Irene will get her wish, she'll have everything we squishy Humans have, but she'll still be a stronk as fuck Dragon... Just not insane.

Martha is the only one that can work with her too.

{Tara's POV three days later}

Looking around, I hummed. Mementos was a weird place to me, aesthetically and to my senses. The train station felt like I was flying underwater... Which was an experience that was sorta difficult to explain, so unless someone had done it I'd just tell them to deal with the 'metaphor.' [And you wonder why I handle explanations.] I snorted at that. Martha was hitching along for the ride, which was surprising given what happened the last time we melded, which was what we were calling it now, while I was in the Metaverse. [Extenuating circumstances. Plus, if I were afraid of everything that had a possibility to harm me I'd never get anything done.] Eh, she had a point.

"Doesn't this bring back memories Aigis-chan?" My eyes drifted over to Fuuka, the serene woman had a smile on her face as she gently stroked the holster of her Evoker... Which would be sending up red flags to any normie if they ever saw Fuuka pet a gun like it was a pet, or take a look at the sniper she had strapped onto her back.

Meanwhile the aforementioned former android stopped looking around, and faintly scratched her chin. "Mhm... We'll be going down this time... There may be some form of joke or metaphor here, but I'm unsure just how to word it." That amused me.

"I'd make some kinda Heaven to Hell reference, but I've been to Hell and it's nicer there." That got me four different looks, and I just met them with a raised brow. "What? You KNOW my sister and mom are Devils, what's the big surprise here?" And they did! Naoto had asked all kinds of shit before she came here, so the information that mom and Rias weren't Human, and that Hell was an actual place we'd been too, was known to all.

So I wasn't exactly what the hold up was. "It's..." My eyes drifted to Naoto, who was rubbing her eyes. "It's different hearing someone casually say something like that. It's like saying 'Hey, did you know I kicked the Senator in the balls?' It's guaranteed to stop conversation and draw attention to whoever said it." ... Her point was proven considering the three of us were staring at her. Though Aigis and Fuuka nodded a moment later, while I agreed that she was right... I had no idea what Mona was thinking though.

Shacking that off, I turned to the cat, I dropped by early to get him for this while Akira and the rest of the Thieves were at school, who looked... Oh... OH... "Kitty, lookit me." Slowly, mechanically, he looked up and met my eyes. As soon as he did, I tried my best to will The Force into existence, and waved my hand at him. "You will not remember the last minute or so of the conversation." Now, I didn't mind if Akira and the Thieves found out that Hell was real and I was related to Devils, but they already had a bunch of stuff on their plate, and they were supposed to help Futaba later, so I couldn't put them through an existential crisis yet. That could come when they killed Not God.

Mona slowly blinked at me, and I knew it didn't work. "... I think I'd prefer a concussion to be honest."

Yeah... "I can give you one if you want." I raised an armor clad fist, because of course I was in the X792 set it had pretty much turned into one of my default outfits, for emphasis.

"I've changed my mind. What were we talking about?"

The sheer speed he changed his tune amused the fuck out of me, and from what I felt from our link, my sister too. "Good cat." He didn't even contradict me either. (Introducing him to Kuroka was a good idea after all.) That meeting was interesting on alot of levels. It WAS planned, but I'd thought about doing it later...

Kuroka though decided to just drop by yesterday while I was training the Thieves in the real world, 'catnapped' Morgana during the session, and decided to Talk-No-Jutsu him... Or something. Whenever I asked she just said 'It's between we bringers of misfortyan.' Cheeky cat wouldn't tell me, the cat boy wouldn't tell me, so I had no idea what the fuck happened. [And you DIDN'T bribe her with the most expensive sushi you could find?] ... When she put it like that... [Do you want me to bribe the answer out of her, or will you bribe Morgana for them?]

Blinking, I took a bit to think on that. {I... Don't know? It's their business, and while I'm thinking about it now, I don't exactly care enough to go into it later.} That would've sounded kinda dickish if anyone else heard it, but it was the truth. I considered the cat an acquaintance at the moment, I was closer to Ann, Akira and Yusuke, though Ryuji was in a puppy arc ever since I gave him a potion to fix his leg... (When I put it like that, it sorta seems like I'm going to make friends with the cat boy naturally... Hmm... Oh well, if it happens it happens.}

With that thought, I nodded and looked towards Fuuka when I felt the emergence of Juno. The goddess was enveloping her Other Self, while the comms we all had beeped to life. ~Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3.~

Aigis tapped her comm in response. "We read you loud and clear Delphi." I could feel my sister hum in approval at the code name Fuuka chose, while I just mentally rolled my eyes at her.

Looking at the former android, I was curious at how she'd lead this expedition. Sure, she was the leader for this run, mostly because the others from S.E.E.S were busy with some remnant Shadows that got out when they tried to use the Metanav to replicate or find the Dark Hour, while the Investigation Team had their own Shadows to deal with... Which was hilarious to me because they sort of got what they wanted, but fucked up getting it. [It's amusing yes, though it's fascinating that those realms were still there. Especially the fact that some Shadows were still there, a decade after the end of the Fool's Journey...] She went silent for a bit after that, but I could feel her annoyance. [Speaking of Shadows, my subject seems to be getting a little unruly... I'll be back.] And the link went quite.

I could tell she was still here, but she was focusing on whatever was going on over there, so it was more like she was idly looking over my shoulder rather then doing it on purpose.

"That's good and all... But why am I here again?" My focus went to the cat at that, and I idly wondered if he actually forgot due to me appropriating The Force... Even if it failed.

Thankfully, Aigis stepped up before I could question the sudden amnesia. "As Sakura-san's Dragon Form is too big to serve as transportation," I was slightly annoyed that I couldn't Shift and run wild, but I'd accept it. "We have decided to procure your assistance instead."

The cat took that in, then nodded. "Okay. But what are you looking for?"

Now that was a good question. "We are mainly searching for anything that could give us a clue about the Mental Shutdowns, or the person causing them." I doubted we'd find anything, though the detective wasn't exactly losing anything aside from time by doing this. Mona gave off another nod, so he knew this was serious. "Now then," She looked at the stairs, a frown on her face as she did. "You said you and the rest of the Phantom Thieves had managed to reach the second area earlier, yes?" Another nod. "Good. Now how does your method of reaching safe floors work?"

Mona bounced towards the stairs, talking about the mechanic, while I focused on my senses. The closer he got, the more something started to tickle them... Something felt wrong, but I had no idea what it was. The cat boy ended up doing something, the space ahead of me changing into something else, something... Heavier? (Hmm... Might get worse the lower we go.)

Tuning back in, I caught Aigis' gaze. "Rairyu, are you ready?"

Humming, I brought out my wings, Martha's Enchantment helped me not destroy Armour's that shouldn't work with my wings when I brought them out. With them out, I nodded towards the former android. "Yep."

That was all that was needed, and she knew that.

After a minute of making sure Naoto, Fuuka and the cat were ready, we formed up and made our way down the stairs. The Navi would normally stay behind, but with Juno's water attributed abilities, Fuuka's own experience as a member of S.E.E.S, as well as the literal fucking gun strapped on her back, she was fine to come with us until we reached a deeper safe zone.

So, we all walked down the stairs and into a new area.

But something went wrong.

Space twisted, my senses flipped and flopped as if I went from normal gravity to 0g as everything started fucking shaking like the world was mad.

It was wrong, and I saw I wasn't the only one affected by whatever was go...- The sound of thunder rang out, and I knew it wasn't me! Then I heard something cutting through the air... And it was familiar... Then it hit me.

It was familiar because Aigis shot at me alot when we trained.

Suddenly I didn't have the luxury to figure out how everyone else was taking the sudden trap. Instincts from both Erza and I took over. I didn't register the creature in front of us, idly knowing whatever it was was strong as fuck, I stood in front of Aigis and stood my ground. "REQUIP!" Gone was the X792 set, my body became a wall. A mountain that couldn't be climbed, and an object that refused to be moved. My arms slammed together, a bulwark against the bullet that tried to slam into Aigis.

Instead of the former android, the bullet met my shields, the Adamantine set made me an Immovable Object, my speed made me the fastest Tank in the world, so when even more shots rang out I didn't care where they were or who they were shot at, I Flashed around like an ADHD Lightning Bolt and stopped my squishy allies from being turned into bloody smears against the ground.

Then a moment or two after bullets started flying like they were going out of business, I heard a trio of shattering glass. I grinned like a shark when I heard an enraged roar coming from the resident swordswoman. "You will FALL before our might foul creature! Vorpal Blade!" I felt tears in reality form in front of me, and heard the bullets stop flying.

"Our fair sister is not alone either! With me sisters!" There was a buildup of power behind me, and I suddenly felt bad for whatever tried to kill us. """GOD'S HAND!/All Ordinances deploying!/DROWNING SEA!""" It was like a fucking bomb went off, in front off and behind me, though the latter could be blamed on Aigis since I swore I saw a fuckton of rockets and bullets fly over me and towards the creature while a goddamn ocean joined it.

Speaking of it, I moved my arms, my eyes locking onto the figure enveloped in the murky brown water. Even with the muck covering it, I could make out the sole eye glaring at me through the bag covering its head. The dual super magnums the thing had screamed danger to my recovering senses, while the thing itself was just as if not more dangerous then the guns. Its tattered clothes looked like they were stained in blood, the cracking chains floating around its body were too. All in all, it looked and felt like a crazy strong fucker. [A single minute. Can I take my eyes off of you for a single minute without something happening? And why are you fighting an Ultimate Class being?! HOW?!] I ignored that for the moment since I was in a fight.

"I shall take point, Athena to the left, Holmes take right, Yamato get behind it! Rairyu, take to the sky! This Reaper WILL NOT stand in our path!" I followed Aigis' order without skipping a beat, my Armor switching to Heaven's Wheel as I summoned hundreds of swords to act as my will. I idly made a note to buy Kiba something stupidly expensive for adding a fuckton of normal swords, and a bunch of 'Noble Phantasms', to my arsenal. "Delphi, get in position! Mona, do not stray from Delphi!"

As I was flying, I took in our surroundings. We were in a massive box like room, a pillar in the center and what looked like an exit way behind the Reaper. Hell, the room was big enough for me to Shift if it was needed, which was a good ace to have.

I'd just gotten over the Reaper, when it broke out of the murky depths of Juno's attack. The second it was free, the fucker shot a trio of 'bullets' at me with one gun, while the other blasted a chilling cold towards Aigis that nearly kicked my instincts into hibernation. I spun in response to the attack on me, bringing my metallic wings close so the bullets would just graze them, while making dozens of swords spin like drills before sending them off to retaliate.

While that happened, I saw Yamato get in position and charge up an Almighty attack, while Naoto was geared up and slashing toward the Reaper with wind blades. It wasn't an actual attack, more of a copy of the technique from One Piece, but it still did damage. [So Naoto is leaving the Skill usage to her Persona while she engages in physical combat. A valid strategy.] I sighed at the fact we were going to have commentary, but focused more on the monster in front of me.

My swords crashed against its hide, but the shattered the instant they did, so I wasn't sure if they did anything... Though they distracted it long enough for Athena to come in and start thrusting her spear faster then the Human eye could see at the fucker. She got in a good amount of stabs before the Reaper parried her spear and shot towards her with what looked like a bullet of pure darkness. The Greek Goddess blocked it with her shield, though the second shot which seemed like it was pure lightning sped towards her and looked like it would land given how fast it was going.

Seeing that, while also knowing she was weak to lightning, I Flashed towards Athena, mouth open and inhaled the bullet... And by god was it AMAZING. My reserves were already near full, but with this I was going BEYOND full. I couldn't keep it all contained though, so I made a judgement call and swapped Armors as I Flashed back above the Reaper. "Requip!" Gone were my swords, the wings of steel that were highly redundant, and the outfit that made me look like some warrior queen.

In its place was the Armadura Fairy set, recolored with a red base and golden streaks coursing over it as emerald lightning radiated off of me like I was Midoriya. My right hand tightened around the shaft of my Nakagami Spear, the spinning weapon being coated in emerald lightning as my Armor soaked in my excess mana and used it to boost my capabilities to levels only my Dragon Force would compare. I just needed one good chance, a chance I knew would come soon given the way Athena, Aigis, Naoto and Yamato were ganging up on the Reaper.

Aigis was laying into it by strafing around and blasting the fucker with good old bullets and missiles... (Does she just have infinite ammo or something?) I shooed that thought away, looking towards Athena, Naoto and Yamato who were engaging in a fight that looked like a dance. The swordswomen would keep the Reaper from using his guns, pointing them away from anyone else. Hell, when they weren't able to deflect the bullets, which turned into elemental attacks that made my skin break out in goosebumps with how strong they were, or were shot at me, Athena proved herself a good wall by blocking for the girls. The girls would then unleash hell onto the fucker in the form of Skills, bullets, swordsmanship and the occasional Byakurai from me. I'd thought of going for a Cero or two, but those were too AoE for this area, so single target moves were the name of the game...

A game we were about to win given everyone backed away with a call from Fuuka. ~RAIRYU, NOW!~

Without missing a beat I descended like a meteor, my spear spinning fast enough to burn the air and radiating a light so bright it made me look like a second sun. I was moments away from the Reaper when it noticed me, our eyes locking together as I roared. "I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL! NAKAGAMI STARFALL!" I'd kept the power restrained to the spear, so when I cleaved through the Reaper, it was like a 1,000 degree knife through literally anything... Which included the ground, since the momentum I had might've been fueled by me using 200% of my power.

"▅▅▄▄▄▃▃▂▂▃" That death knell hurt my ears, but thankfully it died down quickly before I stabbed them out.

Waving the dust away, I looked around and took in everyone's positions. Aigis and Athena were side by side, Yamato was radiating pride at having won as quickly as we did, Naoto was looking impressed, which may or may not have made me preen a bit. [We both know it did.] I blinked... I forgot she was there. [... I'm not even going to address that.] That was nice of her. [Mhm. Anyway, Fuuka and Morgana are still where they were when the fight began, and they both look fine.]

I blinked again. {Seriously? You can't even let me finish manually checking my surroundings?}

I could feel the eye roll from her. [You were pretty much done anyway.] I was a little annoyed that she was right. [I'm more curious about what this could mean, so hurry up and gather around, I want to get to the bottom of this.] Sighing, I complied with my master's order. [Hush insolent peasant, you will follow your mistresses orders without any snark.]

A snort tore its way out of my nose, and I was temped to laugh at the impression she did. {Yes mistress! Tara lives to follow mistresses' commands.} I was pretty sure I nailed the House Elf voice since my twin radiated amusement.

Anyway, with the dust settled, I jumped out of the crater, swapping back to my default set while putting my spear away, and landed with Aigis, who had returned Athena to her Sea of Soul. The former android nodded at me, a nod I reciprocated as the rest of our group gathered around us.

When everyone was here, the cat practically lost it. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

The girls and I shared a look, one I used my eyes to say 'don't look at me', since this was the first time I'd encountered some bullshit like that. The adult Persona Users turned their looks to each other, acknowledging me washing my hands with this.

The cat and I watched them converse for a bit before Aigis took the reigns. "That was a Reaper, the manifestation of 'Death' as viewed by Humanity." Aigis frowned here, and that didn't inspire confidence. "But for one to not only emerge without any warning, as well as partake in what seems to be an ambush, means something is wrong... Very wrong." She turned to the cat. "Morgana, we will be returning to the entrance."

With a nod, the cat dug something out of his pouch, threw it against the ground, and reality twisted again. [I'm slowly getting the idea that I shouldn't be here when you go into the Metaverse.] I would've snorted if I wasn't too busy not trying to lose my breakfast.

{Tara's General POV 30 minutes later}

After... That, we talked about what the hell happened.

The main theory was that we weren't exactly welcomed... And given the fact we were ambushed by 'Death' when we tried to go in, that theory held water. We even tried to go without Mona, leaving him at the entrance, and what would ya know we got jumped again! Having already beaten one Reaper, we easily beat the shit out of the other one, though that fucker was more aggressive then the last one, spamming AoE like it was nobody's business. That fight had resulted in Naoto getting clipped by some ungodly hot flames, but she took it like a champ.

Martha was interested to know if the next Reaper would fight in a way that would counter us... But when I asked her if she wanted me to literally dance with death, she decided it'd be better to not do that.

Like, at all.

Being the good sister that I was I agreed... Even though I liked the idea of killing Death.

Anyway, we figured out that the girls and I weren't welcomed in Mementos, and decided to go back to reality. I'd already handled their training for the day, so they were free to do whatever they wanted. It was around then that Martha disconnected and left me to my own mind.

Though that left me and Mona with nothing to do, so I said 'fuck it', stuffed the cat boy between my tits and went off to get us some food.

{Tara's POV}

"What're you in the mood for kitty?" I was wandering around Shibuya, no real destination in mind. Granted, I coulda grabbed a crepe or two if I wanted, but I didn't want to test if he was like Koneko when it came to sweets.

Morgana wiggled a bit, the fur of his chin tickling my tits as he looked around. "Uhhh... I don't know. I'd ask for something around here but I don't know where we are."

I stopped, looking down at him as he looked up at me. "... I want to say something, maybe some kind of insult, but I'm going to settle for giving you the judgmental stare." And I did just that, staring at the cat between my tits... (That's a way funnier thought then I was expecting.)

Aforementioned cat huffed at me, obviously annoyed. "How am I supposed to know where YOU brought me?! I've only been here for a few months! It doesn't help that Shibuya is absolutely massive!"

Moving again, I walked without a care in the world. "It sounds like I'm hearing excuses."

"Oh yeah?! Then why don't YOU find us somewhere to eat?"

I shrugged. "Guess we're getting sushi then."

It was like I flipped a switch, which, given the fact he was a cat, I just might've. He was practically radiating excitement at the offer of good food, good food that just so happened to be sushi. "SUSHI?! YES PLEASE!"

I snorted. (Just like Koneko and Kuroka.) That made me smile. Anyway, ignoring him for a sec, I let my senses free and took a good whiff, searching for the scent of fish. After a moment or two of filtering out everything else, I found it. "Alright, to the fish we go!"

"FISH!" I huffed at that, trying not to burst out laughing at the childlike glee in his voice.

We had some fish to get.

{30 minutes later}

(I don't know how we got here, but I'm ok with this.) Flying out of the ocean with a small school of fish in my claws, a shark and more fish in my jaws, I made my way to the secluded portion of the beach I left Morgana at. {Note to self, go fishing as a Dragon more often.}

The instant response was great. [... Excuse me?] I mentally laughed at the incredulous response. [What the hell are you doing?]

{... Fishing?} To be fair, I wasn't lying.

Too bad my sister didn't exactly buy that. [Oh really? So if I checked right now I would see you with a fishing rod in hand and a bucket of fish by your side?]

Getting close to land, I thought about how to respond to that. {Well, no... But we both know I'm too much of a spazzy bitch to do something like fish the normal way.}

I felt my sister mentally scratch her chin. [I know, but it's still exasperating that your taking your Draconic form out fishing. It's not exactly something I foresaw a Dragon doing.]

I mentally snorted as my body circled the area Morgana was. {Want me to go raze some random village out in the ass ends of Czech or something?}

[Do you even know where the Czech Republic is?]

I almost missed a beat of my wings at that, my body tilting and almost dropping some of my fish. {... It's a Republic?}

[... Hah... I don't know why I expected anything else.] I didn't even mind that comment, I didn't know a single fucking thing about the Czech Republic. [Anyway, I'll make the note regardless.]

That got a smile a smile out of me. {Thanks! Love you!}

She mentally huffed at me, but I knew she was amused. [You're welcome, and I love you too.] And there was the instant serotonin.

Being happy with my sister aside, I slowed down and brought my wings in as my paws hit the warm sand, the rest of my body following suit as I landed. Letting go of the fish in my claws, I started munching on the fishes I'd caught in my jaws. (Mhm... So goooood.) I was in happy land as I ate, idly noticing I was curling into myself as I did.

"... So... Many... FISH!" My eyes lazily opened, I didn't even notice when they closed, and locked onto the small form of Morgana. The little cat was drooling at the literal pile of fish I'd dumped onto our area. I couldn't help but smile at the way he stalked towards a few fish that were floundering around, his cat instincts getting the better of him. "COME TO PAPA!" He pounced on one of them, his fangs tearing through its skin, and clamping down on its throat.

From there it was nature at work. I watched on amused as the cat went to town on the fish I'd brought us, making way more of a dent then a creature his size should reasonably be capable of... Especially since we'd actually HAD some good sushi before this... (Ohhh, that's how we got here.) I was pretty sure he'd made some comment about getting some sushi/fish fresh, and me in my infinite wisdom decided 'hey, I can do that.' Which translated to going fishing the natural way.

Rolling my eyes, I swallowed down my food, my tongue running over my teeth in case some bones or flesh was stuck in them. When I found some I cleared them out, but when it came to the stuff that was stuck, I blew out some flames and turned them to ash. It was while I was doing that, that I noticed Morgana had collapsed onto another fish, happily rubbing his face against it and purring like a real cat. "'Not a cat', huh?" The small feline gazed up at me, hissed, and pawed at me, much to my amusement. "Not doing yourself any favors kitty." Que more hissing and yowling. (I've gotta admit, little guy's got balls of steel for throwing a fit at a multi ton golden dragon.)

After that we just kept eating/relaxing. Mona didn't seem to mind the fact he was getting bloody, far too gone in the marvelous thing that was the food coma. The sun and dripping water on my scales felt so nice, and after eating some more fish from the pile I'd scooped up, I felt the urge to nap. {Note to self, thank my wonderful and beautiful sister for the Notice-Me-Not/Aversion Wardstone.} I felt the smirk coming from her at that, but she didn't respond, deciding to stick with sending over her approval and amusement.

My mind was starting to take a backseat to the simpler instincts of my draconic side, sunbathing was something I loved, so I laid my head down on the sand, near Morgana and his fish mattress, and started to close my eyes. The Wardstone would keep us us hidden, so there was no reason to worry about some normies finding a multi ton Dragon chilling on the beach with a cat and a pile of fish.

I could tell the cat had fully succumbed to his food coma, so I had no reservations following him. So I closed my eyes and slept.

{A few hours later}

For a moment, I was confused about why Resonance was playing in my mind, but after groggily searching for the source, I understood it was coming from my Requip Space... Which meant it was coming from my phone... Which also meant the group chat with the Thieves was blowing up... (But do I wanna check it?) I was tempted to ignore it and go back to sleep, but then someone started calling me... And since it was the Tuxedo Mask Theme, I knew who it was. (Akiraaa, whyyy?) Grumbling to myself, I Shifted to my Human Form, ignoring the fish and cat, and brought my phone out.

And so I answered the call. "Tara-chan, where are you?"

Grumbling a bit, I still answered. "Beach." One word answer, I was still tired.

He didn't seem to care though. "Uhuh... And where's Morgana?"

"With me." Two words, fucking splendid.

"... Can you put him on?"

Looking towards the cat, I blinked at the way he was cuddling a fish with its eyes torn out... He was a sleep eater, I didn't know what to do with that information. "He's in a food coma."

That seemed to stump Akira, which gave me time to wake myself up. To do that, I held a hand out, willing my jar of Lightning Beads to appear. After it did, because of course I put them in my handy dandy pocket dimension when I got the chance, I popped the lid, took one out, and tossed that fucker into my mouth. With the injection of super coffee, I was back to running at 100%.

Now that I was awake, I noticed the fish were going bad... Frowning, I wondered what I could do with that, but Akira brought me out of my thoughts. "Tara? Why is Morgana in a food coma? Better yet, HOW?!"

Turning my attention back to the Thief, I hummed for a second, not entirely sure how to explain how this happened. "Uh... Let's just say you shouldn't ask a Dragon to go fish."

Silence... Pure silence on the other end... Then I heard him sigh. "I'm not going to ask." That sounded good for his mental. "Can you bring him back now? We're free from our prison, and we're setting up a meeting at Leblanc, and it'd be nice to have a full roster."

That made sense. "Sure. Just give us a bit, we both stink of fish."

"Okay, I'll let the others know. See you soon Tara-chan."

"Mhm. Later Akira." We hung up after that.

Putting my phone away, while also looking at the cat and the pile of fish, I scratched my chin. (Okay... How should I do this?) Thinking for a bit longer, I came up with an idea. /Baby, come here./ My Magic Circle appeared in front of me, smaller then it naturally would be since it was Natsu and not me using it, and revealed my precious little boy in all his smol glory. Seeing me, he rushed over, happily barking and running around me... But then he zoned into the fish... And I would swear up and down that the little baby looked like a Dragon looking at gold... Which, given he was MY familiar, made some sense.

As soon as he recognized there was a veritable feast before him, he literally dove headfirst into the fish... And if I thought Morgana eating more then his body weight in fish was a surprise, I was fucking gobsmacked when the little demon tore through the fish like the Tasmanian Devil.

In minutes, the pile of fish were nothing but bones and blood, my little boy looking as proud a pupper can be. I didn't eve n know what I was supposed to be feeling, so I just settled for scratching him behind the ear. "That's a good boy." Cause what else was I going to say?

Playing with him aside, I turned an eye towards the still sleeping cat, and had a thought. Natsu, the good boy that he is, felt my intentions through our bond. Looking at me for permission, the little rascal pounced at the cat boy the instant I gave the green light. "NYAAAAA!" I laughed my ass off at that, and only laughed harder when the two began playing tug of war with the fish Morgana was sleeping on. "Bris is myne ou filfy heethen!" I graduated to wheezing after that.

Eventually, Natsu let go, sending Morgana sprawling at the sudden lack of opposing force. "VICTORY!" And he immediately dug into the fish... I didn't know if he'd get sick from it, but he was a cat, so probably not.

I waited for him to finish up before telling him the news. "Kitty, Akira called a meeting." Looking up from his snack, he seemed ready to say something, but I cut him off. "Though we're not going to them straight away. First, we're taking a fucking bath." That seemed to remind him that we'd both ended up napping on the beach with a fuckton of fish.

Looking between me and the ocean, I could practically taste the defeat in the air. "Ugh... Fine."

I snorted. "Oh shaddup, you're going to be seeing me naked if that helps."

It was like he injected crack right into his heart given the way he instantly changed his mind. "TO BATHING WE GO!" I rolled my eyes at that. Morgana was a little perv, but I didn't mind. If he made me uncomfortable, which would take god levels of bullshit, I could just put the fear of Me in him by stuffing him in my draconic maw and not let him out until he cried for his mommy. Anyway, I sent my clothes into my Requip Space and grabbed the awe struck cat by the scruff of his neck before I jumped towards the ocean. "I CHANGED MY MI...-" I ignored that and decided to focus more on the cold water enveloping us.

He'd be fine.

{30 minutes later}

Walking out of an alley, I hummed as I rubbed my Familiar's head. He was dozing off on top of my head, little rumbles coming from his throat as he happily turned into a puddle. Morgana was draped across my shoulders like a fur scarf, he would've preferred to be back in his own personal Heaven, but the feeling of being between my breasts while I Flashed around was apparently strange to him, so we decided to do this. Though, neither of us were complaining. It was nice.

Anyway, I made my way towards Uncle Ro's cafe.

I liked the little jingle that happened when I opened the door. "It is I, redhead mc sexy bitch!" Hearing/seeing Uncle Ro, Ryuji, and Ann all choke made me cackle like a mad bitch. "Worship me at your leisure." The look of amusement I was getting from Morgana, Akira and Azalea were great... (Wait a minute.) Looking at the long haired Half Fallen, I blinked when I realized that yes, she was here. "Hey Potter, how ya doin?"

Que the annoyed but still somewhat fond eye roll. "Evening you annoying bint." I huffed at that, ru...- "Go fishing lately?" I choked.

Everyone else seemed confused, though my fellow chokers were still recovering, so that left it up to someone else to question why I was now beating the fuck out of my chest.

"Fishing? Why would that..." Makoto saw the smirk on the Half Fallen's face, as well as the distress on Morgana's and my faces, and put it together that she was missing something. "Okay, what did we miss?"

And that was the question that got the Potter lookalike going. "Oh would you like to know? Would you truly wish to know what I could possibly be talking about?" I was just about to lunge the bitch, but Makoto and the rest of the Thieves nodded, giving the woman all she needed. "Well a few hours ago I was set free from my responsibilities of a working adult, so what do I decide to do? Well I go to the beach of course, why would I not? So, grabbing some swimwear, some drinks and other commodities, I went off to enjoy a break." She grinned at me here, and I was so tempted to whack her upside the head to get her to shut up. "But when I get there, what do I see? Oh but a slumbering Dragon and her small horde of fish laying curled upon the sands!" I was going to throttle her.

The Thieves were looking at me, jaws wide open, Mona had slid off my shoulders at some point, so I was the center of attention... Which I was normally fine with, but I was sorta embarrassed about being seen. So, bringing out and wrapping my tail around the Half Fallen's waist, I yanked her towards me and looked her in the eyes. "We're gonna go fight. Declining is not an option."

Azalea stared at me for a moment, eyes wide as I embodied the 'consequences of my own actions' meme, then nodded. "Understandable... Sora, I'll let you know if our date is to be postponed."

My eyes turned towards Uncle Ro, the old barista sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. I'll see you later love." I mimed a gag at that, and the old fucker had the audacity to roll his eyes at me. "Ah shut it spark plug." My eye twitched. "Go have your fun, I'll make your usual for when you get back." And now I was fine with this.

Nodding, I turned, careful not to bash Azalea into the wall or the booths, and made my way out. "I'll be back! Love ya Uncle Ro!"

"Love ya too spark plug." And off I went.

{Akira's POV}

Huh... "Well... That happened." I was sort of annoyed that Arsene said that a moment before I could think it.

My True Self felt smug, but I shook it off, turning to Boss, who seemed both exasperated and fond as he looked towards the door. "Hey Boss?" That got his, and the rest of my Thieves attention.

"Yeah kid?"

I was a little worried about bringing this up, but after the blatant showing that Tara had just done, I thought now was a good moment. "We're good with the whole Phantom Thief thing... Right?"

The whole thing with Boss was strange to me. He'd been an example of a good adult to all of us, and was someone that held his hand out and offered to take me in at my lowest point. I was worried that if he had some kind of issue, some problem with me and my Thieves, that he'd turn his back on me. It was an irrational worry, the man had a Dragon for a niece after all and he seemed fine with it.

Hell, he was even dating a Fallen Angel for crying out loud!

I knew my fears were irrational and all, but they were still there. But hearing Boss scoff, and seeing him smile, they went away a bit. "Kid, one of my nieces is a Dragon, my sister and another niece are Devils, my grand nieces are Yokai, and my girlfriend is a Fallen Angel. Why would you think I'd have anything against you?"

When he put it like that... (Ok, yeah, that just makes se...- Wait a minute.) Staring at him, I felt my mouth move faster then my mind. "Devil's and Yokai? Grand nieces?"

There was a pause at that, and I idly noticed that everyone seemed just as interested as I was. Boss saw that, looked towards the door for a bit, then shrugged as he looked back. "Tara and Martha, my biological nieces, both adopted a Yokai girl... Hmm... Give me a sec." We watched in silence as Boss fished his phone out of his pocket, unlock it, and start to browse through it. "Ah, here we go." Putting it on the counter, we all leaned closer to see what the picture was...

"... Holy shit, cat girls are REAL!" There was a moment of shared exasperation as my Thieves and Boss looked at Ryuji, all of us with the same look of 'seriously?' The blonde runner saw that, and looked at us like WE were dumb ones. "Dudes... Cat girl." Like that was supposed to explain everything!

Shaking him off, I turned back to the picture. Tara was in a furry white leotard with big white paws on her hands, white cat ears on her head and a white tail behind her. She looked like a deer in headlights as she stared at another, much shorter girl who ALSO had white cat ears and a white cat tail behind her. "Rias," We looked back to Boss, an amused smirk on his face. "My other niece, sent the picture. The kid Tara's in a staring contest with is her adoptive daughter, Sakura Koneko, a Nekoshu." No idea what the hell that was, but my mind assumed they were related to Nekomata.

"Koneko? Seriously?" There was some form of irony here having Ann ask that.

Boss let out a small laugh at that, not offended at all. "Blame Rias. I won't go into details, but just blame Rias." That told us nothing! What were we blaming her for?! Shaking that off, Boss picked his phone back up and went back to browsing through it. A few moments later he put it back down again, another picture on the screen.

Leaning forwards again, I was surprised at what I was seeing. Sure, we'd seen a picture of the other twin, but she seemed like the 'no nonsense' type that balanced out her sister. But the woman in the picture looked so at peace as she laid in a beanbag chair, eyes closed with a smile on her face as she hugged a small girl to her chest. Said girl had two big white rabbit like ears coming from the top of her head, so the question of what kind of Yokai she was never even needed to be asked. ""AWW!"" I nearly snorted at the girls identical coos.

"One cannot deny that it is an adorable image." Quite the commentary from my True Self.

/Oh it's cute as fuck, I'm not denying it./

"But?"

I blinked. /But what?/

I could feel the slow blink Arsene gave me, it was like he was a cat or something. "Nevermind then." I rolled my eyes at him.

Turning back to reality, I caught Boss' smirk. "Sakura Cynthia, Martha's adopted daughter. Don't let the cutie fool you though, kid's a walking talking sugar fueled warhead." Huh? I wasn't the only one surprised at this, since I could see my Thieves all look towards Boss. Said man huffed in amusement, his eyes taking on the quality of someone remembering something. "I was on call with my sister,"(They're cousins, but again, he sees Illiya as a sister) "We were having a normal conversation while she was watching the kid, normal things like 'any new customers', 'how was your day', things like that. All of sudden she goes quiet, I don't think much of it, but then then she goes 'Oh shit, HONEY, DON'T SET THE FOREST ON FIRE! IT HASN'T HEALED ENOUGH FROM THE LAST ONE!' I was so surprised that I almost dropped the plate I was cleaning!" There were varying reactions to that story.

Ryuji burst out laughing.

Yusuke was silently amazed.

Morgana had his jaw dropped.

Makoto looked like she was cycling between amused, dismayed, and gobsmacked.

Ann's lips twitched in a way I knew meant she wanted to laugh, but was doing her best not too.

Meanwhile, I was trying not to burst out laughing like my blonde haired bestfriend. The idea of a small rabbit girl destroying a forest, surveying the destruction she caused, and going 'oops', was absolutely hilarious to me.

Thankfully, my True Self was doing his best to wheeze out his lungs given the volume of his laughter. The sound making it easier for me to not laugh considering I had a demon bellowing his amusement. "#Ah, Koromaru would've loved that girl.#" The wistful melancholy coming from Orpheus Picaro surprised us, but it helped keep me from laughing. It even got Arsene to slowly stop and take in the fact his fellow Active Persona was feeling something aside from amusement.

Though, I was a little worried. /Are you okay Orpheus?/

The Father of Music was silent, but I could tell he was reminiscing. "#Yes, I am... I'm just being remembering a few times we were reminded one of our members was a dog. A smart one, but a dog nonetheless.#"

I grinned at that. /If you'd like, I wouldn't mind hearing some tales about that./

He went silent again, but I felt the breeze of appreciation roll through my mind. "#I think I will take you up on that, Akira.#"

Smiling at that, I tuned back into Boss talking, again. "Anyway, Illiya and Rias are a whole other thing. If you kids want to know more, just ask Tara, she'll give you the whole nine yards." Weird phrase but okay. "Anyway, you were going to do some Phantom Thief business, right?" I blinked, surprised that he came to that conclusion. Boss must've understood that though since he snorted. "Oh please kid, all of your friends are here and you JUST asked me if I was fine with you being a Phantom Thief. I'm aged like wine, not stupid."

Okay, I felt dumb now. That made so much sense that a toddler could see it.

I also decided to ignore the way Ryuji snickered and elbowed me, I wasn't rising to the bait.

Nodding at Boss, I looked at my Thieves, and after getting nods in return, I turned back to him, taking in the amused grin on his face and glint in his eyes. "Well, we'll be back in a bit Boss." His response was a lazy wave to dismiss us, which we took in stride as we went up stairs to my room.

Looking around at my Thieves, I internally grinned at how serious they looked. Sure, Ryuji looked like he was still close to laughing, but that was the best we were going to get to be honest. "Now, today's agenda. We're 3/4ths of the way through the Palace, our next run will most likely result in us reaching the Treasure Room." I watched as everyone nodded at that, understanding that statement for the fact that it was. "In light of that, I have to ask. Do we go in today and reach the Treasure Room, or go on Monday?"

That led into a discussion between us all.

Ryuji didn't mind when we went, just that we did and that we got it over with. (About what I expected to be honest. Ryuji, especially now with his leg healed, is kind of always a hair trigger away from doing something proactive.)

Yusuke was sort of in the same boat, he just worded it way longer.

Morgana felt like we should go today, we were ready, we had enough medicine and the skills to do it thanks to the training we were getting, so it made sense to him to go for it.

Ann was all for going today, she didn't like the fact Kaneshiro had something over us, and wanted it dealt with.

Makoto was of the same opinion, though she was more aggressive about it. (Which again, makes sense given what Shadow Kaneshiro implied and threatened her and her sister with.)

Taking everyone's opinions in, I nodded. "Then it's settled. We're going in."

"Beginning Navigation."

[Omake - Let's have some fun, Doctor. Akechi's POV same day.]

Thinking about the recent... Changes in my life, the source wasn't exactly hard to point out. Sure, those 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts' were a nuisance that seemed to have access to the Metaverse, but they had been around for a few months, and my... 'Benefactor', hadn't shown himself when they first appeared, so while the chances they were involved were there, they weren't that high.

(But my predecessor shows up and all of a sudden my own personal god decides to show his face? My, if that isn't the biggest red fucking flag I've ever seen I'll drop the act and just shoot my donor today.) Scowling at that, I directed my thoughts away from him. (That begs the question... Just how big of a risk is this so called 'Investigation Queen' for my god to grace little old me?) I'd looked up my predecessor before, I'd HAD too after being crowned the second coming of the 'Detective Prince' after all.

But when I had, I had found myself curious about those 'Mysterious Murders' that had taken place. At the time it was just a passing interest, an 'oh that's interesting' kind of thing... (But when I look at it with a different eye... A different perspective... It makes sense.) I had pondered if there had been others, individuals with the blessing of a Persona, and thanks to not only those 'Phantom Thieves', but my Benefactor's anxiousness about Shirogane Naoto, I had my answer.

There were others.

People like me, blessed with the power that could rend mortals and lead to the dismantling of society.

... And they were powerful enough for my own god to show his hand, to decide that I needed a little help to stack the game in my favor. (And isn't THAT a joy to know? I'm but another pawn in some higher beings game, another actor in the play...)

"What a fucking joke." Getting up, I made my way towards the balcony of my apartment.

I needed some fr...- "I am getting quite annoyed at your little pity party oh Other Self of mine."

I paused for a moment, a frown instantly coming to my face before I wiped it away as soon as it came. /Oh really? Am I to just believe you have come to terms with being the plaything to some self proclaimed god?!/

Loki was silent for a moment, but then I felt the madness inherent to my True Self twist as my reflection in the glass door in front of me changed to the black and white form of Loki. Even with no eyes or mouth, I knew the God of Lies was snarling at me. "Do not take my recrimination of your pitiful excuse of evaluating our lot in life as confirmation of acceptance, for it is ANYTHING but! I grow sick and tired of your pointless angst, and I will tolerate it no longer!" Raising a brow at the venom coming from Loki, I sat back onto the couch, amused, but also interested in where this was going to go.

Seeing this, Loki moved out of the glass reflection, his form appearing onto my TV. "So some foolish cretin dares to see US as pawns, so what?! We plan to topple the empire of one self proclaimed ruler, what is another to add to the list?!"

I hummed at that, seeing the point he was making. "And how would you propose that? Keep in mind the possibility that this entire conversation is being monitored, and the jig is already up. How would we go about toppling a 'god?'"

It was a slow thing, but gradually Loki began to chuckle. Then it built up into a demented cackle that would fit the most broken of creatures. "Oh my dear Other Self, you forget who I am!" Spinning around with his arms wide open, I watched as my True Self built himself up into a fervor. "I am Loki, the Father of Lies! Father of the Beast of Ragnarok and the Monsters of Asgard! To anyone aside from us this conversation will sound quite different, I would wager all that I am of that."

He made some good points... Still. "And yet, what if for all your bluster, all your grandstanding, your technique failed? That even now, our Benefactor is listening to us?"

Loki disappeared from the TV, his illusory form appearing above the table as he stared me in my eyes. Neither of us moved as we stared at the other, which was an amusing thought given Loki had no eyes. "I. Am. Loki. I have no equal, no better, no rival when it comes to the weaving of an illusion or lie. I. Am. Better! If I say we are not being understood then we. Are. Not. Being. Understood. Do I make myself clear my Other Self?"

Humming some more, I slowly grinned at my True Self. "Then I shall leave it up to you, my True Self." Loki huffed in satisfaction, dispelling himself from my sight. "However," He reappeared, annoyance rolling off of him. "What about them?"

Loki paused, his head tilting a bit as he regarded my question. He needed no clarification, understanding just who I meant. "The... Ugh, the 'Hero' is no issue. I can easily keep him suppressed, locked away in his little hovel in the Sea of Our Soul." That was good. While Robin Hood was an interesting addition to battle, his nature made me want to scream. "The Doctor on the other hand... May be useful." I raised a brow, intrigued at that. Sensing my interest, he went on. "While weak and needing some training, the Doctor is quite the interesting character. Why, he's even similar to my illustrious self in a way or two."

If I hadn't been interested before, I was now. "How?"

If he could, Loki would most likely be grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "Oh he has such an interesting ability! We both know how we can Twist some Shadows In Madness, but the dear Doctor seems to be able to do that to people! It's just so fascinating!" My eyes widened at the implication, ideas and plans surging forth as this new ability gave me new options of ruining my donors cabal. "It gets even better my Other Self!"

"How?!" I was already beyond interested in the ramifications of this new ability, but it could get better?!

Loki chuckled, amusement filling up my mind as the God of Lies laughed. "Just THINK my dear boy, what is the Doctor known for?"

That gave me some pause, but when I connected the dots, I laughed. It was slow, but just like my True Self, it built into a mad cackle that spoke of our madness. "Oh that's brilliant! Perfect! This, we can USE this!"

Loki joined my laughter as we both understood just how much this would change the game. "Say, how about we have a little... Talk, with the Doctor?"

I slowly stopped laughing, considering the idea, before I had an idea of my own. /Question, if we Twisted him, would we be able to keep the Monster, or would it fail?/

I could tell my question brought my Other Self pause, his 'expression' shifting to one of curiosity. "Why, that sounds like something we should test... He, hehehe, oh the irony! The Mad Doctor becoming a little test subject! Oh yes, I do enjoy how you think. Why, I do believe we should test this right now!" Loki disappeared again, but I could feel him working his way through our Sea of Soul, stopping in the area of our newest 'guest.' "Come dear Doctor, it's about time you come out."

I felt the portion of my mind Loki and I had barricaded, open, a new presence seeping into my awareness. "`What do you want, charlatan?`"

The cruel laughter of the God of Lies filled my mind, and I grinned along with him. "Well dear Doctor, we wish to conduct a test!" Madness filled my soul as Loki's ability wormed into my very being. "Now dear Doctor, let us see how hidden Mr Hyde truly is."

This was supposed to be an Ann x Tara chapter, them going on a date and shit... But my muse had other ideas so here we fucking went.

To anyone that thinks the Reaper fight was too easy, here's my view of things. Aigis and Fuuka have already fought a Reaper, I think they did anyway, and so did Naoto, again I'm pretty sure she did, so they know what to expect. That paired with the fact that they've been training to not only get back in shape, but get better, they also get the boosts that the Thieves did, so they're stronger. So Ultimate Persona's + Better Stats + Lightning Dragon = Reckt Reaper.

As for Akechi...

That happened.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde fits Akechi so I decided that's who he'd manifest with his bond to 'Igor.' The Good Doctor will give Akechi healing skills, Psy skills, and has weaknesses to both Light and Dark when he's in use...

He also let's Akechi turn people into Psychopaths that could be your perfectly 'normal' next door neighbor, but that's neither here nor there.

By the way it's the 25th in universe in case anyone was wondering.

Anyway, next chapter we're taking a look at what's going on over in Kuoh with Martha. A certain arc is coming up, but it'll have a twist that's been foreshadowed for a bit.