Chapter 49: The Devil

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Sapphire•

He paused as he felt the planet give off a phantom vibration, the Earth letting him feel… something. He frowned and knelt, running his hand along the dirt beneath him. Someone had read the future, but he wasn't sure why exactly he was feeling that at the moment. How many damn people were trying to read the future every minute of every day using a thousand different methods?

He stood up and rolled the dirt that stuck to his hand between his fingers, feeling the life that flowed even inside the minuscule grains. The most likely reason was someone reading his Sunshine's or one of his children's lifelines. But his wife loved living day-by-day and not knowing what would come next, to always feel excitement, and his children probably didn't care too much about that…

He clicked his tongue. Well, one of them certainly might. If Akira was worried about his future, he could see him going to some shady street corner shaman and paying some exorbitant amount. Then again, he had taught Akira to be smart with his money… But he had felt it, so whoever Akira might have gone to was legit. But that just meant they'd charge a hell of a lot.

He sighed. He might have to call and ask, but then that would just lead to questions like why he wanted to know or how he did. A wry smile spread across his face and he rubbed the back of his head. He was in a bind there.

A roar distracted him, and he looked up to see the Chomposaur he had been fighting get back up. He grinned and tapped Casey against his shoulder, before settling into a batting position. "Well, I can focus on that later. I gotta finish you off big guy, then get ready for today's big game!"

He felt Casey thrum in his hands, questioning whether he should be focusing more on the baseball game rather than the giant dinosaur he was training against. "It's not like it's that much of a threat to me. We took these things down as tweens, remember?"

Casey gave off a sarcastic feeling.

"Excuse me?" He snapped his fingers, causing the massive purple dinosaur to slam into the ground as he forced it down telekinetically. "Don't you take that tone with me!" He ignored the dinosaur as it tried to breathe fire at him, instead absentmindedly activating his Enhancement so that the fire just warmed him up some as it set the forest alight.

His baseball bat hummed again in amusement as he waved the fire away and clenched a fist. A light blue psionic construct that looked like a thick 'C', formed of such dense energy that it was visible to the naked eye, slammed down over the dinosaur's mouth to force it closed. "Oh hush, you!"

Casey laughed.

"That's it, you're grounded for this fight!" He stabbed Casey into the ground and puffed his cheeks out in irritation. "After I'm done with this Chomposaur we will have a serious talk about the respect that I deserve as your wielder!" Casey's telepathic communications became a bit muffled due to the dirt surrounding her metal barrel.

He let up on the psionic pressure and allowed the quadruped dinosaur to get up. It snarled and took a step back, its instincts warning it of the danger exuding off of the man as he activated the first stage of his PSI Enhancement, his eyes turning from dark brown to bright silver. After a moment the Chomposaur stood to its full height, its head towering over the trees of the Lost Underworld, and roared.

It stampeded forward, fast for such a massive creature, and his grin widened. He breathed in, pushing more energy to his Enhancement. His veins glowing beneath his skin, blue and white lines shooting up and down his body to outline his circulatory system and the dirt beneath him began floating into the air while the rock cracked, as the monster approached.

When it was just a few seconds away He pushed himself to the limit. For a brief instant, the lines on his body disappeared, and a blue flame-like aura erupted from his body as the air crackled with energy—

—He perched on a tree branch behind the charging Chomposaur as every strike landed at once, the tree bending slightly as if it suddenly realized that he was standing on it as the blue emanation around him disappeared. He looked over his shoulder and grinned as the dinosaur stumbled over itself from his attacks, dead before it had even crashed to the ground, creating a massive trench as its momentum carried it forward several dozen meters.

Several trees were knocked over by its corpse, tumbling end over end from a combination of its speed and the force from his attacks, but eventually, it stopped. He hopped off the tree and strolled through the deep trench, grabbing Casey by the handle as he passed her. She huffed, and he chuckled in response as the blood that had begun pooling around the dinosaur stained her. "I know, I know. I'll wash you off when we get home. Dinosaur blood stains metal bad, can't be having that."

Casey hummed in response.

"Yes, this is the last one." He grabbed the multi-ton corpse by the tail and began casually dragging it along. "We'll bring it back to Tenda village, let them know that I helped control the population of Wetnosaurs and Chomposaurs, then head home to wash up and make breakfast. Don't think I forgot about that talk, either, there'll be enough time for one before today's game!"

Casey just grumbled to herself.

"I heard that, missy!"

Ω • Ω • Ω

6/25, Saturday

DEADLINE: July 9th

DAYS UNTIL PICS LEAKED: 14

Steal Kaneshiro's heart.

•Akira•

"So, how was your first infiltration?" he grinned at Makoto as he leaned back in his chair, watching her move around the student council room. "Have fun?"

"It was certainly an experience," she commented as she organized multiple folders. "Are we going back soon?"

"As you've probably noticed, the Metaverse takes a toll on you. Not as bad as an Awakening, but we still usually take a couple of days between entering it. Make sure to rest up and not do anything too strenuous—"

Hypocrite.

He chuckled internally. "—and I'll let you know when we next go in."

"Alright, I'll do my best not to slow you down."

"You haven't yet," he laughed, "so stop worrying about that. What about your revolver, it felt good to use? Want me to get you a different ranged weapon?"

"No, it felt… right. I'll keep it."

"Sounds good. Other than that… Hmm, not much else to discuss, I suppose. Maybe we should start figuring out how we'll be sending the calling card to Kaneshiro, but there's still quite a lot of Palace left."

"That reminds me…" Makoto looked over, "I've wanted to ask, how did you send the calling card to Madarame when you were all in the park? I realize you likely could have had Yusuke do it, but the cameras in the exhibit would have seen him carrying them up to the roof to sprinkle them over Shibuya."

"You're exactly right. The cameras would have seen him dragging up a bag filled with calling cards… so instead, the cameras recorded a little black cat."

"Hey!"

"Hush, Morgana. Anyway, Yusuke brought in the calling cards hidden inside various items and bags that had supplies for the exhibit in the morning and were placed in the storage room. Then, a little before the exhibit was going to close, Morgana gathered up all the cards that had been hidden into one bag, before dragging it up the stairwell to the roof."

"Let me tell you, that was really difficult in this body," Morgana sighed. "I'm not exactly built for carrying heavy stuff."

"From there he could let them fly into the wind to be scattered, and make his escape. Since there weren't any cameras in the storage room since it's just for mundane supplies, no one would be able to see that the cards had been hidden in the stuff Yusuke had brought in, freeing him from suspicion."

"I see… That plan certainly isn't as complicated as I thought it would be, but having what everyone else thinks is just a normal house cat being able to help grants you more flexibility in these plans."

Morgana smiled as smugly as his cat face allowed. "Yep! I must say, as annoying as it is having been distorted into this form, it's got its uses!"

He chuckled as he got up and slung his bag over his shoulder, Morgana yelping from the movement. "You said it, Morgana. Anyway, Makoto, I'll let you get back to your student council business. I'm going to go restock the team's medical supplies." He grinned and let a spark of PSI jump from his finger as he gave her a wave. "See ya."

"Please don't do that in the Student Council Room," Makoto sighed, not phased at all. What do you think would happen if Yasu-san or Yumeko-san were to see you using a Persona ability?"

"Er… yeah, sorry. But, uh, that was my PSI, not a Persona skill."

"PSI?"

He blinked slowly. Did you forget that you never told her of your PSI, young one? Nigi Mitama asked with quiet amusement.

…Thou art an idiot.

'Don't you start!'

After he told Makoto the basics of his PSI and they discussed it as much as they could before Yasu-san and Yumeko-san arrived at the student council room, he then spent the rest of the afternoon facing down Death.

Or, well, Tae Takemi, but they were the same thing in the end.

He smiled as Takemi spoke with an old lady outside her clinic after a check-up that he had assisted her with. "Thank you, dear. This is my favorite handkerchief."

"...It was right in front of me, so…"

"Oh my! You're a shy one, aren't you?"

Takemi's eyes widened and he tried to hide his laughter. "I-I'm not shy!"

"My neighbor speaks highly of you. She says your medicines are better than those at those big hospitals. It's very reassuring to have such a distinguished doctor right here in town. I'll see you again soon."

As she walked away Takemi turned and groaned. "What the heck?"

Snk. He heard Arsène's snickers as his other Personas let out various sounds of amusement.

"Someone's popular," he snickered.

"Thanks to you," she snapped with a glare. "There's a lot of talk going around town about me, started by that girl and her dad. Apparently, they've been telling everyone that I can make all these amazing medicines and remedies. So now the number of patients I'm seeing has increased dramatically."

"Well, I'm glad your reputation's improved."

"Maybe, but I don't know what some of these people are thinking. I've had a lot of crazy requests, like, yesterday a patient requested a 'sweet-smelling' compress. And the other day, I had a request for a 'cold-buster.' Ha! A drug like that deserves a Nobel Prize!"

"...Right."

"Other requests have included hair and skin tonics… I even had to do a consultation about a cat…" Takemi didn't seem to realize she was smiling. "Sheesh. It's not like I'm some kind of genius doctor."

He shifted his feet with a smile of his own. "Having fun?"

Her smile dropped and she shook her head. "...No. This is interfering with my development. I'm only interested in completing my new drug. That's my role as the plague. I'm not suited for all this other stuff."

"Really? But it suits you."

"What? Really?" Her eyes widened before she looked away. "...Well, you're entitled to your own opinion. But… a 'town doctor' huh? That sort of profession might've been possible for me at one time, but now…" She trailed off and sighed.

He stayed silent, letting her think.

"Oh yeah, about those clinical trials… With so many new patients, it's taking longer to analyze the data, so I'll need to catch up. Today's medicine will be a bit on the stronger side, but I'm sure you'll be okay."

Chains crashed as he felt her motivation.

RANK UP!

Death Arcana, Back-Alley Doctor: Rank 6

"It looks like that girl will make a full recovery. The treatment seems to be a good match for her. So at least I can breathe a little easier, for now. Hopefully, she'll be able to attend school soon." He grinned, and she shot him a look. "What are you so happy about? Are you excited for your next clinical trial?"

"N-No, I'm happy about her getting better!"

Takemi just smirked and took him by the collar, dragging him back into the clinic. "Well then, let's have some fun." He swallowed and prepared himself for more disgusting medicine. He just barely survived with his consciousness intact, and soon enough was back in Leblanc as the sun set.

"How's my little guinea pig doing after the catch-up drug? I know it was a lot to handle. Considering I doubled the dosage and halved the activation time… But we're so close. We're right at the end of all this-I can feel it. I'll need you to stick around just a little bit longer. I hope you can handle it."

"Anything for you," he replied with a grin, wanting to see if he could fluster her

"Wow, so devoted. I figured you'd have given up by now." He clicked his tongue in amusement as she wasn't flustered at all, instead just sounding a bit surprised. "I couldn't ask for a better guinea pig. Heh… I'm sure I'll find some way to compensate you. Well, I've got some catching up to do. I have to process today's data as quickly as possible. Make sure to call if you ever feel sick, okay? Take care."

"See ya, Doc." He put his phone away and smiled, climbing the stairs to his room. Morgana awaited him on his bed, reading a manga. "Any good?"

"It's alright." Morgana flicked his tail and looked up. "What are you gonna go do now?"

"One second…" he grabbed a pair of dice and threw them on the ground. After they stopped and he read the number, he looked at his list of confidants and activities. "Looks like… Ranking up my Hanged Man Arcana."

"...What?"

"Iwai."

"You decide what you're going to do with a roll of the dice?"

"Nah, thought it'd be funny. Might do it more often though." Morgana just rolled his eyes at the answer and went back to reading the manga. He snickered and put away the medicine he'd purchased, before filling his bag with the miscellaneous treasures they'd stolen so far from the Palace and made his way to Central Street.

Ω • Ω • Ω

Untouchable was about as empty as usual, a gun enthusiast reading a magazine towards the back. He made sure to be subtle as he sold their ill-gotten gains to Iwai, and once the enthusiast left, nodded. "I'm here to work, if you need me."

"Hm… All right, I'll tell you about the shop. It's a piece of cake for a gun enthusiast like you, right?"

"Sounds like fun," he mirrored Iwai's smirk with one of his own.

"Heh. A plus'll be that if you're considered and seen as a regular employee, you won't seem suspicious coming in and out of the shop, right? If you get what I'm sayin', then bring the goods to the back."

Time began passing and the sun was fully set, leaving only the full moon and the electric lights to bathe the city in warmth. "Hurry up and learn this stuff, kid. You've gotta be able to start lookin' like a normal employee. I'm s'posed to be runnin' an honorable business here, y'know."

"I already told you that calling me kid is my Dad's thing."

"Then your Dad's shit at nicknames."

"…Well, you aren't wrong," he shrugged.

"…" Iwai took a look around the empty shop and scoffed to himself. "Though honestly, the customers've been runnin' a little thin lately." Seeing his confusion, Iwai sighed. "Some guy on the internet's been claimin' all my goods're knock-offs. And once you've got a bad rap like that, it's real tough to shake it."

"Yeah, I know what that's like," he grimaced.

Iwai turned to look at him, brows furrowed and huffing. "A kid like you?" His face softened. "You goin' through somethin' similar? I guess you wouldn't be doin' any of this if you weren't, huh? Don't gimme any details though. I don't wanna know."

"Fair enough."

"Anyways, I should prolly fill you in on what's goin' on here since you'll be helpin' me out. I'd bet anythin' the guy behind that rumor is Tsuda. You remember the name from the diner, yeah? Truth is, he's second in command of the Hashiba clan. The same clan I was in… back when I was part of the Yakuza."

Kiry—

'I know exactly what you're going to say. Do not.'

Tch.

"You're acting like I should be surprised," he scoffed. He let a grin settle onto his face. "Always knew you were a thug."

Iwai let out a chuckle. "You got some nerve. Anyways, Tsuda was my sworn brother back in the clan. I got some… unsavory business goin' down with him now though. Problem is, I'm a known quantity in the underworld. One bad step and I'd have guys crawlin' all over me."

"Sounds bad."

"That's why I've got you around. You look normal, sure… but you got balls, kid. Makes you perfect for snoopin' on Tsuda. Hope I ain't scarin' you off with all this talk."

"Eh. We've got a deal, don't we?"

"Heh, idiot. But y'know, I've got a bit of a soft spot for idiots like you. Anyways, you get the gist of what's goin' on now, yeah? You'll be workin' with that in mind. I expect a lot from you, kid. Oh, and I'll add to the special menu, to thank you for gettin' that info for the other day."

He grinned as chains crashed, his bond with Iwai growing deeper.

RANK UP!

Hanged Arcana, Weapons Dealer: Rank 3

The bell over the door rang. "H-Hello…"

He turned and saw some kid walk into the store. He wore a button-up vest and glasses, had black hair, and didn't look like the type of boy who would shop at a model gun store. Iwai immediately scowled when he saw him though. "Huh? I thought I told you to stop comin' around here."

"But…"

"That one of your customers?" He asked in confusion.

"You keep your mouth shut. This ain't none of your business."

He raised his eyebrows. "Shit, dude, alright."

Iwai turned to the boy and shook his head. "…Just go home n' study, Kaoru. You've got entrance exams comin' up, remember?"

"Okay," Kaoru looked downcast. "I guess I'll be going then…" He turned and walked out, and Akira shook his head.

"You know, if I'm gonna be an employee here, kinda gonna have to know if someone's a customer."

Iwai crossed his arms but eventually answered. "That's Kaoru, my son. He's always askin' me if he can help out here, always worry in' about what I'm gettin' up to." He sighed. "But I prolly shouldn't be tellin' a kid like you about this… Well, you can head home for today. Nice work, kid."

"Alright, night." After leaving the store he sighed. "Jesus Christ…"

The plot thickens, Arsène grinned. Yakuza, hm? What does thou think of that?

'Already figured he had a criminal background, remember? That's not much of a surprise. But still, I'm going after a mafia boss while working for a former yakuza… the hell has my life come to?'

Ω • Ω • Ω

6/26, Sunday

DEADLINE: July 9th

DAYS UNTIL PICS LEAKED: 13

Steal Kaneshiro's heart.

"Are we going in today?"

He shook his head. "Need to rank up the Sun tonight, I'll be too exhausted if we go today."

"You aren't making any sense…" He just grinned and got dressed before leaving Leblanc, Morgana riding in his bag as they made their way to Shibuya. After grabbing a smoothie from the juice stand, he joined Yusuke in more people-watching.

After a moment to brace himself he chugged the smoothie, then threw it into the trash. "That's certainly bracing…" Shaking his head, he turned to Yusuke. "So, you sent a message that your painting was accepted into the exhibition?"

"Yes. It is on display as we speak. However, we have a little less than two weeks left at this point, correct? Shouldn't we focus on that?"

"There're only two times today that the elevator will be in motion if the information we put together was accurate. One was much earlier today, and the other tonight. If we were going to go at all, we would have had to spend all day in the Palace, who knows how exhausted we would become from that?"

"Very well. Then, would you like to come see the exhibition with me?"

"I'd be honored."

"Then let us head to the museum. To be honest, I have yet to actually go there myself. This should be quite lovely." Yusuke chuckled, and Morgana poked his head out of his bag.

"Well, I'm gonna go take a walk while you're busy with him. It'll probably be hard to get into an exhibition with me in your bag, anyway. Let me know how it was when you're done."

He let Morgana out, then Yusuke and he got onto a train bound for Ueno. Once there they had their bags confiscated, and they walked around the exhibit admiring the artwork. They were nice enough he supposed, but as always he didn't really understand the more abstract pieces… It was only Yusuke's piece, abstract as it was, that really got him to feel anything.

When they came up to where it was displayed, Yusuke proceeded to explain how it would all work. "...In addition to the exhibition aspect of this show, there is also an evaluation portion. Hm. I believe my piece truly stands out among the sea of art here. And yet, nobody has come to see it… Perhaps they are so afraid of the truth held within that they dare not take a closer look."

As he spoke, two people did approach the painting, an older man and woman. "What is this supposed to be…? There's a dark, almost sinister aura emanating from it."

The man looked at the plaque. "Hm, the title is… 'Desire'? I see no desire here. Ah, I understand now. This area is for students. The artist likely decided to paint this on a whim."

"Indeed," the woman nodded. "There's is neither elegance nor emotion in this piece. Come, dear. There are much more detailed paintings over there."

"…"

Seeing Yusuke's downcast look, he lightly slapped his chest with the back of his hand. "Come on, these old people don't know what they're talking about. If they can't feel the distorted desires coming out of your painting, it just shows they're even worse at understanding the emotions of a painting than I am."

His friend smiled slightly at his reassurance. "…There is no need to worry. I am not bothered in the slightest. That was nothing more than the drivel of unrefined commoners, I needn't pay any mind to them. As long as those who are in the know understand my work, I will be happy."

Another older man walked up, hands linked behind his back as he peered at Yusuke's painting through a pair of glasses. "This is… Hm…"

"Look! A knowledgeable patron has arrived!" Akira wasn't quite sure how Yusuke differentiated him from the previous old man but didn't say anything about it.

The 'knowledgable patron' heard him, because he turned towards them. "Hm?"

"I would like your opinion, sir, what are your thoughts on this piece?" Yusuke questioned with a calm yet somehow excited smile spread across his face.

"...I can quite clearly see why it was accepted into the exhibition. The technique is excellent. However… the composition as a whole is mediocre at best."

"How dare you!"

"Yusuke, calm down!"

The man turned at Yusuke's growl. "Ah, are you the artist? The title is listed as 'Desire'... But that idea is quite overused. Some may even call it stale. If you want to paint an abstract work with such an old theme, you must inject some individuality into it."

"What…?"

"Take another look. Try to remove yourself from the artist's bias. These brush strokes are splendid, given your age… but does this painting really tell you anything? It is empty, devoid of meaning. I suggest you take a more critical eye to your work in the future if you truly want to progress as an artist."

"If you can't divine the meaning from his work just at a glance, that's on you, because it's damn clear to me," he cut in. "Let's go, Yusuke." He grabbed Yusuke by the arm and dragged him away, angry at the man's critique of his friend's work. Everything he'd said was just his own opinion! …Which, yeah, it was basically his job if he was an art critic, but still! How was any of that a failure on Yusuke's part?!

He heard chuckles inside his head. Take thy own advice and calm down, Trickster.

"My work is… empty?"

"Don't let it bother you," he huffed as they entered another part of the exhibition, letting go of Yusuke.

"Indeed… But… why? I put my heart and soul into this piece, captured the very essence of desire. It was supposed to lay bare the reality of the world!" Yusuke thought to himself before his eyes widened. "Perhaps… Perhaps he was right. It may be empty after all… The colors, the brush strokes… They did not convey the true meaning of desire, only my conception of it! I haven't captured desire— Desire has captured me!"

"Uh, Yusuke—"

The artist fell to his knees and Akira closed his eyes in exasperation at the boy as people around them turned to stare. "How could I have fooled myself into believing otherwise?! It is as though I have been forsaken by the gods of art! This grave mistake shall be the end for me!"

"Yusuke, please stop exaggerating—"

"This is no exaggeration! I am well and truly finished! What is going to happen to me now? Without art, what will remain of my being?!"

"This isn't like you, Yusuke."

"Akira…" Yusuke looked up, stars in his eyes. "You are correct. Surrendering myself to fate after only one failure would be very much unlike me." His friend finally stood up, but his face became downcast again. "Still, being criticized by someone with such a keen eye is truly painful. But that is all the more reason I must break out of my slump. I must prove my ability to him!"

"Well… That's the spirit, I guess."

"I will start by painting. After that, I will paint, beyond which I shall paint even more. That is the only way I will learn to capture the essence of emotion. After all, you can only accomplish so much in using logic to analyze the contents of the heart." Yusuke turned to him with a smile. "I hope you allow me to continue my skill card services as well, Akira. I shall conquer this!"

He smiled at the motivation he sensed, as chains shattered.

RANK UP!

Emperor Arcana, Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 3

"Now then, let us head home. I wish to start anew."

They left the exhibition, and the old man who had criticized 'Desire' hummed to himself, having eavesdropped on their conversation. "A slump, hm?"

On the train to Shibuya, Yusuke sighed. "Akira, I apologize for causing a scene earlier. That one gentleman's critique made me fully realize what I've been lacking. Now my path is clear! I will simply keep on drawing. I'm going to have ten pieces finished up by the end of today!"

"That's the spirit."

Yusuke laughed, throwing his head back dramatically. "Hah! If anything, I should be doing more. I'll do anything to escape this slump! With your support, I was able to pick myself up rather quickly today. I hope this doesn't discourage you from joining me again. I will get past this."

When they reached their destination they split, and Akira spent the rest of the afternoon finding where the hell Morgana was wandering around.

Ω • Ω • Ω

Chihaya wasn't at her stand that night, so he went ahead with what he had planned the other night, getting Ohya to write them some articles to influence the Metaverse. Right before he entered he paused, made sure no one was looking, then took some old bandages out, pulled up his shirt, and began wrapping up his stomach. "What are you doing?" Morgana questioned.

"Preparing some proof."

When he walked into Crossroads, slowly and with a fake limp, he saw Ohya sitting at the bar, hand cupping her cheek as she was grumbling to herself. Lala-chan noticed him and he waved with a smile, causing Lala-chan to look at him in concern at the sight of his limp.

"Heyyyy, where's my glass…? Didn't I order a refill? How muccch did I drink today? What time is it? Ah, who cares… …Waaaaait. I care…"

His nose wrinkled at the stench of alcohol coming off of her, and Morgana shuddered, hiding in his bag. "She's so drunk she hasn't even noticed you're here… You sure you want to do this?"

"Might as well try," he sighed. "Ohya-san?"

At that point, Lala-chan had walked over with a glass of… scotch? Whiskey? He wasn't an expert on drinks and placed it down in front of Ohya. When he raised an eyebrow at them, Lala-chan shrugged. "As long as she pays and doesn't black out…"

Ohya didn't pay attention to them, instead taking a sip and then glaring at Lala-chan. "Hey. Aaarre you sure this isn't just water? If you're tryin' to rip me off, I'mmm gonna reveal all your secrets in a feature article!" He shared a look with the bartender, and Ohya turned to see him. No shame at all showed on her face, and instead, she smiled widely. "Ohhh, it's you!"

"Go ahead and have a seat," Lala-chan sighed.

He laid his bag on the ground and sat on the stool next to Ohya's, as she beamed at him. It took all his effort to ignore the stench of alcohol. "So… What's up? Got some neeeews on the Phantom Thieves? Or mayyybe… you're falling in love with me!"

"News, actually, but I'll let you know if I start developing feelings," he chuckled. He nodded in thanks at Lala-chan as she gave him a glass of water.

"For real?" She perked up and even sounded a bit less hungover. "You came all the way here just to tell me? Thank god! My publisher just assigned me to be the beat reporter for the Phantom Thieves. Man… this'll reaaally help me out!"

"Are you seriously going to use this child as a source of information?"

She scoffed at Lala-chan. "Oh, don't be such a killjoy. These kids nowadays know about things we adults don't have access to. Besides, what's most important is that I now have a reliable third-party source for my stories."

"Whatever…"

Ohya turned back to him and rested her face on a hand. "So, what did you want from me this time? Information about someone? Cold hard cash?"

"Just that you write those articles."

"Huh? So you want basically nothing?" She chuckled to herself. "Lucky me! My very own golden goose just appeared! Now I can take it easy… Maybe I'll take a little vacation with all my free time…" She narrowed her eyes. "As if. What do you want? Just tell me. Last time it was info on Kaneshiro, right? Whatever happened with that? Still on a one-man crusade?"

"No. I got my shit rocked in, and I'm lucky that I didn't get killed," he bluntly answered. He pulled up his shirt and showed off the wrappings around his stomach covering a fake wound. He covered them up quickly, not wanting Ohya to get too long of a look, even in her intoxicated state, and notice irregularities. "Not going to try anything after that… I posted a comment on the Phantom Thief Aficionado Website. I want them to take him down, so I support them."

"So you're being swayed by the Phantom Thieves, huh? But I see what's going on here… A hardcore Phantom Thieves fanboy, huh?"

"Hey, I'm not going to let you use this kid so you can take a vacation," Lala-chan interrupted, concerned over the fake wounds on his abdomen.

"A vacation? Oh, I was just kidding. I'm conducting a private investigation during my off hours. No one at work knows about it."

"Don't tell me you're…"

Ohya stopped her before she could finish the sentence, looking at him with a smile. "Hey, how 'bout this… You supply me with info on the Phantom Thieves… And I'll write positive articles based on what you tell me about them. You know, the Phantom Thieves that you love oh-so-much… Deal?"

He grinned, of course realizing that she was suspecting a connection between him and the Thieves even with the alcoholic haze over her mind, but that was alright. This was still a boon for them, and she had no proof. "Sounds great."

She stared at him before her smile widened. "Alright, it's a deal! I can create a lot of positive PR for the Phantom Thieves, so be sure to give me some good scoops."

"It's a deal."

These articles may prove quite useful in affecting the collective unconscious. Ohya grinned and raised her glass at him, while chains shattered within.

I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Devil Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…

Devil Arcana, Ichiko Ohya: Rank 1

"Oh, don't tell anyone about this, okay? I don't want people to know my source is a high schooler. Okay, Lala-chaaan! Time to celebrate our agreement! Bring out my bottle! And two glasses, please!" Lala-chan just stared at her. "C'mon, please…? Whoa, her silence is golden… Fine, fine, fine! I won't make the high-schooler drink! Whoop, gotta use the bathroom…"

As she walked away, Lala-chan turned to him and sighed. "She's gonna be in there for a while. You should go home."

"Right." He shook his head and grabbed his bag, wandering out of the bar, and when he got a good distance away, tossed the bandages he'd wrapped around himself. "Well, we've got a deal."

"I wonder what the chief will say when you come back smelling like booze," Morgana snickered.

"...Oh no."

Better hope he's already gone home, Arsène chuckled.

Devil Arcana started. The next chapter will likely be more Palace diving, So Fortune might not be starting yet. Other than that, we've gotten three rank-ups, as well as some Sapphire content. Giving hints of his power before we get to a point where he can really show off is fun. And of course with how I've made the Metaverse work I don't have to worry about making him too strong outside of it since he can't just speedblitz Palace rulers or any other powerful Shadows.

So, I can make him a massively powerful psionic, as Ness likely would become multiple years after Earthbound, (Alongside Willow/Paula and Noct/Poo) without worrying about completely ruining the stakes or tension fights in the Metaverse will have. There will be times when he can show off the full extent of his abilities that won't be cut off like the fight with Noct had been, and I'm excited to write those.

Anyway, I have realized that I've been holding back on the more… wacky elements that are natural in Earthbound, which makes sense, Persona's a more grounded series, when not in the Metaverse anyway, so I've been trying not to do anything too crazy. Especially after the plot point of BBOH where after Giygas' influence is removed from humanity's minds they forget the invasion and wild events that occurred in an effort to return to normality. But this is an Earthbound crossover, and I shouldn't be ignoring a large part of it, or just relegating it to the Metaverse, so I'm going to be trying in the future to include more of Earthbounds wacky stuff like Tenda and dinosaurs and Mr. Saturns into the story, like my bro Darkwolf573 suggested. But not too much, Persona is still pretty grounded— As grounded as any other story where you kill a REDACTED with the power of a version of REDACTED on REDACTED.

So yeah, if you have any thoughts on that, feel free to lemme know. I want to try and hit a good balance where it's not too crazy but still recognizably Earthbound wacky. I don't want to make something as insane as an entire resort run by Tendas in the swamp of Deep Darkness, because humans realizing there's an entirely different sapient species on the same planet is a bit too out there lmao. And if it's not about that, then let me know what you think of the chapter, or just leave a 'nice,' both are always great to read. See y'all next time!