Disclaimer: None of the authors own any of the referenced properties.
[Persona 4]
(no title)
Author: Alternis_Alcor
The Investigation Team were traveling through the Void Quest dungeon, where Yu had hoped to test out a new Persona he had fused.
"Dude, what the hell is up with that book?"
Yu was holding a strange book. It was rather old and tattered, and seemed to be bound in strange leather. And for some reason it gave everyone bad vibes.
"It's my new Persona."
Chie leaned closer to inspect it- wait, did it just growl at her? "I don't know, it doesn't seem like much. What's it called?"
"Necronomicon."
"WHAT!?"
Chie pulled away from the book before it could do anything. "What the hell are you doing with something like that?!"
"I saw it in the list of new Personae and got curious."
For a minute nobody said anything, until Kanji raised his hand. "So... what can it do?"
At that moment a Supreme Hand wandered around the corner and before it could try to escape, Yu pointed the book toward it and opened it. A slew of tentacles and other incomprehensible things blasted out of Necronomicon and grabbed the Supreme Hand, before dragging it into the book as it tried to claw its way to freedom.
Everyone was silent as they tried to comprehend what the hell they had just seen.
"And I put my face near that?"
[SMT IV]
The Edit – Skumh Brane (title assigned by compiler) part 1
Author: Gamerex27
The rising sun over Mikado was accompanied by the sound of a handful of roosters crowing, signaling the Casualries to begin their work for the day.
Today, however, their cries were accompanied by an ear-piercing shriek somewhere from the center of the capital.
Isabeau fell out of bed as she Awoke, phantom agony still wracking her body. Panting, she disentangled herself from her bedsheets and stared at herself.
She was not on fire anymore, which was definitely good. It dimly occured to her that she had probably died due to being burned alive, and had thus abruptly ended the Loop, but she was too busy attempting to ease her father's nerves as he rushed to her room and convince him that she was perfectly hale and able to go to the Gauntlet Rite in spite of falling painfully out of bed.
Isabeau should have probably also been disturbed that her father's face and voice were unrecognizable clouds of static and lacking in any sort of physical matter, but she had long ago learned that the World had lost its record of her family. Faces, voices, all but the faintest memories...all of those had vanished from whatever catastrophe had broken the World.
She still had some time before the Rite began. Swallowing, she removed her Gauntlet from her Pocket and rang Flynn's number.
No response. Which meant that she was alone for the Loop.
Again.
Which also meant that she would have to stop Lilith, kill Tayama, destroy Merkabah, and carefully edge Flynn down from the extremes of Law and Chaos so he wouldn;t try and destroy the world.
Alone.
Again.
On autopilot, she bathed and then dressed herself. She looked into the washbasin, her haggard, tired face reflected in the water.
Which Loop was this? It had been somewhere around $ ^& last time she had counted...had she switched to scientific notation yet? Did the prior Loop where she'd been burned to death as a witch for using magic before actually getting the Gauntlet count, since it was cut short? And was it the dozenth time that exact chain of events occured, or the baker's dozen? And...and...
Her heart sank to the bottom of her body. It had finally happened. She had lost count.
How long, then, had she been doing this? How many times had she had the same conversations, fought the same battles, seen the same demons, monsters, crippled children, and corrputed, warped parodies of her comrades?
Masakado hadn't told her how close they were. Nor had other Loopers, the two or three times they had been to her Branch. The question was always awkwardly ignored, brushed aside as the human mind balked at the idea of eternity. At the concept of infinity.
She saw Flynn out of the corner of her eye. No. Not Flynn. Flynn had a color pallet. The same color pallet, since nothing ever changed ever.
Isabeau conjured a gale force in her hand strong enough to blast the entire building to shreds. Then, she allowed it to vanish.
Why bother? Why bother fighting it when it would just rese-
No. No, don't think that. You'll let it win. You just don't want to give it the satisfaction, that's all. That's the real reason.
That's what she had been telling herself for as long as she could remember.
But saying something and believing it are two entirely different things.
As she trudged out of her room to make her way to Aquila Plaza, she missed the White's eyes close in resignation. And triumph.
[SMT IV], [Final Fantasy X]
(no title)
Author: LostHereAndThere
"I refuse."
Charon grimaced. One of the irritating ones.
"Let me make this perfectly clear: should you refuse my offer, you will linger here for as long as it takes for your number to come up. And believe me, mountains will crumble into dust far, far faster than that."
"You ask too high a price, ferryman. And I'm expected in the land of the living. So step aside or fall to my blade!"
Charon sighed as the drunk idiot drew the abomination he dared to call a sword. His own blindness did not disturb him in the slightest, nor did his lack of a weapon. He relaxed, following the blade's song as it cut through the air, rising as the swordsman prepared to put his entire weight in a killing strike at Charon's brainpan. As the sword fell in a perfect arc at his head, Charon sighed and smiled benevolently.
The blade crashed against the ferryman's forehead, and shattered.
The idiot barely managed to catch himself before landing, and stumbled into a crude defensive stance, cursing as he opened his Pocket and drew another of those horrors.
"You understand this means my fee will rise considerably."
Unfazed, Auron charged. Rolling his unseeing eyes, Charon made no move to dodge. Another blade was shattered. After that, the idiot tried hammers. Then guns. Then sorcery. Technology. Blends betwixt both. Charon just smiled indulgently as he kept to his paperwork. Whatever the swordsman did, he failed to damage the already grimy robes of the eternally-smiling ferryman or even shuffle the papers he was diligently filling.
"You are only going to get tired."
As the escapee-wannabe kept pounding at Charon with everything he had, the ferryman himself sighed in exasperation as he kept to his paperwork, barely noting the passage of time even as the minutes passed into hours, which bled into days, after which it all just melted Auron's brain into a sort of porridge. Best for the idiot to get it all out of his system. Next time it would go down easier. It was fools like this that made him regret being such a good civil servant. One did one's best to keep the books in order and then something like this came along. One of these days upper management really has to send someone to fix things down here. How many afterlives just as horribly mismanaged as this Spira, he wondered. At least this idiot didn't seem as… enthusiastic as those monkey people. Last time he ever wanted to deal with aliens.
Oh well, looks like he finally got the hint.
Smirking, Charon stopped the exhausted Auron's lightsaber mid-swing, and casually extinguished the energy blade just like he would put a candle off. The broken weapon clattered next to the growing pile of shattered artifacts and spent cartridges. Gently, he pushed the swordsman, who fell with a minimum of fuss to the ground.
"I trust this lesson has been productive. I really don't know what kind of mess you're used to, but I assure you I shall not be nearly as lenient. My rules are simple. Pay and leave, or stay until your number comes. No nonsense like challenges, riddles, or unfinished business allowed here. Now, as for the payment…" The ferryman plucked a piece of paper from his robes, scribbled something, and presented it to the wheezing Auron.
Gingerly, the downed swordsman managed to pick the paper. "The hell is this? This ain't a number!"
"No, it's an equation. Far faster than writing the whole number."
Groaning, Auron slid a Bottomless Box at Charon's feet, hissing as the ferryman started fiddling with it. Truth be told, he had no idea of how much the ferryman was going to charge him. Bah. There was enough money and loot in that box to buy all of Spira more than fifty times over. As he recovered on the ground, Charon tossed him a few coins.
"What is this?"
"Your change."
Spluttering, tugging at his scalp, Auron scrambled to catch the money. Not even enough for a decent meal, let alone repair his swords, or get a room for the night… Millennia upon millennia of painfully building savings, all gone in a single blow. And there was not a single blessed thing he could do about it.
So this is what the damn duck felt like all the time
"Do be careful though. My fees go up every time I do this, and you don't strike me as the tab type." Charon snorted as he deposited the box in his desk. "Now, before you complain, let me ask you: is money really worth that much to you? More than, say, your life itself? Money exists to be spent. What use is it to you gathering dust in the face of death?"
Balling his fists, hissing, Auron choked, even as he felt the familiar tug of the land of the living calling him: "What could you possibly need that much money for?"
Just then, the happy chime of a bicycle rang across the uneven banks of the Styx. A young girl waved at Charon, who gleefully received a package of food. The girl just stood there impassively as Charon loaded sack after sack of coins and gems into her basket. At the end, she oversaw the mound of valuables, nodded in satisfaction, and left the ferryman to his meal.
"…wat."
Charon arced an eyebrow as he sat to dig in as Auron faded into life.
"Do you have any idea of how much delivery costs here?"
Aika's. Anywhere. Anytime.
[Persona 4], [Digital Devil Saga]
Dojima's Awakening – part 3
Author: LostHereAndThere
The dream again.
Ryotaro shivered. Anticipation. Fear. Confusion. Every time he came here, to this strange, deceptively peaceful world, he understood the place a bit better. He still had no idea of what it all meant, but by now he was certain there was a method behind the madness.
He was sitting on a square of light blue fabric, itself set on rocky ground. Not too far away, he could hear the happy peals of laughter of a child. Water flowed nearby. The bright disk shone fiercely in the skies above, to the intense fascination of the demon he could still feel within himself. Gone was his armor, and instead he wore light, airy clothes obviously designed for comfort rather than protection. And next to him, the woman with the void-colored eyes grinned with writhing lips.
His mouth dried. A word tugged at the edge of his mind. The demon squirmed, feeling the same pressure itself. Shivering, he huddled over and embraced the woman, who reciprocated. Her deformed, twisting features curled into a parody of a content smile as she sank into his chest.
He gave in. He said the word. The name.
All that came out of his mouth was white noise. And then the world exploded in a shriek of memories and nothing was anymore.
…
Ryotaro jerked awake with a shudder, heart hammering in his chest. He barely managed to pay enough mind to start breathing through his mouth in a desperate effort to slow down the heavy panting. Almost stumbling, he left his cot and reached for the en-suite bathroom. Somehow he managed to peel off the light armor and throw himself into the ice-cold shower.
"Fuck." Third night in a row. Ever since that blasted kid gave him the word, the dreams had gotten more vivid and frequent. However, no matter what, the woman remained right there, so painfully close, enough to touch her skin and smell her hair. And then he reached out, and the dream punished him with – like… like that. It was like pushing his eye to a peephole into Nirvana and then poking it out with a knife. Next time, he was going to break the kid's legs and drag him to Vishuddha for full interrogation. Even now, part of him wished he'd overridden his curiosity and just bitten his head off. Maybe with the extra reinforcements he wouldn't have had to deal with the Phantoms and whatever weapon their damn leader had gotten from the Temple. Ass-kissing bastards.
Well. He wasn't going to go back to sleep anyway. Better see if there was stuff to be done. Which there always was.
He somehow managed to trudge to his office and pull out the latest Phantom activity reports. Their new toy, some sort of fog or mist, unknown method of dispersion, maddened the Atma of those unlucky enough to be caught in it. Turned them into maniacs. Cannibals. No middle stage. No prolapsed breakdown. Sane soldier a moment, frothing demon the next. It didn't matter how well the soldier got along with the demon or how much they ate. The few survivors weren't much help compiling a new strategy for dealing with the new weapon. Unconfirmed sightings of the Phantom leader near dispersal points might or might not have any merit. Casualties were mounting, supply runs from the Temple menaced. The Hunters were in trouble.
A low knock snapped him out of his concentration. "Enter."
"Not a good day, eh, Boss?" Ryotaro grunted. Daidara was a top-notch armorer, and one of the reasons the Hunters were still in shape to keep fighting against the steady Phantom onslaught. If anyone could make sense of the machine he'd taken from the Temple and its possible uses, it was him. "Well, here I come bearing gifts."
"I take it the machine was useful then?"
The armorer's grin turned ferocious. "Ho, yes. Servos were nothing new, but the brain's modular. Managed to disassemble it and patch our comms grid into the Temple's. Anything the Ghosties tell those uppity assholes, we'll be listening." Ryotaro smirked. One less advantage for the Phantoms. "And another thing. I could identify most of the tech, except one or two pieces. I tested 'em - one of those is a transmitter, beaming a signal that breaks Atma!" The Hunter leader sharply inhaled. "I know, I know. Shoulda have reported it straight in. But I had to make sure. Sent it to the hospital wing for test with the crazies and wounded to ascertain effectiveness."
"And?"
The Hunters' armorer bowed and presented a thick bangle to his Leader. "Well, it works, but it has its limits – doesn't work beyond six, seven meters. Needs one or one and a half seconds to work – less than that and it gets dicey. I could refine it with more materials… but I understand it's unfeasible at the moment."
Ryotaro frowned as he inspected Daidara's handiwork. "Tell me about it."
A brief overview of the device later, Ryotaro sighed. "Fuck."
"Sir?" The longest five seconds of silence in Daidara's life followed. "We're that screwed?"
Ryotaro seethed in his seat. "Close. We're not dead yet, but the Phantoms' toy is making us bleed badly and we can't afford to keep throwing bodies at 'em." A strange sort of hunger that had nothing to do with the demon filled him. A need for something to take off the edge of the grueling day to come. Something that burned. Sighing, he forced it down and opened a comms channel.
"Adachi. Uehara. Morooka. Ten minutes. My office."
Daidara frowned. "What are you planning, sir?"
The Hunter leader leaned back in his seat. "We're not going to sit on the grinder until they've made mincemeat of us. Start stripping down the base and prepare for evac."
The armorer raised an eyebrow. "Where to?"
"Svadhisthana. And get me a channel with the Embryon."
…
"Oi, bro!"
Gale set down the file he was examining. "Yes, Cielo?"
"Message from de Hunters. Dey want to meet in Svadhisthana."
"Same conditions as usual?"
"Ja. Only a token force an' Narukami ta meet their Leader."
Gale nodded in acknowledgement. He swiftly sent messages to Sera and Narukami to prepare. As he checked over the radio, he disapprovingly noted the Phantoms had begun scanning the airwaves for the command frequency of the Embryon. Annoyed, he switched the frequency they were searching for to a secure connection to the Temple.
Clever as the Phantoms might be, he doubted they would be smart or cynical enough to look for enemy command chatter in their ally's computers.
[Persona 3]
Chidori's Awakening – parts 1 and 2
Author: Garebel
[8/31/09, Evening]
(Minato POV)
I signed, It was the same old stuff every Loop. Maybe, something interesting will happen, now.
"Minato!" Wait, Junpei?
"What now, Stupei!" Ahhh Yukari, back to the insulting nicknames.
"I meet Chidori this Loop, today, and I saw her drawing." Drawing, that's normal…"
"Then what's the problem?" Straight to the point as normal.
"She was drawing what happened on November 22, THIS YEAR during the DARK HOUR!" Wait what!?
"What the F***!?" I yelled out. "She couldn't know that! Unless…" I trailed off…
"Did she just Awakened!?" Yukari questioned Junpei, in my place.
"I didn't get the chance, when I saw the drawing was we were leaving. I'll question her during the Full Moon OP." Junpei said to which I nodded in Approval. The next op was the Hermit, meaning Junpei will be kidnapped by Chidori.
"Just make sure you act like baseline." I told Junpei, who nodded.
"Ok, I'll convince Mitsuru to allow Junpei's plan. With any luck, She'll, at least, not worry about him missing during the op." Yukari said, volunteering to talk to Mitsuru.
"Maybe tell her I found someone with the potential, and meet up with them on that day, so, I'll be unavailable on that day?" Junpei suggested.
"Ok, when did Stupei gain a brain?" Yukari asked me.
"Stop calling me that, Yuka-tan!" Junpei yelled, but it was with amusement, not anger. I smiled. At least when the Loops end, the Fall never happen, and I won't become the seal…Suddenly I got something.
"Actually, I think I have a better plan…". I trailed off, Yukari and Junpei tilling their heads.
…
[11/22/09, DAR| |-|0|_||']
[Chidori POV]
I gasped as Takaya shot my love dead, again. I can't believe it… I tried to stop Junpei from being shot, but I failed… I ran quickly to his side to use Medea's Spring of Life to trade my life for his, only to blink at the 'body' I caught.
It was some sort of wooden dummy with the face being a string of insults to Strega, but not mentioning me once. I looked over the dummy which was wearing the same clothes as Junpei and saw the dummy took the bullet instead of Junpei.
"What the…!?" I heard that bastard Takaya yell out. "Jin!"
"First we have to clean up the mess, then we look for the lost sheep." I heard Jin spoke before I heard glass shattering. He must have summoned Moros…
I yelled in rage as I called out Medea, without Junpei to worry about, my anger manafested, and aim at my former friends. I know I can't do much on Jin, but in my rage, I didn't care. I'll make them pay.
[Minato POV]
Good, the plan worked! Now We needed to deal with Strega, now. I saw Chidori Summon Medea, but this time something was off…
I then realized Medea was covered in cracks where blue light escaped from. There was no way something like that was possible…
"Wait!" I told my friends.
"But if we do that, those Assholes will get away." I heard Shinjiro complained. It's a good thing he and Ken Awoke. We didn't even needed to worry about October 4th.
"Something's wrong…Fuuka, try to scan Medea!" I gave out my order to our support.
"I can't! Something is blocking me!" Fuuka replied back to me. I frowned. What's happening…?
Unfortunately, Takaya took the chance and shot her, right there, but instead of disappearing, Medea just floated to Chidori's side, making no signs of ending Chidori's life.
'What's happening?' Minato thought before a blue light blinded those looking at the scene from seeing what is happening.
[Chidori POV]
I blinked as I looked around my surroundings. This is not Tartarus. It looked like the entrance to an abandoned temple. I found myself drawn to the temple for some reason…
"What's going on…?" I asked myself as I walked inside. There was only a statue inside, but one that I felt like I know about. I was in the center in the temple when I saw a mutalated copy of myself.
"Medea…" I muttered to myself. Why was she here…? That's when I noticed something.
"Medea, why are you bleeding now!? The Spring of Life…" I shout before Medea interrupted.
"Is being used in the same manner as you did to your love…" my eyes widened. Medea was taking my place.
"But without you, I can't do anything during the Dark Hour…" I told Medea, who smiled.
"But you still can, I will be gone soon, but, I am artificial. In this temple… The…true…you…is…he…re..." I heard Medea trailed before faded away. I was confused, before I turned to the statue, realizing the only solution.
"Are you…Me?" I asked the statue which actually nodded. A bright light shone through the area, as I accept my power…
[General POV]
The blue light soon died down, revealing Chidori alive, but Medea missing.
"To think, you losing your power would be inconceivable…" Takaya started to taunt Chidori, whose response was to aim her Evoker at her head.
"Wha…what are you doing!?" Jin asked, as Chidori fired her Evoker, with blue shards flying around, indicating she has a Persona…
"Thou art I…" a feminine voice echoed. "and I am Thou. I have truly awakened from your soul…I am Hecate, the one who has the will to protect from afar…" the new Persona spoke. Hecate had armor cover all but the arms and head, the latter of which is covered by a helmet shaped like a frog head. In one hand, she holds a sniper rifle, in the shape of a key, in the other hand was a Trident with each of the three points is emanating either Ice, Electricity, or Wind while at the other end, flames were being spewed out, ready to go far.
"What!?" Takaya said, backing up, he never even heard of this.
"Medea is dead, Takaya, But I have found my TRUE SELF!" Chidori yelled, Hecate aiming the key-shaped rifle at Takaya.
"NO!" Jin yelled, Moros quickly running in front of them, but was soon sporting a hole in its body before disappearing. "What…that…That Attack was Almighty-Based!" Jin yelled in shock. Takaya growled.
"Get…Get Them!" Takaya yelled, summoning his Persona, Hypnos to attack Chidori. It barely moved from the entrance to Tartarus, when fireballs from the sky blasted Hypnos into disappearance, causing Takaya to be knocked out.
"A Hero always shows up in the nick of time!" A male voice yelled out. Chidori smiled at the voice.
"Mind explaining what's going…on…Junpei?" Chidori asked, only to blinked at the Persona that was carrying Junpei. It looked like Hermes, but the robe was red, and it had two small wings on its back. More Importantly, Chidori felt a piece of Medea inside it.
"It's a long story, Chidorita, but we need to deal with Strega first." Junpei explained.
"All right…but I still want the explanation or you're going to sleep on the couch!" Chidori threatened.
"Yes, Ma'am!" Junpei gulped.
[Persona 5], [JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]
(no title)
Author: Detective Ethan Redfield
Joker dashed through the clocktower staircase to the castle. He pulled himself up onto one of the cogs and rode it up to the next floor. Preparations had already been made, the tower mapped out, and the treasure located. The calling card had been delivered. Then over the news, the target had announced haughtily to go ahead and try to steal it. But the situation had backfired drastically, somehow. It was like the entire tower had been remodeled and they had to start from the beginning. Further, there were no saferooms to rest and recover in. Thankfully, this entire affair was coming to a close as he pulled himself through a grate in the ceiling into the throne room.
The castle was massive, caste in gold with various trinkets and pictures lining the room portraying the man in victorious poses over all manner of beings. In the center of the room sat a heavily muscled man with blonde hair, yellow coat over a black skin fitting turtleneck. His teeth glistened in the light as he shouted, "You should be pleased to have made it so far."
He stood from his seat and started clapping, "Do you know who's heart you are attempting to steal from? What heroic goal do you seek to achieve? My death? Redemption? Perhaps you seek to break me? You are not the first, though certainly the method is unique. I have watched your exploits, and commend you for your accomplishments, pitiful and meaningless though they may be. To have made it this far even when your compatriots have been forced to retreat."
Joker bristled as the man continued to mock him. His smile disappeared as his murderous intent flooded the room, crushing Joker like a Hydraulic Press, "But you have committed a grave felony against me, the ruler of this world, and against a being that even time acknowledges as its king."
He tore something from the ceiling and held it right in front of the thief's face. He recognized it as a camera. "And everyone will know. Even now, I am transmitting everything to the outside world. They will watch as you fail, as I break you. Then they will know they belong to me. Everyone will know the name of DIO!"
He gripped the thief in his hands and held him aloft. But then DIO dropped the thief and lept backwards as a black sword cut between the two of them. DIO looked at the grate, where now stood a male on the cusp of adulthood, wearing a black school uniform jacket and a white button up shirt underneath. His hair was deceptively grey for his youthful age. DIO, however, chuckled to himself in recognition, "Finally, a real challenge has arrived."
Joker found himself no longer crushed under the killer intent, though his hands were certainly shaking. He said, "You're late, Yu."
"Sorry about that. The train from Inaba was running behind schedule. Still, picking a fight with DIO with as few loops as you've had, that's reckless."
Joker shrugged, "I couldn't stand by as he ruthlessly bought up all the businesses in Japan and forced thousands out of their jobs."
DIO shouted, "The World, Time Stop!"
The inner world and Joker stopped in their tracks, but Yu held up his Katana in a defensive stance between him and DIO. The vampire snorted at him, "Still can't believe you managed to worm your way into an unawake version of mine's heart."
"DIO-"
DIO rolled his eyes and allowed time to flow once again. The vampire fell back towards the throne and threw it at Joker, "Take it. This place and its trinkets hold no meaning for me."
Joker blinked as the throne shrunk to the size of a normal chair, "Wait, you're just gonna give up?"
DIO grinned, "I will cease my actions and retreat for the rest of the loop. But if you ever attempt to break into my heart again, I will not be so forgiving next time. One day, I will rule the multiverse, so ruling this one world is meaningless."
With that, DIO faded. Moments later, they were running for their lives as gold bricks rained on them with the onset of the palace's collapse.
[Persona 5]
(no title)
Author: Detective Ethan Redfield
"Hey buddy, got any more peanuts?"
Ryuji Sakamoto, AKA Skull, sat in a fold out chair, watching as Shadow Kamoshida shake at the cell gate locking him in. Akira Kurusu, AKA Joker, sat next to him, stuffing his face with popcorn. He set down the container before handing Skull another carton of peanuts. The blonde haired boy gave a toothy grin as he pulled them out and started throwing them at the cell. They should try this with all of their future targets! Morgana wandered up to them and moaned, "Guys, who knows what this will cause in the real world!"
Ryuji waved the cat off, "Relax, what's the worst that could happen?"
…
*Next Day*
Joker looked at the new notice on the board.
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
PEANUTS AND PEANUT BASED PRODUCTS ARE NOW BANNED FROM SHUJIN ACADEMY, DUE TO FOOD BASED ALERGIES CERTAIN STUDENTS HAVE. ANYONE CAUGHT WITH PEANUTS ON THEIR PERSON WILL BE SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL IMMEDIATELY.
Morgana sighed, "I was afraid something like this might happen."
Joker shrugged, "Could have been worse."
…
Kawakami looked at Kamoshida with a half-lidded expression as he put up another notice on the second floor and asked, "Why?"
Kamoshida blinked and looked at his own hands, "I'm...not entirely sure myself. Lately I'm filled with rage whenever I see peanuts for some reason."
"Maybe you should take a few days off."
Kamoshida gave a sigh. "I might just do that."
…
"Skull, what the hell do you think you're doing," Morgana shouted at Ryuji. The teen was putting another box on top of the small pyramid outside Kamoshida's house.
He said, "Relax, It's only a few boxes."
Suddenly, a dump truck pulled up next to Kamoshida's house, causing Ryuji to panic for a moment, before he saw Joker waving at Skull from the door. He backed up the door and pulled the lever, causing the truck to unload its entire contents of Peanut boxes onto his front door. Ryuji's smirk stretched across his face. "Nice!"
Morgana was about to have a meltdown, "What are you guys doing! You're gonna wake him."
Joker smirked, "That would be impressive since I cast Dormina on him. He probably won't wake until the sun rises tomorrow morning."
Morgana planted both paws on his head, "You can't cast that spell outside the Metaverse! And how did you even get something like this?!"
Ryuji grabbed Morgana and jumped into the passenger side of the dump truck as Joker shrugged. "I know some guys who taught me a few tricks."
The three drove off with Morgana declaring how little that actually explains.
…
*Next Day*
Morgana gave Joker a long suffering look as the teen held up his hands. "I had nothing to do with this."
"You're the one who got a dump truck."
Joker pointed to the sky and said, "A plane is a bit harder to obtain. I gotta go through airport security, clear takeoffs with the flight tower, never mind having the right to overfly the right area."
…
In the plane, Ann Takamaki grinned as she watched the peanuts fall on Kamoshida's house like rain. She said, "Thanks for all the help, Mitsuru-san."
Mitsuru Kirijo waved her off, "It's nothing for a member of the Kirijo group. Though I'm surprised you're not down there watching Kamoshida's meltdown."
Ann gave a cheshire grin, "I can just imagine Kamoshida's face. Besides, I'm sure we'll have a chance to pull this off again in another loop, and I'll be able to see it for myself then."
[Persona 5], [Dragonball Z]
(no title)
Author: Detective Ethan Redfield
Vegeta stood at the counter, grumbling to himself. Here he was, shift leader of Big Bang Burger in Tokyo and was pretty annoyed at the obvious joke Yggdrasil was making at his expense. Still, he had tried one of his own Big bang burgers, and it was pretty good. The doorbell rang as a customer strolled in. Vegeta crossed his arms and asked, "What'll it be?"
The boy looked like an average sparring session with Goku. But he had none of the idiot's strengths as he stuttered, "W-well, I'll have the...Earth Burger."
Vegeta jumped over the counter and shouted, "What?! Is my Big Bang Burger not good enough for you?!"
The boy's eyes widened considerably, "N-no! I just-"
"Come on, best buddy! Leave him alone."
Vegeta looked away very annoyed as General Manager Goku stepped out with an Earth burger larger than the teen, "Here. On the house."
The teen blinked in surprise, "Uh, I-I'm not s-sure I can eat all that."
"You're a growing boy. Gotta have your veggies or you won't grow strong like me...or Vegeta."
…
Joker's eyebrow twitched. The burger challenge at Big Bang Burger seemed especially daunting this loop. Forget proficiency, guts or intelligence, he wasn't sure he could eat a burger the size of an entire house. He'd probably die trying. Goku slapped him on the back and asked, "You got this, champ!"
Joker sweatdropped before sighing. "Bottom's up."
[Persona 5]
(no title)
Author: Detective Ethan Redfield
"Guys, keep Kamoshida busy, I'm gonna try something."
Akira looked at the cat curiously before opening fire with his handgun, leading the others to do the same. They circled away from Kamoshida while Morgana lept onto the Chandelier. Akira didn't think too much on this as it was baseline. What he wasn't expecting was Kamoshida to be crushed under a familiar van.
…
The group stood outside the Hospital where Kamoshida was sleeping off a sudden and killer headache, staring at Morgana who was licking himself clean. A few moments passed in silence when Morgana noticed everyone looking at him. He shouted, "What?! I didn't kill his shadow self! He'll recover! It's not like that time I was a bridge."
Akira blinked. "When did that happen?"
Morgana blinked and looked sheepish. "Uh, you had been replaced that loop by Minato from SEES."
Ryuji muttered, "Mementos must have been weird that loop."
[Persona 5]
(no title)
Author: Detective Ethan Redfield
Ann gave Ryuji a withering glare. "No, Ryuji."
Ryuji gave a wide grin. "But it's awesome!"
Ann slammed her hand on the table and shouted, "We're not calling ourselves-!"
She paused when the room suddenly went quiet as everyone looked at her. She gave an embarrassed grin and sat back down. After the room returned to normal activity, she whispered, "We're not calling ourselves the Buttpunchers Thieves."
Akira looked thoughtful. "Actually, I think it's a great name."
Ann gave him an incredulous stare, "Are you serious?"
Morgana's voice rose out of Akira's bag, "I think it's inspired."
A cloud seemed to form over Ann's head as she moaned. Why was she the only one awake this loop?
[Persona 5]
Akira (Joker)'s Activation
Author: Solaris Requiem
Akira Kurusu couldn't tell if this was some kind of divine joke or that his mind was playing tricks on him. He had fallen asleep in his bed at his hometown, tired but relaxed after everything that had transpired throughout the last hectic months. Ryuji, had looked at him like he was a stranger. It was... unsettling to say the least and some small part of Akira's psyche couldn't help but mourn what had been. But he could do it later, when the current danger that the both of them faced had passed.
Was all of their effort for naught? Was their entire struggle against the world for nothing at all?
"A peasant like you isn't worth beating," Kamoshida's Shadow taunted, garbed in a gaudy robe with a crown perched atop of his head. With a kick he sent Ryuji rolling on the ground, coughing up blood and gasping for air. All the while, Akira grit his teeth as he was held at sword-point, dressed in his school uniform.
'Hmm, how interesting,' a voice whispered in his head, echoing with dark power. 'Thine memory is... strange. Thou hast seen the sight before you previously...' It was a voice that Akira had known immediately. It was the voice that he could not forget no matter how hard he tried; the voice of his inner self.
'Hmm? Thou hesitates... Answer me this, child of man... What shalt thou do? Thou knows that he shall die if thou does not intervene. Will thou remain silent? Or will thou find the will and power to defy the entire world once more?' the voice whispered.
As the Shadows advanced Akira felt his blood begin to boil. Wrath, Rage, and Defiance sang its sweet siren song into his ears. The familiar burning of his Persona's power inside his heart was something that he would never forget. And so what if Ryuji and the others didn't remember him? So what if he had to go through his entire journey again? All that mattered was the things before him. And he would rather die than to leave his friends to suffer through this alone!
The voice in his head laughed in dark approval, 'Excellent! Thou hast found thine own answer and regained thine will! Very well, let our contract be renewed henceforth! Use our power to rend this pathetic scum from the earth!' And with those words of approval Akira felt power course through his veins. The heat, flame, and dark power threatened to tear his entire body apart. But the young man welcomed the pain and the fire, letting it fuel his anger and hatred for the pretender before him. The familiar burning pain within himself brought a grin to his face, one that promised bloodshed.
"What are you smiling at, you lowly peasant?!" Kamoshida growled, raising his fist to strike Akira down. But before he could take a single step forward there was a surge of power and a torrent of blue flame.
The pillar of light and power swirled and danced, sending lights and reflection upon the ground and the cramped cell. The shadowy knights were sent flying, their armor slamming against the cell bars. Diabolical laughter echoed through the entire castle, sending shivers down the spine of all but Akira.
"What the hell's going on?!" the false king panicked. "What are you doing?!"
The blue fire that danced and circled Akira's form began to coalesce, to materialize into something unnatural.
"I am thou... Thou art I..." Onyx chains, forged from the fires of Hell itself, rattled and sang in their unearthly chorus. A face and a pair of demonic horns, painted from crimson fire, rose.
"From the sea of thy soul, I come." Blue flames gave way to red, black, and white. Akira's uniform burned and shifted, changing into a black armored overcoat.
"I am the Pillager of Twilight, the Phantom of Rebellion," Black wings, still burning with azure flame, spread. Their flickering dance of light and dark cast embers and shadows alike all around Akira.
"I am Arsene!" The figure, the Persona, declared to the world. Cursed light pulsed and sang, spearing all of the the tyrant's guards and reducing them to black muck and ichor. Ryuji scrambled backwards with an expression of both terror and awe.
"W-What is that?" he whispered as Kamoshida's shadow whimpered and ran for his life.
Akira grinned, his eyes alight with power. "This is Arsene, my other self. My Persona."
[Persona 5]
Morgana's Activation
Author: Solaris Requiem
The first thing that Morgana found when he woke up was a damp cold that clung to his fur. The not-cat shook his head and shivered a little. Rather than the warm bed in Akira's room he found himself in a dark and cold cell. He shook his head as he sprang upwards, looking around desperately into a very familiar looking cell.
"This is... Kamoshida's Palace?! B-But we stole the Treasure from here already!" Morgana asked himself as he scrambled to the bars. He gave the metal cell several shakes, but only the clanging of metal answered him. The running water of the underground river as well as the echoing footsteps of the guards answered him.
"Akira?!" Morgana cried out as he looked around desperately for his friend. "Akira!? Is anyone there?! Anyone?!" he was panicking, his mind racing with theories and ideas of what might have happened to him.
"Was it... all just a dream?" Morgana whispered as he closed his eyes. Morgana hated being alone; being abandoned in this cell. The memories in his head had told him of many things... his true purpose and of the battle and trials that he, Akira, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves had gone through. So, why was he locked up in this cell? Why was Kamoshida's palace still standing?
Morgana grit his teeth and slammed his hand against the cell bar, forcefully calming himself down. He needed to think. He needed to focus.
He needed to get out of this cell.
…
Akira found himself in Kamoshida's palace once again. He bit back a snarl of frustration. He had arrived home as he always did; having arrived home again with his comrades. He had changed things around for the better. But despite this, he still found himself under parole and in the exact same place that he was before.
Did he do something wrong? Did Yaldaboth do something that caused time to reset?
Akira was completely clueless and bound to this twisted time loop. And it frustrated him to no end. He was still a slave to this damned fate.
"Hey, you alright man?" Ryuji asked the Wild Card. Akira glared at him before he exhaled. "I'll be fine. We should get out of here."
Ryuji didn't look convinced at all but was smart enough to drop the subject. Akira looked around at Kamoshida's Shadow, shouting at the top of his lungs about death threats and how he would execute him once he got out. Personally the Persona User wished he could punch him in the face, but wasn't sure if it would damage Kamoshida if he did so. As he contemplated this, a familiar voice reached his ears.
"Akira?!" a voice called, making both of the boys freeze.
Ryuji blinked, "Dude, is it just me or did I hear someone call your name? I must be going crazy in here..." Akira's heart skipped a beat. Unlike Ryuji, he recognized that voice.
"Akira! Is anyone there?! Anyone?!" the voice called again. Akira's eyes widened as his head snapped in a certain direction. He suddenly ran towards the source of the voice, catching Ryuji off guard.
"Whoa! Wait up!" Ryuji shouted as he ran after the black-clad thief. Akira ignored him as the gears in his head began to turn. Did Morgana remember him? The possibility made his heart race and his blood pound.
As the two reached the underground river in the dungeon, Akira leaped across the broken bridge with practiced ease, causing Ryuji to lag behind. Akira didn't even bother to look back, choosing to run as fast as his legs could carry him.
"How did you- agh, forget it! Don't leave me behind!" Ryuji exclaimed as he too jumped over the broken bridge. He stumbled a bit but quickly ran after his new acquaintance. Their scrambling dash through the dungeon easily caught the attention of the enemy patrols in the area.
"INTRUDERS!" several of the Shadows shouted as Akira ignored stealth entirely. They brandished their swords and charged, but Akira grit his teeth. He didn't have time to deal with small fry.
"Get out of my way!" Akira snarled. The white domino mask on his face burned, giving form to Arsene as the guards swung their swords at him. The Wild Card ducked under the first strike before leaping upwards onto the blade. His black knife flitted and danced, tearing apart shadowy flesh and matter while his Persona wreaked havoc with cursed light and forbidden magic. Ribbons of black energy circled and swarmed, cutting through armor and limb alike with a savage intensity.
Black ichor spurted out of the wounds and bodies of the shadows as they lost cohesion under the brutal assault of Akira and his Persona.
By the time Ryuji had caught up with him, the shadowy guards were already dissolving as Akira continued forwards. Ryuji gulped at this sight, resolving not to piss off Akira, and quickly followed.
…
Morgana heard the clashing of steel and the screams of the Shadows as he stood just behind the bars of his cell with bated breath. Ryuji and Akira were coming and he had to make preparations. He wracked his head trying to come up with a reason to join forces. He had his memory still intact so he needed a solid reason to join forces with the two of them again. But what would be enough to get them to accept him...
"Morgana?" a familiar voice asked as, causing him to blink and looked upwards. Akira, Joker, was looking right at him with widened eyes. Eyes that recognized him. Eyes that knew who he was.
"Akira?" he asked, daring to hope. The human nodded as Morgana sighed in relief. Akira quickly unlocked the cell, opening the door and letting the captive Morgana out.
"Alright, I finallly- Dude what the hell is that?! A cat?!" Ryuji exclaimed, pointing at Morgana. The cat narrowed his eyes.
"I'm not a cat, Ryuji!" he hissed before he froze. Ryuji narrowed his eyes.
"Wait a second, how did you know my name?" he asked suspiciously. Before Morgana could incriminate himself further Akira came to his rescue.
"He must have overheard it from the guards. We did cause a lot of attention after all," the boy lied smoothly. Morgana nodded as he followed Akira's lead. "Yeah, the Palace's Ruler was screaming his head off about the two of you had disrespected him. You can still hear him screaming his head off from here."
Ryuji blinked before he listened.
"Damn you Ryuji Sakamoto! When I get my hands on you and your damned friend I'm going to cut you apart and make you beg me for mercy!" Kamoshida's shadow was pretty far away but thanks to his loud voice both Ryuji and Akira could hear him. Ryuji rolled his eyes, "Damn that guy doesn't know when to can it. I mean, I kinda just tune it out nowadays but still, its annoying."
Any other conversation was cut off as more guards approached the three. Their bodies shifted, plate armor turning to black cloth as the shadows assumed their true forms.
"Anyways, we should talk later. We've got Shadows to beat, you two ready?" Morgana asked. Akira nodded while Ryuji gave the cat a look that questioned Morgana's sanity.
"Alright then. Come, Mercurius!" Morgana called. A hooded figure in navy clothing emerged from the torrent of light and energy that surrounded Morgana, sending Ryuji scrambling back. The blue wings emerged from the Persona's shoes as it held a golden staff in hand.
"Arsene!" The demonic thief emerged from Akira's mask, laughing diabolically as he did so. Morgana and Akira exchanged a look and grinned.
"Magarudyne!"
"Maeigaon!"
…
Later that night:
"So..." Morgana began as he sat on the windowsill of Akira's rather cluttered room. "It looks like time itself has reset, by the looks of it."
"Not completely though," Akira corrected. "For some reason, the Persona Compendium kept track of all of the Personas I've gathered throughout all of these resets. I still have our weapons, gear, and other things. Like your scarf or Sae-san's business card. I still have all the cash that I got previously, strangely enough."
Morgana tilted his head thoughtfully before he slumped in defeat, "Yeah, I've got no idea what's going on either. I've got all of my memories but it doesn't look like they're much help at all. Sorry..."
Akira shook his head before petting Morgana on the head. The cat purred and leaned into the boy's hand. Normally he would only let the girls pet him like this, but he was so happy to not be alone again that he was willing to let Akira do it.
"The fact that you remember me is more than enough," Akira reassured him. "Don't worry about the details. We'll be able to figure it out between the two of us."
Morgana nodded as the two took what comfort they could from the other's presence.
"So... you said that you have all the money you got previously right?" Morgana asked, his eyes gleaming eagerly. The human chuckled before reaching into his bag before pulling out a couple plastic containers containing several rolls of sushi each.
"Don't eat too much or you'll get fat," Akira teased as he opened up the boxes, "Shadows might find it easier to hit you that way."
"Don't care, I demand sushi. Now!" Morgana grinned as Akira laid out his tribute before the feline king. The rolls of rice and fish barely managed to last a bit longer than the Shadows that were slaughtered earlier that day.
[Persona 5], [Star Wars]
(no title)
Author: Detective Ethan Redfield
Ryuji stood on the Balcony overseeing all of Coruscant. "Man, this is so cool! Seeing places I've only watched in movies as if they were real life! Hey Akira, think we could get a lightsaber as a souvenir?"
Morgana stood on Akira's shoulder. "Futaba and I read most of the entries on the Star Wars wikipedia. Lightsabers are hard to come by, though they are useful door openers."
Akira stared out at the Senate floor and thought out loud to himself, "We should do it."
Morgana gave him a questioning look, to which Akira turned and smirked at the cat. "I've been thinking about these loops. We should declare ourselves to everyone across the multiverse."
Ryuji gave him an excited expression. "Yeah, that's more like it! Let's show everyone across the multiverse the existence of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts!"
Morgana gave a thoughtful expression. "You had an idea in mind, Joker?"
"Let's change the heart of Emperor Palpatine, force him to confess everything."
Ryuji took a step back. "Woah, are you serious?!"
Even Morgana looked surprised for a moment. "W-well, yeah, that would be a viable target. But just jumping right to the top, are you sure?"
Akira smirked at the two. "Quite. We have yet to change any hearts here, meaning Palpatine will never see it coming, or even dismiss it as a prank. If we change the hearts of anyone else, he may discover our means accidentally, thinking he was attacked through the force, and our fight will be that much harder."
Morgana scratched behind his head with his rear foot. "Ok, I'm all for it. Ryuji?"
"Oh hell yeah! That bastard is like the very personification of evil in this universe. Making him announce all his crimes over the internet sounds perfect."
Morgana nodded. "Holonet, but yeah. We're in agreement. But we need to prepare long and hard for this. It'll be our most difficult mission yet. Further, we may need to recruit some people to pull this off. A Jedi and a slicer, AKA hacker, at the least."
Ryuji replied, "That's easy, let's just find Futaba and Yosuke."
Morgana hissed at Ryuji. "You idiot, we're in another universe. Futaba and Yosuke might not even exist here!"
Ryuji shrugged. "We do, so they might too."
Akira shook his head. "Even if they do, they could be anywhere in the Galaxy. A Jedi would be easier to come by, so we should focus on the slicer. Morgana, you have any ideas?"
"As a matter of fact, I do."
A small tablet appeared on the railing overseeing the Galactic Senate. It was an article on a refueling station named Gus Treta.
[Persona 1], [Persona 2], [Persona 3], [Persona 4], [Persona Q]
(no title)
Author: wildrook
Igor was many things when it came to the aspects of the Velvet Room. Some of them are directly tied to the area itself while he manages to be a strict teacher to the Attendants.
He was also quite enamored with the room's current stance, which resembled a banquet hall, all because of one thing: His guests and their friends had decided to visit the place.
"I thought I sensed a haven in the rift," Igor muttered. "But to think the Velvet Room would adapt to this many guests...but this is unexpected. What's the purpose to this visit?"
"We kind of heard about what happened to you during the latest expansion," the boy with the earring replied. "So when Philemon found out about what happened, he understood and sent all of us together."
"He thought you needed cheering up," the young girl with the beauty mark added. "Although the fact that he brought in people who died meant he wanted to go the extra mile."
"I brought Shinjiro and Rei," the man with the spiked collar and blue watch said. "For the good half of humanity, he seemed...pretty concerned."
Igor gave out a small smile, which was odd for a man who usually had a grinning face. "Philemon," he said. "While I insist that I'm fine, the fact that you brought my guests from before Yaldaboth took my form as well as recruited the God of Death for certain aspects means you were truly concerned." He then looked at them. "And to think, some of them I thought I would never see again."
"Heh," was what the man with the beanie said. "It's not every day that you get dragged back from the sea of souls just to cheer someone out. Although, I will admit, whenever I died, I'm just glad I'm picked up by a friend instead of a heartless reaper."
"Call it paying back a debt, Shinjiro," the other man replied. "The shock I felt was genuine, as I thought you were going to assist them with the Dark Hour."
"I still did, Zen."
"That's Shinjiro for you," the man wearing the cape replied. "Even when dying, he's still a stubborn bastard."
"That reminds me...do you mind explaining the getup, Aki? You look worse than I do when it came to profiling in Kurosawa's department."
"That's exactly what I said when I first met him," the young woman in blue said.
"You look worse than I do," a man with an X-shaped scar said, just staring at them. "And that's without the Persona interfering in your job."
Somehow, that got the blue-haired male confused. "Guess there's one like me in every group," he said. "Keeps up appearances as a bad boy, yet has a soft center."
"I'm not exactly that bad," the bleached-haired male replied.
"You managed to beat up an entire biker gang because they kept your Mom up at night, Kanji," the male with orange headphones said. "It got to the point where the biker gang in question were afraid to beat us up because we were associated with you."
"How else was I supposed to make a point, Yosuke-senpai?"
The man with sunglasses just shook his head. "Either way," he muttered, "we're mostly here because we've heard about the incident in Shibuya. Specifically, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."
"Ah yes," Igor muttered. "Pity that I've never met him for long, the man who called himself 'Joker' was an interesting guest. Hence, why I had to send Morgana in my place."
The younger brother of the man with sunglasses just stared. "That name kind of brings bad memories for us," he muttered. "But yeah, Katsuya's more informed about the situation as we've heard it from the Internet. And judging by the latest expansion, the whole 'no direct interference' clause just makes me glad that you're not that malicious."
The man with glasses and the scarf with the number one on it just snorted. "While I've seen some things during these times," he said, "this was by far the craziest. To think that we'd have a local version of HIM when we're already dealing with Nyarlathotep."
"And had the situation escalated," the woman with red hair and a fur coat said, "we'd be living in a system of blind obedience. But it's probably a good thing that we never learned about their methods, yet they're worth researching. Nanjo, is Naoya capable of doing so?"
Nanjo looked at the woman in question. "Doubtful, Kirijo," he said. "We'd need a Wild Card in order to pull that off, but that's not accounting for the ethical violations we'd have to make in order to replicate the results."
"Probably a good thing," a grey-haired male muttered. "I would have refused. Speaking of, I asked Dojima about the Phantom Thieves, and it turns out that even Adachi's aware that whoever they were targeting would not survive in prison."
"I've had a few comments about why I'm not investigating in Baseline, Senpai," the female wearing the blue hat replied. "Then again, I may have to meet up with them later in case they start noticing the Time Loops."
He then smirked. "Notify us when they've Awakened fully, Naoto."
"So," a man in a baseball uniform said, "am I the only one who's confused about how they managed to get them to confess for their sins? Because it kind of looked like their victims had buckled under the pressure of being challenged and confessed on live television."
"Does anyone have a connection to politics?" the twin-tailed woman asked them. "Probably because the last one was a man named Shiho. I'd ask Namatame, but I don't want to risk his career."
"We usually like to stay out of it as much as possible, Rise," the woman in the sentai uniform replied.
"You guys know an actual politician?" the man with the X-shaped scar asked her.
"Not just her," the woman in the red uniform replied. "After hearing his side of the story, we've kind of parted on better terms."
"It kind of helped that Yu here kept our heads cool," Yosuke added. "Otherwise, I'm not sure if Nanako would have been alive."
Yu nodded.
A young man was legitimately curious about the name. "Is she important to you?" he asked the older male.
"She's my cousin," he replied, "but we treat her like she was my sister. She was the last to be kidnapped and...well...we thought she died."
"Yes," Zen muttered. "I may have been watching you deal with that dilemma. At that point, you had rage, but there was something off in your head."
"You wanted to kill the man, didn't you?" the young man asked them. "Because he was the kidnapper."
Yosuke then sighed. "And that we thought he was the killer, Ken," he added. "The other thing that got us out of that mindset was Teddie's disappearance. Instead, we found out who the true killer was and helped bring him to justice." He then shook his head. "To think that the very same man would be helping us out in secret against Sho and MINAZUKI."
"Adachi wanted to go back to jail on his own terms," Yu replied. "I think he may have needed the help, as much as we hate to admit it."
Naoto just gave them a look. "I guess you may have changed him more than we thought, Senpai," she said.
"As for Namatame," the green-suited woman said, "he sometimes makes stays at the Amagi Inn, so Yukiko got the chance to ask him about Shiho."
Yukiko just looked at them. "He...does not like Shiho," she muttered. "At all. It's not exactly publicly known, but whenever they do meet, he gets quite an unpleasant aura around him."
"The one politician that you know that isn't corrupt," the platinum-blonde said, "and he's nervous around the guy who's trying to be Prime Minister."
"To be fair, Lisa," Katsuya muttered, "just by looking at Shiho, I kind of see the elder Sudou in his place."
"And anyone who's worked in law enforcement tends to have conflicting opinions about the Phantom Thieves," Naoto added. "On one side, they're criminals, but on the other, they're exposing the corruption."
"I know," the green-suited girl replied. "It's like they're trying to be friendly neighborhood gangsters or something."
Akihiko gave out a shrug. "But to do the things that they do," he muttered before looking at the master of the Velvet Room. "Igor, you said you met Joker?"
"Sometime after Yaldaboth revealed his true colors," Igor replied. "His skill with the Wild Card had been enhanced by that point, I could only assist him for a short while."
Everyone who knew Akihiko stared at him while the others were just outright confused.
"Huh," Shinjiro muttered. "So the protein hasn't completely taken over your brain while I was away."
"I can be insightful, too, Shinji!" Akihiko yelled, growling at his dead best friend.
"Yeah, but this? I can see Mitsuru thinking the same thing, but this is kind of unexpected."
Mitsuru gave out a groan before smiling. "Some things never change," she muttered.
"So that means that Aigis and I can be capable of doing the same thing," Yu said.
"But do we have the right?" Aigis asked him, showing a similar concerned look.
Yu gave the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon a stare. "I won't be considering it if you won't."
Aigis nodded. "Understood. The TV is enough."
Zen was the only one who stared at Igor with a bit of concern. "Is there anything else I can do, Servant of Philemon?" he asked the man.
Igor then chuckled. "I think being in the air of such colorful guests is enough, Chronos," he replied. "Besides, my Master brought in the effort of bringing everyone during this moment, so let's make the best of it until we leave this place. After all, we have all the time in the world at this moment."
And that's when Yukiko started laughing. "Time in the world...said to a God of Time..." she chuckled.
"It wasn't that funny," a man in a yellow hat muttered.
"Don't mind her," the green-suited woman said, face-palming. "Once she starts, there's no stopping Yukiko once she's entered the Laughing Hyena phase."
Even with the blue interior, the Velvet Room was at its liveliest with the multitude of guests. Akihiko challenged Reiji Kido, the man with the x-shaped scar on his forehead, to an arm wrestling competition, Yosuke and Mark were breakdancing to songs from Margaret's Stereo, Nando and Mitsuru were discussing business terminology, Koromaru was sticking with Shinjiro to avoid Kanji, Teddie had taken the attempt to flirt with the girls that came with Naoya and Tatsuya (with limited success and only stopping when he found out that Maki was in a relationship with Naoya), Kanji showing off to Ekichi about how much in common they had, Baofu just sitting off in the corner, the girl-talk with the four groups that the guys failed to understand, Katsuya, Naoto, and occasionally Chie talking about their jobs on the force, the Karaoke contest with Rise commenting on Ekichi's talent, and most importantly, everyone trying to prevent the return of Mystery Food X.
As with the festivities, Igor gave out one of his rare genuine smiles among the permanent one he sported. Even if they came at the request of Philemon, he couldn't help but feel touched that they would take time out of their journeys just to tend to him. Even with his services and the non-interference clause, he felt something stirring within.
'If they do Awaken,' he thought, 'I might as well see if they'd like to meet their...Senpai, so to speak. Considering the fact that the Thieves have a more...direct approach to their methods, but due to the circumstances, they had no choice but to follow his game.'
The chuckle he had was subtle that only Koromaru, Teddie, and Aigis could hear it.
'But every journey has its rocky starts. And for once, I have a long-time goal for my own as well as companions.'
