Chapter 14: Mementos
A/N: Been waiting to show you guys this for a while. The excitement's been awfully killer...
11/20/20XX, Unknown Location
Sae and Jolyne sat across from each other, almost staring each other down. "Any questions? You got awfully quiet when I started talking about Stands." Jolyne stated.
"That's because there was no need for an explanation. The information you provided not only matches up with my theory that you used unorthodox methods to carry out your crimes, but it also matched up with certain rumors that have been floating around law enforcement for years, about people who possess extraordinary abilities that are undetectable by normal people." Sae explained, and Jolyne lightly chuckled.
"Guess Speedwagon wasn't as thorough as they thought they were…" Jolyne said to herself, and Sae folded her arms.
"So, you managed to enact this 'change of heart', and force Kamoshida to confess. You all could have stopped there, returned to your lives and put all that Metaverse business behind you. But you didn't. I have to ask…why?" The Prosecutor asked, and Jolyne mirrored her movement of folding her arms.
"Who's to say? Maybe I did it because I wanted to help people. Maybe I did it so I could feel important. Maybe I did it for the thrill. Maybe I did it because I was bored. Who knows the truth?" The captured transfer student stated, and Sae let out a sigh. Getting a straightforward answer as to the exact nature of the young woman's actions would be like slamming her head against a brick wall. Jolyne's file had indicated that this would be the case, but Sae figured she'd be at least a little more forthcoming. For now, it was clear that Sae wouldn't know anything until Jolyne didn't want her to. Sae glanced at the clock on the wall, and bit back a curse. She didn't have time to waste on that right now.
"Very well. Let's move onto your next target, shall we?" The prosecutor stated, pulling a file out of her bag and placing it on the table. Jolyne saw that there were big red letters on it that read 'CLASSIFIED.' Sae opened the file, revealing a picture of a man in his 70's, with long grey hair, short facial hair, and wearing traditional Japanese clothing. "Ichiryusai Madarame, age 71. A world renowned artist known for the wide range of styles he displayed. However, over the past few years, rumors began to pop up that he wasn't as versatile as he appeared. That he abused his pupils and plagiarized their works as his own, effectively ending their careers before they began. However, no one was ever able to find any concrete proof to verify these rumors…"
"Until the Phantom Thieves showed up." Jolyne finished, and Sae nodded, leaning forward.
"Tell me everything you know. How this man first came to your attention, how you decided he would be your next target, how you confirmed the veracity of these rumors…leave nothing out, or I'll make sure they lock you up and throw away the key." Sae demanded, and Jolyne sighed.
"Good gried, you're just as persistent as she said you'd be…" Jolyne muttered under her breath, before leaning forward as well, placing her arms on the table. "Alright, have it your way. It all started after we celebrated taking down Kamoshida…"
Friday, 4/29/20XX
After the Phantom Thieves had made their vow to stay together and change society for the better, they had planned to meet together the next day and plan out their next move. Unfortunately, things didn't go as smoothly as that. It turns out, since they didn't have school all week on account of Kamoshida's confession, Ryuji's mother decided that the best use of her son's time would be to have him run some errands for her, and being who he is, Ryuji couldn't exactly say no to her. Meanwhile, Ann was spending a decent amount of time at Shiho's house, wanting to be there for moral support when the cops came around asking questions about Kamoshida, which they did on Thursday.
In the meantime, Jolyne and Morgana had been exploring the city, finally getting a feel for their surroundings. They went to the electronic wonderland known as Akihabara, gone to the top of the Tokyo Tower in Minato, checked out the mall in Harajaku, seen the page filled "Book Town" of Jinbocho, passed by the red light district of Shinjuku by train…just generally getting a feel of the wide range of locations that Tokyo seemed to offer, if only so Jolyne could start thinking of the big city as 'home.' She still had not returned the bag that Iwai had given her earlier that week, choosing to stay way from Untouchable until she could be certain that the police weren't still watching it. Sojiro hadn't had a chance to teach her how to make a cup of coffee yet, as he always had to leave as soon as it looked like business was done for the day.
It was now Friday, and the Phantom Thieves were gathered inside of Shibuya Station. Ryuji was sitting on the ground, Ann was leaning against the walls of the entrance, and Jolyne was standing just in front of them, Morgana's bag on the ground. "Alright, so why're we here?" Ryuji asked, and Jolyne shrugged.
"Beats me. Morgana just told me to tell you guys to meet us here." She responded, and Morgana stuck his head out of her bag.
"I promise, it'll all make sense soon. Lady Ann, do you still have that message about the man stalking his girlfriend?" Morgana asked, and Ann nodded, pulling out her phone.t
"Yeah, I took a screenshot."
"Excellent. Jolyne, take out your phone." He instructed, and Jolyne did just that.
"We're using that Meta Nav thing again, right?" Ryuji asked, referring to the strange eyeball shaped app that was on all their phones. Morgana nodded at this.
"That's right. Since you three can't crossover naturally like I can, the Meta Nav is our only way to enter the Metaverse." He explained.
"Alright, so we've got his name, and we know he's a bank teller, right?" Jolyne asked, and Ann nodded. "So that means all we need is a location, and what his Palace is."
"Actually, that won't be the case this time." Morgana interjected, and they all looked at him.
"What do you mean? We needed all that stuff to get to the Palace, didn't we?" Ann asked.
"True, but that was a fully formed Palace, generated by Kamoshida's distorted heart running rampant. A man like this Nakanohara guy isn't that far along yet, so he doesn't have a Palace yet." The Not-Cat explained, and Ryuji's brow furrowed.
"I'm confused."
"Just sit back and watch. Jolyne, can you open the Meta Nav?" Morgana asked, and his caretaker oblidged, opening the strange eyeball shaped application.
"Alright, now what?" She asked.
"Say the target's name, and then 'Mementos.'" He instructed, and Jolyne touched the speaker icon on her phone and cleared her throat.
"'Natsuhiko Nakanohara. Mementos.'" She said aloud, and to her surprise, the app began to react.
"Destination Found. Beginning Navigation." As soon as those words left her phone, all four of them experienced a familiar sensation. The world around them began to ripple and distort, and the volume of the crowd going about it's daily routine began to vanish. Before long, the noise vanished altogether, as did the people who had been there a second ago.
"Whoa!" Ryuji exclaimed, jumping off the ground as they all looked around. "Where…where did everybody go?!"
"I have no idea. I don't…whoa!" Jolyne staggered as she took a step, Ann catching her by the arm to make sure she didn't fall.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It just…it feels like I'm walking on air!" Jolyne answered, steadying herself as they all got used to the sensation.
"Is this that Nakanohara guy's palace?" Ann asked, and Morgana hopped out of Jolyne's bag.
"You're not completely wrong, but you're not right either." He answered, sitting down in front of them. "This is a different sort of Palace. This…is Mementos."
"Ain't that the stuff you put in soda to make it explode? What's that got to do with where everyone went?" Ryuji asked, and Morgana sighed.
"That's not…never mind. It'll just be easier to show you." Morgana said, standing up on all fours and heading towards the staurs. "Well? Come on!" He beckoned, vanishing down the stairs into what should've been the Shibuya Underground. The three humans all exchanged a glance, before they followed after him. They came off the stairs into an area that resembled the ticket gates, only something was different. The area was bathed in a deep, almost hellish red, with stuff resembling veins growing on the pillars. The information monitors were nothing but static, and those red veins decorated the escalators that would have lead down to a subway platform.
"Whoa…what is this place?" Jolyne asked as they looked around, taking it all in. As they looked around, Ryuji noticed something.
"Hey, our clothes changed!" he declared, and his two companions looked down at themselves. Sure enough, they were all dressed in the attire they had worn in Kamoshida's palace. Jolyne now wore the black trenchcoat and domino mask of Joker; Ann wore the red leather catsuit and cat mask of Panther; and Ryuji now wore the black jacket and skeleton mask of Skull.
"Wait, does Nakanohara already know we're here…?" Ann hasped out, and the others tensed up, eyes scanning for attackers.
"That's right. The Shadows have known we're here since the moment we arrived" Morgana's boyish voice said, and the others all looked to see him in his big headed bipedal form.
"What the hell?! How about a little warning next time!" Ryuji scolded.
"Calm down. We're perfectly safe here. The Shadows never come up here." Morgana answered, and Jolyne crossed her arms.
"Alright, what the hell's going on, Morgana? What is this place?" Jolyne demanded.
"This is Mementos. Think of it as everyone's Palace." He answered, and Ryuji raised an eyebrow.
"'Everyone's Palace?' The hell does that mean?"
"A Palace like Kamoshida's only forms when a person's desires become extremely distorted. Instead of many individual Palaces, the general public has one gigantic shared Palace. That is this place." Morgana explained, and Ann looked around.
"Now that you mention it, this place does feel a bit different than Kamoshida's Palace…"
"So when you say 'shared', does that mean that everyone's desires are all just put together?" Jolyne asked, and Morgana tapped his chin as he thought of the best way to explain it.
"Let's just say…this place is the 'Collective Unconscious'…no you wouldn't understand that…" He muttered.
"So if this place is 'everybody's Palace', then does that mean we can use this place to change the hearts of people who don't have Palaces?" Ann asked, and Morgana grinned from ear to ear.
"I knew that you would figure it out first, Lady Ann. You're as smart as you are beautiful."
"Hey, flirt later. Explain now." Jolyne instructed, and Morgana got back in track.
"Lady Ann's right. However, the steps to do so here are a bit different, and I'll explain more when we get there." Morgana stated, and Jolyne sighed.
"Good grief…" That was when a lightbulb went off in her head. "Wait. When we were going to take on that Matsumoto guy, you said you had an idea in case he overwhelmed us. Was this it?" The leader asked, and the dimunitive thief nodded.
"That's right. If that happened, I would've had you use the Meta Nav to bring him here, and you could've used your Persona to finish him off." He answered, and Jolyne fought back a chortle. There would've definitely been no hiding this from Josuke after that.
"So how do we find that Nakanohara guy down here?" Ryuji asked.
"Simple: we use the Meta Nav. Joker, check your phone." Morgana stated, and Jolyne pulled her phone out of her pocket. The Meta Nav was still open, but instead of the eyeball dominating the screen, there was a small map of the floor they were on, in addition to a red arrow pointing downwards. "That'll guide us straight to Nakanohara."
"Wait, so this place is already mapped out?" Ann asked, and Morgana shook his head.
"That wouldn't work in a place like this. Public opinion is a fickle thing, something that never stays the same for long. That applies to this place as well, seeing as it's generated by the thoughts and desires of the general public."
"So what are you trying to say? That this place changes every day?" Ryuji asked, and he nodded.
"That's right. Mementos never stays the same for more than a day, always changing it's shape and size. The only thing that never changes is that Mementos always looks like a subway." Morgana explained.
"But why does it look like this?" Ann asked.
"Think about it. In a big city like Tokyo, the train is most people's primary form of transportation. You can't get anywhere without cramming yourself into a metal tube with dozens of other people, and staying underground for who knows how long. When you think of this place as the Palace of the Population, it makes sense that it would manifest like this." Morgana explained.
"Uh, right. Makes total sense…" Ryuji said, scratching the back of his head. "So…how's the Meta Nav going to help us find that Nakanohara guy?"
"Mementos is massive, with more twists and turns than I can ever count. If we just wander around aimlessly, then we could be here for hours, maybe days. I don't know exactly how, but I'm willing to bet that the Nav will guide us to where his Shadow is." He answered, and Jolyne's eyes widened.
"Wait, it's that big? Are we just going to walk around?" She asked, and Ann groaned.
"God, I hope not. These boots are not made for that…" The red-clad model lamented, and Morgana smirked.
"Leave that to me! My time has finally come!" He said, and began to focus. "Morgana…Special…" He bent his short knees, before jumping into the air and performing a somersault. "…Transformation!" He exploded into a puff of smoke, and something dropped down onto the ground. However, it wasn't the dimnitive, mascot-like body they had gotten used to, or the feline body that he assumed during their day-to-day lives. Instead, what fell to the ground was a medium sized van, one that resembled a Citroen H van with coloration that resembled Morgana's. "Come now, Panther! You get first dibs!" Morgana's voice said, seeming to eminate from the van's grill. The Phantom Thieves reacted accordingly.
"Holy shit!" Ryuji exclaimed, backing up.
"The fuck?!" Jolyne asked, her jaw dropping.
"W-what? W-why are you a car now?!" Ann asked, dumbfounded at the sight they had all just witnessed.
"This comes from the way cognition materializes here in the Metaverse, plus a little bit of extra training. It's just like how you guys transform."
"That answers literally nothing!" Jolyne responded. "I don't know about you guys, but I can't turn into a car."
"For some reason, 'cats turning into buses' is a widespread cognition among the general public." Morgana answered, and they all let out a groan as they realized the reason.
"Alright, so why didn't you do that in the Palace?" Ryuji asked.
"Are you serious? I couldn't transform inside that cramped castle, with all those hallways and stairs!" The cat-bus retorted, and Ann noticed that Ryuji had been slowly sneaking over towards the door…
"Hey! Ladies first!" She called out, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket.
"Ack!" He yelped out, grabbing onto the rear view mirror.
"Hey, be gentle! That's still part of my body!" Morgana scolded, and Jolyne just sighed as she watched the struggle unfold.
"Good grief…" A few minutes later, they were all seated in the back seat of Morgana, with Joker in the middle, Skull on the right, and Panther on the left. "Alright, are you two good?" Joker asked, and her companions both nodded. "Alright, then. Let's roll out!" She ordered…and nothing happened.
"What are you three doing?" Morgana asked, his voice booming from the speakers around the car.
"Uh, we're waiting on you." Ann said, and a sigh exited the speakers.
"I can't drive myself! I need someone to drive me so we can go!" Morgana said, and the Thieves all looked at one another.
"I have no clue how to drive. Do either of you know how to drive?" Ann asked, and Ryuji shook his head.
"My mom doesn't even own a car." He answered, and they all looked at Jolyne.
"I mean…kind of? My grandpa took me into a parking lot to show me the basics last year…" The blondes began to smile… "…and I hit a lamp post. Literally the only other thing in the lot."
"Well…that's certainly better than nothing, isn't it?" Ann suggested, and Jolyne took a dry swallow.
"Hey, if you smash up my beautiful face, I'll never forgive you!" Morgana said as they rearranged themselves, with Jolyne in the driver's seat, Ann in the passenger's seat, and Ryuji in the back seat all by himself.
"Alright, let's see here…" Jolyne said to herself, looking over the driver's side area. This wasn't anything like Sadao's sedan. Where was the ignition? Where was the gear shift?
"Well? Start the engine!"
"How am I supposed to do that? Do you have a key or something?"
"Why would you need a key? There's a switch down next to the steering wheel." Jolyne looked where he indicated, and sure enough, there was a switch. She placed a red handed glove on the switch, and the car seemed to tremble. "H-hey, that tickles!" Jolyne grasped the switch and turned it. "Ohhhhh yeah….that's the spot~" Morgana purred out as his 'engine' roared to life, and suddenly they were all acutely aware of what exactly they were inside of.
"Stop it. That's creepy." Jolyne scolded.
"What a creepy ass car…" Ryuji mumbled.
"Hey, don't underestimate the power of my meowtary engine!" Morgana shot back, and Jolyne took a deep breath as she looked at the steering wheel in front of her. She placed her hands at 10 and 2, just like Sadao had shown her, and tapped her foot on the gas. Sure enough, the engine revved up a little. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she put her foot on the gas…and they went full throttle, diving into Mementos.
Somewhere in the depths of Mementos, a presence stirred. It could sense the Phantom Thieves, the outsiders invading it's domain. That wouldn't do. All outsiders must be purged, in order to maintain balance. Chains began to clink together as the presence slowly began to move forward, slowly ascending the levels of the Palace. All outside invaders had to be erased, had to be cleansed. Then, the presence could go back to it's quiet life.
If one had to ask Jolyne how her first foray into a mythical demon realm built upon the thoughts of Tokyo's population, 'boring' would not have been what she expected to be her first word. But alas, boring was very much the most accurate description of their trip through Mementos. So far, it consisted of them driving through the vein-laced tunnels of Mementos, following the Meta Nav's instructions. They faced no trouble, save for the occasional Shadow, but those were weak, being dispatched by their Personas rather quickly. "Come onnnnn." Ann groaned out, staring out the window at the tunnel walls.
"This is so…boring…" Ryuji complained, stretched out across the back seat. "Jolyne, how much longer we got?" Jolyne glanced at the Meta Nav in her lap, continuing to follow the directions that the app was giving her.
"I have…no idea." Jolyne responded, keeping an eye on the tracks in front her as she did her best to keep the car going straight. "Hey Morgana, how do we know when we've found Nakanohara's Shadow?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but if his distortion's strong enough, then it should be something we'll notice." Morgana explained.
"You mean like that?" Ann said, and Jolyne and Ryuji turned their heads over to where she was indicating. The tracks began to raise up and distort, surrounding a swirling, hellish red vortex. Jolyne looked down at the Meta Nav, and sure enough, the arrow was pointing towards the swirling hellmouth.
"Well that certainly looks distorted…" Ryuji said, and Jolyne began turning the wheel towards the vortex of death.
"You guys ready?" She asked, and her friend's nodded. Without another word, she stomped her foot onto the gas, and Morgana surged forward into the portal. When the red light died down, they were in a large, spacious area, with a floor that consisted of a seemless, almost perfect dark blue slab of concrete with red markings, and the tunnel walls were lined with pulsating red veins. The Phantom Thieves all piled out of the car, who then proceeded to turn back into his normal form. "Alright, so-"
"What is this place?" Morgana cut her off, already knowing what she was about to ask. "If I had to guess, I'd say that Nakanohara's desires have grown to the point where his Shadow has begun to break free of the others, causing this area of Mementos to break off into it's own pocket. In Ryuji terms, it's the beginning of a Palace." He explained, and Ryuji couldn't even retort as he and Ann looked around.
"So Kamoshida had a place like this too, right?" Ann asked, and Morgana nodded. Ryuji looked around some more, before he noticed something
"Hey, you said that guy works at a bank, right?" He asked, and Ann nodded.
"That's right."
"Wouldn't he be dressed like that?" The other three looked where he was indicating, seeing a man standing all alone. He was dressed in a black suit, with a bowlcut and glasses.
"That's the Shadow, alright. Come on, let's go talk to him." Morgana suggested, and Jolyne nodded. The four began to approach him, and the man turned towards them, his yellow eyes burning with paranoia.
"Who the hell are you?!" The man demanded, and Panther scowled.
"You're that stalker, aren't you? Haven't you considered how your ex feels?" She asked, and Shadow Nakanohara sneered.
"Himiko-chan is my property! I can do whatever the hell I want with her! Besides, that bitch treated me like a plaything, dumping me as soon as she was done with me! What's wrong with me doing the same?!" Nakanohara responded, and Skull stepped forward.
"You can't go treatin' someone like shit just 'cause they did it to you! Otherwise, you're no better than them!" Skull retorted, and leveled his hand at the Shadow. "We're gonna change the hearts of all the shitty adults like you!" The Shadow scoffed at that.
"Please, there are millions of people far worse than me! What about Madarame? He took everything away from me, but you're letting him off the hook!" Joker raised an eyebrow at this.
"Madarame? Who the hell is that?" She asked, but Nakanohara wasn't listening anymore, as black and red energy began to pool around him.
"Himiko is mine, and mine alone! I won't let anyone take away what's mine ever again!" The Shadow bellowed out, and the energy erupted. When it died down, Nakanohara was gone, replaced with a demon, one with a cartoonishly large head and long arms with disproportionately large hands.
"Here he comes!" Mona warned, and Joker placed her hand over her mask.
"Arsene!" The mask vanished into blue flames as the winged demon materialized behind her. Black and red energy pooled into the Persona's hands, and she lauched it at the transformed Shadow. He tried to dodge, but the energy blast still grazed him. Seeing the opportunity, fireballs from Carmen launched forward and hit Nakanohara. Zoro manifested and twirled his rapier, generating a gust of wind that increased the intensity of the flames. Captain Kidd was up next, hitting the demon square in the chest with a blast of electricity and knocking him down. "Now's our chance! Get him now!" Joker ordered, and the others all nodded, brandishing their daggers, whip, and pipe as they rushed the demon, slashing and whipping and bashing the transformed Nakanohara all at once. The demon tried to stay standing, but he fell to his knees, transforming back into his original form.
"That was…easy. Like, I'm kinda pissed off at how easy that was. I barely even broke a sweat!" Skull stated, and Mona tapped his chin.
"My guess, he's all bark, no bite. A weak person just trying to make himself look stronger than he actually is." He commented, and Joker stared at the sniveling man on the ground.
"I…I was wrong. Forgive me…" Nakanohara pleaded, and his body began to shake. "That evil man…he used me, wrung every drop out of me that he could, and then he tossed me out." He rationalized, and Joker raised an eyebrow.
"You mentioned that before. This that Madarame guy you were talking about?" She asked, and he nodded.
"That's right. I was faced with the possibility of losing it all again, and I didn't even care if she wanted me or not. I put her through so much stress…" Panther frowned, crossing her arms.
"Even if some evil bastard did mess you up like that, that doesn't mean you can take it out on some innocent woman." She scolded, and he nodded.
"I realize that now. From now on, I'll put an end to her." Nakanohara said, before he frowned. "…you're the Phantom Thieves, right? The one who changed that volleyball coach's heart, right?"
"That's right. Guess we can add you to that list now too." Ryuji stated.
"In that case…can you please change Madarame's heart? Before he drags more people down with him…" The Shadow pleaded, and the Phantom Thieves' leader nodded.
"If we ever come across this Madarame guy, I promise." Joker replied, and the Shadowsmiled as he began to faintly glow, before he vanished in a flash of light.
"That's what happened to Kamoshida when we beat him, isn't it?" Skull asked, and Panther nodded.
"This means that his Shadow went back to his actual body, and so he'll have a change of heart, right?" She asked, and Mona nodded.
"That should be how it works, yes." He replied, and began looking back towards the exit. "We don't have a lot of time. We need to hurry up and get back to the real world soon." Mona nervously said, and the others all looked at him.
"Why? You got a hot date or something?" Ryuji asked, and Morgana seemed to fidget.
"We've already been on this floor for a while. If we stay any longer, the Cleaner will come after us." He answered, and they all raised an eyebrow.
"The Cleaner? What's that?" Panther asked.
"I…I don't know what it is. It's not a Shadow, I know that much. It acts differently than that. All I know is that if I spend too much time on one level, then it starts to come after me, and it doesn't stop until I've made it to the safe zone at the top." Morgana explained, and they all took into account just how scared he looked.
"Alright, if you say so. Let's go." Jolyne said, and Morgana turned back into his car form.
They had all loaded back into the van, and began to drive back towards the surface entrance. For a while, it seemed like it was all going according to plan…until Jolyne slammed on the breaks. "Yow! What was that for?!" Ryuji demanded.
"That's it…" Morgana whimpered out, and Jolyne pointed in front of them. The other two looked up to see a figure standing there on the tracks. It was humanoid, standing at about 275 cm. It wore tattered red robes, with a chains wrapping across it's torso that clinked together as it moved towards them. However, through the robes, Jolyne could almost make out what looked like…was that a suit? A faded purple suit? A hood covered it's head, a face with sunken cheeks and eyes that gazed right at them.
"So that's the Cleaner…" Joker gasped out, all of them staring at it as it slowly walked towards them. Ann's mouth went dry, sweat beaded Ryuji's forehead, and Jolyne gripped the steering wheel. It slowly marched towards them, chains clinking with each and every step it took.
"Think we can take him?" Ryuji asked, but before Jolyne could answer, a Shadow rounded the corner, just behind the Cleaner. Rather than the knights that had guarded Kamoshida's castle, the shadows in Mementos resembled large, humanoid blobs, that were bereft of features save for the expressionless white mask that was where the face would be. The Shadow loomed behind the Cleaner, staring down at the mysterious figure. The Shadow raised it's hand above it's head, ready to bring it down and clobber the Cleaner…When the air behind the Cleaner began to shimmer, beginning to take a shape, and the Cleaner finally opened its mouth, saying a single phrase in it's raspy voice.
"Killer Queen." As soon as it said that, the dark aura behind it fully took shape. It became a muscular, humanoid being, with a head that resembled a cat's head and two red, cat like eyes. It was light pink in color, with two dark, leather like spiked gauntlets around its hands, with a similarly garter belt around it's waist. On its shoulders, ankles, belt buckle, and back of its hands was an emblem of some sort of skull with pointed ears like the one on it's head. Chains were wrapped across its pink, muscular chest. Jolyne's eyes widened as she saw it manifest.
"That's…that's a Stand…" She gasped out, causing the others to have a similar reaction. They all watched as the Cleaner's Stand raised it's right hand, and tapped the shadow in it's chest. There was a faint *click*, and the Shadow exploded, contorting in a way that was almost as if it was ripped away from the inside, until there was nothing left.
"That's it's power. If it touches you, it's all over." Morgana whimpered out, the whole van trembling. That trembling only increased in intensity when the Cleaner looked directly at them.
"…shit." Jolyne didn't hesitate, punching the gas. As the vehicle shot forward, Panther opened her door, leaning her head outside as her mask visited.
"Carmen!" The rose dressed Persona manifested behind her, firing balls of fire at the Cleaner. The Cleaner moved Killer Queen in front of it, crossing it's arms to block the fireballs. Joker swerved Morgana to the left of the Cleaner, scraping against the tunnel walls as she did her best to avoid the Cleaner's reach.
"Ow! That hurts!" Mona yowled out as they shot past the Cleaner.
"Sorry! I'll make it up to you when we get back!" Joker apologized as they sped away. Ryuji looked behind him, but to his surprise, the Cleaner wasn't giving pursuit. Instead, it just raised Killer Queen's right arm and pointed it at them.
"Sheer Heart Attack." The skull emblem on the right hand popped off and flew at them, beginning to change shape. It shifted into a small, tank-like shape, with treads on the bottom that propelled it along the tracks, keeping pace with Mona as he sped along.
"Look over here…" It said, and Ryuji grimaced.
"Uh, guys! It just threw something at us! It's chasing us!" He yelled back, and Jolyne pushed the pedal to the metal. As they zoomed passed a Shadow, Skull noticed that the tank thing changed direction, plowing into the Shadow and exploded, before resuming it's pursuit of them. "Can we go a little faster, please?!"
"I'm going as fast as I can!"
"Look over here…look over here…look over here…" It chanted, chasing after them with no yielding. Skull cursed under his breath, watching as it slowly grew closer. He got into the very back of Mona, and kicked open the back door. He brandished his pipe, and as the tank thing jumped towards Morgana. Timing it just right, Skull swung the pipe, knocking away Sheer Heart Attack into the wall just as it made a *click*. It exploded against the wall, the shockwave rocking Mona, and Skull was about to fall out the back...
"Stone Free!" The Stand manifested behind Joker, reaching backwards and grabbing Skull before he could fall out and pulling him back in.
"Thanks…" He replied, but he noticed something else: that thing was still coming after them. "Oh come on!"
"Faster, Mona!" Panther shouted, and Mona groaned as Joker put all her weight down on the guess.
"We're almost…there…just… a little…further…" The living van groaned out, and as they approached the stairways leading to the safe zone, Sheer Heart Attack quickly closed the distance, almost getting close enough…
When Morgana shot up the escalator, bumpily skidding into the Safe Zone. Sheer Heart Attack stopped at the bottom of the stairs, before it turned around and went back the way it came. The Phantom Thieves' tumbled out of Mona, collapsing onto the ground as Morgana returned to his regular form. "Well…that sucked…" Jolyne panted out, and Ryuji just weakly nodded in agreement.
"That…that thing…it had one of those Stand things. How is that possible?" Ann asked, and Jolyne just shrugged.
"No clue. Maybe it was someone who got stuck here, just like Morgana did." She suggested, and Morgana shook her head.
"I don't think so. It wasn't wandering around aimlessly like I was. It acted more like…I guess the closest thing is like an organism trying to purge outside organisms." Morgana suggested, and Ryuji just sighed.
"Man, this place is seriously freaky…"He muttered out. "And that thing will come after us if we stay here too long?"
"If we stay too long on one level of Mementos, then it will. I've been able to lose it by heading to a lower level before." Morgana replied.
"Just when I think I've got a grasp on all this…" Jolyne muttered out. "So, we've gotta be careful going forward. If that thing corners us, we're dead." She stated, and they began to get off the ground. "Well, we don't have anything else to do here. Let's head back."
Back on the level of Mementos they had been on, the Cleaner blankly stared in the direction that the Phantom Thieves had fled in, as Sheer Heart Attack returned to his right hand. He could sense that they were gone, that they were no longer in Mementos. The Cleaner would have pursued them further, but they had entered the Safe Zone. Going into that area was forbidden, both to him and to the Shadows that populated Mementos, so he had to let them go. But they would be back. He was certain of that. For now, the Cleaner felt a faint sensation of tugging on his chains, an unknown sensation dictating for him to return to his resting place. And so the being that was once known as Yoshikage Kira obliged that urging, retreating into the depths of Mementos until the next intruder arrived.
Shibuya Station
The Phantom Thieves were now huddled together in the real world, standing in the exact same spot where the had entered Mementos. "Man, I feel exhausted…" Ann yawned out. "I almost forgot how tiring the Metaverse can be."
"That's why you gotta work on your stamina. Keep yourself from getting tired out so easily." Ryuji jeered. "So, how will we know that Nakanohara guy had a change of heart? We gonna have to wait as long as we did for Kamoshida?"
"I don't think so. Since Nakanohara's Palace hadn't formed yet, it should take a lot less time for his Shadow to return to him." Morgana answered.
"Alright, that makes sense, I guess." Jolyne replied. "How do you know all this stuff, anyway?" As soon as she asked that, Morgana's face was downturned.
"I…I don't know. About a month ago, I woke up in the safe zone of Mementos, and I couldn't remember anything. All I knew was my name, and how the Metaverse worked. The only thing I knew for certain was that I had to get to the center of Mementos, no matter the cost."
"No matter the cost…?" Ann muttered under her breath.
"Mementos isn't just everyone's Palace. It's the source of all the Palaces. Incidents like Kamoshida, where a Palace would form with just one ruler, only began to happen recently. If we can do something about what's causing these distortions, then I'm certain my appearance will…" He started to explain, where his voice choked.
"You wanted someone to save yo too, didn't you?" Ann asked, and his eye's widened.
"T-that's not it! I just needed pawns to do the heavy lifting, that's all!" He tried to rationalize, but Ryuji just scoffed.
"So that's why you decided to start pokin' your nose around with us."
"I'll help you." Jolyne said, causing Morgana to freeze. "You've saved my ass more than a couple of times already, so the least I can do is help you get back what you lost."
"I'll help too." Ann chimed in, and she glanced at Ryuji, who rolled his eyes and sighed.
"I guess if we come across anything that'll get you back your memories while we're doing this Phantom Thief stuff…I guess I wouldn't mind helping you out." He said, and tears began to well up in Morgana's eyes.
"I'll…I'll be counting on you guys!" He stated, still trying to act tough.
"So, that begs the question…what do you guys think Morgana really is?" Ann asked, and Jolyne tapped her chin in thought.
"That's a good question. Maybe he's really a girl."
"I think I'd be able to tell whether or not I was a boy! I know that much!" Morgana retoreted, and Ryuji snickered.
"For all we know, he might not even be a human. He could be a dog, or even a car!"
"Watch it, Ryuji! How dare you compare me to one of those drooling, mangy mutts!" The not-cat defended. "That's not important! What is important is that we now know that we can enact smaller changes of hearts by confronting the target's shadow in Mementos. If we come across any eye catching leads, it may be worth following up on so we can get some practice in before our next big mission."
"But there weren't any posts that stood out to me. At least, none that had a name." Ann responded.
"I bet that'll change real fast if we can change the heart of someone famous enough, and get the Phantom Thieves' name out there! Don't forget, the big names are our real target!" Ryuji suggested. "What about a politician? Those guys are pretty corrupt, right? Or maybe an actor, or-"
"Slow down there, Ryuji. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves." Jolyne cut him off. "We can't just rush in half-cocked. Besides, we still have school to worry about." With that, the former track star's excitement left him, and he almost seemed to deflate.
"Ugh, don't remind me. I still haven't even started the assignments they gave us to do…" Ann was momentarily taken aback.
"Ryuji, it's been almost a week."
"I know! I just...got busy, is all." Morgana rolled his eyes at this.
"Busy with video games, maybe…"
"Hey! It ain't my fault that stuff's boring as hell!"
"Good grief…"
As the Phantom Thieves began to depart, all the while scolding Ryuji for his procrastination, the boy who had spoken with Josuke the previous week watched them depart from a fair distance away. "What a unique looking person…"
A/N: Well, I'm sure you all have reactions. As always, feeback is appreciated. Until next time!