"Ugh..." He awoke slowly in a very unfamiliar location. It felt like he was in the city, but not at the same time, and there were multiple paint stains scattered along the ground and the walls nearby. The last thing he returned was that painting back in Yongen...More importantly, however, he saw his familiar red leather glove. "...Oh, that's never good." Joker knew a bad sign when he saw one. So he stood up and looked at himself as best he could. Unfortunately, he was in uniform. It had been a long time since he felt this way, but he already knew what it meant.
But his troubles were only just beginning. Because some unfamiliar Shadows, at least what he assumed to be, suddenly appeared nearby. They looked like they belonged to a street gang, and their weapons were...
One shot at Joker, and the ball of paint that was a bullet flew past him as he swayed his body to the side. "Paint?" Joker mumbled to himself, before taking his gun out and returning fire. To his surprise, the Shadow ducked behind a barrel to avoid his shot. "Okay, that's new." Most Shadows weren't that intuitive. So Joker took aim at the barrel, the bullet causing it to explode in a blast of green paint. It was strange, because the Shadows caught within the green paint were completely unable to move the way they wanted.
"Huh?" Joker had not a clue what was going on, but he would make use of this opening. "Raoul!" He called forth his Persona, who thrusted his hand down on the ground. This prompted an explosion of curse magic to erupt outwards, killing the Shadows instantly. "Gotcha! But...man. Why does my Persona feel so off?" He wasn't sure how to explain it, but this was clearly some kind of Metaverse, and it was different than a Palace or a Jail...
This brief opening allowed a Shadow on some higher ground to take aim at Joker, but before it could take the shot, Dragon whacked it with her staff, causing it to fall from its position. "I don't think so!"
Fox followed up by dashing forward, slashing through the Shadow that fell. "Enemy eliminated!"
"Guys!" Joker turned to see his teammates. "Are you guys alright!?"
"Uuuuugh!" Viper was rubbing her head, letting out a groan of annoyance. "What the hell is this!? I said I was Phantom Thief'd out! So what's going on here!? Are these weirdoes attacking with paint?"
"I'd like to know that for myself." Fox said while looking around. "We are still missing two of them as well..." But they wouldn't have much time to think about that. Because even more enemies began to appear, surrounding the four of them. Some of them were even larger and bulkier than the standard shooters as well. Trapped in an unfamiliar location, surrounded by enemies...
"This situation does not bode well for us." Dragon was prepared to fight her way out, however, numerous bullets from above pierced these Shadows, forcing those who avoided the attacks to jump back. "Ah?"
Up above, Crow and Violet where standing at the top of a building, the full moon shining brightly behind them. "Don't tell me you were about to struggle with these small fries." Crow said with a heavy sigh.
"You're not hurt, are you!?" Violet asked the others.
"What the-!?" The Shadows weren't expecting this interference, so they decided to back off a little.
Crow and Violet joined everyone down below, making the numbers far more favorable with their ability. "So. It doesn't appear as if they're interested in talking. A shame. I'd like some answers." The enemies were not interested in talking; they looked very irritable, in fact.
"What do you suggest, Joker?" Dragon asked. Their numbers weren't as large as usual, but they were simply going to have to make due.
"We take them out." Joker told everyone.
"Works for me!" Viper rolled her eyes. That's when a bullet of paint flew past her. "Ack! Hey, watch it! I don't want paint on this!" She growled, her mask burning away as she instinctively summoned Nuwa. The serpent woman slithered forward, crashing into one of the Shadows that shot at her to kill it. "Serves you right!"
"There is something off about this paint." Fox pointed out. Everyone split off to find some cover, so they wouldn't be in anyone's direct line of fire. Clearly, this was going to be a firefight.
"Yeah." Joker said. "Some of that paint got on the enemy, and it wasn't able to move. I don't think we'll enjoy it either. Also...how is everyone feeling?"
"Not great." Crow admitted. "But we'll just have to make due. Hereward." Crow summoned his Persona, allowing Hereward to release a rain of arrows down upon the Shadow's location. Since they were hiding, he planned to flush them out, that was for sure.
"The big one is coming!" Dragon exclaimed, entering a defensive stance. The large bruiser of an enemy targeted her first, swinging its massive fist in her direction. Dragon summoned Bella, allowing her shield to serve as defense. The fist collided against her shield, and Dragon was sent skidding backwards, a trail of purple paint following her. "Ngh!? They are strong...!" She felt that hit, and the strange effects of the paint she was standing in.
"Hands off my Dragon-chan!" Viper leapt over Dragon and her claws dug into the large, muscular Shadow, which attempted to throw her off. Luckily, her poisonous claws didn't lose their edge, so she was able to wear it down with her persistent grip. The large Shadow collapsed to the ground within a few moments, and she hopped off harmlessly. "Serves you right."
"These enemies are different than the ones we're used to." Fox could tell this right away. This strange paint that hindered actions was an anomaly as well. "However, they appear to go down the same!" He dashed forward, slicing through a few more of these Shadows. Violet followed up with Ella's beams of light, clearing the enemies out for the time being.
"We should be clear." Joker said while looking around. "So with that being the case...where are we?"
"This doesn't appear to be any type of Jail or Palace..." Dragon frowned. They truly had no idea what sort of environment they were in.
"We're in the Metaverse, that much is for certain." Crow was trying to piece together an answer, but so far, that was the only thing he could come up with
"Okay, so how do we LEAVE?" Viper was asking the real questions here. She did not want to be here any longer than necessary.
"I suppose we'll have to find that out." Dragon sighed.
"Wait. Something is approaching." Crow said.
Someone in a pink mouse costume splattered in paint, slowly trudged forward. They were breathing heavily, struggling with each step. "A-A stuffed animal...?" Violet blinked, but then she stepped closer...
"H...Help..." The Mouscot cried out weakly, desperately. It collapsed and Violet caught them in her arms.
"What's wrong!? You can tell us...!" Violet asked.
"S-...Save them...please..." The mouscot looked up at Violet, pleading for help.
"There are more like you out there? We'll promise! We'll save them!" Violet nodded firmly. "So just hold on...!"
"Thank...you..." The mouscot had a small smile on their face. "Please, go..." And then, they simply...exploded into blue paint. There were no stains on Violet, but she felt the weight in her arms vanish in an instant.
"!..." Violet's eyes were wide. The others were silent as the words just did not come to them.
"...It was a cognitive being." Crow spoke up. While there was no telling how impactful it was to feel someone die in your arms, cognitive or not, he would not be saddened by the loss of something that was never real to begin with.
"...I know..." Violet bit her lip. That wasn't a real person, but that felt real to her. Her arms suddenly feeling so empty...she did not like that feeling.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" The conversation was cut short by a scream, catching everyone's attention.
"What was that!?" Viper yelped in surprise.
"It sounded like someone is under attack." Fox said.
"Let us proceed ahead!" Dragon said. Violet was already off, choosing to honor her promise to the dying Mouscot as quickly as possible.
"Alright, guys. Let's move in." Joker said. The others followed.
.
.
Violet was the first one to arrive on the scene. The others followed right behind, and Violet's eyes were wide at the scene before her. "I...!"
"What on earth...?" Even Crow was briefly taken aback. There were more Mouscots running and screaming for their lives, volleys of paint splattering everywhere as a result. A bullet of paint splattered a fleeing Mouscout...and then two more. They gasped and were thrown to the ground, where their bodies soon began to inflate...and then explode in multiple colors of paint.
"Holy shit!?" Viper gasped. It took a lot to get such a reaction out of her, but something as brutal as this would do.
"Who would do something so heinous!?" Fox growled.
Paint was continuing to splatter all across the ground, gushing endlessly like a fountain. A woman with white hair, tattoos along her arm, and a mask slowly walked forward, cackling the whole time. By her side was a pink parrot, who wore a malicious grin the whole time. "Heh...hahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The masked woman laughed maniacally. She turned with her paint gun, shooting down a few more Mouscots; they all exploded in the same fashion, a rain of paint cascading on the slaughter. Even though it was paint, that didn't make the scene before the group any less gruesome.
"Hehehe..." The parrot chuckled in response to all of this.
The woman took off her mask, staring at the group before her with a smile. "Heh..."
"I'm gonna be sick..." Viper groaned.
"Well...this isn't something you see every day." Crow narrowed his eyes at the woman. If something like that was enough to put even him slightly on edge, that was saying something.
"Someone has to stop her..." Violet clenched her hand into a fist, before sprinting off. "I'm going to..."
"Whoa, wait...!" Dragon did not think that was a wise idea.
"We do not have a choice." Fox wasn't going to stand idly by either.
"HEY!" Violet yelled at the pair. "Stop hurting them!"
"Huh?" The white haired woman stared at Violet, surprised at the audacity she had to make demands of her. "Did you just walk up to me and tell me what to do?"
"I'm not standing here and watching you kill people!" Violet said firmly. She was standing her ground.
Annoyed, the white haired woman turned to the bird. "Jerri, who even is this brat? That yammering of hers is extra annoying."
The bird, known as Jerri, tilted her head. "How peculiar. The streets shouldn't be accessible to outsiders..." The appearance of Violet was perplexing to her as well. "The six of you...what are you doing here?"
"I don't like this bird." Viper wished she had her crow right now, because she'd sicc it on Jerri.
"We're passing by." Joker said.
"And we just happened upon this scene." Crow added. "Is there an exit nearby?"
"We're not leaving until she's done hurting people!" Violet shouted.
"...You know what? She's right." The white haired woman smiled. "How about I stop hurtin' them right now?"
"Ah, Guernica...struck again by inspiration?" Jerri chuckled.
"Guernica!?" Viper's eyes widened.
"It can't be..." Even Fox was taken aback by this.
"This is...!?" Dragon gasped.
"To be honest, I was getting bored with cooking the small fries." Guernica's smile widened as she looked over the six in front of her. "But with you here, I can perform a little experiment. Let's see if you bleed the same way the rest do! I've been hoping for a nice shade of red!"
"Ooooh, that's not good." Joker hated where this was going.
"I suppose peace was never an option." This did not surprise Crow in the least.
"So let's see if you bleed!" Guernica put her mask back on and pointed her gun towards the six of them. She fired without warning, a large pink bullet of paint shooting towards the group, exploding once it got close. The size of the explosion caught everyone by surprise, but they were able to avoid any real damage by splitting off in separate directions. "Hey, hold still! What good is a muse that keeps moving!?"
Viper hid behind some cover, peeking over to look at Guernica. "Is this seriously THE Guernica?!"
"Is there really time for this right now?" Violet squeaked. "She's trying to kill us!"
"Questions can wait!" Fox slid across the ground, his mask burning away as Gorokichi appeared behind him. He slashed at the ground, his Persona following his movements. This prompted a trail of ice to shoot from the ground and towards the artist in question. Guernica, however, was much faster than he anticipated. She leapt up onto a building to avoid his attack and began to open fire on him. Fox had to use his sword to slash down the incoming bullets. "She's quite adept..."
"Unfortunately for her, we have the numbers!" Dragon used her staff to propel herself upwards to Guernica's level. She spun around, aiming to slam her staff on Guernica's body, but this was blocked by Guernica's gun. The two were in a deadlock before Dragon was pushed back, and then shot at with some paint. "Gaaah...!" She grunted before hitting the ground, wincing as she was covered in that strange paint. "Moving feels difficult..."
"Oooh, that felt real nice!" Guernica laughed. She was going to press the advantage, but Violet and Joker stood in her path. "You two want some!? Bring it on!" She began to open fire upon them, bullets of paint spraying in every which direction. She wasn't aiming, so much as she was trying to gun them down with the sheer amount of bullets.
Joker and Violet were able to deftly weave through the bullets with no trouble. Joker then extended his arm out, causing his grappling hook to shoot out and attach to Guernica's gun. He didn't think he'd be outmuscling her, but he used this to propel himself forward and swing his leg at her chest. Guernica used her free arm to block it, sliding back slightly due to Joker's momentum. "Hah!" Joker then flipped back as Guernica attempted to swing at him, causing her to miss.
Violet used this chance to flip forward, spinning in the air before landing a downward slash on Guernica's chest. "Take this!"
It was a direct hit. Guernica scowled from this, but then her smile returned and she pointed her paint gun at the retreating duo. Just when it looked like she was about to fire, she then took a leap into the air, above them. "Hold still!" She clicked the trigger, sending a large bullet of paint downward. This bullet exploded between Joker and Violet, sending them flying in separate directions from the impact. "Hahaha!" But the short victory wasn't going to last long, as Hereward was positioned behind her, an arrow of curse magic already at the ready. "Huh-!?"
"You won't escape this." Crow said with a low tone. Hereward fired and an explosion of curse magic took place. Guernica let out a grunt of pain as she tumbled through the air, only to find a way to stop herself just as she hit the ground. She dug her hand into the dirt, stopping herself that way with a crazed smile. Sure, that hurt, but it wasn't enough to put her down. "How vexing."
After landing on the ground, Guernica turned her attention to Viper. "You!"
"Ah." Viper had a sweat drop on her forehead. She was still trying to grapple with the fact this was Guernica, the legendary street artist. But that fact was also rapidly approaching her with violent intent, so standing like a deer in headlights wasn't going to do her any favors. "I'm so over this!" Guernica fired a volley paintballs at her, but she was quick to stay behind cover, before leaping out and pointing her own twin machine guns forward. She opened fired, forcing Guernica to take some cover. "Hey, what's your problem!? You're not acting in a way that reflects what I saw in your art!"
"What are you talking about!?" Guernica snarled. "Who do you think you are, telling me about my own art!?"
"No, I believe there is a hint of truth in her words." Fox appeared behind Guernica, ice covering his blade. He aimed to take a slash at her, but she was able to avoid this by swaying her body to the side. She grabbed Fox's extended arm and hurled him directly into Viper, who had no choice but to stop firing. So the two of them crashed into each other.
"Agh, get off me!" Viper pushed Fox off of her with a grunt. "Something's wrong with this chick." She had to remember that they were in a cognitive world of some kind, so...this was some aspect of Guernica's personality manifesting here. At least, from her understanding of things, anyway.
"We're not making much progress here..." Dragon admitted. Guernica was just tough. Even the six of them weren't really able to make a lot of progress, but the opposite was true as well. Guernica looked a little irritated that she wasn't able to make any of them bleed as quickly as she wanted.
"Why're you making this so hard on yourselves!? Bleed out for me already!" Guernica snapped.
"Why would we do that!? We're trying NOT to get killed here!" Violet said.
Guernica then eased up a bit. "Chill, chill! You know how this place is osme kinda weird ass world? We could splatter our guts all over this place - just snap your fingers, and everything is back together all at once!"
Dragon could pick up a lie from a mile away. Even without her power, it was such a blatant attempt to get them to lower their guard, it was almost laughable. "Is that what you think?"
"If that's the case, surely you wouldn't mind giving us a demonstration." Crow applied the pressure while pointing his blade forward.
So that was pointless. Guernica sucked her teeth. "Tch."
"You're a bad liar." Joker shook his head.
"Ugh, you're no fun!" Deciding she had enough of this, Guernica threw her arms up into the air. "Jerri, take out this trash for me!"
"Always foisting the tough work onto me! What am I to do with you...?" Jerri let out a sigh, but she was going to comply. "Now, my dearies, finish them off!" With caw, Jerri summoned a large number of Shadows to surround the group at all angles. This reminded them that they were neck deep in enemy territory.
"Their numbers..." Dragon grimaced.
"Too many to take on at once." Fox glanced around. They were outnumbered, and if they couldn't even break through Guernica, they wouldn't have any chance of escape.
"C'mon, put up a good fight for me!" Guernica laughed. "I wanna see a solid show before you go out with a bang!"
"Believe me when I saw we're not going down easily..." Crow didn't want the enemy thinking they were all so easy targets. That being said... "However, I am not so foolish to deny they hold the advantage over us." An unwise use of his power would only put them in a greater disadvantage. They didn't have a safe place to retreat to...
"We need to back off." Joker said. That was their only real option. Forcing their way through wasn't going to work.
Dragon's eyes scanned for a weakness in the formation. It was pretty tight, however... "In that direction, we can likely break through! They have lower numbers!"
"Let's hurry then!" Viper didn't want to be in this situation any longer than necessary.
Jerri, however, laughed at them for even thinking of running away. "You idiots! There's no escaping our for...what...?"
A yellow circle appeared under the six of them. Before anyone could react to it, the ground underneath the group just vanished, and they began to fall.
"Gaaaaah!?" Violet yelped in surprise.
"W-What!? Where did this hole come from!?" Crow grunted, annoyed at the fact he was constantly being thrown in every which direction a little too frequently for his liking.
"We're falling...!" Fox shouted.
"No duh!" Viper snapped.
"Brace for impact!" Dragon closed her eyes. She wasn't sure what to prepare for, but...
.
.
Everyone hit the ground with a loud thud. It wasn't the most pleasant landing, but... "Oooow..." Sumire groaned. "Oh...! Everyone!?"
"We're alright..." Yusuke stood up, rubbing the back of his head. At this point, everyone had their masks resting atop their heads. It didn't seem like there were any enemies present either. So they were...safe?
"That was unpleasant." Mika grumbled. Hifumi offered her hand to help her up, so she gladly took it. "Ugh...are we in a sewer...? It's so gross and dark..."
"Everyone okay?" Ren asked. There were some grumbles, but ultimately everyone appeared fine.
"It doesn't look like we're cornered anymore. So I'll take that." Akechi said quietly.
"Looks like none of you are hurt. Some real lucky kids." A voice spoke out from behind them. They all turned to see...a girl in a mouse costume.
"A mouse girl?" Sumire then corrected herself. "A girl dressed like a mascot? Aww, so cute..."
Mika almost instinctively called the girl a rat, given the circumstances. But Hifumi was able to jab her with her elbow to stop such an ultimately remark. "Ow. Fair..."
"Who might you be?" Hifumi asked.
"We'll get to that." The girl said. "How about a thank you first? I just saved your tails."
"So that hole we fell into was your doing?" Yusuke rotated his shoulder.
"Sorry you got dumped here. I didn't have time to be choosy." The girl replied.
"Why was a sewer the first place..." Mika could not accept an apology about being thrown into a dump. She had standards, unlike the rest of them!
"What she means to say, is that we are thankful for your intervention. We would have had a hard time escaping otherwise." Hifumi said with a nervous smile.
"As long as you're alright." The girl shrugged. "I oughta ask, just who are you guys? How do you not know this place yet? The Streets are Guernica's territory. Nobody ends up here on accident. Not only that - you were able to square up with Guernica. I've never seen anyone else pull it off."
"Sounds like you've been keeping an eye on us for some time." Akechi pointed out.
"We've been so busy fighting since we got here, I never noticed. Sneaky as a mouse, huh?" Ren said.
"I sure have." The girl replied to Akechi and Ren. "Until today, I was Guernica's only real opponent. No one else has tried stopping her. So you've gotta be pretty sneaky to survive the Streets."
"Are you the only one here...?" Yusuke questioned.
The girl glanced away for a moment, but she nodded. "Yeah. Not for lack of trying to save them. But, things are different now! You six can actually fight! Except...I don't know whose side you're on. So don't make me regret trusting you."
"We have no reason to be your enemy at present." Akechi said.
"That's right!" Sumire nodded, but proceeded to sweat right after. "Although, I guess we don't exactly have a way to prove that..."
"Nah, I'm just messin' with ya." The girl smiled. "I saw you stand up to Guernica. That's enough for me."
"Cool." Mika was looking around for a place to sit. The couch did not look...the best. But she didn't want to be on her feet for very long either, so with a dissatisfied sigh, she sat down. Ugh... "Now we have questions for you, Mouse Girl! What is this place, and why is Guernica at the center of it?"
"So you figured that out already...?" The girl was impressed. "The Streets belong to Guernica. They were born from her heart. Seriously now, who are you guys? You're not just on the ball - you know too much. You sound like you're used to places like this..."
"Um. Well..." How was Sumire going to explain this.
"We're used to this." Ren said, plain and simple.
"This is not our first experience with these sorts of things." Yusuke said.
"You're used to this?" The girl blinked. Suddenly, her expression lit up, full of hope. "Could it be...are you the Phantom Thieves of Hearts!?" Everyone's expressions shifted to one of surprise.
"How did you..." Hifumi gasped.
"Oh good! My voice really did reach outside!" The girl looked so relieved. "I was worried this place was doomed..." If the Phantom Thieves were really here, there was hope to be found after all!
"So...you're the one who called out to me..." Ren said quietly.
"There's something I want you to see. Follow me." The girl said hastily. The group didn't have much choice. If they wanted to learn the truth behind the Streets and find a way back home, they were going to have to trust this Mouse Girl...
