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When Ren started the Phantom Thieves, he didn’t want any glory, he didn’t want any fame. He just wanted to rebel against the world that kicked him down over and over again.
It’s safe to say he didn’t think he’d become a figurehead for a large fandom.
Honestly, he thought it was kinda funny that it took killing two gods for Ren to even notice the flourishing online community. There was just...so much. He saw fan comics, songs, documentaries, fan-fiction, merchandise, YouTubers, cosplays. His favorite part was just how kind and welcoming the community was as a whole. Sure, there are a few bad apples but it was mostly a vocal minority. Why did Mishima never tell him about the chat rooms on the Phansite? He could have gotten rid of those jerks with a snap of his fingers. No one on that website would try to fight against the Leader of The Phantom Thieves.
No, he couldn’t do that. Calling attention to himself like that would practically be an invitation for the police to start poking around in his life again, Zenkichi told him as much during his first loop.
Oh yeah, the looping thing was annoying for sure. But it really wasn’t too bad. It’s more like vacation honestly, heists are a lot easier when you know where everything is. He was even able to get Wolf to join the team earlier compared to last time.
Time bullshit aside, could you really blame him if he wanted to have a little fun? Watching Akane stream, talking about the Phantom Thieves right in front of him for the second time was really starting to eat away at his self-control. The theatrics within him are screaming at him to cause that live chat to EXPLODE.
Makoto seemed to notice this and had been eyeing him dangerously since Akane started. Right, the Niijima glare was the only thing keeping up from showcasing his best Ryuji impression and screaming “ We are the Phantom Thieves!” As loud as he could.
One minute passes.
Another.
Akane's stream just started.
Makoto's still looking at him.
Minute 5 passes.
.....
...Fuck it. The police can go suck it.
“I’m the leader of the Phantom Thieves.” He said, standing up in order to appear on Akane’s webcam. Makoto balked, eyes wide in shock.
"Joker!" She hissed. Why does she have to be the only smart one here?
“Ren! What the hell man?” Yelled Ryuji, elbowing Ren’s legs hard. He didn't flinch.
"It's me. I'm right here. Look at my eyes, hair, height. I'm basically the leader of Phantom Thieves but in real life."
Everyone paused. Until Akane suddenly started laughing hysterically.
Akane laughed. “Oh, Ren! I didn't know you were such a good actor. I almost believed you!"
Ren's jaw dropped as he heard Makoto stop holding her breath. "B-but. I wasn-"
Makoto glared, "Don't even try it."
Shit.
Much to Ren’s dismay, Chat seemed to agree with Akane, apparently, this is a fairly common thing within the fandom. How the hell was he supposed to know he accidentally quoted a meme?
Ren’s eyes twitched.
Alright...I’m calling Lavenza, I’m getting a damn do-over. You want a spectacle? I’ll give you a damn spectacle.
Ren walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him in a seemingly fuming rage.
Ann sighed, looking at Akane apologetically. “Sorry...he’s a theatre kid. Y'know how it is."
"Yeah, I getcha.” replied Akane.
[ONE RELOAD LATER]
“Welcome my fellow Phantom Thieves! Today we are here to celebrate the thieves' valiant return to land! Hahaha!” Akane raised her arms in triumph, before lowering them back down again and speaking in a slightly more reserved manner. The aforementioned thieves sat behind her. Silently watching as a live audience.
Makoto looked at Ren, who along with Futaba, was showcasing a dangerous smirk. “Why are they so happy? What did those two do?" She sighed, before tuning back into what Akane was saying.
“We do however need to go through our usual agenda first and talk about some new theories that have come up, specifically, the codename theory ! If you’re not up to speed, let me explain it to you. Essentially, the newly reopened requests section of the Phansite had received some...interesting requests. Why are these important? You may ask, because of the usernames! Duh! Look, the site prides itself on keeping anonymity for people asking for help and even if you wanted to make an account, it wouldn’t let you! But these requests have names attached to them! Suspicious isn't it?”
Haru paled, her eyes widening in realization. “Futaba-chan!” She whispered, “I thought you said those would be private!” Futaba shrugged, not giving a response.
“Specifically, these names are Skull, Mona, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Sophie, and Wolf! ” Akane listed, raising a finger for each name. “The nature of these usernames, along with the fact that some of the posts seem to have certain words and phrases censored, suggest that these are the codenames of the Phantom Thieves!”
“Ryuji did mention the metaverse a lot in those posts. … Nice catch on the censoring Oracle.. ” Ren thought.
“Hold up!” Ryuji stood up, sweating bullets. “How the hell does that work? There’s no way they would dumb enough to give people a chance to find ‘em out! Right?”
“Ryuji!” Ann hissed. Pulling him back down.
"He has a point." supplied Ren.
"You...Shut up, Ren!"
Akane giggled, “No! It’s fine! He does have a point! This theory isn’t foolproof. The admin could just be testing out account creation, also, applying these codenames to the silhouettes on Shido’s calling card doesn't exactly match up. While Skull, Mona, Panther, Queen, Noir, Fox, and Oracle canbe feasibly applied to the silhouettes we see. What about Wolf and Sophie? Well...the leader might be Wolf, bu-”
Yusuke shook his head, suddenly interrupting. “I’m sorry, but I have to disagree. As an artist, I could not feasibly apply that title to the leader. The leader’s silhouette and mask look more sleek and refined, while the title Wolf suggests something more scruffy and wild. The codename of the leader would have to have been deliberately crafted, and was not likely chosen on the fly."
Ryuji balked. “That's exactly what happened! ” He hissed.
Yusuke’s eyes widened as he began to stammer. “I-Um...I apologize. I had forgotten.” He sat back down, looking at his feet.”
Ryuji groaned.
Akane nodded, oblivious to the exchange that happened behind her. “I thought so too! So that’s why I did some digging along with a loyal viewer of mine!” She turned back to the laptop. “I’m assuming you all know Alibaba, she’s been a regular in the Phandom ever since Medjed!”
The chat picked up in speed, moving much faster at the mention of Alibaba.
The thieves (except for Ren) turned to Futaba, who simply offered a sly grin in return. “Tons of people could be named Alibaba!” she said. Without missing a beat, Ren offered a high five. Futaba slapped her hand against it without waiting for a second.
Still unaware, Akane continued. “Together we found out that by ordering the posts by the dates they were posted and taking the first letter from each request. We receive the phrase: “JELLY ROLL HOTCAKE HEME.''
“What? The hell’s that?” Ryuji balked.
Ren's phone pinged, "What are those words doing together? It makes no grammatical sense." said Sophia, butting into the coversation.
"Shhhh! Stay quiet!"
“Exactly! Alibaba thought it was a bust, but I realized that it might be an anagram! If you rearrange the letters, you get this!” Akane pressed a key on her keyboard, revealing an animated video of her desktop, within that video, the letters moved around, presenting a certain phrase. Akane beamed. “HELLO, THEY CALL ME JOKER! That’s gotta be the leader's name! Joker!”
Makoto groaned, slamming her head into her hands. Haru solemnly placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You figured it out, ” said a voice, playing from the speakers of Akane’s laptop, present for the whole stream to hear. The feed on stream turned into static, before presenting a shadowed figure.
Ren wasn’t even trying to hide his excitement at this point. Sporting a manic grin that sent shivers down the thieves’ spine. “Welp.” He said. “That’s our cue.” He looks at Futaba, who chuckles before tapping something on her phone. “C’mon Sophia!” She said,
"Hmm."Sophia hummed, seemingly putting the plan in motion.
“We lurk in the shadows, but we’ve decided to present ourselves to the one who would solve our puzzle.” The voice spoke once more, the static clearing slightly to show a familiar white domino mask. Akane’s eyes widened in recognition.” For this, we will reward you. Consider yourself an honorary phantom thief. Along with all the people watching this right now. Remember that you have the power to fight injustice, and keep hold of that will of rebellion.” The figure smirked, showing the thieves manic glee once more. “This is Joker, signing out.”
And then the video feed turned off, returning Akane's stream to its original state. She stared, almost catatonic. “W-well. I’ll see you all next stream. I need a second.” As she abruptly ended the stream, she turned her chair 180 degrees and stared at the group behind her.
Then it all came crashing down.
“HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHAT THE FUCK OH MY GOD,” Akane screamed. Seemingly putting together the events of the last couple of minutes.
Ren couldn’t hold it in anymore, and he let out a loud bark of laughter, the sound reverberating throughout the room as the bedroom door suddenly opened.
“Akane?” Yelled Zenkichi, opening the door in a panic. “What happened? Is everything alright? Where did you Lea-“
“DAD YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MY STREAM MY STREAM THE PHANTOM THIEVES THEY WERE THERE IT HAPPENED WHAT.”
“Phantom Thieves? What are you talking about?”
“This.” Said Ren, now wearing one of the replica masks Akane had in her room.
"Rennnnn...." Makoto cried.
Akane somehow looked even paler, until her eyes widened as she put the two pieces together.
“Dad.” She said, utterly calmly.
“What?”
“Catch me.”
“Are you-OHMYGOD”
Akane fainted as Ryuji looked at the ceiling and groaned in exasperation.
“Goddamit Ren. Why are you so stupid?” asked Ann, looking incredibly annoyed.
"It was funny," Ren replied.
END