November 18th

Narukami and his partner sat on the waiting room benches at the Tokyo District Special Investigation Department office. They had a meeting with someone that went by the name of Sae Niijima. None the less it would appear this Niijima person was nowhere to be found currently according to the secretary siting at the front desk. Both detectives had been waiting over an hour and no one had showed up. Yu was just about ready to call it when a powerful looking woman with a sharp gaze suddenly stormed into the waiting room. Her dark eyes scanned the room before settling on Yu and his partner.

Yu gave his partner a small nudge, which caused her to look up from her computer. Naoto had been diligently working on her laptop reviewing the files Mitsuru had sent them the day before. Mitsuru hadn't sent them a lot of information but it was important to know what information they had been already sent. Naoto had been busy theory crafting on the whole ride on the train yesterday and they were both eager to see which one could pan out.

Sae walked over to them with a powerful stride. Something about the way she walked seemed to denote her apparent authority, it wasn't cocky just someone who knew how to take control of a situation. Naoto tucked her laptop back into her case as both detectives stood up to greet the public prosecutor. Sae stopped in front of both of them seeming to slightly size them up before speaking.

"I take it you two are the special detectives that my superiors brought in?" She asked curtly. "I'm Sae Niijima."

"Correct. I'm Naoto Shirogane and this is my partner Yu Narukami." Naoto introduced.

As standard with the two of them, Naoto did most of the talking when it came to detective work. It wasn't that Yu couldn't talk the talk or walk the walk, it was more that Naoto specialized in this kind of thing and it showed. Yu normally played the strong silent types in these encounters to let Naoto thrive in her element. It was just a system that work for the two of them.

"Shirogane…" Sae paused as if recognizing the name, which most people in criminal justice work in Japan did. "I take it you are that Shirogane?"

"Correct." Naoto nodded curtly.

"I see. First, let me apologize for my late arrival. This morning I received a calling card." Sae explained her voice even as she talked, as if this information didn't rattle her at all.

"You received a calling card? A Phantom Thief Calling Card?" Naoto pressed her gaze shifting to Yu for a slight second before returning to Sae.

"Yes, one of those." Sae confirmed.

Yu hid his glee. Not even a day off the train to investigate and they were now looking at someone who had just received a calling card. If things continued to go this speed both he and Naoto would hopefully be back in Inaba enjoying that reimbursement by the end of the week. Then again there was just something about this all that told him that things were probably not as simple as they appeared to be. If this was anything like the events of his high school years… Yu pushed that train of thought from his mind. They first had to confirm this had something to do with that other world, then he could start planning what he and Naoto would need to do next.

"I take it you will cooperate with us and let us know everything you know so far?" Naoto asked.

The shine of apprehension appeared in Niijima's eyes. "Follow me, we can discuss this all in my office."

The way Sae's eyes swept the room seemed to indicate her hesitation didn't lie with them but something within the SUI. Yu had to wonder exactly what the context behind that hesitation was because as a new comer just coming in, it would seem there was some drama to the office. Hopefully that drama wouldn't interfere with their work. Naoto also seemed to catch the hint and gave a curt nod in response.

"Lead the way Niijima-san." Naoto offered as she pulled her leather laptop bag over her shoulder.

Sae turned and started to walk out of the room, the two detectives following after her.

November 19th

Yu stood in front of a huge casino, sitting impossibly on the site of the Tokyo Courthouse. They had a date to meet Sae Niijima in the courthouse and she was going to hand over some more files she had. They had arrived at the courthouse as normal but suddenly as they walked up to the building everything around them seemed to shift and the court house morphed into what it was now… A large casino.

Brillant lights that looked like a scene straight out a Las Vegas movie flashed from the grand building that stood before them. Looking around them, it appeared as if it was the only the court house that had morphed into the dazzle of neon it was now. The rest of the building looked far more normal. Around the two detectives various police officers in full riot gear yelled out tactical orders as men in black suits ran into the building. The whole experience felt surreal. He glanced to his left as Naoto who was equally in shock, this world...

This wasn't the normal world. This was that other world.

There was a particular feeling in his soul and by the look on Naoto's face she could feel it too. It was a feeling he hadn't felt in years but it was one that was impossible to forget. The feeling of a persona lurking just at the edges of one's soul. He could feel Izanagi's energy surge just on the fringes ready to be summoned. With a wave of his hand it wouldn't have been impossible to bring his greatest ally forth.

"What is going on here?!" Naoto kept her voice low as she clearly understood that they were not longer in the real world.

"I don't know." Yu responded as police rushed around him.

"Target spotted in the Casino, he is headed towards the entrance. Everyone gather here. We will cut off his escape." One of the officer's shouted.

Yu grabbed Naoto's arm and pulled her towards the side of the casino. "Come on, we need to investigate and I don't think we'll get answers here."

Naoto didn't struggle against the suggestion. Soon they both where running along the side of the building. This casino seemed to be even more massive than the court house that it had taken the place of. Because of that fact, it wasn't long before they were out of the range of the other police officers that were gathering near the front. Inside they could hear the music from the casino roaring full tilt along with explosions from the front. Something was happening back there but no doubt with that amount of police presence they'd be able to find out later in police reports. They had both ignored what was going on inside to get another angle to this investigation but as they turned a corner a large lanky guard swung its head in their direction. The hair's on the back of Yu neck stood up instantly telling the silver haired man all he needed to know about this guard. It was a shadow.

"Izanagi-No-Okami" Yu commanded suddenly grabbing at a card that appeared in his hands and crushing it.

"Yumato Sumeragi!" Naoto echoed Yu a half a second later.

The move to summon Izanagi was more off instinct then actual conscious thought. Well it had been several years since he had to summon a persona, it still happened as smoothly as if he had done it only yesterday. Maybe it was the power of the wild card that made him so comfortable with this all but with the ease that Naoto mirrored his action to summon Yamato Sumeragi seemed to suggest it was simply a persona user thing. The shadow clearly wasn't ready for the combined might of both ultimate persona as it faltered quickly under the weight of two powerful personas. Yu watched the shadow fade out existence as he called down deep within himself and to the other persona that lurked there. The response was instant; he still had a full cast ready to go still.

Naoto let out a sigh of relief. "We should be careful, we don't have any weapons and only our Personas to protect us."

"Agreed, we'll try and avoid fighting if we can." Yu couldn't help but agree.

Without their weapons they were mostly dependent on their spiritual power to keep them safe after all either of them had been prepared to be suddenly pulled into the other world. Still, without weapons they were both trained in hand to hand combat, so they at least had that along with their personas. Not that Yu ever wanted to take a show on in hand to hand, but he at least stood more of a chance then he did during his teenage years.

This was an unusual situation the two of them had been suddenly thrust into to. All that Yu could think was that clearly someone knew about the other world and Yu could only believe that power might be malicious. To put this many people in this world so carelessly… A place shadow lurked with supernatural powers that could kill a man without ever touching them… It was mind boggling to say the least and Yu didn't want to wrap his head around it at the moment. Whoever had done this had they honestly thought it through?

Yu was pulled out his pondering as Naoto pulled him into the shadows. Yu at first thought Naoto had spotted another shadow but as Naoto gave him the hand signal to be quiet, Yu saw them. There was 8 of them dressed in costumes that even in the weirdness of the casino they stood out like sore thumbs. They appeared to be talking about something before one in what Yu could only describe as a tengu mask turned and walked off and leaving the others. At that moment Naoto decided to move closer, Yu shadowed her movement. The rest of the suspicious individuals stayed where they were and seemed to be talking. A few steps closer and they'd be able to see what this strange group of people was talking about…

"Guys stop, there 2 signals approaching! 5 o'clock!" One dressed in green and black suddenly shouted pointing in the direction of Yu and Naoto.

Yu and Naoto instantly froze as suddenly the group turned towards them. For a long second both groups looked at each other before the costumed group drew weapons and stepped forward. Yu instantly knew both he and Naoto where in danger and he stepped out cracking his knuckles. He may not have had weapons but he did have an archive of personas that he had fused and trained up himself. He felt the power once again bubble inside him as 4 of the weirdly dressed people stepped forward. Weapons or not… Yu reached into his coat pulling out an old familiar pair of glasses, slipping them on. He had packed them just in case.

"Hold on guys… Who are these people?! This one's power is off the charts, the other one is crazy too!" The green and black one called out to her friends.

"It doesn't matter, we need to not get captured if this plan is going to work. Joker is counting on us." One in a steel mask and a punk outfit declared as she readied her fist clad in some sort of spiked knuckles.

"We can't let him down." Came the flowing voice of the one in a fox mask as he readied to draw his katana.

"I don't see how we can get away from this one, best to take'em out." A small cat like creature stated as he pulled out a curved sword almost as big as he was.

"Joker is giving it his all, it's time we stepped up and did the same." The final one to step up wore a skull mask and had a large club.

Naoto stepped up to Yu side and nodded to him. If these weird people wanted a fight they'd have to fight veterans of this other world. They had battled a god several times and lived. As the one in green and black had stated; they were monsters in their own right, now time to see what these masked people had to offer. The tension in the air was quiet palpable, clearly if they could tell their power level the group had to at the very least be aware of the power called persona.

"Per… Son… A!" Yu called out as Izanagi-no-Okami once again loomed behind him like an omen of bad fate for those who currently stood against him.

Yu threw his hand out giving Izanagi silent command to decimate his enemies. The silent persona leveled his gaze off against those who dared stood against Yu as he raised his massive sword against them. Power crackled at the tip of the blade as a silent command Yu had given the persona seemed to give the weapon life. That power burst forth at the group of four, ready to give them a taste of his power before a green UFO seemed to eat the attack before it could connect. A yelp of pain was the next thing heard before the person clad in black and green collapsed to the ground. That UFO appeared to be a persona, granted something about it reminded him of Rise's. So Persona powers where confirmed.

"Oracle!" One of the ones that wasn't fighting but wearing a red cat suit and cat mask cry as they rushed to their comrades side.

The pain from their comrade seemed to be the flag that set off the rest of the costumed group. As heated glares reflected behind their masks. That wasn't surprising honestly. Yu would rarely hesitate to attack anyone who attacked his friends. So the reaction was expected still, a curiosity deep down wondered what this masked group would bring to the table as far as power went.

"Johanna!" the metal masked one yelled ripping off her mask as a motorcycle appeared under her.

Yep, this group of masked figures where definitely persona users. Case closed. Maybe if he wasn't getting actively attacked, the detective might have a series of questions. But for now, these persona users didn't seem in the mood for talking. Yu braced himself as suddenly a strong nuclear attack bared down on him and Izanagi. His persona moved to take the brunt of the damage but it was clear these costume people weren't messing around.

"Captain Kidd!"

Another attack this time electric but as before Yu braced himself and sustained it.

"Zorro! Show your might!"

This time wind, but as before Yu took it and remained steadfast.

"Goemon!"

Ice but again Yu took the attack without falter. His inner self was stronger than this and was stronger than them. Yu took a step forward, shaking off the attacks. Taking a deep breath he once again leveled his gaze at the costume group, something about his unyielding confidence in taking their attack seemed to make them slightly hesitate. If that's all they had, he wouldn't need a weapon against them. Izanagi raised his sword at the group as Yu got read to counter attack and this time he didn't think he'd be block.

"Wait!"

It was Naoto's voice that stopped him, as the voice of his friends could always pull him to his senses from the heat of battle. Naoto put her hand out to him and this time took a bold step in front of him. Yu was curious what his partner was up to but trusted her enough to halt his attack until she was done with whatever she was trying to do. Naoto put up her hands seemingly trying to start a truce between the two groups.

"Phantom Thieves of Hearts. We aren't you enemies in less you keep attacking us, please can we just talk?" Naoto called out.

Were these the phantom thieves or was Naoto just taking a large gamble? Yu didn't know for sure, but Naoto was quick to figure things out. Yu took a step back Izanagi-no-Okami fading away behind him, as he suddenly became unneeded. Crossing his arms upon his chest, the former leader of the investigation team looked at the masked group before him. He was still ready to fight if that was needed but he'd let Naoto speak to the other Persona users first.

There was a pregnant pause between the group of masked figures. They seemed to be looking among each other to decide who was going to respond to Naoto but all of them clearly had no intention of continuing the fighting. Good thing too, Yu had been ready to start using almighty attacks. Finally the one in the metal mask and with the motorcycle persona seemed to step up and confront Naoto.

"You're clearly persona users. Who are you?" Her voice was guarded as she took another step forward towards Yu and Naoto, putting herself fully between her and the rest of her friends.

"Allow me to introduce myself I am Detective Naoto Shirogane and this is my partner Yu Narukami. We came here looking for evidence of the other world and possible persona users. We just found what we were looking for." Naoto started to explain.

"They'll probably with those cops, Queen. We should end them now or Joker might die!" The skull masked one stated.

"Yeah but their persona users Skull, I don't think any of those cop even knew what a persona was." The one with the red cat mask responded.

"They are detectives, that's kind of the same as a cop, right?" The skull masked one glared at the two of them.

"Kind of..." Naoto relented. "...but we aren't with those cops out front."

"How do you know what Personas are?" The metal masked one asked with a dangerous tone to her voice.

"That's a long story but one I'm willing to tell you. We should get out of here through in less you want those cops to catch you too." Naoto explained, clearly getting the urgency the masked group had.

"Queen, Oracle is hurt pretty bad. Leaving is a good option but we need to heal her first." The one with a simple black masked explained.

Naoto turned her attention to Yu. "Can you heal their friend please, we need them to trust us."

Yu couldn't argue with the logic as he dug into his sea of souls. "Ishtar!"

In a moment Ishtar replaced Izanagi as the former retreated back into his soul. The lover arcana gave a playful smirk to Yu before it turned its attention to the masked group wounded friend. With a flick of her hand a powerful healing spell formed from nothing wrapping the green and black one in its healing embrace. Instantly all wounds faded just as Ishtar faded back into Yu.

"WHAT?!" The cat suddenly shouted. "He can use multiple persona!?"

Once again all eye found themselves on Yu as he stood there a bit unsure what to do. "Uh… Yes, I can." He remarked dryly.

"Something we can discuss once we are out of here. Look if your friend is truly in danger we might be able to help you" Naoto suggested not wanting to let this opportunity to talk with the other persona user slip away. Yu could appreciate that way of thinking; they were there to get information on the other world and these costumed people clearly had some of the information that they had both been searching for.

The metal masked one spoke once again. "I know where we can talk. Follow us, but know if we find out you are with Akechi's goons we won't hold back next time."

"Akechi…" Naoto paused at that name before she nodded to the teenagers. "Alright. Fair."

November 20th

"Niijima-san wait up!" Naoto yelled as she hurried to catch the prosecutor.

Yu slightly heavier foot fall echoed behind her as both of the Detectives moves to catch up to Sae Niijima. The Prosecutor stopped turning around to look at the two trying to catch up to her, the grim expression she wore instantly set the mood for current encounter. She was in a hurry and had very little time to talk.

"I know you heard we caught one of them. I'm going to go talk to them now that they are caught. You're services aren't needed Detectives." Sae called to the two.

Naoto stepped up to Sae. "Our investigation goes far beyond the capture of one man, I have a working theory about what is going on. Look just let me ask him a few questions..."

Persona 5 Royal is officially out in Japan, and because of that, I'm giving you all another chapter a few days early. Watch out for Spoilers starting today if you are that type. Me? I'm going to all in on them. This chapter and the next few are kind of bouncy because I took a few chapters and stuck 'em together to get a more meaty chapter for you dear reader.

Now the wait begins for the western release. I'll keep to my word, once Royal comes out in the west, I'll chapter just drop the rest of the story if I have any of it left. However I'm starting to get some ideas for a sequel... I dunno if if I'll start it or not... Granted here I am talking about a sequel and you guys are like 2 and 1/2 chapters in. I'm horrible some times.