"Akira" Normal Speech

'Akechi' People's thoughts

"Persona" Other being's speech

'Velvet' Other being's thoughts

Disclaimer: You know the drill, Persona and the SMT franchise belong to our lord Atlus, may the milking era of Persona 5 be long and prosper (I wouldn't mind a P3 remake with those sweet models you showed in the P3DMN trailer, Atlus. Just saying)

Chapter 2

Unforeseen Pieces

Genzai

"Ahh, the food here is definitely top notch; don't you think so, Sae-san?" brown eyes regarded the tall woman to her side with curiosity, a smile present on her own lips jut as she brought the chopsticks to her mouth once again, marveling at the sublime taste of the sushi they were eating.

"And extremely expensive too…" however the only response she got was a sigh by the older, silver-haired woman that sitting on the stool to her right, her reddish brown eyes looking down at the food with a worried frown.

It was hard to enjoy something like this when you knew the price of it.

"You shouldn't frown so much, Sae-san. Someone as young shouldn't have wrinkles after all" the sharp gaze she received by saying those words did little to scare her "Besides I'm paying for my own share anyway. I could pay for yours too if you want"

"No thank you" the offer was swiftly rejected however, just as the business suit-wearing woman started eating "I still don't even get where you get the money for stuff like this, you're still a student after all"

"My services aren't cheap, Sae-san" she answered, and one Niijima Sae knew how truth that statement could be. She had no exact figure, but it was a well known rumor after all "It comes with the reputation"

And what a reputation that was, which certainly said a lot about her skills considering how tough it could be for a woman to rise in today's society, and no one knew this better than Sae herself, but she also knew you would be hard-pressed to find someone that would question the skills of the girl by her side.

The results spoke for themselves.

Goro Akechi, known as a genius detective all over the country, one that has so far resolved every single investigation that had been sent her way, even those that the police had been truly unable to figure out on their own. A public figure that was not only known by those like her, but also extremely popular with the general public, something that, in Sae's opinion, had a lot to do with not only the way she acted in front of the cameras, but also because of her looks.

There was no denying that good-looking people had an advantage, especially when it came to being public figures. The young detective had no issues in that aspect though, and to call her anything but a beauty would be an understatement. Combine that with her charisma and it was no surprise she had every news outlets like putty in her hands.

"However" the brown-haired girl spoke again, her gloved hands resting on her lap "if it is you I guess I can make an exception. This is hardly a friendly meeting after all, am I right?"

Another sigh escaped Sae's lips, knowing Akechi was right. Of course she didn't invite the young detective out to eat just to socialize; she hardly had the time for that, but she would have preferred to bring the subject herself.

"I'm pretty sure you have your own theories already" the older woman said, her food forgotten already "about the…incidents that have been happening for the past year" her tone was as serious as it could be, after all what she was referring to was probably the biggest controversy that the country was facing

Or at least if you believed in such things. There were still a handful of the population that didn't believe in them, but considering not only the fame they were gaining by the masses thanks to their heroes of justice reputation, alongside their mysterious method for bring down criminals that even today puzzled her to no end, you would be hard pressed to walk through the streets without hearing something about them.

Even some stores were starting to sell merchandise about them.

Such was the popularity of the Phantom Thieves of Heart.

Also known as the ones responsible for Sae's current headache.

"The Phantom Thieves, huh?" Sae heard the younger girl whisper, and she had to admit she was honestly curious about her opinion about them, after all for all the public talk the detective did, whenever the subject of the Phantom Thieves was brought up she always avoided the question or answered as vaguely as she could.

Sae would like to think that someone like Akechi would in no way support a group of people that could apparently brainwash anyone they felt like it, but considering she had already seen a few of her colleagues talking positive about them the possibility was still there.

"I didn't know you were the one in charge of that case, Sae-san" with her food also forgotten the brown-haired woman looked straight at Sae with a raised eyebrow, the smile that was plastered on her face almost frozen in place.

"I'm not" the prosecutor answered, a hand massaging her temple "but it doesn't change the fact something like this should be looked over with a lot more attention than it has been given" she folded her arms below her chest, this time giving Akechi a sharper glance "And I'm sure someone like you must have at least some hypothesis about it"

"None that could help you, Sae-san, I haven't paid that much attention to them as you might believe" and for the way the brown-haired girl resumed her meal Sae understood that this was as far as they would get in this subject, something that honestly perplexed her.

She understood wanting to keep an image for your audience, but did the girl really expect her to believe that she had nothing? While depending on a minor was something that left a sour taste in her mouth, she knew Akechi Goro was not one to just ignore something like this, but yet here she was, acting as if the Phantom Thieves were nothing but a small nuisance.

And she would admit she had once believed the same, but they could be hardly considered just that by now.

"Is that it? You honestly expect me to believe that?" Sae questioned, a glare starting to form in her eyes, but the only response she got was the famous detective putting another piece of sushi in her mouth, a humming sound escaping her throat.

"You really don't care what they might do in the future?" Sae's questions continued, her glare turning into a frown. She hated the thought of people like the Phantom Thieves going around free, even if their actions were seeing as just by the public, for her it was only a matter of time until they crossed the line.

And with no one to stop them, who knew how far they would go.

"Not anymore…" the whisper that left the younger girl's lips was so low that not even Sae was able to hear it, or else she would have definitely asked her about it.

And even as she kept eating the delicious, expensive meal, at that moment it tasted like nothing but ashes.

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Ryuji Sakamoto was most definitely not having a good day.

Most of his days were already filled with crap, that was for sure, between being labeled as a delinquent by pretty much the whole school, his issues with the former members of the track team and of course having to deal with the king of bastards Kamoshida on daily basis, Ryuji's daily school life was not one he would remember fondly in the future.

But even so, this day would probably be remembered by him as the most fucked up one without a doubt.

If he got out of here alive that is.

It had all started with just a minor nuisance, some weird app appearing on his phone and refusing to be deleted no matter how much he tried. He honestly blamed one of his schoolmates, Yuuki Mishima, for that one, after all the strange app had appeared on his phone right after he started checking on the Phantom Thieves related websites that Mishima kept recommending to everyone.

Of course he was a fan of them just like any sane person would be, not as much as Mishima mind you, for someone so shy he certainly liked to talk about them, but even so Ryuji had his fair appreciation for them, after all not only the idea of mysterious heroes was extremely cool, but the fact that they only aimed at shity adults just made it even better in his eyes.

But even as much as he liked them, he certainly didn't appreciate getting some virus into his phone, which had persisted for days, so considering he had woken up after deleting that thing just to find it again on his phone made the start of his day a not so great one.

Then he saw Kamoshida, or rather his car, earlier than he would have liked. The fact that his old friend, Ann Takamaki, had gone inside the creep's car just made it worse. He knew she was his favorite, not that Kamoshida really tried to hide it anyway, but in his mind anyone that didn't realize Kamoshida's true colors was nothing short of an idiot.

But all of that pale in comparison to the mess he had been caught just after that, after all finding some sort of bizarre looking castle right where your school was supposed to be could only be considered like one hell of a mess.

But that was just the beginning. The cherry on top had to be when he was attacked by apparently the guards of the damn castle when he tried to check the inside.

Getting handled by weird knight-dressed bastards as if he was a bag of trash was not his cup of tea.

"Hmph, what are you waiting for? Get rid of this scum already!" he grunted at hearing those words, his breathing becoming as shallow as it could get. He didn't know what he hated the most, if that the guy that was apparently ordering his death was a smug-looking, even more of a bastard version of Kamoshida, or the fact that he was unable to do anything as one of those silver knights nodded before raising his sword high, the intent being more than obvious.

And just as Ryuji closed his eyes, his body trembling, knowing what was to come, the last thing he swore to himself he would do was to make Kamoshida pay, one way or another.

Or at least it would have been the last thing he ever thought, if not by the sound of something crashing against steel that interrupted his execution.

The blonde teen slowly opened his eyes once he didn't feel the sword slicing him open, his trembling gaze quickly noticing how no one was paying attention to him, and instead were looking outside of the cell they were all in.

Curiosity taking over he ended up doing the same, his eyes falling into something that looked like a helmet, on the ground beyond the bars of the cell. Was that what had caused the sound?

"You!" his attention was taken by Kamoshida of all people, and while Ryuji had once thought that the sight of the man couldn't make him any more sick, the fact that he was wearing nothing but a cape and underwear was enough to make him want to vomit "Check what's going on, now!"

"Yes, my liege!" Ryuji's eyes followed as one of the two knights presents on the cell nodded with vigor before leaving the room, everyone's stare on the silver knight as it walked towards the helmet in the ground, said object being a little far away from the bars.

And Ryuji had to admit that, if he hadn't been focusing, he would have probably missed everything that happened in the next ten seconds.

For just as the knight reached the helmet a black blur shot from the shadows so quickly that Ryuji would have missed it if he had blinked. The black figure shot upwards, actually landing on top of the knight, too fast for even the silver being to react.

Not that he lasted long there, for not even a second later the figure jumped once again, using the knight as a platform and launching itself like a missile straight at the cell, said action pushing the knight in the opposite direction.

And with Ryuji's focus on the black figure that was moving towards them like a projectile he wasn't able to see the representation of California's defender, Zorro, piercing the knight that the figure had used to jump with his sword, said knight dissolving into nothingness a few seconds after.

Not that things were calm in Ryuji's cell of course, considering that the knight that had been standing in front of him, ready to butcher him with his sword, had now been forcibly pushed into the wall, actually making a dent on it, courtesy of the figure clad in black that was now standing in front of the blonde teen, his back to him, with Ryuji only being able to watch as his coat moved as if it was being hit by the wind.

And Ryuji was able to do nothing but to simply stare in awe and shock; his eyes glued to the person's back, his own body still resting on the floor. Just who was this guy?

"Are you ok?" it took him a second to realize that the serious, sharp voice was being aimed at him, courtesy of the guy in the black coat, who was now looking at him from over his shoulder.

He just nodded dumbly in response, not knowing what else to say considering just how insane the whole situation was. He would really like to know just what the hell was going on!

"How dare you!" and the blonde never thought he would see such a hateful glare coming from Kamoshida, with even his words dripping nothing but venom "Another lowly scum wanting to die? Fine! You, what are you waiting for? Eliminate these intruders already!"

The last words were aimed at the still recovering knight that had been pushed into the wall, with said being now slowly making his way towards the pair of so called intruders.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" if Ryuji had been alone he would have probably panicked once again, or even try a mad attempt at escaping, but hearing the sheer confidence in his savior's voice made him sat there, unmoving, something telling him that he was about to get one hell of a sight.

He could even feel the smirk that was probably plastered over the guy's face.

"But if you insist…" the knight looked ready to strike, sword in hand being raised to cleave its lord's enemies in half.

The next word that was spoken was enough to send the rather big cell room into another frenzy.

"Arsene!"

And once again the blade never met its intended target, for with just a swift movement another being was called forth into the room. The representation of the Gentleman Thief made an appearance with a flash of blue right behind the figure of his summoner, his black claws easily stopping the incoming sword, and the black wings on his back expanding as much as they could in the slightly cramped cell, almost hitting Ryuji in the face.

A shocked gasp left his mouth, and going by what he heard he wasn't the only one surprised, for he was sure that he had heard Kamoshida gasping too, and for all the hate he had towards that guy he just couldn't blame him, after all he himself had no idea about what the hell was going on, only that some sort of monster had suddenly appeared

And not only was the winged being more intimidating in Ryuji's eyes, but his next actions proved just who has the superior one between the two, for before the knight even got the time to do anything the being's free hand flashed in red and black.

And then in another flash the energy shot out of the claw, and the knight found itself once again being rammed against the wall opposite of the cell, with the only difference being that this time there was a gaping hole right at the middle of his armor.

The knight, or Shadow as it was known to a few, didn't even got the time to scream in pain before it was disintegrated, it's armor becoming nothing but rusty scraps that fell to the floor with a clank.

"Y-You!" the only other feeling stronger than anger in the almost naked Kamoshida was fear, and Ryuji would have to been blind to not see how his legs were shaking under the gaze of not only the black coat-wearing figure, but also the black and red winged monster.

Suffice to say it didn't take long for him to bolt out of the cell room as if his life depended on it, which considering what Ryuji had just witness it might as well be true.

And then with another flick of the monster's wings the cell was left with only two occupants, with a nothing but shocked Ryuji looking up at the figure that had saved him, who had finally turned around to regard him directly, allowing Ryuji to see his face.

Or at least the white mask covering it anyway. That just added to the million questions he had about everything that had happened today, but even as he tried to voice out any of them his throat instead just released a spluttering sound, his mouth doing the best impression of a fish that it could manage.

"Are you sure letting that guy leave was a good idea?" and now there was a weird, small black thing entering the cell too! And it could talk!

"W-w-wha.."

"We can't afford to fight against a Shadow like that with a civilian on toe" the black-haired, mask-wearing guy said, his eyes drifting from the small figure and back to him.

"How is he anyway?" the small talking animal, or at least what Ryuji assumed was an animal considering the ears, was also looking at him with blue eyes, and even thought it wasn't human the blonde was easily able to tell that the small guy wasn't impressed by what he saw.

"Good question" his grey eyes were looking down at him, and Ryuji was sure that the guy had a raised eyebrow, even if his mask didn't allow him to see it "How are you feeling?"

It was a dumb question, and everyone there knew it, although no one knew it better than the one that said it in the first place. In his defense this was their first time dealing with a situation like this, and just the fact that it happened brought so many questions to his mind, and he was damn sure he was going to ask Igor about it as soon as he could.

Speaking of said civilian.

"What the fuck is going on?!" the figurative dam that was Ryuji's composure finally broke down, his yell echoing easily. It's not like he wanted to be loud, he just wanted to understand what was happening!

"Geez, if he's able to scream like that then I'm sure he's fine" the talking animal said before looking suspiciously outside of the room, his blue eyes then regarding the mask-wearing guy "We should go before they get reinforcements down here. We weren't exactly stealthy after all"

The guy nodded in acceptance before extending a gloved hand towards him, making the blonde look at the limb in confusion.

"I know you must have questions, but we must go before they catch us. Can you walk?" his question was quick and on point, his words making Ryuji blink and simply stare for a whole second before grasping the offered arm firmly.

Walk? He had been one of the best members of the Track team at one point, he could certainly do a lot more than just walk, weird ass castle or not!

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Alright so maybe he hadn't taken into account a few things. Among them just how massive the damn castle actually was. He didn't remember much about it at first, but boy was he getting out of breath already, and they had barely left the dungeons!

He had wanted to stop more than once already though, not so much because he was getting tired, although he had to admit keeping up with these two was taking a toll on him, but mostly because of the stuff he was seeing as they dashed through the castle.

Turns out he wasn't the only one trapped in here!

Or so he had thought, and he had tried to do something about it of course! But the only thing he had been told, before pretty much being dragged out of there, was that they 'weren't real'

What the hell was that supposed to mean?! How could they not be real? They just weren't making any sense! None of this made sense!

And of course he could only take so much blindly, and this was far beyond his limit.

"What are you doing?! We must keep moving!" the little guy, whose name was Mona as far as he had been able to figure out, said to him once he suddenly stopped with his own head low, his knuckles white with how much pressure he was putting on them.

"No!" Ryuji shot back, a glare aimed at the duo that rescued him. He was grateful for that, he truly was, but that didn't mean he could just ignore everything that was happening around him as if he was supposed to just turn a blind eye to it all "I have no idea what's going on, where we are or who you guys are, and I won't follow you around until someone explains just what the hell is going on!"

In response Mona simply growled at him with a glare of his own, and by the way his mouth opened Ryuji was sure that this would turn in a yelling match as quickly as it could, but a raised hand from the human-looking one of the duo stopped the little guy in his tracks, who ended up just huffing to the side, deciding that if his leader wanted to deal with this guy then better him than himself.

The silver eyes of the one Ryuji so far knew as Joker swept across the room they were currently in. It was an expensive looking one, with tons of stuff that Ryuji was sure were more valuable than anything he owned. Definitely a change of pace from the dungeons they had just left.

It was once his eyes stopped on a particular door that he regarded the blonde student once again before nodding, hands on the pockets of his coat.

"I wouldn't recommend staying here any longer than we must" he began, again in the same calm voice that Ryuji had heard so far, before moving towards the door that had caught his attention "But I understand. C'mon, I'll give you the answers you want, but staying in the middle of this room will only make us easy prey"

Mona followed silently towards the door, and after mulling it for a few seconds Ryuji followed, entering the new room after the two, his own eyes widening as soon as he entered.

"What the hell…" he said, barely believing what he was seeing. Everything so far had been as crazy as it could get, but this one wasn't left behind in terms of weirdness.

Somehow the room actually flicked, the walls and everything inside the room changing by the second between another kind of room that rich people would have in their houses and what looked to be like classroom.

A Shujin classroom to be more precise.

However it only took a few seconds for the weird event to stop, the room finally just looking like the rest of the castle, almost as if nothing had ever happened.

The other two just took it in stride though, with Mona simply jumping into the table in the middle while Joker seemed to inspect the room before turning around and looking at him, hands still on his coat.

"Alright, so you have questions" a gloved hand being raised stopped Ryuji from just voicing them right there "Sit, and we'll go through them one by one, alright?"

Nodding reluctantly the blonde teen did as he was told, deciding to sit as far as he could from Mona, who seemed to be fine with just ignoring the blonde and letting the other member of the duo handle the situation.

What followed, in honest to all, just made Ryuji somehow even more confused about their current dilemma; something that he just didn't think was possible. Another world? Cognition? Monsters known as Shadows? It just didn't make sense in his head!

It all sounded like some plot of an anime or videogame to be honest, and the blonde knew that if it wasn't for just how surreal this day had been he would have thought that this guy was just insane.

But the guy was definitely being serious here, that much Ryuji could tell. His own head hurt from so much information that he barely understood, and with each question that he asked two more seemed to pop into existence.

"I don't think he's even getting it, Joker" Mona drawled out, smirking at the now glaring Ryuji.

"Shut up!" the blonde answered, his glare quickly turning into a confused frown "Wait, what are you even supposed to be anyway?"

"A human of course, duh!" Ryuji didn't know what he liked the least, if the condescending tone he was receiving or the look he was getting that screamed that he was an idiot for even asking that.

"Bullshit" he answered back without missing a beat "This shit is weird as it can get but there's no way you're a human. You look like a cat for god's sake!"

And the hiss he got in return did little to disprove that fact.

"Of course I'm human, you dumbnut. That's why I can use a Persona!" with more than a little pride spewing off from his voice, the black creature answered.

Ahh yes, that was one of the first things he had asked, about the monster that had appeared on the cell, or rather, the Persona as these two liked to call it.

Not that he would let the cat talk him down like this, and it was obvious that Ryuji was going to keep the argument if he hadn't be stopped by a cough from the third occupant in the room.

"Mona, stop trying to pick a fight" he admonished, but the only thing he got was a roll of eyes from said individual, before he now addressed the blonde "And I know it seems weird, but its part of the dish that is the cognitive world. Another reason for us leaving as soon as possible"

Ryuji looked down at his lap, mulling over the information he had received. He scratched the back of his head, honestly not knowing what to believe. It all sounded just so…alien to him, and he almost had to wonder again if all of this was just a bad dream.

"So what you're saying is…" he started slowly, deciding to focus on the so called Joker since he was the least pain in the ass from the two "That this whole place is like a weird dimension that just exists because Kamoshida thinks the school is really his castle?"

"More or less" Joker answered swiftly, fingers drumming the table "I don't know this Kamoshida guy, but for a place like this to exist then his views of the school must really be twisted. Not everyone has a thing like this place after all"

He nodded, accepting the answer; after all considering how Kamoshida acted in school he wouldn't be surprised if he honestly to god thought that the school was his own personal castle.

Speaking of Kamoshida.

"Wait, then the Kamoshida I saw…?!"

"Nothing but a Shadow" this time it was Mona the one that answered "The real one must be at school right now. The only thing you saw was the cognitive version of that man, his Shadow to be more precise. A ruler for a castle"

"So those guys we saw in those cells? They aren't real?" he asked again, wanting to be sure about that more than anything. There was no way he would let someone at Kamoshida's mercy after all, real Kamoshida or not.

"Nope" once again Mona took hold of the conversation "Just another part of the cognition. No one from the outside is here except us three" the small guy then looked down, and Ryuji could have sworn that he saw a flash of anger in his blue eyes "But for a teacher to see his students like that, to the point of torture? People will never cease to amaze me"

He didn't know what Mona was talking about, but he sure understood the sentiment. Kamoshida was scum through and through; this just confirmed it even more.

"And you guys use these… Personas?" an affirmative nod from the two was what he received "To fight the Shadows? That… actually sounds kind of cool"

"Glad you agree" the way his lips twitched upwards told the blonde that the masked figure was holding himself from smiling "We should leave now though. The castle must be in pandemonium right now, and the more time we waste the worse it could get"

The black-haired man stood up, and Ryuji was about to follow him, until another question popped into his head.

"Wait, how did I get here in the first place? If this is really another dimension I mean…" he asked with a frown.

"Your cellphone" and the answer he got was something he did not expect "You have it with you?"

He nodded before retrieving the device from his pocket, glad that it still worked, but he swore under his breath as soon as he noticed that the screen had cracked a bit. His mom was going to kill him for it.

The device was quickly snatched from his hands by the mask-wearing figure, and before Ryuji even got time to complain the guy showed him his phone, a familiar app currently working on the device.

"This thing got you in here" he said before returning the phone to its owner "I don't know how you got it, but I would erase it if I were you"

Well now he was seriously going to kill Mishima for getting him into this mess!

"Ready to go?" the blonde looked from his phone to the masked figure, who was now standing at one side of the door, with the cat standing on the other side, looking a bit impatient for leaving.

There was just one last thing, one last question that kept burning the back of his head, but he just didn't know how to say it properly. All of this sounded as crazy as it could be, but what did that tell you about the people that actually knew about it?

"Just…" he sighed in frustration, eyes going between Joker and Mona, who were looking at him expectantly "Just who are you guys?"

Then they shared a look, one that Ryuji didn't know how, but that it was enough for the two to talk with each other, and considering how Mona ended up huffing and looking to the side he honestly wondered how that conversation had ended.

Then again not in his wildest dreams could he have predicted the answer he got.

"We are the Phantom Thieves"

…all right so first bragging to Mishima and then killing him. Sounded like a good plan to him

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Well not much with this chapter to be honest. I will try to show how the different setting, aka The Phantom Thieves already being a known force and both Joker and Morgana's previous experience coming to play, alongside the consequences of Akechi's actions.

For those that want more action I'll promise that there will be enough in the future, stronger Joker or not.

This story has received a lot more support than I anticipated, so glad people like it! Even if I know I butcher the language sometimes.

Also I know I didn't change Akechi's first name, so if you guys really want that I could do it. Feel free to leave suggestions and if the idea gets enough support I'll try it.

Once again, thank you all for reading this far, and thank you for the favs, follows and those sweets reviews.

Next Chapter: Civilian Problems.