The Flame of Hope: Dark Whispers
Goro Akechi knew it all along but checking that gentle madman's palace confirmed his suspicions. Knew the truth ever since he chose to save Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves from his cognitive copy in his father's palace. Yet, he wonders if he had really died in that ship or was trapped in some kind of limbo and only through circumstances was he able to exist in the physical world again.
One part of him thinks they kicked the bucket. Another thinks they're trapped in a reality that's neither the Metaverse or the real world but the space between. He and Hereward reckon it could be both.
Whether the rest of the Phantom Thieves remember his actions as Crow or not, it makes no difference to him because that's for them to decide and that extends to the relatives of the victims he had claimed the lives of. Although he didn't let the cold shoulder treatment bother him and he had never gone out of his way to really know his teammates/allies, it did make the lonely child in him pine for a reality where he really is seen as one of them.
Perhaps he could have been best friends with Ryuji as fellow sons of unloving fathers and maybe gain the same understanding Ren had gotten from him. Appreciate Yusuke's perspective on the world and perhaps find the real beauty in it like his strangely moving 'Desire & Hope' he saw once but always keeps creeping back into his thoughts every once in a while.
Appreciate Ann's willingness to find the bright side in life even after going through something as emotionally traumatizing as having your best friend trying to end her life yet can be just as quiet as he is and maybe understand how she can be so emotionally intelligent but be so content to enjoy simple pleasures like the sweetness of chocolate at the same time. Have a similar bond with Makoto like he had with Sae and maybe even help her be as good of a police officer as her father was.
Find amusement in Morgana and his doomed attempt to win over Lady Ann even if he did find it very tiring after a while. Explore the philosophical implications that come with his being.
And just maybe, Haru and Futaba would have come to a mutual understanding with him. Not forgive his crimes because what he did is unquestionably evil and he would object to such an idea. Let him do as much as he can to pay his dues for taking the life of their loved ones if only because his father had ordered those deaths and the way they affect them emotionally. Futaba especially given how much she really loved her mother and seeing the uncomfortable parallels between the deaths of their mothers as both being caused by a Shido.
Maybe they always saw him as one of them but he'll never know the truth because he gave up the chance to live among them again after convincing Ren to forget about his life for the sake of everyone's freedom from benevolent tyranny. Stop that doctor from becoming god, aid Yoshizawa in not hiding from her true self anymore and smacking some sense into that doctor who believes he can cure sorrow. Good times those were.
He does not regret his own choices one bit. Now that he's done contemplating over the last months of his life, a new question is asked.
Where is he?
Away from the familiar urban metropolis of Tokyo that's been his home, he knows he is in a place that isn't located anywhere in Japan. The smell, the way the oxygen feels on his lungs and the climate conditions is warmer than he's normally used to.
Looking around himself, he's inside the old decayed ruins of a regal castle that's been claimed by the natural elements including some green moss on some parts of the remaining concrete pillars. The chipped and cracked floor tiles, the faded colors of the materials making up the structure, the gaps formed on the walls and ceilings that allow the outside to creep in, the broken stained-glass windows and the overall abandoned appearance of the castle tells him that nobody has lived here for a long time. The silence of the place with only the sounds of water flowing nearby and the thick blanket of shadows adding to the lonely atmosphere.
Something about this castle is haunting yet somber. A monument to a forgotten tragedy that happened in the past. An almost quiet beauty to the decaying castle and looking up at the skies, he sees no sun nor the blues that would decorate the heavens above. Only the nothingness that seems to span forever with no stars or planets to be sighted to the naked eye.
Is this what limbo is? The ruins of an old castle as a backdrop to the void that surrounds it?
Hell is not made of fire and brimstone as he understood it. No pit of eternal damnation for his sins. He is somewhere where the sun can never shine upon him and no other soul to be seen. This is what he had given up his life for. Nothing.
Suddenly, Akechi's dark-coloured Metaverse attire materialized over his winter civilian clothes and he quickly pulled out his pistol to point it at one of the bodies of shadow with a harsh growl while the transparent form of a combat-ready Hereward hovered behind him like a specter. "Unless you're here to take me, I suggest you consider your next move wisely."
"No need for the hostilities stranger…" A new voice greeted him from the darkness with a smooth, almost oily affliction to his words. "I am as much of a prisoner here as you are."
The newcomer would step slowly move towards Crow who was ready to attack the new being at a given moment and the sounds of metallic soles tapping against the old broken floor tiles. As the owner of the eyes stepped into the nearest light source with hands up in the air to show he's not a threat and stopping in his tracks a few feet away, Akechi finally saw who his new fellow "inmate" looked like.
He wasn't human. Nor is he a Shadow according to Hereward who returned to his heart as he isn't needed now.
He looked more like Morgana's Metaverse except less-cartoony and more proportional to that of a human figure yet appeared very much like an anthropomorphic animal from the shape of the ears on the top of his head. The black needle-like nose, the shape of his… Hair and the black furry look of his body makes him appear like an abstract interpretation of a hedgehog. The tuft of white hair on the chest and the teal streaks on his head.
Wearing a pair of white gloves with gold rings around the wrist and white shoes with red secondaries that have holes on the soles resembling little jet exhausts. He's like a funny animal rendered in a more serious manga artstyle.
The hunched over posture, how his head hangs low, the way the arms dangle by his sides and how he moves in general like a reanimated corpse is pretty unsettling to Crow. Especially when he turns his head at an angle to meet his gaze from the corner of his eye. Green reptilian eyes meeting his hidden eyes under the red lens of his black helmet.
"You're the first living soul I've met in a good while ever since I was unfortunately brought here." The non-human spoke through lips that don't exist on his face as he lifts his head up to face him properly. "We appear to be in the same boat together regarding our predicament."
"Who and what are you?" Crow's tone is firm and to the point. Finger firmly on the trigger and the other poised to pull out the sword. He didn't know what exactly this being or what it wants but he knows he'll destroy this creature if it dared to make any sudden moves.
Rather than be intimidated or angered, the green-eyed being threw his head back and let out an amused chuckle. "You're not one for pleasantries. I doubt many enjoy hanging around with an attitude like that."
Placing a hand on his chest as he locked eyes with Crow again. "Very well, my name is… Muffles. I am a hedgehog as you can see and you must be from another world my good friend."
"And what gave you that impression?" Crow scoffed at the friend remark coming from this weirdo. "I could very well be from the same world as yourself Muffles."
"You asked what I am and I answered the question. Either you've never met a hedgehog before or you're from a world where we do not exist." Muffles crosses his arms behind his back. "Now that I have given you my name, may I kindly ask about yours'?"
"What do you want to know?"
"Seeing as it's only the two of us around here…" Muffles gestured to the old castle ruins. "It's only logical to ask the name of someone you'll be spending the rest of your life with in this realm so that you know who to call them for future reference."
"...Crow." The Persona user replied curtly. "Seeing as you're here longer than I, what is this place?"
"Where you are is outside of normal time and space. A realm of the discarded and forgotten. Where the past, present and future have no meaning in this domain. A place that is isolated from the rest of existence." The black hedgehog answered calmly, looking up at the skies. "You may call this the afterlife, you may call this limbo and you may call this whichever it is according to your beliefs. It is all the same thing here. We are nowhere. Does that answer your question?"
He sacrificed himself on the ship and he threw away his chance to be back in the real world again for the sake of justice... And this is his reward if he can even call it that. A residence in a dead end realm with a creepy mouthless being for company. If he was a more rational mind, he'd be livid at the very thought of it.
However, this is Goro Akechi. A fool who wasted his life to get revenge against his father who knew all along and chose to aid his father in his campaign to become prime minister to set him up for a humiliating blow that he never had any hope of delivering. An unwanted child who was more than happy damn the whole of Japan just to get at someone that knew better than to leave himself exposed to a mentally ill child that would burn down a village to feel its warmth.
Finding it within himself, the child of a would-be prime minister and a sex worker let out a big hearty laugh. Never has such a fate been so existentially horrific that it comes back around into being so hilarious beyond any words.
For someone that bore the chaotic powers of Loki, he is not blind to the irony of bearing a similar fate to the God of Mischief himself for his own misdeeds and Muffles may as well be the serpent dripping snake venom in his face for eternity. Like the old tale of Loki's banishment, his Ragnorok may come someday or never.
After all, what is he to do now when his father has been brought down and reality saved from a man with a messiah complex?
"You take your imprisonment with grace." Muffles said with a light nod. Crow ceased laughing and shook his head.
"No. That's what you'd assume." Crow's mouth twists to a scowl. "I realized that life is just one series of comedy errors and this is the punchline."
"That is the story of existence since the Big Bang. Some widely regard it as a very bad move." The peculiar hedgehog hummed in faint amusement at the teen's response. "Plenty would like to see it burn."
Crow puts away his pistol as he glances around, looking for anything that points to an escape route from this deadend. "At least you're not a bore."
"I do aim to please…"
The brown-haired boy started walking off with Muffles following him out where the greater sights of the valley awaited them and the Persona user privately taking in the awe of the old kingdom. "Is it only these old ruins or are there other places I can go to?"
"Indeed there are. None hold an exit that I could find and I have looked." The hedgehog stood shorter than Crow yet carried as much a presence as he and seemingly possessed the same theatrics as him when he made a sweeping gesture that pointed towards the rest of the old crumbling castle. "This place I call Kingdom Valley and was apparently home to a royal family who ruled over Soleanna until an unfortunate accident occurred some years ago."
"Accident?" Crow narrowed his eyes at that. He may be the False Detective Prince but he didn't get through the hardships of life by being a moron.
"Indeed. Supposedly, a failed prototype energy engine was to blame for all of this."
Crow cupped his chin inquisitively, stopping in his paces as did Muffles. "An energy engine? This must have been a project of great importance to be held within these grounds."
"Of course. Following the accident, the sole surviving royal present being that of a little girl was moved to another castle elsewhere from what I could gather…"
"What was the name of the project?"
"I believe they called it Project Solaris."
"Like the sun god Solaris." Crow nodded slowly. "Trying to harness the power of the sun from the sounds of it."
"Oh, it was more than that..." Muffles turned his gaze away to stare at a still intact tower in the distance and paused for dramatic effect. "They wanted to harass the power to control time and space itself. Command the powers of Solaris itself to undo the disasters and losses of the past with ease including the Duke's late wife. They were close but no cigars."
The jaded boy was intrigued by the sound of it. Time travel was an idea that got tossed around while working for Shido but unlike cognitive research, there had been no breakthrough and highly doubts such a thing is possible with their own current knowledge. Knowing Shido, he would have used it to benefit his own agenda of making Japan the supreme power of the world in his vision.
"In fact, it had almost brought upon the end of the world because of the Duke of Soleanna's hubris and unleashing the wrath of Solaris. Only thanks to the actions of those present at the scene did the world narrowly avoided destruction. Has your own world come close to meeting its end because of a few fools trying to meddle with forces they do not understand?" The mouthless hedgehog slowly turned his head to him as he put forth his question. Staring up at him.
"What's it to you? I didn't ask for a history lesson behind this abandoned castle and you seem to know quite a bit about this Project Solaris."
"Well, take it as me being a good host who aims to keep your mind off things and I was around when that unfortunate accident took place…" The non-human answered vaguely before adding; "It's not like we're getting out of this forsaken waste anytime soon, we seem to be the only souls around and I doubt a human like yourself can handle the isolation the way I have without losing your mind eventually. We have all the time in the world to spend and we may as well try getting used to each other here. Make lemonade out of lemons as the old saying goes, non?"
He tried thinking of a retort but Muffles makes a good point. Wherever he is, Akechi doesn't have very many options and understands himself well enough to know that he's not going to last long in his isolation before he loses his mind from lack of brain stimulation. May as well be sociable with the only other sentient being besides himself and his Persona Hereward isn't exactly someone that can surprise him.
"...There was that one time in 1999 when Kirijo Group had nearly once ended the whole world in one of their experiments gone wrong." Crow relented as his Metaverse attire dissipated back into civilian clothes. "They're a large multinational corporation that originated from the Nanjo Group in case you're wondering but all you need to know about them is that they were doing research into this other reality that exists alongside ours' and their main goal was to create a time manipulation device. Less to say, they failed in that endeavor."
"Appears our worlds aren't too different after all…" If he had a mouth, Akechi would be seeing a smirk on his face. "What came out of this failure that nearly cut your life prematurely my dear Crow?"
"Besides the deaths claimed by the great explosion born from their failed experiment? A new state of the art school built over the site, a whole host of coverups, the creation of the Anti-Shadow Weapons line of robots to fight secret wars and a heiress who bears the sins of her grandfather." Akechi crosses his arms. "I just happen to know a few things from my line of work…"
"And no doubt there are others bearing powers like yourself." Muffles added, able to make his surmised deduction based on keen observation. "Test subject?"
"Maybe."
"You're no amateur. Even from here, I can sense your strength." Muffles made a coy remark with a slow head nod. "No doubt you're sensing mine as well."
"Perhaps. You're unlike anything I've ever encountered before." And Akechi was being truthful here. This Muffles individual is no ordinary Shadow nor feels like any Shadow he has come across including Palace Rulers. He is something else entirely.
Something unknown. Something dangerous.
Muffles chuckled to his answer, taking a bow. "I am pleased to be the first and perhaps soon, we'll be best of friends…"
Time passes in the void and some wandering around later, Akechi finds himself opening up to Muffles more either due to lack of options for socials and desperate for mental stimulation or the hedgehog has a way of insidiously getting through to people with his elegant tongue. He thought he was good at talking but Muffles makes him look like an amateur and in a way, he saw kinship with him.
Two fellow souls who lived under tumultuous lives in a world indifferent to their plight and only appreciating them when they wear a mask that pleases them. Two people who desire to cause chaos to the system that facilitated their hardships and watch it go up in flames. Getting revenge at all those who wronged them.
He has shared more of his story to Muffles who shared more of his' in return.
The hedgehog learns of his Detective Prince, his connections to this Metaverse and how he had staged his own cases through his ties to said reality while remarking that he is more true than many of society's idols.
Learning of his Personas, the fact he can materialize a false image of himself to his allies, the adventures he's been on, what he has learned through his ties to Shido including Kirijo Group's attempts at creating their own Persona users through the use of orphans and how he views the world in general.
A bastard child unwanted by society until he made himself something to be desired for by that same society while hiding away his true self for it is not seen as desirable compared to his manufactured princely persona. Caring little about the wellbeing of his nation as far as his revenge goals went. Only finding true value in living again when he met Joker and the Phantom Thieves but he was too deep in his mission to bring down his father to realize what he could have had until he was at death's door.
From his conversations with him, Akechi learned he had a wife who was fiery and passionate that he wishes to be reunited with again. Had done everything he could to protect the secrets of Project Solaris from power hungry bad characters like a Doctor Ivo Robotnik who had also made multiple attempts to abduct the sole surviving member of Soleanna's royal family for his nefarious ends. From the sounds of things, this Doctor Robotnik would make a puppet out of Shido if that fool tried to strongarm him into working for him and would no doubt try to use the likes of the Dark Hour to take over the world.
Contending with other beings whose actions directly or indirectly brought about the end of the world including one by the name of Shadow the Hedgehog who was created by Ivo's grandfather Gerald, someone had nearly doomed the world twice by the time Muffles met him and works for the same agency who sealed him away decades prior. Someone who's foolishly fighting for the same world that will persecute him later and a person that Muffles harbors strong personal sentiments towards from what he could gather.
How he fought to save all of reality from the wrath of Solaris and being left forgotten for it. Trying to do the right thing even if it costs him everything in the end. To be a refugee of a timeline that no longer exists. Discarded in this void like garbage. Just like him.
Akechi has been around Shido and many of his cronies long enough to spot a liar from a mile away but the way Muffles speaks his words, the subtleties in his body language and how his big eyes conveys the emotions of his soul; he has to be a real master of lies and deception to be able to fake it so well for Akechi who's built a professional career out of lying to other people under a plastic facade being unable to tell if he's acting or not. All seem very genuine to him.
The two sole inhabitants of the void were wandering through a decayed and ruined metropolis. Resembling a city out of a post-apocalyptic story and dubbed 'Crisis City' by Muffles due to it being ground zero when the secrets of Solaris was unleashed on the entire world. Apparently, it used to be the bustling Soleanna New City in another life.
For Akechi, the watery ruins of Tokyo in Shido's Palace looks like heaven compared to this desolate concrete jungle. It's scary that this very city represents mankind centuries after the apocalypse. Those unfortunate survivors live to scavenge and kill one another for food in a world trapped in darkness. Vegetation next to non-existent.
According to Muffles, this city was perpetually on fire and there once roamed a blazing beast that ruled over the ruins with legions of flaming minions. Forcing both man and mobian alike to hide whenever they are about as these fire beings hunt for anything living.
"...How long have you been here for?"
"I have lost track of time and time may as well be an abstract idea here. It could be a few months…" Muffles sighed. "Or even years. By my estimation, you must have been here for almost five months now. This would be early July for you if I guessed correctly."
That puts things into perspective for the young man. He had a busy life and leisure for a so-called Second Detective Prime was more of a luxury as is the case with most salarymen living in Tokyo. Free from all obligations, he has no clue on what he's meant to do with all the free time now afforded to him. A utterly worthless currency in this nowhere place.
"Soon, I'll be losing track of the days, weeks, months and years here..." The brown-haired human murmurs, eyes wandering at the weathered buildings. "I hate it here."
"Likewise. It'd be more preferable to fade into nothing than to continue living in this but alas, I am still alive."
"Why not kill yourself if you hate living here that much?"
Muffles stopped in his tracks and stared Akechi in the eyes. "You think I haven't thought of that already? No, I cannot die as far as I know and I have tried, believe me… You on the other hand don't bear the curse of immortality like I have. Rather curious for someone so adamant in ending their life after achieving their revenge to be hanging onto this meaningless existence."
"Things change."
"And all because of this Ren Amamiya fellow that you are particularly fond of bringing up. I have the distinct impression that you actually value him as more than just a worthy rival. Perhaps as the first real friend you've made..." The hedgehog gesticulates. "Or as the brother you never had. A country boy that arrived in Tokyo with nothing to his name and only because he had dared to stand up to your father unlike you just to protect a woman who repaid his selflessness by letting the man ruin his life. Dared to show you up, achieve what you've worked to the bone for and surpass you despite all of your advantages."
Pointing at him. "Suffered far worse than you have yet still chose to risk his life for the good of mankind in the end. You covet everything he has that you don't. You have tried to kill him with a loaded iron and you went to save him from allowing his own bond with that doctor to make him hesitant to act. What was just a means of knowing your enemy became something that made you reconsider your life choices. What you have to live for."
"I had my goals and I wasn't going to let anything or anyone get in the way of achieving those goals. Only when I was brought back because of his regret and learning the truth about my father did I change my priorities. What I do, I do it for me and me alone. I am no one's puppet." Akechi stressed. "Not to my good for nothing father and not to a deluded fool refusing to accept the pain."
Muffles started at him, seemingly letting his words sink in and turning away from the human. "Then why save your fellow man that owes you nothing but years of hardships? Why do both you and Ren make the choices you made when ultimately in the end, man will continue to keep making those same mistakes? The same people who'll eventually allow those like your father to creep into power while doing nothing about it and contributing to the problem once more. An unbroken vicious cycle when left to their devices."
"...Here I thought I was the cynical one." Akechi spoke after a pause of silence and avoided the question. "Why does it matter to you what choices I made then?"
"I suppose I wanted to know what compass and drive you go by now. The common point between such contradictions in your being. Of course, it's also just me wanting to have something to pass the time with." The other inhabitant of the void now slowly with a playful chuckle. "Figured I'd tap into one of your interests and indulge you in feasting with your foods for thought."
Akechi gave a coy smirk. "You seem to be very good at remembering such little details like I do."
"What can I say, my dear Akechi? I see and perceive reality in ways many can't even begin to fathom. If I know someone wants something and I can give it to them while nudging them in the right direction, I will always keep a keen ear ready just in case."
"In return, you'll want something in exchange."
"It depends on what the nature of the exchange is… It can be as simple as finding me an egg or as abstract as obtaining ascension." The ebony hedgehog glances to his only void companion with the corner of his eye. "And how much the other is willing to help me. Yourself included."
"Everyone wants something. What's yours?"
"The same as you. Get out of this void and be free again."
"Beyond that."
Muffles looked on ahead. "...I badly want to go back and undo the mess that the whole saga Project Solaris would eventually lead to. Fix my own mistakes. Be with my own significant other again. Ever had those feelings yourself?"
"..."
"I'll take that as a yes. Everyone has that one thing they'd want to change but options are very slim on how to fulfill those desires both material and spiritual. After all, it is an expression of free will to want something from life for it gives us the drive to do almost anything. Regret is a universal constant." The hedgehog looked back at Akechi and espoused philosophy to him like a prophet. "It is what makes us living, sentient alike despite our differences."
Akechi thought Ren had understood him but Muffles here seem to understand him better to make him have a moment of pause. Able to see through his eyes and give a perspective while complimenting nor condemning his views. Perhaps he knows from personal experience or he's letting his walls down more and he is responding to him with that fact in mind.
No. It's the void making him do this he thinks and he's slipping up in revealing more of himself than he wants to. Muffles is just someone he's become well acquainted with. At the end of the day, he has his own agenda like he does and it'll reveal itself to him eventually…
Maybe it's late July now or late August, Akechi knows it's been a while and he thought Hereward sensed something entering the void as did Muffles as they had gone off to go investigate this oddity.
It could be something like another person or it's just their imaginations. As it turns out, it was something. Just something neither he or his companion recognised but Hereward is absolutely sure it's the Metaverse to his host's surprise. How can this be?
Ren and the Phantom Thieves got rid of the Metaverse twice with the latter coming about through unusual circumstances. He knows this one couldn't be either of those two and had to have been created after February since the rules of this iteration of the Metaverse is very different in how the Palaces work.
Cognitive Psience would be known to Shido's Antisocial Force within the government thanks to Maruki and Isshiki's research papers. No doubt they had been doing research into it unbeknownst to him and this Metaverse might very likely be the result of one of their experiments. Exactly like how Kirijo Group's experiments led to the creation of the Dark Hour. Prodding with forces they have no understanding of.
Though, that's merely his speculation based on his own personal knowledge and being his way of making sense of all this due to lack of info regarding the new Metaverse. Rather than the whole thing collapsing, only the tower containing the now-absent Treasure ceases to be while the surrounding area still stands including an uncannily close recreation of Shibuya and the aesthetics of these locations appear to resemble more like jails than palaces.
Muffles appeared intrigued by these new locations including an old decaying abandoned research facility that they're currently looking at now.
A place Crow finds unsettlingly yet can't his finger why this one place makes him wary of approaching it if not for curiosity and being eager to slay some more Shadows even if they are just the outer shells. Unlike those from Muffles' world, these Metaverse locations are actually populated in the form of Shadows and only Shadows. Not that he minds killing off some Shadows after months of no action.
"...Fear my power!" Crow roared as he obliterated a group of Shadows through Hereward's almighty spell and when one Shadow from the party who somehow avoided his Persona's Megidolaon, he closed in on them with his sword like a lion ready to bite into the flesh of a zebra. Slicing through the Shadow's neck and bathing in the blood with a manic therapeutic smile.
He snapped out of his dopamine experience when he heard the sound of impalement and turned around to see a Shadow that he didn't see earlier attempting to sneak up on him before a white glowing beam ran through its torso, halting their attempt. Said beam quickly retracts back into the right hand of Muffles while the Shadow disintegrates in the process.
"Never let yourself be distracted and never leave your back exposed for a stab." He tells Crow as he comes over to him, speaking like he's been in that spot before. "It just might cost your life."
"Hmph. I was doing fine on my own without help from others."
"So you may say but that is besides the point. It's now clear to me that you enjoy letting the beast within you run loose on those Shadows and content to indulge in your primal urges most men are afraid to engage because of how others may see that part of you…" Muffles reaches down and picks up a dropped candy bar from the now-erased Shadow before handing it to Crow. "Under your princely mask, you live for this. Everything else is recreational."
"You enjoy the violence just as much." Crow unwraps the bar and takes a bite out of it, enjoying a snack break. "The way you laugh as you slain all those scums."
Muffles let off a coy head tilt. "Admittedly, I do somewhat enjoy the feeling of violence and destruction with these hands. You could even say that it comes naturally to me like a fish to water."
"I can only imagine what you were like back home." Crow tosses the wrapper aside with a smirk. "Perhaps you were put here for a reason."
"Likewise."
"My world didn't suddenly vanish at the appearance of an extra-dimensional god."
"Nor has mine seen as many visitors from another world beyond mind and matter."
The pair would wander through the old lab and learn the dark history behind that confirms some of Akechi's suspicions yet raises even more questions. All through those notes and tape recorders left laying around for them to find. Each providing a new insight on the history of the laboratory.
Apparently, it was dedicated to AI research but the head of the laboratory Shuzo Ubakata didn't appear to be the creator of this mysterious EMMA app and the app appears to be linked with the new Metaverse according to the man. A man under orders from someone who likely gave him the app in the first place.
Whether that someone was the creator or not, he cannot say. If only he had the full context to know what this whole EMMA affair is actually about.
What was just a case of simple research into the functionality of EMMA that could benefit all of mankind became something far darker and sinister to the extent that they were deceiving the local Okinawans into being test subjects. Only by the last tape did the purpose of the Penitentiary System become clear to him. All this because of the Phantom Thieves' change of hearts.
What had become of the Test Monarch himself and the desperation to not lose his Desire through later findings confirms why Akechi had felt those uneasy vibes about this Jail. What makes it different from every other Palace and Jail he has ever explored.
They reached the end of the Okinawa Jail and fought the Warden there. Muffles dealing the killing blow. Said hedgehog proving himself to be just as capable in keeping up with Crow and his Persona in taking out Shadows. Enough to give Black Mask some serious competition.
"...Is this really what you were willing to void your return ticket for?" He would suddenly ask after the Jail Warden was no more with his back to Akechi and his words held an edge. "To save mankind from one subjugation and give them back their freedoms to only then trade away those same freedoms to invite another by their own folly? Was this really all worth your noble sacrifice?"
Goro opened his mouth to counter those words yet could offer none. Not after learning the experiments that went on here even if it's in the past now and the consequences of it likely dealt with by the Thieves. Not when he's now aware of what Shuzo had done to those people.
Shido's evil is something he can understand and wrap his head around because the man had made no bones about his own nature as well as those associated with him but this? This is messed up. Ren fought and endured the God of Control's machinations to restore freedom to mankind yet they proceed to create something that takes away their freedom again.
Those misguided idiots for scientists have the gall to say it was for the good of mankind and just like the doomed Solaris Project, man created a monster in their hubris. He died bringing down one Metaverse mess just for these morons to start a new one all over again. Why is mankind so fucking insistent on doing this to themselves and why does a group of people have to bail them out every time it happens?
If they're that hellbent on being dominated by some power like a herd of sheep, perhaps it'd be better just to let them. What's the point of him even trying to do the right thing when the masses are too apathetic and too willing to do absolutely nothing but let themselves be slaves to beings who claim to be looking out for their well-being?
Muffles tutted and shook his head as if he had read Akechi's thoughts. "It's quite the tragedy that for all the dedication you, Ren and all other Persona users put in to help out humanity, they never change. Always content to dance to the flute like the good obedient puppets they are after all the blood, sweat and tears you had shredded to free them from the strings of so-called "gods"..."
Akechi clenches his fists tightly with gritted teeth. Muffles was right. Muffles is right.
Mankind will always choose the path of least resistance even if it costs their own free will and liberty. Always ready to repeat the same mistakes and blunders like it's some sitcom. Corruption, greed and malfeasance are never too far away.
They had done nothing for him when his mother took her own life, they had done nothing for him when he was being passed around the foster care system like he's a hot potato and they had done nothing to prevent scum like Kamoshida getting as far as they did before the Thieves outed them. Any time he discovers anything good in the world like Wakaba Isshiki, they'd come and snatch it away from him like an alcoholic parent who saw their child had brought home the Holy Grail itself and quickly pawns it off for some more beer money.
"Of course, I am only speaking my mind here. Yours' may vary." Muffles said with the shrug of his shoulders. "This could very well be the word of an Antisocial Force remnant attempting to find another way to gain dominion over the people of Japan in wake of Shido's arrest and having the Phantom Thieves be blamed for it if things go wrong. Who's to really say?"
Seeing as there's nothing else to find in this desolate Jail, Akechi turns around and starts heading off in the other direction to find the exit with Muffles following behind like a shadow. "...Those who were willingly supporting Shido and aiding him in his conspiracy are like cockroaches. There's always those who slip away to live another day."
"You must regret being dead now. Knowing those toadying suck-ups weasels are living out their best days in luxury without you around to put them in their place or to take out the real trash of society."
"It's better they live when they're brought to justice with their crimes known to all and made to grovel for forgiveness." Akechi brushes his bangs aside. "I kill whenever I have to."
"Including all those lost innocents like Wakaba?"
"...Yes."
"You know who you are deep down. You know how much kegare and sin stains your being that no matter what you do, you can never fully wash off their blood. There is no point in trying to justify your own actions when you know they cannot be overlooked or whitewashed." Muffles said in a calm voice, almost like he's whispering into his ear. "The world didn't want you and will never fully accept you for who you are. You're condemned for what you are. You're only accepted when you sing the way they like you to sing. Even when you do find real acceptance like the Phantom Thieves, there's always an air of doubt on both ends."
The hedgehog adds with a sympathetic voice; "Even with your bond to Ren; part of you wonder if the sentiments are mutual or it's one-sided on his end. You always wonder how other versions of you are doing with their lives and how successful they are in making meaningful connections. For you, loneliness and isolation is a constant in your life."
"...Is that what life is for you?"
"Very much so. She's the only one I would do anything for and the only to motivate me beyond selfish wants." Muffles replied back. "I would say I'd do anything for you but you're not one for anything overly sentimental."
"I never said I loathe sentimentality. I just personally don't get high on them like others seem to do and I don't ask others to do anything for me." Akechi turns his head to Muffles. "Debts to others are stresses I don't need in my life."
"I too don't care to owe anyone anything. We are kindred in that regard."
"We're not alike."
"Neither were you and Ren but yet you consider him as a friend."
"You do make a good point." The Persona user nods his head to the teal-striped hedgehog. "I suppose by that logic, you are my friend in a way."
"Being alone in a void together does have that effect on strangers."
"Everyone's a stranger to one another until they learn about each other. It is—Sorry, it was part of my job to know people well in my line of work even though I'd rather avoid a number of them otherwise."
"Would that include me by any chance?"
"Depends on how much I tolerate your company and how well I can stand you. It's not like I have any choice on what companionship I get around here. At least you're ninety percent more useful than most people I know and I don't have to dumb myself down for you either." Akechi flashed him a smirk. "You are… Not boring."
"Hmph. Perhaps that sass is why you're here."
That got a little laugh out of Akechi. "It's better than pretending to be a goody two shoes and having to forcefully smile in public all the time when cameras are around."
"You just like the attention and being showy to those watching while knowing you're better than them."
"Oh Muffles, you do wound me with your hurtful words…" The Detective Prince said sarcastically with a mock offended face. "I'll be crying myself to sleep later."
"At least you are a lot more entertaining to converse with than that other one who never smiles..." The hedgehog shook his head. "Always so serious and stern. It's all business for him. I would say from what I know, he would call you pathetic and tell you to never show your face around him ever again if you were to encounter him."
"Oh, really?"
"He calls himself the Ultimate Lifeform. Supposedly superior to all other beings including humans."
Akechi smirked to himself, amused at the description. "Such arrogant confidence it sounds like and it'd be all the sweeter when I show him my power if the opportunity arises. I'm sure you'd be more than happy to watch."
"If only to see that fool be humbled by a member of the very race he deems his inferiors. Maybe lend a hand or two if he pulls any tricks on you."
Despite his initial opinions of Muffles, him and the hedgehog seem to be getting along like friends. Even though he's hanging around with him nearly twenty-four-seven except his sleeping hours, the other person doesn't seem to be hiding behind a facade and appears to have a genuine personality. He's not overly friendly nor overly critical towards him. The young man finds himself agreeing with his words more often than not while also finding enjoyment in winning most of the debates held between them.
Muffles gets him better than anyone besides Ren and his late mother as he neither judges or praises everything he does; he treats him just like those two would but without the sugary sweetness. He isn't sure how to feel about it. Hereward doesn't seem to be too keen on him but he's not much of a talker like Loki or Robin Hood are anyways.
The hedgehog has even divulged and shared plenty of his own knowledge with him from time to time. His very own Sojiro Sakura to draw some parallels with Ren Amamiya except exchanging his dating advice, curry and coffee knowledge for Muffles' new combat skills, negotiation skills and using others to get what you want on top of getting to learn more about his homeworld of Mobius/Earth to feed his curiosity.
He didn't have to do that. He just did it of his own accord. Maybe beneath all that nihilism, he really is a warm soul who… No. That's stupid Akechi. He's not that kind of person and has told him as such.
Hiding his own contemplations, Akechi remarked to his shorter stature hedgehog companion. "And I would be just as entertained to see you make short work out of that showoff Ren even with his strongest Personas at his side…"
Fighting the same Shadows over and over in those repeat visits to the eight Jails does get a bit dull after a while when there's no more new surprises for him to encounter. Both as a seasoned Persona user and someone who's more than used to their gimmicks. Not helped by the Shadows not having a true form for him under their outer shells to battle against.
Same for those eight Palaces plus Mementos and Kingdoms that are in the void as well. All those Palaces all happen to be the exact same ones the Phantom Thieves have been to in the past. Even the Castle of Lust that Ren, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana had done before they officially became the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
Too bad only Shadows populate the place and its' Palace Ruler Kamoshida is nowhere to be seen which is the same for all the other Palaces. The Reaper is nowhere to be found in Mementos. They're more or less just trips down memory lane for him. Though, a few of them do appear different from how he remembers them and the lack of Will Seeds that exists in them prior. He wonders why exactly that is.
The Kingdoms were interesting novelties as Metaverse locations he's never been to and having their own set of rules compared to the Palaces and Jails. The Shadows in them did put up interesting challenges that tested his thinking skills. Still no head Shadow for him to fight though much to his disappointment as he doesn't get to see the full extent of Muffles' powers matched against a strong Shadow.
He was not sure how long it had been since the appearances of these Metaverse locations. By this point, he has lost track of the time and stopped keeping count altogether. Coming to the same conclusion that Muffles did long ago.
The pair of them were in the Casino of Envy; Sae Niijima's Palace and one Akechi associates with the beginning of Shido's downfall from how the Phantom Thieves had managed to turn the unwinnable odds against the Antisocial Force through what was admittedly a brilliant scheme that he knew nothing of until later on when they were already halfway through the Cruiser of Pride. Only figuring out he was fooled by chance.
They were in one of the game rooms in the casino that has billiard tables and in the middle of playing their game together. Akechi works to shake off the skill rust while Muffles plays well for someone who's not a regular pool player. It also made for a good conversation starter.
"...If you were this competent at playing billiards, why not pursue the professional leagues? You enjoy working out the math of your ball shots more than your own detective work." Muffles launched the white ball that knocked two of the coloured billiards into a hole while speaking to Akechi. "Not deal with suckups as much."
"As much as I wanted to, I realized that I wouldn't be as useful to my father and me going pro would simply add more dates to my already packed schedule. I'd also have to deal with the politics there and could impact my passion." Akechi watches the way Muffles plays. "I highly doubt I'd be as much of a media celebrity as I was as a detective in spite of my love for the game and not a lot of my female fans that I've encountered are really the types to seriously watch the sport."
"Your desire for validation is as interesting as it is foolish. You had made up an entire person who doesn't exist and for what? To humiliate your old man in the end? I would dare say you had nothing to lose until the Thieves began making the rounds and upset your status quo."
"Depends on how you look at it."
"Some people are motivated by money, influence or power while others are motivated by grander ambitions. Here, I see a brilliant young man who was motivated by spite and hatred to cover for his want to belong yet will paradoxically fake connections towards others in the same breath." Muffles shared his take on Akechi as the latter took his turn at the table. "Says he will fight for his own beliefs and only helps the people he once stood against due to a common foe but will also contribute in a manner like that of a real comrade."
Akechi lines up his shot as Muffles continues. "He was willing to give up his life to free mankind from a reality free of sorrow yet questions himself on the futility of protecting said mankind when they are incapable of learning from past mistakes and allowing the weeds of evil to fester until someone roots them out. Says he doesn't regret his choices yet I see a look in his eyes that says otherwise."
"Like what?" Akechi eyes his winning shot. Muffles taps a finger on his cue stick.
"Like killing off Wakaba Isshiki's Shadow and causing emotional despair for her child on top of your father's cruelty to the point of wishing to die so that she can meet her again." The hedgehog's answer made the confident billiard player freeze up. "All the other people you killed as Shido's assassin were people who had it coming, were bad to their core or got killed by your target's actions. Scum who's deaths wouldn't be mourned over as much."
Akechi can remember how repugnant some of his targets were. One of them being a network executive was involved in the rape and physical battery of a child that he got away with due to "insufficient evidence" aka using his connections to threaten the victim's family into keeping quiet about it. Less to say, he enjoyed every single second of making that scumbag's Shadow pitifully beg for his life before offing him.
"She was a dedicated single mother who's research could have benefited mankind and never did anything professionally or personally to make you want her dead other than that Shido needed her gone. Of all the assassination targets, she's the only one who's murder at your hands you feel most guilty over..." Muffles draws out his sentence for just a moment before dropping the next part. "It's like having your mother die all over again except you're the one killing her."
That one blindsided Goro and made him mess up his winning shot. Allowing Muffles to go up next.
"Hearing Futaba speak fondly of her mother and Sojiro's recollections of her made you realize that once you did the deed, there was no coming back from it. A choice meant to help you get closer to Shido was ultimately all for nothing. In another life, you and her would have been this close. Be one of her brothers who shares her Featherman passion and a recipient of Wakaba's maternal love rather than being her killer." Muffles crosses his fingers for emphasis. "By the time you took the life of Haru's father, you had already numbed yourself to your own sinful acts. You were too far into your mission to turn back."
Akechi narrows his eyes at the mouthless hedgehog, catching onto what sales pitch he's trying to make here. "Where are you getting at with all this? You clearly have an angle here and you weren't bringing that up for no reason. So, come out with it already!"
Muffles nodded, obliging the human's request with a little bow. "Very well. As the more I hear from your life story in the time we're together in this void, I have identified three of your regrets and I shall list them now. Feel free to disagree…"
Raising his index finger up in the air and his cool eyes meeting Akechi's. "You regret being a blind fool for not seeing Shido's plans to be rid of you much sooner and throwing away half your life for what amounted to a doomed mission. How in hindsight, you made the wrong choice in being an enemy of the Phantom Thieves rather than be an ally to them and denying yourself true human connections."
He then raises his middle finger and both of the fingers making a peace sign or the number two. "You regret murdering Wakaba Isshiki and how that affected her only daughter as someone who was also raised by a single mother. Wishing you could have found another way to save her while making that idiot believe she's not a threat anymore. Perhaps have Wakaba help you in your mission due to her insight or to have that warm motherly love you yearn for through her and maybe lead to you joining Ren's group under far more positive circumstances…"
Akechi felt his breath hitch as he realized what the last regret is going to be before it's even revealed.
Muffles raised another finger to make a three sign. "And lastly, you regret everything that has happened to your late mother. Shamed for birthing a child out of wedlock under unfortunate circumstances, looked down on because she was a sex worker and had suffered greatly in the last years of her life because of your bastard father. You loved her dearly and she loved you the same way."
His voice became subdued to the point of emotionlessness. "While society sneered at you because of what you are, her warm unconditional motherly love made you feel like you could actually accept yourself for what you were born as. You awoke to Loki and Robin Hood out of sorrow for her the same way Maruki awoke to his' for Rumi. Wishing you could have been a stronger man much sooner to save her and smite that despair out of her heart like Ren smite the despair out of Futaba's..."
"Wishing deep down that you could let her know just how much you truly appreciate all the sacrifices she made for you despite being put upon and getting the chance to properly say goodbye to her… Leave her with the knowledge that she means the world to you." Muffles closes his eyes. "In a fair world, she would live to see you become both a Detective Prince and a Phantom Thief fighting for true justice. Be a shining ray of light to all those like yourself that they can make a real difference in the world. See you making friends with people like Ren Amamiya and Sae Niijima."
Akechi's eyes widen every so slightly. The hedgehog had penetrated through his fortress and struck his heart with just his words. How perfectly he describes the dreams hidden under his cynicism.
"Here, let me show you something…" Muffles walks over to the awestruck Akechi and stops just where his shadow is. "You might know this one."
In his free hand, he summons a crackling purple orb that the human has never seen him do before. The orb floating above the billiard table where a moving image is being shown on it.
Showing a child living in a rundown, lower end apartment excitedly coming into the living room where the TV is showing bumpers and previews for other programs before his favorite show is due to start. A sight very familiar to Akechi.
"Come on mom, Featherman is coming on!" A younger-sounding Goro Akechi said with youthful glow. Almost startling his present day self but the response his younger self received and what he saw next made him freeze up.
"My little Goro's in a cheerful mood today." An adult woman bearing similarities to Akechi came into the living room and sat down next to child Akechi. She would ruffle the boy's hair with a warm smile. The voice, the cadence in her words and how she looks; exactly as present day Akechi remembers her.
"It's because today is a new Featherman episode!" Young Akechi giggled from the act of affection just as his favorite program was coming on. "Look, there it is now!"
Akechi's mother nodded as the little boy leaned his head on her shoulder while they both watched the show together. "Let's see what this week has in store for our favorite Featherman heroes… Maybe they'll defeat the bad guy like they always do…"
The Akechi of the present stares at the moving images with open mouth and wide eyed amazement. Seeing one of his fond childhood played back to him as if it had just happened now and shown to him like a motion picture. Mindlessly reaching a hand out to the image as it was playing before him, wanting to reach through the portal and feel the warm tender flesh of his mother's face again after so long.
When his hand went right through the orb, said purple orb and the image on it disappeared into nothing. He fell to his knees with the thud of his dropped cue stick smacking against the floors and only now did he take notice of the fresh moisture running down his cheeks. How he was emotionally reacting to the sight of seeing his mother being alive again after so long.
Then, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Muffles looking down at him with a gaze that appeared to be sympathetic. "Every day, you think of her. Always a wound in your youthful heart."
"H-How can you do that and w-why did y-you make me watch that?" Akechi stuttered as he regained his voice again and wiped tears from his eyes with a sniffle. "Tell me now!"
"As I have said before, I perceive time and space differently than how Albert Einstein had defined it in his own 1915's theory of relativity. While you perceive time in linear and perhaps unmalleable form, I see it as a free-flowing river of events with its own currents, eddies and backwashes." The dark hedgehog answered casually like he was just asked a rudimentary question from a child. "And it was you who desired to see the image of your mother again as you knew her then."
Removing his hand from Akechi's shoulder to go take his shot at the billiard table while talking away to him. "What you had witnessed just now is a display of my temporal power and I selected a cherished memory from your childhood to show you my truth with hard proof."
"If I showed you my power any other way, you'd still be skeptical of me." Muffles says as his cue stick hits the white ball that smacks into the other billiard balls with loud clinks and they go into the nets. "What you see is not just a window to the past but also a door to the past as well as the present and future."
Few things can amaze Goro Akechi aka Crow after experiencing the Metaverse and this is one of them. "And all this from Project Solaris?"
"If the shoe fits…"
The Persona user got back up to his feet and picked up his cue stick to go for his next turn, only to see Muffles had cleared the whole table. "If you could always do that, why not use it to escape this place?"
The mobian sighed. "Very good question my dear boy but unfortunately, that's not how it works. I have to be in a living timeline to be able to go through time itself and since this realm is outside of time itself, the most I can show you is your own past to now and teleportation. Due to circumstances that had brought me here, I have lost my own anchor to the living universe and thus I cannot escape this godforsaken wasteland of dead time debris on my own. Likewise, you have lost your own anchor and thus are trapped here with me."
"I see… I think I now fully understand what this place is. It's a graveyard for dead timelines and realities like the EMMA Metaverse. Places that once were but no longer exist and are discarded to make way for the new." Goro surmises based on the new information provided. "You did call this White Space and had described it as a limbo-like realm. If the presence of Jails, Palaces and Kingdoms are any indication, any temporal junk from our own world comes here and we're the beacon. Of course, that is merely an assumption on my part."
"But a sound one nevertheless. Perhaps you being here could be the key to our freedoms."
"Assuming there is a way out of here, what do you intend to offer me in return for helping you escape this limbo?"
Muffles theatrically held a hand up high like a pastor. "A chance for you to undo those regrets of your past, make things right and most of all; save your dear mother from her end and save your own young flame of hope from despair. We all have those regrets in our lives that we could just get rid of to have a peace of mind and I promise you a golden ticket to do exactly that because you are entitled to a reward for all the good you had done as Crow."
The hedgehog sets down his cue stick on the billiard table, not once breaking his concentrated gaze on Akechi. "Only take this offer if you trust me implicitly and desire it so. Everything else after that, we can negotiate the terms on. Listen to your heart and hear what it truly wants."
The human silently took in his companion's alluring and tempting words. Letting the cogs in his mind and soul turn while processing the information. Allow himself to contemplate it all.
Goro Akechi. A Phantom Thief by the name of Crow. An Antisocial Force assassin by the name of Black Mask. The Second Advent of the Detective Prince. The False Detective Prince. The Wild Card spawn of Masayoshi Shido.
Everything he was, everything he is and everything he ever will be. The past of joy turned to loss, the present of rage turned to regret and the future of certainty to uncertainty. All meeting one another at this crossroad in his life.
He thought he was sure of himself at the end of his life. No longer anyone's puppet, moving on from his past shackles and forging his own destiny. Yet here in this moment, he's having second thoughts and neither Ren or Yoshizawa are here to be the harsh voice to chase away his hesitancy.
The inhumane experiments, the first hand witness of systematic corruption, the ever recurring human complacency that allow for stagnation and dereliction to fester like a tumor, the unfair circumstances befallen to several of the Phantom Thieves and how many times man has to be saved from its' own mess had done plenty to make the young man second guess his own conviction. What Hereward once used to stand for has become no more than a passing memory to him and he has regressed back to having his original two Personas like he did before.
The longer he listens to Muffles, the more he believes his compelling arguments and the points he makes for he agrees with him. Seeing him less as a stranger he'd be wary of and more as the father figure he never had growing up who seems to value him for who he is as a person. Someone he would actually do anything for.
Yet at the same time, there is a quiet voice in the back of his head telling him that he's forgetting why he had made that vow on February 2nd, what it means to him spiritually and what it stands for in his life. Allowing the words of this other person to seemingly pull him back from what it calls his progression as a person just because he offers to allow to see his mother again.
While he had committed morally heinous acts and believed himself to be beyond saving, the Phantom Thieves would show him that he doesn't have to be enslaved to a set path. He can grow, change and evolve even in spite of everything he has done in his life. The fact he even obtained Hereward from his experiences with them is definitive proof of that.
Ren, Yoshizawa, Sae and the rest of those who matter to him all say similar words of encouragement to him with each speaking different tones in his mind. Sae tells him to refuse Muffles. Shido tells him to accept Muffles. Ren says one thing and says the other.
Looking up to Muffles who stands across from him in utter patience like his late mother and awaiting his expected answer like his worthless father, Goro Akechi aka Crow aka Black Mask has now made his mind up. He knew exactly what his answer was going to be…
Author's Note: That's quite a lengthy one but one that is worth the time. With Sonic X Shadow Generations featuring the return of a familiar foe from a game released in the same year as the original Persona 3 and being voiced by Robbie Daymond who's best known as the English voice of Goro Akechi, this little plot bunny came to be before becoming something more substantial than a fancy idea.
With the ambiguity around Akechi's fate after P5/P5R, the connections between Persona/SMT and Sonic the Hedgehog, what Joker's original Persona was going to be before Altus settled on Arsene, feeling the mood for a more philosophical piece between a character like Akechi and a character like "Muffles", the whole deal with White Space and the fact they now share the same actor, I decide why not make this crossover?
Put you in the shoes of a Post-Third Semester Akechi meeting this "hedgehog" with next to no prior knowledge of who he is other than what he'll share to you about himself. Unsure of his true nature and personal motives. Depending on your fandom, you might have a different understanding of who these two are.
I have written this with the idea that this could lead to a full-fledged story but also figured I can just as well write a one-shot crossover that takes advantage of the different properties to make an interesting story. Test the waters on whether or not you're interested in seeing more of this before I commit to it. If not and you happen to be a writer, then you have this starting foundation to develop from.
Hope I had managed captured their personalities and portrayed them well here.
With that all said, leave your thoughts and reviews in the comments. I would appreciate it and be interested in your takeaway of this piece. Peace.