along the way. They were on vacation, they deserved to unwind at every opportunity.

And who knows? Maybe they'd run into another Jail on the way.

~End of Chapter