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The shock was unmistakable in Akira's eyes. It seemed, for the first time, he had truly given up the hope of a bright future. 'Let me see that!' Futaba said as she snatched the letter from his hands. The letter was written by a fine hand, the letters easy to read as if they were typed, but still with an elegant handwritten charm. She looked at the end to see who sent it: it was Akira's parents. Fearful of what she may find, she started reading its body.
Dear Akira,
we're truly glad to hear that you're alive. Unfortunately, though, your father and I cannot have someone with a criminal record of such brainwashing tricks in our household - it may destroy our credibility.
We shall arrange for you and remaining items you have left here to be shipped to Leblanc. We hope you can understand our decision.
Akira, inside his heart, was frozen in a combination of shock, surprise, and rage. All they saw him as was the infamous leader of the Phantom Thieves, but he was so much more. That... was only one part of him. Did everyone see only part of him? It was only natural, of course, but he felt his masks were far more distinct than those of most others. At this point, he desired nothing more than for someone - no, anyone - to see him for all he was.
It was at that moment, that his personality began to rapidly change. Only those who knew him best could tell, but he was not mentally fit. His personality sometimes changed to Joker in the middle of class, or he may feel the rush of power from his first awakening in the middle of his sleep.
'You've all noticed it too, right?' Makoto asked the other Phantom Thieves, who had for once gathered without their leader. 'His descent into madness it quite fast, yes,' Yusuke responded. They discussed what was happening, and though all of them knew, deep down, what had happened, all of them were scared to confirm or even speak it aloud.
'If this has truly happened, then we're the only ones that can save him,' Morgana finally exclaimed.
'And you're right. "This" truly has happened,' Akechi said, making his presence known for the first time. 'I've already confirmed it. The Nav is back on our phones, and the name "Akira Kurusu" has a hit.' Nobody was truly surprised, though they all wished to be. 'I will need your help discovering the other keywords, though,' Akechi continued.
'Well, he does care about everyone around him a lot, so maybe something like a hospital?' Ann suggested, to no avail. 'On the other hand, we've seen hoe ruthless he can be with some shadows, so it might be some kind of colosseum,' Haru said, trying to solve the mystery. 'Actually, the Colosseum, as beautiful as it is, is only one example of the broader "amphitheatre," which describes such circular Roman stages,' Yusuke corrected.
Hit
Akechi confirmed the given key word: "Theatre."
'So, does that mean he sees something as a theatre or sees a theatre as something?' Haru enquired. 'We don't actually know, but knowing him, I'd say the first one is more likely,' Morgana explained, 'but that raises a question: what is the location in the real world?' 'It'd be somewhere he has to act all the time, right?' Ryuji jumped in, 'So, may something like the school?' No hit. 'The problem is that he's a Wild Card,' Morgana started thinking, 'He can switch Personas whenever he wants, and I guess that works for his entire personality, too. For all we know, none of us have ever seen his true self.' 'In that case, his Palace very well may be the entirety of Tokyo...' Yusuke started thinking.
Hit. Beginning Navigation.
And so they discovered that Akira Kurusu saw the entirety of Tokyo as his own theatre. A place where he could never show who he truly was. A Theatre of Sin.
The entrance of the theatre was luckily at Leblanc itself, meaning that there was no immediate threat to the Thieves. The walls were tall, standing strong, yet beautiful. The inside was no different. There were masks of all kinds on every wall, from plague doctor's masks to noh masks.
'I had hoped you would come,' a voice rang out from the balcony above, as a large figure seemed to jump down, though it stopped early, hovering slightly above the floor. Now that it was next to them, the Thieves recognised the red figure with its black wings and top hat. Standing before them was Joker's other self: Arsène.
'I was once the pillager of twilight, Arsène,' it said sombrely, 'and now, I am a mere shadow of my former self. His power of the Wild Card has consumed him, and he is all but himself at this point. As you can see by the state of this Palace, he has not shown himself for a very long time. And now that his last hope of going to his first home is gone, he believes himself to be trapped in this maze of false selves.' Arsène gave them a moment to process the information it had given. 'His Treasure will be found at the centre stage, which means you will need to get tickets for the show that will play there. I ask of you: please drag him out of here.' And so the Phantom Thieves of Hearts vowed to do.
The group decided to split in two, with Oracle keeping contact with both. On one side, Mona, Skull, Noir, and Fox. On the other were Panther, Queen, Crow, and Violet.
The first group took a left turn, and ended up in some sort of waiting lobby. A bar that was very reminiscent of the one at Leblanc was situated on the side, with big doors that led to a smoking garden on the other. In a rack, they found a map of the place.
The other group went right, finding a long hall with multiple smaller halls in it. They weren't allowed entry into any of them without giving a ticket to the Shadows at the doors, however. As both teams reunited, Fox suggested finding tickets to the shows, as they may be able to get backstage from there. They asked the Shadow tending the bar what kind of shows would be playing in the near future, and it told them there would be quite a variety. The shows ranged from tossing a shut-in into the real world to taking down the head of a mafia. 'Are these all our heists?' Queen noticed. 'No. These aren't just what the Phantom Thieves have done. These are everything Joker's done overall,' Crow corrected, 'my guess being that the shut-in that was mentioned is you, Oracle. The mafia boss is Kaneshiro, presumably. That would make the evil mastermind either Shido or myself.' 'So then, we need to either change his cognition to allow us entry, or to get tickets,' Morgana mentioned. 'Not necessarily,' Akechi corrected again. 'If these shows truly are about all of us, then presumably they will have actors to play our roles as well. All we need to do is pretend to be them.'
Crow tried first, and it worked. He managed to get to the backstage, where he could steal tickets for the central show. And with that, the group managed to reach the centre stage, where the shimmering Treasure floated up in the sky.
It was a large, round stage set lower than the flooring around it. Some scaffolds gave rise to platforms in the air above it.
Back in the real world, the Phantom Thieves regrouped, making the calling card for their leader together, and ensuring he would be plently shocked by it. They finally decided to have Sojiro give it to him in the early morning, hoping the shock would be greater if he was still half asleep.
The next morning, it was showtime. As Akira came downstairs, Sojiro shook him awake with a loud 'What on earth is this meant to mean, Akira?'
He held the prepared calling card up, and threw it at the kid.
Sir Akira Kurusu
You have drowned yourself in masks, hidden away your true self. We will expose who you really are, and make you take back the will of rebellion you once held so dear. We will take your distorted desires away without fail!
From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts
His pupils dilated. His breathing grew irregular. His mind raced. He hadn't even noticed his desires distorting. Not consciously, anyway. Does this mean he has a Palace? If so, were the others tackling it without him? Though he fixed his posture, his eyes, and his breathing, his mind kept racing at as yet unknown speeds. The calling card did exactly what it needed to, as Sojiro caught a glimpse of the Metaverse for just a moment. 'Fine, then. They wish to rip off my masks? I'll show them what happens then.' The stage was set. It's showtime.
The Thieves effortlessly made their way to the stage yet again, though the lights were turned off this time. They set forth, and the moment they were all atop the stage, the blistering spotlights turned on. Before them stood Joker's Shadow, dressed in his Phantom Thief attire, which had a red mask and a white coast instead of the usual color scheme.
'So, you came,' he started talking, 'just as you said you would. I must say I'm not surprised to see you here. Now, shall we get right to the main event? It's showtime, after all. Come, Arsène!'
With those last words, he ripped off the mask he was wearing, as Arsène's Shadow appeared, too. His wings were red instead of black, and his usually crimson body was white as snow. As it stretched its arm it tried to take down Violet with a burst of cursed magic, as Joker ended all negotiations. 'We'll bring you back, Senpai. Just you wait and see! Cendrillon!' Violet brought forth her other self too, hoping to strike Joker's weaknesses with a well-timed Kougaon, but Joker dodged it, and saw right through her tactics. 'You think you can just aim for my weaknesses? I wonder if you know all of them... Belial!' Joker responded, switching out his mask and Persona.
The Phantom Thieves kept fighting the Shadow for what felt like a century. Whenever they got close to finding his weakness, he would simply switch to another Persona and force the Thieves to start back at square one. Eventually, though, they do manage to hurt him substantially.
'You're stonger than I remembered...' he said as he summoned Arsène's Shadow yet again. 'But that is no problem for me.' He reached to his side, and took the chains holding Arsène in his hand. He gave an ominous smile to his teammates, as he pulled the chain, which broke with a loud rattle. He let out a laugh, believing to spell doom for his former allies. 'Pillage them... Satanael!'
As the Shadow of his Ultimate Persona appeared behind him, again in that Detective Prince-like red and white colour scheme, he gave the team one last stare, before sending a Black Viper after Queen. Fox and Noir fell swiftly after that, as well. It didn't take long before every last one of the righteous Phantom Thieves of Hearts were on their last legs.
'Akira!' One last vengeful shout from Crow rang out across the stage. 'Is this truly you? Killing all those you once swore to protect? You hide away from the world, and for what? To keep them happy? Or so you can forget about yourself? Look at this place. Filled with the hundreds of masks you show to everyone around you. You fucking coward. What, are you not brave enough to show your true self? Or have you simply forgotten how?'
'I-' Joker's Shadow tried to talk. 'They don't want my true self... Where's the harm if they don't know?' Suddenly, a voice came from behind. 'If they didn't know, they wouldn't be here, would they? I thought you and I had already come to an agreement.' Standing behind them was Akira, in his Shujin uniform. Evidently, he did not have the power of his Personas with him. 'I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up,' Akechi remarked.
'I wouldn't be so foolish. What is it you said, again?' Akira responded. 'They're useless without their leader?'
'Something like that. More importantly, You're useless without your Persona, so just stand back and let me handle this one.'
'I don't think that's a good idea. Let's do this together. I won't be held back by my fake selves ever again!' And then, he felt naught but pain.
A piercing headache, as he could do nothing but fall to the ground. A familiar voice rang out in his mind. 'So you say. Let's make it permanent, this time. Your vow is sealed. I am thou, thou art I. Remove the mask from thyne soul and set loose the self never seen by this world!'
Akira could at least move and talk again, and he knew exactly what to do. He reached for the mask that had now formed on his face, and pulled as hard as he could. He could feel his skin separating from his bones, as his body and mind screamed out. 'Arsène!'
Blue flames brightly lit the stage, as the Shujin outfit disappeared, and the true Joker and Arsène returned to the Metaverse. With unseen vengeance in his eyes, he traded glances with Crow, as the two of them knocked his Shadow down.
'You really want to hide from the world?' Akira asked, 'you really want to don every mask you can. Idiot. We are one and the same. We are but a human mind. And guess what, all human minds have faults. Nobody gets along with everybody!'
'But you just wanted not to be alone, didn't you? So people would want you around,' his Shadow responded.
'Yes. I did. But I see now, that having a few people that get along with who you really are is so much more important than having many that know only your masks. It's not too late. We can still fix this. But only together.'
'Well, then let's fix this. Together.'
And with that, Joker's shadow went up in a shimmering yellow light, as the Palace started shaking, as if in an earthquake. 'Come, Joker. We have to go,' Akechi tried to say. 'No need,' responded Joker. As his eyes turned a bright blue, the entire Palace transformed. The scaffold holding up the platforms disappeared, making said platforms float instead, connected to the surroundings only by the floating stairs. A game corner and a home cinema formed as well. 'This is my Palace,' Joker explained, 'And now that I'm conscious of that, and my Shadow is gone, this place can be whatever I want it to be. Care for a game of cards?'