"We've reached our hideout! Enter!" The leading Rebel of the Rebel Club ushered the Phantom Thieves inside. As many of them expected, they wandered into Leblanc for the third time.
"Another Leblanc...!?" Despite the fact this was a very consistent pattern, Ryuji couldn't believe it.
"Nailed it!" Futaba immediately piped up, poking fun at Ryuji for his reaction. "Score one for the king of comedy: Ryujiiiiii!"
"Although I hafta say, the act has gotten a little stale by now." Ann said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"I believe I speak for the panel when I say we would appreciate more animated gestures next time." Yusuke added calmly.
"Maybe incorporate some props into your routine to spice it up?" Haru suggested.
"I think he should exaggerate his voice a little more, too!" Sophia added with a bright smile.
"When did I say I was takin' notes!?" Ryuji groaned at all of this. They were having too much fun with this! He couldn't tell how serious they were...
The rebels, of course, didn't take very kindly to this little comedy act taking placing in their very serious hideout. "What's this!? Are you over here mocking our hideout!"
"Ohp, you made the little hat people mad." Ichinose remarked with a small snicker.
"Oh no, we wouldn't think of it! No mocking here, ehehehe..." Ann trailed off with a nervous laugh. She wasn't really doing them any favors right now.
Noticing the strangers in the hideout, another rebel spoke out about it. "Hey, who are these guys?"
"Well, they're actually..." The current Rebel leader explained the situation to those unaware. It was a lot for them to take in at first, but that was just par for the course at this point.
"I see. So you stumbled upon them, and they're trying to determine whether or not to join the Rebel Club." The resolute rebel nodded in understanding. "I suppose we are desperate. Even a cat would make a good ally in our circumstances."
"I'd watch your tongue if I were you, buddy!" Morgana said with a slight glare. These hat people were real pieces of work sometimes!
"Calm down, Meowgana." Sophia said with a small smile. Even if Morgana was more accepting of being a cat, that didn't mean he liked to be called one all the time.
"Um, before we agree to anything, though, would you mind explaining things to us?" Makoto spoke for the others. "We heard something about a tyrant earlier. What else can you tell us about that?"
"In a nutshell? He's a ruthless monster." The leading rebel spoke with what one could assume was a scowl. "He has no problem throwing others under the bus - so long as he get something out of it!"
"That's right! We all trusted him, and the traitor stabbed us in the back!" A female rebel exclaimed.
"That's right! That bastard *** took away someone very close to me!" Another Rebel said firmly.
"If only it weren't for ***...it's time he got what he deserves!"
The strangest thing was happening. Zenkichi's eyes were wide as the name the Rebels were speaking of...wasn't registering. It literally turned to static when he tried to listen for it. "What the hell...? Don't tell me my ears are goin' already..."
"D-Did anyone else hear that just now?" Hifumi whispered to the others. "O-Or rather, didn't hear...?"
"Every single one of us has been put through hell by ***!" The resolute Rebel exclaimed.
"Huh...we can't hear 'em say the name. What's the deal there?" Futaba had numerous question marks above her head. This was a first.
"You guys can't hear it?" Ichinose tilted her head.
"You can!?" Ryuji gasped.
"No. Not at all. I have no idea what they're saying." Ichinose just smiled. She was messing with them.
"Oh, thank god. I thought I was losin' it." Zenkichi breathed a sigh of relief.
"You are the oldest one here, so it's no surprise." Ichinose teased. Zenkichi's expression just soured slightly in response. He wasn't THAT OLD!
"What is the meaning of this..." Akechi was just as confused.
"Um, by the way." Sumire spoke up. "Do you have a leader around here?" Marie's Kingdom had Erina, Yoshiki's had Yuki, so this one...
The rebels looked a bit down for a moment. "Thanks to ***, our leader suffered grave injuries and can no longer fight alongside us..."
"O-Oh, I'm sorry..." Sumire frowned at that response. It did make her what happened in this Kingdom, or at least, in reality for this to be the case. She glanced at Toshiro, who still looked a little tense.
"Anyway!" The female rebel interjected. "That's enough backstory! Are you going to help us or not!?"
"Before we do that, you do know how we can get out of here, right?" Ren crossed his arms. "It wouldn't be much of a deal if we weren't getting anything out of it."
"Fine." The current leading rebel grunted. "We'll tell you this one thing for now. This is top secret, mind you! Recently, we were able to confirm the location of the Legionnaires leader! But the place is locked up so tightly, none of us can get in. We can only break in if we find all four keys to the door."
"Annnnnd what's that got to do with us?" Ryuji asked with a deadpan. "We're askin' for an exit, not a fight."
"They're probably guessing the exit is behind that locked door." Hifumi said.
"If they've combed through the rest of this place, the only logical conclusion is the exit being behind that door." Zenkichi surmised. "Of course, it's not a guarantee. But it's the only real lead we've got. That's the logic behind it."
"That means we do share a common goal - yes?" Yusuke said.
"Yeah." Ren nodded. "Let's joint the Rebel Club."
"Good idea." Haru smiled. "It's not as if we have any other leads at the moment. And who knows, helping them might restore Toshiro's memory as well."
"Thank you." Toshiro said curtly. "Hopefully I can remember something useful...having this come this far already, I'm determined to get to the bottom of this memory issue."
"Looks like we're members of the Rebel club." Ichinose took a seat. "I've never been part of a school club. What a fascinating experience."
"I don't think this is the club you should be excited about joining first." Zenkichi remarked with a sweat drop.
"Excellent, we're happy to have you!" The leading rebel exclaimed with a visible expression of elation. "As of this moment, you're officially members of the Rebel Club! We'll root out and confront this evil as one!"
"Yeah! We're that much closer to success!" The female rebel said with glee.
"So," Erina began. Now that they had that out of the way, there was a question on her mind. "do you know where these four keys are?"
"We've searched high and low across this building." The leading rebel said. "But there are those strange doors across the building. We can only assess that the keys are hidden away within those strange pocket dimensions."
"It stands to reason that they are only more of them." Akechi crossed his arms. "At least this means that we really aren't in danger unless we step through those doors. One less thing to worry about."
"The closest one is in the courtyard! Once you're ready, please head over there and acquire it for us!" The serious female rebel requested.
"At least we know where we have to go now." Ren said. He was glad to finally have a lead in this place. It was one step closer to actually getting home...
.
.
Before the Phantom Thieves went out, they took the opportunity to sit and go over their current situation. "Finally, a breather..." Morgana said with a soft exhale.
"Don't relax too long. We have a lot of work ahead of us." Ren said while standing behind the counter. No matter where they were, it was just a location that felt right to him.
"This area is a lot different than the previous two." Hifumi closed her eyes, in deep thought. "The Kingdoms prior to this one were entire countries."
"And yet, according to the Rebels, nothing exists outside of this school." Makoto was having trouble figuring that one out herself. "So we can only surmise that the entire Metaverse is just this building."
"That's a little creepy." Mika shook her head. "It's so cold and freaky here." The sense of isolation this building had got to her.
"A world comprised of an eerie school buildings, creepy doors, and inside those doors, a bizarre place where Legionnaires spawn." Yusuke shook his head. This was one heck of the world they wound up in this time.
"What a lame idea for a world." Futaba groaned. "At least put some idea into the concept, y'know."
"I don't think that's how it works." Sophia remarked. "This is based on Toshiro's memory, after all. Maybe the building has strong ties to that memory?"
"What a great deduction, Sophia!" Ichinose clasped her hands together. She felt some pride in Sophia's assessment. "I've been thinking about that since we got here. Even if we exclude the isolated feeling this Kingdom provides, why does this most resemble reality?"
"I'm also curious about the 'leader' they were talking about..." Zenkichi remarked. "This is a school, and the Rebel Club match the look of students to a T. So I can assume we're dealing with highschoolers."
"Maybe the person they were talking about was a student?" Haru suggested, placing a finger on her cheek. "But if something happened to them because of the Ruler here...that would be awful..."
"Awful things tend to happen in schools..." Ann said with a small sigh.
"I wonder what kinda mastermind we'll be dealing with this time..." Ryuji wondered aloud.
"It's someone Toshiro knows. That's all we can glean for now." Akechi said. "Even with all of our speculation, there's very little we can ascertain without a little more information."
"Sorry I can't be of any help." Toshiro sighed. This entire Metaverse existed because of him, yet he could do nothing in terms of information. At least not yet. "All I know is that I feel like I should know this place. But I just can't remember."
"Don't worry about it, Toshiro-san!" Sumire said with a smile. "Please don't force yourself to remember. Just as before, we'll figure things out!"
"Strangely, I feel the same way." Erina admitted. "I've had this feeling since we stepped foot in here. If I'm being honest, I don't like how it feels, at all. I mean...it's still been a lot to accept that I'm a cognitive being. But I've never felt this way before..."
"..." That was enough to make a few of the group silent. Whatever could that mean...?
"Ah! I didn't mean to make you worry." Erina shook her head. "I'm sure I'll get used to it. Anyway, this is a school, right? You guys go to something like this everyday?"
"Sorta like this." Morgana answered. "But a real one is much more crowded and lively."
"Oh, that sounds like fun! And there's all kids of people there, right?" Erina was interested to learn more about this.
"Yep." Ryuji answered. "We're on break right now, which is why we're all together in the first place. But you've got all kinds of people' sometimes you get shitty teachers, sometimes you get nosey counselors." A little too nosey and overbearing for his liking...
"Don't forget a terrifying Student Council President!" Futaba said with a mischievous grin.
"Haha, yeah that too!" Ryuji said, stupidly. "Like a fearsome chief with a fist of steel!"
Makoto's stone cold glare pierced the souls of Ryuji and Futaba. "Now, I don't know about all that. I only punish Shadows and Legionnaires...and juniors who don't know how to keep their mouths shut."
"You guys really gotta stop poking the bear like this." Zenkichi rubbed the back of his head. There were only so many times they could annoy Makoto before she actually did something about it.
"S-SORRY SENPAI!" Ryuji and Futaba exclaimed at the same time.
"Haha, school sounds pretty exciting huh, Senpai?" Erina gave a bit of a nervous laugh.
"That is...a little misleading..." Hifumi sighed.
"...By the way!" Futaba turned to Zenkichi and Akechi. "What were you two worrying about in battle earlier?"
"Oh, that." Zenkichi pushed his glasses up a bit. "I thought it strange at first. But as we were fighting those Legionnaires, it felt like I was close to full power again."
"Yes, I felt the same." Akechi added. "Considering we just came from fighting Yoshiki, I could feel the difference immediately."
"Now that you mention it...I kinda felt the same way as well!" Ann perked up. "Like...I was still being a little weighed down, but not as much as before."
"I felt it too." Sophia raised a hand cutely.
"Does this mean we're regaining out power?" Ren looked at his hands. "I mean, thanks to Lavenza's help, we've been managing. I do feel a far cry stronger than when we got thrown around by Marie at first."
"I wonder..." Hifumi placed a hand on her chin. "Since this is the Metaverse inside of Toshiro's heart, perhaps we are growing stronger because his resolve to fight has been as well?"
"Me?" Toshiro pointed at himself.
"It's only a working theory. But when we first encountered you, you were, erm..." Hifumi tried to phrase it politely.
"A coward who's legs shook with every step he took." Mika, however, was happy to be blunt.
"I certainly can't deny that." Toshiro spoke with a slightly nervous smile. Mika never really missed the opportunity to let him have it...But her words did make him realize how far he'd actually come since their first meeting. He just couldn't say in confidence that Mika said it with the intention of making him feel good about himself...
"And as we've progressed through these kingdoms, Toshiro-san's will to fight has gotten much stronger. He stood up to Marie, albeit with shaky legs." Ichinose snickered a bit at the memory.
"And he stood up firmly to his own father." Yusuke added. "His resolve to fight has become exceedingly strong at this point."
"Could his will to fight be a direct result of our power returning? We are in a Metaverse based in his heart." Morgana found it plausible. "I wonder what would've happened if Hifumi didn't protect Yuki back then..."
"Luckily, we don't have to worry about that." Sumire said with a smile. "Hifumi-senp-, er, Hifumi was great back there!"
"Hehehe...I was just doing what I always do." Hifumi scratched her cheek bashfully.
"Who knows, perhaps he could awaken to a Persona at this juncture." Makoto said with a half smile.
"In that case, we'd have to give him a codename!" Futaba beamed. "I wonder what sort of outfit Pops has in mind as a rebel..."
"Perhaps I could draw something up..." Yusuke felt the inspriation.
"I'd put him in something silly..." Mika mumbled. Admittedly, she was feeling some inspiration to draw now as well. But she would also curb it, because she didn't want anyone else to see it. That itch was going to annoy her...
"I think we're getting plenty ahead of ourselves now!" Toshiro said while waving his hand. "I don't even know what I'd do with a Persona like the rest of you all. The idea of rebelling has only just come to me recently, in case you've forgotten!"
"The length of rebellion doesn't really matter." Ren said. "It can be a large buildup overtime...or an explosion in the heat of the moment. All that matters is that it's what your heart really desires. Look at everyone here." Ren gestured to the Phantom Thieves. "Our powers awakened one way or another..."
"Kid's not wrong." Zenkichi said with a half smile. "Sometimes at the end of the day...you just need a push. When you find sight of who you are and want to be, that's when it clicks."
"If it means anything, I see a lot more spirit in you than I ever had!" Ichinose complimented. "I don't think my heart is ready for that kind of thing. But after going through yours, I'd say you're on the way to surprising us at some point. Sophia managed to do the same...and that was the moment that saved me."
"Huh..." Toshiro was just in awe. He couldn't outright deny what he saw. "Well, I can't really make any promises about that. I'm not sure what we'll encounter the deeper we go. I'm still willing and ready to fight with all of you, of course. Even if I can't step into the battlefield, I'll do what I can to support you all."
"We know!" Ann spoke with a bright smile. "We're all one big team here! You're not in this alone. I learned that even one friendly hand can change someone's life. And you've got a lot of hands ready to help pull you up!"
"Don't get too overzealous." Akechi mumbled.
"Yeah, you're getting a little to o happy there." Mika added.
"But you don't want anything bad to happen to Toshiro, right?" Sophia looked to Akechi and Mika.
"...Not for the reason's of his safety." Mika huffed. If anything bad happened to Toshiro, they were screwed! Akechi said nothing, but his silence was a slight agreement to Mika's own statement.
"We've already come this far. I'd prefer we get to the end without issue." Akechi stated bluntly.
"Well...that's better than nothing." Toshiro was still glad to have their help.
Akechi had a thought, which is why he went silent. Realizing this, Haru was the one who approach him. "Is something wrong...?"
"Not necessarily." Akechi responded, giving Haru a glance. "There's something that crossed my mind, during the talk of Toshiro gaining a Persona. There is something missing that we should have seen by now."
"Something missing?" Haru tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"It was briefly mentioned before, but now it's something I can't help but think about..." And he was going to convey this thought to Haru. "We've delved this deep into Toshiro's heart at this point...and we haven't seen his own Shadow."
"Oh, you're right..." Haru did recall the idea of Toshiro's Shadow being mentioned only briefly. But now that they were in this isolated school, the idea did feel...stronger than before. "What do you think it means?"
"...I don't know yet." Akechi said while staring out the door of Leblanc. "It will be difficult to discern if his Shadow will be friend or foe. But whatever the case is, we best prepare for it sooner or later. For now..."
They had to focus on getting those four keys. That was the only way they could make progress and answer their questions about this Kingdom. The only thing was...were they prepared for the things they would soon find out?