Arthur note:
Allow me to explain some things about the story. I write as much as I can every day while I have free time. When I am on the bus or when I am on the toilet. Once a chapter is done I go through it twice, the first in google docs and a second time in . After I think it's ready, I hand it to you guys to read. While I was looking through my reviews I saw something that I decided to clear up quickly before I add to this chapter. I know full well that Shiki-Ouji Nulls physical damage. Akira is just in a weaker state when he is not in his phantom thief attire. Should a persona give him an agility boost of 50 normally, he will get a boost of 25 when he is in everyday attire. This change in attire doesn't just affect the power though, it also affects the resistance's. Shiki-Ouji Nulls physical moves normally but when Akira is "under cover", Shiki-Ouji only makes him strong against it. Another thing I should point out is that semblance's effect attacks more than they would usually. Zerou's attacks are physical but his semblance adds electric damage on top of that. Should Akira null physical moves and say, yang activated her semblance. She would be attacking with mixed affinities instead of just one. That should explain everything. Though the main reason Akira was getting hurt was mostly just from the weakened resistances and the sheer power of Zerou. I would also like to point out that RWBY is owned by rooster teeth and Persona 5 is owned by Atlus. Now without further ado. Let's begin.
—
I was the sitting in my room after I got settled. I decided to sneak away while Cola and Zerou were fighting. If I am being honest, I didn't want to eat cold leftovers from fast food places. My plan for tomorrow is to go shopping for actual ingredients so I can make actual food. But for now, it is time to sleep, it is always quite difficult sleeping in places you don't know and I know exactly how to deal with it. You go to sleep earlier so you can get comfortable and hopefully fall asleep at a decent time. So I closed my eyes and watched as everything goes black.
When I open my eyes, I found myself in the velvet room, wearing my phantom thief attire. This time, twilight flooded the room and someone was sitting in the chair in the middle of the main room. "Trickster. Welcome to my velvet room." "What are you doing Arsene?" In the chair, Arsene was tied up with origami and a single tag was stuck on his forehead. "I am the new master of the room and am ready to guide thou down the right path." I ripped off the rusting door and chucked it at him, the corner, hitting him perfectly in the face. Fun fact, the chair is stuck to the ground.
"Why are you really here?" "Shiki-Ouji said this was my punishment…" 'Of course.' "Though I did bring thou here to talk about important matters." I nodded before walking out of my cell and standing in front of the fixed desk. "You can probably tell that this world is distorted, corrupted even. It may not be shown, but the feeling is strong enough to be seen without the use of thy eyes." I did feel it all around me, though it is faint, it is still there. "That's why we must act. If that Grimm persona is any indication. The metaverse is "leaking" into the real world. That is why thou can use thy phantom thief abilities outside of the metaverse. Personas, are also breaching through these cracks. But with the lack of a shadow or compatible person to inhabit, it latches to Grimm, something without a soul. This not only powers up the Grimm, but it also corrupts the persona. The metaverse is leaking because the amount of corrupt wills is making the metaverse reach its limit. We must act fast and deal with the source." This is a bigger problem than I thought, at least I know what I am dealing with.
Shiki-Ouji then enters the room with what looks like a bucket of pellets. "That's why we need to ask something. Master, what is our plan. Sure we could do what we did before but with the looming danger of the Grimm and the constant threats of others. People won't even bat an eye if we gave them a calling card." 'What is our plan?' If what Shiki-Ouji is saying is correct, a simple calling card wouldn't have the same impact as it did with the people in Tokyo. "How does the the interweb work in this world?" "From what I have seen, the people of remnant use the web for everything. Even the smallest companies use their own private networks. But all of them are connected to a single tower on each continent that acts as the main system." Arsene's info was indeed helpful. If I used the internet like I did when we attacked Shido, then the people of remnant would probably see "the Joker" as a presence of hope while the criminals quake in their shoes.
"Shiki-Ouji. Since you're the only one who isn't… tied up with things, could you find me a way to get into a worldwide broadcasting network. I have a plan that needs access to it, as well as a computer." Shiki-Ouji bowed before leaving the room. "What does thou have in mind Akira?" "While I was alive on earth, Futaba had given me lessons on hacking things. She gave me great ways to attack servers and connections like she did while we were phantom thieves. I will probably have to learn how to cover my tracks though, Futaba had said when teaching me that, "after you figure out a good fighting style, then you work on your defense stat.", she never got to teach me how to create a system on my computer to combat someone on the other side." "Well you may not have too." Shiki-Ouji returned with a computer and a charging cable. "This is miss Futaba's old computer, I'm sure that there are probably programs set in place to stop people from tracking you master. Even if they could, I doubt that they would be able to find you if you hack in when you're here." "I thought technology didn't work properly in the metaverse? If I remember correctly, this prison was located deep in the depths of momentos." "While that would be true, the velvet room didn't originally belong in the metaverse. The only reason it was there was because a god came and moved it." That made a bit more sense. So we need to connect Futaba's computer to the main network. "You wouldn't happened to have Futaba's USB would you?" "Of course." I smirked under my mask, This was going to be good.
When Shiki-Ouji left again, Arsene spoke. "Akira. While you may have thy mask, I think people will be able to put two and two together should they hear thine voice and see thine hair." "What do you suggest?" "I can change thy attire when I wish, it's because of me that they look the way they do after all. While I can't change thy hair and eye colour, I can change thine height and allow you to use my voice by making a hidden collar that cancels out thou's voice and replaces it with my own for you. But should thou do this, thou will not have access to my powers." "That's fine. I don't think I will need to use persona's on actual people. Passively you may be stronger, but when it comes to resistances Shiki-Ouji has you beat. So no offence, but he will be more useful." "Hahaha! Don't worry. Thou and I are one in the same, I know exactly what you mean." I nodded and headed back to my cell to return to the real world but was stopped by Arsene. "Before thou must go, could thou possibly take this tag off my face? It's kind of a nuisance." The tag was most definitely made from Shiki-Ouji, it looked like a seal. "This one?" "Yes. That is correct." "You mean the one that looks like these ones on the desk?" "Ummhum." I picked up all of the tags on the table and started putting them one by one on Arsene. "Hey! Stop that! Noooooo…"
Later
I woke up and looked at the clock, it was currently 5:47 am. I got up and made my downstairs, when I got to the kitchen, I looked for something to eat. I found a box of cereal called Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes, on the cover, it had a picture of a girl that looks like a spartan. After eating the cereal, I left the Koca household in search for some stores that sell groceries. "Thou does realize that you don't have any money, right?" 'Well I want to at least know where to get the ingredients when the time comes. It is important that a phantom thief knows where they are going after all.' That was my last thought before I slipped down an icy snowbank.
When I picked myself I found myself face to face with a store that was called: Jokes and Japes, the "low key" gag shop. Curiosity overtook me and I headed inside. When I closed the door behind myself, I found myself in, what kinda looked like a robbery. There was one guy putting a bunch of random props into a brown bag while the person behind the counter just kinda asked them to stop. "You don't need this either." "Well I mean someone might." "What a lovely family photo." "That was, kind of a keepsake." "Cool glasses." "Well I kinda need that for my e-oh there he goes." The… robber walked towards me without paying attention, allowing me to kick him where the Sun doesn't shine and give the bag back to the man. "Thank you sir, I would have done something but he put glue on and in front of my chair when I wasn't looking." I nodded before turning around to see that the other man was running away. I then decided to look around the store for a bit. After a small while of searching I found a air horn. I picked it up and smiled, for this reminded me of prank day at Shuujin.
(Flashback: Shuujin academy, prank day.)
Today was prank day, the day all the students pulled out their creativity to prank their fellow students and teachers. I was currently in 's class, waiting for him to come back to class and begin the lesson. Everyone had put "traps" all around the room. One person put a boxed lunch above the door, another had changed out Hiruta's pen for a defective one and someone had put a whoopee cushion on his seat. All of these pranks were good, but I could tell these were not going to work. All of these pranks have been used to the point they were called classics. If someone is observant enough, they could easily avoid them. Sadly, everyone else didn't realize was one of those individuals. Before he walked into class, he used a measuring stick to knock the lunchbox off the door frame. When he made his way to his seat, he took the whoopee cushion off his chair and sprayed Madara, the culprit of the prank, with the ink pen. Madara was obviously the culprit, this is because he had tried this once before.
"Alright class! It is time for today's lesson. Turn to page 125 please." He turned around and grabbed for the chalk, only to find empty space. "Oh my." He walked up to his desk to get another piece of chalk from his drawer. Little did he know, I had already got my prank ready the day before, thanks to the help of . As soon as he opened the drawer, the string attached to the other side of drawer pulled the handle of the air horn that was in 's drawer. *BEEEH* "Gah!" fell back into his seat, making it roll back and hit the wall and activate the air horn I hid inside the chair. *BEEEH* "Aaahhh!" He then fell off his chair. He slowly started to get back up, completely ignorant to the fact that the drawer didn't just stop with an air horn. For inside the drawer was a timer that was set for a minute, that will activate once the string is pulled. That timer is not just connected to just one other air horn. *BEEEEEEEEEE-*X10. As they tried to figure out how stop the continuous blare of ten air horns, I sat back and smiled a smile that would rival the devils.
(End Flashback)
"Do you want that?" I looked at the shop keeper. "How much is it?" He shook his head before placing five more on the counter. "Consider them a gift for helping me out." I walk up and put them in my bag, I thanked him as I walked out of the store. 'Next thing to do is find where I can connect Futaba's computer to the CCT. Shiki-Ouji. Do you know a place I can hack into.' "Yes. If you go through that alleyway and into the main street, it should be a straight path to the CCT tower. That is your best shot at getting into the network." I followed Shiki-Ouji's instructions and headed down the dark alley. After walking a few feet into the shortcut, I felt the ground below me disappear, as I fell into the shadows.
While I was free falling, my clothes became my phantom thief clothes. However that wasn't the only thing that changed. I was out of the shadows but falling upwards instead of downwards, the buildings around me crumbled and shifted as if they were foam. Stone platforms began floating "Bebove?" me and iron pipes narrowly missed my body. It wasn't until I was winded and flung by a extending girder that I stopped falling. "...Ow." I slowly got up and took in my surroundings. I was upside down on a chunk of concrete that seemed like it was frozen in time. As my sight was directed upwards, I saw what looked like a jumbled mess above me. I then decided that it would be safest for me to move to higher ground.
After I got high enough, I took a break on the window of a collapsing building and watched as masked shadows shaped like people, moved in groups to different destinations. "Arsene. What is this place?" "This is a distorted part of the Atlas equivalent to mementos, or at least, what it would have looked like if Yaldabaoth hadn't taken over." I deadpanned. "You mean having a god of control is the only way these places can have proper gravity?" "I did say this is a distorted part of this place, did I not?" I was curious as to what the marching faceless shadows above me were. "What are those?" He chuckled a bit. "First let me tell thou what this place is." "Isn't this the metaverse?" "It is the larger form of a palace, one thast taken the shape of the people's collective cognition. This is known as a kingdom, a place much more surreal than a palace and can have entire palaces inside." "I see…" "You and thy friends never truly got to experience what the metaverse is truly like. So let me explain how things work around here. The shadows you see above you are known as personal shadows. These shadows are the shadows of actual people on the other side, who aren't distorted or corrupted. These shadows look the way they do because everyone in Atlas doesn't really care about getting to know every random stranger. To everyone else, you are white noise, something that is there but doesn't require attention. That is why they take the shape they do." "What about well known people, like pop stars and show hosts?" "Should someone like that be on the other side, there will be a split, the cognition of what the people of think of them, a most likely untrue form and their shadow, which holds their actual desires and secrets. Should a cognition like this be created, you would probably find them where the public think they will most likely be, with clothes that match what the people think they are like. Like how people see a president in a presidential building while wearing a business suit. Of course, this isn't how they actually act, their shadow is the one that habers that knowledge. But because all the personal shadows all take the same form here, the chance of finding a popular person's real shadows are slim." "I see." "That is why it is imperative that you refrain from striking these shadows down. Should you do that, the person whose shadow you killed will have a mental shutdown. Though personal shadows are shadows that aren't distorted, sometimes these shadows will run off and create palaces." "So this is where shadows that don't have palaces go?" "More like a place shadows with palaces leave. When a person's shadow becomes distorted, it will hide itself in a place it feels safe and rips off its mask. The process then separates the shadow from the kingdom's cognition connection and molds the place it hides using its own cognition. Because a palace runs off of a single cognition, the creator, or ruler of the palace changes its shape to what it thinks of itself." "So that's how it works." "Yes. But I only talked about the first kind of shadows, the next kind will be more familiar. These shadows are known as sentry shadows, these are the ones you and your friends fought inside palaces. These shadows don't come from people, but from palaces or kingdoms. These shadows are actually cognitions of non specific groups of people, groups of individual people that are known under one name like the police or militia. These cognitions are like personal shadows in a kingdom, they are blacked out because the public don't really think of the individual people in the group but the group itself. When they are created, they take a shape that matches the place it wishes to defend, weather it is a palace or a place inside the kingdom. Once they take shape, a persona is also born from the aura a place gives off. The key difference between a personal shadow and a sentry shadow, is the cartoonish proportions a sentry shadow has. And because they come from cognitions, they are safe to fight."
This is a lot to take in at once, so much info we were left in the dark about now appearing all at once. I looked at the shadows to try and tell them apart but, all I saw were PS's. "Where are the the SS's?" "Though sentry shadows are mass produced, they only appear when there's a threat to what they are guarding. Because no one knows who the phantom thieves of heart are, thou can't be a threat to the public. The sentry shadows in palaces are always there though, they attack because trespassing is unwelcome." Well it's understandable that people wouldn't want other people to see their true colours. "Sometimes a sentry shadow decides to leave its birthplace in search for a new place to recuperate. These are known as wandering shadows, shadows that clump together with other leaving shadows and create huge masses of darkness, similar to the shadows in mementos. Should they find a home, they will split apart again and take a form to match the other sentries. I know it's a lot to take in but that about wraps it up. Any questions?" I shake my head. "Good, now let's get out of this place!"
After a little more climbing, I found myself in a bowl shaped arena. Before I could take another step, a swirl of black smoke appeared and started summoning familiar looking creatures. In front of me were Beowolf's with squared marble masks that cover their snouts like muzzles. The three points that are usually on it's arms were fused into one. They looked different, sure, but it wasn't anything like the thing behind it. I remember fighting something similar looking on my way to Altas, I only fought 1 mind you, but its figure reminded me exactly what I'm dealing with. The beast I was thinking of was commonly know as an Ursa, but unlike an Ursa, the bone mask on its face now looked smooth and glass like, with it's normal teeth and bottom jaw being replaced with only long, Saber like teeth. On it's back it had a shell of some sort, that opened up like a pair of hands.
I braced myself against my new foes. "What the hell is that!" "I'm not sure! It doesn't act like any other shadow!" "What does that mean!?" "Thou shouldn't even be getting attacked, thou art not a threat to the populis! These things don't even have persona's inside them!" I suddenly began to feel hot, I jumped out of the way and sure enough, a plume of fire appeared right where I was standing. I reached for my mask while blocking a strike from one of the Beowolf's. "Shiki-Ouji!" "Oh, ok, I guess I'm just done here." Shiki-Ouji took form and forced the wolves backwards. "Snap!" "Yes master!"
He aimed both arms towards the group and started launching blade like paper towards them. This took out around seven out of ten of the wolves and leaving one without legs, one without arms and one without a head. Shiki-Ouji would have continued but because I was out of practice all the snap attacks were wearing on me. This would have made me Ursa chow if Shiki-Ouji hadn't stopped it. "Akira! More behind you!" I turned to see clouds of smoke were collecting again. "Shiki-Ouji! You take care of the bear while I deal with these ones." "Those aren't your only problem master!" My attention was brought to the last few crippled Beowolf's charging me, even the one without a head. The one without legs lunged at me first, I avoided it by slamming my foot into it's skull and shooting it twice, once in the skull, obliterating the mask and once in the torso, making it revert to smoke. My next enemy, the headless one, was flailing it's claws wildly, trying to hit me. I parried two of the swings and stabbed my cane into it's chest, setting it aflame. The sound of crackling sparks filled my ears, but they weren't from the fire, I dodged just in time to avoid a lightning strike that came from the armless wolf.
Shiki-Ouji wasn't doing all that well on his own. He could nullify the bears attacks but not the magic it used. It created a light blue ball that shot down from above, the nuke skill frelia, and obliterated Shiki-Ouji, returning him to his masked form. "Crap!" Spikes of ice try to skewer me while I came up with a plan. To dodge the attack I jumped at the bear and kicked off its face to become airborne. "Arsene!" Arsene took form and held me in the air, allowing me to see my surroundings. The bear stared up at me while the reinforcements closed in on us, along with a wolf that looked like a grown up version of the first Beowolf I had encountered. It had extra plates of marble on it's body, it's mask, now able to open vertically. The scariest part of it however, was the two extra arms with blades at the ends. "Arsene, let me go and use maeiha!" "As you wish." I dropped down and used my gun to blast my way over the crowd. "Hahahaha!" Before they were engulfed by a dark light show and turned to smoke. While the smoke was still there, the alpha Beowolf that had somehow survived charged at me, making me unable to block the attack.
I was thrown into a wall and fell on my knees. Promoting me to shoot the wolf in the eye, cracking the mask. The wolf didn't stop though, it scratched my mask as I rolled under it. 'If this keeps up, stopping corruption will be the last thing I do.' It back handed me, forcing me back as I blocked the attack with my cane. 'You used to be much better than this! Come on Akira, you killed a god!' It swiped at my feet, making me jump back to avoid the other bladed appendages. 'Even though I did all that and hung up the towel, one fact remains. I may have lost my friends, I may be out of practice, but the phantom thieves of hearts don't know defeat or victory. The only thing they know is justice, it doesn't matter if I feel alone, it doesn't matter if I'm out of practice. All that matters is getting the job done, I can improve myself as I go. And I'm never truly alone anyways, for the phantom thieves of hearts were made from all of us. Now it is up to me to carry my friends legacies!' The wolf did a downward swing with all its arms. I blocked it effortlessly.
"I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast remembered thy past struggles and hast fully remembered what it was like to be what you once were. Thou's will has made your very soul break free from the laws of the world. Thus creating a brand new arcana." [Joker Lvl1: Turning tide.]
I smirked and kicked off its chest. The distance gave me time to use a classic technique, the down shot, to "knock down" the alpha wolf. "Time to turn the tide!" I jumped into its shadow and swung upwards with my cane, sending it upwards and allowing me to shoot it twice as well as launch myself upwards to meet it midair. Once we were face to face, I hit it with a barrage of swings from my cane and shots from my gun before I hit it downward. "This is the end!" I launched myself after it and stabbed its skull with my cane, officially turning it to smoke and leaving behind white Lien and a skill card with a single red line on it, an Eiha card. I finished just in time to see Arsene fall to the ground and burst into flames. "This adversary is strong." "For now. Shiki-Ouji, Tarukaja!" "Yes master!" I could feel the power inside me grow as the red particles were drawn into my body. "Arsene, sakunda! Then while I distract it, hit it with a dream needle!" "Very well." Arsene appeared and shot green dust at the bear, effectively slowing it as I ran to meet it head on. It tried to hit me, but the speed difference was very noticeable. I dodge the first swing and parried the other with enough force that an audible cracking sound was heard. "Time to steal your life!" Arsene's feathers struck it's back and put it to sleep. "Time for a beheading!" "Hahaha!" Arsene then finished it off with an axe kick to the neck.
I took a deep breath of relief once it turned to smoke, leaving behind a card with a large Z. "I believe I figured it out, What these things are. In our world, everyone didn't have to worry about the constant threat of a vicious foe. This world does however, creating shadows that represent that fact. Rough shadows that are constantly violent and appear out of nowhere." "That would make sense. Now let's get out of here before more come." "Agreed." "I also agree, however. It would be a shame to leave this money and loot on the ground." I looked around to see cards of Lien that were orange, yellow and grey with only one card that was white and another that was red.
In the end I had obtained; 7 orange, 3 yellow, 5 grey, 1 white and 1 red card, the grand total being 7.90L. I had also gotten to the top of the distortion, met with a large platform made of ice, with stairs that lead upwards to the concrete ground of the alleyway. "Finally! It took a lot longer than expected. Good thing there wasn't any trouble." "Talk about jinxing yourself." As Arsene said that, we were met with something familiar, something haunting. Just as we stepped on the platform, I heard the sound of rusty squeaks and the clanging of metal. Above us, was a Large shadow with skeletal ribs, a tail like spine and arms the length of my body twice over. It looked at me with its triangle eyes and jagged mouth that were fueled by a dark red flame. "Heeeeeeeee…." It's voice sounded like the hissing of a gas pipe leaking. It lazily slipped down from the ceiling to the platform, becoming a black pile before it unraveled into predator like stance. It twitched in the centre of space before it let out a loud screech that blew out the torches that illuminated the dark room, the only light that remained was the light that came from its face and lanterns. "..." "..." "..." "Huh." "I don't know how to feel about this…" "Is it possible for paper to wet itself?"
[Now playing: Master of shadows.]
More wolves began to materialize, I would not have noticed if it weren't for the growls and my 3rd eye. Three lunged at me, as I propelled myself over them and the claw that tore them apart. I made sure to bounce off the Grimm Jack-o-lantern's head after I dodged the attack to get some distance. The problem however was that I was now in between a giant nightmare pumpkin and the rejects from little red riding hood. At least they would have been there if the Jack-o-lantern hadn't taken them all out while using the maragi spell to hurt me. The only survivor was the four armed alpha, which was also short lived as I felt the ground below me heat up as the alpha charged at me. Because I dodged, the alpha was the one to take the pain from the explosion known as agilo. Bursting into smoke, a skill card getting stuck in the eye hole of my mask and leaving me alone with the nightmare.
It guarded the exit so I couldn't escape, so I assessed my situation while I took the card with a flame symbol in the centre. It's fast and it has ranged attacks, my best option is to hit it from afar. If I am being honest though, I didn't want to fight this thing head on. "Arsene, Eiha!" The dark energy stabbed the creature. But it didn't seem like anything happened. I used my third eye to confirm my suspicions.
[Crypt-dwelling Pyro-Terror]
[Phys-Null/Gun-?/Wind-?/Elec-?/Fire-?/Ice-?/Psy-?/Nuke-?/Curs-Null/Bles-?]
"Crap!" "I think you mean, horse shit." It then began bouncing off the ceiling and platform in quick secession. "Master, It's moving in on you!" "Well then. How about you meet it head on?" I summoned Shiki-Ouji just as the Jack-o-lantern launched towards me, blocking it, I pulled out the Dormina skill card and threw it at Shiki-Ouji's back. It turned to flames and merged with him, turning the red parts of him a vibrant purple. "Put it to sleep!" "It shall be done!" A large cloud of bubbles burst outwards towards the nightmare, putting it to sleep and giving me time to escape. Well, after I took the rewards of course.
[Akira Kurusu] lvl 50
[Melee attack] 250
[Ranged attack] 300
[Defence] 0-50
[Money] 0.50-11.70
[Skills] Lvl 1 Death: trainee armoury. Lvl 1 Hermit: a home. Lvl 1 Joker: turning tide.
[Arsene] Lvl 51
[Eiha, Cleave, Sakunda, Dream needle, Adverse resolve, Maeiha]
[Strength] 40
[Intelligence] 49-50
[Vitality] 33
[Agility] 60-62
[Luck] 27
[Shiki-Ouji] Lvl 24
[Tarukaja, Taunt, Snap, Dormina, Mapsi]
[Strength] 21-24
[Intelligence] 11
[Vitality] 15-21
[Agility] 16
[Luck] 13
Thank you for reading everyone, it took a lot longer to make than the last one and I hope you enjoyed it. With all the explanations that were needed and everything I had to think of to make some sort of sense was hard to do. Especially when I want the creature Nightmare Jack to be foreboding and creative. Also, sorry for any errors at the end, I was up late editing for this one. After this chapter is done, I'll start production on the fifth, I will give you a hint though, the phantom thieves will be shown across the world. Best wishes, spiffy.