Thief of Wonder

by Klyju

The Trickster's fate was uncertain. He would end up having to face many challenges that would push him to the edge of his abilities. It was a good thing that he comes from a heroic lineage, then.

3. Infiltration and a Captain's Awakening

Inside the Castle of Lust, Morgana, Akira, Ryuji, and Diana exited through the vent left open from the first time that Akira and Ryuji escaped. Upon exiting the vent, they jumped down and landed on the floor, with Morgana landing on all fours, Akira landing softly on his feet, Diana landing down with a thud, and Ryuji rolling as he tumbled on his feet. "Alright," Morgana began. "The plan right now is to investigate the layout of this place. If we're going to try and find the treasure of this palace, then we'll need to find a route."

"Wait, hold on a bit!" Ryuji exclaimed as he got back up on his feet. "I thought we were gonna go and see what the deal was with those other guys in the jail cells! What's this about a treasure?!"

"I agree with Sakamoto, I thought that we were going to investigate what Kamoshida is hiding from the public," Diana added. "If we are to expose his crimes, then we need to find any evidence to use against him, proof that he cannot deny."

"I suppose so," Morgana admitted, only to shake his head, "but if we can get a route to the treasure, then we can do something about your situation with him." He looked back up to Wonder Woman's face. "We can't afford to waste much time with the cognitions downstairs."

The way he phrased cognitions alerted the Amazon, but before she could say anything, her son spoke up. "That may be true, but we also have a great deal to learn something if we infiltrate the prison," he stated in an authoritative voice reminiscent of his father when he dons the Batsuit. "If we can find something down there that can lead to evidence in the real world, then perhaps, it can help us further navigate this castle, or am I wrong?"

Morgana closed his eyes in thought as if he was trying to figure out what action to take before he opened them up again. "You have a good point," he admitted. "Alright, we'll go see those slaves downstairs and try to get any info out of them. It'll be difficult, but nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Nodding at the cat's answer, Akira turned to his mother and Ryuji. "Obviously, we'll need to stay out of sight. We don't want to risk picking a fight with a potentially more powerful opponent."

"How strong can we expect their forces to be?" Diana questioned.

Ryuji responded. "Well, I saw that there were these Jack'o Lantern guys tossing some weird fireballs, and then there was this tiny chick and a pink dude, and they had weird-looking attacks like lightning and some red and black mist thing that gave me the creeps."

Upon noticing his mother's dumbfounded look, Akira clarified. "The enemies here are wielding an unknown magic that's different from what Zatanna, Constantine, and Dr. Fate use. They also possess enhanced physical strength, as well as the power to slightly enhance it further," He explained. "It was thanks to the power of my Persona that I was able to hold them off."

"Your Persona?"

"It's his Will of Rebellion," Morgana answered the princess. "When faced against the mad king, he mustered up the will to rebel and fight, awakening his Persona. I think he said its name was Arsene."

"Your Will of Rebellion takes the shape of Arsene Lupin?" Diana asked incredulously before letting out a small chuckle. "You always did love those books, Akira."

The masked son let out a chuckle of his own. "What can I say, they were captivating," he admitted before getting serious again. "But as I said, the enemies here possess an unknown magic. Who knows what else they're capable of."

"I get what you mean, man," Ryuji said as he brought his backpack up front. "That's why I decided to bring some stuff, just in case."

"So you planned to come back here?"

"Well, yeah," Ryuji confessed, looking a bit sheepish as he rummaged around his backpack. "But I couldn't let this go, and I knew that we were gonna need something to help. Preparin' is pro… something like that."

He smiled as he found what he was looking for. "So, I brought some medicine, and this!" He pulled out an object that gave the other three people in the room pause as they stared at the blond in horror.

"Ryuji, why the Hell do you have a gun with you?!" Akira hissed out as his mother placed her hand on her sword's handle.

"Relax, man," the artificial blond said nonchalantly, as if he didn't have a hand cannon with him. "It's just a toy. All it'll do is make sounds!"

Hearing this, Akira grabbed the gun and took a further look at it. Ryuji was right, it was just a toy gun. It might have enough realistic detail to be mistaken for an actual pistol from afar, but upon further inspection, there were enough inconsistencies and seam lines to identify it as a prop. "I see," Akira muttered before he stowed it away. "You planned on intimidating the guards here, correct?"

"Yeah, man!" Ryuji confirmed with a nod. "We just point this at them and it'll scare them off!"

"Sound of an idea it may be," Wonder Woman chimed in, "that trick would most likely only be able to work once. Afterwards, the enemy will know we are carrying firearms, and once they all know, we won't be able to just intimidate them."

"I wouldn't be too worried about that," Morgana stated as he looked at the weapon with a smirk on his face. "Trust me, it'll make sense later if the opportunity arrives."

Deciding to trust the cat's instincts, the group followed the feline creature toward a hall that led to a set of stairs that took them downwards. There, they followed a path familiar to Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana before they ran into an intersection. Down the path of the intersection was a door that would lead to the dungeons, but standing in front of it was a guard blocking that path. "The path is blocked," Akira muttered as he began to take in the situation. "The only way through is to get past the guard. We'll have to take them down fast before they can alert anyone else."

"I'll aid you in your fight, Akira," his mother declared as she readied her sword.

"And this will be the perfect opportunity to teach you a bit more about fighting here," Morgana stated with a confident gleam in his eye. "There's a lot to the Metaverse that I can teach you."

Nodding, Akira quickly broke away from the corner that the group was hiding at and made a mad dash toward the guard. Before the Shadow could think, Akira quickly jumped to its shoulder and grabbed it by the mask. "Show me your true form!" He cried out as he ripped the mask off its face. The Shadow began to shake violently before exploding into a puddle of black and red goo, quickly reforming into a diminuture woman wearing a blue swimsuit as wings fluttered from her back.

As the group of Akira, Morgana and Wonder Woman got into a combatative formation, the cat turned to look at the Amazonian Princess. "Don't be fooled by it's size, that Pixie can pack a punch!" He shouted as the fairy fired a bolt of lightning at Diana, who was able to block the attack with her sword.

"Understood!" Diana called out as she swung her blade at the diminutive woman, sending her flying to a wall with a scream of pain.

"Akira, do you still have that gun Ryuji gave you?" Morgana asked, earing a nod from the young man as he pulled out the weapon, which for some reason felt a bit heavier. "Alright, I'm going to need you to aim and pull the trigger on the Pixie!"

Looking at the cat quizzically, Akira realized there must be a trick to the Metaverse applied to the gun. He swallowed his doubt and did as Morgana asked, aiming straight at the Pixie's torso before pulling the trigger.

BANG!

A bullet sailed toward the Pixie and through her torso, eliciting a scream of agony as she melted into a puddle of goo that quickly evaporated. Akira stared at where the Pixie used to be before his eyes darted to the gun in fear as he and his mother quickly realized what had happened. "What was that?!" Diana exclaimed as she turned to where Ryuji was hiding. "I thought you said that this was a toy!"

"It is!" Ryuji protested as he looked at the weapon in bewilderment. "I got it from an airsoft shop, it shouldn't be able to fire anything!"

"That's the power of cognition for ya." Morgana stated in a smug tone. "Because the enemy thinks it's a real weapon..."

"... The weapon becomes real," Akira finished as he realized what had happened. Before he could fully comprehend the realization, several more puddles of goo erupted before they formed into a new group of Shadows. Three Pixies and two Jack'o Lanterns.

"Crap, they must've heard the fight!" Morgana complained as the Shadows readied their attacks. "Then again, there's another thing I wanted to teach you!"

"Can we discuss this later?!" Akira questioned as he aimed his gun at one of the Pixies, knocking it to the ground as he attempted to hit one of the others, only for the fairies to disperse from the shot.

Nodding at the order, Morgana was enshrouded with blue flames before he spun in place. "Zorro, show your might!" He cried out. In a flash, a tall man with a broad upper body, dressed in Hispanic outlaw attire appeared, brandishing a rapier before using it to summon forth a great wind, knocking down one of the Jack'o Lanterns. As this happened, the other Jack threw a fireball at Wonder Woman, who cut through it with her sword before tossing her lasso at the creature. Now ensnared in the indestructible rope, the poor pumpkin demon was helpless as Diana pulled him closer to her to deliver a powerful blow to the head, reducing the Shadow to chunks of pumpkin mush before it dissolved into nothingness.

With Akira, he kept trying to hit one of the Pixies as they kept launching bolts of lightning at him, forcing him to dodge and miss his targets. "Come! On! Just! Land! Al! Ready!" He growled through his teeth as the Pixies kept dodging. "How does Jason make this look easy?!" He shouted before he got lucky enough to land a hit on one of the Shadows. Pumping his fist in celebration, Akira then aimed at the remaining Pixie before pulling the trigger, only for a click to be heard from the weapon. He had ran out of bullets.

Cursing internally, Akira quickly dodged another attack from the Pixie before he grabbed his mask. "ARSENE!" He called out in an authoritative tone as he pulled off his mask, turning it into a mass of blue flames. Soon, the flames reformed into a demonic being. The head was the first to form, an angular face that was covered by bat-like wings before they unfurled into forward-facing horns, revealing the ghastly visage underneath. With eyes and a ghoulish grin of glowing red flames, the creature looked as though it crawled out of Hell itself as a gentleman's top hat quickly formed on its head. The body came next, as a lean yet muscular build formed as it was quickly adorned with a black formal suit that a Victorian-era gentleman would wear as red seams formed on it, forming the outline of a bat on its chest. A red coat then adorned the body, the tail coats extending down to its legs as the front was held together with golden clasps that resembled Ws. A set of red dress pants then followed before the high-heeled dress shoes formed, a set of wicked blades lifting the Persona's feet up before he let out a deep, ominous laugh.

"RAVAGE THEM!" Akira commanded as his Persona spun around, raising its leg before slamming it down for an axe kick shrouded in red and black energy. Soon, a dark explosion struck the Pixie, knocking it down to the ground with its brethren.

As the group surrounded their foes, Morgana looked at Akira. "Alright, I got one more thing to show you," he said, earning the young man's attention. "Once all enemies are down, we can unleash a rush and gang up on them all at once. I call it an All-Out Attack!"

Akira then looked at the downed Shadows as the cat continued to speak. "Ready whenever you are!" Morgana exclaimed, prompting the frizzy-haired youth to leap into the air with Morgana and Wonder Woman following suit. In an instant, the three fighters became blurs, moving faster than the eye could see as they began to pummel their opponents to a pulp. As fast as it occurred, the onslaught stopped as Akira landed on the ground. He adjusted his gloves before a wicked smirk formed on his face as blood erupted from their enemies.

THE SHOW'S OVER.

As the group came back together, Ryuji ran up to the trio with eyes wide with shock. "Dude, what was that?!" He exclaimed. "You guys kicked serious ass just now! And then there was that thing at the end!"

"Pretty impressive, right?" Morgana said in a smug tone as he turned toward Akira. "You guys are catching on to fighting here pretty quick! I'm pretty impressed!"

"It is of no thanks to me and my son's training beforehand, Morgana," Diana answered as she sheathed her sword. "We are trained in many forms of combat, after all."

Soon, the group went through the door to the dungeons, only to be welcomed with the screams of agony belonging to the prisoners trapped within. "Holy Hell..." Ryuji muttered as his eyes widened before narrowing with fury. "Just what the Eff is Kamoshida doing to them?!"

"That's what we're about to find out," Akira stated with a growl as he and the group made their way toward the cells. They watched as students were continuously tortured, from being hit with cannonballs while strung up from the ceiling, to being forced to run on a treadmill that lead to a bar of spikes, to being whipped by the guards.

"I knew it'd be messed up," Ryuji admitted as he walked over to one of the cells as he grit his teeth. "But this... This is a whole new level of crazy..."

"You're right," Diana said as she clenched her fists. "This Kamoshida truly is deranged if he believes that he can treat his students like this."

"It doesn't matter anyways," Morgana said, earning the attention of the others. "These are just cognitions, they're not the real deal. Think of them as dolls that act like he programs them."

"Be as it may," Akira began, "there is still the fact that Kamoshida is abusing his students. It may not be like it is here, but it's something that he compares to this, and it needs to be stopped."

"Yeah," Ryuji said without hesitation as he began to bring out his phone.. "We gotta go and get some evidence. Maybe we can find who these guys are in the real world!"

"Our phones won't work, Ryuji," Akira stated. "When we first came here, I tried to call my parents, but not only was there no signal, none of the apps besides the navigator worked."

"That explains why your phone signal disappeared," Diana muttered. "Being taken to a hidden dimension like this would disrupt any signals to and from. We should notify the league and the rest of the family."

Ryuji groaned at the statement before pocketing his phone away. "Alright, then, I guess I'm gonna have to memorize their faces then!" He said in a determined voice as he began to focus on the faces of the students. After a few moments and a few deep breaths through clenched teeth, the blond spoke up. "Now that I get a good look, I know these guys! They're the volleyball team!"

"PE teacher abusing the team he's personally training," Morgana muttered with a frown. "Why am I not surprised?"

Ryuji pulled away from the bars of the cell as he slammed his fist on the bars. "Dammit!" He growled out, earning a look of concern from the Amazonian duo. "I'm alright. I memorized their faces. Let's get out of here."

Akira looked at his fellow student with concern before nodding. "Alright."

The group began to make their way toward the main entrance, noticing just how empty the halls were as they made their way through the Palace. It wasn't until they got to the main entrance did they realize why it was so empty, as Shadows suddenly surrounded the group. As Akira, Wonder Woman, and Morgana got into combat stances, a deranged laughter was heard coming down the main stairway before a man wearing nothing more but red underwear and cape leaped down. With a twisted grin, Shadow Kamoshida turned to look at the trio before opening his mouth. "I see that you thieves haven't learned your lesson, have you?" He said in a distorted voice. "To think that you would be so foolish as to return to try and attack me again."

"This has gone long enough, Kamoshida," Wonder Woman stated as she drew her sword and took a step forward. "You may believe yourself to be a king, but you have no right to treat your students as though they are your playthings!"

Shadow Kamoshida laughed. "Oh please," he said as he snapped his fingers, prompting two guards to grab Ryuji by his arms. As the blond began to struggle, the golden-eyed king continued to monologue. "In this world, I am king, and what I say goes. That includes how I treat my worthless slaves and those who try to defy me!" He then pointed at the group. "Execute them!"

"With pleasure, Lord Kamoshida!" The golden guard declared as it burst with red and black ooze before reforming into a purple-furred Bicorn, its red eyes glowing as it towered over the trio while the other shadows transformed into green-skinned women wearing long, red dresses.

The trio braced themselves for combat as one of the three women charged up an attack, firing a ball of ice at the group, forcing them to disperse, with Akira having the unfortunate luck of landing near the Bicorn and a Silky. He grit his teeth before pulling out his gun on them, firing off several rounds as the Shadows quickly dodged before the Bicorn rammed its horns against Akira's chest. With the wind knocked out of him, Akira was sent back to the ground, allowing the Silky to fire another Bufu attack at the young man. He quickly dodged, only getting hit in the arm as ice quickly covered the limb, preventing him from using his gun. As he was distracted by the loss of use of his arm, Akira was unable to detect the Bicorn charging at him until the last second, allowing it to kick him in the face, knocking him on his back, allowing it to follow up by rearing on its hind legs before bringing its front hooves down on the young man's chest.

Upon hearing her son scream in pain, Diana turned around. "Akira!" She called out before she was knocked down by one of the other Silkies', whose Bufu attack froze her hands and sword together. Morgana was the next to follow, as the Bicorn lunged toward him, knocking the cat with the rest of the group.

All the while, Ryuji watched on as he tried to break away from the guards that held him in place, only to receive laughter as Shadow Kamoshida walked toward the group. "To think, you all went down so easily," he mocked as his eyes turned to look at the captured blond. "Let me guess, you came here without a plan, trying to stop my reign? I should've expected nothing less from the Track Traitor and those who follow him!"

Hearing this, Akira looked at Ryuji. "Track Traitor?"

Kamoshida bawked at this before letting out another mocking laugh. "Oh, so you haven't told them about it?" He asked in a deriding tone. " About how you betrayed your team by trying to attack me after all I did to train them, causing the team to disband?"

"That's because it wasn't training, asshole! It was abuse!" Ryuji exclaimed as he tried to lunge at the King. "You ran us to the ground every day because you didn't like us!"

"Hmph," Kamoshida snorted. "You'd better watch that mouth of yours, punk. If you had just stayed in your place, I would've stopped at getting your coach fired."

Ryuji grit his teeth as he looked down, knowing that, in a way, the bastard was right. If he had stayed quiet, the team wouldn't have disbanded, and they would've still had the chance to follow their dreams after high school. Maybe if he had just rolled with the punches, his friends wouldn't have abandoned him.

Akira had none of it, however. "Are you actually going to listen to his crap?!" He yelled, getting Ryuji's attention. "You tried to do the right thing! When everyone else kept their heads down, you tried to stand against how he treated your friends, didn't you?! Evil only wins when good men do nothing, and you were the only one to try! There's nothing to be ashamed of trying to do what's right!"

Hearing this, the fire in Ryuji's eyes began to fire up again. "That's right," he muttered as he raised his forearms. "And I won't stop fighting back! If I give up now, then what I did back then was for nothing! I'm going to show you, Kamo-shithead, that I ain't staying down..." He then grabbed the guards holding him by their heads before quickly slamming them down in front of him. "UNTIL I WIPE THAT DAMN SMILE OF YOUR FACE!"

"You made me wait quite a while..." A voice rang in Ryuji's head as his eyes began to glow gold. The blond screamed in pain as he began to claw at his head. "You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact." Ryuji fell to the ground as he began to toss and turn in an effort to quell the pain. "Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc...? The "other you" who exists within desires it thus..." Ryuji then got back up as blue flames began to form at his feet, rising up his body. "I am thou, thou art I...There is no turning back...The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!"

His head snapped up as the flames reached his face to form a black mask in the shape of the top half of a skull before he ripped it off, spraying blood everywhere as he screamed in pain. The blue flames returned to form a new outfit consisting of a black jacket and pants with metal armor around the joints and spine. Adorning his feet were armored boots, his hands donned with yellow gloves that had metal protectors on them, a skull engraved into them. Around his neck was a red ascot, which lead to the most eye catching part of his outfit being the chest area where his jacket was opened. Under the jackets was a striking blue shirt, which had a red shield on it, and inside the shield was a large, red S that was shaped to resemble a lightning bolt.

Hovering behind the young man was a large pirate ship that had a sharp-toothed grin and yellow angry eyes painted on it. Riding on top of it like a skateboard was a figure dresses like a stereotypical pirate, albeit with supernatural features to set it apart. From its skeletal body and face, the red fabric wrapped around its knee, the swords crossing its chest, along with its red coat adorned with the same S adorned on Ryuji's chest that billowed like a cape. On top of all that, its right arm was replaced with a massive cannon that it wielded with ease.

"Alright," Ryuji muttered as he looked at his hands in awe of the power he wielded. "Wassup, Persona?" He let a devilish grin form on his face. "Alright, I'm ready!"

"You dare defy the will of Lord Kamoshida?!" The Bicorn exclaimed in rage as it snorted out hot air.

"Hell yeah, I am!" Ryuji declared defiantly as he strode toward the group of enemies. "He already sees me as a punk, so there's no point in pretending to be otherwise!" He pointed his finger toward the group. "BLAST 'EM AWAY, CAPTAIN KIDD!"

Upon hearing the command, the ghastly pirate aimed its arm cannon at the enemies before firing a bolt of lightning at them. While the Silkies were able to disperse, the Bicorn was too big and slow to dodge, getting itself paralyzed and knocked down from the attack as the maid-like beings began to fire their own icy attacks, which the blond was able to dodge before he ran up to them with a metal pipe in hand, knocking one down with his sheer might.

As this happened, Morgana quickly cast a healing spell on Akira, who hissed as he felt his broken ribs pull themselves back together while Wonder Woman managed to break free from the supernaturally strong ice. "Hold on, Ryuji," Akira muttered as he got back on his feet as the group charged in. "We're not done, yet!" With that said, Akira pulled out his gun and opened fire at one of the Silkies, getting its attention long enough for his mother to leap into the air and swing her sword down on the Shadow, cutting clean through the being as it dissolved into goo.

Meanwhile, Morgana fired off five rounds at another Silky with his slingshot, distracting it from Ryuji as it tried to fire a Bufu at the cat-like creature. The diminutive thief dodged the attack, running toward the woman and attacking with his scimitar, knocking the Shadow back. As it tried to get back up, Ryuji bashed the back of its head with his pipe before he tore off his mask, summoning his Persona once more before launching another electric attack, knocking the Silky down. "They're weak to electric attacks!" Morgana cried out to the Amazonian duo, who nodded as they delivered a blow to the remaining Silky, sending it flying to Ryuji as he fired off another Zio attack, knocking it to the ground.

"Let's finish this!" Wonder Woman called out as Ryuji led the charge. The quartet of fighters rushed their foes, striking strong and swiftly before the carnage was over. Ryuji fell to the ground handsfirst before flipping himself back up, leaning back as he made a Devil Horns hand gesture.

FREAKING BORING!

"How's that, Kamo-dickhead?!" Ryuji yelled at the golden-eyed king, who sneered at the group with a look of disgust. "We ain't going down that easy!"

"Filthy peasants..." the Shadow growled as the sounds of footsteps were heard. "Do you really think a couple of strong punches are enough to dethrone me?" Shadow Kamoshida smirked as he looked to his right, extending his arm to embrace a blonde girl wearing a pink leopard-print bikini. "People WANT me to be king! They would never accept a snot-nosed punk like you!"

"What the Hell?!" Ryuji exclaimed as he got a good look at the girl, recognizing her. "Takamaki, what are you doing with-?!" As he walked closer to her, he only managed to make it a few steps before a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He fell forward, only to get caught by Akira before he could crash to the ground. "What the..?"

"Save your strength," Akira ordered as he helped his friend up, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. "The first time you awaken your Persona drains a lot of your energy. We need to get you out of here. It's no good fighting if you're barely able to move around."

"Don't worry, Sakamoto," Wonder Woman agreed as she lifted the blond by the other shoulder. "We will come back and finish the fight. You just need to rest soon."

Ryuji looked between the duo before nodding, realizing that he was no good to them in his current state. Shadow Kamoshida, on the other hand, did not give a shit of their state. "That's right, run, spineless cowards," he said mockingly as he fondled the girl next to him. "It's about time you understood that against my might, you never had a chance. Should you attempt to attack me again, you will-"

That was as far as he got before the sword of one of his men suddenly flew past his head, cutting through the Cognitive Takamaki's face before impaling itself into the wall behind him, causing a multitude of cracks to form. As the Shadow king stared at the damaged stone with fear in his eyes, he turned back to see who threw the blade, spotting Akira hunched over with his arm extended in front of him, glaring at him with blank eyes through his mask as the golden bat on his chest began to glow. For a brief moment, he swore that he saw a dark, shadowy figure in the form of a bat glare at him from behind the young man. "As for you, Kamoshida," Akira hissed out with venom lacing his voice, "from this moment on, you are no longer safe."

The Shadow stumbled back before he ran away in fear, leaving the group of thieves to quickly leave the castle. "Man, that was... That was..." Ryuji began to mutter before he realized something. "Hey, what am I wearing? When did I put this on?"

"It comes with the Persona awakening," Morgana began to explain. "That outfit is your image of rebellion, designed to protect you from the distortions of a Palace... Not that you would get it."

"Think of it as force field that looks like what you think is cool," Akira summarized to the blond, who nodded at the explanation. "Though that doesn't explain why my mother isn't affected. Perhaps because of how she and the rest of the Justice League are known all over the world, thus, everyone's cognition of them overpowers their distortions?"

"An apt theory, Akira," Diana said with a smile. "There may be more at work, but we probably won't figure it out unless we get the chance to study it further."

"Well, whatever the case, we now have a full team for infiltrating the castle," Morgana stated as he stroked his chin. "Maybe we can even travel through Mementos once we're done!"

"Wait a sec," Ryuji exclaimed as he stood back up on his own. "What's this about going to this Memen-place?! I never agreed to that!"

"What?!" Morgana exclaimed. "But I helped you guys! Are you going to back out on our agreement?!"

"I agree with Sakamoto," Diana confirmed. "This is the first you've mentioned of another location, and none of us ever agreed to any more plans beyond this castle."

"Are you serious?!"

"We're wasting time," Akira interrupted. "We need to leave now. We can deal with this at a later time."

The trio of Akira, Diana, and Ryuji quickly made their way out of the Palace's dimension, leaving Morgana behind as he began to jump up and down in anger. "Hey, you can't just ditch me!" He yelled as a tick mark formed on his forehead. "Get back here, you duplicitous moth-" They didn't hear the last part as they exited the Metaverse.

Sorry this took so long, my crew! I know you all waited for this to come out, or just for an update in general, and I apologize for the long wait, but I hope this chapter makes up for the long wait! However, I know that this chapter isn't as polished as most, and that's because I rushed through it, for good reason. You see, at the time of this writing, I'm going to get LASIK surgery tomorrow, meaning that I won't be able to write as much as I want to in order to let my eyes heal, something that will take six months to complete. Because of this, I worked overtime to get this chapter out in time, and it probably would've come out sooner, but between other personal projects, work, and responsibilities, I barely had time to finish this.

Either way, I won't be able to write for at least six weeks, and even then, I won't be back to full force for six months. I'm sorry for the massive hiatus, and I hope you all forgive me. Until then, keep it fizzy, and be good people!