Sometimes, Akechi wonder how he was so unlucky. People said that luck will eventually even itself out in the end, but Akechi felt like he had terrible luck all his life and this situation just proves it!

He ran through the trees, trying to find a safe spot to hide from Ca Ong's destructive power.

It roared in the distance as it charges its power. The water from the atmosphere was slowly being gathered towards the Shadow.

'Goddamnit! Curse those girls! I should've just left them for dead! I didn't prepare to fight Ca Ong today!'

He grits his teeth as he recalls how he got into this situation.

-Earlier-

Akechi did his research as thoroughly as possible for Ca Ong. He stayed at Auguste Isles for the past few days, looking for information on the Shadow in their libraries and asking various people who lived in the island. He had to wear a disguise just in case someone recognize him, but it was well worth it. The Shadow only appears for a few weeks in a year, rains chaos whenever it feels like it, then hibernates until the next year.

He knew that it was active during the summer, floats around the edges of the island. It usually roams around the ocean side, slowly creeps its way around the forest area. It doesn't really travel into the middle of the island, so there had never been any attacks to the town directly. However, since it destroys random parts of the forests, the creatures that live there will start traveling towards the towns for food or new land to live in making people feel annoyed at the Shadow.

With Auguste Isles having a lot of tension recently with the Empire, a lot of people have been volunteering to be part of the army of this island. Of course, the fishermen and hunters are also pretty strong since there are strong monsters like sea urkins and crabs-of-war living in the seas or the water sprites that roam around the forests. Auguste Isles always had a strong defense system because it is a well-known resort destination and the merchants here can afford to pay for security so they don't have to worry about any monsters attacks. Thus why even though Ca Ong indirectly causes turmoil to the people, they seem to generally treat it as a nuisance since they can get rid of the monsters coming to invade their city pretty quickly and the Shadow only attacks for a few weeks before retreating again.

If it was a Primal Beast, then people could take it down while it's hibernating. Unfortunately, being a Shadow, one of its special attributes is that it can vanish into thin air until the next active cycle.

Akechi asked for if anyone knew of its origins. Hopefully, by understanding the person who used to control it, he can get a better picture on how to defeat it. Sadly, there are too many rumors regarding the Shadow. Some people say that the user was a fisherman who lost his life at sea, his Shadow roams around, trying to find its way back home. Others say that it was a skyfarer who wanted to take a nice long vacation on the island, but didn't take account of how harsh the weather can be during the summer. Last well-known rumor was a female who went to search for her lover that went missing in battle.

Akechi sighed. The older something is, the bigger the mystery revolves around that object. Well, at least he got a good idea on how to set up his traps. Since Ca Ong is a water element Shadow, using earth element would be beneficial. However, since his elements were light and dark, it won't be as effective. Luckily, there are element based items that people sell. Hopefully he can find a few good ones from the merchants in this island.

Since Ca Ong can fly and attacks from afar, the best way to attack it is with his gun. With the right bullets, he can hopefully stun it, bring it to the ground, and finish it off with his sword.

He could also buy some time rockets to distract the Shadow to look somewhere else as he prepare a strong spell with his Persona. Akechi grinned as he thought of the many different type of tactics he could use to take it down. Well he finally collected enough information about the Shadow. Now it's time to scout the area to see how the Shadow behaves normally without anyone attacking it. He might be able to learn something new.

'Let's do it tonight.'

He waits until it was pitch black before he leaves the city.

He wore a sweater with a hood to cover his face as he left. It was great that Auguste Isles was cold during the night even though it was summer otherwise he would very suspicious walking around the city with this disguise.

He strolled through the forest, thumbing his gun as he walked. There might be thieves or bandits around, so one can't be too careful.

He took out his night vision binoculars to locate where the Shadow could be.

'Ah, that should be it. It's bigger than I expected meaning that I should have an easier time hitting it if I do plan to use rockets.'

He observe quietly as the creature moved slowly in the air above the ocean. It looks like it was swimming and looked really peaceful at the moment. The Shadow could pass off as a fancy looking airship with its crown with rubies on top of its head. Even the tail had some sort of decoration with more jewels at the tips. It looked very pretty and he almost feel a sliver of regret that he was going to attack the Shadow at a later date.

"This is for Akechi-kun!"

A blast of water hit the creature.

'Uh, what the fuck was that?' he was stunned. Did someone just attack it?

"That had no effect Mary! Let me try! Let's roast his ass!" Now there was a small fire being aimed at Ca Ong.

If this situation wasn't so serious, Akechi would have laughed at their idiocy. Who attacks a water element with fire? At least they should have debuff the Shadow first before striking so their attacks could do more damage. Unfortunately, now those attacks manage to get the Shadow's attention and it slowly turned towards them as it let out a loud groan.

"! Wahhh! It's looking towards us! What should we do Annie?!" The girls started shrieking, which was not helping at all. They could have had a high chance of escaping unscattered if they didn't help it narrow down their location with all of the obnoxious screaming.

His mind was racing, trying to find the best outcome to this situation. His hand reached for his gun and he quickly pulled it out and let out a shot.

*BANG*

"What was that?" they stopped screaming to see where the shot came from.

"Run!" he yelled as he ran towards them.

"Ack! Thank you!" They said as they retreated from the area.

"Robin Hood!" His outfit transformed into his pure white royal outfit with red accents and a red, long-nosed mask. His Persona look like a superhero on television. He wore all white and had a light blue cape. It had the initials R.H. on its chest and it held itself proudly.

"Kouga (medium bless)!" His Persona pulled the string of his large bow back, the arrow of light quickly took form as it took aim and fired.

Akechi in the meantime retreated as far as he can in a different direction from where those girls ran off to. He didn't want them to think that Akechi Goro could possibly be a Persona user. They might spread rumors about this and the media will try to spin this in a negative light. Persona wielders haven't gotten the best reputation at the moment, not that he was exactly helping with Loki and the psychotic breakdowns.

He called Robin Hood back and his dark red mask with the long beak reappeared. Is it better to keep his Robin Hood Persona or transformed back to his normal outfit again? He didn't want to change into Loki just in case someone was watching, he certainly doesn't want people to know that he was able to summon two Personas. If he changed back to normal though, his magic isn't as strong compared to when he was using his Persona and the distance it can travel is only a few meters. The only thing he could rely on was his gun and he doesn't have anything ready to take the Shadow down yet! However, his outfit right now really stood out in the dark green forest that he was currently run around in. It was getting close to a full moon so the area was lit bright even though it was nighttime.

"ARROOOO" Ca Ong groaned as it lets out a blast of water into the forest.

Akechi took a moment to glance back behind him to see that the attack was off its mark, it hit a large area of the forest.

'Ugh, no time to think, just focus on running, the Shadow will eventually give up! It never travels far into the island anyway, this might help me determine the exact location it will stop trying to pursue me. I could use that information when I attack it next time.'

-Present Time-

He couldn't find anything cave or anything that look safe to hide temporarily as he was running. He dared to took another look behind him as he heard Ca Ong crying again.

'Shit, it's looking straight at me!'

Ca Ong then let loose its attack and it went straight on target. The torrent of water hit the ground, taking a few plants and rocks with it, while continuing its destination towards Akechi.

'Shit, shit! I can't dodge it in time!' Akechi thought as he glanced behind him while he ran. He looked at his surroundings, trying to find a specific object that can help him survive that attack. He clenched his teeth, as he put his back against a large tree and threw his arm up to defend his face. Akechi used his other arm to grab hold onto one of its lower branches as he braces himself for the upcoming attack. ' Hopefully, the attack won't be strong enough for the tree to be ripped out of its roots. I can't spend too much time recovering from injuries, not when Shido might call on me at any moment.'

He couldn't help but to close his eyes as the water was rushing towards him, destroying everything in its path.

"Makarakarn! (Erect shield and repel one magic attack)"

When he didn't feel the attack, he opened his eyes in surprised. Did someone used that skill for him?

"Yo, I saw that you were struggling with the Shadow so I stepped in."

'Quatre? It sounds like him, but I didn't know that he was able to cast shields. He sure is surprising me more and more.'

"Ah, thank you Qua-" he cut himself off when he turned to the voice and saw someone else.

This guy, who was another Persona wielder, had a black ankle-length tailcoat, light gray high neck waistcoat, black pants, and a pair of crimson gloves was definitely NOT Quatre. He's also walking towards Akechi with his hands in his pockets.

'Crap, did he see me transform?'

"Hmm…" The guy put his hand to his mouth, just underneath his domino mask, as he inspects Akechi.

"...w-what?"

"You look pretty cute up close. Your persona outfit, while a bit flashy, looks nice on you. Not bad." He gave this annoying smirk as he said this. His voice was a bit similar but sounded deeper than Quatre's.

"Uh….thanks…? I guess?" Akechi was pretty speechless. Who flirts with a stranger in the middle of battle?

Ca Ong cried out as it started to prepare another attack.

"Let's talk later, we need to lose this guy first." He had the audacity to wink. WINK at Akechi. What the fuck? He walked in front of Akechi and yelled for his Persona.

"Arahabaki! Stagnant Air!" His Persona reminded Akechi of one of those Shakōki-dogū clay statues made a long time ago. It had the goggle-eyes, small waists, and wide hips.

….and it just casted a spell that release some sort of dark smoke that smells horrendous. Akechi tried covering his nose, but it doesn't seem very effective. The stranger waited until the smoke reached Ca Ong before saying something else.

"Dormina!"

Ca Ong immediately stopped its attack and slowly moved vertical. Akechi tilts his head wondering what kind of attack was this? When he noticed that the Shadow was fully vertical, it still hasn't initiate any kind of attack. His eyes opened in wonder as he finally understood what those attacks were.

'! That's pretty smart. Normally, status effects are hard to land, especially on large type of monsters. However, by using his first spell, it seems to increase his status debuff success rate.' Akechi took mental notes about this, wondering what sort of items can he get that could also be effective as the spell 'Stagnant Air'.

The person turned and smirked at Akechi. Akechi couldn't tell if it was being cocky kind of smile or he was making fun of him because how ineffective Akechi's attacks were...well, Akechi could give him the benefit of a doubt since he did come in to help him.

"That was a rather smart move. I would like to thank you for your assistance mister…?" Akechi remained neutral as he gave his thanks only to immediately regret it as the person opens his mouth.

"It was nothing, I don't mind helping a ...damoiseau in distress."

'Okay, fuck this guy.' Akechi refused to let his smile drop even though he was extremely irritated by everything that happened tonight.

"Ha...ha" he laughed uncomfortably as he shifted in place. He really didn't know how to comment to such a line.

"We should go, the spell only last for maybe half a minute and that's only if nothing attacks it." He gave him a look before took off running through the woods.

Akechi followed by default before wondering 'why am I following him? I already thanked him, we can just part ways now…'

Although he did have doubts, he was curious on the stranger. He did help him for no reason after all. Before he can finalize his decision on what to do next. The male finally slows down and turns toward Akechi.

"To be honest, I'm surprised you actually followed me. Couldn't resist my charms eh?" and there's that smirk again.

Akechi regrets following him. Actually now that he thinks about it, he seems to be regretting a lot of things lately.

"Stop...just stop. What did you want to talk about?" Akechi tried his best to keep his polite tone even though this guy was being a little dipshit.

"Well, I just have to say this, I don't know which outfit I like more, this one or… your detective one." He said.

Akechi immediately dropped his smile and put his hand on his hip, close to his gun holster.

"I see. What are you going to with that that information?" He asked slowly.

"Hmm, what to do. I saw your latest interview, it was cute. I couldn't help but see if you were actually going to follow through or not. Looks like you have guts detective."

"Get to the point." he said curtly. He needs to know so he can plan for the worst if the person wants to use this as blackmail material or something equally as horrific. While Akechi hasn't killed anyone, he has attacked people before using Loki.

"Ha ha. You said something interesting during your interview. You said that you wanted to see what the leader of the Phantom Thieves look like right? Well that's me." he said proudly.

Akechi was stunned, this person was the leader of the Phantom Thieves?

Author's Notes:

Granblue calls it sea urkins, not urchins. Please don't tell me to correct this.

I'll be using Granblue's battle system. Persona 5 element and weakness is too annoying to keep track of everything haha. This means I will be switching some people's element and whatnot.

I'll be changing the rating of the fanfiction. I'll probably make Akechi curse a lot mentally. Quatre might appear again so he will definitely say some creative curse words. Ryuji will finally be able to curse to his heart's content. Maybee there'll be sex scenes. Who knows~