Rockwell's, Geno City

Afternoon

Akira would arrive at the cafe as soon as possible when his classes were done and met up with the other three there, Manic having messaged him to meet up at Rockwell's. "Hi dude. I see you made it here okay. Anyone follow you?"

"I made sure I wasn't being followed." Akira replied to Manic as he looks to the other two Persona users. "What about you?"

"Nada." Cortez shakes his head.

"I took some steps to ensure none of Anton's guys could follow me to here." Johnny answered. "I wasn't at the Hooligan's hideout today though."

"I was careful myself." Manic says. "Alright. So, what's our next move? We pullin' the trigger and exposin' Anton today?"

"Do you really need to ask—" Akira stopped as Manic's phone buzzed. "Looks like someone's calling."

Manic quickly answered his phone without checking the caller ID, thinking it was Little John. "John, something up? Is Jean okay—"

"Hello Green Orphaned Street Trash..." Anton's voice greeted him on the other end. "First time I've like rang ya personally like this and for your information, Jean's feeling pretty fine~"

Manic paled for a moment, then tensed up as he feels his anger bubbling. "...What did you do?"

"What did I do?" Manic could almost hear the smirk in Anton's tone. "Oh nothing at all... I was just chilling at my office when Little John's phone "magically" turns up at my desk."

"Listen to me, you scaley fuck..." Manic growls harshly, barely restraining himself from vomiting his hatred. "If you... Let me rephrase that: If I find out that your cronies hurt Little John or Jean... Then I'll—"

"Do what? Punch me bro?" Anton chortles with a smugness that only infuriates him even more. "Good luck getting your hands on me when you got no roof over your head now. Though I must thank you for the blackmail material you've saved me the trouble of collecting myself and I will be sure to put them to good use. Rest assured my good dude, they're both still alive although last I heard; they're enjoying themselves a nice winter barbecue."

Akira's ears as well as Johnny's perked up, both hearing the faint sounds of a fire siren in the distance. The type of siren belonging to a fire engine.

"Just thought I'd give you a personal call from yours truly and let you know that you just took another L today bruh..." Anton hums triumphantly, sounding very pleased with himself. "Welp, I better go now. Buh-bye!"

Anton soon hung up afterwards just as Cortez spoke up. "What's going on Manic?"

Manic seethed for a moment, paling with fear before quickly darting out of Rockwell's and running back to the hideout.

"MANIC!" Akira chases after Manic out of Rockwell's as did Johnny and Cortez, following him over to the hideout. Fearing for the worst based on the look on Manic's face

Their fears would be proven right when they arrive to the sight of a small disused office building located near a bridge on fire; Manic and Little John's hideout.

Smoke bellowing in the air while a bunch of firemen were trying to combat the fires from the hideout with two of them rolling out the fire hose from a C.C.F.D fire truck parked nearby the scene. Besides the firemen; paramedics and policemen were at the site too. The officers tending to crowd control and keeping the small spectating audience from getting any nearer to the blazing inferno.

"Shit... Fuck!" Manic shouted, quickly heading to one of the hideout's secret entrances to try and rescue Little John and Jean. One of the firefighters near the entrance grabs Manic by the shoulder before he could go anywhere near the burning building, holding onto him firmly.

"Don't go in there, it's too dangerous!" He warns him.

"My friends are in there!" Manic exclaims, pointing at the building and trying to escape the hold; "I gotta get in there and save them!"

"They're over there!" The fireman pointed over to where a set of ambulances are parked. "We've barely got those two out of there!"

Manic quickly ran to the two ambulances, praying that Jean and Little John were still alive.

"You with this one?" One of the paramedics asks Manic when he rushed over to them. Him and another paramedic were hauling a beaten up Little John on a stretcher towards the ambulance.

"He's my friend an—Oh no..." Manic looked over to the ambulance Jean was being loaded onto as he runs over. "Jean!"

"What happened?!" Akira asks Little John as soon as he and Johnny came over to their bruised friend on the medical stretcher.

"W-We got invaded..." Little John coughs, hoarsely addressing them. "I-I helped her e-e-escaped but they h-had us*coughs* both cornered..."

"Shit. Who did this to you?!"

"Francis... Grant..." Little John wheezes, an oxygen mask placed over his face. "Them and their friends... They pour out gasoline in our hideout before setting it alight with us in it... I failed him badly..."

"Excuse us but we need to get him to a hospital urgently!" One of the paramedics carrying Little John's stretcher told the pair before him and his colleague loaded him up into the back of the ambulance, shutting the doors behind them. Then quickly drove off from the scene with him in it.

Manic quickly approached Jean but saw that she was just as worse for wear as Little John was; though with the adage of particular bruises and abrasions on her nether regions.

"J-Jean... W-What did they..." Manic choked out. Jean let out a choked tearful whimper which told Manic everything he needed to know about what had been done to her. His angst quickly turning into almighty rage.

"...Detective Keilee!" A news reporter went up to a brown-haired fair-skinned male in a jacket whom oversaw the situation. "What could have caused this fire?"

"We can't say for sure but we will know the cause once we investigate the cause of this incident rest assured." Detective Keilee responded. "For your safety, please remain behind the safe zone. The fire department are still trying to suppress the flame from spreading any further."

"This interview's over!" Captain Krouch added as he walked over to Keilee. "Thank you for cooperating."

"Damage control..." Cortez murmurs to Manic, standing with him near the ambulance that Jean's being loaded into and watching the exchange from afar. "Probably here to assess the scene."

Akira and Johnny came up to them at the ambulance, the latter asking Manic upon seeing the state of Jean; "Bloody hell... W-What did they do to her?"

Manic shakily breathes through his nostrils, lathering up his anger. He storms away from the ambulance and the burning remains of his hideout. Akira runs after him; "Manic? Manic!"

The green hedgehog would stop in an alley three blocks away from the hideout, leaning against the wall as he began sobbing uncontrollably. Akira would catch up to him, putting aside his weariness for alleyways to approach Manic. "Man—"

"They raped her!" Manic shouted; jerking his gaze at Akira with tears in his eyes, "Those... Those fucking... Those fucking animals raped her! They raped her and attacked Little John and... They burnt our hideout... Our home... And not only that... Our fucking evidence... Probably gone... Taken or destroyed I bet!"

"...Anton's obsessed in making you suffer. Him choosing Soucie Street for extortion wasn't for monetary reasons but to harass the people associated with you and knowing it'll get to you because of it. Same for keeping Tatiana close to him." Akira said to him with a stoic expression. "His sister told me as such herself. You need to get a grip because we're heading into the jaws of danger and much sooner than expected."

Manic soon stopped sobbing, then began seething in anger before looking at Akira and suddenly saying;. "...We're all gonna do it if it means die trying. We're gonna steal the Treasure of Anton's Palace, change his heart... And make him confess to everything he's done including this one..."

"Was hoping we could use the evidence to bring him down legally but that's out of the window now and learning what we're dealing with, he'd probably just get a slap on the wrist with how screwed things are around here..." Akira nodded in understanding. "Even if we did send in the evidence against him, Krouch or one of his men would probably intercept it before it gets processed and destroy it or Fumfer who's in on all of this would just get him a pardon."

Clenching his fists. "This? He is not going to keep getting away with it. He must be stopped no matter what and before our predicament gets any worse. I'm through trying to play by the rules because I'm foolish to assume Anton wouldn't simply use his connections to walk away a free man even for this and keep going at it like we're just a minor inconvenience to him. Let's do it now Manic because it's either him or us."

Manic straightens up, "We're doing this for everyone. Not just Little John, Jean, Tatiana or my dad but everyone."

"Let's see this one through all the way to the end and make him pay for all his crimes." Akira says as the pair heads off with determination in their veins. "It's high time that piece of shit gets what's coming to him..."

Anton's Palace, Metaverse

Afternoon

With an embolden resolve to stop Anton Veruca for good and a major change in the plans, the four Persona users entered the Palace with all the equipment plus items Little John had dropped off for them. Even without the extra push of that tragedy, the pressure of their circumstances would have still led to this.

Before they could proceed on further, Avatar would see the door to the Velvet Room materialise in the Metaverse. Tiara was leaning against the side of the door, giving a wave to Avatar before putting her finger to her lips.

"Something wrong?" Sly asked Avatar. Seemingly not seeing what the wolf is seeing. Avatar on the otherhand decided to go over to the door and walked on through it...

The Velvet Room, ?

Afternoon

"Ah, my young trickster. We meet again." Mr. Hedgehog greeted Avatar. "And at a good time no less."

"Depends on what's considered a good time." Avatar murmurs. "What is it now? I'm a little busy right now."

"That is the reason we came to you now."

"Well?"

"Today, you will have your first access to the use of fusions with Joe."

"Fusions? Oh, right. That."

"Yea." Joe spoke up. "Y'all seem to have accrued a large number of Personas... I'd say it'd be worth it to learn how to fuse them together for stronger ones, don't you?"

"Fusions are a means of acquiring newer and more powerful Personas as well as even those which cannot be normally found in the wild. To make it possible, you must give up your selected Personas from your inventory to do a fusion." Mr. Hedgehog explains to Avatar. "Only then will they help you in your journey towards rehabilitation."

"With that said... Choose two Personas. I'll liquidate them for ya so that they can fuse into a new, unique Persona." Joe pulls out a silver sphere from under his jacket to show his point.

"Not sure if I like the idea of having my Personas be killed off for new ones..." Avatar rubs the back of his neck.

"On th' contrary, your Personas aren't being killed as they're being transformed into a new Persona." Joe clarifies. "You'll see soon enough. Proceed."

"Well Doctor, any two Personas I'll have to give up to the fusion?" Avatar asks Doctor. The latter humming in thought.

"I suggest giving up two that you don't have much use for or feel like they have the potential to make a better Persons out of them."

"Okay..." Avatar then takes off his mask twice to summon two Personas in front of Joe, the two he's willing to give up for the fusion process presently. "Start the fusion."

"Up against th' wall you two." Joe nodded, then looked to the two Personas. Pointing to a wall, the two Personas obeyed and went over to the wall. The walrus presses a button on the sphere, walking up to a mid-range distance from the two Personas before hurling the sphere at them made them both dissipate for a moment. A second later, they would fuse into the new Persona.

"I'm Kikimora..." The new Persona said to Avatar, being that of a female Slavic house spirit with a red hood and according to Doctor Omega; likely the spirit of an unbaptised child. "If you get hurt, I'll be there for you. Remember me 'kay?"

She'd then dissolve into particles and absorbed by his owl mask. Becoming a new Persona with access to Force skills that he can call forth into battle. Joe spoke; "First one's on th' house. After this, you pay Mobiums for any new Persona fusions including those of higher levels than those currently in your inventory."

"Mobiums? Thought the Velvet Room didn't need that?" Avatar questioned.

"The Mobiums are for covering the expenses of summoning a new Shadow and among other things." Mr. Hedgehog explains from his desk. "Credits are what we actually use here and Mobiums simply gets converted into them through Gazebo. You can even sell off items to him for those as well if you recall from your last meeting here."

"Currency exchange."

"Correct." The blue hedgehog nodded. "Although, you can also get them in the Metaverse too."

"Yeah." Gazebo interjects. "I handle the books here, so any Mobiums or items that go through me get converted into credits as Winston said."

"We'll explain more details of the Velvet Room's functions in good time. The only other subject you should know about is the Persona Compendium. Any Persona you acquire will be added to the checklist."

"Basically, ya register them and you can re-summon them at any time." Tiara adds. "For a fee of course."

"It'll come in handy down the line." Mr. Hedgehog has the Magician, Chariot and Death cards surrounding the Fool on his desk. "For now, you should attend to your matters in the Palace."

Avatar nodded. "Understood. Just give me a moment or two here..."

Anton's Palace, Metaverse

Afternoon

"...Must be thinking of something deep there Sly." Seeker was saying just as the mind of Avatar returned back to him.

"Okay. Let's go." Avatar said suddenly, startling the others.

"Hang on for a moment." Rogue questioned the wolf. "You were standing there spaced out. What's up?"

"Trading old Personas for new ones. Wild Card, remember?"

"These new Personas any good?"

"I got one with access to Force like Rogue. They should prove useful when we're up on the Anton Levels."

"Well, it's good to know you didn't go brain dead on us there. Geez man, don't scare me or us like that..." Sly patted Avatar on the back. "C'mon, we have our finger on the trigger here. Let's do this."

"We should get a move on." O.V.I says to the four Persona users from Rogue's pocket.

"Okay..." Avatar nodded as Seeker gets his phone out. "Let's get to the Anton Levels and start from the bottom there."

They'd teleport themselves into the Safe Room on the first floor of the Anton Levels that Sly and Seeker had help secured on their last visit to the Palace. The Safe Room they were teleported into through Seeker's phone was more luxurious than any of the previous rooms, being a fancy purple lounge room.

"Before we go, me and Sly found this when we went to go secure this floor." Seeker hands Avatar a map containing the other half of the Palace. "We've disabled the ID system on the lift as well. So, we can use the elevator whenever we want to."

"If we need to go farm for items, sure." Avatar scans the map layout into his phone's Metaverse Navigator app and displaying it next to the other half, completing the whole thing. "Looks like the last half of the Palace featured nine floors, ten if you count the Tod Level and the Anton Level on this side of the Palace comprises of ten floors total."

"Ten floors..." Sly said with a nod, "Doesn't sound so tough. I think we breeze through it in one day, don't you guys?

"I wouldn't be so sure of it. The Shadows that patrols these floors will likely be tougher and stronger than those on the other half of the Palace." Avatar replied as he walks to the door. "This is where Anton's Shadow will be holed up on most of the time. Be cautious and be aware everyone."

When they entered the hall of the first floor of the Anton Levels, Avatar can see the doors to the lift off to his left from a distance. As for the decoration of the floor itself, there's even more gold present and it's the shiny reflective kind.

The walls were littered with framed portraits featuring Anton Veruca himself. AntonCo logo graphics or other trinkets that the real Anton considers noteworthy enough to be up on them in his cognition. The floors and ceilings on the other hand predominantly features a design of Sagittarius.

"I bet you could cut off a section of the wall here and buy all of Downunda with it..." Sly mused, looking up at the reflective gold walls. "Still pretty tacky, though."

"Imagine a rave party with a disco ball here." Seeker remarks on the shiny surfaces. "It would probably cause epilepsy in seconds."

"Anyhow, we should get going." Avatar said as they begin their traversing of the Anton Levels. Coming fully equipped for the job.

Hooligans' Hideout, Geno City. Mobius

Afternoon

Anton was laughing with his underlings in his office, drinking a bottle of beer at his desk. The other gang members were partying and laughing with their leader. A stash of looted items from the torched hideout dropped off in the room.

"Oh fuck man, that was some insane shit!" BB said with a laugh. Looking over one of the Princess Venus' erotic DVDs from Manic's stolen collection as did Anton.

"Except one of us got third-degree burns on his dick and another got a concussion." Said another of the gangsters, a mobian non-bipedal cobra wearing a leather vest with side lacing and a pair of triangular shades.

"Ya always gotta find something to bitch about Teeth?" BB said to him.

"Every victory has it's price, right?" Teeth points. "Ours was getting those two to the hospital and convincing that doctor not to ask stupid questions."

"True but we still showed that green needle rat who's boss, right?" BB said to Anton. "And told ya ya she's a dream to be docking like that Kanga chick~"

"Don't you have products to be selling on the streets?" Hud replied, smoking on a cigar. "One of our dealers' indisposed and you're supposed to be covering for his shift as well."

"I've started taking to dealing remotely believe it or not." BB replied, showing off a particular server on an app on his phone. "It's actually quite lucrative. I put out the ad o—"

"Get to it!" Anton barked at BB. "Now!"

"Right, right." BB said, quickly hurrying off to do so.

"With their valuables plus files and evidence seized, we can basically blackmail anyone we want for money, favors or what have you including Krouch." Hud said to his brother Anton, smiling smugly. "Today's been a good day for us thanks to that caller of yours."

"I wasn't expecting much from their hideout but those were a pleasant surprise, one I welcome wholeheartedly." Anton sniggers to himself, sipping his beer. "You did good Hud. Far better than Tod ever could. Wish I was there for it."

"He was a deadweight anyways." Hud scoffs ruefully. Sharing his sentiments.

"Mister Anton sir, I'm not sure if telling Hud's group to torch the hideout and ringing Manic was such a wise idea." Said Anton's well-dressed advisor, standing with arms crossed behind his back and at Anton's side behind the desk. "It might cause unwanted—"

"Shut up you four-eyed prick. I pay you to give me the advice I need and not what you have to say." Anton rudely interrupted his advisor. "I do whatever I want while you do your thing."

"I don't know, he makes a good point." Said one of Anton's guys. "The authorities and the media aren't going to be ignoring that one."

"People will forget soon enough." Anton replied indignantly before seeing Craig come in. "What is now Brown-Noser? I don't remember inviting you to this."

"Captain Krouch wanted to talk to ya. He's downstairs and he looks absolutely pissed... I tried stoppin' him but he said he wouldn't leave until he spoke with you."

"...Send him up." Anton ordered before looking to the others in his office. "All of you. Out."

The others quickly exited as Monica gave a quick worried glance as she exited as well. Moments later, Captain Krouch stepped into Anton's office and bearing a livid expression.

"Officer, how may I—"

"You dumb bastard!" Krouch cuts off Anton with his fist slams on his desk. "What have I told you about your obsession with that hoodlum trash!?"

"Liste—"

"No, you listen to me here you dumb little arrogant cave-dwelling fuck!" The uniformed lizard snapped at Anton. "I have warned you to stop being so focused on him a few times and you ignored my warnings on all of them! You've really done screwed the pooch this time son and you've really reached new heights with your stupidity through that stupid stunt of yours which is also making the news by the way. What. Did. You. Do..."

"We located his hideout, took his shit and torched it." Anton replied nonchalantly. "It's not like they'll be able to know we're responsible—"

"They will when people starts talking and that include those two witnesses to your gang's crimes who you stupidly decided to keep alive..." Krouch retorted sternly to the gang leader. "Witnesses that are in protective custody no less."

"So? Just get your guys to—"

"No. Not after what you did today because in case you haven't realised it yet; people are taking notice. People we don't want taking notice are looking into this and when they're paying attention to a case, they're going to uncover trails leading back to you as well as your benefactors. All thanks to your petty singleminded goal of tormenting Manic." He then added with a narrowed glare; "You've been going behind my back regarding Jean. One of your dealers I met on the way over told me everything when I had his head sandwiched between a concrete curb and the sole of my shoe. I have told you straight-up to leave her alone."

"Then why she's still alive if you're that concerned about her, huh!?" Anton roared back.

"Keep your voice down and you're forgetting the fact that she was this close to exposing you three years ago..." Captain Krouch stresses to him. "In case you also forgot, I had to risk my badge for myself and your sorry ass just to seize her evidence before she had the chance to bring us down but at great expense. I can't do nothing to her without them looking into my affairs and I am certain she's made backups prior to being caught..."

Pointing a finger at Anton. "If she dies without me getting a location out of her and someone else finds what she uncovered, you'll be finished for good in this town. Thanks to your gang's antics today, you just might have the department on your ass after all. I wouldn't be surprised if your associates starts cutting ties with you one by one after this. Even Mayor Fumfer is considering it..."

Unbeknownst to the two of them; Monica was listening in on the entire conversation outside the office since the guards were on break and keeping as silent as a church mouse as she did so. Overhearing a revealing conversation.

"...Take a long vacation and keep your head down til this all blows over. Forget about Manic because the more you focus on him, the more careless you get." Captain Krouch advises Anton before heading for the door. "You're in deep shit over this one son. Try to not dig a deeper hole for yourself."

Monica quickly hid in a nearby room, being as silent as possible when she did so and once she was safely hidden; she covered her mouth with one hand while looking at her phone that she had recorded the damning exchange on. One admissible as evidence against the pair.

Anton sat seething in his office while Krouch made his way out of the building, gripping his beer bottle tightly in his hand. Holding it in a vice grip before hurling it at a wall in rage followed by the sounds of glass shattering and a scream.

"It's all your fault Manic!" Anton then mutters to himself; "You did this you green rat... You made me do this and I'm going to make you pay for it by any means necessary..."

To Be Continued...