This certainly is different to others I've wrote. The base for this idea was after i first complete Persona 5 last year. When Joker landed the last blow and Yaldabaoth said his final words, i thought to myself 'what's stopping him from unleashing one final attack?' Sure, the cognition of the masses were powering the Thieves but what if, during those last moments, they let their guards down for just a moment. And with them already weakened and exhausted after such a long fight...

Well, it was just a theory anyway. A theory that led to this.

I hope you enjoy. :)

Prologue: An ending, to mark a new beginning.

December 24th. 2016

The winds howled around them, exhaustion seeped into their bones. They had been fighting for who knows how long. Against a foe that had played with their lives as though they were but toys. Yaldabaoth had goaded them, bridled them, and laughed at them. All the while, the words of the public consciousness echoed around them, telling them it was useless.

Yaldabaoth's attacks, fuelled by the sins of man, wracked havoc on the Phantom Thieves, driving them into bursts of wrath and lust, paralysed with hunger and greed. And his Rays of Control rained down darkness and thunder on them with no end in sight.

But they would not fall so easily.

"Pillage him…" Joker orders, spinning on his heels as his tailcoats flutter in the wind. "…Satanael!" His Persona, his will of Rebellion, hovered over them like a demonic guardian angel as he glared into the steel face of Yaldabaoth.

With the public consciousness firmly behind them, Joker had managed to harness that power and evolve Arsène into Satanael. While around him, the Phantom Thieves of Heart, his family, stood tall beside him. Exhausted but more than willing to continue the fight.

"Fools… This is why humanity is doomed." Yaldabaoth coldly dismisses before unleashing a wave of darkness on the Thieves. But to his shock, his attack fails as the attack is swallowed up by Satanael. The energy condenses into the gun on the Persona's hip. "Impossible!"

"What's wrong, you metal-faced jerk?! Not so tough now that the folks down there aren't backing you up!?" Skull calls out with a shark tooth grin, hoisting his Super Megaton Rod mace onto his shoulder.

"You hyped yourself up to be this overarching master, but you're nothing but a glorified cup!" Panthers adds in, whipping her Hard Branch whip in front of her.

"You had us dance to your merry tune, but in the end, it was but a monotone melody!" Fox shouts up, holding his Usumidori katana in his left hand.

"You've played with our lives for long enough. We are ending your reign right here and now!" Queen shouts, holding her revolver in her right hand while her left grasps her Sabazios.

"My mom died because you roped Akechi into your dumb game! You're no God of Control, just an oversized metallic jerk!" Oracle yells from inside Prometheus.

"My Father and countless others all perished because of your ego! We are no longer your subservient puppets!" Nori adds, grasping her Fleurs du Mal axe in both hands.

"Joker, finish this." Mona ends, looking at their leader with resolution behind his wide blue eyes, hoisting his Claiomh Solais falchion onto his shoulder. Joker looks at Mona, flashing his usual Joker smirk before pointing his Tyrant Gun pistol at Yaldabaoth. Behind him, Satanael mimicked his movements, aiming his own gun directly at the false god's face.

"End of the line, false god." Joker says calmly, with his finger resting on the trigger.

"Preposterous! You dare rob the people's wishes!?" Yaldabaoth's surprise and shock laced his words, staring down the barrel of Satanael's gun. Joker couldn't help but smirk at his reaction. All the pain, suffering, and shit this false god put him and his found family through was finally coming back to bite him.

And he would be the one to deal the final blow.

"Begone." He pulls the trigger, firing his gun with Satanael firing his own in tandem. The wind howls as the bullet leaves the chamber, the sound of it slicing through the air, almost deafening the Thieves. It was quickly joined by the screeching of metal as it tore through Yaldabaoth's face before vanishing into the horizon.

All stood still as the Thieves looked upon the defeated Yaldabaoth, the sun rising over the horizon.

"I…will not…accept this…" The false god moans as he turns his bullet-eviscerated head towards the Thieves as light begins to gather around him. Inside Prometheus, Oracle glances at her screens displaying Yaldabaoth's power as her eyes widen in shock.

"Everyone! Get away from him now!" She shouts to the others as the glow within Yaldabaoth intensifies, metal screeching against itself as the false god readies one final attack. Hearing the urgency in her voice, the Phantoms waste no time retreating to the other side of the platform as Prometheus flies down to them.

"If I am to fall this day…" Yaldabaoth glares with the remains of his head as the glow intensifies further, becoming as blinding as the sun. "THEN YOU SHALL JOIN ME!" With the sound of metal snapping in two, Yaldabaoth explodes in a flash of light and fire, with shards of his own body flying alongside the flames.

As Yaldabaoth's final attack rained down on the Thieves, Oracle throws up a Barrier to stop the attack. But the fight against Yaldabaoth and the Final Guards she had erected during the fight had exhausted her stamina. The final flames of Yaldabaoth broke through the guard before swarming over the Thieves like a tidal wave, their cries drowned out by the roar of the flames.

To the citizens of Tokyo, all they could see was the explosion from Yaldabaoth consuming the platform the Thieves had stood on. And by the time the flash had ended, the platform and the Thieves were gone.

Ren regained consciousness with a groan. Feeling a familiar hard bed beneath him. Opening his eyes, he found himself once again back in his cell in the Velvet Room. Looking at himself, he found he was wearing not the prisoner garb he usually wore but his casual clothes before they descended into Mementos for the final time. A dark shirt over a white T-shirt along with grey trousers and black shoes. His glasses were missing, but they were fake anyway.

"What happened?" He quietly asks as he flings his legs off the side of the bed. His head rang from the sound of the battle.

"Trickster…" A sad voice welcomes him to his right. Glancing to the side, Ren found the entrance to his cell wide open with Igor, the real Igor, and Lavenza waiting for him in the centre of the room. And while Igor's face remained the same as ever, wide eyes and a large grin, a hint of sadness could be seen in his eyes, matching the downcast look of Lavenza.

Standing from the bed, Ren leaves his cell to join the two in the centre as his eyes glance at the other open cells around him. The open cells housing people he knows by heart, walking out with similar looks of confusion as his own.

Makoto Nijima, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Haru Okumura, Futaba Sakura, and Morgana.

People whom he would call to be his family more than his blood family ever was.

"Everyone alright?" Ren asks as the group converges. He receives varying responses from the others, but all in all, they appear to be unharmed. A soft sigh from Lavenza draws their attention over to the attendant of the Velvet Room, her eyes conveying an unspoken sadness.

"Lady Lavenza. What's wrong?" Morgana asks with concern. "We defeated Yaldabaoth, didn't we?"

"Yes, you did." Igor replies with a warm voice, like that of a friendly grandfather. Yet there was a hint of regret staining his words. "However, the victory was not without cost."

"What cost?" Makoto asks next to Ren, although by the tone of her words, it sounded as though she already knew the answer.

"I am afraid that none of you survived Yaldabaoth's final attack." Lavenza breaks with a tear dripping down her cheek.

"For real?!" Ryuji asks with wide eyes. Ann, standing next to him, covers her mouth as her eyes go wide alongside Haru. Yusuke bows his head while closing his eyes while Futaba crouches down like a gargoyle, not meeting the eyes of the other Thieves.

"I'm sorry. If I was only quicker in putting up that shield or figuring out what he was planning…" She looks to the carpet on the floor as Morgana pats her leg sympathetically.

"I don't think it would have made a difference, little sis." Ren says begrudgingly. "We were all worn out, and you were forced to use that ability more times than needed. He caught us just as we let our guard down." He feels Makoto's arm wrapping around him as he instinctively does the same. He looks back up to Igor and Lavenza, a new question on his mind. "So, what happens to us now?"

"As much as I hate to say this to a guest of the Velvet Room, I am afraid that now your souls will return to the Sea of Souls." Igor solemnly informs. "There, you will wait until the day of your rebirth. Because of the bonds you have forged, you will meet again. But when I cannot say." It was a hard pill for the Thieves to swallow. For them to go through a rigged game at the hands of a false god, who had designed it so they would fail, to die right as they were about to emerge victorious. No amount of words could describe how they felt.

"I am so sorry, Trickster." Lavenza speaks. "But we are but beings who can only guide you on your journey. We have no power to intervene even when we wish to." The Velvet Room seemed to share her feelings as it slowly grew darker at her words. But as the Thieves processed her words, the fluttering of wings drew the attention of everyone to the ceiling.

Above them, floating down calmly, was a golden butterfly.

"What a beautiful creature." Yusuke speaks with a hint of sadness. "A pity I do not have my sketchbook with me."

"Dude. We're dead. Who's even going to see it when you can't show it?" Ryuji asks with a ghost of a smile. Ren couldn't help but mirror the smile. Even here, at the end of the line, Yusuke was still Yusuke. But while the Thieves chuckle at Yusuke's antics, Igor and Lavenza are transfixed on the golden butterfly. A fact that had not escaped Morgana.

"Master Igor, Lady Lavenza. Is something off about that butterfly?" He asks, drawing the attention of the group. Igor and Lavenza seemingly ignore Morgana, though, as their eyes follow the path of the butterfly before coming to a stop near Igor's desk. It then vanishes in a flash of light, replaced by a man with red hair tied into a ponytail.

But the more striking feature was the mask he wore, covering half his face, baring the right side of his mouth while a golden butterfly wing emerged from the left.

"Master Philemon!" Igor exclaims with surprise as Lavenza bows to him in greeting. "What brings you to the Velvet Room?" Philemon greets Igor with a smile as he replies with a calmness to his voice.

"Good evening, Igor. I am pleased to see you and Lavenza are free, as well as the Velvet Room. However, my being here today is…" He turns to look at Ren with calm eyes. "It is to talk with the Trickster and his allies." The Thieves look at each other before glancing back to the newcomer.

"Erm, excuse me if I am being rude. But if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Haru asks politely.

"My name is Philemon." He replies, bowing with a hand on his chest. "I am the creator of the Velvet Room."

"You created this place? Whoa…" Ann breathes as the group looks on with wide eyes.

"Indeed. I have watched many persona users and wildcards in my time, but as my nature dictates I am unable to directly intervene. Such as when the Messiah sacrificed himself to form the Great Seal." He turns to look at Igor as a pain of regret flashes in his eyes. "Elizabeth is still searching for a way to bring him back and keep the seal intact, isn't she?" Igor nods slowly in reply.

"What do you mean?" Ren asks as calmly as he can.

"Before you became a wild card, there was another. The Messiah, as we refer to him, sacrificed his life to form the Great Seal, sealing off the Goddess Nyx from Erebus and preventing the end of the world and the phenomenon known as the Dark Hour." Igor informs with regret in his voice. "Even now, we wish that there was another way."

"Why are you telling us this?" Makoto asks with a hand on her chin. "Don't get me wrong, it is interesting to hear, but what good does it do if we are dead?" A small chuckle from Philmon draws the attention of everyone as he walks around Igor's desk with a calm smile.

"Because, while I cannot intervene in the case of the Messiah, I can offer a choice for you, Trickster." He reveals, turning his gaze back to the group. "This is my offer. I can bring you back to life, but you will return to the start of your journey. To be specific, the day that you arrived in Tokyo, Ren."

"For real!?"

"You can do that?"

"Time-Travel is a thing?!"

While the reaction from the rest of the Thieves was to be expected, Ren places a hand over his mouth as his eyes narrow in thought.

"But there's a catch, right?" He asks cautiously. "Something like that can't be done without a price."

"You are correct." Philemon replies. "While I can send all of you back, along with some of the strengths of your personae, I am afraid you will lose all the personae you have collected in your journey." He motions his head to Lavenza. "Not to say that your compendium will start from fresh again."

"It would also mean that Master Igor would be imprisoned again, and Lady Lavenza would be split into Lady Caroline and Lady Justine." Morgana adds with sad eyes. Futaba leans down to rub his head sympathetically.

"That is not all." Philemon turns his gaze back to Ren. "The confidants you have made outside your team will also be affected. To what degree, I cannot tell you. And there lies the probability that events will not play out as you have seen." He levels his eyes to each of the Thieves as he holds his hands behind his back. "Despite that, will you accept? Will you go through this past year again? Will you force yourselves to relive the pain Yaldabaoth imposed on you for a brighter future? Or will you allow your souls to fall to the Sea?" Igor and Lavenza look on with surprise as the Thieves stare with wide eyes.

Seconds pass as the group looks at each other, a silent discussion conversed through their eyes and expressions. With a single nod from all, they turn back to Philemon with hardened gazes and smirks of Rebellion.

"We accept your deal, Philemon." Ren speaks for the entire team. "We're not just going to accept our deaths like this lying down. And if going back in time allows us to fix our mistakes, then we will do it." Philemon chuckles lightly as Lavenza smiles with both fondness and sadness while Igor slowly claps.

"You truly are a remarkable guest, young Trickster." Igor complements. "I wish you luck in changing your fate. Lavenza." He turns to the adjutant. "Can you retrieve the personae that he holds, bar Arsène?"

"Yes, Master." Lavena replies as she opens her book. With a wave of her hand, she removes the Personae resting Ren's heart, the team he had nailed down, into the book. "I am sorry about this, Trickster."

"It is fine, Lavenza." Ren replies with a Joker smirk. "I have an idea of how to manage my team. And what it will be in the end." He groans as he massages his eyes, as a thought suddenly comes to him. "But I am not going to enjoy doing those requests for the twins again…" That earned a chuckle from everyone present before Philmon conjured a door behind them. It was styled after the one in Leblanc, complete with a bell and a stylised V symbolising the Velvet Room.

"The time has come. I wish you well, Phantom Thieves." Philmon intones before turning back into a butterfly and flying away. Igor and Lavenza give supporting smiles to the group as they approach the door. As Ren grasps the handle, he turns to Futaba.

"Think you can connect us all into a group chat?"

"Do you even have to ask?" She replies with a smirk. With one last glance between the Thieves, Ren opens the door with the bell gently chiming away as they are surrounded by white light.

They were ready this time.

I've already been uploading this on AO3, so I'll drip feed in chapters until it catches up.