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Chapter Text

When the God of Order, Yaldabaoth, took over Mementos and the Velvet Room, he unknowingly "fixed" the Great Seal on Erebus, preventing him from ever getting to Nyx. This caused the seal's guardian, a boy by the name of Minato Arisato, to be taken from the seal, and placed within the depths of Mementos. Since he could not simply destroy the boy, as Minato was too powerful an asset to have, either to serve as a lure, or something else, he put the boy to sleep. Ever since then, Minato has slept, undisturbed, yet trapped, by the god's power.

Elizabeth had felt something shift in the Metaverse. Upon first noticing that Igor had disappeared, she had immediately left to check on her Wildcard, only to find the Great Seal fully sealed, and Minato nowhere to be found. She felt the change-Erebus was no more. He simply, did not exist. Elizabeth, of course, had been working to free him of the seal, but had come across no such luck. She worried, for she had no way of contacting him now, as she could not access his mind, nor his dreams. So she did the only few things she could do- 

She determined to stay in the elevator Velvet Room, and she tried to contact her sister, Lavenza, who she'd heard was now overseeing a new Wildcard. However, she was met with nothing. It was as if her sister had disappeared from her sights. Now, Elizabeth began to truly worry. She would need to somehow contact the new Wildcard, and have him help her. The only problem? She knew not how.

Chapter Text

“Ok. Everyone ready?”

Akira was definitely going to over-prepare for this. After all, they were storming Mementos’ depths. 

He was scared. Heck, he would be worried if any of the Thieves weren’t scared. 

“Ready Joker!” Futaba exclaimed.

Akira wondered how she could sound so cheerful. And then wondered if they really were prepared. It was nerve-wracking, standing there, at the overview of Mementos. He knew nothing good could come from the depths, yet he still held on to so much hope for his group. The people that had sacrificed so much for this. Akechi, who’d given his life for then to make it. All his friends and confidents, who’d done nothing but support him and the Thieves. They had taken down many different Palace owners, so Akira knew they were as ready as they could be. He still didn’t like it, though.

“Well, then. Everyone, let's take Mementos!”

One Night Earlier

Akira settled down in his attic bed, contemplating their last run through Mementos. He knew something bad resided in the depths. Something they had never faced before. Something powerful. 

Yet, Akira could almost...sense someone else's presence. It wasn't the evil that was the core of Mementos, this was something good. He had never shared this with the rest of the Thieves, but as they had gotten closer to the center, Akira, or rather, Joker, could feel that presence grow stronger, almost as if it was calling to him, wanting to be found. It sounded trapped, and he wanted to help whatever it was. 

Morgana jumped onto his bed. 

"You okay, Akira?" 

Akira just nodded, not wanting to tell Morgana. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, he just didn't want everyone to get sidetracked. Hopefully he didn't, either.

"Well then, sleep calls! Get a good nights rest, Joker. You'll need it for tomorrow."

"Yeah." Akira whispered. "Night, Morgana."

"Night Joker."

Akira felt the pull of the Velvet Room, and snapped his eyes open. Now, Akira considered himself a very prepared man. What he was not prepared for, was the change of not only the Velvet Room's entire appearance, but Igor's assistant. She stood with her back to him, muttering. Akira was just able to make out a few words.

"-have to get into contact with him-"

"-couldn't have died, right?-"

"-why won't you work, stupid elevator?!"

That last part was said a bit louder. Akira tried to move his foot, only for it to make just the slightest sound on the-wait. Was that...carpet? He quickly surveyed the room. Well, more like an-and elevator? Akira shook his head.

What the heck? This feels like the Velvet Room, but not...mine.

The girl turned abruptly. Akira knew she had to be an assistant, if the clothes were anything to go by, at least. She looked shocked for a split-second, then her face split into a grin so wide even Akira was impressed.

"It worked!" She said happily. "You must be Akira, right?"

He nodded, wondering what one of Igor's attendants wanted with him.

"Oh thank goodness! You have no idea how hard it was to get into contact with you. First, Igor disappears, then I can't get into touch with Lavenza! How is she, by the way?"

Akira was now thoroughly confused. Igor...disappeared? He decided to go with his first question. "Who is Lavenza?"

The girl stopped smiling immediately. Her eyes widened, face growing shocked again.

"Akira, come here. Don't worry, I will not cause you harm, Trickster."

Now that was a name Akira was familiar with being called. He walked up to the desk in the middle of the elevator.

"Now, Trickster. I need you to tell me what has gone on during your journey. Tell me everything."

And that's how Akira found himself spilling everything to the girl, who had introduced herself as Elizabeth. After he finished, she leaned back against the wall. "This is serious, Trickster. I had no idea that Igor-or even Lavenza-No. Never mind. Akira, the Igor you know, is not the true Master of the Velvet Room, but an imposter. These wardens, Caroline and Justine, are likely my sister Lavenza. How this imposter was able to split her into two, I am unsure."

Akira was starting to understand, though Elizabeth was being pretty vague. This Velvet Room felt safe, and nice. His had always felt like he needed to be on his toes constantly, unsure what he was meant to do next. Plus the fact that his was a jail, this was an elevator. Yeah, of course there were very obvious differences. 

"So, why did you call me here?"

Elizabeth hesitated before answering. "Trickster, did you ever consider that something akin to this has happened before?

Present time

Joker was ready. They descended each floor, the amount of shadows were small, and they were all weak. Joker had made plans with Elizabeth to meet her on the last floor before the depths, where ever she couldn't go. 

"I'm sorry, Trickster." Elizabeth apologized. "I cannot reach into the depths. They are guarded with an extremely powerful force. It is truly incredibly you were able to sense my Wildcard. I will meet you right before you descend. Be well, Trickster."

Akira slashed through the last shadow. They were finally at the edge of the depths. This, Joker knew, was going to be different than any other floor they had gone to. Joker could see the door to Elizabeth's Velvet Room. He made his way over to it, and stepped in after assuring himself that his team were fine. 

"Trickster, you came." A glad statement. Elizabeth smiled at him. "Are you ready, Akira?"

"No, not really. I mean, can someone really be ready to fight the Holy Grail itself, hopefully picking up your Wildcard and Igor along the way?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "Fair point, Trickster. I will warn you, though. There will be two gates. You can only open one of them, as the other will be opened with the Holy Grail's defeat. Make sure you free my Wildcard. He is part of your quest, I am sure of it. You will need his help. Please Trickster. Save him."

Akira nodded. "Of course. We will find him, and save him. I promise."

She gave his a grateful smile. "Oh!" She smacked her forehead. "Give his this." She handed him a gun, which she called an Evoker. "He will need it. That Evoker is his way of summoning his personas. I wish you the best of luck, Trickster. From my sisters and myself."

She waved him goodbye as he left. Ryuji walked up to him.

"Ready, Leader?"

Akira exhaled through his nose.

"Yeah. Phantom Thieves, this may very well be our last heist, but we will see it through to the very end! Lets go!"

Chapter Text

The depths were unlike any other floor Akira had seen. Even Morgana, who knew Mementos better than any of them, seemed both shocked and confused. The cat- ("NOT A CAT.") -just looked around. "This...feels familiar to me." Morgana mumbled. "I don't know why, but it just does."

Joker nodded to Morgana. "Okay then. Everyone, on your guard."

They made it past the shadows and floor puzzles like it was nothing. Joker was amazed at just how much his Third Eye skill helped them. Of course, it was invaluable in Sae's palace, but the amount of stuff they were able to figure out left Akira very glad he had that skill. After bumping into so many cages filled with the "peoples thoughts and cognitions" (a load of bull to Akira) they finally made it to what looked like a very important room. They could tell by the enormous shadow guarding the entryway. Joker readied Arséne's cane - his favorite item, by far - and charged the shadow, determined to take it down.

He fired Inzanagi no Okami Picaro's Myriad Truths immediately, pounding the three weakest shadows into dust. Now all that stood were two badly injured shadows. They begged him to spare them, and he did, because they offered him a string of beads, an invaluable item if they wanted to fight the Holy Grail. Once they ran away and his SP and HP were back at full, Ryuji and Yusuke spoke up.

"Dude, what is in this room?" Ryuji went to open the huge door, but Makoto pulled him back, shaking her head as if to say, 'Joker makes the decision'. Yusuke seemed to contemplate something for a moment, then spoke: "If we weren't on a time limit, I would have to stop and paint a replica of these doors. They are very inspiring."

"Not the time, Inari." Futaba spoke up, a light tease evident in her voice.

Akira took a deep breath, preparing himself. For what? Even he didn't know. He shoved the door open, and all of the Thieves gasped. There were several jail cells around, like the ones they had seen before, but that wasn't the eye-catching thing. Two incredibly huge gated jail doors stood on opposite sides of the room. They couldn't see inside, but Akira knew. He knew the Wildcard was beyond one of those doors. He knew. But he wasn't focused enough to tell which one. The Thieves were all talking at once, blabbering about "how huge the doors were", and "how many jail cells were in this room". Joker got annoyed.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled. That got their attention. "I need to focus on something, and all the talking is not. helping."

The Thieves were stunned speechless. Akira rarely ever yelled at anyone. It just wasn't Akira. But Akira when he was Joker? He wasn't afraid to yell, or roar for that matter, at them if they did something really wrong. Case in point?

During Sae's palace

Ryuji had screwed up. He had gotten in a shadow's way, and if it weren't for Joker saving his sorry ass, he would have been dead meat. The next safe room they were in, all of the Thieves got an earful from him that if they were to ever do something so stupid like that again, they wouldn't live to see out of the Metaverse. And it won't be the shadows that are the cause of it. They all understood that Akira just worried for them. As their leader, how could he not? But Joker could be scary. Let's just say that a mistake like that never happened again.

Anyways, back to where we are

The Thieves quickly shut up, which Akira was grateful for, as he felt for that same connection to the Wildcard he had felt on earlier floors. 

Door on the left? Or door on the right?

His senses harshly pulled him left, and he stumbled slightly before running over the the left cell. 

"This one." He whispered. "Found you."

Chapter Text

Door on the left? Or door on the right?

His senses harshly pulled him left, and he stumbled slightly before running over the the left cell. 

"This one." He whispered. "Found you."

He touched the cell door, wondering how they would open it, when the door creaked, and started to open. Akira took a step back, and ordered the Thieves to stand several paces behind him, at the ready. Joker had made his choice. This was the door that needed to open. He could not be wrong, or they would all be dead. The door stopped creaking, and Akira looked in. 

There was a boy lying on the cold floor. Akira couldn't make out his features, as the boy was surrounded by the shadowing of the great door. Akira heard a groan come from him, and immediately ran into the cell, disregarding the shouts of his worried teammates. Yet, even with the knowledge that this wasn't the safest choice he could make, he knew that this was the person he was looking for, Minato Arisato. He reached Minato, kneeling to pick up the boy. Light blue eyes, the lightest he had ever seen, slowly opened to look at him. Akira smiled softly at him, and slung the boys left arm over his shoulders.

"Welcome back, Minato."

Minato slowly blinked at him.

"Who'r you?" His words were slightly slurred. 

Makes sense, Akira thought. He's been asleep for a while now.

"I'm Joker. I was sent by Elizabeth."

Now that got his attention. Akira offered him an Alert Capsule, which he glared at for a minute, until deeming it safe to consume. Once he did, his eyes sharpened and he was no longer leaning heavily on Akira. Akira then handed him the Evoker Elizabeth had giving him. Minato looked at him with a grateful expression. Akira helped him out of the cell, where, upon them leaving, shut rather quickly. Minato glanced around, and pointed to the rest of the Thieves.

"Who are they? And what exactly is this place?"

Akira chuckled a bit. "They are my teammates, Minato. And this-" He gestured around them. "-This is the depths of the peoples collective cognitions, Mementos."

"Collective cognition, huh?" Akira heard Minato mumble. "Sounds something like Tartarus."

Akira didn't miss the grimace Minato made when he mentioned Tartarus. He had gotten most of the details from Elizabeth, so he knew somewhat of what Minato was talking about. He saw the Ryuji's mouth open to ask a question, but Joker didn't get to hear it at that moment. Both his and Minato's eyes widened as two pairs of hands grabbed them from the back and yanked them both through.

Joker landed on his back against...something that he couldn't make out. It didn't feel like carpet. He heard voices and a cry of happiness.

"HAH! Theo, he did it! He found him!"

"Heh. Yeah-ouch! Elizabeth why?"

"Um," a voice said, coming from...under him? "You're-you're kind of squishing me."

Akira looked down to see Minato struggling to get out from his weight.

"Oh! Sorry!" 

Akira quickly rolled off him and helped him up. 

"You're good." Minato brushed himself off. "Hello, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth ran up to Minato and gave him what looked to Akira like a bone crushing hug. What he didn't expect was to get the same kind of hug from Elizabeth.

For only a second, Akira wished that his wardens-*ahem*-Velvet Room attendants were that nice.

He shook himself out of that though. Don't go down that trail, Akira. He scolded himself. It's that god's fault. 

"Thank you, Trickster." She said, happy that her Wildcard was okay now. 

Akira just grinned and scratched the back of his neck. "Eheh, it's no big deal."

Minato looked at him. "Trickster?" He questioned.

Akira just shook his head. Questions later. He promised him silently. Minato nodded, satisfied. Elizabeth clapped her hands together.

"Minato, Trickster, allow me to explain what is exactly going on. We only have a limited amount of time." She gestured to the male that was standing in the back corner, by the table-like desk. "First, this is my brother, Theodore. Theo, for short." She waved her arm, and two chairs appeared. "Sit, you two."

Chapter Text

7 years.

7 whole years.

He was trapped as a seal for 7 whole years. Maybe more.

One does not just take that lightly.

All of the people he had considered friends, did they even remember him? What did they do now? How old would they be? Akihiko would be...25. Junpei would be...24. And Ken. Little 10 year old Ken. He would be 17, Minato's (not really) age. 

They would look the same age.

That just felt wrong to him. 

"Hey. You ok?"

Joker's voice startled him out of his stupor. He was grateful for it, really. Minato didn't want to dwell on things for more time than necessary, so Joker's-or was it Akira's-voice was welcomed. 

"I'll be fine." Minato had fooled many with this response. Because he will be fine. However, it didn't seem to have any effect on Jok-Akira.

"I didn't ask if you would be fine, I asked if you are." Akira was...strangely persistent. Though, as a leader of a group as complex and crazy as these "Phantom Thieves", Minato could understand where it came from.

"..." He really didn't have a response. How could he? He had just learned that, after sealing away Erebus, 6 years later, a new god shows up, kicks Erebus somewhere, and then proceeded to lock him in a jail cell. No, he was perfectly. fine.

"Thought so." Minato startled. He knew he didn't just say that out loud, so how did Akira know?

Akira chuckled. "I have to be good at reading people. Comes with the job. Y'know, shadows and teammates. The usual."

Minato nodded. The conversation probably would've continued, but Elizabeth decided that it was the perfect time for the next part of her talk.

"Okay boys. Understand everything I just told you?"

Minato just shook his head. Honestly. No offense to Elizabeth but how in Tartarus was he supposed to understand just what had transpired over the past 6-7 years? The fact that there was one other Wildcard in-between him and Akira, or the fact that they were now on their way to go fight a god. Another god, in Minato's experience. 

Safe to say, he was not looking forward to this.

Or was he?

Minato considered the fact that he would be able to summon his personas again-to be able to fight and destroy shadows again. Granted, it was a small part, but that small part was almost...exited about the fact that he would hopefully not die this time. This was different. No one would be sacrificing themselves to kill this God of Control.

He would make sure of it.

He looked in Akira's direction. The thief seemed to just...stand there, for a minute. Completely still. Minato had to hand it to the guy. He was surprisingly calm after hearing all of this. 

"Well," Elizabeth continued. "Regardless if you get it or not, it's still happening." She turned to address Akira. "Trickster, because of the instability of the door I summoned in the depths, it will unfortunately bring you back to the start of the depths. I am sorry for this."

Akira just shrugged, then a grin made its way onto his face. "Actually, that's a good thing. Me and my team can level up just a bit more, and Minato can dust off the cobwebs. Only if he needs too." He added, still grinning.

Minato, though he said nothing, was grateful for the chance to practice his summoning. After all, Mementos worked differently than Tartarus. Akira in his outfit proved that. He wondered if he would get one, or if he'd just use his Evoker.

Elizabeth seemed to wonder the same thing, only, she said it out loud. Akira considered that for a moment, then responded to her inquiry.

"We have the outfits and masks because it's a physical sign of our rebellion. You might have noticed the blond boy with the skull mask?" He turned to Minato. Minato thought back, and realized that yes, he did know the one Akira was talking about. Akira continued, "That's Ryuji Sakamoto, known as Skull in the Metaverse. His form of rebellion is a pirate. That is, for him, what symbolizes rebellion. That's why his persona is Captain Kidd. Get it?"

Minato nodded along with Elizabeth.

"What about the code names?" Elizabeth asked. 

"Oh." Akira frowned, then continued. "Well, it's to protect our identities. You're telling me you walked around the Metaverse with no code names, outfits, or anything?"

"Yup." Minato agreed. He wasn't sure why Akira found it so important. "But if you all have one, does that mean I get one?"

This time, the grin that appeared on Akira's face was much more unsettling that the previous versions. "We'll get you one when you get your outfit. If you don't have one, the code name's almost pointless."

Minato could see the logic in that. He nodded once again. Elizabeth gathered him in a hug and smiled once again. 

"Are you two ready?" She asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Akira smiled.

"Sure." Minato said.

"Good bye, Wildcards!" Theo piped up from the corner he was in. In all honesty, Minato had forgotten he was there, and by the looks of it, so had Elizabeth and Akira.

"Farewell and good luck! May the fates be on your sides!" Elizabeth called as they walked out of the Velvet Room, side by side.

Chapter Text

"WHAT THE FU-MMPH-" Ann clapped her hand around Ryuji's mouth.

"Calm down, you idiot." she hissed. 

He grumbled, but otherwise stayed silent. He must have been the last person to figure it out it, but Akira quickly realized that they were back at the entrance of Mementos. This time with Minato. Speaking of said person...

"Is this...Mementos?" Minato asked Akira. Akira turned to face him and nodded to Minato in conformation. Minato opened his mouth to say something, but was cut short when a bullet sailed pretty close to his head. Akira whipped around, coming to stare at the rest of the Thieves in shock. Turns out, the bullet came from Queen's gun, and she was loading another. Akira quickly placed himself in front of Minato.

"Guys! Stop it! He's with me!"

They hesitated. Queen still wasn't lowering the gun, so Joker put his hands up in an 'I surrender' pose.

"Dude..." Ryuji started. "First, you run into this cell-like thingy, then you come out with this guy-" *jabs a thumb at Minato, who was just standing there, like he hadn't just been shot at* -"then we're all suddenly back at the entrance?! What the hell is going on man?"

Akira sighed. He was getting really tired of explaining things.

"...Dang dude. That's 'effin messed up."

Minato just shrugged. "What happened, happened. What matters is, I'm here now to help you guys, and I will do my best to ensure what happened to me, does not happed to Joker."

Ryuji seemed very satisfied with this answer, which Akira was very thankful for. Makoto stepped up and bowed her head.

"Forgive me, Minato-Senpai. I'm sorry for shooting you."

He waved her off, albeit awkwardly. 

"You were simply trying to protect your leader. I can respect that quite a bit."

She smiled gratefully. Morgana walked up to Akira. 

"Joker, where do you wanna start?"

Joker grinned. He put the thought of fighting Yaldabaoth in the back of his mind, and focused on the fact that he would get to see another Wildcard in action. He was excited about it, and wondered what skills Minato had. But what he most wanted to find out, it if Minato could awaken a persona with the strength of his rebellion, like the others and himself did. Oh yes, he was practically brimming with excitement.

"Partway in, Mona."

Akira was having fun. A whole lot of it, too. Wanting to determine Minato's abilities, he had put everyone else on their support and healing jobs, and had himself and Minato as offense. He felt confident in his decision, after all, these shadows weren't half Akira's full power, but still strong in their own way. And, as he learned quickly, he was right not to worry. Though they weren't using their Personas quite yet, Minato took out the shadows like it was nobody's business. And, similar to Akira, his Hit Points (HP) and Spirit Points (SP) refilled after every fight, meaning they could just continue hacking their way down Mementos. It was easy, really. Joker cackled as he sliced through another shadow, leaving it to crumble into nothingness. Minato slashed the next one with his sword, and they part ways down the tunnels and halls of Mementos in hunt for shadows. He and Minato had decided to play a little game: Who will destroy the most shadows on 10 floors? Akira found this exhilarating to some degree And despite Minato's perfect poker face, Akira could tell that he was actually enjoying this almost as much as he was. The were on their last floor before the depths, and Joker was counting in his head, determined to beat Minato.

67

75

82

91

103

Akira finished off his last shadow and went in search of Minato. He heard the voices of some pretty strong shadows, so he went to give Minato backup. As he rounded the corner, finally getting eyes on Minato, he was nearly ambushed by a shadow. He flipped out of the way, and slashed at it, entering combat with a Moloch. He finished up pretty quickly with a few ice spells and prepared to help Minato.

BANG!!

Akira turned in shock to Minato, who, Akira noticed, had a gun--no, his Evoker thing--pointed at his head. Akira feared the worst, until a bright flash of light, and the persona Athena appeared, slashing the strong shadows to pieces. Minato faced him and seemed to pause at the shock openly written on Akira's face.

"You just shot yourself?!" Akira was, to say the least, absolutely bewildered. Minato smacked a hand to his forehead.

"Right," he muttered. "My bad. I should have told you--this is how I summon my personas, and how we did it in the Dark Hour. Sorry for worrying you, Joker."

Akira took a breath. "Okay then, moving on."

Finally they came to the station where they would head down to the pathway/archway od the bones that looked like a giant ribcage. He, Minato, and the Thieves regrouped at the rest stop, and Joker and Minato tallied up their kills.

Minato: 107

Joker:113

It was fun, and Akira didn't even feel the slightest bit exhausted.

"Good job, Joker." Minato offered his hand to shake. Akira took it with a smile.

"That was awesome, Minato. I guess this is the power of another Wildcard, huh?"

Minato nodded his agreement. "Are you ready for the god?"

Akira gave a dry laugh. "No. Probably won't ever be, but we still gotta do this. You ready?"

Minato gave him a slight smile back. "I won't let any of you die. This won't be a repeat of last time, I swear."

Akira nodded, then turned to the Thieves.

"This will be our last run, guys. Everything we've worked for, and fought for, it leads here. We might even lose our Personas. Are you willing to take the chance? I will, so who will stand with me?"

They all paused, then Ryuji stepped up.

"I'm with you all the way dude!"

Ann stepped up next. "You can't get rid of us that easily, Joker."

One by one, they all came up to stand by him, their final (or what they thought to be final) act of rebellion. Minato nodded, and Akira descended down, one last time.

Chapter Text

Going through the puzzles, passing through the jail cells, and dodging the shadows was just as easy as the first time they did it, and for that Akira was thankful. They needed to save everyones strength for the so-called god.

Finally the slide came, and after they all joined Akira and Minato at the end of it, they all looked over the edge. There, in the center of a huge circle-shaped room, stood a ginormous golden cup, with cells covering the walls of the room. It was an eerie scene to Akira. Even after witnessing all the palace rulers and their twisted desires, this still somehow felt so much worse. He turned and noticed Minato looking at the cup with a very distasteful glare. Akira watched as Minato's glare turned into a pensive face, showing no other emotions except deep thought and disgust towards the cup, or what Elizabeth suspected was the Holy Grail. It was, Akira had to admit, quite scary to look at. 

"Time to do this," he muttered.

The Thieves nodded with him, and they went to meet the Grail.

The cup was much bigger up close, Akira decided. 

"...The hell?" Ryuji muttered.

"Look at how many there are...!" Yusuke added. "These are all prison cells!"

"So..." Futaba mumbled. "What's the thing in the middle?"

Right. Akira hadn't really had the time to explain everything about this "god". He hadn't told the Thieves about the Grail, or the fact that this cup was the God of Control. That's what Elizabeth said, at least.

"Whatever it is, it looks disgustingly grand." Ann stated, quite matter-of-factly. 

"Well, this is the final destination," said Yusuke. "The Depths of Mementos."

"In that case," Haru finally spoke. "Is the treasure of Mementos down here?"

"That should be the case." Akira answered as best he could, not truly knowing himself.

"I think you're right." said Morgana. "I've never been here, but I can sense it. There is no mistaking this presence. If we can get rid of it..." he trailed off, then shook his head. "If we get rid of it, then the public should come to its senses!"

"But something that large would be Impossible to carry out of here." Yusuke argued.

"No prob!" Ryuji grinned under his mask. "All we gotta do id make it disappear! If we can't move it, we'll just hafta destroy it!"

"Yeah," Morgana agreed. "That will work."

"This is finally it, guys." Ann spoke. They all nodded solemnly. 

"Hey guys, we've been discovered." Futaba's voice cut through the solemn atmosphere and caused them all to turn to the cup.

"...The inmates are starting to liven up." Yusuke realized. "Could they be planning something?"

"Then that must mean this is the Treasure." Ryuji said. "Saved us the trouble of checking."

"...Hold on," Makoto paused. "Something's off. Shido said that the masses are allowing themselves to be captured here. Could they truly be operating this gigantic system that eliminates intruders on its own? The prison guards and soldiers were very organized as well."

"Are you trying to say that someone else rules this place?" Yusuke said, surprised. "Is it not the public?"

Suddenly, a deep, horrifying laugh echoed around the room.

"What was that!" Ann exclaimed.'

"Leave it for later, Panther!" Ryuji yelled, bringing Ann back to her senses. 

"Alright guys!" Morgana seemed to stand up a bit straighter while speaking. "We better not lose now!"

It was no longer just some fight or just a Mementos run, as soon as they jumped in to fight, it finally settled in that this was it. There was no going back now. Akira realized this, and almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.

Here they all stood, 8 Phantom Thieves and a boy who is supposed to be dead. He let out a short, quick laugh, and proceeded to attack. 

He had Skull, Panther, Minato, and himself up front, fighting. Fox and Noir were on defense, protecting them from a few hits when possible, and Mona and Queen were on health duty, making sure their HP didn't drop too low. He used Inzanagi-no-Okami Picaro's Concentrate and held his Myriad Truths for the next attack. Panther went next with a Tarunda to decrease the cups attack. Then came Skull, who used a Megaton Raid, though it seemed to have not quite the effect it usually did, Akira made a mental note of that. Minato was up next, using Megiadolaon, and while it did a lot more than Skull's attack, even that didn't do too much. The cup then sent out abeam of light at Skull, who dodged most of it, and they continued Joker sent his concentrated Myriad Truths, and this time, the damage seemed to do quite a bit, bringing the cup down at least a fourth of its health, and with the other three's attacks, it was getting close to half its HP. And yet, Akira knew, he knew, something wasn't right. They finally got it below half, when, all of the sudden, the masses in the cells yelled out-

"STOP! DON'T TOUCH OUR HOLY GRAIL!"

"STOP IT!"

"NOOO!"

"Holy Grail...?" Akira heard Futaba mumble. In a louder voice, she exclaimed, "Wh-what was that!"

The glowing tendrils flowing from the top of the Grail lit up in a nasty shade of blood red, and Akira noticed that it seemed to power up this way. All the way back to full HP. All their hard work, gone.

More voiced floated down, and Futaba shook her head in shock. 

"Don't tell me...Are the inmates giving it their strength!?"

"Dammit!" Ryuji yelled out. "This is never gonna end!"

"It seems hopeless with this many inmates supporting it." Yusuke stated.

Then a deep, echoing voice boomed around them.

"You fools. Human, yet wishing to eradicate the desires of humanity..."

Ann looked horrified. "Who's that!?" she yelped.

"Repent."

"The treasure's talking..!" Makoto whispered, surprise very evident in her voice.

"I an revered as the granter of dreams for all those who behold me...A being most commonly known as..."

"The Holy Grail." Minato whispered, face grim.

"The Holy Grail. The Prison of Regression is representative of the collective desires of humanity. They wish to be chained down, surrender their cognition, and neglect the world around them. These feebleminded common folk will make your 'social reform' all for naught. The shared heart of the masses has fallen into an excess of indolence and transformed into a prison. 

The voices from the cells grew, until there were so many, even Akira couldn't hope to ignore them. 

"Dammit!" Ryuji swore. "They're worshipin' that thing!"

"Thus, the only suitable end for them is to perish within the prison they wished for themselves."

The light on the Grail began to glow alarmingly fast, and both Morgana and Minato told him:

"Get ready." Minato urged.

"Here it comes!" Morgana yelled.

"Hell yeah!" Ryuji yelled back.

The Grail sent another powerful beam of light towards Skull, who took a lot of damage from that hit, which Makoto patched up quickly. 

"Damn that thing!" Futaba screamed. "Make sure you break it for sure this time!"

They tried, they really did. Skull was panting, his SP almost nothing, and his HP barely kept up by Mona and Queen. Same with Panther. He and Minato seemed to be faring better than the rest, but not by much. Any time they hit it, it just healed itself. Akira knew they weren't going to make it through this if it kept on doing that. The voices just kept getting louder, and louder. A slow chant of "GET OUT OF HERE".

"We've come here for nothing." Morgana said, his voice cracking. 

"This is horrible!" That was Noir, Akira noted.

"As long as humanity yearns for me, I shall never perish."

"No..." Makoto sounded more emotional then Akira had heard from her. "Is this what everyone wants? To just stop thinking and be guided by the Holy Grail?"

"We can't accept that!" Joker said firmly, Minato nodding with him. 

"Yes," she whispered. "Its so frustrating that I want to cry. But, I, no we, will never agree!"

"Humanity already wishes for their distortions to be actualized. I am merely the being that will ultimately grant those wishes. Now, it is time I refrain from my place in this world, and begin to encroach upon reality itself."

"Encroach?" Minato muttered. "Whats it going to do?"

"I have a bad feeling about this." Futaba stated.

Suddenly this ray of bright light beamed across all of the Thieves. Aira heard the screams of pain from his teammates, and desperately wished he could do something, anything to ease their pain. 

"Now, the time for the fusion has come."

He heard Yusuke's voice ring out above the loud chatter from the inmates.

"Hey...! The ground!"

He was right, it was starting to glow, and vanish.

"Hell no!" Ryuji yelled, but it was too late. The floor was gone, and they were transported in a flash of light. Before they were gone completely, he heard a faint voice call the name, "Mor...gana..."

"Huh! Who's that!?" Morgana panicked. 

"You...are...my..."

"N-no way..." Morgana realized. "...I see...So that's how it was...I remember everything now."

Several screams and grunts later, they found themselves on the streets of...Shibuya, Akira realized. But how? 

"Is everyone ok?" he asked.

"Owww...Of course we are!" Ryuji said.

"Oh...Hey!" Futaba yelled. "Our clothes are back to normal!"

She was right. They were all in casual wear. But where was Minato-

He heard to quick coughs, and quickly turned to see Minato rising from the doubled over coughing position he was in, and looking in awe at the signs and buildings of Tokyo. Akira jolted in the realization that it had been almost seven years since Minato had even seen the outside world. Of course he would be awed.

"We were driven out by the Holy Grail!" Morgana exclaimed.

"We can't give up, but I don't understand." Akira mumbled to himself. He then felt a drip of something on his head, and it seemed the rest of them had noticed too. Akira wonderd why it was raining, but as a drop of it landed on his glasses, he noticed it wasn't rain, it was-

"Blood!?" Minato whispered.

All the sudden, these bone/rib-like things burst out of the ground in pools of red. The streets became lined with them, and Akira could only watch in horror as Mementos merged with the real world.

"So this is what the Grail was talking about." he said. He watched the people simply continue on their merry way, as if the didn't understand, nor realize, what just happened. 

Somewhere in Shibuya, a slightly bandaged, blue haired boy, the holder of the Moon arcana, Mishima, noticed that there was something in the sky. Then, he noticed in horror, that a red liquid was seeping into the train he was on, and doing so fast. He gasped and stumbled back, turning to someone for help, but noticed with shock and more horror, that everyone else seemed unaffected by it, as if they didn't notice.

"Gosh, how come they aren't seeing any of this at all?" he mumbled to himself sloshing through the already ankle-high red stuff, and opening the train door. 

Sojiro was cleaning out LeBlanc, wondering when Futaba and Akira would get home and come down for dinner. He of course, knew that they were the notorious Phantom Thieves, but he still worried for them all, though he didn't often show it. He grabbed the last crate of stuff and opened the door. What he saw outside nearly made him drop it.

"What the hell?"

"To think this would happen." Morgana spoke.

"No way." Ryuji breathed. "You gotta be shittin' me!"

Across the way, a news reporter who filled the Devil arcana, Ohya, wondered if this was all a dream. She walked away.

The next person to come up was the Hanged Man arcana, Iwai.

"Huh? Tch, the hell it this? What's going on?" 

Immediately thinking only of his adopted son, he ran off to go check on Kaoru.

The Star arcana, Hifumi, stood in shock at what surrounded Shibuya. 

"Is this scenery...For real?!"

The politician standing next to her exclaimed, "What on earth! This is impossible! Why doesn't anyone notice this!"

Only a few select others noticed the change in the world around them. Most others didn't. They were oblivious.

"Why isn't anyone noticing this abnormality?!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"Probably because they don't feel that it's odd." Makoto answered.

"Ow...My head..." Akira turned to see Futaba fall to the ground.

"Futaba!" The Thieves raced to her side, but she wasn't the only one who started to feel wrong. Ann stumbled next, then Haru. One by one, each of them fell over, except Minato. Akira suddenly felt woozy, like there was someone pounding in his skull. Minato rushed to his side.

"Hey, hey, Akira. Akira! Whats wrong?"

Now, Akira hadn't known Minato for long, but he had never heard him so worried. Minato was basically holding Akira's head in his lap now, the pain was so bad.

"It hurts!" The rest of the Thieves yelled, cried, and wailed. Akira...didnt. He just, laid there. It hurt. It really hurt. It hurt so much he couldn't speak, he couldn't make a sound, even if he'd wanted to. He looked at the rest of the Thieves. Turning his head was a discomfort. His eyes widened as he watched Ryuji scream as his hand started to disappear. Slowly, each of them started to fade, the public no longer believing in the Phantom Thieves due to the Holy Grail. Akira heard the voice again, the voice of the Grail, and r\he knew his prediction was true. The public no longer believed in the Phantom Thieves. They were now going to disappear into nothingness, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. As they each disappeared, he felt Minato's grip on him get tighter.

"Is this..my fault? Because I brought you all there?" Morgana stumbled out, voice cracking.

Akira mustered up what little voice he had, and reassured him that it wasn't his fault.

"I'm-i'm sorry, Joker..." Mona faded, leaving only Akira and Minato.

"No," Minato whispered. Akira noticed his eyes filling with unshed tears. "No no no no no! This, this can't be happening!"

Akira felt horrible for Minato. After losing his team because of his death, and now, after just coming back, having to watch them and fade, it must have been awful. Akira gave him a sad smile. 

"Sorry, Minato. It's...my...fault. Sorry."

As he faded he reached a hand to the sky, and could faintly hear Minato quietly crying.

And he faded.

Chapter Text

"Sorry, Minato. It's...my...fault. Sorry."

Why?

Why why why why why why?

Why did this happen to them? Why was he still powerless to save them, to stop Akira and the rest of the Thieves from disappearing? Minato had only felt this kind of hopelessness when he had needed to make the choice to sacrifice Ryoji or not. He had failed Shinji, and he had failed his team, the S.E.E.S., by dying to become the Seal. So why was he so powerless that he couldn't save these thieves?

Minato felt something wet drip down his cheek, and realized with a start that he was crying. Not much, but noticeable. 

"It's not your fault, Akira. It's mine. I couldn't save you. You have no reason to apologize to me." Minato whispered.

" Are- th-y d-ad?"

"Who's there?" Minato quickly wiped his eyes, and spun his head around, trying to find to source of the voice. It sounded...very familiar. Like he had know it at some point. It was strange. He started to wrack his brain for the owner of that voice. Though the words weren't clear, he was pretty sure the familiar voice had said, "Are they dead?". Something about the question made Minato think that it was suggesting to opposite was true. That they were all alive.

"Th-re y-u go. Th-nk ab-ut -t. Yo- di-n't s-e them die, did you."

That was said as a statement, which made Minato snap out of the horrified trance he'd been in, and actually think. He hadn't seen them die, he had seen them fade-

"Oh-!" Minato exclaimed. They're not dead. He felt rather stupid, though he was very thankful. 

He heard the voice giggle a bit, and a form started to appear, one Minute knew very well. In only a few seconds, Pharos stood before him in his ratty prison clothes and slightly off-putting smile. 

"Very good. You've figured it out. Im glad."

"Thank you, Pharos. I-Thank you."

Pharos just smiled at him, and pointed behind Minato. He turned, and saw a blue jail cell door now hovering on the street. 

"Is that...?"

"Yes. That is the current Trickster's Velvet Room. He is inside."

"How am I supposed to get inside? I don't have his key."

Pharos chuckled again. "You already have the key. Use it, and the Universe, shall be there to answer your call. See you!"

Pharos disappeared, but he had given Minato everything he needed. He shakily stood up, and walked to the cell door. Minato held out his hand, and the blue Universe tarot card appeared in his hand. He steeled his resolve to save Akira, and the Thieves. He stuck the card into the key slot, and could feel the tarot shift to form a glowing blue key, which he turned with enough force to almost break the lock. He heard to wonderful sound of the lock clicking open, and threw the door wide.

Akira woke up to a chilling he knew well; his cell in the Velvet Room. 

"In the end, your rehabilitation was not carried through. It appears, I have underestimated you."

Igor's voice filled the room, and Akira stood up on shaky legs, and turned to face Igor.

"Where did my teammates go?" Akira asked, making sure his voice was firm.

Igor chuckled, which was never a good thing to Akira. Caroline chose this moment to bang loudly on the doors and yell, "You incompetent prisoner!", which startled Akira. 

"The assistance we provided was all for naught." Justine continued for her sister in her usual calm, downcast manner.

"Humans are more apathetic...and more foolish than I had thought them to be." Igor spoke."The world will soon see its ruin."

That sounded...familiar, though Akira couldn't quite place it. 

"Am I dead?" he asked, not quite sure if he was or not.

"You have lost the game." Igor said.

Game? What game? Akira wasn't playing any game. He was fighting for his friends and humanity. 

"You were meant to bring change to mankind as a Trickster," Igor continued, ignoring Akira. "but it seems that was too much for you. In accordance to the game's rules, the defeated much pay a price."

No. He hadn't...he hadn't lost. He couldn't lose. He couldn't. This was all wrong. They had tried so damn hard, so why? 

The next words shocked him, more than he'd like to admit.

"Your life is forfeit." 

Akira noticed out of the far corners of his eyes, that even the twins were shocked at this, which in turn made Akira wonder, in the brilliant words of Ryuji,

What the hell is going on?

"I sentence you...to be executed." Igor exclaimed. That smile. That damned smile of his made Akira want to scream. Not because his own life hung in the balance, he could care less at this point, but because he didn't know if his friends were even alive, and what had happened to Minato.

He heard Caroline gasp at Igor's words, and Justine mutter, "Executed?" in her shock. 

"God's decree is absolute."

Oh hell to the FUCK no. This couldn't be Igor. The Igor Minato and Elizabeth told him about was nice, and definitely not. a. freaking. GOD.

"My experiment has come to naught." Igor muttered, still quite loud. "Everything is over. Grant that man a swift death."

"If that's what our master wishes..." Caroline muttered. 

"You're going to execute me?" he asked the twins, wondering if they would really do it. Caroline smacked the bars again, but with less force this time.

"I-it just means you weren't an upstanding prisoner." she stuttered.

"That...may be true...but..." Justine sounded hesitant. 

"What is the matter?" Igor interrupted. "Carry out his sentence at once."

"Are we really going to kill him?" Justine asked her sister. 

"Don't falter now!" Caroline exclaimed. "It'll his fault for losing the game!" She banged her staff against the cell once more, but this time, electricity arced through it, startling Akira back a few steps. They opened the cell door and roughly grabbed him by his arms, drug him across the room, and dropped him on the floor in front of the guillotine. His body felt heavy, and when he tried to move his arms, they felt like dead weights.

"All right, inmate. We now proceed to the execution of your sentence." Caroline said roughly.

"I...I can't die yet." Akira muttered. 

They're going to kill me at this rate. I need to do something.

Akira tried to push himself up, trying desperately to shake off the feeling of the extra weight, struggling to get up. 

Come on. I have to do this. For my team. 

He slowly stood, and could feel cognition almost...crackle around him. The twins stood back in surprise as his jail clothed melted into his Joker outfit. He could once again feel Arsène and the others in his mind, a constant comfort to him. He heard the sound of a small explosion, and turned quickly to see the cell door he had just come from, burst open, no longer there. 

"How insolent." Calorine once again spoke to him. "To think you'd still show your rebellious will after all that...Ready Justine?"

"If our master orders so, it cannot be helped."

"Let us show our strength to this...prisoner who just doesn't know when to give up."

"...Understood." Justine murmured. 

"Death to the criminal." they said in unison.

"Don't resist inmate!" Caroline shouted.

Akira tried, but he couldn't move his body. He tried and tried, but it no longer listened to his commands. 

Caroline and Justine sent several attacks his way, and though he tried to resist, he still couldn't do anything. Though, he wasn't dead...yet.

"This power..." Justine muttered again. "Caroline, it's as I thought!"

"Whats the matter?" Igor asked.

"I told you not to falter!" Caroline shouted at Justine. "Are you going against our master's orders!?"

Justine made a little sigh, as Caroline and Justine attacked him again. It hurt, and Akira was practically sitting on the floor, crouched over, but he made a mental note (if he ever gets out of this) to thank Morgana for making him train. 

"No..." Justine said. "This isn't right. Our duty isn't to kill him! Caroline!"

"What gives? What am I doubting myself? Is there...another duty left to us?"

What he saw was so awful, there was no real words or even feelings to describe. When the door opened, Minato looked in and saw Akira, in full Joker apparel, crouched on the floor slightly bleeding, with two small girls wearing blue suits standing over him, one holding what looked like a small staff, and another holding a clipboard.

No. They couldn't be.

They were. Minato's time with Elizabeth was enough to tell who a Velvet Room attendant was, plus the fact she always talked about her older sister, Margaret, and her two younger siblings, Theo and Lavenza. What he felt was horrifying. These two girls, were Lavenza, split apart. It was such a cruel thing Minato felt like throwing up at the sight. Only someone truly evil, and powerful, would and could rip apart an attendant. Minato was glad Elizabeth wasn't here to see her sister in such a state. 

"He heard a little of the last bit one of them said;

"No..." Justine said. "This isn't right. Our duty isn't to kill him! Caroline!"

"What gives? What am I doubting myself? Is there...another duty left to us?"

Kill Akira!?

He thought it couldn't get worse.

It did.

While he was looking at Akira and the two girls, he heard a quiet, deep chuckle from the other side of the room. He turned slowly, and his eyes widened in absolute horror at the thing that stood by what was supposed to be Igor's desk and chair. 

That. Was. Not. Igor. Fake Igor chuckled again, seeming to not notice Minato right away. He heard the fake walk up to Akira.

"I believe I ordered his execution." Not-Igor said. That was definitely not Igor's voice. It seemed that the two girls were hesitating.

"Master...have you forsaken humanity?" One of the girls asked, the one with the right eyepatch. The other spoke up.

"We are wardens-those who rehabilitate prisoners."

"What?" Fake Igor sounded half angry, half...Minato didn't know. 

"Our true duty is not to kill."

Suddenly, a voice rang out, "Help!"

Minato watched Akira look up when he heard it.

"Please...help."

"Who..are you?" he heard Akira mutter.

"Who? Yes, we are those who wish for true rehabilitation."

"We are not executioners." The second girl spoke again. "That is the truth we had forgotten."

"We've decided, we will not forsake humanity!"

Minato watched silently as the two girls fell, and spoke to each other.

A bright flash of light, and the same voice again spoke.

"Ah, now is the time for our wish to be realized."

The two nodded at each other, and stood. 

"I finally remember...how we were torn apart!"

So Minato was right, this was Lavenza. 

"Torn apart?" He heard Akira ask.

"we were originally one. Yet we were torn asunder into halves...by a malevolent intent!"

Both Akira and Minato turned to Not-Igor. He just chuckled, confirming them. 

"So we were just prisoners, same as you. Heh, to think we'd learn that from a prisoner."

"Let us reclaim our true form!"

"Hey, we'll give you your last job. Be thankful, okay?"

"You must fuse us together with your own hands."

Minato watched as Akira nodded to them, and watched Akira stand up and walk each girl over to the other side of the guillotines. He continued to watch even as the blades came down on their heads. Was this how Akira had fused his Personas? How gruesome. But it was also sad, because Minato had gotten real Igor, and Elizabeth to help him. Akira...didnt get that. He looked on as they fused together to make Lavenza, and was glad Akira had been able to do so. He heard her introduce herself to Akira, and wondered how no-one had noticed him yet.

"I believed in you, Trickster." she spoke. "I knew you would make it this far. And to this scoundrel who has swindled my master's name...your lies shall no longer work now that my eyesight has been restored!"

"The game isn't over yet." Not-Igor said. He began to float in the air, and a dark power swirled around him.

"Whether the human realm is left as is or destroyed and rebuilt, it is all sport to me."

"be careful." Lavenza warned, and Minato had a sneaking suspicion that she knew he was there. 

"If your not Igor, then..." Akira said, not too surprised.

"If I were to put it into words, I would be-"

Now his voice sounded like his true form. Minato decided to reveal himself just then.

"-The Holy Grail that grants wishes, right? Yaldabaoth?"

He watched Akira slowly turn his head to look at him. Minato watched Akira's eyes go wide in shock, and several other emotions, and Minato nodded slightly to him. 

"Well well well, what have we here?"

Minato turned and glared as hard as he could at Not-Igor, who was smiling widely. It made Minato's spine shiver. He was only a few seconds away from just running at Not-Igor and attempting to impale him on his sword. Though he held himself back from it.

"Come to watch your friend die again?"

Minato grit his teeth. Now was not the time to engage. Yaldabaoth turned to Akira and spoke again.

"I had hoped that seeing a righteous thief vanquish evil would spur mankind to change their own insolent hearts. However, the result is as you know. The masses have made it so it never transpired. Humans should be met with ruin. You brought forth that answer. But to be frank, Inmate, it may be worth reevaluating you. A human has reached the Holy Grail and has seen through my true identity. You have surprised the god that I am often enough. That cannot be done by a foolish commoner. You truly were a prisoner that did not bore me. Perhaps observing you a while longer may prove amusing. I shall grant you the opportunity to make a deal with me."

Well that wasn't good. Minato knew from experience, that when a fake god offers a deal, there is no turning back should you accept it. He only hoped and prayed Akira wouldn't take the deal.

"What is this deal?" Akira asked.

"Should you wish it, I shall return the world to its prior state-one rampant with distorted masses."

No. He had some other motive for this offer. That really wasn't good, and Akira seemed to be considering it, when Lavenza spoke up.

"You forcefully dragged him into the Metaverse and imposed an ordeal he did not deserve. Yet you still intend on toying with him?"

Minato wanted to thank Lavenza for saying what she had and standing up to the false god. 

"The Phantom Thieves will be praised and gain fame. The world will escape ruin as well. What say you?"

Akira pondered the question for a minute, and he turned to Minato, eyes searching for the answer, or some comfort in his company, but Minato could not give it. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. He could not interfere with Akira's choice, no matter how powerful he may be. He opened his eyes again to watch Akira turn away and look at the fake god again, a steely determination in his eyes.

"I refuse."

Oh thank the beings that actually exist. Minato was glad Akira had turned him down, but now they had to deal with Yaldabaoth.

"Well said." Lavenza complimented Akira. Minato watched as Yaldabaoth seemed to get slightly angry at his refusal.

"What irredeemable foolishness. You chose death for yourself? Very well. I have no need for you."

That was it. That was the straw that broke the camels back. Minato lunged at Yaldabaoth, but he just barely dodged out of the way. Yaldabaoth made a tsk sound.

"Come now, Wildcard. Surely you know I am not someone you can simply stab to death. I am a God, and you cannot-"

"Get. Out." Minato hissed, voice dangerously low. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lavenza put an arm infant of Akira, shielding him from anything that might happen.

Yaldabaoth just chuckled with that stupid smile again. Minato slowly gripped his Evoker, and started to put it to his head.

"I will not, little Wildcard. Your friend will die, and you can do nothing about-"

Minato had never really yelled before, but there were always times to do new things. And it wasn't just him that yelled, it was him, Ryoji, and Pharos that screamed at the fake.

"GET. OUT!" 

Minato put the Evoker to his temple, and shot. In a flash of brilliance, Thanatos burst out of existence and lunged for Yaldabaoth. Yaldabaoth's eyes widened, and he muttered and cursed, "How?" before disappearing in a flash of red and black. Minato stood where the false god was, and turned to Akira.

"Good job, Akira."

Chapter Text

After the bell rang, signaling the end of school, Ken Amada stuck around to talk with a few of his classmates. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Akira Kurusu quickly walked out of the building, seeming to be in a rush to get somewhere. Of course, with what Akira had been doing for the past 9-ish months, Ken wasn't surprised.

Of course Ken knew who Akira was. Why wouldn't he? He had watched as Akira had smuggled a cat, a literal cat, into school to have it in his desk. But that wasn't the weirdest part. Oh no. That award went to the fact that the cat talked. Ken had seen some very strange things before, but this was up in his top 5, at least. Whats more, the cat constantly talked about this place called, Mementos, which Ken assumed by the way they spoke about it that it was the "cognitive realm" he had heard so much about lately. The cat, who's name he later learned was Morgana, also talked about various things, from "palaces", to "calling cards", and even random tidbits of information. With being the only person behind Akira, he sat right behind him, Ken had also been privledged to watch Akira craft things from lock picks to Goho-M's.

So yes, Ken knew Akira was the leader of these so-called "Phantom Thieves of Hearts". So naturally, after telling Akihiko and Mitsuru all of this, he was placed on observation  duty. Akihiko had grumbled at the fact that there was another one, because Nyx forbid, Yu Narukami be the last Wildcard they had to keep track of, now they had a new Wildcard. Though they all agreed it wasn't Akira's fault. It was some stupid god/false god/some deity that decided to, pardon his French, fuck with poor Akira's life. 

Maybe thirty minutes had passed in his classroom, with everyone else leaving, so Ken was probably the last person there, save a few teachers. He sighed, pulling out his phone to see if Akihiko had arrived to pick him up from school. Normally Akihiko was right on time, but Ken had told him to wait for a little while. All day, Ken had felt that something  big was going to happen. That feeling was only getting worse now, and Ken silently wished Akihiko would hurry up. 

Ken decided he would wait at the front gate, so he raced out of the classroom. Seeing that no one was in the halls, he continued to run, taking the stairs two at a time, then skipping the last few. He finally slowed down as he neared the school gate, opening it and looking around to see if Akihiko had magically appeared yet. By some crazy universe logic, as soon as Ken thought that, he heard the sound of an engine and watched as Akihiko pulled up to the front of the school in his police car. Akihiko opened his door to step out, but a white blur scrambled out before him. Ken laughed as Koromaru tackled him to the ground, licking his face happily.

"Hey kiddo." Akihiko smiled at the sight, wishing he had a camera. "I couldn't get out of work too fast. Sorry."

Ken nodded and looked up to him, smiling still. "It's really no problem, Akihiko-San. I don't mind-"

What Ken was going to say next was abruptly cut off as he heard a drop land on the pavement between his feet. Ken was confused as to why, because it wasn't supposed to rain any for the week. He watched another land, then another, then another then another-

Ken pushed himself to his feet and it started to pour. He heard Akihiko mutter about how strange it was. It was really starting to come down now, and Ken looked down to shield his eyes from the splatter of the drops, but what he saw made him want to puke. It wasn't rain. It was so, so, so red. Almost like...

"Is-is that blood." Ken muttered in horror.

"Well, it sure as hell isn't kool-aid kid." Akihiko mumbled.

Ken watched as Akihiko looked to the sky, blinking through the rain/blood. Akihiko opened his mouth to say more, but just then the ground shook violently. Koromaru instantly was barking furiously in the direction of Shibuya Square, where Ken and Akihiko looked over to see a massive rib cage and several different bones sprouting from the ground. To say there were shocked was an understatement. Akihiko grabbed Ken's shoulder, and started to push him towards the car.

"Come on, Ken! We have to go over there."

"You know!" Ken shouted back over the rain. "Normal people would run away from that, not go towards that!"

Akihiko just grinned as they hopped into the car. Pulling a pair of boxing gloves out of the console, he turned to Ken as he hit the gas. 

"With our line of work, could we ever be considered normal?"

Ken just shook his head in amusement. Those gloves only meant one thing-it was time to kill some shadows again.

"Wait, Akihito-San!" Ken started. "We don't have our Evokers!"

Akihiko pointed to the glove compartment in front of Ken. "Open that."

Ken opened the compartment and a smile split his face. Inside were two special S.E.E.S Evokers and Koromaru's special dog collar Evoker. Ken snapped the collar onto Koromaru's neck, and held onto Akihiko's Evoker for him. 

Pulling into Shibuya, they realized that no one else seemed affected by this bloody phenomenon, save a few special people, of course. As they got out of a car, Ken saw a man with a gecko tattoo on his neck run past them. Iwai, the owner of Untouchable, Ken thought. And judging by the way he was looking around in shock and disgust, he seemed to know that it was raining blood and sprouting bones. Ken looked around, and immediately noticed some kind of path made out of more bones that sloped upwards, curving several times and continuing out of sight. All of the sudden, there was a flash of blue light, and Akihiko pulled him to hide behind the car. Several people seemed to appear from the light, and Ken immediately recognized the Phantom Thieves. 

"So this is their fight." Akihiko muttered. "It's probably best we don't let them know we're here, Ken."

Ken nodded his agreement, but his eye caught on someone. There was someone else standing by Joker. No thief outfit, and no mask, but there were a pair of very...familiar headphones around his neck. And who could forget his hair, the exact way Ken remembered it from 7 years ago, when their leader died to protect the universe.

There was no way. He - he had died. They all mourned his death, so how?

Ken heard a suppressed gasp and a little choke from his left, and turned to see Akihiko staring, wide-eyed at what really looked like...like-

"Minato?" Akihiko whispered, voice laced with shock. 

One normal night. That's all the pair wanted.

Yosuke had taken Yu out for coffee at a wonderful little café after they finished their homework their professors had assigned them over a break. As two college students in Tokyo, Yu was thankful for a break from all the classes. They sat outside and just talked, happy to rest a little and keep each other company.

They should have known. Their experience in Inaba should've taught them there was no such thing as a persona user resting, or peace, for that matter. 

Yu took a sip from his coffee, not the best he's ever had (that would be a boy's from Inaba Yu had met one day. He made wonderful coffee), but still incredibly good. He heard a slight pitter-patter of rain, and looked toward the streets of Shibuya. Weird, he thought. There were no clouds in the sky, yet he heard it again. He shushed Yosuke and pointed this fact out to him. They both looked on as Yu finally saw a drop. But...it wasn't rain. No, rain is a clear liquid, not blood-red. Yu felt the World arcana start to shake. 

This isn't good, He thought. If World Is shaking, what could possibly be shaking it?

It started to pour, and Yu and Yosuke could only watch in shock as it opened up to pour the blood-looking liquid from the sky. Yet no one else seemed to notice the strange happenings. The ground rumbled, and massive bones sprouted from the ground, covering at least half of Tokyo, yet no one noticed. Except, Yu saw a car pull up from the street, and two people he had been introduced to around 4-5ish years ago: Akihiko Sanada and Ken Amada, two of the Shadow Ops from the group known as S.E.E.S. 

The last time Yu had spoken to the Shadow Ops, they had told him that they were monitoring a new Wildcard, but when Yu inquired into the matter, they kindly told him to not get involved. Plus, they never gave Yu a name for this Leader of the Phantom Thieves. Naoto, being Naoto, had investigated, but she'd come up empty, so Yu decided to do as the Ops said, and stay out of it. Suffice to say, that was not an option now.

He saw a flash of blue, and what Yu immediately knew was a Velvet Room door, though it looked strange, appeared and all of the Thieves plus a boy with the same shade of blue hair as Naoto walked out of it. He watched as they started to run up the path of bones, most likely towards their greatest challenge yet, and Yu wished them luck. He remembered fighting Inzanami, and if this was anything like that, the Thieves would need all the luck they could spare. After running out of sight, Yu motioned for Yosuke to get up, and the two walked over to where Akihiko and Ken stood. Akihiko nodded to them, his face set tight. 

"Evening, Narukami-Kun."

"Evening to you as well, Akihiko-San. May I assume that you are aware of what just happened to the world right now?"

He nodded to Yu. Though their conversation was cut short when Ken called out to them.

"Hey guys! We have company!"

The three turned to where Ken pointed, and Yu sighed in resignation. Several shadows started to spawn at the edge of the bone path. The dog, Koromaru, barked once, then looked like he was ready to jump into the awaiting and inevitable battle. 

"Wait, I...don't have a weapon." Yu said, feeling slightly embarrassed, but Akihiko wordlessly gestured to Ken who opened the car door, and pulled out a katana for Yu, and two knives for Yosuke. They nodded to Akihiko and Ken appreciatively. 

"Ready?" Akihiko grinned.

"Of course." Yu said, smirking as well. With that, they ran towards the wave of shadows, intent on making sure those shadows never stepped off that path.

Chapter Text

Minato had to hand it to the Thieves. They were all working hard to get to the top of this...godly? bone path. Though if Minato was correct, they still had a far way to go, unfortunately. Sure, there were various chests they raced to grab, and they had some incredibly nice stuff in those chests, which Minato could only find unfair, but that compared to the sheer amount of shadows and so-called archangels they had to fight to advance up the path was so awful.

Yes, Akira and the Thieves' were strong, and yes, they moved pretty quickly up the path, but still, it felt so wrong to Minato. Plus, not all of the shadows were easy walks in the park. the higher they climbed, the stronger and more nasty the shadows and archangels got. The last one in particular left Akira handing out several healing items, which wasn't really a good sign. 

The party currently consisted of Akira, Minato, Panther, and Noir. Which would have been great...if the angel they were fighting didn't have resistance to almost everything, save whatever the hell "Nuclear" was, and Wind.

Panther and Noir were down, with Akira desperately healing them over and over again, leaving Minato to attack. Normally, Minato wouldn't mind, however, he had no Wind persona on him at the moment. The angel/shadow chuckled and aimed his next almighty attack at Akira and the two downed girls. 

"No..." Minato muttered, desperately shuffling through his few personas, trying and failing to find the right one. He had to protect them. He couldn't let them die. He couldn't...

So, you have finally realized.

A gust of wind blew from where Minato was standing, and the angel turned to face him instead. Minato gripped his head, groaning in pain. What was that voice? He hadn't heard it before. 

I am you... What is yours is also mine...

Minato felt something appear on his face, and he gripped it in pain.

I am Thou, Thou art I. Call my name, and deliver justice to those who oppose you!

"Ah...argh...ahhHHHHHH!" Minato ripped the mask off his face and called out the name that, in that moment, formed on his tongue like he had known it his entire life.

"Odysseus!"

The persona appeared in a flash of blue. Its form vaguely human, with two swords hanging on its belt. Minato felt a rush of adrenaline, and realized his clothed had changed into what he quickly realized was his very own Phantom Thief outfit. He wore a white sweater, with a long black coat on top of it. The coats ends were tattered, and he realized he was wearing a form of chest plate as well. It was incredible comfortable, that was for sure. 

Minato raised his hand to the angel. 

"Kill him, Odysseus." 

Odysseus lunged at the angel, casting a quick Panta Rhei at it, weakening it, then casting it again, vaporizing the angel immediately. Quick and effortless. Minato felt Odysseus make himself at home in another corner of his mind. He could also slightly feel Orpheus's excitement over a new friend, plus Thanatos and Messiah's wordless but warm welcome.

Minato turned to check on Akira, and found him staring back at Minato, slight shock, but mostly pride on his face. After helping the two girls up, Akira turned to him and smiled. He spread his arms wide, gesturing to the rest of the Thieves'.

"Welcome to the family, Minato." Akira said. 

Minato offered Akira a slight smile in thanks. He watched as Oracle practically pounced on Akira, making him give her a piggyback ride.

"Code name time!" Oracle yelled out. Akira shoved a finger in his ear as she yelled, then scolded her for it.

"Quickly," Queen warned. "We still have to go up further."

"Maybe...Renegade?" offered Panther. "Since he first had his Evoker persona, and now this one?"

Minato shook his head. He didn't have anything against it, but it just didn't seem to fit.

Akira snapped his fingers. "What about Ghost, then?"

Minato paused to think about it, then nodded to Akira. He grinned.

"Ghost it is, then!" Ryuiji pumped his fist into the air. "Let's gooooo!"

No...no way...

Minato thought.

Even Nyx's Avatar wasn't this big.

Sure, she was a full goddess (part of her, at least), not a fake, but still. Yaldabaoth did not need to be that big. 

After delivering some stupid speech about how he was the "god of the people's desires" or something like that, Yaldabaoth sent an Arrow of Light at Skull, who had joined in place of Noir. Skull's defense was high enough that the blast didn't kill him, but he was wounded. Fox, who had taken Panther's spot, fired back a Vorpal Sword in retaliation. Minato followed suit with a Panta Rhei from Odysseus, but their two attacks barely made a dent.  

Yaldabaoth chuckled darkly, bringing out a gun, and hitting Fox with a Distorted Lust from the Gun of Execution. Joker was quick to cast Myriad Truths and turn it to dust, his concentrated attacks actually hurting the young false god. Yaldabaoth didn't take kindly to this, and summoned a bell and book. 

After he attacked with both, then Minato retaliating with Megidolaon and Joker firing another concentrated Myriad Truths,, Yaldabaoth was missing over half his HP. However, that didn't seen to faze the false god. He chuckled once more, and his voice rang out.

"The abyss of the unconscious yearns for ultimate ruin...You have no means of escape, humans. Punishment shall strike you all as you pass through the gates of destruction."

A reddish black light grew from what seemed to be his head, glowing a ferocious and dangerous red. Oracle gasped in shock.

"Huh? What's this spike in energy?!" she exclaimed. "Some kind of insane attack is coming. Watch out! It's going to be a big one!"

Joker immediately yelled out orders to guard and shield as much as possible, opting to send one last Myriad Truth at Yaldabaoth, then guarding. Minato did the same, but a feeling of extreme unease and worry washed over him like a tsunami. Something wasn't right. 

Yaldabaoth fired off an insane spell, Rays of Control, that if they hadn't guarded, they all probably would've been dead. Joker immediately switched Fox for Mona as Mona started to heal everyone with a Mediarahan. Joker sent a Diamond Dust at Yaldabaoth, who grunted from it.

"So..." Yaldabaoth muttered, definitely loud enough for them all to hear. "This is the power that resists ruin..."

"Did we do it?" Oracle wondered, hopefulness betraying her voice. "No, not yet!" she yelled right after.

"My control shall not bow down to ruin." Yaldabaoth continued. "My control is the ultimate truth of this world."

Minato's eyes widened as he spoke the last part, Yaldabaoth's voice becoming heavier and louder. 

"Joker watch-!" Minato tried to say, before Yaldabaoth sent a wave of power at them, knocking all of the thieves down. Minato groaned. It hurt.

"He's strong..." Skull muttered. 

They all struggled to their feet, and Mona stepped forward. 

"If you really are a god, you should be guiding humans to your ideals! You're destroying them because you can't do that, aren't you? So that you can flaunt your own existence. That's why you were observing us!You had to because the reaction of the masses worried you!"

Fox chuckled. "That sounds about right."

"What drivel." Yaldabaoth spoke out. His head-feather-thing, which Minato found kind of weird, spun around his head at. A darkness covered the thieves, and Minato could barely see anything. Messiah made a clinking sound in his head, and suddenly he could kind of see through the black fog. He thanked Messiah, who responded with his push of reassurance. He turned and saw Yaldabaoth.

"Since you have been forsaken by the world, there is nowhere you can belong."

The feathers spun faster, and lightning shot down from them, striking each of the thieves back down in pain. Minato grunted again as he hit his head on the ground. 

"We..can't...lose...like this!" Skull said desperately.

"If we lose...the world is..." Queen couldn't finish her sentence.

"I...need to get back up..." Panther struggled, but couldn't.

Yaldabaoth laughed at them and then, before Minato could do anything, Yaldabaoth shot that same lightning down at them again. The screams from the others were horrible sounds to Minato. He could hear Joker not scream, but grunt in pain, like Minato himself had.

"My...strength..." Fox mumbled.

"I can't...go on..." Oracle whispered.

"Not even a sliver of unpredictability can be allowed under my control." Yaldabaoth said. Suddenly, voices rose up from seemingly nowhere, talking of how they knew the thieves could never do it.

"Do you hear the voices of the masses? They mock you for revolting against a god. The sin of rebelling against a god is severe. As punishment, you shall tase pain everlasting."

"Not letting that happen." Minato said, struggling to his feet, Mona standing as well. 

"Well well. The failure of a Wildcard, and the attendant created from the dregs of human hope, hmm? It is impossible for a petty existence like you to overrule my precedent."

"Human hope is a desire too!" Mona shouted. "You better not underestimate it! The Phantom Thieves will yield to no one, no matter who they are! Even if only one of us remains, we'll get back up and fight till the very end! And we'll definitely...definitely..." Mona took a deep breath. "Take the world!"

People were screaming and running as they finally saw the blood and the fused cognitive world. Yu took a breath as he wiped off the shadow remnants from his sword. They had finished off the last of the shadows from the path, and could now only hope that the current Wildcard and his team were doing well. 

Everyone was running, or yelling at the police, when a voice was heard. 

"And we'll definitely...definitely...Take the World!"

The public slowly stopped panicking, and someone cried out, "They haven't given up yet!"

Suddenly, there was a whole group of people cheering for the thieves, and Yu smiled a little. 

"Go Phantom Thieves."

"You hear that?!" Mona shouted triumphantly. "Those are the voices of the humans you made fun of. No one wants you to rule over them, isnt that right, Joker?"

Joker slowly stood up to face Yaldabaoth. The rest of the thieves soon followed suit. Yaldabaoth scoffed at their rebellion.

"God is the one who creates the world!" He shouted out.

Minato looked down, then back at Yaldabaoth. 

"I've made up my mind." Minato said. "I will see my justice through for the sake of protecting what I can about."

"The same goes for you guys too." Minato added. "If you've decided to take the world from him, don't compromise your ideals to the very end."

"Well said." Mona grinned.

"Let's do this!" Panther yelled out.

Joker grinned, the pointed his finger at Yaldabaoth.

"We're saving this world!" Joker shouted, loud and clear.

Both Minato and Joker could feel the public's belief in the Phantom Thieves rise, and soon it rose to the point that both Wildcards could tell was 100%. Joker ripped off his mask, and Arsène appeared. Joker grabbed his chains, and smashed them apart. Arsène roared out, then burst into a golden dust, leaving the rest of the thieves and Minato speechless. Minato didn't know quite what was going on, but he trusted Akira.

"So you have failed to harness the power. No matter how many prayers of those foolish masses come together...hm?"

Thunder echoed through the sky, and the clouds started to turn dark and spun around above the thieves. Then the sky started to glow with a blue light, and Minato and the thieves watched in shock, as a Demon Lord the size of Yaldabaoth descended from basically the heavens. 

Unfair.

Minato thought, then quickly banished it elsewhere. 

"Man it's huge! Don't tell me that's a persona!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"This is why man is doomed." Yaldabaoth roared at them, but his next attack did nothing to them. He spluttered in shock. "Impossible!"

"I see." Minato muttered, still amazed. "If a god plays naughty, then it's a demon lord's duty to punish them." 

Joker grinned, feral and excited.

"Pillage him, Satanael!" Joker roared. He drew his gun, and the demon lord, Satanael, did the same. Joker aimed right at Yaldabaoth's head, with Satanael copying his movements exactly. 

"Sinful Shell." Joker said, and fired.

The bullet sailed straight through Yaldabaoth's head, leaving a gaping hole. Yaldabaoth slowly faded, leaving behind a small cup as his treasure. Mona stepped forwards.

"Thanks to you guys, I was able to complete my duties." Mona turned to Minato. "Thanks for your help, Ghost."

Minato nodded to Mona, who then touched the cup, and smiled.

"Let's go home."

Chapter Text

Akira collapsed onto his makeshift attic bed, sighing in relief as he sunk into the mattress. Morgana hopped up next to him, licking his paw as soon as he landed. Minato just stood in the corner of the attic as Akira sighed into his pillow. Akira turned back to Minato.

"You choose. Bed or couch?" Akira asked.

Minato shrugged, not really caring too much. "Anything's better that being a door or cool tiles in a cell."

Akira laughed at Minato, who grinned back slightly. 

"Couch is fine." Minato assured him.

"Well then. I am going to sleep. Goodnight Minato."

"Night, Akira." Minato muttered as he watched Akira turn over in his bed. Minato himself played down on the couch, nearly copying what Akira had just done seconds earlier.

"Thank you."

The almost-whisper was quiet, yet firm, in a way. Minato looked over at Akira, who smiled tiredly at Minato. Minato understood the thanks, and offered his own for all the thieves had done for him, to which Akira just waved him off and they exchanged goodnights once again.

Christmas rolled around and the whole group of thieves came to celebrate at Leblanc after having celebrated with family and others first. Minato simply stayed with Akira for the day, happy to have a Christmas where he wasn't thinking of his impending doom, or another year of being a door. 

Later in the day, once everyone had gone home, it was just Minato and Akira. The former had walked up the stairs to go to bed, when he heard Akira from downstairs whisper something. Minato wasn't always very curious, but now seemed like it. He stood quietly on the landing and listened to Akira.

"-rry Christmas, Akechi." was what Akira had finished whispering, a sad tone very evident in his voice. Minato was curious as to who this "Akechi" person was, but as it sounded painful to Akira, he wasn't going to ask. Akira then walked up to his bed, looked over to Minato who had moved to the couch, and wished him a Merry Christmas.

So yeah, Minato had a happy Christmas.

It was December 26 that turned interesting.

Not in a bad way, just interesting. 

Once again, the Phantom Thieves were at Leblanc, joking around for a while. Minato was upstairs watering Akira's plant, as he had been asked, while Akira was making a few more cups of coffee. They had all just finished lunch, when Minato heard the door to Leblanc open. 

"Sorry, we're closed!" Akira called out. 

"Yeah, I know." said the mystery person.

His voice...

Minato shook his head as he grabbed the last bit of plant nutrients. 

"Wait a minute, I know you!" he heard Ann say. "You sit behind Akira at school, don't you?"

"Yes I do." confirmed the familiar sounding boy. "I'm here because I need to talk to you about something, Leader of the Phantom Thieves." 

Minato heard the shocked gasps from the group.

"Oh?" said Akira calmly. "And why would their leader be here, of all places?"

The boy chuckled. "Please don't play dumb with me, Kurusu-san. I sit behind you in class. I've seen some of the stuff you make in you desk. Kudos to your work, by the way. Plus the fact that, not only do you bring a cat to school, he talks."

Minato's eyes shot up. 

Only persona-users can hear Morgana.

Akira must have had the same thought. "Well then, what can I do for you...remind me your name again?"

"Ken. Ken Amada."

Minato could've sworn he had never moved so fast in his entire life. He set the nutrients and water down and thudded down the staircase, not caring that he sounded like an elephant. He turned the corner to the cafè part of Leblanc, and time went still. 

There stood a 17 year-old Ken, Minato could tell it was him. Same hair, same look in his eyes. Heck, he was even wearing a very similar orange hoodie.

"K-Ken?" Minato fought the stutter, but couldn't keep it out of his voice, which was barely above a whisper. He watched Ken turn and look at him, and he watched the boy's eyes go comically wide. 

"Minato...senpai?" he whispered, blinking a few times. Then realization dawned on his face.

"Minato-senpai!" he yelled, rushing up and proceeding to hug the living daylights out of Minato, who patted Ken's back awkwardly. He looked past Ken to the thieves, who were just awkwardly standing there. He the turned his head to Akira, who just shrugged at Ken's antics.

Ken pulled away, but still kept his hands firm on Minato's arms, almost as if he was trying to assure himself that Minato was real. That he was here, and wasn't going to disappear. Minato felt bad for being the cause of that worry for Ken, but ultimately he had done what he did for his team, so that eased the guilt. Slightly.

"Wait here!" Ken spoke quickly, rushing to the door. "I'll be back around evening, if that's okay?" he gave Akira some of the best puppy-dog eyes Minato had seen. Akira smiled at Minato, who had ever-so-slightly nodded to Akira. A silent beg to Akira that Minato wanted Ken to come back.

"Sure, why not." Akira said easily. "See you then."

Ken smiled brightly at that, then left without another word.

"Well..." said Ann. "That was...something."

All the thieves turned to Minato, the same question evident on all of their faces. Minato sighed, checked the clock, sighed again once he realized that he now had around three hours to explain in full detail the Dark Hour and S.E.E.S. He groaned quietly, rubbing his face, the opened his mouth.

"It started with an explosion under Gekkoukan High School in 1992..."

When he finished, exactly three hours later, everyone in Leblanc had their mouthes to the floor.

"Wow..." Futaba muttered.

"Sheesh dude. That's...insane." Ryuji said.

Minato had the agree with Ryuji, it was insane.

"So Ken was ten years old when you last saw him, huh." Makoto mumbled.

That must be hard to see your friends all seven years older than you, hmm?" Haru asked him gently. He just nodded slightly. It was hard to see. He wasn't upset about it, but it was kind of sad to know that you missed seven years of your friends' lives.

Of course, that was the moment the door to Leblanc slammed open, and a very, very familiar voice shouted out:

"Where HAVE you BEEN?"

Minato turned in surprise to see non other than a twenty-five year old, very pissed, very strong, Akihiko Sanada standing in the doorway, huffing as if he'd just run a mile. Minato also noticed Ken behind Akihiko waving at him. Minato waved back a little before he was engulfed in a pair of strong arms and nearly lifted of the ground.

"You-you-you absolute asshole." Akihiko muttered for only Minato to hear. "First I lost Miki, then Shinji, then I had to lose you, too."

Akihiko hugged him a little tilted, before letting go and wiping a few tears from his face. 

"Look, Akihiko-senpai, I'm sorry-"

Akihiko stopped him by putting his hand up and interrupting.

"Don't you dare apologize, Minato. You did it for us, and like hell if I'm the one gonna tell you that you were wrong to do it. It hurt. It really did. But I knew why you did it. So in reality, I should really say thank you. So thank you, Minato, for giving us the chance to live."

Minato could feel something wet roll down his cheek, and belatedly realized that it was a tear. He wiped it quickly with his sleeve.

"I missed you all too." he whispered. "So much." 

Ken came around and hugged him again.

"Hey look, Senpai! I'm taller than you now!"

Minato and Akihiko rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"I get it." Minato grumbled. "I'm short."

Both Ken and Akihito laughed at that. 

Gosh how he missed them.

The last week of December left just as quickly as it came; fast. Minato was now staying with Akihiko and Ken, since Akira's little attic space wasn't the best for two people. Plus, now he got to hang out with Koromaru more.

Priorities.

He learned that, as soon as Akohiko had become a legal adult, he had adopted Ken immediately. Something he told Minato had been on both his and Shinji's mind, before Shinji died. 

New Year's Eve went by in a blur. Several calls and texts from the whole S.E.E.S. group, wishing each other a Happy New Year's Eve. Akihiko had, as much as he'd hated doing it over the phone, FaceTimed everyone to show them Minato. With a whole lot of screaming, crying, and jumping up and down in happiness, there were promises made for Akihiko to bring him over, back to Tatsumi Port Island at some point in the new year. Mitsuru also promised him a new set of headphones, and even a phone. 

He was happy. Really happy.

Soon, he would get to reunite with all his friends, and see how much they've all grown. He couldn't wait.

He woke up on New Year's Day to the sound of sizzling from the kitchen. He yawned and rolled himself out of the bed in the extra room Akihiko had given him. He sat on the floor for a minute, then slowly got up. He stumbled out the door and into the hall. As he walked down, he was met with Akihiko and Ken coming from their respective doors. He waved them good morning as the waved back and moved towards the kitchen.

He started to walk after them, but froze. If both Ken and Akihiko were in their rooms, then who was in the kitchen?'

He slowly walked down the hall to the kitchen. The first people he saw were Akihiko and Ken sitting at an already set table. But there was a fourth chair at the normally three-chair table. Minato warily sat down as Akihiko and Ken exchanged 'Happy New Year's. He closed his eyes and pinched himself, wondering if this was just a bad dream, or even a weird one. Judging from how he still felt the same, just with a now hurt arm, he wasn't dreaming.

When he opened his eyes, there was food in front of his plate. It looked absolutely delicious. He turned to Akihiko, who had a similar plate, and Ken, who did as well. He heard shuffling from the kitchen as a person walked out.

"Thank you ------!" Akihiko said, with Ken echoing his statement.

Their words fell on deaf ears, as Minato was looking at the person who just sat down across from him. Minato was frozen in place.

That's impossible! Minato thought frantically. He's dead!

He just barely felt Ken tapping his shoulder, and Akihiko calling his name with worry evident in his voice. He snapped his eyes once to Akihiko, then back, and a small whispered name left his lips.

"Shinji?"