Shadow Akane summoned Shadow variants of the Phantom Thieves with a few exceptions. When she felt cornered and alone, the Phantom Thieves were the ones she turned to. The ones trying to speak with her were only imposters, the real ones would protect her! Everyone had to fan out to fight their copies, and as expected Shadow Joker went straight for the real one. Shadow Joker clashed his knife with Joker's sparks flying as the two leaders collided. "We are the Phantom Thieves of Heart! We will protect Akane from evil doers like you, and change the heart's of all the villains in the world!"
The two Jokers clashed, slashing their knives at each other. Eventually they both stalemated and jumped back. Joker landed on his feet, taking a brief glance at the others. "Do I really sound like that!?" This was part of Akane's cognition, and she had a rather impressive impression of Joker.
"Yes." Crow spat.
"Hah!" Joker said with a bit of a strained smile. It was like looking in a twisted mirror. The cocky smirk worn by his other self served malicious intentions, while his own was that of confidence and righteousness. "Okay, you have my voice and know what I like to say. So let's see if you can parrot these words: PERSONA!" Joker's mask burned away and Raoul appeared behind him. "Go!" Joker thrust his arm forward, Raoul firing off numerous Eigeons towards Shadow Joker. The blasts all connected, creating a thick cloud of smoke in the process. Before Joker could assess the damage, his doppelganger lunged from the smoke.
"Not enough!" Shadow Joker said smugly, in the same way Joker would if the situation were flipped. He aimed to slash Joker with his knife. Joker was only barely able to defend against the sudden attack, being thrown back from the impact. He tumbled, but was able to catch himself with a quick roll into a crouched position.
"Okay..." Joker said while shaking the impact off. "Guess this won't be as easy as I thought. Is this what it's like to fight me?" No wonder their enemies called him cocky and pompous. And right as he said that, Shadow Joker whipped out his pistol and began to shoot at Joker. "Oh! I guess they really do have everything!" And unfortunately for him, there were no avoiding these bullets by not thinking they were real. Joker quickly hid behind a statue for cover, grimacing at the situation before them. "Alright then. If that's the game we're going to play...then I'm going to win."
.
.
It was chaos with so many Phantom Thieves fighting. They had to split off and take on their evil shadow clones to avoid everything becoming too chaotic. This did mean that Oracle had little choice but to face off against her own Shadow. But unlike Oracle, Shadow Oracle was actually capable of moving swiftly and even fighting! Oracle had to panic while ducking and dodging attacks from her Shadow self. "Oh, come on! What does this girl think I can do!?" Oracle whined while on the backfoot. While she was the support, it did not mean she had the badass combat abilities of her friends! Shadow Oracle could run circles around her! Meanwhile Oracle would get winded running two circles! Akane's cognition of the Phantom Thieves was a flattering but also inaccurate one!
"Take this!" Shadow Oracle leapt into the air, prepared to strike Oracle, but she was stopped when Sophie's Yo-yos wrapped around her body. "Huh-!?"
"Don't worry, Oracle! I got you covered!" Sophie said before spinning around, tossing Shadow Oracle into a wall somewhere. Pithos then appeared and began to open fire on that location with numerous beams of light. Sophie eventually ceased her assault, waiting to see the outcome of it.
"Thanks, Sophie..." Oracle said while letting out a relieved sigh. "I don't know why Akane things I can even throw a decent punch! I'm flattered but it's just wrong!"
"Ow..." Shadow Oracle groaned while rubbing the back of her head. But she was quick to stand back up and assume the pose she took earlier. "Mwehehehe! If you think that's going to be enough to defeat me, you've got another thing coming, faker!"
"Oh yeah!? Faker, huh?" Oracle said while summoning Al Azif, entering her Persona to properly support the team; the one thing Shadow Oracle could not do. "You may look like me, but you're not even good enough to be my fake!" She pressed a few buttons within her Persona and instantly cast Heat Riser on Sophie and spread the effects to the rest of the team as well. "Here come the buffs, everyone! Take these fakers down!"
"On it!" Sophie nodded while pointing her hands forward while charging a cyan blast within them. The blast was fired, and Shadow Oracle prepared to dodge...but the bullet then expanded, turning into a strong gravitational field that prevented her from escaping.
"W-What is this?!" Shadow Oracle panicked.
"Game over!" Oracle pointed forward.
"Firing!" Sophie combined the pieces of Pithos together, allowing her makeshift Persona to charge and release a gigantic blast of light that rocketed forward. This large beam of light struck Shadow Oracle and consumed her, the Shadow variant of the Phantom Thieves fading away from the overload of damage sustained. "Target eliminated."
"Nice job, Sophie!" Oracle flashed Sophie a smile. Fighting herself was pretty weird, though. Not something she'd want to do again...!
.
Crow and Fox were facing off against their own Shadow selves. Fox was surprise that Shadow Fox was just as fast as he was in all forms. "Ngh! It even matches my speed?!" It was hard landing a blow on someone as fast as yourself! Because of this, he was in a stalemate with his other self, their slashes reflecting off of one another so easily.
"Nothing but carbon copies." Crow spat while staring at Shadow Crow. "But if nothing less, it allows me a chance to kill something." And he would gladly attack a shadow version of himself. So he wildly swung at Shadow Crow, who was just as violent as him with every strike.
"Geez..." Wolf was on standby, waiting for an opening to strike. Nearby, he could also see Queen facing off against Shadow Queen. She was having a hard time since she was effectively fighting herself with Aikido. "Wait a sec, why aren't there creepy clones of Sophie and I here?"
"Because as far as Akane is concerned, you two don't exist." Crow said while slashing at Shadow Crow with sword for a direct hit. But it didn't last long, because Shadow Crow quickly rebounded to slash him for a direct hit as well. Crow grit his teeth, letting out a pained grunt that was masked with his irritated smile.
"Because you two haven't revealed yourselves to the public, she had no knowledge of you existence within our group!" Queen replied, barely managing to evade a punch from her other self. It was difficult to get one over on herself, and as a result, she took a fierce elbow before a punch landed on her, causing her to stumble back.
"That kind of makes sense..." Wolf still struggled to comprehend some things concerning the cognitive world. But at the end of the day, it was probably better this way. Less numbers to deal with in an already large group! Spotting an opening, Wolf aimed his pistols at Shadow Fox, Queen, and Crow, opening fire without any warning. The three copies of the Phantom Thieves had no choice but to respond to the gunfire and dodge accordingly. He summoned Valjean in the process, the armored knight's chains whippng about wildly to force the Shadow Thieves into a corner. "Works out for us then, because we have the numbers!"
"They may have our likeness, but they pale in comparison to the originals!" Fox exclaimed as his mask burned away. "Goro Kichi, freeze these imitations solid with a single stroke of your sword!" Gorokichi appeared before Fox, swinging his sword swiftly. This prompted a wave of frost to wash over Shadow Fox, Queen, and Crow, pinning them in place.
"Do you think this will be enough to hold us!?" Shadow Fox asked, already making progress in breaking freeze.
"All you've done is buy yourself some time!" Shadow Queen began to punch at the ice.
"And once we're out, we'll tear you apart!" Shadow Crow roared.
"Unfortunately for you, this is all the time you have left!" With this opening, Queen rode forward on Anges, putting the pedal to the metal. With Fox's ice, she was driving towards the frozen Shadows even faster. She then turned on a dime, slamming into all three of them violently with a sideswipe to knock them down to the ground. "Crow!"
"You don't have to say a thing!" Crow saw this opening made for him and grinned madly. "HEREWARD!" He also activated his power on himself for good measure, a black and red aura erupting around him. Hereward appeared with a sword raised, charged with almighty magic. Crow made use of his special Laevatain attack, the sword striking the downed Shadow Thieves while exploding on them. Because they were knocked down, this attack mercilessly ripping into all of them at once. When the explosion cleared, the three Shadow Thieves were defeated.
"What the..." This was Wolf's first time witnessing Crow's power. As such, he was rightfully shocked and concerned about it. "Is he...always like that?" With all these new revelations, he was certain he would never, truly get used to the Metaverse at this rate.
"It is a very long story, but the short answer is...most of the time." Fox said while taking a breath.
"I feel more alive like this sometimes." Crow responded casually.
.
.
Violet was in a duel with Shadow Violet. Their skills with a rapier were even, and even their fancy footwork was on par with each other. Violet was finding it extremely difficult to find an opening against herself. It was a little frustrating if she had to be honest. But it was hard to worry about that when Shadow Noir suddenly came in overhead, violently swinging her axe down on her. "...!?" Violet's eyes widened and she quickly flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding something that crushed the ground under it. "Noir-senpai, your Shadow scares me...!"
"That won't do." Noir said while lunging forward, flipping to slam her axe down on Shadow Noir. Shadow Noir responded in kind, their axes grinding together with sparks flying. The two were in a stalemate, but Shadow Violet aimed to thrust her rapier at Noir while she was busy. Noir was able to dodge this, and Violet flipped forward to kick Shadow Violet back. It was a successful hit, but she was soon knocked back by Shadow Noir into a hard tumble, crashing right into Noir as a result. It was a heavy crash for the both of them,
"Ouch..." Noir rubbed the back of her head. "They're quite strong." She got up fast and attempted to swing at Shadow Violet, but that one was too quick for her to strike down. Meanwhile. Shadow Noir was just violent and threw all safety to the wind when it came to fighting.
"Ow..." Violet grimaced. She was afraid to approach Shadow Noir due to her lack of self care. Worrying, and she didn't want to get cleaved by an axe.
"You do not stand a chance against us, the real Phantom Thieves!" Shadow Noir said while striking a pose with Shadow Violet.
"Is is best you give up and allow us to change your heart, evil doers!" Shadow violet added.
"I know Akane-chan is a big fan of ours, but..." Violet said with a sweat drop.
"I think she has just a few things wrong. But she's close!" Noir said with a sweet smile, completely aware that Shadow Noir's sadism was accurate. "But we have a few things over the ones in her head!" And that's when Noir pulled out her rocket launcher, her mask burning away as she summoned Lucy behind her. "We have extra firepower!" That's when Shadow Noir pulled out a rocket launcher as well.
"Oh this isn't ending well." Violet said with wide eyes. She watched both Noir and Shadow Noir click the trigger, sending two rockets flying forward. They collided in a massive explosion, throwing Violet back with a yelp. "Gaaaaaah!" She wasn't caught in the explosions, but the sheer power of them did sweep her off her feet.
"I've got more than that!" Noir said with a smirk, firing more and more rockets towards her Shadow self. With Lucy adding extra firepower, she was confident she was going to win this exchange. As she fired upon Shadow Noir, the fake Phantom Thief elected to try and dodge and close the distance. Shadow Violet attempted to strike Noir from above, however...
"Ella!" Violet was ready with the cover fire. Ella fired numerous beams of light that forced Shadow Violet to defend, swinging her rapier at them or just crossing her arms to mitigate the damage. She was even sure to make sure Shadow Noir was caught within the radius as well. "I don't think so! You may be just as fast as I am, but you're not getting away from this!"
"Gah!" Shadow Violet grunted.
"Noir-senpai, the opening is yours!" Violet exclaimed, keeping the Shadow variants of themselves pinned down with her beams of light.
"Hehe, thank you, Violet!" Noir gave a sweet but cruel smile. She gripped her axe and proceeded to run forward, dragging the weapon behind her. Sparks flew as the axe was sharpened against the ground, and she gathered plenty of psychic energy within the weapon. She then lunged forward, cleaving through both Shadow Noir and Shadow Violet in an instant. The two of them cried out before they vanished from being defeated. "Simple enough!"
"..." Violet was a little perturbed at the image of Noir cutting her down so easily. Even if it was a fake, she was reminded how scary Noir could be with her actions sometimes...
.
"Look at these chumps!" Shadow Mona laughed while standing next to Shadow Skull.
"For real, they really think they can beat us!" Shadow Skull laughed in turn.
"What the hell?!" Skull said with an irritated tone. "You hearin' this, Mona!?"
"I am! How dare they think they're anywhere near as charming as I am!?" Mona huffed. They had to teach these fakers a lesson! Mona immediately transformed into the Mona Car and drove forward, aiming to run the two of them down. Shadow Mona and Skull were able to avoid this direct assault by leaping to the side, but that didn't mean they were out of the woods. Mona turned on a dime, pursing his copy cat. "You're the one I want!"
"You can't hope to match up to my coolness!" Shadow Mona stated haughtily. Mona returned to normal and swung his saber at his clone, only for Shadow Mona to do the same. The two of them began to hop around while locked in close combat. Their short sizes made for an intense fight that never stood still. But they weren't making any progress on each other either. The occasional slash did land, but it wasn't enough to slow them down.
"I'll show you something you can't do!" Mona said with a smirk and a sinister twinkle in his eyes. He evaded a slash before spinning around, rising upward while doing so. Diego was summoned in the process, prompting a whirlwind to suddenly rise up from under Shadow Mona's feet.
"W-What?!" Shadow Mona's eyes widened. His small and light size allowed him to easily be tossed into the air against his will.
"Take this!" Mona then leapt into the air, spinning around before landing a downward slash on Shadow Mona's body, sending his faker right into the ground! But he wasn't done yet! He continued to spin, aiming to crash down on his fake! But Shadow Mona recovered fast enough to avoid this, and Mona's sword ended up being stuck into the ground. "Wh-!?"
"It's my turn now!" Shadow Mona saw this opening and proceeded to slash Mona several times, which did knock the small Phantom Thief down.
"Gah...!" Mona coughed. Stupid fake, making his moment uncool! That also hurt, too!
As for Skull, he was in a stalemate with Shadow Skull. His eyes narrowed as he tried to brute force his way through his copy, but to no avail. Each hit with their pipes only resulted in shockwaves. But Skull did have an idea, pumping himself up to take a hit and take it well. Shadow Skull's club slammed into his chest, which did hurt, but he powered through the impact to knock Shadow Skull back. "Eat shit!" He said with a grin, only to grimace from the impact after.
"Eff off!" Shadow Skull grunted in response, lunging at Skull with an overhead swing. It was blocked, but Shadow Skull quickly spun around and slammed his pipe right into Skull's side. That one hurt and Skull slid to the side a bit.
"Damn..." Skull grit his teeth. For being fakes, these guys packed a punch! But it wasn't enough to slow him down. "Mona, I'm gettin' tired of these asshats!"
"I couldn't have said it better myself." Mona said while hopping up. "Give me a boost and don't fall behind!"
"I can keep up with you easy!" Skull rolled his eyes and reared his pipe back, Mona hopping at the end of it. "COME AND GET SOME!" Skull swung his weapon with all his might, but not to strike the two before them. It was to fling Mona with everything he had forward.
"HERE I COME!" Mona yelled while transforming into into the Mona Bus. With the momentum added from Skull, and now a boost of wind from Diego, he was flying at inconceivable speed. Before Shadow Skull and Shadow Mona could respond, Mona slammed into the both of them, a gust of wind knocking the opposing pair into the air.
They weren't out of the woods yet. Skull jumped into the air, charging an attack with his pipe. His mask burned off and he slammed his pipe down on both Shadow Mona and Shadow Skull, but that was only the first impact. "GET WRECKED!" Right as his pipe made contact, William appeared and followed up, crushing the two of them between the weight of his ship, and the solid ground down below. An explosion of lighting followed for extra measure, and when William vanished, so too did Shadow Skull and Mona. "That's right, you don't mess with us!"
.
Dragon, Panther, Shadow Panther, and Shadow Dragon all slid back from each other after a collision. Both Panther and Dragon looked a little irrtated at the perfect pair they were stuck facing. The four of them all recieved some damage across the course of their battle, but they were unable to find any openings to truly exploit. "Ugh, this is so annoying!" Panther groaned. "It's like they're the perfect tag team!"
"It is like looking into a twisted mirror." Dragon said while keeping her staff at the ready. "But I firmly believe we are the superior team."
"I agree!" Panther said with a firm nod.
"You will not be able to break through our position." Shadow Dragon said while shaking her head. "You should concede while you can."
"Otherwise we'll make you." Shadow Panther stated while pulling out her gun, pointing it at the two of them! She began to open fire without warning.
"Eep!" Dragon summoned Bella as quickly as she could, making use of Bella's Shield to protect herself and Panther from the suddenly onslaught. "I did not expect her to do that...!"
"She's not even aiming, she's just shooting!" Panther scoffed. "But how are we going to get through them! We attack one and the other intervenes! Kinda like us!"
"We must attack them at the same time!" Dragon said while grimacing slightly. She had no immunity to damage, she simply had heavy resistances to make her counters stronger. "Will you follow my lead?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Panther said with a sweet smile. "Lead us to victory, Dragon!"
"Heh..." Dragon let out a small laugh before nodding. "I require you to make an opening."
"Say less!" Panther grinned as her mask burned away, summoning Celestine in front of Bella. "Take this!" Celestine swiped her hand, sending a vertical wave of fire towards Shadow Panther and Shadow Dragon. The two of them ceased their assault and jumped in separate directions to avoid it, just as planned.
Dragon then lunged forward with her staff, allowing it to increase in size as she targeted Shadow Dragon. She slammed her staff into her fake's side, sending her flying. "Unfortunately for you, I've already had to face myself in the past! So a rematch in these settings does not faze me!"
"Hey!" Shadow Panther snarled as Dragon went after Shadow Dragon. After her heels clicked onto the ground, she pulled her whip out and attempted to crack it at Dragon. However, it was deflected by Panther's own whip.
"Sorry, you're dealing with me!" Panther said while sticking her tongue out, before looking Shadow Panther over. "You know, black doesn't really look that bad on me..."
"Out of my way!" Shadow Panther cracked her whip at Panther, but it was matched by Panther doing the same. Several snapping sounds filled the air as their whips collided against each other. Eventually it got to the point where their whips got tangled up with each other, meaning they could barely use them! "Huh!?"
"That wasn't supposed to happen..." Panther said with a gulp. So she dropped the tied up whips and pulled her gun out, only for Shadow Panther to do the same. The two paused before deciding to open fire on each other, Panther quickly leaping back with better aim than her counterpart.
Dragon was trading blows with her counterpart, unable to find an opening yet simply waiting for one. For an incoming strike, she used her staff as a pole vault, leaping over Shadow Dragon to land right by Panther's side. The two of them, however, were backed against a wall. "..."
"You've cornered yourselves." Shadow Dragon snickered.
"Do you really expect to beat the Phantom Thieves like this?" Shadow Panther laughed.
"Cornered?" Panther blinked and looked at Dragon with a knowing smile. "Dragon, are we cornered?"
"Not at all, my dear Panther." Dragon shook her head. Their masks burned away at some point, so they were just giving each other coy smiles. "In fact, this is our reverse pin!"
"What?" Shadow Dragon didn't have a chance to ask more, because the assault began. From above. Bella and Celestine were joining hands, releasing a flurry of swords and fire upon Shadow Dragon and Shadow Panther, which prevented them from moving due to having to shield themselves.
"Now!" Dragon exclaimed, drawing forth the special greatsword on her back. It split into two, the second half moving straight into Panther's hands. Panther's blade was ignited in flames, while Dragon's was shining a bright white light. The two of them leapt forward, slashing through their respective copies in a single motion. They landed and turned back, watching as their fakes vanished from defeat. "How simple."
"Too easy!" Panther winked, high fiving Dragon in the process.
.
The only one left was Shadow Joker. Shadow Akane was in shock as her Thieves were being defeated so easily by the ones she called fakers. "What?! No...how could my thieves be losing so easily! They're the real ones! They're supposed to help and protect me!"
"That's what we're here for." Joker said calmly. The fight against his other self was a bit taxing, but he knew precisely how to finish this. "There's a reason these Phantom Thieves could never beat the real ones. They lack our heart." As Joker said this, Raoul appeared once again, swinging his cape forward to envelope Shadow Joker in darkness.
"What is this...?" Shadow Joker questioned, unable to see anything.
"The end of the show." Joker said while pointing his gun forward, charging the bullet within the chamber. Phantom Show immobilized his target, and now he was taking the final shot to end it all. "Begone." With one click of the trigger, the hyper charged bullet flew from the barrel and struck Shadow Joker in the forehead, taking him down instantly. In that moment, all of the fake Phantom Thieves summoned by Shadow Akane were defeated.
Naturally, this didn't go down well with Shadow Akane at all. "Nobody believes in justice anymore! That's why I have to carry out my own!"
"I had no idea I'd made it so bad for you, Akane..." Wolf said while clenching his hand into a fist. "I'm so sorry. I won't run from the truth anymore. Please, come back to me!"
"We weren't going to lose against those phonies!" Skull said.
"They didn't stand a chance against the real thing!" Mona huffed.
"..." Shadow Akane was in shock. Her thieves lost. But that could only mean one thing... "Does this mean...you're the real ones...?"
"That's right. We're not your enemy." Joker said calmly.
"So...you're the actual Joker...?" Akane looked at Joker, who nodded.
"And we're the real...us!" Oracle said.
"Please, trust us, Akane-chan!" Noir pleaded. "And your father, too!"
"None of us would ever give into injustice!" Panther added.
"And no matter what, we will never stray from our chosen path!" Queen said, her voice shaking.
"But...you...!" Shadow Akane shook her head. How was she just supposed to accept this!?
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Crow groaned. But Violet held her arm out.
"Wait..." She said, watching along with everyone else as Wolf walked forward.
Wolf stood in front of Shadow Akane, looking her dead in the eyes. "To be honest, Akane, you were right. I'm probably the worst dad out there. I couldn't avenge Aoi. I couldn't even do my duties as officer...heh. I...couldn't even talk to you face-to-face..." He said with a pained laugh.
"..." Shadow Akane didn't respond verbally. She just sucked her teeth and tried to look away. With her Thieves defeated, she didn't have a choice but to listen.
"I was afraid to lose you. And so, I turned my back on justice...and buried the thought of vengeance for Aoi." Wolf shook his head. "All this time, I've been fooling myself, thinking one day I'd get my chance. But I couldn't have been more wrong! So I want to set things right! I swear I'll bring those criminals to justice for what they've done to you two! And Akane, I need your courage to do it!" He pleaded.
"Really?" Shadow Akane looked up to Wolf with heartbroken, but expectant eyes. Her voice quivered as her father said the words she always wanted to hear. "Are you really going after him...?"
"Yes!" Wolf nodded firmly. "Consider it a promise yo your mother."
Shadow Akane couldn't fight it. She couldn't completely shut her father out. "Then...if it's a promise, I will never, ever forgive you if you break it." This was her giving him the chance she always wanted to give him. The chance she always wanted him to take.
"I never will." Wolf said with a faint smile. It finally felt like he was getting through to her after all this time...
"I believe you." Shadow Akane said with a small smile. "I always have. Dad..." She began to sob, falling over to her knees and onto her side. With her aggression gone, her Thieves defeated, and her heart slowly mended, she lost the will to fight.
"Akane!" Wolf's eyes widened and he rushed to his daughter, cradling her in his arms. "Stay with me, Akane!"
"I've always...been so scared...of losing what's precious to me..." Shadow Akane looked to her father with a soft smile. "After mom passed away, you changed. You used to be so cool...then suddenly, you wouldn't even look me in the eye. You were never home, either. Like you didn't wanna see me...I hated that."
"Akane..." Wolf said quietly.
"But it's okay. I can tell. You want to be the Dad I used to know..." As Shadow Akane spoke, her body started to fade. "Thanks..."
Because Wolf wasn't familiar with this, he began to panic. "What's happening!? Akane...! This has to be some kind of joke...!" And then, her body faded away. "AKANNNNNNNE!" With his daughter gone from his arms, he wailed out in agony, assuming the worst.
That's when Mona approached, nonchalantly. "Calm down, Wolf. This is how it always happens."
"H-Huh?" Wolf was honestly on the verge of shedding some tears, but apparently this was normal!?
"What happened there was a sign of Shadow Akane, er, I mean, Akane going back to normal." Panther explained. "Her shadow returned to her normal self, so she should be okay now!"
"This happens every time a Monarch, or a Palace Ruler, is successfully swayed." Dragon added.
"And you guys couldn't think to mention that sooner!?" Wolf scrambled to his feet. It sounded like Akane was going to be fine, but he just went through a lot of emotional stress within a few seconds for no reason.
"That powerful display of emotion was difficult to interrupt." Fox said.
"It was...it even made me cry a little." Noir said while sniffling, wiping her eye. It was a beautiful moment and intruding on it felt wrong.
"It moved my heart." Dragon smiled. Watching Wolf with Akane reminded her of her father. Because of that, she had to wipe away her tears before they fell. That moment was especially moving for her, making her heart pang with the bittersweetness of it all.
"You're one helluva dad, Gramps." Skull grinned.
"Very admirable, Wolf!" Sophie said while bouncing happily.
"And that's putting it mildly." Queen smiled. "Even going so far as to put his life on the line for his daughter. He did it all."
"Far from the worst one." Crow simply added. So long as his father existed, he could not believe the claim that Wolf was the worse father alive. That was about has far as his compliments on the matter went.
"Would you cut it out? I wasn't doing it for the compliments..." Wolf grunted. "I'm nowhere near that competent either..."
"Mwehehe...are you blushing?" Mona teased. "But seriously, you have no need to hold back anymore. Together, we can take on any threat!"
"...Heh. Never thought a thief would teach me that." Wolf had a wry smile. Even at his age, he still had plenty of things to learn. Thanks to these damn kids, he finally able to do something that he always wanted. He stood up to face the group. "But you know what? I made Akane a promise. To arrest Konoe and Owada and bring this case to an end!"
"Damn right!" Skull cheered.
"We'll be right there with you." Joker nodded. "They thought they could get the better of us here, but we proved them wrong. Thanks to you."
"Heh." Wolf grinned a bit. But then... "Wait! Not to backtrack too much, but ff her Shadow went back to her...what's going on with Akane in the real world? We sent your friend to check on her, right?"
"...Oh, right!" Dragon's eyes went wide. Admittedly, she nearly forgot Mika was on babysitting duty. "Mika is there! I hope she hasn't been having too hard a time."
"We should probably head back and check on her." Panther said with a sweat drop, They were gone for a while, and admittedly, she was a little worried about leaving Mika with a currently angsty teenager. So, with Akane's heart saved, the Phantom Thieves could finally return to reality and hope for the best.