"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Akira had gotten used to suddenly finding himself in the Velvet Room after falling asleep, but he hadn't expected to see it look so different. They were standing on a railway turntable in the middle of space, surrounded by floating train tracks and stars. Igor sat at his usual table, which now had a train behind it. Lavenza stood next to a series of levers on Akira's right. Three new people were present. A blindfolded man played on a large piano to Akira's left, there was a singing woman next to the blindfolded man. They were performing the song that had always played in the Velvet Room. Behind the two of them was a green haired girl sitting on a throne.

"What happened here?" Akira asked. It had felt almost deathly cold in the previous incarnation of the Velvet Room. Now there was a calming warmth to it.

"I see you've noticed our remodeling. All done in honor of your triumph over Galeem and Dharkon, and your acceptance as a Smasher. Since you are no longer a prisoner the Velvet Room too is no longer a prison. Don't worry, all of our old services remain at your disposal," Igor explained.

"Thanks to your actions the Velvet Room is now able to reach across many worlds, just as you have. And with the defeat of Galeem and Dharkon our master has become active once more," Lavenza said.

"Your master?" Akira asked. He had never heard talk of a master before. Morgana had called Igor 'master,' so Akira had assumed Igor was in charge of the Velvet room.

"Philemon, the personification of humanity's best qualities and acquaintance of Master Hand. Unfortunately, Nyaralthotep, a facet of the Crawling Chaos, has also returned to a more active role. Nyaralthotep is the shadow of all humanity, the one who drags the weak hearted into the abyss. You may come into conflict with him soon."

"It's always something isn't it. I can't just stand by and let something like that have free reign. And I know my friends won't either. So, are you going to introduce me to those new people before I wake up?"

"The two performing for you are Belladonna and Nameless. They've always been present, but without the power of our master they were not able to be perceived. The girl on the throne is Sothis, an ally from another world," Lavenza said.

"I'm sure you noticed that other worlds have powers vastly different from your Persona. I'll be able to let you use some of those powers. For that to be possible you must form bonds with those who inhabit those worlds and grant your power to them in return. You can't afford to be stagnant and refuse to reach out just because you already have so many confidants. A whole new deck is now revealed to you," Sothis said.

"There is more to the Velvet's Room changed nature, but it appears the time for you to awaken is approaching. Another new resident should appear by the time of your next visit. I have absolute confidence in your success as a Smasher," Igor said. A white light briefly blinded Akira.

Akira never had trouble waking up after the Velvet Room interrupted his sleep. He quickly got ready for the day as he thought about how strange everything had been, even for him. A few weeks ago he had been back in his hometown, now he was living in Smashopolis on his own. He knew the chance to be at a place like that couldn't be passed up. And the Nook Apartment Building had a special Smasher discount that made it cheaper and higher quality than any other housing Akira could find.

He didn't have any plans for what happened after he settled into Smashopolis. All he knew was that it had been impossible to go back to his life before that fateful night, the night where he was punished for having a sense of justice. Smashopolis was a place with no history and filled with strange powers, which was exactly what he wanted. He never dreamed of telling the other Phantom Thieves, but he missed the Metaverse. It was impossible for him to look at people abusing their authority and not feel the urge to pull out his phone and turn on the MetaNav app. Smashopolis didn't have the Metaverse, but it let him use his Persona, and that could be enough to help him the moment some shitty adult decided profits mattered more than someone's future.

There were still some boxes that needed to be unpacked, for now they were shoved to the side in the bedroom. Akira still had a clear path to the living room and kitchen. He made himself some coffee with the skills Sojiro had taught him and checked his phone. No new messages or mysterious apps. He had half expected the MetaNav to return. Nyaralthotep sounded somewhat similar to Yaldabaoth, but he had a feeling the differences were going to be significant. No Metaverse would mean a different kind of plan, even if the end result would ruin humanity all the same.

By some stroke of luck Akira had a great view of the park just across the street from the apartment. It had a sizable pond and he could see a good number of Pokemon inside it. He took a picture and sent it to the rest of the Phantom Thieves. They could all worry about Nyaralthotep later. It was best to get adjusted to Smashopolis before looking for threats in every corner. After all doing both at the same time hadn't gone so well in Tokyo.

"Yo Smashopolis looks great. Hyped for Thursday man." Ryuji texted back. Akira had already made plans to scope out restaurants in Smashopolis before the others arrived to visit him. They wanted something from another world that wasn't too weird. So far Grillby's seemed like a good place to eat. Smashopolis was still new so there weren't many restaurants at the moment, but there were sure to be more on the way. When Akira was done with his coffee he went out the door.

Akira stepped into the hallway at the same time as Corrin. "Oh, you're one of the new Smashers. Joker, right?" Corrin asked. With how unusual his recruitment was Akira hadn't been able to meet all of the veteran Smashers. He had already run into quite a few, but there were far more he hadn't met yet.

"You can call me Akira, Joker is just my codename. It's nice to meet you." Akira held out his hand, Corrin shook it.

"My name's Corrin. I was about to go look for a place to get some coffee, did you spot anywhere that looked good?"

"I can make some for you if you want." Corrin accepted the offer and followed Akira into the apartment. He waited patiently while Akira made the coffee and brought it over to the kitchen table. Corrin took a sip.

"This is great. I've tried to cook some food for myself, but I always end up screwing it up. Thank you again for offering this to me," Corrin said.

"It's no problem. I used to be bad at making coffee, but I learnt from somebody who runs their own coffee shop. I could teach you if you want."

"That would be great. Growing up I wasn't allowed to cook anything for myself, so I never even got a handle on the basics."

"You weren't allowed to cook?" Akira asked.

"I had servants who insisted on doing everything for me, even when I didn't want them to. Being nobility is oddly restrictive, the privilege isn't entirely without cost. Leaving it behind to join the Smashers was the only choice I could make at the time. Though I don't regret it," Corrin said. He reminded Akira of Haru, not that greatly, but he could see some commonalities. If he introduced them to each other he was sure they would get along.

"How do you leave being a noble behind?"

"Running away. There was a moment where I was caught between two opposing forces and it looked like I would have to fight people I didn't want to fight no matter what. Then the invitation to become a Smasher appeared before me and I fled. I just hope the people who served me are doing okay. Without me holding them back I'm sure they're all better off." Corrin looked down at his coffee intently.

"Sounds like you don't want to return," Akira said. He wondered if that was pushing things too far. But in Akira's experience people seemed to like talking about themselves if they had a good listener on hand.

"I do have plans to go back, it's my responsibility. But preparations are moving slow even by a snail's standards since I want to get everything right. Things are starting to fall into place thankfully. Then I'll be able to fix things. Sorry for unloading all of that on you. Uh, is there any chance the shop you learned to make coffee from is moving to Smashopolis?" Akira wasn't bothered by Corrin's story, but going along with the subject change seemed like it'd be best.

"It's no problem, I'm used to listening to people talk about their problems. And Café Leblanc is staying in Tokyo last I heard. The owner got an offer but he didn't want to abandon his regulars," Akira said.

"With all of the empty storefronts maybe you could start your own. I'd be the first in line for it," Corrin said.

"Don't think I have the money to start up a shop. But now that you mention it…" Akira trailed off as he thought to himself. Being a phantom thief couldn't be a fulltime job, and there wasn't a Phansite to get intel through anymore. There was a good chance the coffee shop could help him with more than just funding. And it would also make a good surprise for the other phantom thieves when they came to visit him.

"Oh. Hey, what if I gave the money to you. We could be business partners. I could handle finding other people to help you around the place and getting word out while you just focus on the food, maybe you could even teach me how to make some of it," Corrin said. Akira pulled himself out of his introspection and nodded.

"Let's do it. I need to contribute something to this city if I'm living in it," Akira said. He held out his hand, Corrin shook it. As they made contact a familiar voice resounded in Akira's head.

I am thou, thou art I…

Thou hast formed a vow between worlds.

This new vow will be thine guiding light

And thine sheltering shadow.

With a new Magician Persona's birth

I have opened a new path

That will forge an unforetold future.

The doorbell rang right as Corrin was about to speak. Akira hurried over to it, wondering who would be visiting him. Leaf was on the other side of the door, alongside a woman Akira had never seen before. The stranger had long flowing bright red hair and a strange golden headpiece that formed an open semicircle around her head, with the open part conveniently being where her face was. "Hey Akira. Do you know where Corrin is right now? He lives right across from you but he doesn't seem to be there," Leaf said. Akira stepped aside so Leaf could see who was in his apartment.

"Who's your friend?" Akira asked.

"This is Akasha, a priestess of a god named Hastur. She's been helping Burnet over at the lab since she moved in. When Stakataka caused all that trouble she was a big help taking it down," Leaf said.

"You overstate my role, I merely played my assigned part. We come here as heralds of a very fortunate reunion," Akasha said. She and Leaf stepped out of the way, letting an old man in black armor walk into view.

"Gunther?!" Corrin leapt to his feet, nearly knocking over his coffee. He stopped to make sure the mug wouldn't fall over, then rushed over to the door and threw his arms around Gunther. Akira stepped back to give them some space. "I thought you were dead."

"I think we should take this somewhere more private. Having all of these people watching is embarrassing," Gunther said. Despite his words there was a smile on his face. And he had returned the hug. "I missed you." The two of them walked out of Akira's apartment and across the hall into Corrin's apartment. There would be time to talk about the logistics of running a café with Corrin later. Leaf and Akasha remained right outside Akira's door.

"We should make haste as well. Our role has been fulfilled. Care to partake in our shopping expedition Akira?" Akasha asked.

"Need a bit of time to rest, I get worn out quickly with stuff like this. I'll catch up with you later," Akira said. Something about Akasha felt strange to him. He hadn't remembered hearing anything about her when word of Ulti being made a Smasher came out. Then a memory came to him of reading her name in the report about Ulti's origins that had been sent to every Smasher other than Ridley, Dark Samus, and K. Rool. Still he needed some time to himself anyway.

"Okay, see you later" Leaf said. She took off with Akasha, closing the door to Akira's apartment for him. Akira debated what to do next before settling on grabbing a book and sitting by the window. He was trying to read all of the Arsene Lupin stories, there wasn't much left of the one he was currently on.

When Joker finished the book he left it on the table. As he stepped out into the apartment building hallway, he noticed a familiar blue door at the end of the hallway. Apparently the universe really didn't want him to get outside for the day. Though time didn't seem to pass whenever he willingly went to the Velvet Room, so he'd still have time to walk around the city.

The Velvet Room looked the same as it had last night. There was a new person who hadn't been present the prior night. He was an old man with white hair, seated on a wooden chair in the back that looked more plain and more comfortable than Sothis's throne. His eyes had an inhuman crimson color to them. "I knew you would make your way here. As before, we have established a location you can visit while awake. And we have another person here to support you. Say hello to Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg," Igor said.

"Just call me Zelretch. I came here because Philemon asked Master Hand to ask me. Quite the maze of relationships we've managed to form. Now, Ren was it?"

"It's Akira."

"Ah, must have looked at the wrong possibility. So many of you Smashers are filled with so many possibilities it's simply too hard to keep track of which one I'm looking at. The Hands certainly don't make it easier with their constant creation of new ones. It's such a typical Master Hand thing to look at Hyrule and act as though there aren't enough timelines," Zelretch said.

"Zelretch, have you forgotten your reason for coming here? Akira does not know of the second magic and what you mean by possibilities, explain it or leave," Sothis said.

"Such harsh words. They'd have more impact if you stopped using that immature body. Reminds me of someone I killed once, they survived unfortunately." Zelretch said. He laughed to himself. "The second magic lets me observe and travel to all possible worlds. I have to be careful when observing. If I look too closely the possibility I observe will become the only true one. Since the Velvet Room isn't entirely real I can look more closely without making what I observe real. Basically consider me an informant," Zelretch said.

"Do you remember how your invitation explained Reality Bleed? Worlds like those are what Zelretech refers to when he talks about possibilities," Lavenza explained.

"I don't fully get it, but I think I understand enough. What are you getting out of this Zelretch?" Akira asked.

"There are some threats that concern me which I can't handle myself, such as the Crawling Chaos and the King in Yellow. If I observed them directly, I would only give them more power. In some cases they are impossible for someone like me to observe anyway. You Smashers don't have high odds of winning against them, but out of everyone your chances of winning are the furthest from zero. Besides, the fact that you are all unified under one title is so unlikely it's impossible to look away. Nobody watches something that is completely normal and understandable."

"Why is your cognition worth more than mine?" Akira asked. He wasn't entirely sure he had followed everything correctly, but it sounded like the process for manipulating Palaces. If a door couldn't be opened, then they had to make the target observe the door being opened in the real world. It wasn't worth fixating on that comment about low odds when there were still questions.

"The same reason I'm here, the second magic. Don't expect any lessons on it, with how previous 'students of a magician' have ended up the Hands are never letting me give lessons to a Smasher. Anyway it will take time to confront those great enemies I mentioned, but there are also smaller threats which could potentially be of issue. By tomorrow I should have a list of things for you to investigate," Zelretch said.

"I'm looking forward to working with you," Akira said. He wasn't sure if that was actually the case, but he preferred to be polite. Zelretch had proven hard to keep up with, Akira understood things best by putting them into practice.

Zelretch let a small smile form on his face. "So do I." Akira heard a familiar voice within his head, the forming of a new confidant. This time it was of an arcana he had never formed a confidant for before: The World. Having an arcana like that was proof enough that Zelretch genuinely was powerful. Judging from last time Akira had a confidant with someone in the Velvet Room it was going to take more than just talking to unlock its full power.

Akira turned to Sothis, figuring he may as well get all the explanations out of the way. "How does the power borrowing you mentioned work?"

"As your bonds grow your Persona will begin to take on powers from your new confidants. To be specific the ultimate of each Arcana. Futsunushi has a new skill waiting to be drawn out, shall we use him as an example?"

"Go ahead." Futsunushi manifested in front of Sothis. Sothis extended her arms and a card materialized between them. One side was the Magician card that Akira often visualized in his mind when using those Personae, the other side was a picture of Corrin. The card flew into Futsunushi and the persona opened his mouth, an orb of water came blasting out. With that the persona faded and returned to Akira.

"These are only imitations, so don't expect to go blow for blow with Corrin just because you can use one of his moves. And few of these will be perfect copies. For example your version of that attack doesn't have the paralyzing effect of the original. You won't get the same results from it that Corrin does," Sothis said.

"Don't be eager to dismiss it however. There is no rule that a fake can't be equal or even superior to the real thing. As of now it's a hollow imitation, but as your bond with Corrin grows stronger it could compensate for the lack of paralysis with a different effect, or simply go all in for brute strength," Zelretch said.

"I just hope Corrin doesn't mind," Akira said.

"The only reason you can use this power is because he trusts you now. Though with some people it will take much longer to gain power from your bond with them," Sothis said, directing her gaze to Zelretch. Zelretch didn't bother responding to the targeted comment.

"Well, I don't think there's any fusing I want to do so I'll be going now," Akira said. With that he turned and left the Velvet Room.

Now that he was finally outside Akira could properly appreciate Smashopolis and its strange mixture of architecture. Though a good part of his attention were on the many yet to be occupied commercial buildings. People were eager to establish a presence in Smashopolis, but Master Hand wanted to personally review and approve each store. Akira wondered if being a Smasher would give him and Corrin an advantage in finding a space for their café. Normally he would have texted Corrin, but he figured it was better not to interrupt his heartfelt reunion.

When Akira had walked down a few blocks he caught sight of Leaf and Akasha entering the Pokemon Center. He followed them inside it. The Pokemon Center had two counters located in the back, one had a nurse and the other had what appeared to be a normal store clerk. There were a good number of seats spread throughout. "So it's a Unovan style Pokemon Center," Leaf said.

"Unovan style?" Leaf spun around at that comment, Pokeball in hand. She lowered the Pokeball. Akasha chuckled.

"Did you have to surprise me like that?"

"Sorry. So, are there different styles of Pokemon Centers?" Akira asked. Leaf nodded. Akasha took her hand and quickly guided her to the side of the building so they didn't block the way for anyone else. Akira followed.

"Most regions have separate Poke Marts for shopping, but Unova combined them together. Kalos ended up adopting that style and then Alola also did that, but added cafes in too," Leaf explained.

"Well it's a good thing we didn't get an Alolan style Pokemon Center, Corrin and I were talking about opening a café of our own."

"Oh cool, let us know when it gets up and running. Do you have a name yet?" Leaf asked.

"Haven't gotten that far yet," Akira said.

"Then may I offer up the name of Joker's Kitchen?" Akasha asked. Something about that name felt natural to Akira, almost like he could have thought of it himself given time. He told Akasha he'd bring up her suggested name with Corrin. Leaf went over to the counter with the sales clerk, Akasha and Akira waited by the wall. They stood in a silence for a bit as Leaf sorted through what was available to purchase.

"Where did you find Gunther anyway?"

"A vision from Hastur illuminated the way to him in a forbidden land. Through his blessing the nefarious force intending to utilize him was banished. Being in the service of a higher power is quite enlightening, though at times constraining," Akasha said. There seemed to be a hint of regret in Akasha's voice, but Akira couldn't be fully confident it was actually there.

"Well if he gets too constraining I can help out with that," Akira said. Akasha chuckled.

"Knowledge matters to me above all else. Offering it and offering salvation are one and the same. Your offer of aid is appreciated however." Akira didn't know how to respond so he stayed quiet. "There is a man who I thought felt the same as I do, however that is not true. That realization was displeasing."

"That doesn't mean you can't be friends though," Akira said.

"That is veracious. Understanding another person being distinct from comradery is most vexing. I know of your exploits, how was the experience of traversing another's distorted mind?" Akasha asked.

"Not something I can easily describe," Akira said. The Metaverse had made him realize just how twisted some people could be. But he had also seen how people could change for the better. He told Akasha some stories from exploring Momentos as they waited for Leaf. In turn Akasha told him of some legends from her world. Akira felt a new confidant form with her: The Faith.

Leaf finished her shopping and walked back over to Akira and Akasha. Right as they were about to head out Akira got a text from Corrin. "Corrin says he's free to scout around for locations now. I'm going to tell him to meet me here so you guys can just go ahead," Akira said.

"Okay, see you later Akira," Leaf said. She waved as she walked out of the Pokemon Center with Akasha. Smashopolis was still new, but Akira decided he liked it so far. It was a city of pure possibility.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, though I'm sure I don't need to explain one of the reasons this chapter got so delayed. While I'm using elements from Persona 5 Royal I'm not sure if this will actually use Royal's version of events compared to base Persona 5, since I don't plan on getting Royal.

I wanted this chapter to feel somewhat like the start of a new Persona game. That's why a lot of this is build up, both for later chapters and future Smash fics. There will be more proper Smasher interactions in the future chapters. Also for clarity's sake Zelretch is a Type Moon/ Fate character while Akasha is from Dragalia Lost. If you're familiar with Akasha you should have some idea of what I'm laying down here.

Next up is The Hero quadruple feature, with each Hero getting their own small section. Also if you want to chat with other Smash writers and artists there's a cool discord for that with a join code of gDK48ua called Super Smash Prose.