In Pursuit of Desires

by Takamura Rules

Victory...was boring. Despite everything he'd been through, Ren had a wanderlust to him. When Elizabeth approaches him with the veritable offer of a lifetime, he couldn't say no. Join Ren as he explores, fights, and steals his way across the Solistia region. Watch him as he makes new friends and rivals and discovers dark secrets. And just maybe...Take down a God or two. P5XOT2

11. The Judgement

Hey, Welcome, back!

We crossed over 100 kudos on AO3 and 50 Follows/Faves on FF. I really appreciate you guys!

I should note the concept of this chapter is basically an expanded version of an omake asdf0789 made in his story "The Charming Joker". I took it and made it my own to fit this story.

Go read his story! Trust me, it's good.

Also contains some elements from "Let's Add a Tiara" by PixieRed.

Go read that story too!

---

Mitsuru reviewed the most recent round of documents that had made it to her desk. Mostly on current collaborations with the Naojo group. She filed it away in the massive file cabinet that sat in the corner of her office. The Audio-Technica headphones blasted rock and classical music in her ears at max volume. She knew it was bad for her to have them at this high a volume, but some days it was necessary to make it through the day.

She moved on to the more important pile in her opinion as she picked up the first document in the stack.

"Evaluations for Ren Amamiya."

Sex: Male

Birthday: September 15, 1999

Age: 20

Height: 182cm

Codename: Joker

Persona: Raoul(Wildcard Status)

Evolved from Satanael-who evolved from Arsenè

Mitsuru sighed exasperatedly and tried to stave off the incoming headache as she read the title and opening statistics. Without even reading the rest of the form, she knew the end result would be an inconclusive conclusion followed by a request for more data.

They planned for Ren to be the fourth wildcard officially recruited in the group and the third fully active one. He also had the designation of being the first of the Phantom Thieves to join the group along with Morgana and later Fox in December.

Ren seemed amicable enough to the Shadow Ops and got on quickly with virtually all the other members, active, inactive, and part-time included. However, his actions didn't match his words in the slightest. She couldn't blame him though.

Part of the Shadow Operation procedure included data analytics on prospective recruits both upfront and secretive. Especially given that the Phantom Thieves were morally questionable in their methods. That had been an argument against them when discussions to reach out to them had first started.

…..

Yu Narukami had argued that the methods he and his team used to apprehend Tohru Adachi also bent the rules for active interference in a murder investigation. Given his influence as the de facto field leader of the Shadow Operatives at large, his words carried a lot of weight to him, thus they went forward with plans to reach out to them in the summer of 2018.

That's when they hit their first obstacle.

In hindsight, the first method they used proved to be a major mistake.

They had tried to use their various connections within law enforcement to reach out. Eventually, that road led to prosecutor turned defense attorney Sae Nijima. The personal defense attorney for Ren Amamiya—The leader of the Phantom Thieves. Mitsuru balked and scrubbed her eyes at the sight of the name when it popped up; she had a pre-existing history with the woman already. It was either going to go really well or horribly wrong.

It had gone horribly wrong.

Naoto and Yu found themselves quite literally thrown out of her office upon a single mention of the Phantom Thieves and Mitsuru's family name. Amazingly, Akihiko and Chie fared no better. Turns out Kung-Fu learned via osmosis from movies wasn't a match for the real thing.

Upon request of a rematch, Akihiko learned personally why she was called 'Iron Leg Niijima' and found himself tossed out the window for his troubles. Thankfully he was only one story up. He came back not frustrated or angry, like most normal people, but impressed of all things. He happily claimed she was tougher than even a bear. Mitsuru angrily footed the bill for a new window, but it did little to earn them goodwill.

They decided to leave Sae Niijima alone and moved on to detective Zenkichi Hasegawa who had been known to have made contact with the Phantom Thieves. Yu and Naoto tried to play up their own roles as fellow detectives but found him even more tight-lipped than Sae.

They pressed him, but he threatened to go to his lawyer—who happened to be…Sae Nijima, much to Mitsuru's chagrin. Not willing to risk defenestration from Sae potentially getting involved, they backed off.

They went back to the drawing board and did more research. What they uncovered was…unsettling to say the least. Turned out Ren had survived both an assassination attempt and a severe beating at the hands of police. The police had covered up the information well following the fall of Shido and Yoshiki, but they had managed to find it anyway thanks to Fuuka.

Her stomach churned when she read the report. It got even worse when Fuuka pulled up a video she found of Ren's torture. Yu shook his head sadly. Akihiko clenched his hands so hard he started to bleed. Chie had to leave the room. Naoto didn't look anyone in the eye.

Kurosawa, after viewing the video, gave voice to what everyone was thinking. They had gone about it the completely wrong way. It was no wonder people who were connected to the police or law enforcement in general weren't trusted. Mitsuru buried her head in her hands, and after a moment of decision, decided the upfront approach was the best one. Any more cloak-and-dagger schemes to uphold the namesake of the Shadow Operatives, or to avoid Sae, would be detrimental to the cause.

She and Aigis decided to leave Tatsumi Port Island and head to Tokyo.

Yongen Jaya was no Inaba, but a woman in a latex suit and fur coat still stuck out like a sore thumb.

Whatever.

Mitsuru was used to it by this point. She owned it, just like Akihiko preferred walking around with no shirt on and Yukari in her Feather Pink gear. Or Teddie in his suit

When she walked into Cafe Leblanc, she stepped over a short-haired cat that darted upstairs and saw the man himself was manning the bar. A girl with fluffy brown hair she recognized as Haru Okumura was working next to him. Amamiya raised an eyebrow, but Okumura grabbed his arm.

Okumura and herself had met before in a professional setting, which allowed Okumura to recognize her at her moment of entry. That relationship allowed the duo to hear them out.

Amamiya quickly flipped the sign on the store to close and ushered them to a booth. Her eyes flicked to the other handful of customers around the quaint hole-in-the-wall café. At the booth closest to the stairs, a blonde man and woman sat across from a blue-haired man and a brunette woman. A slightly older man sat at the bar watching TV and drinking coffee, his back turned to them. She noted he only wore one glove, and it wasn't an artist's glove.

Amamiya waved her off, bringing her attention back to him, and telling her they were regulars who would eventually leave on their own time, and he wasn't going to rush them.

She noticed that when Amamiya and Okumura took the opposite side of the table, they were sitting rather close together. The way she innocuously slotted to his side and laced her arm through his without so much as a blink on his part struck a chord to her. The movement was so natural, so comfortable. It was clear to the Mitsuru of today that they were…together. A united front against an unknown foe.

Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection.

She sighed in memory of bygone days as she pulled out various files from her bag.

As she laid the files on the table, Amamiya's glare made her nervous; nervous in a way she'd only felt from three people in her life. From Narukami when he got particularly determined. The second was when he chose them over himself. The last–when Aigis had finally resolved to take her key.

A small dark part of her was secretly glad the majority of his focus stayed primarily centered on Aigis, who tilted her head curiously and gave a soft smile, the light almost making her look like an angel.

The conversation was tense, to say the least. They listened to her and Aigis explain their organization, its purpose, and their intentions to have them join.

A flash of steel went through Ren's eyes and then he asked the hard questions.

"If you knew about cognitive worlds, why didn't you stop Masayoshi Shido and Goro Akechi?"

"Did you even investigate once my father had his mental shutdown on national air?"

Mitsuru and Aigis found themselves taken aback at the questions. Aigis even winced. He sure didn't mince words, and Okumura pinged off him way too fast and with unrestrained venom. He didn't give them a chance to answer as he pressed on.

"Shouldn't you have known about Yaldabaoth influencing the public?"

"Were you affected by Maruki's reality?"

"Why didn't we hear about you guys investigating EMMA when the change of heart incidents cropped back up?"

Mitsuru bit her lip underneath the onslaught of questions. They were too pointed. Then she realized, they already knew who they were—a hacker maybe; most likely on Fuuka's level if not exceeding it, if the Medjed incident was anything to go by. Her hand instantly went to the saber on her hip as the killing intent intensified exponentially. Her eyes by force of habit trained through years of survival, scanned the area. All the patrons were now looking at her waiting expectantly for her to speak.

"I assume this is your team. A well-placed trap." She used a congratulatory tone with a smile to hopefully cover up how unsure she felt at being suddenly outnumbered.

"It was time to return the favor after your friends paid my lawyer and teammate a visit." Just then the bell above the door rang and Zenkichi Hasegawa and Sae Niijima stepped through the door with perfect timing. A red-headed lithe-looking girl came down the stairs.

Mitsuru narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the silver-haired woman.

"Niijima."

"Kirijo."

"We have her to thank for multiple visits I might add. Though I doubt we have the ability to take on a robot." Zenkichi said, ignoring the icy atmosphere as he took a seat at the bar, receiving a nod of acknowledgment from the one-glove man.

"Mechanical Maiden." Aigis corrected.

"How did you know?"

"Morgana down there is a bit of a pervert. He looked up her skirt, then went and told our team's support, who phoned the information to the rest of us."

Aigis blushed, put her hands in her lap, and pressed her skirt down.

The cat she stepped over earlier yowled and jumped on top of the counter. "Do-Don't put it like that! I smelled fresh motor oil and circuitry, so I took a peek, okay?! It's called information reconnaissance."

Mitsuru closed her eyes, rolling with the fact the cat had started talking. "That may be, but it still qualifies as sexual harassment. Mechanical or not, Aigis still has the rights of a person."

Nijima sent the cat a confused glare while Zenkichi and the other man scooted away in fear. The redhead girl whispered in Nijima's what Misturu assumed to be a translation based on the way her face went dark and Morgana hastily skittered under a table.

The single sound of Ren clearing his throat brought an end to the brewing chaos and brought the attention back to himself, eerily similar to a show performer or a magician. "I won't let it happen again. He will be reprimanded later," Ren said, immediately taking responsibility. "But excuse us if we're a bit on guard about machines interacting with the cognitive world. We've had prior experiences where it turned out…less than favorable," He then crossed his legs and folded his hands on the table. "Now back to our question, we would like to hear them answered."

She started to regret not bringing along Narukami or Iori. Regardless she kept her composure, she knew authoritarian barking would give them a reason for distrust.

Slowly, Mitsuru nodded her head and explained that Shido's influence ran deep, he managed to get the Shadow Operatives unseated from Tokyo and all research confiscated. From 2015 onwards until 2018, no member on their roster was allowed in the city. It also didn't help that their numbers were relatively small and mostly consisted of part-timers.

"Shido…." The man at the counter growled out as he swiveled on his stool. Something about the man was familiar but she couldn't place him. "That man makes a mess wherever he goes."

Aigis' face lit up in recognition. "You're the former Diet Member Toshiro Kasukabe."

Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. She had heard about the scandal involving his father. She then really took stock of who was among the people in the café, like a puzzle falling into place from investigating the Phantom Thieves and simple news stories.

A politician, an active detective in law enforcement, a lawyer, and the heiress to a conglomerate almost as large as the Kirijo group. Then there were other faces she now recognized from in passing, such as the model Yukari mentioned, the walk-on track, and gymnast stars Iori talked about. Not to mention the unseen hacker.

To think the Phantom Thieves were so….so varied compared to SEES or the Investigation Team. She was honestly impressed and a little bit envious.

"I take it you're familiar with Shido's political practices?" Mitsuru asked Toshiro.

"Very." The man replied. "He disbanded any committees that worked toward anything he opposed. Even before he was nominated for prime minister, he had the rest of the diet in a chokehold. Figures he took out the one group that could do something about it first."

"I would say Toshiro and our leader, has the most firsthand experience with Shido personally," The blue-haired boy said, flipping his hair.

"Seems we share a common enemy."

The tension eased a little bit but not entirely. Thankfully she did bring Aigis who was the most empathetic of them all.

"We know what we've said doesn't entirely excuse us from intervening on behalf of the lives that were lost due to our…inadequacies. For that, we wholeheartedly apologize." Aigis then bowed her head to where she was almost touching the table. "We hope that by recruiting more members; more people who have the power of persona. We can do more to protect the civilians from cognitive beings and malignant organizations who mean harm."

"You know, for a robot, you seem more human than most people," Amamiya said appreciatively with a light chuckle.

"The value of life is truly precious. I know what it's like to lose the one you love and to live on in memory of them. Because I do not possess a human soul, it has taken me longer to learn that lesson but it's one I will treasure for as long as I function."

"Hmm. I don't think that's entirely true." Aigis blinked in surprise at Amamiya's statement. "You not possessing a human soul, that is. I should've been clearer. Maybe it's the resonance between the power of the Wildcard but I can sense more life in you than most people. As far as I'm concerned, you're a person and will be treated as such."

She would never get over the wonder of watching one wildcard at work and hearing their words, but two was as if witnessing a meeting between historical figures.

"Yu Narukami said the same thing to me," Aigis said reverently, placing a hand over her chest right where the papillon heart sat.

"Would that be the tall guy who visited my sister?" The brunette girl asked, standing up and sitting down on Ren's other side. A little too close.

"Him too, huh? Why do all Wildcards attract, and are okay with, multiple partners?" Mitsuru thought to herself.

"I figured he was one of your little stooges," Niijima said bitingly, not taking her eyes off Mitsuru.

"Yes, he also holds the power of the Wildcard," Aigis answered honestly.

"You must be Makoto Niijima." At the girl's nod, she continued. "I expect great things if your sister's prowess is anything to go by."

Sae ran her fingers through her hair triumphantly with an infuriatingly smug smile on her face. Makoto looked worriedly between the both of them. She probably had an idea of the history between them.

"Yeah, yeah, we know—Makoto's sister kicks major ass!" The blonde-haired boy exclaimed as he hopped up and dragged a stool over to them. "But I've got this question I've been thinkin' about…"

"That's rare," Morgana chided from under the table.

"Can it, cat. Big talk for someone using us to hide," He said angrily before flipping back to Mitsuru with a carefree expression. "Anyways, it wasn't mentioned in any of the files Futaba pulled up—"

"Moron! You weren't supposed to say that!" The blonde-haired girl yelled from the other booth.

"Eh?"

"It's okay, she would've figured it out anyway, Ann," Ren said, calming her. "Please continue, Ryuji."

Ryuji nodded at his leader and continued. "—Why didja start this Cake Knight group in the first place?"

"Because we've gone through a journey similar to your own."

"Huh, really? How so?"

Mitsuru and Aigis looked at each other and smiled.

"Well, it began with my grandfather…."

And so, Mitsuru kept it brief and concise with Aigis interjecting when necessary. She told them about how they had to fight a god while omitting details about Nyx's goals. Aigis gave her a questioning look but played along. They did tell them about Strega and about those who worked to bring cognitive beings' goals to fruition. When they asked more questions, she told them that unfortunately, they had to keep it classified.

The Phantom Thieves seemed tentative about the whole situation, but Mitsuru managed to reach an agreement where they'd do an internship program of sorts as a trial run.

The moment they got in the limousine she leaned back and sighed in relief. The Phantom Thieves were fundamentally different from the Investigation Team. They had a pre-established distrust of anything law enforcement—and for good reason. She wasn't arrogant enough to not recognize the danger of a rogue persona user group if they said the wrong thing. She could only hope that they could eventually establish a relationship of trust between them. A start would be taking them off public security's watch list.

"Mitsuru-san?"

"Yes, Aigis?"

"Should I wear panties from now on?"

Mitsuru spit out her coffee all over the limousine's expensive interior.

—X—

Then the second issue came around.

Amamiya, the team leader, and Niijima being his vice, were the first to come to the compound. Underneath the research division's reservations, their rooms had been bugged, yet within the first hour of being in the room, both had found and disabled all of the bugs. Niijima's maverick behavior especially surprised her. Mitsuru had taken an extensive look over both of their backgrounds and found Niijima had one similar to her own not to mention her relation to the overly pompous Sae. She would have never dreamed of doing something so brazenly….anti-establishment.

Upon conferring with Akihiko and Narukami, after they finished laughing, they made her realize that not every former student council president was a stickler like her. She resigned herself to the fact no further data could be collected on Joker and Queen aside from their interactions with the others, and their combat trials.

Speaking of— once they managed to summon their personas in the real world, their way of summoning proved more effective than evokers and tarot-card crushing. Save for Aigis and Koromaru, their methods in dealing with the cognitive world as a whole proved to be faster and more effective. So, in a twist of irony the Shadow Ops became the interns to the two Phantom Thieves.

Other than that little hiccup, they proved to be quite popular among her peers.

Amamiya proved himself a polymath on the level of Narukami. The two almost instantly became buddy-buddy and turned almost into chameleons able to adapt to any social scenario. He was seen frequently trading dirty jokes with Iori and Hanamura when they visited, giving Yukari a challenge on the shooting range, discussing books with Shirogane, or even assisting Yamigishi in technical detail.

Niijima, while not as varied as her leader, came across as endearing, and more than eager to experience new aspects of life from the various members who came and went in the compound. She tended to gravitate to Akihiko and Satonaka in order to train most often.

The only downside Mitsuru saw was again…a lack of intel when they were alone. She didn't really mind; especially when Iori caught Niijima slipping into Amamiya's room.

Mitsuru had learned that lesson the hard way in 2009. Once the door was closed, people deserved their privacy. The Phantom Thieves more than anyone else given what they've been through as a group. However, it didn't stop intel and security from constantly badgering her about the slowly dwindling stock of bugs.

Eventually, the internship came to a close. Niijima could only commit as an emergency member, but to her surprise, Amamiya showed interest as a full-time member. Unfortunately, he would have to wait two years until he turned 21.

So, Amamiya kept coming back to the compound as a part-timer while the other Phantom Thieves rotated out to complete an internship themselves. Infuriatingly, the other Phantom Thieves proved just as apt as their leaders, no conversations were recorded whatsoever between all thirteen members. As a matter of fact, they were still trying to work out the gaps in security exposed by Futaba Sakura(Navi) and Sophia(Sophie). Aigis even still occasionally swore vulgarly and went "Mwehehe" due to Sakura's actions, much to the amusement of the others.

The bigger surprises were Sophia, Toshiro, and Guernica.

Sophia opened the door to the evolution of AI concerning Cognitive Psience and the ability of not only one to awaken a persona, but the potential of it becoming a deity.

Once Toshiro learned to manifest his "will of rebellion" as the thieves called it, another person popped out of him. A being named Erina who Ren and Toshiro explained was simultaneously a cognitive being, a persona, and a shadow. Unique in every way. More than once she had to deny the research team's request to bring Erina in for evaluation at the same time as Morgana, Sophia, and Teddie.

Tao, known professionally as Guernica, lacked a persona but her murals possessed the ability to jostle the shadows in others, potentially creating new persona users. In combat her paint functioned as an effective area denial tool. A way of fighting nobody else was able to emulate.

In the end, the only three members they got full commitments from were Morgana(Mona), Yusuke Kitagawa(Fox), and Erina(Alférez). Morgana and Erina could join anytime they wanted given they weren't human, but Kitagawa had to wait until January of 2021, but they planned to move him to the compound in December.

…..

July crept closer to giving way to August.

Amamiya's birthday was fast approaching. Mitsuru figured it was time to bring him in for one last observation before he officially moved in.

Mitsuru pulled out her phone and opened her contacts list. She clicked on Amamiya's number. It rang once…twice…three times before he picked up.

"Hello~! This is the wonderful and great Sophia! How may I help you Mitsuru-san?"

"Huh? Sophia? Why are you answering Amamiya's phone? Where is he?"

"Ummm…He is unavailable right now, but I could assist you."

"This is important, Sophia, I need him specifically. Do you know when he'll be available?"

Sophia whistled a jaunty tune that sounded suspiciously like 'In The Hall With The Mountain King'. "Sophia isn't at liberty to answer or discuss that question. Not without my lawyer: Sae Niijima."

"Come again? What's going—"

"—Bye! Have a good day Mitsuru-san!"

Mitsuru flinched as the digital click indicated she hung up. She immediately tried to redial the number only for it to go to voicemail.

"This is Ren Amamiya. I'm sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but any questions and inquiries can be directed to my lawyer, Sae Niijima, and my digital friend, Sophia. I'll try to get in contact with you as soon as possible. Thank you and have a good day."

She hung up before it allowed her to record and dialed his number for the third time.

"Ren is unable to answer his phone currently, but I—Sophia will answer any and all questions unless your name is Mitsuru Kirijo, or Akihiko Sanada. If your name is Mitsuru Kirijo, or Akihiko Sanada, please contact Sae Niijima at 03-XXXX-XXXX. Have a good day!"

Mitsuru blinked in bafflement at the voicemail message now reconfigured to be directed specifically at her. "What on earth is going on?!"

She put her phone away and got up from her desk. She wasn't going to call Sae Niijima, at least not yet. Mitsuru could picture her smug face as she was forced to admit she needed her help.

When she first met the elder Niijima in her college freshman year, Mitsuru saw her for what she really was—A rival. On one level they were similar. Both women trying to prove themselves in a male-oriented society. Both were skilled in the fighting arts, and they both held themselves in high regard. They competed in everything from grades to duels. Even the current sparring record was tied: 142 wins, 142 losses, and 1 draw.

Her frequent dealings with her again, thanks to Amamiya, promoted the perfect breeding ground for a rivalry to renew itself. They both relished the opportunity to get around and one-up the other.

To call her would be to concede a victory, no matter how small.

Most people had enough sense to get out of her way when she stormed into the common area, which is exactly what Yosuke Hanamura did. He tried his best to meld into the wall as she went by.

"Akihiko! Aigis!" She half called and half yelled.

"What is it?" Akihiko said from the boxing ring where he was shadowboxing.

Aigis turned her head from reading a book on the couch. "Yes, Mitsuru?"

"We're going to Tokyo. Yongen-Jaya to be exact."

"Oh, you're going to see Ren?" Yu said from the bar. "I would appreciate it if you could bring back some coffee and curry."

"I'll take a special too!" Chie said from next to him.

"I could use some of the house blends," Naoto said, crossing her legs. "But if you'll allow me to ask. Why the sudden visit?"

"As far as I can tell, Amamiya has gone rogue," Mitsuru informed them quickly while grabbing the keys to a car out of a basket on the counter.

"When isn't he rogue? "Junpei joked from the seat next to Aigis, rapidly pressing buttons on the controller in his hands. "I mean the dude is like the definition of a maverick."

Yu nodded his head. "Whatever it is, It can't be that bad."

"He isn't responding to phone calls."

Everyone paused and blinked at her statement.

"Are you two….In a relationship?" Yosuke slowly asked.

"No. What would make you think–" Mitsuru frantically gestured her hands at Yosuke. "-that?!"

"Mwehehe. From my analysis of teenage romcoms, you show traits of a jealous ex-partner."

"Aigis!"

"Ah damn, we have to get Yamagishi to iron out that bug again."

Ignoring Akihiko, Aigis continued. "Amamiya-san has also shown a penchant for courting women older than himself."

Junpei chuckled and set his game down. "Yeah, the man's a real lady-killer. I bet he can even give Akihiko-senpai some pointers."

"Hey! What that's supposed to mean?!"

Yu nodded repeatedly. "His wooing skills are impressive."

"You're the last person I want to hear from, Partner. You're dating a thousands-year-old goddess….And whatever the hell Margaret is." Yosuke pointed out.

"What are me and Naoto? Chopped liver?" Chie sent a threatening glance in Yosuke's direction.

"Don't even get me started on that!"

Junpei laughed from his position on the couch. "Sounds to me like you're hating, dude. Ironic considering you're dating a robot that happens to be Aigis' sister. That's all kinds of weird," Junpei countered. "No offense, Aigis."

"None taken. Me and Labrys are quite aware that our relationships qualify as 'weird.'"

"That's enough, all of you!" Mitsuru shouted and brought the attention back to her. "Normally it wouldn't be any concern. The problem lies in that Sophia picked up the call first, refused to answer where he was, then altered his voicemail to direct all inquiries to ... .Sae Niijima."

Junpei mouthed the words 'Jealous girlfriend' to Yu and Yosuke to which the former nodded.

"I wonder what would cause Amamiya-san to go to such lengths to hide his whereabouts." Aigis mused.

Unnoticed by anyone but Yosuke, Yu stiffened up in his seat. Once Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Aigis left to collect their things, Yosuke rounded on Yu taking a seat next to him.

"You know something, don't you?"

"Shouldn't you be in Seattle on a company trip right now?"

Yosuke groaned and put a hand to his head. "That's not until next week….I'm not going to ask what your reasoning is–you usually have a good one. Just know it makes you an accomplice. And since Sae Niijima is involved….Things are going to get messy."

"I'm well aware…The problem is that Ren–"

Yu was interrupted by Mitsuru walking back into the common area, a bag over her shoulder.

"-He-Hey, Mitsuru." Yu greeted tensely.

"Hmm? Am I interrupting something?"

An idea popped into Yosuke's head. He grabbed Yu's hand and raised it into the air. "Yu was over here telling me about how he'd like to join you!"

Yu's eyes bulged in response.

"Wha-?"

"Yeah, he was going on and on about how he's worried about his junior wildcard, Ren. He wouldn't shut up about it."

"Traitor!" Yu hissed under his breath. Yosuke mischievously winked at him, then gestured his hands in a perfect imitation of ice sculpting.

"I definitely appreciate the sentiment, Narukami. You can come along; a second wildcard may be necessary if it comes down to battle."

Instead of despairing, an idea went through Yu's head. If he was going to get executed, it wasn't going to be alone. Dual ice sculptures were a thing.

"Can Yosuke come along too?" Yu asked innocently. Yosuke gagged on his spit. "He's very concerned about any situation Ren might've gotten himself into. They are the only two knife wielders on the squad since Koromaru retired from duty. They share a kinship us sword wielders can't possibly comprehend."

"Very true," Mitsuru said and put a hand to her chin in thought. "Hanamura's relatable nature and city background will help when dealing with the denizens of Tokyo. Meet us at the van in ten." Mitsuru then left for the hangar where they kept the vehicles.

The moment she disappeared out of sight, Yosuke felt an ice-cold hand grab his shoulder and the shadow of death on his back. Yu put his face beside Yosuke's, and an ominous glint shone in his eyes. A chilling sweat and a sense of dread went down Yosuke's neck.

"Hell is calling, Yosuke…And we shall answer the summons together."

"I'll make preparations for your funerals," Naoto said from the other side of the counter, clearly amused having observed the whole spectacle.

Chie was laughing unreservedly. "That's what you get for trying to get him in trouble. Have fun being an ice sculpture, Yosuke. We'll throw a party with plenty of meat and use you to cool our drinks!"

A shrill scream came from Yosuke's throat.

—X—

It was midafternoon by the time the group got to Cafe Leblanc. The bell rang as they passed through the door.

"Oh, hello."

They were greeted by the sight of Haru Okumura standing behind the counter serving cups of coffee to Sae Niijima and Sojiro Sakura.

"I'll take a house special," Yu said, instantly sitting down next to Sojiro whom he greeted warmly using his nickname of 'Boss'.

"Anyone else need anything?" Haru asked with an overly warm smile.

"His speed is as impressive as always," Yosuke commented, taking the seat on Yu's other side. "I'll take a special too."

Akihiko took a seat at a booth. "I'll take a cup of coffee: black. I'm on weight control right now."

Aigis sat in the seat opposite him. "A house blend please."

"Coming right up!"

Mitsuru didn't take a seat, opting to keep standing, crossing her arms as she stared at Sae.

Sae spun on her stool and upturned her nose at Mitsuru in response to the action. "What brings you here, Kirijo? Want a sparring match?"

"I'm definitely sure I would win…but unfortunately not today," Mitsuru said trying to keep some haughtiness out of her voice. "You're just as smart as I am. The fact that you're here means you already know the reason for my arrival."

"Pah. You're not as fun as you used to be. Still just as predictable as you were back in our college days though. Your skills are probably the same—Predictable."

Mitsuru felt a vein bulge in her forehead, and she put a hand on her saber. "Are you testing my patience? Because I can easily put you in your place right now—Just like I did routinely during debate club."

In the background, she heard Akihiko sigh. In front of her, Sae's arms moved into the starting of a fighting stance.

Before either woman could lunge, a deep authoritative voice caught everyone's attention.

"If you two are going to fight, please take it outside of the shop, will ya?" Sojiro advised as he set down his now empty cup. "It'll be a pain in the ass to replace the door again. I'm getting too old to spend all day doing stuff like that, so try to solve this civilly, okay?"

"Yes, Boss." They said in unison.

"Geez, squabbling like little girls…" Sojiro ran a hand through his graying hair. "Both of you are almost thirty now. Act like it."

Both Sae and Mitsuru blushed in embarrassment and looked away from each other. At the bar counter, Yu and Yosuke tried to stifle their chuckling.

Sae cleared her throat and spoke. "Let's skip the banter and get down to business then. I assume this involves my client and boyfriend, Ren Amamiya?"

"Where is he?" Mitsuru knew there wasn't a point in beating around the bush when talking to Sae Niijima.

"Why are you interested in his location?"

"We need him to do his last physical examination before he officially joins our group. Is there an issue with that?"

"None whatsoever."

"Then why did Sophia refuse to tell me?"

Crossing her arms under her chest, a pensive look crossed Sae's face. A rarity for the usually direct woman, one that gave Mitsuru hesitation on whether she wanted to hear the answer.

"Despite the way they look and act, the Phantom Thieves do fear your wrath—"

"Except for me~," Haru said cheerily as she set down Aigis and Akihiko's cups of coffee.

"-Except for Haru." Sae agreed with a nod. "-Fear your wrath at the answer to the question, so they defer to me who's used to dealing with you." The silver-haired woman took a moment to meet eyes with Akihiko, Aigis, Yosuke, and Mitsuru before speaking again. "To answer the burning question; Ren is currently voyaging across another world—fighting shadows presumably."

Almost a full minute of complete silence passed between the members of the Shadow Ops.

"Did I hear that right?" Akihiko said, breaking the spell of disbelief and processing.

"Yes. Ren has been gone since June."

"And why haven't we heard about this!?" Mitsuru yelled, making Yosuke flinch.

"The reason for this journey and why he didn't give word of notice is in fact deeply personal to you, Akihiko and Aigis."

The three blinked in response.

"Wha–?"

"His ultimate goal is to find a method to seal away a planet eater without causing harm to the user. If he succeeds–The soul of Makoto Yuki may be freed. Elizabeth believes with an almost certainty, that world he went to holds the answers she seeks."

"Are–Are you sure?" Aigis' voice cracked, sounding more vulnerable–more human than she had in years.

Akihiko slammed his padded fist on the table and stood up. "You can't be serious!"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't break the furniture," Sojiro said warningly, making Akihiko raise his hands. "The woman speaks the truth. The kid told us himself, and we saw him off the next morning."

Aigis started to cry. A mystery in her machinery no one had been able to solve. Mitsuru found herself rooted to the spot as her world collapsed in on itself. Slowly she managed to move her jaw to produce sound.

"I–I–We….We have to help him!" Mitsuru shouted, reaching for her phone.

"...I'm afraid that's not possible." Yu's words sent her crashing back to earth once again.

"The hell do you mean?!" Akihiko barked as he stepped out of his booth. He strutted over to Yu, and turned him around. Grabbing him by the lapel he brought their faces close. "It's bad enough he's out in the field unauthorized fighting shadows. But now when we know the situation is this critical and personal to us! If anyone deserves to be out there it's these two, his twin sister and Yukari. You better have a damn good reason for this Narukami!"

To Yu's credit, he didn't so much as twitch under Akihiko's steely gaze which made Yosuke retreat to near the Sayuri. Mitsuru was reminded why Yu came out as the unlikely victor from their clash in the arena.

Yu calmly grabbed Akihiko's wrist, squeezed, and forced him to let go. He then took a napkin off the counter and slowly wiped the spit off his face.

"Not even his own teammates can join him on this mission if you haven't noticed." He subtly jerked his head in Haru's direction who was looking on with an unreadable expression. "The reason is that it's a covert operation that prioritizes gathering information in potential enemy territory rather than combat. The presence of any other persona-users would alert the locals to foreign magic and compromise the mission from the get-go. Even more worrisome, Elizabeth was aware that a Strega-like group already existed, and was running around undetected, so there's that too."

"And who better at covert missions with dangerous parameters than a thief who has the power of the wildcard." Aigis finished as she dried her tears on her sleeve.

Akihiko stepped back dizzily and put a hand to his head, almost as if had been hit with a haymaker.

Mitsuru felt herself being guided to a booth and when she looked, she saw it was Sae who was gently getting her to sit down as she took in the situation.

Yu relaxed against the counter. "Ren has restarted his own journey of The Fool to be assisted by Elizabeth and Lavenza. Margaret informed me some time ago. If you and the rest of the former SEES members knew earlier, there's a chance you guys would have charged ahead anyway regardless of risk, considering Aigis and Kotone have the same power Ren does. The Velvet Room attendants are forced to obey and assist once everything is said and done; hot heads would have prevailed. We withheld that information to keep from you guys unintentionally making things harder."

"You talk as if the whole thing was your idea, Narukami," Akihiko said slowly as he sat back down.

"It was," Yu confirmed to gasps from Aigis and Mitsuru. "The night before he left, Ren contacted me and explained the situation. From there, I coordinated with Sae, Naoto, Makoto and Toshiro as to how we were going to play this. The Phantom Thieves would defer to Sae if any questions came up, and from there she would ask me if it was okay to inform you of the situation, which she had when we were on the way here. What we didn't predict was you immediately rushing to Tokyo. Then again….Your rivalry with Sae is something else. Unpredictable at best. Also, Yosuke interfering and volunteering for me to come along."

"You play a dangerous game, Partner," Yosuke said.

"I agree," Akihiko said dangerously, clasping a hand over his fist. "You're working outside your rank."

"I would be normally," Yu admitted. "But a situation like this requires discretion and delicacy. As a wildcard myself who knew of the situation, this is considered a field operation which I am in charge of–if my job description is correct."

"It is," Sae confirmed with a smile. "I checked the paperwork myself."

"So, I authorized Ren to take action under an emergency cognitive threat. As such I take full responsibility for the filling of the paperwork–That I've already completed."

"You magnificent bastard…." Yosuke said in awe.

"...Damn legal loopholes," Akihiko muttered.

"There must be a way we can support him from here," Aigis asked.

"I'm…not exactly sure. I haven't talked to Margaret in a while, she's been so busy managing the part of the Velvet Room that was left here in our world."

"Both you and Aigis still have keys to the Velvet Room, correct?" Mitsuru finally said, drawing attention to her. "I believe it's time we paid them a visit."

"I concur," Aigis agreed, fishing a blue key out of her skirt pocket.

Yu pulled out his own key that resembled a car key in comparison to Aigis' that could be called a hotel key, and Ren's which was a cell key.

"Let's go."

—X—

The five Shadow Operatives plus Haru and Sae were standing in the Velvet Room. Or at least…half of one as far as Yu and Aigis could tell.

They were standing on a large platform in the middle of a void. In the center of the platform, a lone table with a blue curtain and a crystal ball on top sat surrounded by a pair of couches and two bookcases. A handful of staircases also extended from their platform leading to areas only Margaret and Theodore were privy to.

Various golden and silver metallic pipes and other odds and ends of machinery sprouted upwards and jutted downwards out of murky blue-black darkness that consisted of the world of unconsciousness.

"How may we be of assistance today, future Brother-In-Law?"

"Channeling Elizabeth today, I see, Theo," Yu greeted Theodore who was sitting on the couch next to Margaret.

"He's not wrong–maybe–but this is not the place to talk about it," Margaret said.

Aigis stepped forward before Yu could speak again. "We're here because we've heard about Ren's situation. We wanted to know if there's any way we can assist," she said, determination clear in her voice. All tones of her robotic cadence had suddenly disappeared. Yu secretly wondered if it was all an act. Wildcards were known for their trickery.

Margaret raised an eyebrow at all of the expectant looks and then gave a smirk. "Convenient timing, I must say."

Yu tilted his head "Oh really? How so?" Yu flinched back as Margaret's smile became annoyed in nature, and Theo's expression flipped from happy to dour.

"My younger sisters have been making attempts to establish a consistent connection between our Velvet Room and theirs….The preliminary messages have been….been infuriating, to say the least."

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

Instead of Margaret, Theo answered, his voice quivering. "Elizabeth has delivered the news that she has claimed victory in one of our betting pools. Ren has encountered a god and as such I have lost my mochi…."

"And my Anmitsu."

"Hold on, time out!" Sae and Haru said at the same time, muscling Yu and Aigis out of the way respectively. The older persona users let out grunts of surprise as they landed in the arms of their comrades. Mitsuru and Akihiko struggled under Aigis' mechanical bulk eventually collapsing in a heap.

"You heard from Ren? How is he? Is he safe? What's he doing now? Will he be okay?"

"He ran into a god? Did he kill it? Make it squirm and beg for mercy?"

Margaret and Theodore's eyes ping-ponged from one woman to the next as they rattled off a laundry list of questions. The siblings looked at each other and nodded. Theodore put two fingers in his mouth and blew. The shrill whistle that followed signaled for the women to be quiet and spooked Aigis enough to where she fell back on Akihiko and Mitsuru again, squashing them flat.

"The Fool is fine," Margaret said, getting their attention. "The god was friendly. The other world's god of thieves apparently bestowed your significant other with a part of his power. There was no need to kill him–he was already dead."

Margaret then pulled out a deck of cards from her sleeve that Yu recognized as the Tarot. Her hands were a blur as she shuffled the cards. She then laid out five cards on the table face down, oddly the fifth card was laid over the first.

"Would you like to do the honors, Theodore?"

"A rare five-card spread, do not mind if I do, eldest sister."

All seven members of the group crowded around the table as Theo flipped the first pair of cards.

Two fools.

Yu saw that Yosuke crossed his hands over his crotch for some reason.

Aigis' eyebrows creased in confusion. "I apologize, but according to my memory, only one of every major arcana is included in every deck."

Both siblings offered a shrug in tandem. Theodore spoke first. "Normally you would be right, Aigis–"

"-But this is a special deck; It calls upon the cards as needed," Margaret finished.

"So, what do two Fools mean?" Aikihiko asked.

"In this case, they represent my twin sister and your missing friend," Theodore said. "They are both currently together and doing fine as we speak."

Haru and Sae gave sighs of relief. Yu gave a hum of approval. He firmly believed that out of everyone he knew, Ren had the highest chance of survival. He wouldn't regret placing his chips on him.

Theodore smiled at the reactions and flipped the next card.

The Judgement.

"This card represents the current state of Ren's journey," Theodore explained. "It is a self-reflective card. It also may indicate an awakening of some kind, whether it be physical or mental."

"I know," Sae said affirmatively. She closed her eyes and put a hand over her chest. "Ren informed me; I hold the Judgement arcana for him. I can feel it inside me even now if I concentrate. It's what allowed me to see the truth in that fairytale kingdom when I met him. It also protected me when those false gods invaded Tokyo."

Theodore nodded. "Yes. That is correct. It also allows you to step foot in the Velvet Room despite not having a persona yet."

"Yet?"

Mitsuru immediately made a face as if she bit a lemon. If Yu was a betting man, this nugget of information would only serve to make the confrontations even more intense in the future.

Neither Theodore nor Margaret decided to elaborate as the former reached for the fourth card.

The Strength. Reversed.

The group looked at it in confusion.

This time, Margaret explained, keeping her face carefully blank. "This card represents Ren's future. The Reversed Strength means having strength but being unable to use it. It could also mean he is about to experience a bout of intense anger or fear."

"...That puts a lot into perspective," Aigis said with a glum forlorn look. A bygone memory of Thanatos instantly killing The Strength Arcana with Ghastly Wail came to mind.

Yu looked around and saw jaws and hands clenched and faces clouded over.

"C'mon guys. Not every journey can be sunshine and rainbows at every moment. Sometimes the rain will pour. All three of our groups have gone through it. We just have to keep our faith that our friend, comrade, subordinate, and lover will endure through the storm. That's what it means to share a bond."

Yosuke stepped up next to Yu and put his hand on his shoulder. "My partner is right. We just have to believe in Ren. Besides, there's still one card left."

Slowly hope came back to their expressions. Theodore took the opportunity to flip over the last card.

This was a card Yu and Aigis didn't recognize. It depicted the pope being carried on the Sedia Gestatoria by loyal subjects….In chains, wearing tattered rags for clothing. Yu and Aigis looked at the three arcana before this one and darkly realized they all had some element that was out of place. Notably, the dog biting The Fool in his crotch.

"No wonder Yosuke was so afraid…." Yu muttered to himself looking away.

"It's almost like you knew what card was going to show up next," Margaret said with a pleasant soft smile. "Guessing by that look on your face, nobody has seen this card before."

The Shadow Operatives shook their heads. While Haru and Sae gave small smiles.

"This is a card that's unique to Ren and Ren only among the current Wildcards. It's called The Faith."

Haru clasped her hands in front of herself in fondness. "Yes, we know all about it! It's the arcana of our teammate Sumire Yoshizawa."

"You mean the gymnast girl who cleaned out our fridge in a day?!" Yosuke yelled in amazement.

"The one and only," Sae said laughing. "The Faith represents putting belief in others and oneself. It can also refer to belief in science or religion as we found out firsthand with Dr. Maruki."

"Thank you, Sae, and Haru for that wonderful explanation," Theodore said, bowing his head. "Building on what they explained, this card represents Ren's distant future. Probably closer to the end of his journey than the beginning. It's definitely a bright card to look forward to."

"It's good to know some aspects of his life and future, but that doesn't change the now I'm afraid," Mitsuru said. "We still need to know if there's any way, we can support Ren from here?"

"We are working on establishing communication as we have stated. I believe you humans call it 'Wee-Fee' and telephonic reception."

"Wi-Fi and Cellular reception." Yu automatically corrected Theodore.

"Aw, Wee-Fee sounds much more fun though…."

"Can you establish that between worlds?" Akihiko asked incredulously before Theodore could start sulking.

Margaret waved her hand dismissively. "Not necessarily; just between Velvet Rooms. While both parties are outside the Velvet Room, contact will not work. Either way, it will take us a little while longer until this service is up and running."

"How long will that be?"

The siblings looked at each other and a silent conversation passed between them. Theodore turned back to them and spoke. "A week. Give or take a couple of days. And Lavenza matching my progress of course. Out of the four of us, we are the most capable when it comes to building,"

Margaret then spoke next. "However, we do have a consolation to offer. One that would serve beneficial to both Ren and yourselves."

"A Battle Trial." They said together.

"A Battle Trial?" Aigis and Yu said.

"Yes," Margaret affirmed. "The both of you never had any need for them, but during the journeys of Makoto Yuki and Ren Amamiya, time in the cognitive world was precious and limited. So, the Battle Trials were created as a way for them to hone and foster their power outside of a cognitive space."

"You threw shadows at them every time they walked in here?!"

"Not exactly, Yosuke Hanamura. They fought cognitive versions of tough enemies fought in the past."

"We did a couple as a team when we traveled around Japan three years ago," Haru stated in support.

Theodore tapped the crystal ball and an image appeared. It showed Makoto Yuki and his fraternal twin Kotone Shiomi battling a tall skinny male shadow in a purple mask, and a large obese female shadow in a white mask. The personas Thanatos and Orpheus Telos were moving in tandem with their summoners as they weaved through sword swipes and blasts of magic.

Mitsuru's eyes went wide. "That's from–!"

"June! When we recruited Fuuka. I don't remember them having those personas at the time." Akihiko said in partial thought.

"Exactly," Theodore said, tapping the ball again.

The image shifted to show Ren locked blade-to-blade against a teenaged Yu. Overhead, Arsene and Izanagi were trying to force each other back.

"Whoa, that's a blast from the past," Yosuke said. "I haven't seen you in your Yasogami uniform in years, Partner."

"I certainly didn't fight Ren in it either."

Margaret chuckled. "That is the nature of the Battle Trials. We will be doing the same now. A cognitive version of Ren awaits in the arena. The plan is that we send cognitive versions of each of our Wildcard guests back and forth to one another."

Akihiko slammed his fists together. A blue flame washed over him forcing those close to him to step away. When it left, his clothes hadn't changed(due him being constantly dressed as his inner rebel)but he now wore a rectangular mask with six slits in it. A wolfish smile crept onto his face. "I've been itching to fight, especially after everything I've heard today. I hope this isn't a Wildcard-exclusive affair."

"We encourage it," Margaret said. She then got up from the couch and walked over to a particular staircase as she passed by Yu, she ran a seductive finger along his hand and sleeve.

"Hngg…" A rush passed through Yu, almost as if he stood up too fast.

"Are you okay?" Aigis asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, a split second later, she too clutched her head.

"Ren needs as many varied opponents as we can provide." Margaret continued from the staircase.

Yu shakily stood up and gave his answer. "I'm game,"

He closed his eyes and let the flames wash over and soothe him. After a second, they receded leaving him in a cream-colored suit jacket accentuated by eight golden buttons and a white belt. He also had a waistcoat that extended well below his knees. A yellow tie and white dress shirt sat comfortably underneath. His footsteps clicked and clanked thanks to the metal geta he now wore under his feet. A metal triangle-shaped mask with two antenna protrusions for ears sat on his face.

"Though I do have to ask, why does he need 'varied opponents'?"

"You will quickly find the answer to that question once you face Ren in battle." came Margaret's simple reply as she began climbing the staircase.

Sae leaned her head toward Haru when the others followed behind Margaret. "Are they always….This cryptic?"

"Usually, it's worse than this. But you get used to it after a while." Haru said happily, leaving a stunned Sae in her wake.

–X–

Yu, Akihiko, Mitsuru, Haru, and Yosuke had taken the field, and across from them stood a yawning cognitive Ren who was dressed in the clothes he had left in. Aigis had opted out for recording purposes so they could review and share later.

Haru, Mitsuru, and Yosuke had changed to their metaverse attire.

Yosuke, having picked the name Shinobi, appropriately resembled a traditional Japanese Shinobi dressed in darker greens. A matching dark green face wrap obscured his identity. He had endlessly complained he couldn't wear his signature headphones anymore and had to now use wireless EarPods underneath his wrap.

As she grew older, Haru's costume began to change as did all the other Phantom Thieves. Her musketeer pants had extended to her ankle. Various rips had shown up all throughout her wear. An equally decrepit shawl had appeared around her shoulders. The bright vibrant pinks and purples had faded. Futaba had frequently commented that her appearance now matched her streaming playlists–Horror.

Mitsuru wore ancient-era gladiator gear complete with a pleated skirt and a golden breastplate, both adorned with bronze spikes. A red pointed mask was on her face. A mask the Phantom Thieves noted wasn't too un-similar to Crow's prince mask. The difference being that her face extended upward and rounded off compared to Crow's which formed a bowtie shape.

"Alright," Ren said, cracking his neck. "You've shown me yours, It's only fair I show you mine."

"Yep, this is definitely Ren's cognition. He talks exactly like him." Haru said, hefting her ax on her shoulders.

"Hey, Noir. You're looking as adorably fluffy as ever. And is that Sae I see on the balcony over there? Damn, shame the actual me couldn't be here. Remember though Noir, when we fight it's Joker."

Cognitive Ren transformed and the other's eyes widened when instead of his usual Phantom outfit he appeared in a red jacket, pinstriped pants, and a fedora.

"That's a new look."

"Very, Mitsuru-san. Or should I say, Exalt? So many people with royal-sounding names these days…Queen, King, Princess, Exalt…." Joker listed off then ran a hand over the fabric of his coat. "Turns out, reawakening with a different persona from the original changes your look dramatically. Imagine that."

Joker then pulled out his knife, spun it in his hand theatrically, and then grabbed it in a reverse grip.

"Now then…Let's get started, shall we? You guys take the first move here."

"Mitsuru!" Yu cried.

"On it."

In a flash, Artemisia appeared behind her summoner and placed her hands on Mitsuru's temple.

"Huh? That's…strange."

Joker put a hand in front of his face under Mitsuru's intense stare. "Don't look at me like that."

"What's the verdict?" Yu asked.

"He has Raoul equipped, and he's weak to bless–which we don't have right now–but overall, he's almost trivially weak. There's something…off about it though. Proceed with caution."

"Alright, we'll keep it simple with physical attacks for now. Who wants to go first?"

Haru's hand shot up and she gave Yu a shamelessly sadistic smile. "Leave it to me, leader, It's been so long since I've sparred against Joker. Please allow me this opportunity."

"Permission granted. He's all yours." Yu stepped back and allowed Noir to take the floor.

Haru rushed forward and swung her ax. Using dance step-like moves, he evaded every attack. His dagger met the flat of her ax as he attacked her in turn.

"Even though I am a cognition, I can tell that the real me's heart would have been singing in joy from performing this ancient act, Noir," Joker said as another swipe of his knife bounced off her ax handle.

"Me too, Joker. We act composed, but there's a freedom battle brings we just can't ignore. That's an aspect of how our relationship works."

She pushed him away just far enough to allow her to start spinning like a top with her weapon, waves of psychic energy pouring off her like water. Joker dived to the side, pulled out his gun, and fired, the bullets deflecting off the miniature tornado.

Joker gave a cocky smirk and flipped into the air. He faced downward and launched his grappling hook, tying up Noir's arm, stopping her, and allowing himself to land on her shoulders.

"I see he hasn't lost his skill," Yosuke said as he threw a kunai that forced Joker to flip off her shoulders. He then leapt after Joker who was busy retracting his cable freeing Haru. Yosuke's kunai collided against Joker's dagger, sending sparks flying.

"How about a little two-on-one action!" Haru yelled happily as she leaped and brought down her ax.

Yosuke smiled. He knew Joker would leap backward and keep his distance. It was suicide to stop Haru's force head-on like this with a dagger. He'd wait for the moment he moved and press him by throwing his kunai.

CLANG

A sword met the ax, and both Yosuke and Noir's eyes widened when they saw not Yu or Mitsuru, but Joker himself holding it in his free hand, simultaneously engaging them both.

"Personally, I prefer my two-on-ones to be between Noir, Queen, and myself, but I'll make a special exception for you today Hanamura-senpai,"

"He's picked up a new weapon…I'll have to adjust the files," Mitsuru said. "The biggest question is what could have happened to convince him to take up the sword?"

"Either way, it adds a new element of unpredictability to his already erratic fighting style," Akihiko commented, watching Joker trade blows with Yosuke and Haru.

Joker threw his sword which sailed between the two. He then launched his grappling hook at Yosuke who parried it. Unknown to both of them but seen by the others, was that the grappling hook latched onto the discarded weapon.

"Hey, watch out!"

Akihiko summoned Caesar and the persona squeezed its globe, the gravitational force dragged Noir and Yosuke out of the way right as the weapon went spinning through the air and back into Joker's hands.

"Thanks, Striker. That was a close one…." Yosuke said relieved while picking himself up off the ground.

Caesar disappeared and Akihiko walked over and helped Haru to her feet. "Joker is certainly a tricky one."

Joker smiled savagely at Akihiko's words and then let his sword go while still attached to the cable and started to spin it like a giant sickle and chain. Yosuke nervously stepped back at the sight.

Akihiko narrowed his eyes at the display. "He's starting to get dangerous, maybe it's time I joined the fight."

"Oh, for little 'ole me?" Joker said laughing. "Please Sanada-senpai, notice me more!" Joker then tilted his head in confusion. "I feel like the real me has said that line recently… Eh, it doesn't matter. Let's skip to the me kicking your ass part!"

Mitsuru and Yu watched as all three rounded on the cognition. Joker flung his sword at each of them in turn trying to keep them at bay. Once they got in close, he went back to dual-wielding tossing in the occasional kicks to keep the three off balance.

Mitsuru frowned. "His swordsmanship is sloppy. He uses tricks and traps to disguise his inexperience in the blade."

"I agree." Yu said while fingering his katana. "It suits his fighting style, but once the opponent gets in close, he could be rendered helpless."

As if to illustrate Yu's point, Akihiko delivered a brutal uppercut that broke through Joker's guard and had the cognition cough up blood. Yosuke used Akihiko as a springboard and followed up with a flip kick that sent him crashing to the ground.

"What do you propose we do, King?"

Yu tapped his chin at Mitsuru's question. "I don't think we should offer him direct guidance. As Margaret said, we should offer him experience. He should probably be fighting me, you, and Fox rather than those three right now. If we're sending our own cognitions for him to fight, we should be the priority until he says otherwise."

Mitsuru had to admit Ren proved to be a learn-by-doing person rather than talking at him. As the old saying goes, experience is the best teacher. She was about to open her mouth to offer a suggestion when a roar from the cognition interrupted her.

"Swordplay isn't the only thing I've picked up! Let's see you try this on for size!"

Akihiko, Yosuke, and Haru backed up as the Cognitive Joker's clothes started to change from red to purple. His hat was replaced by a head, scarf, and mask veil.

"What the–?!"

Yosuke was cut off by a yellow steak leaving an impact on his chest and sending him flying. Akihiko wasn't given a chance to react as he felt two slashes against his chest and a kick to his head that staggered him. Haru tried to swing her ax but pulled herself off balance, finding her wrist shackled to her leg. Joker reappeared right in front of Mitsuru and Yu, weapons extended to his sides.

Feeling the killing intent, Yu swung his sword instinctively, only to whiff as Joker disappeared in a yellow streak and appeared where he originally started.

"Exalt!"

Mitsuru only made a choking noise of surprise.

"I'm fine!" Yosuke called as got to his feet "That attack just caught me by surprise is all. It had even less power behind it than before, he's just faster now."

"Me too," Akihiko growled in agreement. "Yes, I felt some mana behind those first two attacks but that last one was a critical hit. Sometimes you get lucky in battle." he went over to Haru and broke the chain keeping her from moving.

"This magic was cast without a persona. I didn't even see it coming." Haru said, watching Joker with a critical eye.

Yu felt unsettlement stirring within him–something felt…different by being around even this cognition of Joker. No…he felt this from Margaret too. He gave Mitsuru an asking glance to distract from his thoughts.

Mitsuru cleared her throat and focused. "His status has shifted from before. He's faster…and luckier. However, he's traded off offensive and defensive power. I also sense a tendency for Dark Magic….Just what is this form?!"

"You know…The real me hasn't come up with an official name for it yet. He just calls it 'Thief Class' cause he got it from Aeber the god of thieves and one of the classes you can be over there is thief, but I'm a thief, so it doesn't make too much sense ….And my cognitive head is starting to hurt. The real me will come up with something eventually." Joker raised his weapons to them. "For now….All you have to worry about is beating me."

"Just because you got a little speed you think you're Mr. Big Shot, huh?" Yosuke taunted. "I'll be running circles around you when I get serious! Come, Takehaya Susano-o!"

"Let's go, Caesar!"

"I wonder if you're faster than my guns. How about we test it out? Descend, Lucy!"

"Raoul!"

The afro-wearing firefighter in green, The disguised duplicitous hedge better, and the Roman emperor took the field behind their respective summoners.

"Sonic Punch!"

"Sukukaja!"

"Don't let him escape! Riot Gun!"

Joker grinned as his body was covered in green magic.

—X—

Sae and Aigis watched the fight from the balcony along with the two velvet attendants. Sae in particular watched in mute awe as Joker slid under the galeforce wind and danced among the golden shower of bullets as his weapon clashed against those of Yosuke; the two playing a deadly game of tag. Underneath her trained eyes she could tell not a single move was wasted. One misstep was all it took to lead to a fatal blow.

The personal titans they called Persona also dueled in the air. Raoul was doing his best to keep Caesar busy with volleys of ominous reddish-black magic.

"This is actually the first time I've seen him fight….Are the battles usually….this intense?" Sae said, feeling a bit overwhelmed, yet strangely excited.

"Depends on the opponent," Aigis instantly replied, her gaze not moving off the veritable war that was happening right below her. "Contest against shadows usually isn't this fantastical. Battles against other persona users have a human element to them. Unpredictability. Rivalry. Pride. Showmanship. Honor. Curiosity."

Margaret hummed. "Also, the Shadow Operatives holding back is a large contributing factor to this battle being a spectacle."

Sae's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Holding back?!"

"Yes." Theodore confirmed, leaving no room for uncertainty. "The Magician could've ended the battle anytime with Masukukaja. In a similar vein, the Empress has access to the highly effective Life Wall. A fatal counter if there was ever one–Even by our standards. On top of that, Joker has lost an extreme amount of power. To his credit, he's putting up a rather good fight against three opponents at once."

Sae was about to ask why, but found her question preemptively answered by Margaret. "They are trying to scope out what exactly Ren's new potential is."

Down below, Joker had finally summoned his persona. Raoul roared as it engaged in combat with Caesar and Takahaya Susano-o at the same time. Despite the various slashes and dark energy blasts the faster persona landed, Sae could see, Joker was slowly but surely being overwhelmed.

Aigis finally turned away from the fight, her baby blue irises trained on the Velvet siblings. "Regarding that…Your goal is twofold isn't it. That potential Amamiya-san is using, it's stirring in me as well, is it not?"

"Very astute," Margaret said, "Our master paid us a visit, he carried a part of the potential Ren received. Like a virus, he passed on the ability to my sisters, and our masters gave it to us. I passed it to Yu and then he passed it to you, Aigis."

The mechanical maiden clenched and unclenched her hands. Maybe it was her imagination, but the slightest hint of purple could be seen on her titanium body.

"We do not know how this power will interact with non-Wildcard wielders, but we figured it would be appropriate to bestow it upon you and Narukami at the very least. A bond is a two-way street, is it not?" Margaret finished by throwing Aigis' words back at her.

"A bond…."

Even though she was completely out of her depth with all the cognitive world talk, Sae could still read people, and Aigis looked like she was lost in her own mind. Sae felt something resonate in her with Aigis–no the Shadow Operatives as a whole. A memory of a strange notion her younger sister mentioned some time back came to the forefront of her mind.

Her jaw went slack, and realization hit her like a bolt of lightning.

"You are…...!"

"Not yet," Theodore said, as if reading her mind. "It's not fully formed, but if the real Ren gets in contact, it is a surefire conclusion."

"Could be even sooner." Margaret remarked. "Ren is an anomaly among Wildcards in a multitude of ways; he managed to strengthen a bond with a cognitive version of his Justice arcana in Niijima's cognitive world. I would not be surprised if a manifestation of a bond came as a result of this encounter."

On the battlefield, Joker yelled and then split into three causing all to gasp in surprise except for the Velvet siblings. The Jokers didn't waste the opportunity as each of them engaged a different opponent head on. Yu and Mitsuru worked to coordinate and provide support when needed.

Aigis stepped forward. "Why are you doing this?"

"We have stated this earlier: It is our duty." Theodore simply replied.

"We exist to foster and nurture our guests' power. Ren's, Yu's and your own are included in that Aigis."

One of the Joker's used their grapple hook to send another flying where they managed to sandwich Noir briefly while the third Joker slashed at Striker and Shinobi like a madman, both men on the back foot as Joker continued to get faster. To Sae's eyes it was almost to the point of warping.

"This is a lot to take in all at once." Aigis admitted looking downcast. Sae couldn't help but agree.

Sae put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Then take it at your own pace. I assume most journeys are a marathon, not a sprint."

"Indeed. You must be going through much yourself from being thrown headfirst into our world."

Sae gave a wry smile and a hollow laugh. "I lost the right to complain about that the moment my envy got the better of me all those years ago. I just want to do my part to support my sister and boyfriend who saved me from myself."

"You are doing a fine job in that area. I can see why the Phantom Thieves rely on you."

Her eyes flicked to Joker's form as he tried to deliver her patented roundhouse kick to a guarding Striker.

"Does it seem that way to everyone else? In all honesty, it's the other way around. Everyday around them I find another aspect of myself I can use to not only get further in my own goals but to help them as well as a mentor."

Aigis put a hand over where her heart would be.

"Is that what it means…to be The Judgement?"

"I guess so," Sae said slowly, blinking as realization dawned on her.

"It'll come to you in time. After all...You're the The Judgement now too."

---

Joker:

….These cognitions are really tough. Did you guys really have to go that hard? I'm not exactly up to snuff at the moment.

Striker:

The only way to get back to where you were is to face strong opponents. The more experience the better.

Exalt:

I agree. Especially when it comes to taking up swordplay.

Joker:

This is in no way shape or form some kind of retribution for skipping town suddenly, isn't it?

Aigis:

In case you brought up that argument, I was told to tell you it's all in your imagination.

Feather-Pink:

Yep. All we want to do is help out our fellow juniors. Also why is my name back to Feather Pink?!

Feather Pink has changed their name to Argus

Joker:

Mark me down as doubtful.

Ace:

Sorry, Yuka-tan, thought it'd be funny since the new season came out the other night and Takamaki-chan is supposed to be the villain this go around too. Be thankful that I, the best sword user in the group, haven't had too many opportunities to train you myself.

Joker:

I respect you in baseball as a fellow enthusiast/player, but swordplay…. isn't exactly your thing.

Ace:

Hey! How would you know that?

Dragon:

For starters, you use a bat instead of a sword whenever you take the field.

Oracle:

Even back in our Highschool days, watching you fight always left me questioning how many katanas you went through.

Striker:

Quite a few.

Exalt:

Kurosawa wasn't exactly happy with the amount it cost to replace them. Even though it came out of the Kirijo's budget.

Ace:

?!

Ace:

I thought the Twins took care of it all?

Guardian:

As someone who runs a textile store let me tell ya this: ordering and shipping fees ain't nothing to sneeze at, even if you do make a "profit".

Princess:

Especially considering Katanas are so specifically made. Run of the mill ones would break almost too easily. Our leader had that problem a lot.

King:

Definitely not an easy weapon to use.

Exalt:

The difference is that yours breaks from sheer strength and use. His was from plain mishandling.

Argus:

Yeah, stick to the bats.

Ace:

Aaannnyyywayys subject change. How it's been getting in contact with your team again. Get any "in case of a lonely night" messages from the chicks?

Argus:

Gross.

Dragon:

Wow.

Sleuth:

No tact whatsoever.

Idol:

Are you sure you want to talk about that topic with women in the chat?

Shinobi:

Man….this is…Deja Vu

Ace:

C'mon, don't act like you guys don't do it. Me and Chidorita do it all the time when I go on a road trip.

Dragon:

TMI

Lancer:

I could've gone my entire life without knowing that Iori-san.

Joker:

I won't confirm or deny the existence of such material. However, me and Yusuke have been sending sketches back and forth of things I've drawn since coming here.

Joker uploaded

Joker:

That's Aeber's altar. Him included of course.

Guardian:

So, you're telling me that big ass statue was moving around like a Sorrowful Angel from Dr. What?

Joker:

Exactly

Guardian:

Creepy….

Princess:

I think it's very cool. I wish I could have seen it in person.

Dragon:

You would Yukiko. I wouldn't have had the guts to go in that cave, let alone talk to him.

Argus:

Yeah. Then he has to do it seven more times. I love Makoto, but sorry I do not envy having to do that anymore.

Striker:

You make it sound like statues attacked us all the time.

Oracle:

Not too far off from the truth, Akihiko-senpai. Some of the shadows we ran into ranged from interesting to disturbing.

Shinobi:

We came across freaking gundams in the TV world!

Sleuth:

Gundams are a part of popular TV shows, so that makes sense in some respects.

Joker:

Aeber wasn't exactly that bad. It's the others I'm worried about. Mainly Aelfric.

King:

Where do you plan to go next, Ren?

Joker:

The Crestlands.

Argus:

Huh?!

Shinobi:

Didn't Aeber explicitly tell you not to mess with Aelfric and the Clergy?!

Princess:

Do I need to get Makoto involved? I have her on speed dial, you know.

Joker:

Thanks, but no thanks, I already got an earful from Queen and the others…on various things. Did you know being attacked by a shadow is no excuse for missing a punctuation mark on a complex sentence on a coffee fueled essay? I got an A- on my assignment because of it.

Ace:

Oh, Boo-Hoo. Cry me a river. Some of us wish we got A minuses.

Shinobi:

Yeah! You're barking up the wrong tree pal!

Exalt:

Maybe I need to up the mandatory education requirements….

Dragon:

Good going guys, now we all have to suffer.

Idol:

Looks like you guys are going to summer school again. Wait, it's almost fall. College?

Aigis:

Kirijo-style education boot-camp.

Striker:

I forgot you're in the "Baka-ranger" crowd too, Aigis.

Joker:

Anyways, I'm not going there to seek out Aelfric personally. Just to scope out the territory and if possible, scout out some information in Flamechurch.

Joker:

From that point on, I plan to cross the mountains and down to Healeaks to visit some friends. After, I'll head north to the Winterlands and look for Alephan The Scholar King. After that I'll hop a boat and go west to the Wildlands and do some ruin exploring.

Shinobi:

Sounds like an adventure.

Argus:

….Just be careful, okay?

Ace:

Yeah, if the heat gets too much just pull out the kitchen dude.

Striker:

You're on your own here, we aren't there to support and assist.

Aigis:

Do not needlessly risk your life. You have many loved ones who are awaiting your return.

Joker:

I understand….Like I said, my own team and confidants gave me plenty of lectures to consider.

Yu put his phone away from reading the texts they had sent over the last couple of days. As he imagined everyone was really fired up about Ren's journey and wanted to help in every instance they could.

SEES.

Investigation Team.

Phantom Thieves.

If he squinted, he might've mistaken them all as one team. If he remembered correctly today's team in the Velvet Room consisted of Junpei, Chie, Morgana and Sumire.

Though they still had their differences, Yu was confident this would bring all three teams together.

He flexed his hand the sleeve of his costume briefly flitted purple before going back to it's usual beige.

After some workshopping, they finally settled on the name 'Thief Form' and dubbed the new ability "Drive Forms" after the game Destiny Hearts that a lot of the gamers of the crew had played at some point.

Yu himself could execute some of the basic attacks Ren did, such as Surprise Attack, but he and Aigis didn't nearly pick it up as fast as Yosuke, Yusuke and Morgana did. They were however further along than those like Akihiko who didn't use swords or knives at all.

*Knock Knock*

Yu was snapped out of his thoughts by Aigis entering his office with another armload of paper. He winced when he heard the firm thumping sound of her setting the stack on his desk.

"Here you go Narukami-san. Mitsuru says she wants them done by the end of the week."

"How much of this is actually related to Ren again?"

Aigis tilted her head. "None of it." She said impishly.

"Then why—?"

"She said that if you have time to file paperwork on someone else's behalf, then you have time to ease her burden."

She flashed him a sardonic smile and then walked out, softly closing the door behind her.

Yu was utterly floored by the dramatic change in personality Aigis had shown since she learned of Ren's departure. He had never known she was capable of such pettiness and vindictiveness. He highly doubted it was the result of Futaba's influence either. He looked down at his phone again.

King:

Hey, Ren.

Joker:

Yes, Yu-senpai?

King:

How do you deal with an angry, passive-aggressive Judgement Arcana holder?

Joker:

…

King:

?

Joker:

….You don't.

Joker:

I just hope Sae moves on to another project. But it never happens.

Joker:

Eventually you'll get used to it.

King:

Super.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. His arm cramped just looking at the mountainous stack. Fighting Shadows seemed so much easier right now.

Never let it be said that Ren wasn't a lucky man.

---

Omake 1: Ren's Understudy

Toshiro found his apartment quite lively compared to the days it was merely a space to exist until Marie or his father gave him his next command.

"Hold still, you mouth—….Mouth Speaker!"

Unfortunately, he was never able to tell of the commotion was a good thing or bad.

Tao was holding a makeup brush over Toshiro's face and was currently attempting to make his face's complexion match Ren's. She was starting to get frustrated because Toshiro turned out to be ticklish and squirmed every time the bristles of the brush met his face.

"Mouth speaker?"

"I can't exactly call ya a mouth-breather cause I'm friends with you now. And you're a politician, right? Words and crap come out of your mouth, so Mouth Speaker it is."

"I, for one, think it's a perfect name!"

"Not you too, Eri…." Toshiro exasperatedly addressed Eri Natsuhara who was currently doing his hair.

"The name fits; you do speak a lot of words, Toshiro. A lot of them the rest of our group don't take seriously."

Toshiro turned and narrowed his eyes at Erina who was sitting on a nearby couch in his apartment. "No one asked you!"

Tao flicked Toshiro in the forehead for moving again. "See the girls get it, so do me a favor and stop moving. I'm a graffiti artist, not a makeup artist. In case you haven't noticed, this is out of my area of expertise."

"How did I even get myself wrapped up in this situation?" Toshiro asked, resigning himself as the two women fussed over him.

Erina cocked her head all too innocently and then trained her eyes on Toshiro. "When you heard about Ren leaving, you asked if there was anything you could do to help. Futaba suggested that a physical appearance in his online classes would do wonders for his cover story-"

"-And out of everyone you look the most like Ren because of your black hair." Eri picked up where her doppelgänger left off as she blow dried Toshiro's hair to try and emulate the frizzy hairstyle the leader of the Phantom Thieves possessed.

"Sakamato-kun has black hair," Toshiro pointed out.

"Yeah, but his isn't long like yours," Eri fired right back.

"You three have more naturally fitting hair though."

"While that's true," Tao admitted, patting her long blue curly hair. "We also have these big lumps of fat on our chests called boobs. While I'm not above dying my hair for a good cause; unless Ren got a sudden sex change, I don't feel like explaining that."

"Hah…Lame ass Toshiro strikes again. Not knowing the difference between boys and girls," Erina teased.

"I'd hope so given what we did last night…"

Toshiro froze at Eri's comment. However, he wasn't the only one. He watched in growing horror as Tao paused what she was doing, and an absolutely malicious smirk crossed her face. Off in the distance he heard Erina snort.

"I don't think this conversation should—"

"—I have a question!" Tao shouted, cutting him off.

"Oh no. I don't think I'm at liberty to answer."

Eri tapped his head with a comb. "C'mon on Toshi, you don't even know what she's going to ask."

"I'm pretty sure I do."

Tao took that as her sign to speak again. "I've been meanin' ta ask, but since Erina can manifest herself in our world now; how exactly does the monkey dance work now?"

"I knew it…"

"She's your persona and Eri's shadow combined in one…So is it flying solo or is it a three-way thing?"

Toshiro could sense Eri's movement behind him, if left to her, she'd definitely spill the beans. Thinking quickly, he interjected before she could.

"How does your relationship with Ren work? I'm sure you must have a complicated nightlife."

"Oh crap, Toshiro put her on blast!" Erina said, shocked with her hand over her mouth.

Tao stepped back in contemplation. "Touché." she finally said after a couple of moments. "I'll shut my trap. You got balls, gramps."

Toshiro gave a triumphant smile. When it came to the girls in this weird circle of the world he stumbled into, he learned to take his victories where he could. "Thank you. Also…isn't that already Hasegawa's nickname?"

"That's true too," Tao conceded while the other two women giggled. "A person can have two grandpas, it fits as long as both of you aren't in the same room."

"Now that I think about it, both of your skills as persona users are pretty similar as well." Erina commented.

"Toshi and Zenkichi come from similar backgrounds in government too. Could that have possibly had some influence?" Eri smacked her cheeks and refocused on Toshiro's hair. "Cognitive Psience stuff makes my head hurt…"

Toshiro scoffed. "You think it makes your head hurt. Eri, the rest of us have lived it. You really start questioning your life choices when you get put in a prison by a giant, pink-skinned version of your fiancé that a rogue god conjured up from your mind."

"Or turned into a mass murder…" Tao commented darkly in a low voice.

Eri closed her eye and waved a hand in front of her face, seeing she had stepped onto a landmine. "Okay, okay I get it. But all three of you have to admit, it did all turn out for the best."

"Yeah, it did!" Erina stood up and said happily. "That distorted world allowed me to come to be and it's where I met Toshiro."

Tao nodded her head in agreement. "Meeting Joker, Crow, and Violet was probably the best thing that happened to my life."

Toshiro stood up next, the cover over his body fluttering as he did. "The Phantom Thieves gave me the courage to stand up for myself. That's why I want to repay the favor, however I can!"

Tao put a hand on his shoulder and Toshiro broke out in a cold sweat.

"If that's the case then sit back down will ya!" Tao then forcibly slammed him back into the seat.

…What did he get himself into?

---

Omake 2:

Yu's Thief Class Voice Lines:

Steal: "Sorry, but I need this."/"Thought I saw something interesting,"

Darkest Night: "Fall into darkness…"/"I am a shadow… the true self!—Always wanted to say that."

HP Thief: "Cross Slash!"/"You're mine!"

Surprise Attack: "Good tactics start with the first strike."/ "Let's end this."

Swift Step: "Closing in!"/"You're going nowhere!"

Armor Corrosive: "Let's subdue it quickly!"/"So that's what was under there…."

Shackle Foe: "Calm down for a moment."/ "All part of the job."

Aeber's Reckoning: "You can only do so much alone."/"Aeber, please assist me!"

Aigis' Thief Class Voice Lines:

Steal: "Item acquired."/"Valuable item obtained."/"Should I have paid for this?"

Darkest Night: "Mwhehe."/"Casting Darkness spell."

HP Thief: "Recovering damage."/"Contact made twice."

Surprise Attack: "First strike initiated."/"Advance initiated."

Swift Step: "Speed has increased!"/"Augmenting for new speed parameters."

Armor Corrosive: "New vulnerability detected."/"Enemy armor rendered useless."

Shackle Foe: "Providing support."/"Enemy inhibited."

Aeber's Reckoning: "Aeber, I need your help!"/"More than one of me is required for this task."

---

Author's note:

One thing I should probably explain about OT2's job system is that when you have a secondary job it adjusts stats based on the character's existing base stats. That's why Joker seems way faster than he was during the fight with Throne. For Thief, it's Speed +8%, Critical +5%, and Evasion +8% Joker already matched Throne, but with the boost he now outright exceeds her. There's a 2% physical component as well, but I needed a trade-off. Duh, RPG 101 I know, but it still should probably be explained for power scaling purposes. I'll list the other classes for you guys as we go.

Yeah, Mitsuru's rivalry with Sae was supposed to foreshadow the fact she's the new Judgement Arcana. Those who got it before the reveal–treat yourself to a cookie. Bonus cookie if you realized some of Sae's dialogue is from the song "Our Light"

Again, Joker's fighting style is based a lot on Hollow Ichigo and the crazy way he fights by throwing his weapons. It's extremely unpredictable and thus…Perfect for Joker. Make of that what you will. While we're on the subject, Akihiko's outfit is based on Kensei from Bleach as well. It was either going to be Kensei or Ryohei from Hitman Reborn. Haru's costume evolution is based on the Huntress from Dead by Daylight.

This is technically the first of 5 non-Ren chapters in the interlude. He may be mentioned or alluded to, but the focus won't be on him for a bit.

Still looking for a beta. As always I love hearing feedback from you guys! I read all comments and reviews and Kudos/Follows/Faves make my day.