Hello all, apologies for the lack of updates on my other stories. Unfortunately for me, I've been dealing with a lack of motivation to continue those lately, so I decided to write up a little idea that's been in the back of my mind since I've been playing P5R lately! If you guys like this idea enough I'll try my best to continue it, I enjoy how it's coming out so far though.


Ren Amamiya, local student of Shujin Academy and leader of the Phantom Thieves, groaned as he slowly rolled over onto his back, his uniform getting soaked through from the rainwater beneath him as he stared up at the blood red sky.

"So…" He muttered, trying to distract himself from the numb feeling slowly overtaking his entire body. "This is how… we finally lose, huh…?"

It was a bit hard for him to come to terms with what was happening. After overcoming every obstacle thrown their way, after all the hardships him and his friends had been through… had it really all been for nothing? Were the people of Tokyo truly content to live a life controlled by another?

He could still hear the screams and cries of his team as they disappeared one by one, eerily similar to what shadows looked like when they were defeated in battle. First Ryuji, then Ann… the rest followed shortly after.

And now, he was about to join them.

Ren chuckled mirthlessly, his body growing weaker as his impending doom began to catch up to him. Idly, his mind wandered to the Holy Grail's words as they started to disappear from the people's cognition, still puzzling over what it meant.

"As punishment for going against the people's wishes, I banish you all to another world, so you may not trouble them with your pointless social reform again!"

Another world… What did it mean by that? The closest thing to an entirely separate world he could think of would be the Metaverse, but that didn't make sense to banish them there, where they were at their strongest.

Ren slowly raised his hand to the sky, as if trying to reach out to someone, anyone that could help save them from this bleak fate… but there was nobody. Just the numb feeling crawling up his neck, overtaking his entire body. The last thing he saw as his vision went dark was a bright blue butterfly, landing on his outstretched fingers before they vanished completely.

The Phantom Thieves were no more.


Ren awoke with a start.

The Phantom Thief gasped for air as he shot up into a seated position, his eyes wild with shock and fear. His chest heaved up and down as he struggled to control his breathing, pressing a hand against his torso to try and stabilize the deep gulps of air he was taking. The normally calm and collected teen had a thousand thoughts a minute running rampant in his mind.

He had died. The feeling of his body going numb as he was erased from existence was still fresh in his mind… but now all the feeling in his frame had returned, and he could breathe again. Ren couldn't help but let out a small incredulous chuckle. He was never going to take simply existing for granted ever again. It took Ren a good minute or two to finally get his breathing under control, closing his eyes as he took deep inhales of the warm, fresh and… oddly salty air. Once he was composed, he slowly opened his eyes, his heart thumping in his chest.

"… Okay," Ren muttered as he slowly gazed around at the completely unfamiliar surroundings, his mouth feeling strangely wrong as he spoke. "I'm definitely not in Shibuya anymore."

Strange trees with lush, tropical foliage surrounded him, their leaves covering the sky above him which only let a few stray beams of light through onto the forest floor. The grass beneath him was wet and fresh feeling, as was the air, a salty moisture being carried along a soft breeze blowing through his hair. In all honesty, it was quite the serene and beautiful scene, one that Yusuke would most likely want to capture in a painting if he were here. He would probably have appreciated the scenery more if it wasn't painfully obvious that he was currently far from home. It kind of reminded him of their school trip to Hawaii for some strange reason…

A sudden wave of exhaustion swept over Ren as he looked around the small clearing, a groan escaping him as he reached up to try and soothe the oncoming headache. That was when the second major surprise of the day decided to present itself, when instead of a hand rose up to greet him, a dark furred paw with three sharp, maroon claws did instead.

Ren froze for a moment as he stared at the alien appendage, trying to process what exactly was going on. He slowly turned what was decidedly his paw around, looking it over with wide eyes. He brought his other hand up and sure enough, it was the same gray furred paw with red claws. Beyond the focus of his vision he noticed his legs shared the same fate, lithe and dark furred with three claws replacing his toes. They seemed oddly shaped, although he did recall being taught about animals with legs like these… digitigrade, if he remembered correctly.

"This is…" Ren muttered before he abruptly stopped and felt his face, eyes widening a bit when he realized why his mouth felt wrong earlier. It was because he had a muzzle now. "Is this what the Holy Grail meant by 'banished to another world'..?" He said, trying not to cringe now that he could feel how his new maw moved.

"Morgana? Ryuji? Anybody around?" Ren called out around him, looking through the foliage to see if any of the group was nearby. Unfortunately, it seemed like it was only him and the soft breeze in the air, the trees swaying silently above him.

He bit back a curse. That was not good… He was lost in a completely unknown place, his team was nowhere to be found, and he wasn't even human anymore. Things were definitely looking bleak, to say the very least.

"… I can't give up now though," Ren said with a huff, slowly but surely getting to his feet. He could almost hear Arsène's laugh pounding in his ears, the thief wreathing him in his chains and wings as he stood to his full height. "The Phantom Thieves keep fighting no matter what."

He would find a way to get back to Shibuya and finish the fight with the Holy Grail. His rebellious spirit refused to give up.


The first problem Ren came across was actually walking. It turned out that going from feet that planted flat on the floor with each step to paws that forced him to stand on his toes was a bit more of an adjustment than he thought it would be, resulting in some very clumsy and awkward first steps through the unfamiliar forest. After tripping and falling painfully onto the ground or into the nearby trunk of a tree, however, he started to quickly get the hang of things. It was sort of how he ran silently through Palaces… just, all the time now.

Once Ren was confident enough to walk without putting too much focus into it, he was able to pay some attention to his surroundings, and just how strange they were. The trees were definitely much different compared to a place like Inokashira park, a lot more tropical and some of them towered over him, acting as a natural canopy that filtered most of the sunlight. There were also a few bushes that hung with strange berries that he'd never seen before in his life, some of them round and blue like an enormous blueberry, and he even saw some that were red and spiky looking, just as big as the other blue ones.

The strangest thing, however, had to be some of the local wildlife he had encountered so far. He had only caught a few glimpses of some smaller animals, but from what he managed to see they were similar to animals around the world but they just seemed so… off. Dark furred rats that skittered between the trees, woodpeckers with red crests with eyes that seemed way too big to be normal, he even saw what looked like some fox that had leaves for fur, followed by another smaller, much fluffier fox. So many different creatures that he had never seen, heard, or read about in his life… but they all shared one thing in common.

The moment that any of them noticed he was there, their eyes would suddenly widen with fear and they would quickly dash into the foliage, leaving him alone once again.

Great. Stuck in what could be an entirely different world, and he was shunned here too. It didn't help that he had discovered his hearing was miles better in this new form, and with it he could hear these creatures actually talking. Whispers about his claws, how scary he looked… perhaps now that he was some sort of animal himself, he could understand them?

But that didn't matter right now. What did matter was that he needed to find a stream or lake of some kind. Ren could feel that he was starting to get thirsty from the humidity, and who knows how far away the closest civilization could be?

So Ren continued to trek through the forest, keeping a keen eye out for any sign of running water or whatnot. He considered using his Third Eye to help him look, but he really didn't want to deal with the headache that was sure to follow while he was exhausted like this. He managed to catch a glimpse of a couple more strange looking animals, but they fled from him all the same once they noticed him. Hopefully, the creatures of this place would stay small and non threatening, at least.

It seemed like a good hour had passed before Ren was finally able to find a small body of water, making the Phantom Thief let out a sigh of relief. It was a bit odd to see the pond surrounded by a bunch of roughly cut tree stumps, like someone had taken a sword and went at them, but it was probably nothing. "Finally… I was getting a bit worried there." He muttered before ambling over to the edge of the body of water, stepping over some roughly cut logs. Kneeling over the pond, Ren concluded that the water looked fresh enough (hopefully) and bent forward so he could scoop some up for a drink, only to be stopped when he noticed his reflection on the surface.

"Woah," Ren muttered as his eyes widened, tilting his vulpine muzzle from side to side so he could get a better look. The resemblance his new form had to a mythical kitsune was staggering to say the least. His muzzle extended to a point in front of him, and his maw was slightly open as he gazed down at himself, revealing several very sharp teeth. The fur on his face was the same gray that coated his torso and limbs, but there were a couple highlights of stark red fur around the corners of his mouth and around his eyes, really furthering the kitsune look. He didn't know how hadn't noticed until now, but he also had a massive mane of red and black hair-like fur that extended down past his waist, wild and spiky.

Ren hummed to himself as he took it all in, reaching up to run his claws through the nest of hair. In all honesty, he couldn't help but feel like the new form… suited him, somehow. "At least my eyes are somewhat the same…" He said, noting the gray irises he still possessed. "I could get used to this."

Suddenly, Ren felt his ear twitch as something in the tall grass around him rustled, and he got the distinct feeling that he was being watched.

Immediately the teen was on edge, freezing in place as his breathing hitched. Instincts that were honed by the Metaverse immediately kicked in and he activated Third Eye, his gray eyes taking on a red sheen as he slowly glanced around himself. At first, he couldn't sense or see anything around him, until he slowly looked to his right and saw the silhouette in the grass. Whatever it was very obviously wasn't friendly, laying low in the blades as it stalked him. He wouldn't have even noticed it was there if it wasn't for his newly advanced hearing. For a brief moment, the forest was still as if Ren and the strange silhouette were staring each other down.

Then there was a flash of movement from the grass as something green and sharp burst into action, making Ren's eyes widen as he swiftly flipped out of the way, just barely dodging a massive scythe as it cleaved through the air where he once was. He landed with a grunt, instincts taking over as he ducked and quickly brought up his handgun to aim at his attacker—

Ren immediately froze, staring down at his paws with shock on his face.

Somehow, impossibly, in his claws was his standard TT-33 handgun that he used for every mission into the Metaverse. The weight felt comfortable in his grip, though that begged the question of how he was even gripping it in the first place when he only had three claws and where he had even pulled it from.

It seemed that he wouldn't get any answers anytime soon, however, as the gun suddenly glowed a bright blue out of nowhere and vanished in a shower of sparks. "What the—" Ren said incredulously, still staring at his paw after the gun was gone. Just what the hell was even going on with this place?

"Hrmph, you're faster than you look…" A gruff voice brought Ren out of his incredulity, finally looking up so he could face whoever just attacked him. If he was expecting anything, it certainly wasn't a giant, human sized green bug with massive scythes for hands. The insect scraped its scythes together, a horrible sound ringing out as it turned to face him, obviously pissed off. "Just who in Arceus's name do you think you are to just waltz into my territory like you own the place?!"

Shit. Ren couldn't stop himself from swearing under his breath. He really couldn't believe his luck, already pissing off a very dangerous looking monster within the first couple hours of waking up in this place. This… bug thing, probably marked its territory by cutting down trees with those scythes it has. Normally, Ren would have no problem with fighting this thing… but with how he was now, exhausted and with no way to defend himself? Not a good idea.

"This is all a big misunderstanding," Ren said, holding his claws up as a sign of peace. "I was just passing through, and didn't know this was your territory. Let me leave, and you won't see me around here again."

This did nothing to placate the monster, however, the bug growling as its wings vibrated. "You didn't know, eh? I oughta teach you a lesson, then, show the rest of the Pokémon around here what happens when you're this ignorant!"

Ren furrowed his brow a little at the bug's words. Pokémon? Is that what he and the rest of these strange animals were? "There's no reason to fight!" He called back with a huff, lowering himself into a more aggressive position in case the bug decided to attack. "I don't want to cause any trouble!"

He barely had time to duck and roll as the bug suddenly sprinted and slashed at him again. "It's a bit too late for that! Now DIE!" Within a few moments he was pressing the attack again, forcing Ren to stay on the defensive.

The teen cursed as he quickly weaved and jumped out of the way of those extremely sharp scythes as they sung through the air with each swing, although with each dodge it was getting increasingly more difficult. Ren's breathing was haggard, swearing a bit as one of the scythes nicked him on the arm. 'Shit… I can't keep dodging like this… but how am I supposed to get in and defend myself when he's got four times the reach I do?!'

Ren grunted as he smoothly flipped over a horizontal swing and took the chance to reach down and claw at the bug's face as he flew overhead, landing a few feet away. His attacker let out a sharp cry of pain, losing its balance for just a moment as it reached up to touch its face, before leveling a glare at him that was filled with pure hatred. "You BRAT!" The bug yelled.

Ren was about to shoot back at it, before suddenly the bug shot forward with even more speed than before. He barely had any time to react before a bright, glowing scythe suddenly slashed out and dug into his torso, making him scream out in pain as he was flung backwards. The teen slammed into the trunk of a nearby tree, before slumping down onto the forest floor, gasping for air. "G-Gah… Damn…" He groaned, weakly pressing a paw into his side, trying to ignore the immense pain as he did so… yeah, that was blood. This was looking dire.

The bug simply snorted as it slowly walked up to him. "At least you put up a better fight than most. Hopefully, this will be a lesson to anyone else thinking they can just waltz in here." Ren's blood dripped from its scythe as it stalked closer and closer, the teen scrambling to try and do something. He couldn't let himself die like this, not when there was a chance that his friends were still out there!

But… what could he do?

As the monster grew closer, slowly raising its scythe again… Ren felt something very familiar. His eyes widened as he looked down at his bloody claws, the sound of Arsène's laughter ringing in his ears once more. He could feel the thief's power coursing through him, similar to how it felt to summon him in the Metaverse but… different.

Ren didn't have time to think more on this, however. Just as the bug was about to finish him with one more slash, he recalled the raw power within him, his claws dancing with magical energy. With a flourish, he called; "Maeigaon!"

In an instant, the monster let out a cry of agony as the curse magic surrounded him, enveloping his entire body in the spell before he even had a chance to react. Even with how injured he was, Ren couldn't help but smirk as he watched the powerful curse spell do it's work. "Hah… You're mine…" He panted out, slumping back against the tree.

Just as quickly as the spell began, it finished, leaving a heavily wounded bug in the middle of the clearing. There was a moment of tense silence as Ren stared at his attackers prone body, his claws raised just in case it was going to get back up again and keep attacking. Though after a few beats of waiting, he allowed himself to relax with a deep, heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping from the release of tension.

That was way too close for comfort.

Of course, as soon as the adrenaline from that fight had run its course, the pain of having a deep gash in his side once again caught up to him, making Ren squeeze his eyes shut and gasp. He gritted his teeth as he held his right paw to his left side, slowly but surely heaving himself back onto his feet. His legs were shaking from the exertion, but after a minute he managed to right himself without falling over. He went to take a step…

And promptly collapsed into a heap on the forest floor, his vision going dark.


Thanks again for reading! If you want to tell me what you think let me know with a review, I read all of them.