Chapter Summary:

Ren & Skye return to the Apartment with Daisy Johnson & the Warrior of Light to investigate the Apartment and try to uncover it's mysteries. Along the way, they encounter another group of Phantom Thieves whose status quo will shock them...

Author's Notes:

A couple of things to note before we start:
- From here on out, none of this is canon to my other fics.
- To differentiate the two Skye Mercers, For Want of a Skull Skye will be referred to by her Phantom Thief codename Phoenix & WoL/FFXIV Skye will be referred to as the Warrior of Light or simply Warrior.
- This chapter has been, yet again, co-written by Inviernainvicta over on AO3. This time it's a crossover with her stellar fic The Phantom Strangers though. You can read the TPS trio's side of this scene in her Apartment Complex fic, Phantom Strangers in a Strange Land over on AO3.

Chapter Text

On a particularly quiet (well, quiet by their standards) Sunday, Ren Amamiya & Skye Mercer's brunch at Leblanc was interrupted by the arrival of a pair of familiar faces: Daisy "Skye" Johnson & the Warrior of Light… who was also named Skye Mercer.

"Good afternoon you two! To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Skye asked.

"Turner's just given the go-ahead for a further investigation of the pocket world we call "The Apartment Complex" and has instructed that we bring you along. Ren can come too if he so wishes," Daisy explained.

"Well, it wasn't as if we were planning an Infiltration today… Sure, I'll come too. We established last time that time in worlds outside the Apartment doesn't pass whatsoever, so it's not like we risk much," Ren responds.

"Aside from our lives potentially if more hostile variants like that Call of Duty version of you come into our path," Skye responded.

"Even so, we're prepared for anything it may throw at us. We aren't amateurs after all," Warrior Skye added.

"Point taken…" Skye relented.

"So where's the portal?" Daisy asked.

"There's two we've found that lead there. One here in Leblanc and another in Skye's apartment," Ren explained.

"OK. Unless there's anything else to add, I say we get this show on the road!" Daisy exclaimed.

And with that, the four of them stepped into the Apartment once more.

The portal seemed to put them in a different part of the complex than last time, not that Ren or Skye could tell with how similar the whole Apartment Complex looked.

Ren & Skye pulled their weapons out of the bag Ren kept them in & with that the expedition began.

It didn't take long for the quartet to run into company. 2 of the faces were familiar. One of them was a variant of their very own Ren who more closely resembled their Ren than either of the ones Ren & Skye encountered last time, down to the Shujin Academy uniform. The other resembled Kotone, the Grim Reaper who personally executed the militarisitic variant of Ren that the 4 fought last time they were here, except this Kotone traded out the black and purple ensemble and scythe for a Shujin uniform and no weapons to speak of (at least on her person). The third woman was unfamiliar to the 4 though. She had blonde hair much like Daisy's, although hers seemed natural unlike Daisy's dyed blonde hair. She also had blue eyes & wore a Shujin uniform.

The 3 seemed to be talking about… something about a barrett.

A cough came from the Ren variant before he proceeded to say "We have company." It would seem he has noticed them.

Kotone(?) seemed to be staring at the three Skye variants, blushing while doing so. Both Warrior & Daisy seemed to be eating up the attention. She knew both women were bisexual, so this didn't surprise her. The blonde woman was holding her cheek as she did so. But Phoenix wasn't sure how much of the Kotone variant's blushing was a result of her checking the three out & how much was due to the awkwardness of the situation. It seemed that the three were talking about something very personal after all.

"Hey uh- hi. Nice to meet you," the Kotone variant eventually sputtered out.

"Nice to meet you too," Ren responded with the sort of kind-hearted earnestness that Phoenix loved about him.

Warrior on the other hand was immediately pulling out & getting the dimensional scanner ready to go. This was a piece of tech Daisy had developed in tandem with the Leo Fitz & Jemma Simmons of Turner's world that could use vibrational frequencies in people, places or objects to detect what world they came from. Handy for the kind of work the Skye variants did together.

"Don't mind her, she's just trying to figure out what world you three come from. Standard procedure for when we encounter people from other worlds. Shouldn't be invasive," Phoenix explained.

Kotone seemed… shocked. But by what was unclear. The expression came onto her face after Ren spoke up. So… it could be related to him? Speaking of, their Ren seemed very apprehensive of the scanner. Immediately moving between them & his friends.

"Ask first." the other Ren declared as he shook his head. "Don't just point thingamajigs at people you've just met. It's rude," he added.

"You know, other me does have a point. Is it normal for you Skyes to immediately pull those scanners out when you encounter people from other worlds? Or is this just the illustrious Warrior of Light getting ahead of herself?" Ren asked.

"He does have a point. I'm normally pretty good about asking for permission for these things, but I know that Champion of Eorzea over here can get a little… overeager, when doing certain things," Phoenix admitted.

The Warrior of Light sighed and said, "OK… I apologize for getting ahead of myself. Let's start again. Is it alright with you 3 if we use our dimensional scanning technology to figure out what world you come from? We won't have to lay a finger on any of you. If you refuse, we'll understand."

"Depends," the other Ren raised an eyebrow before asking "Does it give people mega-cancer?"

"Or any verifiable negative afflictions?" The blonde woman asked as she gave Ren a look that reminded the three Skyes of Turner on a bad day, shaking her head as she stood defensively slightly ahead of Kotone. "Specifically ones Ren did not just make up on the spot."

Daisy decided to step in, "Having aided extensively in it's development, I can confirm that both in our lab tests & real world use we have not found the Dimmensional Scannner to have any verifiable negative effects. And I think if it gave people cancer, let alone "mega-cancer", we'd have noticed the tumors by now," Daisy explained, throwing in a little snarky jab at the other Ren in the process.

"Not if the tumors are sneaky." the other Ren shook his head & muttered under his breath.

"Oh, we should probably introduce ourselves too. I'm Ren Amamiya of Earth-5524 & this is Skye Mercer, also of Earth 5524," Ren started, having decided that introductions were in order, pointing to Phoenix as he introduced her.

"That over there is Daisy Johnson. She's from Earth-1999999," Ren explained as he pointed at Daisy.

"And that is Skye Mercer of Earth-2013. We usually just refer to her by her title of "the Warrior of Light" or simply Warrior for simplicity's sake," Ren finished as he pointed at their heavily armored friend.

"You have a categorization system for alternate dimensions?" the blonde woman asked & raised an eyebrow in equal parts suspicion & apparent confusion. "Just how many have you cataloged?"

"And… y'know, how?" Kotone tilted her head. "I didn't even know there were alternate dimensions until like, a few hours ago."

"I di-" the other Ren started before being cut off by Kotone

"Ren." Kotone sighed, "If you say 'I did', I'm going to punch you," Kotone said in a vaguely threatening tone. As if saying random shit like that was normal for him.

"...I didn't either," the other Ren admitted.

"That's a good question," Phoenix admitted. "How many universes are we at again? I know Turner's been relentless in her exploration of the multiverse & that Earth-60's SHIELD has been at this classification business for a while before we took over during the War. But I haven't checked the exact number in a while," Phoenix continued.

"I checked in with the system last night & we're at about 2.5 million or so," Daisy explained.

"Wow…" Phoenix simply said. "And to think I didn't even know the Multiverse existed before I moved to Japan," she thought aloud.

"Oh, and our classification system is quite simple actually. We use what, as far as we can tell right now, was the first universe ever created and designate it Earth-1. From there we look at the frequencies that world vibrates at and compare them to Earth-1. The more it deviates from Earth-1 in frequency, the higher the number in the designation," Daisy explained. Phoenix & Warrior both preferred leaving these explanations to her, as the nature of her powers made her the best suited to explaining how these things work.

"What it vibrates at?" the Kotone variant asked as she blinked. "You know what, nevermind. I think my brain's probably gonna explode if we keep talking about this, I'm still not totally down with the alternate universes thing," She admitted & grinned, stepping forwards and offering her hand to shake. "I'm Kotone Shiomi, from Earth… well, whichever one it is."

"I am Aigis Kirijo, from the same." the blonde woman, Aigis, nodded.

"Ren. But you knew that." the other Ren smirked, winking at his double. "I am thou…"

Ren smirked as he knew where this was going.

"Thou art I…" Ren responded back.

"Nice to meet you Kotone," Phoenix responded as she shook her hand. "Though I should probably mention that you aren't the first version of you we've run into here," Phoenix added, thinking back to "Death" Kotone & her Persona ripping COD Ren apart.

"Same, actually!" Kotone said as she glanced at her Ren, nodding. "We've met multiple Kotones and Rens so far. Still no other Aigis, but we're getting there," she elaborated.

'So they might have met Death Kotone?' Ren thought to himself.

"I don't believe we are, honey." Aigis shook her head. "From what we have seen, the chances of meeting another Aigis within this place is rather low," she said rather grimly.

"Eh, you already did in the real world." Ren shrugged. "We could probably miss it on the bingo card."

"So you've met other versions of yourself?" Ren asked Kotone. Phoenix had a sinking feeling about where this was going.

"Would any of these variants happened to have been wearing a black & purple Grim Reaper looking outfit? Maybe wielding a Scythe & had a gun-like object she uses to summon Personas in this place?" Ren asked, confirming Phoenix's suspicions. Phoenix simply glared at him.

"What like an-" Kotone stopped herself from responding as she noticed the way Skye seemed to glare at her Ren.
"What? After what she did for us, can you blame me?" Ren asked.

"If you weren't my boyfriend & I wasn't aware of your… interesting… tastes in women, I'd probably strangle you right now Ren. Also, don't forget that she only helped us because it's her job to kill rogue variants like that Call of Duty version of you we met in the Collesseum last time we were here!" Phoenix said exasperatedly.

"Oh, well excuse me for being a guy attracted to physically fit, dangerous women who wear black & could kill me in a heartbeat!" Ren snapped back

"OK LOVEBIRDS! We get it. You can save your arguments about Ren's type for when we get back to your Earth," Warrior shouted, ending the argument.

"You were saying?" Warrior asked Kotone.

"Uh… right." Kotone cleared her throat. "We definitely haven't seen any me that's like that. She sounds… interesting?"

"I do not like the implications of what must have happened for her to end up as you have described." Aigis shook her head, frowning. "It concerns me."

"Noted," Warrior simply said in response.

Daisy debated whether she should remind the two Mercers of the scan, but she was too interested in seeing where this conversation went to do so.

"So… are you three Phantom Thieves?" Ren asked, deciding to satiate his curiosity.

"Depends," Ren smirked. "Are you?" He asked.

"Skye & I are," Ren answered as he pointed at himself & Phoenix.

"If we're using our codenames… I'm Joker & she's Phoenix," Ren continued.

"Nyx." Kotone said as she jabbed a thumb at herself, nodding. "Ren's also Joker, and Aigis is Angel. Phantom Thieves of Hearts!" She added.

"Damn… some things don't change I suppose. I think I know the answer to this already, but do you happen to know a girl named Skye on your Earth?" Phoenix asked.

"Nope." the other Ren shook his head. "But apparently most of the other universes we've met don't have Kotone and Aigis in their Thieves either. So, y'know," he added.

"Figures… I haven't run into another Persona-using variant of myself yet either. And the only universe we've met here that did recognize me was from a universe where I'm a terrorist who killed Ghost from Call of Duty as well as Okumura-san from our school & helped kick-start World War III. So… not a great track record," Phoenix lamented.

"Death Kotone said that most of her other variants are dead. So I guess I'm not too surprised," Ren added.

"So am I, technically!" Kotone said with a grin on her face and an excited tone in her voice.

What

"...and so were the other Kotones we've met. One was a ghost, and the other was… well, I'm not really sure. Still dead though!" Kotone elaborated.

"And I thought I had it bad when it comes to variants. Then again the only versions of me we've run into are an eye-patch-sporting one who's married to a version of you & the aforementioned militaristic Call of Duty version of me who REALLY deviated from the core beliefs and ideals of the Phantom Thieves. So…" Ren said.

But Phoenix noticed that Kotone looked… traumatized . Like what Ren just said had unearthed something she wanted to forget.

"Let's not talk about eye-patch us, okay?" the other Ren said as he glanced at Aigis, who was watching Ren with a carefully guarded expression. "Trust me."

"OK then… So, want to know more about Extreme Soldier us?" Ren asked.

"Not really." the other Ren shook his head. "Might summon the Reaper," he added.

"Fair enough. Any questions about this Apartment Complex? We're happy to share what we know, but just know that it isn't as much as we'd like," Phoenix asked.

"Do you know the purpose of us being here?" Aigis tilted her head. "Ren and Kotone have some inclination that there is a reason, but I'm not certain we have found it," she explained.

"Sadly, no we haven't. All we do know is that this place exists outside of normal space-time, meaning that time in our worlds doesn't pass while we're here, and that there are portals, or doors I guess, back to our worlds, but we haven't found any pattern yet," Daisy explained.

"Well, at least we're not losing any time out there!" Kotone said & nodded happily. "...Makoto would probably kill us if we were actually gone for hours without contact," she added.

What

"Wait… Makoto, as in Makoto Nijima? The Student Council President? She's a Phantom Thief in your universe?" Ren asked, shocked about what Kotone was implying.

"Too late, we're in too deep." Ren sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "We have the whole school administration. Kawakami, Koyabakawa. Kamoshida's working as Mishima's assistant, actually," he said in a tone of voice that made Ren & Phoenix unsure if he was joking.

"Ren." Aigis frowned, shaking her head. "Do not forget Dr. Maruki. He is a crucial member of our team."

Daisy picked up on what they were doing. They were obfuscating. Saying things that would get them to abandon this line of questioning. Classic espionage tactic. But, as Phantom Thief operations weren't her business (unless Phoenix used the Azem Crystal to call for help), she decided to see if Ren & Phoenix would pick up on it on their own.

"Well for what it's worth, Ryuji's apparently a Phantom Thief in at least one other universe we've encountered and he's dead in ours. So… maybe our universe is an outlier in that sense," Phoenix said in response.

"Don't remind me…" Ren said with a pang of guilt & sadness in his voice.

'Shit, it seems to be working' Daisy thought to herself. 'But maybe that's for the best if the alternative is dredging up Ren & Phoenix's lingering survivor's guilt' Daisy decided.

"Ryuji's dead in your universe?" Kotone asked as her eyes widened. "That's… well, I mean, considering how most me's end up, I guess that's not surprising," she admitted.

"We are sorry to hear of your loss," Aigis said to them as she bowed her head. "It must be hard to cope with."

"Yeah.. it is. It happened in Kamoshida's Palace. His guards had captured him, Phoenix & I. I tried to save him, but none of us had awoken to our Personas yet. It wasn't until he died that I awoke to Arsene… If I'd awoken just a moment sooner… maybe he'd still be alive," Ren explained, tears in his eyes as the sound of a sword ramming through Ryujj's chest & his agonized scream as he died playing back in Ren's mind.

"Look, Ren. There wasn't anything either of us could do that day. None of us control when we awake to our Personas. And you remember how strong those guards were. They had us up on the walls . There really wasn't anything we could do. What's done is done. Kamoshida's gotten his comeuppance. All we can do is keep pushing forward & doing what we do as Phantom Thieves," Skye said to Ren in her attempts to comfort him.

"Yeah." the other Ren nodded solemnly. "Ryuji isn't the kind of guy who'd want you hung up on what happened. He'd want you to keep pushing forwards," other Ren told them

"Indeed." Aigis nodded in turn. "There is nothing you can change about the past. All you may do now is keep your head up, and ensure the future is better," she said.

Ren simply continued to cry & Phoenix extended her shoulder grab into a full-on hug.

"While those two get over those freshly reopened wounds, would you three be alright with Daisy & I getting the scans over with so we can part ways?" Warrior asked the other Ren, Kotone & Aigis as she got the Scanner ready, noticing how even Kotone's mood seemed to be becoming more sombre as Ren & Phoenix's grief continued to consume them.

"Oh, y-yeah." Kotone blinked, tearing her eyes away from the grieving Thieves. "Go ahead."

"If there's no mega-cancer." Ren shook his head.

"There will not be." Aigis sighed. "You may start."

The Warrior of Light took that as a yes. He decided to start with Aigis, seeing as she seemed the most willing.

The scanner… well, scanned, Aigis & came up with the result "Earth-61823".

"OK, we've got a result. Earth-61823. Kotone, would you mind going next?" Warrior asked.

"Uh… why?" Kotone blinked in confusion. "We're all from the same Earth. I just kinda assumed you only needed to scan one of us."

"Well… I was just being through, but I guess we can skip you then," Warrior said in response.

"Cool." the other Ren said as he put his hands in his pockets, still watching his alternate self with a barely concealed frown. "So that's it?" he asked.

"Unless you want to be scanned for one reason or another Ren, then yes. That's it. We'll try cross-referencing this data with any portal doors we come across. Hopefully we can figure out some sort of rhyme or reason to all this," Warrior answered.

"Of course, with how much of a maze this place is based on Phoenix's report, we cannot guarantee we will meet up with you again to let you know if we do find a portal to your universe. But, nevertheless, thank you for your help. You're free to go unless your Ren wants to be scanned," Daisy told the trio.

As Daisy said this, Ren & Phoenix had finally started to get back up and turned to the trio.

"Cool." The other Ren nodded as he looked at his counterpart, hesitating for a moment before proceeding to reach into his bag to give his variant something.

"Here. Take this." The other Ren said as he held up a sports watch, wearing an unreadable expression on his face.

Ren took a moment to wipe the tears off his face and said "Thank you. I've been meaning to get a watch of some sort anyway."

"It was Ryuji's. Or, at least I think it was." the other Ren shrugged. "Found it in a box when I moved to Tokyo. He already gave me a new one, so I have to get rid of the double anyways," he explained.

Ren's face glowed up as he said this.

"It was Ryuji's? Well, I'm definitely going to treasure this even more!" Ren said, his spirits finally lifting.

"You're very kind, Ren of Earth-61823. Although with how this fluffball is, I really shouldn't be surprised," Phoenix said to the other Ren as she ruffled her Ren's hair.

"Fluffball is not an accurate descriptor of our Ren," Aigis warned as she shook her head. "But yes. He is kind."

"Eh. Watches are out of fashion anyways." the other Ren said casually as he smirked, turning his heel and heading back down the hallway away from the other group. "See ya', me. Never stop Thieving."

"See you around!" Ren responded.

"Good luck getting home!" Phoenix said to him as well as Aigis & Kotone.

"Thanks! Good luck investigating this place!" Kotone waved over her shoulder, grinning. "Let us know if you find anything out!"

"We will if we can find you again!" Phoenix shouted with a smile.

And as Phoenix said that, the three passed through a door that closed behind them. With that, the denizens of Earth-61823 were gone, off to continue their journey through this place.

"Feeling better now you two?" Daisy asked Phoenix and Ren.

"Yeah, we think so," Ren said, speaking for the both of them.

"Good to hear. Now let's get back to our investigation, shall we?" Daisy asked.

"Yeah, let's," Ren answered.

And with that, their journey through the Apartment Complex continued once more.

Notes:

And that's it for now! The next chapter will come whenever someone else wants to collab with me. I would like to promise that I'll put out a new chapter for my other fics soon... but Alan Wake II is coming out tonight & I've been awaiting this game for just over a decade. So... I won't promise anything. Just know that new chapters of The War of the Wildcards & Two Sides to a Story (as well as the beginnings of For Want of a Skull & Into the Skye-Verse) will come when they are ready.