Menma Narrating

Guest Narrating

"Shadows/Persona Talking."

"Humans Talkings."

'Humans thinking.'

"Telepathy/Radios."

[23/11/20XX Diet Building; 2PM.]

The Phantom Thieves were all gathered, even Futaba, though all of them noticed the absence of one particular figure.

"He isn't answering his phone." Ann said, a frown on her face.

"Weird…" Ryuji noted, looking over his own phone as though bidding his older friend to suddenly message the group.

"You'd think he'd at least message ahead if he was going to be late." Ann said with a shake of her head.

"It has been. Five minutes." Akira said blankly looking at the blond duo, he rubbed the ridge of his nose, holding his glasses with his other hand.

"But he was so gung-ho about making sure we get this done, what could be takin' him so long?" Ryuji questioned with a frown.

Suddenly they heard a man in a suit talking on the phone, he had a large smile on his face his eyes slightly watery, "Honey I thought it over… I want to try for children, it might be a little reckless but… Yes I thought so too, I love you sweetheart, see you soon."

"Huh, good for him." Ann said with a smile, the man seemed to hear that and looked at the group.

"Oh. I'm sorry, kids. Didn't mean to bring you into my conversation, or intrude on your own." He rubbed the back of his head somewhat sheepishly, "Never thought about having kids but today just… feels right." He looked at his watch and grinned.

"Life's short kids, make sure you get the most out of it!" He ran to his car and got in, driving home.

"Wow." Makoto said with an owlish blink, "He seems… excited."

"He's not wrong though, life is indeed short and it's times with loved ones that make it all the more worthwhile." Yusuke said, his arms crossed with a serene smile on his face, the image a beautiful painting flashing in his mind, "I dare say I would enjoy the concept of fatherhood."

"Really?" Akira asked, interested, "I wouldn't have picked it." The Joker admitted.

"Understandable, I know how… different I am to most people. But I feel within my heart that the love a parent has for a child is the purest thing on this planet." Yusuke spoke passionately, "With that love, the pure undiluted emotion I could create wonders and it would all be for them."

"That's beautiful Yusuke." Haru praised, a soft smile on her face.

"Of course I would not hastily rush into such a thing." Admitted the dark haired painter, "It would be foolish to bring another life into the world without proper preparation. Nevertheless I look forward to the day."

"Maybe that guy was onto something." Ryuji admitted, scratching his cheek, "If Yusuke's gettin' all baby crazy maybe somethin's in the air."

"Love?" Haru questioned with a giggle, "It has a habit, or so I've heard."

Ryuji chuckled, having gotten the joke. Akira smirked and shook his head.

"I will admit, it did pop into my head out of nowhere." Yusuke informed, "It just felt… right to talk about." He shrugged, sighing with a smile on his face. "I feel a slight foolish actually."

"Don't." Haru assured, patting his arm, "I think it's sweet, you speak with conviction about it."

"Thank you, Haru." The Fox said with that same serene smile on his face, "Ah, perhaps you are right Ryuji, something may be in the air I feel… Oh I feel simply sublime."

"Good for you man." Ryuji said with a grin, "Nice to see you smilin' for a change."

"Inari always smiles, he's just usually doing it while talking about weirdo stuff." Futaba said with a snicker.

Instead of taking the bait Yusuke merely smirked at the younger teen, "Nice to know you're paying attention to me."

Futaba felt her face heat up for a moment before she ducked behind Joker, "Keep your pervy thoughts to yourself, Inari!" Hissed the ginger.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Yusuke said sternly, "I'm already with someone, Futaba… besides you're not my type."

"You have a type?" Akira questioned, now very interested. They never seemed to actually talk about stuff like this.

"Of course." Yusuke said as though it was the simplest thing ever, "Everyone has preferences. I would say that Hifumi suits all of my criteria for a perfect partner." A fond shine filled Yusuke's eyes, that warm smile pulled up once more.

"Do go on." Akira urged, leaning in somewhat.

"She's so very sweet." Began the dark blue haired youth, "So very kind, and incredibly understanding of my flaws. She cares for me, I feel that truly." He placed a hand on his heart, it beat just that little bit faster as he spoke of his love, "Love…" Yusuke had a moment of clarity.

Akira watched with interest as cogs begun to turn in Yusuke's head. He fished out his phone and his thumb hovered over a call button, to Hifumi. "Dare I..? N-no it's far too soon, I may cause her discomfort."

"Would you like my opinion?" Akira offered gently, Yusuke looked to his dear friend and nodded resolutely, "I think, that if you truly love someone, it never hurts anyone for them to hear you say it."

"You are right, of course you are but… with people our age, is it not considered… clingy? To claim such things, I do not wish to… foil my own relationship because I was too hasty in my feelings." Yusuke said cautiously.

"If you feel it Yusuke, than she will as well. I promise you." Akira assured, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Yusuke paused for a moment, in thought before pressing the call icon and pulling the phone up to his ear, it rang a few times before the familiar voice of his darling answered, "Hello, Yusuke." She greeted, a smile in her voice, "How are you today?"

"I am quite well, thank you for asking, how goes your own day?" Yusuke responded, before giving the customary question in return.

"Better now that I have you in it." Hifumi admitted, that alone made his heart flutter in a way he could not describe, his face visibly flushed, Akira grinned at his side, Hifumi giggled into his ear, "I'm sorry, that was quite abrupt of me."

"Do not apologise, I feel the same." Yusuke said, confidently, smoothly. "I actually had something I wished to tell you, Hifumi. It may seem quite abrupt as well, but I cannot shelter it within me."

"Oh? It sounds quite serious, go on please." Hifumi had a slight hesitance in her voice, a familiar quaver that alerted him to her nervousness, he may not have the best skill with social graces but he paid incredibly close attention to hers for the sake of her and her alone.

"I just wanted to tell you, Hifumi Togo. That I love you. That I hold you within my heart to the highest esteem, and I may be telling you this in a hamfisted manner but I simply could not bear the idea of not telling you. You are my precious love, my first love." Yusuke said, all his friends had effectively gathered around him at this point, Ann and Haru smiling widely and hopping in place at the cuteness.

"Yusuke…" Hifumi said, her voice slightly hoarse, "That is… thank you, thank you so much. I promise, I will be worthy of your love. I feel the same, you… you make me feel better, you make me want to be better. I can never repay you for that, but I want to give you my love as much as I can."

Akira guided the group away, sending a wink to Yusuke who was so swept up in his own love-addled joy that he could barely comprehend anything else at the moment.

"Dude…" Ryuji said, even he had a bright smile on his face, "That's gotta be the sweetest thing I've ever seen."

"Right?" Ann said, holding her cheeks. "Ahh, it's so beautiful."

"It's quite adorable." Makoto said with a chuckle, "I never expected Yusuke of all people to be so lovestruck, he's always appeared so aloof."

"I think that might just be Yusuke's way of approaching the world." Haru said, ever the empath. "Whatever conditions Madarame raised him in, Yusuke accepts the world in his own way to cope with whatever methods were used to raise him."

"That's quite the observation." Akira said with a smile.

"It's easier to see things like that, from my perspective at least it makes sense." The Okumura shrugged with a soft sigh, "My father changed over my life, so I had to change as well. I suppose… in a way I am the way I am now because my father was so… my father." Haru explained, fumbling slightly as she tried.

"I get'cha, it's like being yourself to make sure you don't turn out like them, yeah?" Ryuji said, getting a happy nod from the girl, he grinned, "I'm the same way, as far as I'm concerned the less like my old man I am, the better for the world at large."

"Surprisingly mature of you, Ryuji." Morgana said popping out of Akira's bag.

"Oh right, you're still here." Shot the blond back with a slight inflection of distaste, "Sorry I was busy talking to the other humans, I forgot about the bag-cat."

Morgana hissed at the thug, making him smirk in victory.

"Ryuji…" Ann said with a sigh.

"Look, I ain't just gonna take crap from the hairball because he's sensitive. He's been on my case since day one." Ryuji defended with a scowl.

"And you responding to his baiting puts you on his level." Ann explained patiently, always the mediator.

"M-my level!?" Morgana demanded.

"Yeah, it's about thirty centimetres off the ground." Ryuji shot out with the haste of a cracking whip.

"Uh." Ann palmed her face as the cat fumed.

They turned at the sound of hasty feet, the eldest of their little clique finally making an appearance, he seemed completely disheveled, and were those..?

"Are those hickies!?" Demanded Ryuji, "Dude I forgive your lateness." The blond offered a hand and the pair exchanged a high-five, grinning as they did.

"Is that seriously what kept you?" Ann asked with a flat stare, Menma chuckled sheepishly his face red but there was a palpable glow to him.

"You seem quite… radiant, Menma-kun." Haru noted with a deadly look in her eyes.

"I've had a really good morning." Menma said shamelessly, "I feel… great today, actually." his hand sat on his neck, cradling the various marks that resided on it with a grin firmly in place.

"What degeneracy were you up to, I wonder?" Akira questioned with a chuckle.

"I was… filling a void within my soul." Menma said whimsically, his eyes glazing over for a moment.

"Perv." Futaba said with a chuckle.

"I am not gonna take that from the flippin' tentacle queen." Menma shot back with a solid stare, making the ginger blush with a grin.

"So seriously, what were you doing?" Ryuji questioned, nudging his shoulder. Menma looked from side to side for a moment and leant into the younger man's ear, "No way… NO WAY!" Ryuji's face turned positively scarlet, "Holy shit-STOP!"

Menma pulled back with a shining grin, Akira quirked a brow. "Tell ya later." The curly haired Joker just shook his head with a smile.

"Well I'm sure I can speak for everyone and say we're glad to say you're feeling better." Makoto said with a soft smile, Menma nodded to her, thankful for her words.

"Shall we away?" Yusuke questioned, slipping his phone away, Joker nodded and fished out his own.

"Masayoshi Shido, Diet Building, Ship." Joker said as the world seemed to… twitch for a moment before shifting rapidly their vision darkening collectively before they all appeared on the front of an enormous cruise ship, the waters surrounding them dotted with several buildings.

"Wow… talk about a low opinion of the people." Jack said with a shake of his head, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Whoa! Dude what the heck?" Skull questioned with a few rapid blinks, "How'd you do that?" The Thieves turned to address the change in attire.

"I uh… thought about it?" Jack explained lamely, "That's pretty much in, I just… thought of my Phantom Thief attire differently."

Skull looked him up and down for a moment before humming, in a burst of blue flames Skull was now donned in a similar attire, though his tie was a soft golden yellow and now his mask was wide lensed sunglasses with short, jagged teeth on the underside.

"It can't be that simple…" Mona questioned, Joker's attire exploded into flames as well, his glasses were shaped similar to his mask and his tie was a deep crimson red, the master thief grinned at the cat who groaned.

"You look quite dashing." Noire commented, her cheeks slightly pink, looking at the trio of manmeat.

"Pfft, baby I know." Jack flicked his hair, a long whip of red lashing against the wind for a moment as he stuck his nose up, though a white grin lit up his face as he looked down his glasses at the puffy-pants'd girl.

"So humble." Queen muttered with a chuckle.

Fox's attire changed next, his tie being a frosted blue and his frames having white strokes on them.

Panther's latex changed to a very tight, female version of the 'uniform' with red accents and red velvet inside, her tie was a radiant orange, the jacket was double breasted but folded back slightly to accentuate the colour contrast of the red and black, her boots still had heels though now looked like slim knives instead of actual heels.

"Huh, comfortable." Panther adjusted her rose red glasses and smiled radiantly, looking to her male cohorts she posed dramatically, "How do I look?" She faux-demanded.

Somehow lined up, each of the boys clap with a noticeable 'not bad' expression on their faces, "Lovely darling, positively gorgeous." Jack praised with a slightly camp voice.

"Thank you darling." Panther said with a flick of her hair.

Noire's clothes shifted, her's were quite similar to Ann's though in the place of red were shades of lilac Her frames looked similar to her domino mask, and her lenses were a similar shade of light purple, her tie was an almost pink colour.

"It spreads further…" Jack rubbed his gloved hands together and chuckled.

Makoto was the last, though hers was distinctly skintight in appearance, with sleek heels and in place of her iron mask was a pair of winged sunglasses, her red eyes looking especially majestic as they peered over the frames.

"Shall we ladies and gents?" Joker asked over his shoulder as he began walking towards the entrance of the city-sized ship.

[Metaverse; Shido's Palace]

The ship itself was… big, and loud. People were making noise at every part, there were slot machines, blackjack tables, roulette tables. Speakers fucking everywhere… Constantly spilling out more and more of Shido's speeches, the dude refused to shut the front door.

What shocked us all is that when we finally managed to get to the main entrance hall, which was shockingly, not at the entrance we found a giant door, and an attendant beside it informing us that we needed letter's of recommendation to get in.

I was… not exactly playing with that.

"Excuuuse you?!" Jack demanded, looking down his glasses at the attendant, "How dare you sir!? I am appalled at your lack of tact!" The Phantom exploded into a tirade of 'the working class' and how disgraced he was that Mr. Shido had dared decline him entry into a meeting of the minds so early.

It ended up with them being given detailed instructions, and permission to seek out those who would be able to give up letters.

"Wow… you really blew up at that guy." Skull said with a chuckle.

"I thought I could use the fact that I was raised with a silver spoon to bullshit my way in… I need to work on my snobby rich boy act." Jack admitted as he rubbed his chin as they passed yet another casino section on their way to the restaurant-

You know what? This place is lame, trust me. I know what you're thinking, Menma how could you just cut the story off to tell us about yelling at someone and then cut it off again to tell us about cutting it off, well friend lemme tell you this.

This Palace, sucked ass. Do you know how long it took to get those fucking letters? Do you know what I had to do to get them!? I turned into a rat for this story! Fuck. This. Palace!

Real talk for a moment though, Shido is responsible for Akechi, the deaths he caused and the person damage done to Futaba, and the general bullshit surrounding Akira's criminal record. This is a bad dude, his constituents paid to get mental shutdowns performed.

No, what's the juicy stuff is how we drew out the actual guy himself.

[25/11/20XX - Calling Card Day]

"-As a citizen myself I am outraged that these criminals are able to propagate their presence within our society, it is both improper and incredibly troubling to have them acting the way they are, without every paying for the crime of changing the fundamentals of a human heart!" Masayoshi Shido, bald, orange glasses and donned in a black suit with a white dress shirt.

He was clean, he was crisp, he looked like a snake.

"Japan needs to rely only on itself for strength, not these criminal interlopers who claim to side with justice and yet exploit the people's will!" He spoke with fervor, standing atop a van with banners and signs for his campaign.

"The current government does nothing to protect its citizens, nor does it do anything to repair the damage they have done! Think to the mental shutdowns! Think to President Okumura! Think to the horrors they have committed and know them for what they are, murderous criminals!"

Suddenly, the streets lit up, the central street advertisement screens all fizzled out, drawing attention skywards, Shido actually stalled for a moment, seeing the strange occurrence, a single, familiar logo appeared on the screen, a red mask with a top hat, with a flare of white flame off the left eye.

It made several people gasp at the audacity but they were immediately hooked.

"People of Japan, we… are the Phantom Thieves." Spoke the tallest, they were all donned in suits of differing varieties, with glasses hiding their eyes, face masks covering the lower half of their heads to avoid identification but each of them presented their hair, if only to give a huge middle finger to the idea of anonymity.

The red haired one pressed as he continued to speak, "We come today and extend an olive branch to those who fear us, know that we are on your side. We wish only for the people of the world to live free of oppression, of corruption. To root out vile cancers within the hearts of those that would harm others."

"We come today to inform you of our next target." A blond man said, adjusting his glasses as a small display showed up, the picture was that of Shido himself, "You all might think this guy is great and all, but he's a seriously shitty dude."

"Masayoshi Shido is the true criminal responsible for the mental shutdowns, his accomplice was one Goro Akechi. In order to perpetrate these crimes Shido had several backers." Dozens of images showed up, pictures of political figures, business moguls and known criminals, the brown haired woman informing the people pushed a stray lock behind her ear as she spoke.

"Evidence to this will be released on the Phantom Thief website within the minute, we advise you all take the time to comb through this information, or if it's more convenient, await the summarisation by your Youtuber of choice." The blue haired male said with an air of flippancy.

"We give this information freely, and hope you pull away the veil of lies that have been cast over your eyes." The one with curly, puffy brown hair spoke. Their voice gentle despite the distortion.

"Our goal is to make the world a better place. We thank you all for your time, and bid you a good day." The one with curly black hair said with a polite nod, the screen winked out for a moment before the screens returned to their typical state.

People standing before Shido were all glued to their phones, the bald man blinked owlishly at the complete 180 his day just took.

"Oh… shit." Muttered the proud man with wide eyes.

[26/11/20XX Metaverse; Shido's Palace]

The Phantom Thieves all passed the attendant out front of the assembly hall that housed Shido's treasure, within was a completely furnished room of rows upon rows of chairs, there was a staging area with a podium on a raised dais.

Joker looked around as he led his team in, once more he noticed the scraggly look of Jack's hair, and the faded black marks of what Joker knew well to be lipstick. Dating Takemi you… figure out how to get black lipstick off quickly.

Apparently he'd have to give Jack some tips.

He didn't comment, of course. If only for the fact that it seemed to be the whole reason his dear friend was so happy at the moment, his shoulders lacked the weight they'd had over the days of his release from… whatever happened in that torture chamber they called an interrogation room.

Joker pulled his gloves tight, a habit he quickly got into after first transforming, it seemed to be some kind of hidden tick he didn't know he had.

It seemed strange to the black haired fool, to be true. He didn't expect to come face to shadow with the man who attempted to ruin his life. Shido had to get in line to be honest, Akira Kurusu was quite talented at putting up with the shit of adults, his parents were either at eachother's throats or going over their divorce, he couldn't wait to gain complete independence from that damned household.

Great, not he was in a mood.

"We got your back man, ain't nothing we can overcome." Skull said seriously, having apparently misread the cause of his mood, which Joker understood of course, how would his friend suddenly gain mindreading powers?

As they got to the front Skull took the first move for himself, "Shido!" He called out, Joker smirked, how very Ryuji of him.

"Where did you pathetic lowlifes obtain your power? Nevertheless if you've a complain on how I'll save this country, do tell." Shadow Shido spoke, his voice bouncing off the walls as he strode out from behind the giant face-like curtains behind the podium.

"I'm disappointed in you, Mr. Uzumaki." Shido spoke, walking forward and leaning into the podium, noticing the distinct red hair of the Apex Heir. "Your father was quite stubborn about supporting me initially, but after I threatened your mother well… he crumbled quite quickly. I do wonder what it'll take to make you crumble."

Jack twitched for a moment, a familiar pair of golden eyes appearing on the shadow he cast in the hall, "You did what?" Snarled the redhead.

"Don't be coy, boy. You and I both know it's your father's company that protected Madarame… or did you truly not know? How quaint. I suppose even the 'Family Man of the Business World' doesn't spill his guts to his spawn." Shido prodded with a chuckle.

"Who would have thought it would be so simple to make that foreign bastard bend? Just threaten the slut he got pregnant with a mental shutdown and he'll zip right up… but you had to go and kill my attack dog!" Swore the shadow as he slammed his hands into the podium.

Jack felt a black rage build in his breast, "You dare-"

"Oh I do indeed! What an eyesore, 'Apex' pah arrogance and pride from some blond fool! How dare he reject my offers! And yet the second you and the bimbo are put under the knife, all that fire burns out. It's an insult!" Shido snarled as he cast his arm forward.

"Wasn't stealing the research of my mother and killing her not enough for you, you monster!?" Oracle demanded with fury.

"Everything you have done is for your own selfish gains, you even had my father killed, I can never forgive your actions!" Noire snapped.

"Pfft, like I need your forgiveness little girl! Sacrifices are needed on the path to reform, the old and weak must die so the strong may live! The foolish will entrust themselves to their superiors, I shall be the guiding force that steers this country in the right direction."

"You fucking charlatan!" Snarled the redhead, his body twitching as his shadow began to writhe under him, "You are just a weak little man pretending to be some saint! Without Akechi being your attack dog you never would have gotten halfway as far! You use and discard people so quickly, nothing in your shameful little existence can ever make up for what you've done!" With a booming roar Menma launched himself as Shido.

"Threaten my mother, harm my friends, disgrace my people!? I'LL KILL YOU!" The explosion that resonated from the redhead shook the boat itself, his fist slammed into the Shadow's stomach making it fly upwards, the stage where the podium sat begun to rise, the seating area before it was slowly being covered by enormous wooden panels that begun to fold out.

"Quickly!" Fox said as he leapt up, followed by his peers, Oracle was pulled up into Prometheus, a giant orb of black that exuded a nebula of shifting energy, it worked much like her previous Persona as inside it was a giant computer with everything the support member of the team needed to pick apart their enemies.

Shido grunted as he landed on the ground, the podium had vanished at this point and they landed at what appeared to be the upper surface of the ship, but in reality it was just that the ceiling had been torn away. The backdrop of their fight would be the serene waters of a flooded Japan.

Jack's breath came out in thick clouds of steam as his body seemed to spasm and twitch, the sheer hate that burned in his chest made every inch of his body scream to kill this man.

"Everyone you've hurt, everyone you've trampled upon, I'm getting payback for them, I'm getting payback for Akechi!" Snarled the Jack, his hooked knife flicking out of his sleeve whilst Ivory sat in his offhand.

"Heh, oh please. Try as you may." Shido's suit melted away, he wore a uniform reminiscent of a military generals fatigues, he had a spiked metal helmet and flared golden spikes on his shoulders, a long red cape flapping behind him, rising up from under him was a golden lion formed from the frozen, screaming faces of humans.

"The masses are my tools." Shido said with a sneer.

"We're still gonna kick your ass you arrogant fucker!" Skull shouted, "Seiten Taisei!" What appeared to be Son Goku ripped directly out of Journey to the West appeared behind Ryuji, gliding on a fluffy white cloud and wielding his adamantium staff.

"Chaaaaarge!" Commanded Skull.

"Let's do this team, Yusuke, Jack, Noire, we're up front while the other's buff up!" Commanded Joker.

"Of course/Got it/Ready!" Responded the mentioned teammates, Haru leapt in first.

She pulled out grenade launcher and fired off half a dozen shots into the giant lion making it roar in anger, whipping out a hand she tagged in Jack who summoned one of the deities he kept in his head.

"Baal, Debilitate!" Ordered the redhead, Baal appeared and splashed the mighty golden lion with some of the wine from his cup, it recoiled, appearing visibly weakened, "Tag out." Menma offered his hand to Fox who accepted it, and with it a surge of power.

Delivering a mighty blow via Susanoo, the evolved form of his Persona Goemon Yusuke was almost lifted into the air by the force of his strike, "Cycle!" Joker ordered, the trio jumped back as Skull, Panther and Mona leapt into the fray.

"God's Fist!" Skull roared as Seiten Taisei leapt forward and a great golden fist collided with Shido's mount, it roared in agony, only to get no reprieve as Skull passed it along.

Panther was next, "Blazing Hell!" Both Shido and his steed took devastating fire damage courtesy of Panther and Hecate, her evolved Persona.

Mercurius appeared behind Mona, the blue messenger of the gods exploding out with a vicious and intense Garudyne, having been boosted by several background abilities the Evolved Persona possessed.

Shido's steed crumbled under him, making the politician scowl, "Pathetic Masses, you cannot even stand up against a pack of children!?" The man spat at the creature before lifting his hand and beaconing the thieves forward.

"Come on you rats." Ordered the man.

The practiced thieves seemingly blurred and appeared surrounding the man, "Even rats can topple an empire." Joker said with a smirk.

"Remember the black plague?" Jack pointed out with a harrowing grin, "Rats are dangerous little critters."

"He's sayin' we're gonna kick your ass." Skull translated.

"Yes thank you, I understand the metaphor." Shido said, actually insulted.

"Skull…" Mona groaned out.

"All out!" Joker ordered, cutting the potential argument short.

The blur of motion and the stings of their blades made Shido hiss in agony, he stumbled back as they landed a few feet away from him, with a growl the Shadow slammed his hands onto the ground and shot back up, he gave a mighty bellow before his shirt exploded and his muscles expanded.

Underneath the suit was a body built to smash, his body was covered in tension cables to strengthen muscles.

Jack raised a red brow for a moment before shaking his head, summoning Setesh he activated Heat Riser on himself, then swapped to Hades, activated Concentrate and prepared to use his stupid OP move.

His comrades flashed in and out of combat with the bald man, Joker used one of his own support based Persona's to use Debilitate on Shido, Oracle brought up everyone's offensive power, while Skull, Queen and Fox started aggressively savaging the now shirtless man.

Every time one of them got close Shido's fist would burst with a dark aura and he swung it with the same efficiency with which the Nestlé company ruins the lives of the people they sell water to.

Read up on that.

Shido managed to clip Fox in the shoulder which ended up throwing him several feet and ended with the blue haired youth landed face first onto the ground.

"Fox is down!" Shouted Mona, summoning Mercurius and using a Diarahan repairing any damage the young man had sustained.

"You brats think you'll take this from me!? I won't let anyone control me!" Roared the man with fury.

"Sit down!" Jack ordered as Hades rose up behind him, looming ominously, "Tartarus!" The black pit of hell appeared beneath Shido, he grabbed the edge and held on for dear life as his body was assaulted by dozens of frozen limbs, each impact chilling him to the bone and causing his muscular form to bleed heavily.

Jack leveled Ebony and Ivory at the man's hands and fired off until the clips ran dry, with his hands mangled beyond repair Shido fell into the pit of Tartarus, only to be spat back up by an enormous serpent and deposited onto the ground as the pit sealed up, Shido landed on his back.

His chest was heaving, his brow laden with sweat.

Jack kicked the man in the ribs, the first time it was like flesh meeting metal, the second time there was a crunching noise, the third time there was an audible snap.

"This… is for… my mother." With one final kick, Jack stepped back and took a breath, "Okay… I'm good."

"Nice of you to get it out of your system." Queen commented.

"Yeah… Feelin' good." Jack said with a firm nod, ignoring the skeptical look.

"Alright Shido, ready to give it up?" Skull questioned, tapping his mace against his shoulder.

The energy the Shadow had gathered faded away, leaving the usual reflection in its place, now with several scuff marks over its form, Shido crawled up to his knees and took a breath.

"I… suppose so." Admitted the man with a soft sigh, "I didn't expect to lose so spectacularly."

"No one does." Panther commented with a chuckle, getting a high-five from Fox who did so with a blank look.

"For causing countless mental shutdowns, for causing pain and grief to countless people, you will atone… with your life." Queen indicted Shido, giving the whole affair an air of finality.

"You got a few choice words to say to our leader before you disappear?" Skull's question was less that and more a demand, but the message was still received.

"Yes… I admit that I wrongly accused you to save face, to avoid blots on my record." Shido said, "I am sorry for the trouble I have caused you… for the pain I caused everyone… I truly did some deplorable things."

"Now's the part where you give us the names of every collaborator you had, I want a list before we leave." Jack said as he crouched down in front of the man with a notepad and pen, "Proceed."

[End]

Hope you enjoyed it, lemme know if you did/didn't in a review. I do read them and they fill my bosom with joy.

Raxychaz!