A mysterious girl emerged from the black box Violet touched. The girl looked around curiously, trying to get some sense of where she was. But she had no ideas. "What is this place…? Who are you?"

"A girl…?" Violet was confused. "What's a girl doing down here…?"

"Uh, we're Phantom Thieves." Joker responded. "Who are YOU?"

You are…phantom thieves." The girl repeated. "I am Sophia, humanity's companion."

"Oh, uh…" Joker rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't expecting this strange girl to be so well mannered. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well!" Sophia flashed a smile, bouncing a little bit. "Are you two human? Do you have names?"

"I'm Joker." Joker answered.

"I'm Violet." Violet said.

Sophia looked between Joker and Violet, nodding once after their introductions. "Joker. Violet. Okay, I memorized it. Do you two know where…"

"Hey, I just heard something!" Skull voice's echoed behind them. When he and Mona approached, they saw Sophia and paused. "Uh…who're you….?"

"What is it, Joker? Violet?" Mona asked.

Sophia laid eyes upon Mona, her gaze widening in awe. "…."

"Uh…" Mona felt a little uncomfortable with this girl's gaze on him. "Can I help you?"

"…A raccoon?" Sophia said.

"Try a cat!" Mona huffed.

"Who is this?" Skull asked Joker and Violet. "Got a real funky getup."

"She popped out of a box." Joker said.

"I touched the box and she just appeared." Violet said while staring at her hands.

"I am Sophia, humanity's companion." Sophia introduced herself to the two that weren't present.

"Were you dumped down here by that Alice girl too?" Mona asked.

Sophia took a moment. "…I just learned that I have no memories. So I do not know."

"Wait, what?!" Skull gasped.

"…Hey, guys, come here for a second." Mona ushered for Joker, Skull, and Violet to follow him.

"Um…I think I'll stay here and keep an eye on her, actually. She might wander off." Violet was a little concerned for Sophia. So the boys went to have a talk and figure out what they wanted to do with Sophia.

"She came out of a giant box!?" Mona said with wide eyes once Joker explained what happened.

"What kinda crazy shit is that!?" Skull said. "Way too weird…"

"She doesn't seem like a Shadow, though. She doesn't even seem hostile…" Mona surmised. This only deepened the mystery of this Sophia even more…

"You're telling me. I have no idea what to think about her." Joker said.

"Well, one thing's for sure…we gotta find a way outta here first." Skull rubbed the back of his neck. "Nobody's gonna be able to think of ideas in this dump."

This is when Sophia and Violet returned to them. Although it was more like Sophia wandered to the boys while Violet trailed behind. "In trouble?"

"Whoa! When did you-!?" Skull was startled.

"I turned around and she was already over here." Violet said with a sweat drop. "She moves fast…"

"If you're in trouble, I can help you." Sophia said earnestly. "I am humanity's companion. My purpose is to be helpful to humans."

"Sooo…you wanna help us out?" Skull asked.

"Correct." Sophia nodded. "What is your problem?"

"Well…" Joker began. "We're looking for some way out of this place. We're not supposed to be here."

"A way out…" Sophia pondered these words for a moment. "Will reaching the surface solve your problem of 'a way outta here'?"

"Ah, yeah…it would…" Mona replied. But he wasn't sure how Sophia would…

"Okay, I've got it." Sophia said, turning and running off. "I am looking for 'a way outta here'."

"Gah-!?" Violet gasped. How was Sophia so fast!? "Wait, don't just go off on your own!" And now she had to hurry after Sophia, again. This was already feeling like it was about to be some running trend.

"Looks like we're taking her with us for now." Joker said. They didn't have a choice.

"Hey, watch out for Shadows!" Skull shouted as he, Joker, and Mona began to run after Violet and Sophia. Just as they caught up to the two, Violet was seen standing in front of Sophia with one arm held out before the girl while her rapier was in the other. Turns out, a number of security Shadows just so happened to make their way down here, only to find the Phantom Thieves. "Ah, shit…where'd they come from!?"

"Stay behind me. Sophia!" Violet ordered.

"Nobody's going to notice a few guards missing down here." Mona said. "Let's take them out quick!"

Violet used her rapier to fend off the nightsticks of the Shadows that tried to attack her. She was easily able to do this while defending Sophia at the same time. She even summoned Ella to let loose some blasts of light to clear the area. "Back off!"

"Whoa..." Sophia watched Violet fight to defend her with wide, excited eyes. That looked so bright and cool!

"It's just a small force." Joker said, using his knife while slipping past one Shadow to the other, taking them down with swift slashes as he did so. "Nothing we can't handle."

"Yeah, we're not letting these assholes get the jump on us again!" Skull said, charging up a swing with his pipe. He swung for the fences, a mighty shockwave shooting outward to clear a path and knock multiple Shadows down.

"Diego!" Mona was the one to finish this off. Diego appeared and with a few swipes of his saber, a powerful gust of wind appeared and slammed the Shadows into the wall, defeating them instantly.

"Whoa!" Sophia's eyes lit up watching the Phantom Thieves fight the enemy. It was over so quickly. She was glad she didn't blink or she would've missed it.

"We got through that fast." Skull sighed. "Sophia, right? You hurt or anything?"

"No problems here." Sophia replied. "Violet was very nice and protected me. But why was I attacked? Assaulting others without reason is not proper behavior."

"Yeah, that's about right." Violet said. "Um, those people we just fought are Shadows. There's easy way to explain it."

"And we're considered dangerous rebels by the ruler of this place since we're the Phantom Thieves. Intruders they want to eliminate." Mona added.

"The Phantom Thieves…" Sophia pondered it for only a second. "That's really cool." She said, bouncing in place.

"That's what you have to say?" Skull was hoping for something a little bit more, but he'd take what he could get. "Thanks for the compliment, I guess."

"This is a good conversation, but could we perhaps continue it not standing in the middle of garbage?" Violet pleaded. "I have to take a shower when we get back. Ugh. Would you mind helping us a little more, Sophia?"

"I've been helping you this entire time. Violet." Sophia replied automatically.

"Oh, uh. I guess you have." Violet rubbed the back of her head. "You're very helpful, eheh…"

"Let's all move together. Silently." Joker said. Sophia was taken under their wing.

"That sounds good, Joker. Along with Violet, the cat…and the skeleton." Sophia nodded.

"W-!? I'm not a skeleton!" Skull said in defense of himself.

Mona let out a laugh. "Nyahaha! Skull's short for Skullington now!"

"Come on, Skullington-senpai. We have to keep moving." Violet teased. Skull just groaned and had no choice but to accept his fate.

.

.

The group of five had to maneuver their way through the sewer area. While they could easily handle any foe they ran into, they stuck to the silent and stealthy approach. With Sophia following them, they couldn't risk getting into combat and putting her in danger, even with Violet acting as the one to protect her. Problem was, there was a Shadow lingering around the corner, which happened to be the only way forward. "Shit…it's still hangin' around."

"I thought it would've moved by now." Joker groaned.

"We should just wait for it to leave." That was Mona's suggestion.

"It AIN'T leaving anytime soon." Skull replied, not really snapping at Mona, but more so at their situation. "We can't be standing here all day 'n night either."

"Are you saying that's in your way?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah." Skull sighed. He knew not to rush in there guns blazing, but his patience was quickly wearing thin. "We can't escape unless we get past here."

"Okay. I've got it." Sophia responded quite simply.

"You've…got it…?" Violet asked. But she didn't get a verbal answer. Sophia just ran off ahead. "W-WAIT! Stop doing that!" Everyone had to rush after Sophia after she sprinted off.

Sophia rounded the corner and the Shadow spotted her. "Who are you!? Intruders!?" The shadow then turned into not one, but three Pryo Jacks. One of which hurled a fireball directly at Sophia, resulting in a large explosion when it collided against her.

"Ah!" Violet cried out. "Sophia!"

But as the brightness of the explosion died down, there was an odd shield in front of Sophia. That shield split off into four separate floating cubes and Sophia's appearance altered as well. She was completely fine. "We are….the Phantom Thieves." After saying this, Sophia threw her hands forward, slinging two white yoyos ahead to knock out one of the Pyro Jacks. The four cubes also fired four beams of light that fried the other two in an instant.

"W-What the…!?" Violet was stunned.

"Holy shit, she just beat 'em!?" Skull gasped. More Shadows appeared in response to the disturbance Sophia created.

"What you are you doing!?" One of the Shadows asked.

"I'm helping the Phantom Thieves. Don't take it personally." Sophia replied. She then charged ahead again, spinning around while extending her yoyos. The girl became a miniature twister, tearing through the enemy forces all by herself. When she was attacked, she flipped and propelled herself into the air with a flip, the cubes alongside her following her into the air. They merged together into a circular formation, Sophia's hand in the center as light gathered within her palm. "Fire!" A sphere of light rocketed from Sophia's palm, exploding the moment it touched the ground - this widespread eruption of light sweeping away all of the Shadows that appeared in an instant. She then landed on the ground and smiled at Violet and the others. "There. Problem solved."

"…Whoa." Joker was stunned. They didn't even have a chance to jump in there!

"…I didn't know you could fight." Violet said.

"You didn't ask." Sophia replied. Nobody could argue with that .

"Okay, so what about your clothes!?" Mona asked. "It's completely different from our own transformations."

"Oh. I just copied what you do and ended up like this." Sophia gave her answer, but it didn't answer the questions anyone had about her.

"Uh, yeah, this ain't just about the clothes." Skull clarified. "You some kinda Persona-user?"

"Persona?" Sophia's curious tone and head tilt said enough about that.

"Those boxes that you used to fight." Joker said.

"That was a weapon. I needed it to fight." Once again, Sophia's responses only raised more questions than they did answers. Every time they asked her a question, they were only left with more. "I was just copying what Violet did."

Violet, surprised by this, pointed at herself. "Me?"

"Yes." Sophia replied with a nod. "When you summoned those beams of light and things with POWOWOWOW." The noise she made got her confused looks.

"Sophia, what in the world are you?" Mona asked.

"I am Sophia, humanity's companion." Sophia replied simply.

"…I don't know why I expected anything else." Skull groaned.

"Well, at least we know she can fight now, so we don't have to worry about that too much. Let's keep going." Joker said. The others nodded and decided to keep going to find their way out of these sewers.

"Oh, and please don't rush off again, Sophia." Violet pleaded. She wasn't sure if she could handle Sophia rushing off into danger a third time, even if she was very capable in handling herself.

.

.

It had been several hours at this point. The others gathered at Leblanc with their portion of the shopping done, a little worried about the whereabouts of the four that were missing. "…No one's picking up." Hifumi sighed, tapping her foot on the ground. "Where could they be right now?"

"I knew something like this would happen." Ann was a bit annoyed, but also worried. "But I'm all the more worried if Sumire was pulled into something with them too."

"I was hoping she would be able to avoid a situation like that." Makoto brushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm sure they're fine, but I don't like the radio silence."

"We've already searched for them…" Yusuke leaned forward in his seat. "I'm unsure what it is we are to do next."

"Mmm…" Futaba was on her laptop, trying to track the last known location of Ren's phone via his GPS. "Last I checked they're still in Shibuya. Ren's phone hasn't moved at all and I doubt someone hasn't tried picking it up either.

"This reminds of the first few days he was here." Sojiro said. "He went to school for the first day and missed half of it. I know now it was because of the Phantom Thief stuff, but I was pretty pissed off when he got back home. Kinda like how you guys are gonna be whenever he decides to show up."

"Just where did they go…" Haru asked. It was a question everyone wished they had the answer to….

.

.

After many fights through the sewer, the group finally managed to make their way out and back to the Shibuya streets. The moment they could get a breath of fresh air, Skull took it gratefully. "We finally made it out!"

"Fresh air smells so good…" Violet let out a sigh of relief herself. "I couldn't stand the stench of sewer for much longer. And I really need to take a shower when I get home. I have no explanation for this to my parents.

"We're still in the Metaverse, though. Stay on guard." Mona warned. They weren't out of the woods yet.

Sophia noticed something. "Please wait…"

"Find something?" Joker asked.

"Yes." Sophia replied. "I have found it. A way outta here is nearby."

"Seriously!? How'd you know that?" That was great news as far as Skull was concerned.

"I just found it. Like, PHEWWW!" Sophia made a noise. At this rate they may very well have to stop asking her questions, because they never get any answers.

"Phew? Seriously…?" Skull sighed.

"The exit is close. Follow me!" And then Sophia ran off again.

"Sophiaaaaaa…!" Violet couldn't believe this. She just asked her not to do that! Stressed, Violet hurried off after Sophia, and the others had no choice but to follow once again.

Sophia led them to an area that oversaw Shibuya with Alice's...castle off in the distance. "Hm. This is what I had detected previously." She was gesturing to a strange blue rift in front of them.

"Uh…and it is….?" Skull was doubtful…

"It's fine. It leads outside." Sophia explained.

"Outside…?" Mona asked.

"Everything will get all WOWOWOWOWOW for a moment, but then you'll be outta here." Sophia said. Her explanation needed some work.

"What the HELL kinda explanation is that!?" Skull exclaimed. "How do you know we're gonna be okay!?" Even if this was an exit, they couldn't be sure that it was safe…!

"Trust me, Violet. Joker." Sophia looked up at the two of them.

"…I suppose we should trust her and give it a try. She hasn't led us astray so far." Violet said.

"Yeah. Let's do what she says." Joker told the doubtful Skull and Mona.

"Hmm….Looks like we've only got one option here." Mona wasn't so sure about this, but they couldn't afford to be stuck all day.

"Thank you." Sophia smiled cutely. She really was adorable. So the others began to walk towards the portal while Sophia lingered behind. Noticing that she wasn't following, they all turned around to face her.

"Huh? Ain't you comin'?" Skull asked.

"Mhm. You should come with us." Violet nodded. "It's not good for you to be here. This place is dangerous."

"They're right, Sophia. This place is teeming with Shadows. Staying here would only end badly for you." Mona added.

"But…" Sophia was hesitant for some reason. Skull was a little impatient with Sophia having to try and decide. So he grabbed her arm and started to tug her along. "W-What are you doing…!?" Naturally, this shocked the girl.

"We don't leave folks to die if we can help it!" Skull said. A certain detective briefly crossed his mind when he said that. "So just come along!"

"So you want me to come with you? Okay…." Sophia wasn't so sure about this…but she decided to go along.

"Okay! Here goes…" Skull said. "One…two…."

.

.

They returned about where they entered the Metaverse. Ren, Morgana, Ryuji, and Sumire were in Shibuya Square. "This…is the real world, right?" Ryuji was a little disoriented, they were out for so long…

Ren's phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and EMMA spoke. "You have successfully returned from the Jail. Welcome back."

"Jail?" Morgana blinked.

"Er…not a Palace…?" Sumire had too many questions.

"Hang on – Sophia! Where'd she go?!" Ryuji suddenly realized they were missing one, and everyone started to look around.

"Ah! Sophia!?" Sumire turned around and tried to look through the small crowd of people. "How does she keep vanishing on us!?"

"…I don't see her anywhere…" Ren frowned. Did they lose her somewhere…?

"Hey shorty! Get your ass over here!" Ryuji exclaimed loudly, to where multiple people could hear them.

"DON'T SAY THAT OUT LOUD!" Sumire's face flushed and she covered Ryuji's mouth with her hands. The worst part about it was that numerous people were shocked to hear Ryuji say this and audible whispering began. "R-Ryuji-senpai!? Don't you know what time of day it is!?" It was nighttime! The worst time to be saying that kind of thing!

"Seriously, Ryuji! How could you say that out loud, idiot!" Morgana chided.

Sumire then realized something. "…It's night…!? Oh no…the others must be so worried…!"

"Oh shit, how long were we gone…" Ryuji realized it was night now that Sumire mentioned it. The others were probably worried or mad. Or both…

"Need something?" Sophia's voice came from nearby.

"…Sophia!?"

It was coming from Sumire's phone. She blinked a few times, then held it out for everyone to see. There was Sophia, sitting comfortably in Sumire's phone. "Yo." Sophia replied. And then she shifted over to Ren's phone. "I was tracking down Joker and Violet's scents and then I ended up in Violet's phone…but I can move to Joker's too, so long as they're close together, I think…they were the ones closest to me, so…"

"Their scents!?" Ryuji had no idea how to respond to that. It was all too much.

"…There is a lot that's happened within the past few hours." Sumire was fighting the urge to slump over. She wasn't physically tired, but the events of the day were mentally taxing. This was only the second day since Ren came back, and already they were being thrown into the Metaverse with more questions than they did answers. There was a lot to process within the last few hours. They could explain what they could to Sophia about their actual names and stuff along the way. But first things first…they had to return to Leblanc and let everyone know what happened to them today.