Washington D.C, United States of America, 2400 hours, 20XX

"Nineteen eighty seven. President Reagan signs the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Mikhail Gorbachev, banning all land-based medium to short range nuclear weapons."

The projector whirred and clicked as it shot out an image.

"With this new development, Project SEELE, based off of captured Nazi research from the Second World War is greenlit. The project aims to research human cognition and the collective subconscious as a whole. In order to create a weapon."

"Nineteen eighty nine. The wall falls, Communism is on its way out, the Cold War is ending. Funding is cut."

An image showing the collapse of the Berlin Wall is presented.

"Nineteen ninety one. The Soviet Union dissolves. Funding is pulled entirely. All efforts on the project are halted."

"Nineteen ninety four. Circuit Agent Aldrich Ames is revealed to have worked for Moscow Center as a double agent, and is arrested. In conjunction, in Two thousand and one, Bureau agent Robert Hansen is also revealed to be a double agent working for Moscow. It is described as the 'worst intelligence disaster in U.S history."

"Because of the timeline of events, we believe it is the action of these individuals which resulted in the Russians obtaining information and our research on Project SEELE. The Russians then made their own efforts, culminating in what they call 'PROJEKT METAVSELENAYA."

"Thanks to our agents and operatives, we have received intel that the Russians are using the weapon to make a play in Japan."

A map of Japan is projected onto the screen.

"We are currently unsure as to why Japan is the target, but our specialists and analysts have some ideas, ranging from using the country as a testing ground, creating a diversion from developments in Eastern Europe, or undermining democracy and our presence in the Pacific."

"Regardless, our field agents and operatives report there are Russian funded political parties within the country, and they are rapidly gaining influence. Even worse, there is evidence to suggest members of Japanese law enforcement and self defense force personnel hold sympathies to these parties."

"In short, we cannot fully trust what the Japanese tell us."

"...Well, thank you Mr. Brooke, this.. Sounds very interesting." One of the men at the table began. "But this… sounds a little far fetched, don't you think?"

"Project SEELE always seemed more like… fiction than fact, even for our standards, and even if this is as valid as a threat you present it to be, there's storm clouds gathering over Europe, wouldn't that be a more pressing matter?"

"In that case, allow me to introduce the man best suited to respond to that, Anthony Hastings, head of Circuit Operations, Far East Division." He gestured to another man, wearing a suit.

"...Mr Hastings." Another man spoke. "Why should we take this.. PROJEKT threat seriously, when a war is on the horizon?"

"Well for starters, you don't have to." The man called Hastings prefaced. "But, aside from the possibility of losing our main ally and foothold in the Pacific, if PROJEKT METAVSELENAYA is not contained, neutralized or back under our control, it will most likely be used in the upcoming invasion."

"Because the weapon targets one's cognition, the Russians can use it to carry out a decapitation strike, theoretically, and steamroll the war. Short of weapons of mass destruction, there are no conventional weapons that can stop PROJEKT METAVSELENAYA"

"After that, they are more or less free to use it on the democracies of the world, and they have all the plausible deniability they want to do it."

CREAK

All of a sudden, the doors of the corner of the room flew open.

"Mister President." Everyone in the room stood at attention.

"At ease gentlemen."

"Sir, this is Anthon-"

"I know his name." The President quickly interrupted. "Who do you think assigned him this position?"

"Is the threat real?"

"Yes sir, we believe it is." The man named Brooke confirmed.

"Can you stop them?" The President turned to Hastings.

"We've already begun efforts, and we have made tangible progress."

"Give Mister Hastings whatever he wants." The President decided.

"But Mr President, won't this be a sideshow to Europe?" The other man objected. "We don't even know if this isn't just a Russian distraction."

"No, my word is final." The President replied.

"We can't afford another defeat, not after Afghanistan. Do you know what message we'll send if we lose Japan? We'll tell the world that free will and democracy can't resist authoritarianism."

"Gentlemen, as we speak, we are in the foundation of what may be a Second Cold War. Democracy and the free world as a whole are on the back foot. With the recent Russian interference in global elections, this is a mission of utmost importance."

He turned to Hastings.

"I know you won't fail us."

"So, moment of truth, eh?"

"You got it."

The fake blonde rubbed his hands together while Ren sipped a cup of coffee on the walk to school.

The aura of tension had returned, greater than before. The question remained:

Would Kamoshida show up?

"Personally, I doubt it." Ren voiced his opinion. "It's a critical time, especially with the Shiho incident, I don't think they want any distractions, especially with one of their top teachers going AWOL."

"I dunno man, I bet Ann five hundred yen that the bastard will be back." Ryuji replied.

"...I assure you that you're probably not gonna be seeing that money back." Ren answered, tossing the empty cup into a nearby trash can.

"...Why are you so sure?" Ryuji protested.

"...Well.. Call it a gut feeling." Ren answered.

"...You and your feelings." Ryuji grumbled. "I dunno how, but you always seem to be right about this kinda stuff even If you have no reason to be."

The gates of the school were open, as per usual, and the two walked up the front steps, shoes pounding against the concrete.

There was no Kamoshida waiting to greet them.

"...No Kamoshida….. I'll take that as a good sign." Ryuji mumbled. "Not for my bet though."

"Eh, you dug your grave, go lie in it." Ren gave a light slap on the shoulder.

Students were scattered around the halls, forming their own little groups, a familiar sight. Scraps of gossip and conversation spilled out.

" They must've gotten a new gym teacher to distract us from the cards!"

"That video had to have been real! But how did they record it!?"

"I dunno about you guys, but I like Ms. Ibarazaki more than Kamoshida."

"I wonder why the police haven't been called? I bet the Principal wants to keep this silent!"

Ren and Ryuji leaned up against the wall.

"We really did a number on them, didn't we?" Ryuji whispered.

Instead of the celebration one might expect from ridding the school of Kamoshida, there was an atmosphere of paranoia and fear amongst the student population. While the calling cards had done their job, they might have done it too effectively.

The students who had benefited from Kamoshida were shocked or in deep disbelief, while his victims remained in silence.

"Oh, hi guys! How's it going?"

Ryuji and Ren spun around to see who spoke.

"Oh my god." Ryuji released a sigh of relief, knees on the verge of giving out. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you Emi."

"It's good to see you again too!" Emi quickly caught the collapsing Ryuji. "But this seems a little extreme…."

"I got him, I got him." Ren quickly wrestled Ryuji back upright. "Please forgive him, you're the only adult other than his mom, probably, that he's actually looked up to in a long time…"

"Sorry, sorry." Ryuji composed himself, before dusting off his clothes. "So I take it that Kamoshida's not here?"

"Nope!" Emi confirmed. "Not a trace of him, with the tournament so close, the principal can't afford to wait for him."

"Although after a day here, I'm getting the feeling that he wasn't so liked here…"

"...You could say that." Ren replied.

"Anyways, even though I do have my work cut for me," Emi began. "There's an assembly this morning."

"For real?" Ryuji asked. "Why?"

"Dude." Ren nudged the fake blonde with an elbow. "There's been a suicide attempt at the end of last week, then calling cards, and a star teacher absent within this same week. Doesn't that warrant at least a little discussion?"

"...You may have a point there…" Ryuji conceded.

"... WAIT-WAIT-WAIT." Emi suddenly exclaimed. "There's been a suicide attempt!? I-I wasn't told about this.."

"So, uh, one of the volleyball players, uh, Shiho Suzui." Ren began. "At the tail end last week, she jumped off the school roof in a suicide attempt. If I recall, she's currently comatose in a hospital."

"...Oh, so that's why she didn't show up to class." Emi facepalmed. " Apparently they didn't bother to update the attendance lists."

"...Okay, so, thanks for telling me, I guess?" Emi told the two. "Now, I'm gonna need a minute to process this, and also I'm gonna be saying a few words at the assembly, so I think it's best if you guys run along now."

"We will." Ren and Ryuj both smiled, before parting ways with the teacher.

"See you later!" Emi waved.

They made their way to the gym, which doubled as an auditorium of sorts for scenarios such as this.

"...Jesus Christ!" Ryuji remarked. "I haven't seen the entire school single room a in a while."

True to his word, the room was packed with students and a handful of staff.

"Ugh, what's with the sudden morning assembly?" A voice came from the crowd.

"-It's about the girl who jumped, isn't it?" Another replied. "What, they're gonna tell us to not jump?"

"...If your friends jumped off a roof, would you?"

"...You need to get some help man."

" Ahem, good morning everyone," The speakers blasted out. " Let's begin this school-wide morning assembly."

It was the Principal.

"...You know Ren," Ryuji leaned over and whispered. "Does that man have a neck?"

"..." Ren searched for a response. "...Less of a man, more of a meatball in a suit."

" As you all know, a tragic event took place the other day. Thankfully, we have been informed she has pulled through, but will take time to recover."

" Everyone here has a bright future ahead, I implore you to rethink the importance of life-"

"See, what did I tell you." A whisper came from a student in the crowd.

BANG!

At the other corner of the auditorium, the doors flew open, revealing-

" Mr. Kamoshida, what is the-"

"I have been reborn." The man explained. He hung his head down, and spoke in calm tone, devoid of the pride he normally had.

"... It's time I confess. You all deserve to know the truth."

The gym teacher proceeded to make his way to the podium where the Principal was.

Ren couldn't help but notice there was a sort of limp in the way Kamoshida walked.

"Oh man, I've been waiting for this!" Ryuji whispered ecstatically. "If I didn't bet those five hundred yen, I coulda been munching on popcorn now!"

"I have repeatedly done things that are inappropriate for a teacher." The disgraced teacher began to ramble. "I have verbally and physically abused students, and I have sexually harassed female students."

"I am why Shiho Suzui tried to kill herself."

He fell to his knees.

"I extorted her and her friends for sexual relations."

There was a collective gasp amongst the staff.

"I sentenced students I didn't like to expulsion. I will rescind them. I am truly sorry for what I have done."

"...As… such.." Kamoshida shakily looked up and locked eyes with a certain blonde hair, blue eyes, and a quarter American girl. "I will be turning myself into the police. Please call them."

Ann simply glared back, nodding in approval.

He then broke eye contact and turned to the Principal.

"I resign my position. Effective now."

For several seconds, the room was filled with deafening silence.

"... T-this morning assembly is over." The Principal declared, before regaining his composure. " Please return to your classes. Now."

A wave of murmurs, gossip and rumors filled the air.

"... Does that mean the calling card was real!?"

" See, I was right!"

"Holy shit, man."

"Finally! Fuck that bastard."

" Return to your classes at once!" The Principal ordered again.

" Mission accomplished ." Ren muttered under his breath.

"...Well, that's a score settled." Ryuji spoke. "What a relief." He muttered.

"Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead." Ann replied. "So it did work." She turned to Ren.

"Damn right it did." A pair of cat ears poked out of Ren's bag. "See, I wasn't lying."

"...I never doubted you." Ryuji have a pat to the cat's head.

"...Yeah, right.." Morgana shot him a dirty look.

"...Was this really for the best?" Ann questioned. "It's great we got our 'little vengeance', but we did kinda literally and figuratively break into his cognition and change his heart by force."

"... I'd say it's for the best." Ren spoke. "It was him or us, and we chose us."

"... I'm with you." Ryuji told Ren.

"Uh, hey guys," Morgan's ears perked. "We have company." The feline then retreated back into the bag.

"... Jesus Christ, Mishima." Ryuji turned around. "You look like shit."

Mishima, flanked by two other students, ignored him. "Takamaki san, I owe you an apology."

"W-we all knew, but we turned a blind eye." One of the students admitted.

".. It's so obvious now, but I-I didn't know.."

"... It's alright, I can understand. You were all coerced and deceived." Ann answered. "But I also share some of the blame, I allowed him to continue his acts and allowed myself to be his victim."

"...Thank you for accepting." One of the students bowed. "... I'd like to make it up to you."

"Hmmh?" Ann replied with confusion.

"...I know you've not been accepted much in this school." She croaked out. "But, I have a friend in the student council, and she wants you to talk with her and the rest of the council to prevent something like this from happening again."

"... Really?" Ann asked. "...Sure, I'd be happy to."

"...Great, we can arrange a time, we'll tell you when we can." The student let out a smile, but she was not the only person to,

Because Ren had a smug grin in the back.

"Hey you guys, get back to class!"

"Emi sensei?" Ryuji turned around.

"...We need to go now." Mishima finished, before him and the others began leaving.

"...So, hi guys, it's good to see you all again." Emi greeted warmly. "Normally, I'd probably be pushing you all back to your classes, but I feel like we need to talk, you specifically." She pointed to Ann.

"We had a board meeting immediately after the assembly," Emi began, "And uh… it's how do I put it?.. A trainwreck."

"The good news is, I'm your full time gym teacher now!"

"That's great!" Ryuji spoke.

"Good for you." Ann added.

"Glad to hear that." Ren spoke.

"The bad news is…" Emi explained. "I have my work cut out for me. Alot, Like I have to reorganize a lot of the teams, fix a lot of what he broke, and kinda shake the bad image."

"Apparently he took in a lot of… less than stellar athletes just because of favouritism, so I have to get rid of those, and now there's vacancies in the teams." She continued. She turned to Ryuji. "So congratulations, you have a spot on the new track team."

"...W-wow. T-thanks…" Ryuji was somewhat dumbfounded.

"Come by tomorrow, and we'll work things out." Emi smiled. "And now you, Ann Takamaki, I recall?"

"...I kinda feel I owe you an apology." She told Ann. "I didn't know the last guy was… a sex offender, and I'm sorry I didn't ask questions sooner,, especially when they gave me attendance lists with Shiho's name on them. And the fact that a bunch of students were talking about how bad he was in my class yesterday."

"Aww, it's okay." Ann spoke. "You've only been here for a day and half, you couldn't have known."

"If anything," Ren began, "We should be thanking you for giving us a chance."

"Oh, please, no need to thank me, it's what a teacher's supposed to do." Emi dismissed. "Listen, from now on, if you guys need someone to talk to, or to represent you at board meetings, my door is open." She smiled.

"We appreciate it, Ibarazaki sensei. We truly do." Ann did a small bow.

"You're all very welcome." Emi answered. "Oh, and if you all have spare time or just want somewhere to hang out, feel free to pop by the gym."

"For real!?" Ryuji asked.

"Of course!" Emi answered. "Ah, I almost forgot."

She dug through her pockets and fished out some keys, and tossed them to Ryuji.

"If you're gonna be head of the track team again, you're gonna need to practice."

And so, she disappeared back out into the halls.

"...You know, I feel, we could use a victory celebration of sorts." Ren spoke. "You all wanna go back to the cafe after school?"

BANG

BANG

BANG

"Come in."

The door swung open, revealing a young woman, who slinked in, out of the cold.

"You wished to see me, sir?"

"Yes I did, please take a seat." He ordered. "Close the door."

The young woman obeyed, before cautiously pulling out the chair and taking a seat in front of his desk.

"What we are about to discuss is not to leave the room, understand?" He told her.

"Understood, sir." She replied.

"Good. Do you recall the debacle at the morning assembly?" He spoke, to which the young woman nodded. "As we speak, Kamoshida is currently within a holding cell at the local police station."

"The man is a wreck." He continued. "It's as if his personality has suddenly completely changed, this isn't normal."

"I-it does feel somewhat out of his character…" She admitted. "It must be related to the calling car-"

"It is." He puffed. "Let's go over what you found that day."

The woman pulled out several plastic bags containing all evidence.

"Yes." She composed herself, and then pulled out the contents of one of the bags. "The cards look incredibly high quality, I don't think any students could have made so many so fast."

"Perhaps, but we shouldn't rule out any possibilities yet."

"Of course." She nodded. "Next, we have the most bizarre…"

She pulled out an ace of spades playing card, with a skull and crossbones adorning the center.

"I don't know what to really make of this," She said. "No playing cards I've ever seen have this design, and there's English letters on the back."

She handed it over to him.

"Curious…" He examined the card. "I will send this to a friend of mine, perhaps he can give better answers."

"...Regardless, I want you to continue being my little spy. Find the students who did this to Kamoshida."

"Yes sir, I'm on it." She assured. "I already arranged to speak with Ann Takamaki…"

"One of the students he admitted to-"

"Correct," She confirmed, "I want to see what she knows."

"Very good Makoto." He answered. "Your investigation is crucial to how we handle the fallout of this incident."

"I understand." She acknowledged.

"Fortunately, Ms. Ibarazaki seems to be a welcome change from Kamoshida, and a welcome distraction too." He added. "Nonetheless, you are dismissed."

Makoto did a small bow before getting up to leave the Principal's office.

"Oh, and one more thing; remember our little agreement," He reminded. "Do not fail, or you know what happens."

"I won't sir." Makoto replied, before heading out, back into the cold of the halls.

She turned around and closed the door, prepared to go home, but not before catching a glimpse of a red haired girl down the hall heading in the opposite direction.

"Hey.. excuse me!" She called out. " Maybe she heard…"

The distance between the red haired girl and the principal's office was just enough to seem as if she had been listening in before Makoto entered the hallway.

What began as a slow jaunt, started to develop into a pursuit as Makoto sped up.

"Hey stop!' She yelled.

But despite her increasing speed, Makoto never seemed to be able to get any closer, at least not until the redhead rounded the corner down the hall.

It was a full-on chase now, her boots, ill-suited for this scenario, hammered on the ground.

The corner grew near, and Makoto swung around…

Only to find no traces of that mysterious girl.

"... Where did she go?" Makoto's eyes darted around, before landing on a clock.

"... I need to go or I'll be late, Sis won't like that." She thought.

She huffed. After all, what was the chance the girl had heard, and was one of those responsible for the whole Kamoshida incident?

" Next to none." She decided, before turning around.

"Kanpei!"

Cups of coffee smashed together as the thieves toasted to their victory.

"To a successful mission." Morgana declared.

"Alright, bottoms up then." Ryuji announced.

The group promptly began downing their drinks.

"Ah, that was nice." Ann grabbed a napkin. "Say, Ren, you got the medal?"

"I do." He answered. "Well, did."

"...What do you mean by that?" Ryuji asked with great concern.

"We already pawned it off." Ren pulled out a briefcase from under the table. "Thirty grand of yen."

"...A little less than what I thought a gold medal would be worth." Ann remarked.

"Best offer I could find." Ren replied. "Well, the best without too many people asking questions."

In actuality, Ren already had nearly a million and half worth of Yen, scattered throughout a myriad of U.S Intelligence created and maintained slush funds, bank accounts, and other untraceable deposits.

"...Eh, I guess we'll have to take what we can get." Ryuji supposed. He then shot a look at Morgana. "But I think we can still blow this dirty money on something fun."

"Ya got it." Morgana gave the most cheshire-like grin a cat could give.

"...Okay… Whatever that means.." Ann rolled her eyes before taking another sip.

"Hold on a moment," Ren put his hand up. "We have some business to discuss first."

"Hmh?" Morgana, Ryuji and Ann raised their eyebrows.

"Oh!" Morgana suddenly remembered, "Yeah, that."

"Whaddya mean, that?" Ryuji asked.

"By that, we mean we found a doctor for you!" Morgana explained.

"Wait what!?" Ryuji and Ann reacted in surprise.

"For me?" Ryuji followed, still confused. "Y-you mean for my leg?" He recalled Emi's advice.

"Yes, your leg." Ren confirmed, before reaching into his pockets. "Here's her business card." He tossed it onto the table.

"She owns a clinic around here actually, she happens to be a regular of Sojiro's."

"...Thanks Ren," Ryuji picked up the card. "But uh, what about payment? I don't wanna spend all the money we just got-"

"Don't worry about that, I got it taken care of." Ren replied. He dug into his pockets again and produced a receipt, and placed it on the table.

"Paid in full." He explained.

"Wow, really?" Ryuji picked the paper up. "How did you get enough-"

"I have my ways." Ren smirked. "And by ways, I mean help from my friend in the U.S."

"...You have a real silver tongue, you know." Ryuji spoke. "...I dunno how you keep finding the exact things we need, or talking people into helping us, but….thanks.."

"My pleasure." Ren answered. "Oh by the way, I already set up an appointment for you.."

Ryuji looked at the receipt again before looking at the clock on the cafe wall.

"Sorry I kinda told you a bit late.." Ren sheepishly spoke.

"No, no it's fine." Ryuji insisted. "I just need to start going now." The fake blonde began rising from his seat and heading to the door.

"Hey, good luck out there!" Ann called out.

"Thanks! I'll need it!" Ryuji answered. The door swung open, before closing with a ring as Ryuji disappeared into the cold.

"Anyways, we should go check on him later. Doctor Takemi might be a bit more than he can handle." Ren remarked.

"...Things really have improved since we got rid of Kamoshida." Ann commented. "I feel happy for him. He hasn't been like this since middle school."

"Well, now that we're Phantom Thieves, we gotta look out for each other like we haven't before." Morgana spoke.

"How was he in middle school, by the way?" Ren asked.

"Oh, one of the nicer people around, for sure." Ann explained. "He was one of the few who had the balls to make friends with the only white kid in the entire school. Him, and Shiho."

"I owe him for that, he actually got into multiple fights for me." Ann reminisced. "Anyone who started harassing me he would start trying to pick fights with."

"That's him alright," Ren chuckled. "He almost got himself expelled when he wanted to charge into Kamoshida's office that time."

"...Yeah," Ann laughed along. "...Hey, should we go follow up on him? It has been awhile…"

"Well…" Ren began.

BANG

The door to the backroom swung open.

"Hey kid!" 'Sojiro' greeted. He was carrying a stack of boxes, which he promptly placed on the counter. "I see you brought a friend over! Without telling me."

"You're not giving them free food and coffee, are you?"

"Uh, ah.." Ren stammered.

'Sojiro' chuckled. "Oh relax, I'm just joking, they're welcome here anytime."

He then turned to face Ann. "Just for today, it's all on the house."

"Uh, hi Mister!" Ann greeted sheepishly. "Your coffee and curry tastes great!"

"Thank you, Ann Takamaki, is it?" 'Sojiro' spoke. He produced a cigarette, lit it and took a drag.

"So kid," 'Sojiro' proceeded to speak flawless English with a genuine New York accent, "I hear you speak English."

"... It's good to meet another English speaker in town, it gets lonely every now and then."

He commanded the language in a way that only a native speaker could. There was no accent, bar his natural New Yorker one, which was unmistakably American.

"...Uh…." Ann was taken aback and at a loss for words. She decided to be polite.

"...I-It's good to meet you too!" She spoke in English in return. "...Y-You speak English very well Mister."

"Thank you." 'Sojiro' replied. "I should speak it well enough, because I was born in New York."

"... You're an American?" Ann asked.

"You got that right," 'Sojiro' answered. "But besides the fact you're about the only other English speaker around here, I wanted to meet you for another reason, Ms. Takamaki."

"Ren, close down the shop would you?" He swapped back to Japanese.

"It's time."

"...Got it." Ren got up from his seat and headed to the door, flipping the sign to 'Closed'

"...What's going on!?" Ann pressed, with concern and suspicion growing in her voice. She stood up. "What do you want with me?" She glared at 'Sojiro'

"Ann Takamaki, student of Shujin Academy, part time fashion model, and most recently, Phantom Thief." 'Sojiro' relayed calmly in English. "You're a quarter American, your grandfather on your mother's side, was an F-4 Phantom pilot with the 347th at Yokota air base."

"I met him back in '68 after the Tet offensive, during R&R in Okinawa. Once he found out he knocked your grandma up, he peeled. Karma came for him though, one day he flew out and didn't come back."

"W-what?" Ann spoke.

"You hold dual citizenship, Japanese and American." 'Sojiro' continued. " Your parents tend to work and travel overseas. You were born here, but lived in Finland hence the surname, and the United States when you were very young."

"Then you moved to Japan, and everything went downhill. Everyone saw you as the 'loud promiscuous Westerner', the 'trophy wife' if you will, no offense. Things got even worse when your sex offender of a teacher got his eyes on you."

"But, nonetheless, you persevered, with a little outside help, you got that teacher behind bars, your reputation somewhat improved, while remaining relatively kind hearted and compassionate. I say relatively, because you were a little sadistic with the final showdown with Kamoshida, but hey, who doesn't want a little vengeance?"

Ann was at a loss for words in this unprecedented development.

"H-how do you know a-all of this.."

'Sojiro's' knowledge of the metaverse and Kamoshida could be explained by Ren telling him, but everything else was more or less inexplicable. Ann never knew much about her grandfather, but everything else she knew was true. However, he spoke about her grandfather with such utter conviction and confidence, it was impossible to determine if he was lying.

"Well, I know a lot of things." 'Sojiro' replied. "But it's time I told you who I really was."

"My real name's Kaplan, John Kaplan, and I'm an Intelligence Officer for the United States."

"In simpler terms,"

"A spy."

And so we have it! Ann will be the next person to be brought 'out of the cold' and into knowledge of the true nature of the Phantom Thieves.

I wanted to tie as many things I wrote about in previous chapters into this one. Ren meeting the doctor allows Ryuji to be distracted so Ann can be recruited. Emi being brought into Shujin is a PR ploy. Makoto and The Thieves begin a sort of Intelligence war, among others. Meanwhile, across the Pacific, moves are being made in reaction to events in Europe and Japan.

In the next chapters, I plan on expanding the Phantom Thieves earlier, bring in some characters earlier or whatnot.

I also want to set up a sort of dynamic with Ann and Kaplan. Ann is more or less the 'black sheep' despite being Japanese, she's viewed as a westerner and sticks out of the crowd. On the other hand, the spy looks Japanese and doesn't stick out at all, yet is a 'red blooded' American more than anyone else in the room.

That's all I have to say for this chapter, again,

Espionage is a dangerous game

-Joesephi