Chapter 3

The Metaverse

Sunday, June 19th, 2016

Shinjiro-san had wasted no time in telling Ken about what he had overheard last time. It was a bit… strange, to say the least.

"Why do you think they needed the name?" Ken asked with a frown.

Ken was poking at his breakfast, shifting it around with his fork. Shinjiro-san took a sip of his coffee and just shrugged after setting the drink down.

"So, they don't have call him Asshole Mafia Boss? I have no clue." Then his eyes flicked to Ken's food, disapproval filling his face. "And stop playing with your food."

"Sorry..." he muttered before taking a bite.

He wasn't too hungry, but he was going to be out and about today. He needed the energy. He probably should hurry up too. If he dawdled, he might just miss the Phantom Thieves.

Shinjiro-san took another sip of his coffee, before he looked at Ken again.

He asked, "So what are you gonna be doing today?"

"Follow the Phantom Thieves. From what you've told me, finding out Kaneshiro's name was some sort of milestone… they might end up making a move today," Ken answered.

Shinjiro-san just huffed, "You better not run into those punks again."

"I doubt that they will strike in broad daylight to try and mug me again." Ken took a sip of his own coffee.

Ken set his mug down while Shinjiro-san frowned and gave him a hard stare.

"It wasn't exactly dark last time," he pointed out.

"I was in an alley!" Ken countered before he sighed. "I'll be careful, okay?"

"You better, or else I'm kicking your ass," Shinjiro-san retorted.

Ken rolled his eyes before standing up.

"Yes, Mom..." he deadpanned, before picking up his plate.

He hadn't finished his breakfast, but he really didn't feel like eating anymore. He wrapped it up, sticking it in the fridge. After shutting the fridge door, he looked over to his guardian.

"I'll try to be back before dark, but no promises." he informed Shinjiro-san.

He grabbed his bag on the way out. While it was a Sunday, he needed to carry a few items. His Evoker, the holster to carry it around, his old spear—just in case he managed to find the Shadow nest today—and any other miscellaneous items that he could need when exploring a Shadow nest.

And he couldn't exactly carry these out in the open… so school bag it was.

Honestly, he really wished that Shinjiro-san wouldn't hover as much as he did. He knew that Shinjiro-san just worried but he could take care of himself. It just made him feel like he was still a helpless child.

Ken sighed, gazing out of the glass side of the elevator. It offered a wide view of Tokyo. Well… Shibuya.

Shibuya itself was just so huge.

The elevator finally reached the bottom floor, so the doors slid open. He stepped out and exited the building. He scanned the people outside, looking for a flash of blond hair. Not too many people had blond hair, dyed or not, after all.

Fortunately, he did not have to search for long. He then pulled out his phone, pretending to be reading something intently before walking right by them. He stopped behind one of those large maps that were set up so people didn't get lost.

"I've entered Kaneshiro's name into the app… and as we suspected, he has a Palace," Kitagawa-san announced. "It's not surprising, with how he's been manipulating the youth."

Ken still didn't know what a Palace was. The term had come up from time to time, but he hadn't been able to figure out what exactly it was from their conversations.

"Any ideas on what the other two keywords are?" Amamiya-san asked.

The cat in his bag began to meow. He still found it strange that Amamiya-san carried his cat everywhere. Ken didn't buy that it was a therapy cat. And how did people not notice? It wasn't exactly a quiet cat either.

It was even stranger that everyone would just look at it, like they understood it. Aigis-san was understandable. She was a robot after all… but they were all just humans.

Although… what if that wasn't the case? Maybe one of them wasn't human. Aigis-san managed to fool a lot of people after all.

"Ugh, who am I—Junpei-san? Enough with the crazy conspiracy theories!" Ken chided to himself.

"I dunno. You figured it out last time, Ren." Sakamoto-san said.

"You're the one who activated the app for the first time, you know." Amamiya-san replied.

"Yeah, by accident!" he argued.

"Enough bickering!" Takamaki-san nagged, before she sighed heavily. "We're not getting anywhere, you know."

"Perhaps if we figure out what exactly his Palace is based off of… we can figure out what it is," Kitagawa-san suggested.

"There's so many buildings in Shibuya though!" Sakamoto-san protested.

"Come on, we've gotta try!" Takamaki-san said.

Sakamoto-san sighed before scratching his head. "Uh… a garden? Since he likes controlling everything."

"No candidate found," a mechanical voice announced.

"That… doesn't make much sense, Ryuji," Takamaki-san stated.

"Then you think of somethin'!" Sakamoto-san retorted. "I don't see any of you guys offering any ideas!"

Ken peeked from behind. Amamiya-san was quiet, but he looked thoughtful, as he toyed with his bangs. Maybe he had an idea?

Takamaki-san twirled a strand of her hair, before she suggested, "A money bath? I've seen an old cartoon about that!"

"No candidate found."

"Rats!"

He could hear the pout in Takamaki-san's voice.

"What about you, Ren? Surely you have an idea," Kitagawa-san inquired.

Amamiya-san spoke up, "I think Anne was on the right track. It has to be connected to money. So… let's start thinking of things that involve money. How about…a bank?"

"Candidate found."

"Hey look at that, got it right on the first try." Amamiya-san sounded smug.

"Ah shuddup RenRen." Sakamoto rolled his eyes, looking annoyed at the dark-haired boy.

"You did get museum on the first try too," Takamaki-san giggled, giving Amamiya-san an admiring look.

"Wait… candidate?" Ken thought, his brow furrowing together.

Then again, they went after specific targets. Did that mean that there had to be some requirement before the Phantom Thieves could target someone? But they did choose just criminals from the previous patterns. Did that mean they weren't all that bad, then?

"No… don't be ridiculous," he told himself sternly.

It was just wistful thinking. There was a reason why he was here, after all… He couldn't let the Phantom Thieves become another Strega.

"All right!" Takamaki-san cheered, snapping Ken out of his thoughts. "Okay, so now we just need the area…"

"The area? Just what was she talking about?" Ken questioned to himself.

He rubbed his forehead. This was just confusing. Tartarus was much simpler. They just had to go in, explore the area, and rescue people before they became the Lost.

"So, he thinks of somewhere in this city as his own bank," Kitagawa-san stated.

"I thought it'd be something less realistic. That's all it is, huh?" Takamaki-san replied.

The cat started to meow again.

"Perhaps the school? His victims have been mainly the Shujin students, after all." Kitagawa-san seemed like he was replying to the cat.

"I don't think so..." Amamiya-san said, shaking his head, "After all, it's not just Shujin students that have been affected. People all over the city are being targeted. Yusuke, you even mentioned you heard a handful of students at your school have been afflicted too."

Kitagawa-san conceded, "That's true... then what do you suppose?"

"If we're talkin' about a place he keeps his cash, maybe his own hideout?" Sakamoto-san suggested.

The group seemed dissatisfied while Kitagawa-san stared at his phone.

"How about… a real bank?" Takamaki-san offered.

The cat seemed to shake its head, before meowing again.

Sakamoto-san complained, "Dammit, we ain't gettin' anywhere…"

Kitagawa-san spoke up again, "This may be difficult to explain... but doesn't it seem like we're thinking a little too inside the box? Palaces emanate a passionate madness. It feels as though we're missing that aspect."

"And... just what is that supposed to mean?" Ken thought to himself.

He would have expected after some time of eavesdropping that things would eventually start to make more sense, not less sense.

However, artists did tend to be a bit strange. Chidori-san did say some strange things about her art from time to time, even though she didn't fit the typical artist stereotype.

"His palace is a bank for someone who extorts money with criminal acts. It's something more," Kitagawa-san said.

"Extorts…" Amamiya-san repeated, sounding thoughtful.

Takamaki-san asked, "But what other ways can we think about it? Oh, could it mean a place you withdraw money?

The cat was meowing again.

"I think you're onto something, Morgana. It has to be connected to his victims," Amamiya-san said with a nod.

"Did… did he just say his cat was onto something? Maybe I was wrong... maybe he does have a need for a therapy cat." Ken mentally snarked in disbelief.

"That's terrible! But... you may just be right," Takamaki-san said.

Sakamoto-san groaned out of frustration. "Oh come on! How many people do you think Kaneshiro's taken advantage of in all of Shibuya?"

"Results found."

"Wait a second! I have a hit," Kitagawa-san exclaimed, surprise ringing clearly in his voice.

Sakamoto-san was visibly shocked.

"Huh? Wait, what?! D-Did I say something right?" he questioned.

The cat began to meow, but apparently it said something that ticked off Sakamoto-san. Takamaki-san was quick to hush them both, however.

Kitagawa-san then clarified, "The place Kaneshiro thinks of as a bank is... All of Shibuya."

"Wait, what?! Like the entire city?!" Takamaki-san exclaimed.

Ken's eyes went wide as the cat began to meow again. He wasn't quite sure he understood the rest of the conversation, but he did understand one thing. Kaneshiro regarded his victims—the entire city—as his own bank he can withdraw money from. It was too sick to even try to comprehend.

"All right!" Sakamoto-san cheered, pumping a fist. "We're in business! Come on, let's go!"

"But wait, is it okay for us to go into the Palace right out of a crowd like this?" Takamaki-san interjected. "It might look weird if we just… you know… disappear. And this is all of Shibuya… we could find an alley or something to go in."

It was a relief to hear common sense coming out of the group. He was beginning to worry after Sakamoto-san suggested that they would actually jump into a potential Shadow nest in front of so many people.

"Eh, nobody notices if a piece of trash disappears from a trash can," Sakamoto-san dismissed with a wave of his hand. "This ain't any different."

Apparently, he spoke too soon. It honestly made him glad that Tartarus was only available during the Dark Hour. Who knew what Junpei-san would have done, if not? Although he had blabbed to Chidori-san, as an attempt to impress her.

Kitagawa-san nodded. "In that case... let's go."

"Hmm... well no one is looking at us right now. But we better be quick, just in case," Takamaki-san sighed.

Ken couldn't help but wonder if the cat was agreeing with him as he was hissing at Sakamoto-san, Takamaki-san, and Kitagawa-san.

"Okay... no, no, no, no." Amamiya-san nearly growled. "That is the dumbest justification I ever heard for doing this out in the open! No, we're going somewhere more discreet and then we'll activate the app."

Ken was starting to feel relieved soon as Amamiya-san opened his mouth, but his relief dwindled, as Sakamoto-san wasn't paying attention as he marched over to Kitagawa-san and pressed something on his phone.

Then a mechanical voice spoke.

"Beginning navigation."

They were really doing this, weren't they? Were they… going inside the Shadow nest? Ken couldn't help but feel confused.

"Ryuji, what the actual—!" Amamiya-san's voice was abruptly cut off and faded out to silence.

Ken blinked, looking back to the Phantom Thieves. They were disappearing into thin air?! Ken rubbed at his eyes, just to be sure that he wasn't hallucinating or anything.

Nope, it was still happening. And miraculously no one else but himself seemed to have noticed.

Ken ran to the spot where they used to stand, staring in confusion. Just what was that? That was when Shibuya seemed to transform before his very eyes.

"W-What the…?" he managed to utter, taking a step backwards as he took in his surroundings.

It was Shibuya… but at the same time, it wasn't. A sickly green tinge permeated the air, something that reminded Ken of the Dark Hour. To top it off, the atmosphere itself seemed… heavy. Just like the Dark Hour.

But that wasn't the odd part.

It was the ATMs walking around in the city. Literally, ATMs with arms and legs, just walking around. Where was he?!

"Wait—the phone. It said 'beginning navigation'. So did that mean I'm in the Shadow nest now?" Ken rubbed his chin as he desperately tried to make sense of everything.

Ken quickly shook his head. That just meant he needed to focus. If he was in the Shadow nest, he had to be on high alert. He didn't know what Shadows would be lurking about.

In the distance, he could see figures darting around. Were those the Phantom Thieves?

But in that case… he probably should hide until they leave. Then he could explore.

However, he had gotten here because the Phantom Thieves had used apparently some kind of app on Kitagawa-san's phone that Sakamoto-san activated. Hiding until they leave may not be a good idea after all. But he couldn't exactly get caught either. Ken sighed to himself. This was a conundrum…

That was when his phone started to vibrate intensely. With a frown, Ken fished it out of his pocket and unlocked it. A glowing red eye stared back at him. Ken's eyes went wide.

"I've entered Kaneshiro's name in the app…"

Kitagawa-san's words from before floated back into Ken's mind. Was this the app he had been talking about, then?

After a moment of hesitation, Ken pressed the app. Glowing red letters appeared on his screen, surrounded by a black background.

"Would you like to leave the Metaverse?"

Underneath was a yes and no button.

The Metaverse? Was this what the Shadow nest was called? Well at least he could leave whenever he wanted now. Good to know, he won't have to depend on the Phantom Thieves to get back. Safely waiting until they leave is an option after all.

Ken stored his phone away before crouching lower in his hiding spot.

It took a long time for the Phantom Thieves to finish their investigation. For some reason they had a cat... thing... with them. It looked like it had stepped right out of a children's cartoon.

But he had to wonder why they were dressed differently. He had to force himself to avert his eyes so he wouldn't stare at Takamaki-san. He knew that she was rather stunning but he hadn't expected her to be wearing a skin-tight catsuit.

Once they were gone, Ken carefully stood up. He reached into his bag, pulling out his holster. He fastened it around his waist, before he drew out his Evoker and slid it into the slot. Lastly, he brought out his spear, which currently resembled a short cylinder. He needed to figure out a hiding place for his new spear…

He pressed the button in the center and the cylinder in his hand extended, reaching the length of roughly two and a half meters. And lastly… the Ring of Darkness, gifted to him by Minato-san. It would protect him from his weakness. When he was eleven years old, the ring was rather large on him, more often sliding off his thumb than not. But now… it fit tightly on his pinky finger. Back then, after Minako-san noticed that the ring was too big on Ken, she had given him a silver chain so he could wear it more like a necklace.

The Ring of Darkness looked like it was fashioned out of black metal. On top of that, an onyx stone was set in the center. It was almost… odd, looking at it once again.

Ken shook his head. Now wasn't the time to reminiscence. He had a job to do.

He slipped the chain over his head even as his heart began to pound. He was in a Shadow nest. He just hoped he was prepared.

The further he went in, the more disturbed he felt. He had first followed the sound of quiet sobbing. The source had been broken ATMs lying on the ground.

"I was conned…"

"He's completely ruined me…"

Conned… ruined…

An ATM was a source of money. And Kaneshiro's victims were the people of Shibuya, anyone his men could get their hands on. What were these things though? Were they unfortunate people that wandered in, and turned into these things? Were these Kaneshiro's victims? Or were they something else? Regardless they definitely were connected to his victims in some way.

It was disgusting... but he wasn't surprised. Not in the least.

So... why did the Phantom Thieves leave? They were looking to get into here for a while, weren't they? Unless this wasn't the Palace proper. But then... what was?

The whole place was just an eerie city with money flying everywhere. The Thieves said this Palace was supposed to be a bank. Although banks didn't look all that impressive. But a mafia boss wouldn't just have any ordinary building...

The money was so distracting, constantly flying around. Just where was it all coming from?

He glanced up and… he spotted it. It was like a floating island, with an opulent looking building on top.

"If only Kikuno-san could just fly me up there." he muttered.

A bullet suddenly struck the ground, making Ken jump.

A dark figure dropped down from one of the shops, "Enjoying the view?"

Warning bells immediately blared in Ken's mind. Ken immediately backed up, his hand curling tightly around his spear.

The person clad in black and blue wore a rather odd mask. It was black and almost resembled a sentai villain's mask. It covered most of his features, there was even red eye-shaped lenses on the creepy mask. His lips were more visible in comparison to the rest of him. Even though he couldn't tell what eye color the guy had, due to the red tint, Ken could at least make out the look in the dark figure's eyes. He was sneering at Ken with a small smirk on his lips that made his skin crawl.

In one hand, he carried a pistol. He hadn't even heard it fire… so it must have a muffler. There was a sword sheathed at this guy's hip, the hilt black.

Ken narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Me? I suppose I could tell you, but…" the dark figure hummed.

Suddenly a malicious grin curled onto the masked man's face, and Ken felt a chill crawl up his spine.

"But…?" Ken repeated, keeping his voice neutral so he doesn't appear tense.

A dark chuckle escaped from the masked man's cold smile.

"But why give my name to a corpse?"

Ken barely had time to process the hairs on his neck standing up, as his attacker unsheathed his blade and lunged.

Ken quickly intercepted it with his spear's shaft. They were about the same height… but Ken slowly was being pushed back, centimeter by centimeter. Ken gritted his teeth before giving a hard shove, forcing his opponent back.

"Heh… not bad." He chuckled. "Although I have to wonder, why are you in the Metaverse, hmm? Did you just wander in here, like a lost child? But then again, why would you come here with weapons? You clearly know something about this place if you came prepared to defend yourself."

"None of your business!" Ken shot back, shifting into a defensive stance.

This made his assailant coldly laugh. "Oh that's unfortunate then, seems I'll have to torture the information out of you before killing you. If you were just a good little boy and talked, I would have made it much quicker and painless."

The dark figure attacked again, switching between using his blade and his gun. Ken was able to parry the sword attacks, occasionally managing to get a hit in. He kept his distance, taking advantage of the extra length his spear gave him. But he was forced to run when his attacker used his gun. Before long, Ken was sweating.

This wasn't good, he was tiring out quicker than expected. He knew he was out of practice, but this was ridiculous. He needed to do something quick or else this guy would kill him the moment he slipped up.

But then his attacker unexpectedly sheathed his weapons, pressing a hand to his mask.

"Let's see if you can withstand this…" Blue flames swept over his mask. "Come, Loki!"

"Of course, my first venture into a Shadow nest and I run into a souped-up Persona-user!" Ken mentally cursed his luck.

This lunatic so hell-bent on killing him would probably fit right in with Strega. Especially with his cackling.

Loki flung fire at him, but Ken managed to dodge. Loki had a wide spread of attacks… fire, darkness, and some kind of physical attack. He would be screwed if he didn't have the Ring of Darkness.

But he couldn't keep on dodging… He had to fight back. Ken reached for his Evoker, but his fingers were clumsy. By the time he had his Evoker pressed to his forehead, the assailant had closed the distance between them. He lunged forward, knocking Ken hard against the ground. His gloved fingers then curled tightly around his neck.

"How disappointing, you started off the fight with promise but you've become sluggish and leaving yourself wide open, how stupid," his attacker said mockingly, loosening his grip on Ken, only to press his serrated blade against Ken's neck.

Ken just glared up at him, as an attempt to mask his fear.

"And what's with the gun? Trying to kill yourself, little coward, so I don't squeeze the information out of you? Oh no, you can't take your secrets to your grave yet, I'm afraid."

Ken gritted his teeth. This guy's mockeries… were starting to really irritate him. Not even when his senpais were unsure of letting him fight… had they been condescending towards him. They hovered—they asked him if he was feeling tired or needed to go back to the bottom floor—but they did not act like he was stupid, slow, or cowardly.

He continued to mock Ken, "Why are you even here? Because of an inflated sense of heroism? Because you think you can take down Kaneshiro, like the oh-so heroic Phantom Thieves? Ha! You should have kept your head down and avoid trouble…"

His voice just oozed smugness, grating on Ken's nerves.

"But then again… you wouldn't be in this situation if you had done that in the first place."

Something in Ken snapped. He lashed out with a kick, his foot connecting with the dark figure's stomach. Ken then jerked his arm, knocking away the blade from the goon's hand. Now that he was free of that threat… Ken shoved him away.

Ken climbed to his feet.

"Has anyone told you that you never shut up?" Ken snarled out.

"You don't deny it." The assailant was smirking. "Admit it… people like you latch onto the Phantom Thieves because they just offer a solution. People just sit on their asses, waiting to be rescued. There is no such thing as justice. People sometimes just get away with their crimes and you just have to deal with it."

"You're wrong!" Ken retorted, as hot anger surged through him. "You have one of those the world just sucks attitudes, don't you?"

He swiped at the air, glaring at his opponent.

"Justice does exist. The Phantom Thieves are pursuing their sense of justice. They're working to punish criminals who abuse their authority."

He had been pretending for so long that he was neutral to the Phantom Thieves. He didn't want his senpais to give him strange looks for supporting the Phantom Thieves, not when they doubted the Phantom Thieves' intentions so much. He had put aside his Persona for years, because he was trying to rush into things. But he couldn't afford to just stand aside anymore. Not when people like Shido were abusing their power. And on a smaller scale, Kaneshiro taking advantage of youth to satiate his own greed. It was wrong to just accept things as they were.

The dark figure just scoffed. "You're so naïve. Justice is decided by whoever controls the law. The Phantom Thieves are giving naïve idiots like you hope in childish notions of what justice is."

Did he actually believe what he was spouting?

"Laws have been changed throughout history!" Ken shot back. "I don't put my stock in something so fickle. Laws will always come and go, but true ideals of what justice means, that is unchangeable! Your kind of justice is flawed. It's definitely not any justice I want anything to do with!"

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Ken gasped as a sharp pain suddenly pierced through his skull. He sank to his knees as the pain intensified. He couldn't even begin to describe the feeling. His head was pounding hard. For a moment, Ken could've sworn that he was seeing literal stars.

"You've kept me dormant for quite some time…"

Kala-Nemi?

"Did you forget why you awakened to me in the first place?"

Kala-Nemi had been born out of his resolve to live for both his mother and Shinjiro-san, who they had thought would eventually die.

But Nemesis… his first Persona, had been born out of his desire for justice for his mother. It had been misguided, because he didn't understand what exactly had happened. But he knew better now.

"Let us form a contract… a symbol of us working together once again. Shall we?"

"Yes..." Ken breathed out.

Blue flames flickered across his face, but Ken felt nothing. His face suddenly felt heavier… like he was wearing a mask.

Before he realized what happened, he raised a hand and ripped off the mask from his face. Blood dripped down his face, as a blast of blue power flared around him. Blue flames covered his clothes, but like before, Ken felt no heat. The fire ebbed away, leaving behind some kind of sturdy black clothing and he felt something around his neck. He could feel something drape over his back.

Ken felt the familiar surge of power as Kala-Nemi appeared behind him.

"Tch… you want to play that way?" The dark figure just placed a hand on his face, concentrating, "Come, Loki!"

Ken immediately thought to use Ziodyne, but instead another spell popped into his mind.

Kouga.

Golden light slammed into Loki, sending both Persona and host staggering back.

That was new. That would've been useful back in his days in SEES, seeing how his light spells missed so many times.

The other Persona-user just growled, before calling back his Persona. He pulled out another sword, before lunging forward. Ken quickly dodged, scanning the ground for his spear and Evoker. He grabbed his spear first, before pivoting around to smack his adversary right in the face. Ken couldn't deny that it felt good to hit the black-masked Persona-user hard enough to cause him to stagger back. He located his Evoker, which he quickly shoved it back into his holster.

His body felt lighter… probably because he was using his Persona again. He and his teammates had managed to pull off stunts that they normally wouldn't have been able to during the Dark Hour. Like how Minako-san was able to pull off a back flip. And he was able to swing around on his spear and kick Shadows in the face. Though honestly, he probably would not be able to do that now.

Ken scanned the area. It was clear that black masked guy's power level was higher than his right now… so what he really needed was a distraction. That way he could activate the app to get out of here.

"Take him down, Loki!"

Ken ducked out of the way, but the Persona flew over his head, slamming into the pavement. He tripped over the upheaved cement, barely managing to drop his spear so he could catch his fall with his hands. His hands scraped hard against the gravel, but he rather his hands be the ones to suffer than his face.

His attacker caught up to him, stabbing downwards. Ken grabbed his spear from the ground, quickly blocking the attack with his spear, before rolling to the side. He used his spear as a crutch, staggering to his feet, before spinning the spear in his hand. He slammed the butt of his spear against the other Persona-user's chest, knocking him back a couple meters.

He needed to slow his opponent down a bit. A spell sprang to his mind.

"Snap!" he shouted, before ripping off his mask.

A whirring sound made Ken look up. The circular markings on the top of Kala-Nemi's arms were opening, bullets shooting forward. He heard his assailant hiss out a profanity, but Ken just spun around and ran. He really needed to be smart about fighting this guy. Ken was clearly out of his league.

He concentrated for a moment, allowing Diarama to sweep over him. It was a relief, especially for his hands throbbing with pain.

Ken swung around to dart into an alley. He looked around frantically. The bricks… it was risky due to this essentially being a dead end. But what other options did he have?

"Assault Dive!"

The force slammed into Ken like a bulldozer, sending him flying against the wall. Ken gritted his teeth as his head slammed especially hard against the wall. He could feel blood tricking down the back of his head.

"You like to run, don't you?" the dark figure hissed.

He was stalking towards him. Underneath the mask, Ken could see a smile curling at his lips.

"Loki, Megidola!"

Ken just braced himself as the almighty spell exploded. If he wasn't against the wall, he probably would've been thrown back. He forgot just how much it hurt to be on the receiving end of an almighty spell.

"Not so tough now, are we?" he drawled out.

His attacker kicked him in the ribs. He then grasped the front of Ken's shirt, yanking him close.

"It was a good attempt, though," he chuckled quietly.

Unfortunately, Megidola had also worked against the black masked Persona-user. The bricks began to crumble, cascading down. Ken pushed through the pain, shoving his assailant against the wall. The bricks fell on top of him, forming a huge pile of rubble. Of course, Ken wasn't spared from getting hit but at least he wasn't buried.

A breath of air whooshed out of him as Ken slumped to the ground. God, that had been awful. That Persona-user had been clearly stronger than him. Much stronger… he needed to get back into training again. He was regretting ignoring Akihiko-san's urging him to continue training even if he didn't want to stay with the soccer club. And now he was paying for it.

Sure, summoning Kala-Nemi had given him some boosted abilities… but it wasn't enough. He couldn't just rely on that.

Ken slowly climbed to his feet, warily watching the pile of rubble. He did a quick healing, before picking up his spear and heading for the entrance. It took him a couple minutes to find where he had left his bag. He then pulled out his phone. The red eyeball app was pulsing. He quickly pressed it.

Do you want to return the real world?

He shrunk his spear into his portal form, before pressing yes. For a moment, he wasn't sure if it worked. But he suddenly found himself standing in the real Shibuya.

Ken managed to stagger over to a bench, all but collapsing into it. He felt awful. Like with the Dark Hour, he felt completely drained of energy. His hands were slightly bleeding from when he had scraped them. He carefully felt the back of his head. The bleeding there had stopped at least, but the area was slightly throbbing.

Shinjiro-san would really let him have it.

"At least… I found the Shadow nest? Gotta look for that silver lining," Ken thought ruefully to himself.

"What was that about being careful?" Shinjiro-san practically growled.

"Next time, I'll make sure a crazy violent person isn't there to kill me," Ken said tonelessly.

Shinjiro-san scowled, before snapping shut the first aid kit.

His guardian had taken one look at him, before sitting him down on the couch and insisting on tending to his injuries. He had forgotten how much rubbing alcohol stung…

He didn't hesitate on hiding his displeasure, but at least he wasn't lecturing Ken.

"You looked like shit when you walked through that door," he said bluntly, his eyes narrowed. "What the hell happened?"

"One, I found the Shadow nest." Ken began, ticking off his fingers, "Two, I used Kala-Nemi for the first time in like four years. Three, this app showed up on my phone."

He then reached for his phone, showing Shinjiro-san the glowing red eye app now on the device.

Shinjiro-san squinted. "What the hell is that and what does it got to do with any of this?"

Ken then responded, "Some kind of app that transports you to the Shadow nest, it seems... which is apparently called the Metaverse. That's why Amamiya-san and his friends called it, at least. It showed up after I got dragged into there, with Amamiya-san and his friends using it."

"So… it's kinda like a virus," Shinjiro-san said.

He then sighed, rubbing his temple with one of his hands.

"Just… be more careful, Ken. You're the one usually patching up injuries, not the one who has them."

Ken grumbled, "It wasn't intentional! I don't go around and pick fights."

Shinjiro-san eyed him, "Is there something you wanna say?"

"Nothing at all."

Shinjiro-san rolled his eyes.

"Right." He then took out his pocket watch, checking the time, "It's not 6 o'clock yet, you know. Maybe you can talk to Mitsuru before she leaves work."

He nodded at the coffee table, where Ken had left his laptop last night.

Shinjiro-san was being… surprisingly mild about the whole thing. But he wasn't going to complain.

He sat down, booting up his laptop. He pulled up the video call app, before calling Mitsuru-san. He had to try three times, before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

Ken blinked.

"Aigis-san?"

Aigis-san looked surprised that it was him who was calling, but she offered him a smile. "Hello, Ken-san. Are you here to report?"

She then looked at him curiously.

She said flatly, "I'd say you look well, but you do not. May I ask what happened?"

"Blunt as always, Aigis-san." Ken thought sardonically.

"Aigis, who are you talking to?" Mitsuru-san then appeared. Her eyes went wide for a moment. "Oh, Amada. I didn't expect you to be calling today. How are you?"

Then she let out a short gasp, the blood draining out of her face.

"Goodness, what on earth happened to you?!"

"I'm fine, Mitsuru-san." Ken rubbed the back of his neck. "I just wanted to let you know that I found the Shadow nest today."

"That is indeed good news." Aigis-san looked at him quizzically though. "…But did you get into a fight with a Shadow? You look rather… worn out."

"Err… not a Shadow…" Ken said slowly.

Mitsuru-san narrowed her eyes. "Did the Phantom Thieves see you?"

Ken raised his hands defensively, "N-No, it's not like that! Someone else… did."

"Someone else?" Aigis-san inquired, looking thoughtful. "Another Persona-user? And they attacked you? So they are like Strega then... or Sho Minazuki?"

"Yeah, this guy… he was definitely as tough as those guys… actually no. Granted I'm out of practice so I can't judge, but it's entirely possibly he could be tougher than some of them."

"And you engaged in battle with this individual?" Mitsuru-san demanded, giving him what Minako-san called the Kirijo Glare of Doom.

"He attacked me! I didn't mean to get into a fight right away! I'm not Akihiko-san!" Ken protested.

Aigis-san droned, "That is very true. Though sometimes I fear about your role models, Ken-san."

"But honestly, Amada, first the mafia and now this?" Mitsuru-san chastised, frowning in disapproval. "You really need to be more careful."

Ken winced. He shouldn't be surprised that Shinjiro-san had told Mitsuru-san about the mafia. He couldn't hide anything from his senpais.

Aigis-san added, frowning as well, "You could have been grievously injured. Not to mention overpowered by whoever attacked you."

Ken groaned. This was why Shinjiro-san prodded him into reporting to Mitsuru-san. Women were just… better at scolding. They had that guilt inducing I'm disappointed in you look. No wonder Shinjiro-san was taking it mildly. He was just lining Ken up for being lectured by the others.

Mitsuru-san then coughed delicately into her hand, her expression becoming all business. "But anyhow… did you observe anything else?"

"I'm not sure why Fuuka-san compared the Shadow nest to Tartarus. I think it's more comparable to the TV world. You know, how they told us that people who ended up in the TV world created worlds from their heart? It seemed very similar to that." Ken explained.

"But surely there must be a central part of this nest…" Aigis-san said thoughtfully. "You may have only found just one section."

Ken frowned. "Maybe… I don't know. I will have to take a better look."

"Were you able to summon your Persona?" Aigis-san inquired.

"Ah, yes!" Mitsuru-san's eyes lit up. "You were fine with summoning your Persona, weren't you?"

"Well… not with my Evoker." Ken said slowly.

Mitsuru-san raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Were you able to summon without one then?"

"Yes… but not in the way you're thinking."

It took a great amount of skill and concentration to be able to summon your Persona in the real world without a medium. He knew that Mitsuru-san, Akihiko-san, and Minako-san were all capable of this feat four years ago, but most of his senpais could manage it now.

"Can you please elaborate then?" Aigis-san requested, curiosity filling her eyes.

"A mask formed on my face and I ripped it off. My Persona came from that mask. Kala-Nemi seems to have changed though." Ken responded.

"Changed? What do you mean?" Mitsuru-san questioned.

"Well, I apparently have light spells that don't instantly kill Shadows, and Kala-Nemi can fire bullets now," he said dryly.

"Bullets?" Aigis-san asked. "How curious. Though I have to wonder why your Persona's abilities have changed…"

Mitsuru-san sighed deeply. "Good work, Amada. But please, be more careful. Your mission is more reconnaissance based. Your goal is to gather information. Shinjiro would have my head if you got hurt due to this."

Ken sighed. Everyone had to be a mother hen today. Sometimes he wondered if they'd ever see him as their equal and not someone to be babied. He knew that it was because they cared but Ken still found it irksome.

"Okay, okay…" he muttered. "It wasn't on purpose though…"

Mitsuru-san smiled gently. "I know. I'm pleased with your work, but I don't want you to get hurt."

She then looked at him sternly. Despite everything, Ken couldn't help but wince a little. Mitsuru-san did her share of mothering him but Ken couldn't help but be scared of her at times.

She ordered, "And take care so that the Phantom Thieves don't spot you. You don't know how they'll react to you."

And yet… he had met two of them already.

He fully believed that the rumors circulating Amamiya-san were just slander. He seemed perfectly nice. A bit quiet, though he couldn't help but wonder if that was just a front, given the way he had acted around his friends. And Takamaki-san… she was nice as well. Even though she was a terrible liar.

"Ken-san?" Aigis-san's concerned voice abruptly yanked him back to reality.

Ken snapped back to attention, looking at the two women.

"I understand. I'll do my best to avoid detection," he said quietly.

Mitsuru-san nodded, before offering him a pleased smile. "Good. Rest up, Amada."

She then cut off the connection and the screen went black.

Kala-Nemi

Level: 30

Affinity: Bless, Healing, Gun

Skills: Makouha, Kouga, Hama, Mahama, Diarama, Media, Snap, Recarm

So, Ken has made it to the Metaverse! (Though it's not hard with how the Phantom Thieves don't seem to know the meaning of discretion.) And I will be describing Ken's costume fully in the next chapter.

But with Kala-Nemi… I had to revamp Kala-Nemi's skills to suit the P5 battle changes, as shown above. Bless and Healing were a given, since those were his main attributes in P3. I threw in gun abilities for Kala-Nemi, to refer to Evokers. I took away the Zio class spells, since well… there's Ryuji.

As usual, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Edit Notes (7/23/2020): Touch ups on the Ken & Akechi confrontation mostly. Additionally added a little to the Phantom Thieves moving to the Metaverse. Thank you again to my wonderful beta angelrin89 for her edits.