" I AM THOU… THOU ART I.."

Ann's eyes turned a flaming gold as she muttered those words under her breath.

BANG!

In an instant, the other Ann beside Kamoshida disintegrated under the power of a forty five caliber round.

"IT'S HAPPENING!" Ren shouted into the earpiece as he positioned his body cam to capture everything.

A wave of blue fire washed over Ann as her persona developed.

" GRAAHH !" She roared, tearing off the mask with a primal force. The searing pain of this act had no effect on her. No, nothing compared to what that man had put her through.

And then her persona appeared. She towered over everyone and everything in the room, instantly establishing a commanding presence.

BANG!

Now clad in her new outfit, Ann spun to the right, planting a headshot into one of the guards, before turning to face the King, whose guards had formed a defensive ring around him.

"... THE TIME HAS COME, SUGURU KAMOSHIDA." Ann declared, a distortion pervading her tone. It was as if Ann and her persona spoke as one. " YOUR EVIL ENDS HERE. NOW YOU SHALL SUFFER AS WE DID."

" AND THIS SHALL BE OUR VENGEANCE ".

Ann raised her gun again, with a killer stare as she aimed.

Grasping for words, the king backed up in a mix of fear, shock, surprise and anger.

"...E-ENOUGH OF THIS INSOLENCE YOU WHORE!". He barked. "GUARDS! KILL HER!"

"..It shall be done your majesty!". The Shadow replied, and so the guard captain leapt into combat.

BANG!

The bullet missed Kamoshida by inches, striking the guard to little effect instead.

The king seized the opportunity and darted out of the lounge through a hidden doorway, shots rang out from behind as Ann tried to finish him.

" NO!". Ann shrieked, emptying the weapon to no avail as the King escaped.

"EMPRESS GET DOWN!".

BANG!

Ryuji sprang up, shotgun loaded, blasting the guard captain as it almost decapitated Ann.

Stray buckshot tore into pillows, books, and other items in the lounge, sending pages, feathers, and dust into the air, clouding the developing battlefield.

"Graah!" The guard captain roared. "You shall pay for your insolence!".

And with that, the Guard captain revealed its true form.

Ren took a single glance at the Shadow.

" You are one ugly motherfucker." He thought as he prepared for battle.

"CARMEN!". Ann called. "Let's tear him a new one!".

An all out fight ensued.

"KEEP HIM DISTRACTED!". Ren yelled to Ryuji and Ann. Ren circled around to get behind the demon, firing on the move.

Ryuji turned to face Ren.

"GOT I-"

WHAM

A swipe from the demon sent the fake blonde flying into the wall.

Ryuji landed with a groan amidst the plaster and dust.

"SKULL!". Ann called out, a concerned tone filled her voice.

"I GOT HIM! I GOT HIM!" Morgana announced, rushing over to heal.

Ann turned back to the demon and growled.

"CARMEN! LET'S DANCE!". Ann began unleashing a fiery barrage with her persona.

" She won't last long unsupported." Ren thought.

His Smith and Wesson blasted away, blowing away chunks in the demon, but still left something to be desired in terms of damage.

" I need ideas." Ren decided, putting a hand up to his earpiece. "Uhh, hey Sojiro, is this a bad time?"

" ...No… Not particularly…" The spy replied with a hint of sarcasm. Gunshots and angry shouts could be heard in the background.

"...In that case, I need some help dealing with the guard captain.." Ren spoke as he ran. "It's only weakness is fire, and uh, we're little short on that."

"... Kid, remember, this is the metaverse. If toy guns work just as a real one does, your fully real gun should be better. There's incendiary rounds for your gun, you may not have em' now but.."

A flash of realization flooded Ren.

"Thanks, I got it." Ren replied.

"LOADING INCENDIARIES!". Ren yelled just loud enough for the demon to hear as he crammed in another magazine.

He didn't need to actually have incendiary rounds for his gun. Ren only needed for the shadows to think he did.

BANG
BANG
BANG

Red hot bullets sparked and flared as they impacted their target.

" GRAAH!". The demon roared in pain as it was attacked from two angles, and reeled from the blows.

" DIE YOU DAMN RATS!" It declared before redoubling its efforts.

"Get down!" Ann shouted as she ducked down to avoid the oncoming barrage.

Ren however, was less sharp with his maneuver, and was knocked off kilter with the attack.

Once the assault passed, the demon did what appeared to be an attempt to heal itself.

However, Ren had crept up, leaping and planting his knife into the demon's back.

The demon howled as it was racked with incredible pain, leaving it panting and on its back foot.

" BEGONE! " The demon screeched. With a single swipe, it was now Ren's turn to slam into the wall.

"A-agh," Ryuji yelped as Morgana's healing ability washed over him. "..I'm better now, go get Joker."

"Listen here mister, you're clear-" Morgana protested.

"No! One of us needs to back Empress up." Ryuji pumped his shotgun. "You keep fixing me, you'll need to fix all of us soon."

Morgana glanced back at Ren.

"Fine." Morgana relented, before casting a final healing wave over Ryuji and running over to Ren.

"Shit!" Ann spoke through clenched teeth. Her SP was running out.

" YOU'LL BE JOINING YOUR FRIEND SOON!". The demon menaced.

BOOM!

"EMPRESS! I GOT YOUR FUGGIN' SIX!" Ryuji hobbled over.

Ann drew her own gun, regaining strength with Ryuji's appearance.

"Let's end this!". Ann ordered.

"Joker! What are you doing? Your hand's on the verge of being broken!". Morgana exclaimed as Ren sat up and drew his handgun.

"Hand or no hand, I need to pull the trigger." Ren spat.

ALL OUT ATTACK

Gunfire raked the guard captain from all angles.

" AHHH!" The demon broke, and crashed down onto the ground.

Ann approached the monster, gun in hand.

By this time, the demon's porcelain throne was fractured with bullet holes, some skin was burnt up, and it was missing an eye.

"..Heh." The demon coughed. "T-to think, there would be a woman to match Kamoshida. A teen nonetheless!"

"Mmm.." Ann hummed. "More than a match I'd say."

The last thing the guard captain saw was the flash of a gunshot.

" W-we did it. ." Ann thought, slumping down after the chain of events that had transpired.

" But Kamoshida still got away. And we haven't got the treasure-"

"Empress!? You in there!?". A voice shook Ann out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?". Ann snapped back into reality, turning to Ryuji, who looked weary and battered.

"We gotta go." He gestured to the lounge door, which now had cracks and holes.

" KEEP AT IT! FOR THE KING!" A shadow called from the outside as palace guards were tearing the door down.

"Shit. Let's move." Ann muttered as they went on. "You know where Mona and Joker are?".

"...I think they went somewhere over there…" Ryuji replied. "Oww.."

The fake blonde suddenly fell on one knee.

"You alright?", Ann asked with concern.

"...It's nothing," Ryuji dismissed, massaging his other leg. "I'm used to this."

"No, it's not nothing. Gimme your arm." Ann put Ryuji's arm over her shoulders.

"You don't need to do this." Ryuji told Ann.

"Kamoshida did that, didn't he?" Ann gestured towards Ryuji's leg.

"...Of course, who else." Ryuji sighed. "I swear the doctor fucked me over too, didn't set it properly or something.."

"H-hey guys, what did I miss?" A fatigued Ren asked while Morgana tended to his injuries.

"Well, I guess an awesome one liner.." Ryuji replied, as Ann and him walked in, the former supported by the latter.

"Oh, and the Shadows are breaking in." Ann added nonchalantly.

"Oh, that's all then." Morgana spoke. "We can res-THE SHADOWS ARE BREAKING IN!?".

"...Just a storm Mona, sit down." Ren whispered under his breath.

"We're all here now, let's just get outta this place." Ryuji spoke.

"H-heh, you said it." Ren told the group before whispering into his earpiece.

Soon enough, reality began to distort once more.

But just before they returned, a voice came over the earpiece.

" See you on the flip side, kid."

And so, the familiar scent of coffee washed over the group as they returned to the café.

"We're back.." Ryuji remarked as he looked around. However, there wasn't a moment to think before..

"A-alright!" 'Sojiro' suddenly burst in from the backroom. "Sounds like you all have been working pretty hard on the group project."

He slid over two more cups of coffee.

"Keep it up, on the house by the way." 'Sojiro' added. "Ren, I need to talk with you again." He called Ren up.

"...So that's what you told him." Ryuji whispered to Ren.

"...Yep, seems like he bought it." Ren whispered back.

"Scuse me." Ren addressed Ann and Ryuji as he shuffled out to speak with 'Sojiro'.

The backroom door opened with a familiar groan as he found the spy seated opposite to an empty chair and desk, puffing on a cigarette.

"...Take a seat, welcome to your first debriefing kid." Kaplan grinned. "Close the door behind you."

Ren obeyed, shutting the door with a click, and pulling out the chair to sit.

The spy poured Ren a glass of water.

"So, how was it?" He asked.

"...Well, um," Ren began. "...Started out alright, things kinda went to shit by the end…"

"...Well, get used to it." Kaplan drawled. "I remember my Moltke, No plan survives contact with the enemy."

"Anyways, did you get the footage?". The spy pressed.

"Yes, I did." Ren removed the earpiece and the body cam, holding them out.

"Good." The spy took them. "I'll need to pay a visit to my higher ups soon."

"Now, because you are effectively an agent for the United States, this is for you."

The spy turned around and produced a suitcase.

"...This is yours."

Ren hesitated at the item.

"Is it?...".

"Yes it is." The spy replied. "Go on, you've earned it."

Ren opened the suitcase.

"Five grand of United States Dollars, in yen. As promised."

"...W-wow…." Ren remarked, as he closed it.

"...Before you get excited with your new spending money, I need to lay down some ground rules with it." The spy told Ren. "But we'll do that later. It is getting late and you shouldn't keep your friends waiting."

"... Understood." Ren replied, and he got up.

"Again, good work out there." Kaplan patted the teen's shoulder as Ren left to re-join the others.

"F-fine, but only because it's you, Lady Ann."

"That's a good kitty," Ann chuckled as she petted Morgana.

"So, what did you say to him?". Ryuji inquired as Ren slipped back into this seat.

"Just more stuff to keep up the cover." Ren replied.

"Okay, you're back. We have things to discuss." Morgana announced, jumping onto the table. "Fir-"

"Yes! First order of business, I want to change my codename to Panther." Ann declared. "After what I saw, I want to have nothing to do with royalty."

"Hey!" Morgana protested. "I was in the middl-"

"All in favour?" Ren raised his hand.

"Aye." Everyone agreed, with Morgana being the most reluctant.

"Passed." Ren spoke.

"Argh!" Morgana groaned. "Now we have that outta the way, we need to talk about Kamoshida."

"We may have destroyed Kamoshida's version of Lady Ann, and maybe twenty percent of his security staff plus the head guard, but we didn't get the treasure or the man himself."

"We need a follow up operation to finish him off." Morgana finished. "Hey Ren, can we use the cafe as a hideout again?".

Out of the corner of his eye, Ren saw a thumbs-up from the kitchen.

"I don't see why not." Ren replied. "We can come after hours or go into the backroom."

"Great." Morgana replied.

"Umm, hey guys, not to interrupt, but uh, it's getting a bit late.." Ryuji spoke.

"I think we have to call it a night." Ren spoke.

Soon enough, goodbyes were said and the two blondes shuffled out the door, and into the cold.

"...I'm gonna go check this place out!" Morgana told Ren as the feline jumped off the table and went upstairs, and out of sight.

"So, glad to see you're making friends." A familiar voice came from the side.

Ren turned to face Kaplan.

"What do we do next?" Ren asked.

"Well, we have a lot of things to discuss." Kaplan answered.

"Are you ready to go into the cold, Ren?"

"Hey, wake up."

Ren groaned as two fluffy paws slapped him.

Yawning, Ren got up and checked his phone.

It was now Saturday, just before school.

"Hey Mona.. how are you liking it here?" Ren scratched the cat.

"..Better than Kamoshida's cells." The cat stretched.

After getting dressed, Ren went downstairs with Morgana.

"Ah, look who's awake." Kaplan leaned out from one of the booths, cigarette in mouth.

"Oh, and puss without the boots." He added upon seeing Morgana.

"...Please stop. I'm not a cat." Morgana deadpanned.

"I dunno, swore you coughed up some hairballs." Ren scratched the feline.

"Anyways, take a seat, the time is now." The spy directed.

As Ren approached the booth, while Morgana leapt onto the countertop, Ren found Kaplan was not alone there.

"It's so good to see you again Senpai!"

"Y-yoshizawa!?". Ren exclaimed.

"Ah, Ren, Kasumi." Kaplan introduced. "Kasumi, Ren. I do believe you two have met."

"...So…um, Senpai… I must admit I may have had an ulterior motive when I accepted your offer to walk me to the school that day.." Kasumi gave a smile.

"Yes, she's one of our finest operatives." Kaplan prefaced. "After all, how'd you think that tracker found its way into your pocket?"

"...So you're an American agent…." Ren spoke, scooching next to the redhead. "When did you get hired?"

"...I'm afraid that's a bit classified, Ren." Kaplan interrupted, "But save it, we need to get down to business."

"So, yesterday was a trial run for operations on the metaverse. The first operation done outside of controlled environments and the first by the United States in nearly forty years."

"Because it was a special occasion, I went in person, but for regular ops, Kasumi here will take over. She'll help plan for the coup de grace against Kamoshida."

"...It feels a bit awkward when I'm kinda leading my senpais." Kasumi commented.

"Oh you'll do fine." Kaplan told her. "Regardless, Now you have your little group of… Phantom Thieves or whatever, we need to establish operational procedures."

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but we have Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, you, the cat, and Kasumi. Now a total of five."

"No, that's right." Ren confirmed.

"To ensure everything works out properly, the brains of this group will be you, Kasumi, and Morgana. One, because I don't trust the other two to be tight lipped enough or have the know-how for this stuff. Two, because you are the only people in this group that know I am not who I say I am."

"...Are you sure about this? That's a lot to place on us.." Kasumi gasped.

"...I have faith in you all. And I will step in if needed." Kaplan assured.

"There will be two layers of security. First of all, we don't let anyone know who we are, along with how we operate and all that. The second layer will be that this is an independently run group by teens, a grassroots movement if you will, and is absolutely not sponsored by United States Intelligence."

"Okay, when you put it that way.." Ren spoke.

"Yep, technically, you're all sponsored by the Circuit to carry out your activities. Believe me, it's not easy to convince people to build their intelligence networks on teenagers." Kaplan remarked, giving his cigarette a puff.

"Speaking of being sponsored, let's talk about money." Kaplan began. "I know you get money from the shadows, and the money you're being paid for your work. However, as I said last night, there's ground rules."

"You absolutely cannot go spending it on stuff like the fanciest clothes and televisions immediately. People will get suspicious on how a teen, working part time jobs suddenly has over seventy grand of yen."

"...I should've thought about that…" Ren mumbled.

"We can work out a way to launder the money, you know, we can process it through bank accounts and slush funds so it looks legitimate." The spy told him.

"But, please do remember to be careful. We caught a buncha moles and double agents just because they could suddenly afford mansions and ferraris."

"Anyways, next order of business." Kaplan cleared his throat. "My superiors want to meet you."

"What." Ren was flabbergasted.

"Well, you're a unique individual, Ren." Kaplan explained. "And, remember how I mentioned everything is hinging on teenagers? Well, the higher ups want to see the guy who's been doing this stuff."

"And it will be more of a casual, hands off kinda deal. No worries. I'll explain more later on."

"When will we meet?" Ren questioned.

"About a week from now." The spy cooly answered.

"...Okay, that's a thing now.." Ren muttered.

"..Uh, Mr. Kaplan, I think it's time to end this here." Kasumi spoke. "I believe school does start soon."

"Of course, we'll finish this later. I'll get the car." The spy got up and went for his car keys.

Ren found himself walking towards the school gates when he was greeted by the unpleasant sight of Kamoshida.

"C'mon, get to class." The gym teacher greeted the students, and then he turned to see Ren.

"...Good morning.." He shot Ren a death glare. However, Ren knew what Kamoshida really meant.

" I know you're up to something."

"Good morning." Ren put on his best poker face, kept his head down, and walked to class.

"You lost another one, Kap." The Briton spoke.

She threw down a newspaper.

OFFICIAL FOUND DEAD

A member of the United Future Party, was found dead in his bedroom at 3:00 am this morning. His identity has been withheld by law enforcement. Party leader Masayoshi Shido calls it "An attempt to stop progress through terror tactics." Cause of death is determined to be…

"...I can think of a few ways they found our agents." Kaplan puffed. "Either they have a mole inside our ranks, intercepted communications, which I also doubt, or they used the PROJEKT…"

One thing was clear. Operational security was vital. Agents were being liquidated left and right. The question was, how were the Russians identifying them? Having a mole within the circuit wasn't out of the question, but security was tightened after the lessons of Ames and Hanssen, and more recent double agents and the like. Communications being intercepted was even less plausible, especially with the technological advancements in cryptology.

The only plausible method was with the metaverse.

"How's the scalphunters doing?" Kaplan massaged his forehead.

"Progress has been slow, but we were able to ascertain that some of the higher ups in Japanese law enforcement have some sympathies for this United Future Party…". The Briton replied.

"...They investigating the party or?". Kaplan inquired.

"We're still setting up. We're mostly focused in Europe, it will take some time." She explained.

"... There's definitely something up with that party, wouldn't surprise me if they're receiving Russian money." Kaplan spoke, scratching his chin.

". ..I think I can work something out… " Kaplan thought.

"...You would think Japanese Intelligence would do something about this rather blatant Russian interference. Wouldn't you?" The Briton asked as they drove.

"Ah, there's the problem my friend. The Japanese intelligence community hasn't been what it was since the second world war." Kaplan explained. "The thing is, the cops mainly run the show on espionage here. We've already established the police aren't on our side."

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the United Future Party starts passing legislation to limit American presence here." The Briton spoke.

"They've tried, if I recall correctly. Relations have taken a nosedive recently, Congress has suspended sale of any F35s because of this." Kaplan continued. "God knows they'll send one to Russia or China."

"We might need to send out burn notices en masse." She mumbled.

"Yeah, disavow practically every word Japanese Intelligence gives us." Kaplan added. "I'll see if I can develop a source within Japanese law enforcement, or at least someone that can give insight."

"...You know this guy, Yoshizawa?".

"Yes, he lent me a hand earlier." Kasumi explained.

"... I'd recommend you stay away from the likes of him." Kamoshida began, before launching into a tirade about "students that you shouldn't be involved with.'

"...Done yet?". Ms Kawakami asked.

"We should get going now, don't wanna get in the way of guiding this delinquent and all." Kamoshida spoke.

"Yes, please excuse us," Kasumi bowed, and prepared to leave.

But not before giving a wink.

"...Well, after you." Ms. Kawakami told Ren, gesturing towards the office.

Kaplan walked down the streets of Tokyo.

It was another drop-off mission. This time, it was to send out a burn notice to signify that Japanese intelligence may not be as reliable as they were believed to.

He returned to the red mailbox, next to the bulletin board.

Kaplan placed a copy of the footage from the metaverse, and the burn notice before he put a purple thumbtack on the bulletin board.

However, as he did so, he found a blue thumbtack.

There was something for him.

The spy searched around, while staying inconspicuous.

He happened to see a slightly discoloured rock. To an ordinary person, it would have been nothing of note.

But the spy knew better. He picked it up, twisted it, and took the USB that was inside.

"I know your friends are coming soon, so let's make this quick." The spy told Ren as the garage doors opened.

So I was reviewing your footage, and from that and what I saw as overwatch yesterday, there's a bit of room for improvement." The spy added. "You may have good stealth techniques, but your friends don't, with hindsight, even with the new gun, you were a bit underequipped, and you need more CQB training."

Alright, I guess I'm always open to learning something." Ren replied

They were back at the safehouse, with Kasumi in tow this time. (And Morgana in the bag)

"...Wow… that's a lot of guns.." Kasumi exclaimed.

"I believe you did hand to hand combat courses, correct?". The spy asked the redhead.

"I did, it works nicely with being a gymnast." She replied.

"Good, you'll be his instructor." The spy told Kasumi while pointing at Ren.

This caused Kasumi to blush a bit.

"I dunno, he has been in the metaverse longer than me…"

"I may have been using a persona longer, but that doesn't mean I can do acrobatics." Ren replied.

"Kid, you might have fought shadows, but you did have guns when they had swords, and you did have the element of surprise." Kaplan told Ren. "What Kasumi here's gonna show you, is how to deal with a guy that has a gun in your face, when you don't."

"But that comes later." The spy explained.

"You wanna learn how to make bombs?"

So this chapter was a bit complex to write. I wanted to end the development of Ann's persona, as well as go into some of the prep before the final infiltration to steal Kamoshida's treasure, such as the calling cards and etc. I cut this chapter a bit shorter than I planned because I feel that would improve the pacing compared to if I didn't.

One thing I had in mind when I wrote this story is to sort out some of the gripes I have with persona 5.

First is, the extremely poor security by the Phantom Thieves. In canon, they've had someone overhear their conversations then threaten to blackmail them. They've also kinda let anyone in, and kinda let a double agent in (I wont spoil for anyone that hasn't played)

Next, is the amount of money Ren is getting. Since you can get a large amount of money through hold ups, wouldn't it be incredibly suspicious that a teen suddenly had absurd amounts of money? Sure, those like Iwai and Tae may not care how Ren is getting the money, but it would still leave a record, and of course, other stuff you buy in game.

So Ren will have his money laundered so it won't look suspicious, and also the money he's receiving from the Circuit.

It still amuses me that the Phantom thieves are technically funded by the CIA in this story.

-Joesephi