Act 1

Lights... Camera... Action!

"More and more paperwork…" Ken grumbled. "Sometimes I swear that the faculty just dumps their work on us."

Makoto just laughed softly, shooting him an amused look. "You didn't have to accompany me today, you know. You could have gone home after school."

Ken shrugged. "Between schoolwork and our… extracurricular activities… I should take the time I can get with you."

Pink spread across Makoto's face before she smiled shyly at him. "…Flatterer."

Ken would be the first to admit that he still was new at having a relationship, but once he knew that Makoto returned his feelings… it had been easier.

"Just speaking the truth," he said, before leaning in for a kiss. They were alone in the student council room, after all.

He had intended it to be just a quick kiss, but Makoto had other ideas as she slid her fingers through his hair. Well, he didn't mind…

But then the sound of their phones going off at the same time snapped them both to reality. "I thought Ren said that we're not going to the Palace today," Ken grumbled, reaching for his phone. "I asked him earlier this morning, when I ran into him at the train station…"

Makoto's eyebrow rose as she read her phone. "It's Ryuji… He says that we shouldn't be sitting on our hands?" She shook her head, chuckling quietly. "…Somehow, I feel that those aren't Ryuji's words."

"Most likely Morgana," Ken guessed, before reaching for his bag at his feet. He slipped his phone in his bag, before slinging it over his shoulder. "Come on, let's try and catch the train to Yongen-jaya."

After Makoto rose to her feet and fetched her own schoolbag, he took her hand. Makoto's fingers curled around his hand, before she let out a content sigh.

"This is nice," she said softly. "Things have been really crazy since well…" She heaved out a sigh. "…Akechi-kun joined us."

Ken's hand tightened around hers. This past week, Futaba has been monitoring Akechi's phone. And unfortunately… their suspicions were right. Akechi was up to no good, planning to backstab them all. On top of that, he was planning to murder Ren in cold blood. He already had disliked Akechi for how he rubbed Ken in the wrong ways with his arrogance but this was just unforgivable.

The plan was in motion… They could only pray that it would work. Of course, they would have to work on infiltrating the Palace, as usual. If Ren went with his usual pace, they would be entering Niijima-san's Palace soon enough.

"But then again…" Ken said, "…things are always crazy for us."

"…Can't argue against that." But Makoto's lips quirked up in a smile. "Sometimes I can't believe the reason you moved out here was because you wanted to keep tabs on the Phantom Thieves."

Ken rolled his eyes at her. "Look at who's talking. You weren't exactly on good terms with everyone when I first moved out here."

Makoto just looked at him with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. "You…"

"Are absolutely correct?" Ken asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why yes, yes I am." Makoto let go of his hand, socking his shoulder lightly. "Ow."

"Ren's really a bad influence on you," she grumbled with a shake of her head. "And don't even pretend that hurt. I barely hit you."

"I've seen what you can do when you're trying." Ken gave her an amused smile. "Even when you're not trying, you hit hard."

"Oh hush."

They fell into a companionable silence as they walked towards the train station. Ken pulled out his phone to text Shinjiro-san. Might as well let him know that he'll probably be home late…

Message To: Shinjiro Aragaki

[Ken Amada]: Shinjiro-san, I'll probably be late today… we're going into Mementos

[Shinjiro Aragaki]: Don't get too beat up

[Shinjiro Aragaki]: And if your girlfriend is up to it, invite her over for dinner. Her sister probably won't be home tonight.

"Texting Shinjiro-san?" Makoto asked.

"Mmhm." Ken nodded, before he pocketed his phone. "He wants to know if you want to come over for dinner."

"Oh…" Makoto's eyes widened for a moment. "I'd love to."

"I'll let him know," Ken said with a smile.

Though, dinner… that reminded him that they haven't been able to go on a proper date yet.

"…Hey, Makoto?"

"Hm?" Makoto turned to him, a puzzled look on her face. "What's the matter, Ken?"

Ken stopped walking, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um… I was wondering if Ren doesn't call us to go into the Palace on Sunday… do you want to do something together? Just the two of us?"

"Oh!" Makoto's eyes widened. "Ohhh…" Then she blushed, before beginning to fidget. "I'd love to…" She smiled at him shyly. "But what were you thinking…? Dinner and a movie."

"Ah…" Ken's eyebrows furrowed together. That was a typical date set-up. But still… something floated in his mind. His conversation with Makoto back in Destinyland.

I would've liked to even go to Seaside Park. I've never been to there, either.

He had ended up suggesting them going there, but since at the time he was convinced that Makoto had nothing but platonic feelings, he had panicked and backtracked.

But now… well. That wasn't an issue anymore.

"That sounds nice but…" Ken said slowly, "I was thinking… of going to Seaside Park."

"Seaside Park…" Makoto repeated.

Ken frowned. Oh. Maybe he misread things then. "W-Well, if you don't feel up to it, your suggestion is-"

"Nonono!" Makoto blurted out, waving her hands back and forth for a moment. "F-Forget I said dinner and a movie! I don't even know what's even airing right now!" She then coughed, all while blushing furiously. "I-I mean, that sounds great."

Ken smiled gently at her. "I'm glad."

Makoto then cleared her throat, an embarrassed flush still in her cheeks, before looking towards the train station. "We should probably get going."

"Don't we usually visit Mementos after clearing the Palace?" Ken couldn't help but question.

Ken had only visited Mementos once, shortly before the class trip to Hawaii. According to the others, Ren visited Mementos sparingly. Probably due to how busy he was.

"Yeah, but Mishima's given me a ton of requests," Ren explained. "It's probably best if we take care of right now or they'll keep piling up."

"Yep!" Morgana nodded sagely. "I knew you'd understand me, Ren." He then turned to Futaba. "Are you prepared, Futaba? We need you at your peak condition!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Futaba exclaimed, nodding her head excitedly. She then quickly saluted Morgana. "Your navigator's ready for action!"

"Mementos…" Haru said softly, biting her lip. She pushed a stray curl out of her face. "This will be my first visit… I hope I'll do okay."

"Hey, don't think much into it!" Ryuji encouraged, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I mean, you were a big help in the last Palace, remember?"

Haru fell silent at that. Her father's Palace… That had been their biggest mistake. It had cost them… in more ways than one. Mitsuru-san had nearly recalled him back to Port Island. She had wanted to… But in the end, they managed to persuade her into letting him stay in Tokyo.

But then she forced a smile. "You're right, Ryuji-kun. I'll just have to do my best."

"You've been improving so fast too." Anne gave her an encouraging smile. "This will be no problem, really. We'll be just fighting Shadows—nothing too complicated." Then she looked over to Makoto. "But… Ken's got a point. This will eat into our time with the Palace…"

Makoto stroked her chin for a moment. "From our last visit, I think it's clear that this will probably be our toughest heist yet…" she said slowly. "It may do us some good to train and hone our skills before entering the Palace again."

…Not to mention Akechi's plan. He had informed them that they should aim to steal Niijima-san's Treasure on the nineteenth… Just a day before she was going to order an investigation. They still had over two weeks.

"I look forward to it," Yusuke announced. "Mementos does always give me such wonderful inspiration."

"Man, of 'course you thinking about that," Ryuji grumbled. "But seriously, where's Akechi? I say we just go in without 'im."

"Ryuji…" Anne began, her voice scolding, "I know you're not exactly buddies with Akechi. But he's part of the team now, remember?"

Not for long, though. He just really hoped that the plan worked…

Ryuji just shot her an incredulous look. Well… Akechi was plotting to murder Ren… and Ren was Ryuji's best friend. The two of them had been connected to the hip since the day they had met, from what Ken knew.

But on the other hand, Ren was Anne's boyfriend too. She probably wanted to keep up the façade, especially since Ryuji sent out a group text.

Then light footsteps sounded, and Ken turned to see Akechi entering the attic.

"It still boggles my mind that you live here, Ren," Akechi commented, looking around for a moment.

"It is what it is," Ren said evenly.

Akechi then smiled sheepishly. He really did know how to give how that charming boy attitude. "I apologize for the wait. Sae-san said that it was urgent that I meet with her after school."

Makoto's expression then grew pensive. "…I hope that Sis hasn't been eating out of the vending machine again."

Akechi winced. "Ahaha… unfortunately, I found her eating an energy bar when I met with her."

Makoto sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Sis…"

"…This is why we're changing her heart," Ken said quietly. "So not to place everything on her work."

Makoto smiled halfheartedly. "…You're right. Let's head inside Mementos."

"Time for some stress relief!" Ryuji cheered.

"Ryuji, that is not why we go to Mementos!" Morgana admonished, shooting him an annoyed look—well, the best he could with his housecat form.

Ren coughed. "Enough bickering," he said, pulling out his phone. "Let's do this!"

He activated the app, and they entered Mementos. Morgana transformed into his bus form, only for Ken to pause. He just realized something…

"What's the matter, Ace?" Yusuke inquired.

"It's just…" Ken trailed off for a moment. "Only two people can sit in the front. Three more in the middle row… and three more in the back row."

And there were… nine of them now.

"Ah, Ace, but there's a magical solution to all of this," Ren said sagely, placing a hand on Ken's shoulder. And surprise, surprise, he was wearing that little shit grin of his. "It's called… lap sitting."

"I-I'll drive this time!" Makoto blurted out, all but rushing to the driver seat.

Ken just sighed, before giving his friend an irritated look. He knew that Ren liked messing with his friends, but really? They've barely started to date but noooo, Ren just had to pull out all the insinuations.

"What?" Ren asked innocently.

"You knew what you were saying," Ken grumbled, marching over to the bus. "If you want to do lap sitting, then fine. Panther can sit in your lap."

"A-Ace!" Anne squeaked out.

"Blame your little shit boyfriend," Ken deadpanned, claiming the shotgun seat.

"You flatter me, Ace," Ren snickered.

Ken just rolled his eyes, even though Ren couldn't see it. "Just get into the bus already."

They spent what felt like hours in Mementos. On the bright side, they finally managed to take down that Shadow of the cheater. Ren had pulled out some fancy gunwork to pull that off.

"Nice, Joker!" Morgana complimented.

Anne then giggled, giving him an admiring smile. "Amazing as always."

Ren then sidled up to her. "Do I get a congratulations kiss then?"

"Ugh, can you not make kissy kissy faces at each other?" Futaba huffed.

"Kissy kissy?" Anne said incredulously, turning to shoot their youngest member a look. "What are you—five?"

"I'm just saying how it is," Futaba said with a shrug.

"You should be used to 'em flirting like this, Oracle," Ryuji snorted.

"Gr…" Anne glowered at Ryuji. "Shut up, Skull!"

Yusuke rolled his shoulders. "…I see you don't deny it, Panther."

Ken sighed as a bickering fest amongst the second-years broke out.

"They certainly are lively, aren't they?" Akechi said from beside him. He looked around. "Mementos… It really is fascinating," he mused, rubbing his chin. "The fact that it represents the population's Palace and it's so dark and forbidding…" He then frowned. "…It says something about people's hearts."

"There's both light and dark in people's hearts," Ren interjected. "Palaces are meant to represent the twisted part of people's hearts. Don't look too deeply into it, Crow."

Akechi winced. "…Right. My apologies."

"I have to wonder what's in the depths of Mementos, though…" Haru said. "It's the key to Mona-chan's form, isn't it?" She then winced. "…I have to admit, it is rather frightening."

By then the bickering had died down, so Anne caught wind of the tail end of their conversation. "Don't worry, Noir," she said with a reassuring smile. "I remember hating the place when Mona first brought us here…"

Though Ken still felt a bit more at home with Mementos over Palaces. Its form was much more similar to Tartarus.

"I have to wonder though…" Ken said, "Just what is Mementos hiding?"

"That's the biggest mystery, isn't it…?" Makoto said.

"We'll have to find out another day," Ren said. "We're all pretty beat and if we just stand around here…"

"It's just begging for us to be ambushed by a Shadow mob," Futaba agreed. She then turned to Morgana. "You should transform now."

But Morgana had fallen silent—a rarity—all while his blue eyes were glazed over. He seemed to be staring at nothing in particular.

Futaba then prodded him. "Helloooo? Monaaaa?"

"Hey, are you okay, Mona?" Ryuji asked.

"Huh?" Morgana then blinked, apparently snapping to reality. "S-Sorry… I just…" He trailed off for a moment. "…Something feels different today."

"Different?" Ken echoed. "What do you mean?"

"Hmm… I cannot claim I feel the same way, unfortunately," Yusuke said.

"Hmm…" Ren was frowning in response to that. Did he feel differently then?

"…It's probably my imagination," Morgana dismissed, shaking his head. "I am pretty tired."

"He'll be telling me to go to bed at nine tonight," Ren quipped.

"Sleeping is good for you!" Morgana quickly admonished with a stern frown. "But anyways, transformation time! Let's head out, everyone!"

He transformed into his bus form, and they loaded on. Makoto turned on the ignition and started to drive.

"Man, this really is cramped with Crow part of the team now," Ryuji complained. "Maybe Queen should've taken Johanna and a second person while Joker drives Mona."

"Aiming to be that second person, Skull?" Futaba quipped, before starting to snicker. "If Queen would pick anyone to ride Johanna with her, you know it'd be Ace."

"Oracle…" Ken ground out, feeling his face warm up. "That's enough."

"It'll be fine," Ren interjected as if Futaba wasn't teasing Ken. "We'll be outta here soon enough."

"Are you okay though, Mona-chan?" Haru inquired. "It does seem we're pushing max capacity."

"Who do you take me for, Noir?" Morgana huffed. "Just sit down and relax—" He then suddenly yelped, the entire bus shaking. Ken jerked forward as Morgana picked up speed, barely able to stop himself from slamming his head into the dashboard. Behind him, he could hear yelps and surprised cries from his friends.

"Mona, what's going on?" Ren demanded. "This isn't funny!"

"It's not me!" Morgana protested. "Honest!"

"Seriously, Queen, what are you doing?!" Ryuji yelped. "This is like some Wild max-style driving!"

"It's not me either!" Makoto shouted over the cacophony. She then slammed the brakes. "The brakes aren't working! What's going on?!"

"Maybe we should try and get out?" Akechi suggested.

"There's something wrong with Mona, though!" Anne protested. "We can't leave him!"

"I've lost all control!" Morgana yelped. "I can't stop speeding up!"

"We're gonna crash!" Futaba cried, her voice high pitched with panic. Then she shrieked out, "We're all gonna die!"

"Calm down, Oracle!" Haru cried out.

"But we are!" she wailed.

Ken grabbed onto the bar above his head, gritting his teeth. Just what was going on?!

Then a blue glow caught his eye. A… movie screen?

Morgana hurtled towards it and then it went completely black.

A loud squeak jerked Ken back to reality.

He sat up, looking over to where Anne was… sprawled on top of Ren.

…It could be worse at least.

He then glanced over to Makoto. She seemed pretty okay, at least, if not a bit winded for their crash landing.

Makoto coughed. "Um, never mind that. Panther, you should… er… get off Joker so he can… breathe."

"That was such a rough ride though," Haru sighed. Yusuke was on his feet already so he reached out to take Haru's hand and help her up.

"Seriously!" Futaba huffed. "I thought we were gonna die!" She then climbed to her feet with a wince. "Ugh… I swear my entire body is bruised!"

Ken got to his feet as well, glancing over to Makoto for a moment. She seemed winded at most. He then beckoned to Futaba. "Oracle, come here. I can heal you a bit at least."

"Thanks, Ace!" Futaba bounded over to him, making him chuckle.

He placed a hand on Futaba's shoulder and focused on Kala-Nemi. Kala-Nemi felt… different. He couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly…

"Dude, where are we?" Ryuji asked. "We… We're not in Mementos anymore, are we?"

"Mona, it looks like we're not in Kansas anymore," Ren quipped.

Anne swatted his shoulder. "No time for media references like that," she scolded. "We have to figure out what's going on…"

"A city…" Yusuke said slowly, as he looked around. "Could it be that we're in a Palace?"

"Hmm… we don't have enough information to support that, Fox," Akechi said. "We need to explore to see if your hypothesis is correct."

"Is it even possible to jump from Mementos to a Palace?" Ken asked.

Ren shook his head. "We never tried that. It's either Palace or Mementos." Then he sighed. "But we did never try… so we can't rule out the possibility."

"Guys, you need to try out the Meta-Nav app!" Makoto suddenly said. He looked over to Makoto, who had her phone in her hand. Her brows were furrowed as she stared down at it. "It's not working."

"What?!" Morgana yelped.

Ken pulled out his phone. He pressed the Meta-Nav app, but an error message just popped up every time he tried to tap onto it. That was so… weird. What was going on?

"So… we're not in the Metaverse…" Yusuke said slowly. "At all."

"But we're still in our Metaverse costumes," Ken said. "So… we can't be in the real world."

And not even just being in a Shadow nest triggered them changing into their costumes… They had discovered that just last month, when Ken took everyone to Inaba.

This was just… so confusing.

"Hmm… maybe we're just locked into the Metaverse?" Ren suggested. He then scratched the back of his head. "I dunno, I'm just as stumped as you guys."

"We shouldn't be idle," Akechi said firmly. "We should hunt around for clues. It's better to do that than just stand around here and wondering what's going on."

So they began to walk around. It seemed like a sprawling city… almost like the pictures Ken has seen of New York City, one of the biggest metropolises in the States.

"Crap, a cop!" Ryuji suddenly hissed out.

And indeed… there was a blond haired, blue eyed man in a cop uniform. Though… it looked different from Akihiko-san's uniform.

"Wait, isn't that different?" Anne asked. "Like… an American cop's outfit."

"Ohhh yeah!" Futaba nodded. "It's like the cops in FPSes!" She then pressed both hands to her temples. "Hmm… doesn't look like he's a Shadow though."

"What the hell…?" Ryuji grumbled. "I hate this place."

"But if he's a person…" Makoto said slowly, "why don't we ask him for clarification?"

"Hmm… I don't know about that, Queen." Yusuke shook his head. "We rather stick out like a sore thumb. We'd look rather suspicious."

"I… I suppose you're right." Makoto sighed.

"But if we don't do anything," Ren said, "we'll be stuck. I'd say go for it, Queen."

"Wha…?!" Makoto took a step backwards, her eyes wide. "M-Me?"

"…Really, Joker?" Ken grumbled out. "You're the leader… shouldn't you be doing this?"

"If you just end up aggroing him, just stab him with your spikes!" Futaba interjected with a firm nod. She then flashed Makoto a thumbs up. "Get 'im, Queen!"

Ren just smirked. "See?" He then pointed to Futaba. "Oracle gets me!"

"You two are impossible," Ken huffed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

Futaba just gave him a cheeky smile. "Love you too, Ace!"

"No, no, it's fine…" Makoto hung her head. "It was my idea in the first place…" She then inhaled. "But… please back me up if things go south."

"Of course we will," Ken said, giving his girlfriend a reassuring smile.

Makoto flashed him a smile before approaching the cop. She then bit her lip. "Um, excuse me?" she said tentatively. "I'm afraid that my friends and I are a little lost…"

"We're so gonna get busted," Ryuji hissed.

"Who are you?" the cop asked brusquely, narrowing his eyes at Makoto. "And what's with all those strange clothes…?"

"Ugh… I knew this was a bad idea…" Ryuji groaned out. "We should've sent Ace at least. Ditch the cape and he looks like he's in a tux."

"Skull, shh!" Anne quickly hushed.

"Oh these…?" Makoto gestured to her outfit. "They're… costumes. For, um, a costume party. But um, we're kinda lost…"

…Well Halloween hadn't passed too long ago.

"That's so cliché," Morgana groaned out.

"I mean clichés are clichés for a reason," Futaba said. "That makes it a good excuse!"

"Costume party?" the cop echoed. "These are some rather elaborate costumes."

"I'm… surprised that he bought it," Yusuke said lowly.

Haru softly giggled. "But that makes things easier for us."

"So how can I help you then?" the cop inquired.

"Ah… I was just wondering where this is exactly?" Makoto said.

The cop's eyes narrowed. "How can you not recognize this?" he asked. "This is the first ward of Kamo City—don't you know anything about the megapolis?"

"Kamo City?" Ryuji hissed out. "Ugh, what a shitty name…"

Kamo… Wasn't that like… Kamoshida?

"I agree," Ren and Anne chorused together, both tensing up.

"But have you heard of such a place?" Ken asked with a frown. "It doesn't sound familiar to me."

"Can't say I have," Ren said.

"A theme park maybe?" Haru suggested.

"You're all acting suspicious with all that whispering…" the cop said slowly. "Where are you from, anyways?"

"Uh… just from…" Ren waved his hand, "Mementos."

Annnnd they were dead.

"Memen—what?" The cop then scowled. "Stop feeding me lies!"

He then pulled out his radio, probably to call for backup.

"Crap…" Anne breathed, "he's not buying it!"

"This doesn't look good…" Akechi said.

"Yeah, no duh, Captain Obvious!" Ryuji retorted.

"Annnd this is the part where we run," Ren said, slowly backing away, even as sirens wailed and cars came racing down the street.

"Don't let them escape!" the cop shouted, pointing at them.

"Seriously, guys, RUN!"

Futaba pointed out a path for them to take, but they were quickly surrounded.

"Dammit…" Morgana hissed out. "We've got incoming enemies!"

Ren gritted his teeth. "From both ends…" He then whipped his head towards Makoto. "Queen, take Skull, Crow, and Fox and fight the ones behind us! Panther, Noir, Ace—you're with me! Mona, I need you to play mission control for Queen's team, okay?"

"Understood!"

"Aren't those Shadows though?!" Ryuji blurted out. "Oracle, I thought you said that the cop wasn't a Shadow!"

"He was!" Futaba retorted. "Watch out! Here they come!"

These Shadows… they were more like the ones that he had fought in Tartarus.

"We've never seen these Shadows before…" Anne said slowly, "but let's just kick its butt—" Anne then suddenly trailed off. "Wait a sec… Why does my body feel so…"

"You noticed it too, huh?" Ken asked. "I noticed it when I went to heal Oracle."

"Don't tell me that we've hit a reset!" Ren groaned. "But yeah… I think you're right… I can only feel Arsene on me."

"Arsene?!" Anne gasped out, her eyes wide. "But that's—"

"Joker's first Persona, wasn't it?" Haru asked.

"No matter!" Ren said firmly, rolling his shoulders. "We'll just roll with it! Let's do this, guys!"

"Dance, H—" Anne began, tearing off her mask, only to break off with a gasp. Her Persona appeared all right. But it was Carmen.

"W-Where's Hecate?!" Haru gasped out.

"That's Panther's original Persona," Ken said. "Carmen. But Joker's right, let's get them!"

While he hadn't recognized the Shadow that was essentially an orb with a tongue, he recognized the cupid-like Shadow.

"This really is a big reset," Anne lamented.

But they quickly launched their attacks. Milady sent one of the Shadows flying with her Psy spell, allowing Ken to sweep in with his spear. He jumped backwards so Carmen could attack it with her flames. Ren's Persona Arsene was a red and black demonic like Persona. It swept forward, stabbing both the cupid and one of the other Shadows.

With their tag teams, they were able to quickly defeat the Shadows.

"So we really can use our Personas here…?" Anne said.

"We do have our Metaverse costumes, though," Ken pointed out. "I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case, honestly."

Anne let out a soft hum. "You do have a point there," she said. "But still… where are we?"

"I can't help but think that we're in Mementos somehow…" Haru said slowly.

"There's a flaw in that, Noir," Yusuke announced. "We couldn't use our guns."

"Wait, are you serious?" Ren demanded, before pulling out his pistol. He pointed it away from them before pulling the trigger. He then swore quietly. "Dammit, Fox is right."

"Yes, it appears that they're back to model guns," Akechi agreed.

Ken frowned. "…Aren't your weapons toy swords, Crow?"

Akechi winced. "Ahaha… I'm afraid I don't know why they still work, Ace."

"Seriously, what the hell is up with this place?" Ryuji demanded. "We can use our Personas but our guns don't work…?"

Ren caught Ken's eye, a small sardonic smile tugging at his lips, but Ken gave a little shake of his head. He was trying not to broadcast to Akechi of his knowledge of Shadows and Personas.

"So all we can conclude is that there's no cognitive effect here," Ren said.

"And that leaves us no hint about where we are…" Ken sighed.

"Save the chitchat for later!" Futaba said. Ken looked over to see that she was concentrating, her hands on her temples. "I sense another Shadow coming our way! And it's a big one…!"

"Can we never get a break?" Ren groaned.

"Let's make haste, Joker!" Morgana urged. "Oracle, try and find us an escape route!"

"On it!" Futaba concentrated for a moment. "Go straight! And don't stop running!"

"Wait, it's a dead end!" Ryuji protested.

"Wait…" Ken said slowly. "Before we all blacked out… I saw a screen similar to that…"

"That might be the way out then!" Haru exclaimed. "Let's hurry…" she then trailed off, looking at Yusuke whose back was turned. "…Fox?"

"Look over there." Yusuke looked over his shoulder at them and pointed.

What the…?!

It was a… large chicken. In a superhero outfit, like in the movies that Junpei-san had shown him, made in the States.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Ryuji squawked out, even flailing his arms for a moment.

"That's it!" Futaba yelped. "That's the Shadow I sensed! It's way too strong for you to take on!"

"You… You can't be serious," Makoto breathed.

"Mysterious TV screen it is!" Ren declared. "Let's go, everyone!"

The second-years raced ahead first, quickly followed by Akechi. They dove in, but a shriek made Ken's head whip back. The Shadow was stalking forward, raising the club it carried.

"Eek!" Futaba staggered backwards, falling on her backside.

"Take this!" Haru cried out, before swinging her axe. This grabbed the Shadow's attention. "Ace! Queen! Get Oracle out of here!"

"Noir, we just can't leave you here!" Ken protested.

"GO!" Haru shouted at them. "Get to safety!" She then tore off her mask, unveiling her Persona. "MILADY!"

Makoto's expression was pained, but she pulled Futaba to her feet. She grabbed Ken's hand with her free hand and pulled him towards the exit.

He looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening as the Shadow bashed his club cleanly over Haru's head, knocking her out.

"NOIR!" Ken exclaimed.

"Ace, no—" Futaba whimpered out.

"Get to safety," Ken said firmly.

"Ace, we can't—" Makoto began. She shook her head. "If you're going to take that Shadow on, I'm staying here."

Ken gritted his teeth. Futaba had said that it was too strong. But even then, maybe he could mitigate the damage… The Phantom Thieves couldn't afford to be down two fighters. And Futaba was their analyst.

Ken had always taken pride in his speed. His senpai had remarked on it when he had just joined SEES. There was a small chance that he could grab Haru and get them both out of here… But he couldn't risk Futaba and Makoto being in danger if this gamble turned against him.

"I'm sorry," he murmured before he pushed both girls into the screen.

"ACE!"

Ken exhaled. Kala-Nemi… he still felt that something was off. And he thought that power drop he had when he awakened in the Metaverse had been something.

He darted forward, skirting around the Shadow. There was a loud crash. He cringed as he looked over his shoulder. Okay, he really did not want to be hit by that club the Shadow carried, ridiculous as it was, resembling a chicken drumstick. It created a crater in the ground.

He managed to reach Haru. He scooped her up, giving her a quick once over. At least she wasn't bleeding. But that was the only positive thing he could say.

And while Haru wasn't exactly heavy… he knew that he wouldn't be able to run as fast like before. The Shadow lunged forward. Ken's grip on Haru tightened as he darted to the side. But the Shadow blocked his way.

…Crap. If only he had a Goho-M.

The Shadow then swung his club. The force of the blow sent him skidding backwards and he ended up dropping Haru. Ken couldn't help but let out a pained groan. Just from that one attack… he was left completely aching. It was a struggle to move.

I'm so sorry, everyone…

The Shadow swung his club once more and everything went black.

When Makoto came to, she was lying in a theater.

What… happened?

Then she sat up with a gasp. That incredibly strong Shadow. Haru getting knocked out… And then Ken pushing both her and Futaba through the screen.

"No, no…" she choked out, feeling her heart squeeze painfully.

And then… anger started to flood inside of her.

What was Ken thinking?! He didn't have to go in alone! Just what was going to happen to him and Haru?

"Makoto…?" Anne's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. The younger girl gently placed a hand on Makoto's balled up fist. "What's wrong?"

"That Shadow…" Futaba mumbled out, making everyone look over to her. "I freaked out and tripped when the Shadow got closer. Haru ran back to help me and tried to distract it. The Shadow knocked her out and Ken wanted to try and help her… Makoto didn't want to leave him so he pushed me and Makoto through the TV screen."

"Haru got knocked out?!" Yusuke demanded, his eyes hardening to flint.

Futaba sniffed, looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry," she whimpered out. "I… I freaked out."

"Hey, hey, it's a'right." Ryuji patted her shoulder a bit awkwardly. "You didn't know! 'Sides, you're usually above us in Necronomicon!"

"Ryuji's right," Ren said. "Don't beat yourself up about this, Futaba."

"We have to go back inside!" Makoto insisted. "Ken and Haru… they're in danger!"

Both to rescue them and so she could punch her stupid boyfriend for playing the noble one.

"Makoto…" Ren said carefully. "We don't know if it'll take us back to that exact spot."

"But…!" Makoto began to protest.

"And we're kinda in a movie theater," Ryuji said. "It's pretty freaky. We should take a look around."

Akechi nodded. "Mm, we need to get our bearings. And the biggest question is… why exactly are we in a movie theater? Not to mention the question posed earlier… are we still in Mementos?"

Makoto bit her lip. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see everyone's concerned expressions. Ken may be her boyfriend but both he and Haru were everyone's friends… They were worried too.

She had to stay calm. Flying off the handle wouldn't do anything.

Makoto swallowed. "…Okay," she said lowly. "Let's see where we are."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEN! Welcome to Persona Q2: The Ace Edition! This story assumes that the reader has been reading Ace in the Hole, my PT!Ken AU.

This isn't going to be a full blown novelization of the game. This particular one was more of a novelization due to it introducing the cinema labyrinth to the Phantom Thieves. But overall, this will be focusing on more specific scenes. I've got some ideas written down (specifically interactions with SEES and Minako) but I'm open to suggestions from readers!