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Chapter Text

The Phantom Thief's leader ran gracefully through the dimly lit stone corridors. Carefully slipping past guards and sneaking through hidden entrances. The shadows were on high alert and there seems to be no end to them. The masked thief escaped the catacombs and fled atop of chandeliers in a dining hall.

"Good job. You're almost there." said a girl's voice. "Don't panic. The place is swarming with enemies." a boy's voice reminded him. "We have the briefcase. You just focus on getting out, Spidey." a raspy voice told him. "C'mon guys. I'll be fine, there's no need to worry." Spider-Man said confidently as he fled further through the palace. He felt that something is wrong and dodged as two shadows emerged from the ground. "Intruder... spotted!" grumbled one of the shadows. "Two on one? You should have brought more, you know." he taunted, as he jumped onto them and ripped their mask off. The shadows transformed into some sort of mixture between a Bull and a humanoid snake.

"Hey, no fair! Why do you get to fight them? I wanted to have some fun too." a girly voice complained. "Don't even think about it. We have to get outta here." replied an irritated voice.

Spidey dodged an attack and immediately fired a Freidyne at an enemy. He got hit by an Agidyne then quickly struck a critical hit on both shadows to end the fight.

"Spider-Man! There is no time to loose. You need to concentrate." a serious voice reprimanded him. "There's no use in telling him that, Empress." said a tired girl. "Head left. There are the least amount of guards that way." said the navigator.

The Phantom Thief did just that. He ran through the corridors occasionally sneaking around guards. At a dead end he used his web shooter to jump to a high space. He then ran towards the exit and jumped through a glass painting of a silver haired woman on a window, shattering it. At the impact with the ground he rolled to lessen the fall. Standing up confidently he adjusted his gloves. But suddenly flashing lights emerged from the shadows. The Thief shielded his eyes from the light and recognized the police on the scene. He quickly darted to the right and jumped to a ladder. As he looks up, he realizes he messed up. He let go of the ladder as a blunt object hit him hard in the head. He hits the ground hard and can't do anything as a bunch of cops pin him to the ground.

"We captured the target."

Interrogation Room

A teenager with brown hair sat on the chair in the middle of the room. His face was bruised and his hands were handcuffed behind his back.

"Looks like the drug was too strong. Wake him up!" one man, presumably the boss, said. At his command they splashed the boy with ice cold water. The boy slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. It was a Interrogation Room, he was familiar with them. His eyes focused on the man in front of him. It took a while for him to notice that he couldn't move his arms, which made him panic and trash around.

" Give it up!" the boss said as he kicked the suspect to the ground. He put his weight on the boys head with his foot and barked "C'mon, cooperate. Or would you prefer another shot?"

While getting abused the teen noticed a red light in a corner of the room. Following the boys line of sight, the interrogator mocked " What about the camera? You think it can be used as evidence?"

"Nah. Just wondering if I look as good as always." the criminal replied with fake bravado.

"Lose the attitude, you cocky brat!" he shouted as he kicked him in the stomach "You seem to enjoy being a criminal. Blackmail, defamation, Obstruction of Justice, possession of weapons. Even manslaughter. To think all of these crimes were committed by a punk like you." He motions his men to remove the handcuffs.

"Sign this." He says as he holds out a piece of paper " It's a confession under your name."

The teen swats it away with the last amount of defiance he can muster. "What makes you think I'm gonna confess?"

The man looks unimpressed. "I may need your arms." he says slowly as he puts his foot on the boys leg "But I don't care if you end up losing your leg!"

"Nnngh!" the boy groans. He was already feeling like shit. It really seemed like the man had the intention to break his leg.

After a while he stops and presents him the paper yet again. "We're going to make you understand ..." he whispers " One must take full responsibility for their actions.".

Responsibility... he thinks. Like you know anything about it. He takes the pen and the confession. He doesn't have any other choice. So, he writes down his name:

Peter Parker

Chapter Text

A tall man walked down the hallway. He had black hair covering one of his piercing light-green eyes and he wore a black suit. All traits combined made him seem intimidating.

"Excuse me, this area is off limits." said a man in suit and sunglasses as he blocked the way.

"My name is Hubert Vestra. I come from the Prosecutor's Office." replies Hubert.

"The Prosecutor's Office? What business do you have here?" he asked.

" Let me trough. The matter is of great importance." said the prosecutor. "I have a suspicion; one that might get cleared up if I could talk to the suspect."

"Mr. Vestra, I believe this case is no longer in your jurisdiction. Besides-" he got cut off as an older detective called out. "Are you prosecutor Hubert Vestra? I just got off the phone with your director. Hurry and get it over with. To be frank, you're -" he stopped himself before he said something rude to one of the most ruthless prosecutors in the country. Not to mention the rumors of his shady activities. "Your unexpected visit is an inconvenience." he said instead.

A phone ringed and Hubert answered it immediately.

"I thought I ordered you to stand down."

"Am I not responsible for this case? To fulfill my duties I simply must interrogate the suspect."

"I'm calling because I knew you'd bring it up."

" I have to confirm things for myself, director."

"Good luck to you then. I won't be expecting much though..." the director muttered and ended the call

"Ah, prosecutor. I forgot to mention something important." the older man started. "Your time will be cut short. We can't permit you to talk with him for long. It's for your own sake. His methods are unknown. We don't even know if it's safe to simply speak with him."

"Of course." is all that Hubert said as he made his way to the interrogation room.

Hubert sat down across from Peter Parker. He noticed that the young man was in bad shape. His cheeks were bruised, his hair messy and his eyes unfocused.

"I didn't think I'd see a familiar face in that chair." said the prosecutor. No response. That was pretty uncommon for Peter, must be because of his condition.

"You'll be answering my questions, understand?" he asked and noticed a syringe on the ground. Putting two and two together he frowned. These fools gave him the wrong dosis. It's going to be a lot harder for him to form coherent thoughts.

"Can you hear me? I don't have much time, so you need to answer my questions honestly." he said and waited for his words to sink in.

"What was your Objective? Why did you cause such a major incident? I almost dismissed your report as a prank. The methods which you used continue to elude me."

Peter opened his mouth only for him to cough a lot. After composing himself he finally talked "It's hard to believe, isn't it?"

"True. Did you seriously expect anyone to believe you when it comes to that other world?"

"Maybe."

"... When and where did you find about that other world? How is it possible to steal another person's heart? Tell me everything. Start from the very beginning."

Time seemed to have stopped. That's weird, it's not supposed to do that. What's even weirder is the magical blue butterfly that appeared out of nowhere. "You are held captive. A prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance." began a mysterious voice "This truly is an unjust game. Your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may still be an opportunity left to you. It's up to you to overcome the game. The key to victory lies within your bonds - the truth you and your friends have grasped. It all began when the game was started... half a year ago."

6 months ago

Peter Parker was riding on a train. He closes his eyes and begins to fall asleep. He recalls parts of the event that changed his life.

School trip. A suspicious guy. His uncle bleeding on the ground, a man fleeing the scene. His fists colliding brutally into a someone's face. Getting arrested by the police.

He opened his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief. He arrived at his destination, now he has something to keep him busy. He steps out of the train. He check his phone for the time. It was 15:30, but something else caught his eye. There was a weird app on his phone. It was a symbol of a red eye. He didn't remember ever having this app so he deleted it. And so he heads to his new home.

I'll be living with aunt May starting today.

Arriving at aunt May's house he ringed the doorbell. Nobody responded. Maybe she's at her café? Thinking that Peter started to make his way there. As he arrived the doorstep of Leblanc he started to feel nervous. Peter went inside anyway.

The café was pretty small with a kitchen in the back, one counter and 4 tables. It had a nice atmosphere though. At the counter stood a woman in her 40's, she had brown hair and wore an apron. Turning around she noticed her nephew in the doorstep.

"Oh. You're already here. I thought you'd arrive later, Peter." said aunt May as she moved in to a hug. "It's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too, aunt May.' said Peter returning the hug.

"Let me show you your new room." saying that, she let go and headed for the stairs.

"Um, I thought I was going to live with you?" asked the teen.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any rooms left and I thought this might be better than sleeping on the couch." she responded.

I thought there was an extra guest room. Then again, I didn't visit her house in over five years. Maybe I'm remembering things wrong?

The attic was very messy. If it wasn't for most of the junk lying around it would be bigger than his last bedroom.

"I'm sorry it's so messy. I'll help you with the cleaning later, ok?"

"Thanks, I think I'll need it."

With that aunt May went downstairs and continued to work in the café. Peter grabbed some supplies for cleaning and began his task. He removed the dust, vacuumed and mopped the floor, removed the spiderwebs and cleaned the bed. There was still junk lying around on the ground and on his desk, but that will have to wait for another day.

It was very late since he spent a lot of time cleaning. Aunt May came upstairs and saw the room much cleaner than she last remembered. Peter was sitting on his bed tired from the work.

"Peter, I made dinner come downstairs."

"Ok. I'll be right there."

They both sat down at the counter for dinner. There was a nutritious meal ready, aunt May had coffee and Peter had a glass of water.

"I gave you water, since I don't know if you still dislike coffee. Would you like to try some next time?" asked aunt May.

"Sure." replied Peter "I'll try it next time."

"Tomorrow is Sunday. We'll be going to your new school tomorrow, Shujin Academy, to introduce ourselves."

"Why couldn't I stay at my old school, we're still in New York?"

" You're on probation, Peter. They kicked you out. Shujin Academy has a special class for teenagers with probation meant to rehabilitate them."

"So at least it's better than juvie."

"We're lucky that this school accepted you. You only need to ride the bus to get there."

"..."

"Your probation lasts for a year. If you get good grades like you had at your old school and stay out of trouble the principal said he'll write you a recommendation."

"He can do that?"

"Yes. Shujin is a good school. They want to show that people can change so they accept everyone there."

Peter didn't even notice that he finished his dinner. He's been stressed ever since that day. He doesn't know if Aunt May blames him but he's too afraid to ask.

"It's getting late, Peter. You should go to sleep. You look tired." said aunt May.

He did feel tired. "Thanks for the food." he said as he stood up to clean his plate.

"I'm going to lock up. Here's a spare key. Don't go outside at night."

"Ok. See you tomorrow."

With that Peter went upstairs and laid down on his bed. His eyelids began to feel heavy.

He opened his eyes and was met with a blue ceiling. In the corner of the room was a toilet. He stood up and felt a unfamiliar weight on his ankle. He looked down and saw a metal ball attached to his ankle with the help of a chain. He also wore black and white striped pants and shirt. To get a better sense of where he is, he trudged over to the bars. As he grabbed the bars, he sees a woman standing at his cell. She had golden eyes and long straight greem hair. The mysterious woman wore a blue uniform and a blue hat. She looked like a guard. The woman turned around and only now has Peter noticed the old creepy man with a comically long nose sitting at a desk in the middle of the room.

"Welcome to the Velvet room."

Chapter Text

"Welcome to the Velvet room."

Peter stands at the edge of his cell, staring back and forth between the creepy old guy and the beautiful girl. He settles on looking at the man since it seems that he's more important. The whole place makes him feel uncomfortable in a way he can't describe.

"You're finally up." said the woman. "The you in reality is currently fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream. Look ahead, he wants to have a word with you."

"Welcome." says the mysterious old man. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. You seem to have a very interesting fate. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those with a contract can enter. I summoned you here for important matters. It involves your life as well."

Peter stares at this Igor character trying to absorb the information. "Hi, I'm Peter Parker. Not very nice to meet you. You know, since I'm kinda locked up here."

The woman gives him a hard look. "If you want what's best for you I'd advise to leave such responses behind."

"Forgive me." Igor chuckles" The state of the room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a prisoner of fate. In the near future, there is no doubt that ruin awaits you." "Ruin?" Peter asks trying not to sound panicked. "Don't worry, there are means to oppose such fate. You must be rehabilitated, rehabilitated towards freedom." Igor states. "That is your only way to freedom. Do you have what it takes to challenge the distortions of the world?"

"...I don't like the sound of ruin." "Then allow me to help you out." he says.

"Pardon for not introducing my assistant. Her name is C.C. she'll be your warden."

"You can also call me C2 if you like." C.C. tells him. "If you remain obedient I'll be your collaborator in your rehabilitation."

"Take your time to slowly understand this place." Igor says. "We will surely meet again."

And the world begins to darken.

Peter wakes up. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and looks at his phone. It's 7 AM. He had one of the weirdest dreams ever. In fact, didn't he know that it was a dream while he was in it.?

Whatever, he thinks.

He stands up to go wash his face. After that he gets ready for the day.

Aunt May enters the café. She feels bad for having Peter live in the attic, but there's nothing she can do about that.

"Peter!" she shouts upstairs. "Are you ready to go to Shujin?"

"Yeah." he says. "I'm ready."

They get into the car. Aunt May is going to drive him to school for today, but he'll need to use the bus normally.

They arrive at the front gate of the school. There is a plaque that reads Shujin. The School is honestly more impressive than he thought it would be. Despite feeling anxious he walks to the principal's office.

Inside Aunt May signs the documents. The principal, a short Asian man with curly hair, looks it over and nods. At his side stands a woman of average height. She has teal hair to the shoulders and unreadable lavender eyes. Her expression is neutral.

"Normally we wouldn't have accepted someone with such dire offense into our school." he says "But considering the circumstances of said offence and your grades, I trust that something like that won't happen again."

"Of course." says aunt May.

The principal points over to the woman. "This is the teacher in charge oy your class, Ms. Byleth Eisner."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Here's your student ID." she says in an expressionless tone. It's like talking to a robot, Peter thinks.

"Read the school rules and be sure not to break them. If you cause major trouble, you'll be expelled. Graduate with good grades and you'll get a recommendation letter. Is that right, Principal Minoru."

"Yes, that's correct." assures the short man. "You are responsible for your own actions. You were given a second chance so don't waste it."

"Come to the faculty office tomorrow. I'll show you to your classroom." Ms. Eisner says as the conversation ends.

Peter and aunt May sit in the car. The traffic is not moving at all. They are both getting impatient from the waiting.

"Well, did you like the school, Peter?" aunt May asks after a while.

"It was fine, I guess." he responds. "However, I'm more concerned about my class "

"It's normal to feel anxious. After all it's going to be your first day at this school."

"That's... not really the problem here."

She raises an eyebrow, signaling him to elaborate.

"I'll be in a class of delinquents and rule-breakers. I don't think I'll fit in there." he says eventually.

"Peter, I understand your concerns, but there could be people like you in that class. I know this isn't the best situation for you, but try to make the best of it. Try to make some friends there, okay?"

"...Okay. I'll try." promises Peter.

Satisfied with his answer, aunt May put on the radio.

"... And now back to today's top stories. A subway train has derailed, severely affecting the timetable across all-"

"Oh my." gasps aunt May "Another accident? Sadly, there's been a lot of those recently."

"Is that why there's so much traffic going on?" he asks.

"Probably. Make sure to not getting into any of those accidents, alright?"

"I don't think that this depends on me, to be honest."

"Well, isn't that just a matter of perspective, though?"

Peter doubts it.

"... so drivers should expect jam-packed streets."

Office room

Two people are watching the news intently. One of them is Hubert Vestra. And the other is the SIU director, an old balding man.

"It's less of an operating motive and more like a failure of the company and the government." the old man begins. "The ministry of transport seems to have turned a blin eye to the issues that were reported with the tracks. They're in deep trouble. This will go all the way to the top."

Hubert was listening intently to his director's thoughts. "You’re right, director.” he says. “Well then, I'll have to excuse myself. I have another meeting to attend."

And with that he exited the office and made his way to the entrance hall.

There was a young woman leaning against the fancy handrails on the stairs down to the entrance hall. She was wearing formal business clothes that made her look like a highly aspiring college student. She had long flowing white hair that looked almost ethereal and it was parted to show her forehead. She also had purple ribbons on each side of her head that matched her eyes quite well. She put her phone away and faced Hubert when she noticed him.

"My apologies for having to keep you waiting, lady Edelgard." he said.

"It's fine, Hubert. I wasn't waiting for long." Edelgard responded.

"More importantly, have you taken a look at the mental shutdown cases?"

"Of course. Like you suspected, all of the cases have one thing in common. All incidents have taken place at work."

"Don't you think that's weird?" she inquires.

"Experts said that the mental shutdowns are caused between high amount of stress. For most people that stress is at its highest when they're at work."

"That's true. However, I find it hard to believe that no mental shutdowns occurred outside of work. Not in schools, not at home, not even in hospitals."

"Do you believe that this matter should be investigated by detectives like you?"

"Not should. It must be investigated."

"Lady Edelgard, why are you so adamant about this? Are the mental shutdown cases man-made?"

"... I wonder."

Chapter Text

Today is his first day at Shujin. He didn't sleep very well but there's nothing he could do about it. He gets ready for the day and puts on his new school uniform. His last school didn't have any uniforms, but Shujin cares about its reputation. The uniform is mainly black with the school emblem on the chest area. It also has a red and white plaid pattern. Peter also decided to ditch his glasses for some contact lenses, to avoid drawing attention to himself.

He went downstairs to eat his breakfast, which happened to be bacon and eggs that his aunt prepared. After finishing up he said goodbye and left for school. The sky was covered up by dark clouds and it looked like it would rain soon. Peter made it to the bus. He wondered if any of his classmates use this bus as well. After exiting he still has about seven minutes from his school. The problem is that it's raining. Raining very hard. And he forgot his umbrella. So, he just stands where no rain could hope to reach him and tries to figure out what the route with the least water might be.

Besides him stands a blonde girl with the same uniform who's probably in the same situation. Her expression was bored with her eyes half closed but still looking forward. Maybe it could even resemble a cat waiting patiently for its prey to come out.

Just as Peter wanted to focus back on his task a car stopped in front of them. The driver slowly made his window go down, revealing a very short guy with a small blackish purple afro. Peter was sure that if it was dark, you could mistake this guy for a gremlin and accidentally kick him. Wait, how is he driving a car anyway?

"Good morning, Himiko." he greeted the girl. "You need a ride to school. It's terrible weather today, right?"

The blonde, Himiko, walked up to the car.

"Thanks for the ride." she said cheerfully. It seemed like she was a different person entirely.

She entered the car and the guy drove of before Peter could ask him to help him out. Also didn't they make eye contact.

"Great. Just great." he said aloud.

Before Peter could complain about his lot in life anymore a teenager with spikey orange hair runs past him and stops to catch his breath. He wore the same uniform just unbuttoned. Also, it seemed to be very wet at one side.

"Damn that Mineta! Couldn't even be bothered to watch where he's driving! Now my clothes got wet! Screw him!" he complained quite angrily.

Peter's phone vibrates but he just ignores it.

The guy notices that someone's behind him overheard what he just said. He turns around and glares Peter in the eyes.

"Are you gonna rat me out to Mineta?" he asked.

"Who's that?" Peter asked, though he may have an idea already.

The other guy's eyes widen. "You seriously don't know who Mineta is? Do you live under a rock?"

"Actually, I'm a new transfer student."

"Makes sense. That shortie in the car just now was Mineta. His dad is the principal of the school. So, he thinks that makes him the King of the Castle."

Another vibration. Peter feels a bit dizzy all of a sudden.

"Anyway. I know a shortcut to the school so follow me." orange head said as he goes into an alleyway.

"Thanks. I owe you."

"Nah, it's nothing."

Interrogation room

"...there was a terrible subway accident that day." Hubert starts. "You remember it, yes? It's one of the 'Mental shutdown' incidents. One of the victims of the mental shutdown incidents was from Shujin."

"..."

"Were you, on that day, still an 'ordinary' highschool student?" Hubert asks coldly.

"What do you mean?"

"Let me ask you a different question then. You transfered to Shujin that day. What happened? Tell me everything, no lies of course."

Alleyway

Peter follows the orange haired schoolmate through the shortcut. His headache is still there, and his phone hasn't stopped vibrating. They turn a corner and come out of the alley. Mr. Shortcut stops dead in his tracks so Peter bumps into him.

He doesn't even get mad, since he is too busy looking at the castle in front of them.

"What the-" he said, or at least tried to.

"Is that a castle?" Peter asks.

"That's impossible. There aren't any castles around here at all." he denied it, even though it's right in front of them.

If there isn't supposed to be a castle here, then where are we? Maybe this guy is pranking me. I'm gonna be so late, he thinks.

Peter decides to play along and moves closer to the castle. The possible prankster follows him.

"I think that's my fault. You see I can travel back in time with this magic wristwatch." Peter joked while tapping at his watch.

"Dude." orange hair said, sounding exasperated. "This is serious. I use that shortcut all the time and instead of the school there's a giant firkin castle."

"Are you sure we didn't take a wrong turn?"

"I'm a 100% confident that I didn't make any mistakes."

"And I'm a 100% confident this isn't a school. We can't both be right.'

They both observe the castle silently, trying to make sense of the situation.

"That plaque. It’s got 'Shujin' written on it." Peter says out loud.

"That can't be right." orange grumbled as he took a look at the plaque that indeed read 'Shujin'. "What! Impossible! I must be dreaming right now." he shouts and then pinches himself. But when he opens his eyes again the castle didn't disappear.

"Uhh, maybe they redecorated a little?" Peter suggested, trying to stay sane.

"A little? Look at this! It's a damn castle! Not some new colors or anything like that!"

"Then, what do we do now?"

"... Maybe I did make a mistake let's try taking the shortcut again." the carrot haired guy said reluctantly.

They retraced the steps and carefully used the shortcut. But the situation didn't change in the slightest. The school was nowhere to be seen and the castle remained.

"Fuck!" the other boy cursed. Peter didn't blame him, after all they were in some sort of scenario that only happened in fiction.

"So, what do we do now?" Peter asked.

"Hell, if I know."

"Maybe we should go in and see if this really is Shujin. What's the worst that can happen?"

"...Fine. But after 5 minutes we get out of there."

They make their way across the drawbridge and see that the main gate is open. They share a look of uncertainty before deciding to go in anyway.

The interior of the castle can only be described as grand and imposing. Red carpet covers the floor, while many fancy chandeliers obstruct the roof. Two large stairs connect at the end of the room with a picture hanging at the center. Peter and the other guy looked around.

"Even from the inside this doesn't look like a school." carrot top commented.

"Let's call the secretary and tell her we got lost." Peter suggested and turned on his phone. "My phone's out of service. Where are we?"

They both turned around at the sound of some weird footsteps. A huge, armored guy with a sword and a shield approached them.

"..."

"Sorry to intrude, but is this Shujin?" Peter asked.

"..."

"If it's not, could you give us some directions. We're super lost and late."

"..."

Another guy identical to the the other joined them.

"Dude, I don't think we're welcome here. Maybe we should just go." Orange said as a warning.

"Yeah, I guess. Well sorry to barge in here. We'll go now." Peter said and tried to take a few steps, but another pair of knights blocked him off. They were now surrounded. One of the guards used his shield to hit the orange haired boy to the ground.

"Shit! That hurt, you bastard!"

Peter feels something hit him on the back of his head and his vision fades.

When Peter opens his eyes again, he's met with a cold stone roof. He straightens up and sits on the edge of the makeshift bed, which is just a table with covered with wheat. He looks around the small room noticing that there are metal bars instead of a normal door.

"You alright?" the other guy asked while sitting on a barrel.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"Alive. At least for now."

"Do you know where we are?"

"A prison cell in a castle that shouldn't exist!"

"Ugh, how did it end up like this?"

"Well, it was someone's brilliant idea to go in here because 'What's the worst that can happen?'."

"Sorry. Uh, how about we try to find a way out of here?"

"Fine."

They search every corner of the cell. Even going as far as shoving the barrels and boxes aside to find any kind of passage. Peter even stood on the other guy's shoulder to see if there is a vent but to no avail. As they're trying to come up with a new strategy they start to hear footsteps. Three guards stand just behind the metal bars.

"Be glad that your punishment is decided upon." the knight speaks for the first time, deep and distorted. "Your charge is 'unlawful entry'. This you will be sentenced to death."

"What?" both prisoners say in shock.

Just then another knight joins the scene. This one had golden armor and no head. He had his hands together in front of him where a small kid with a crown and a thick red cape with heart-shaped pattern stands. He's holding a scepter and is grinning maliciously. His eyes are glowing yellow.

"People that don't follow the rules of my castle are criminals." he says, but it sounds distorted like the guards.

"Mineta!?" orange hair shouts. "What are you doing here."

"What's with that outfit?" Peter mumbles.

"I thought it may be another hottie that broke in. But it just had to be you instead, Ichigo."

The boy, Ichigo, was at a loss for words by how unexpected and weird this all is.

"I thought that I already teached you a lesson, but here you are rebelling against me." Mineta laments. "You even brought someone this time too. How did that end last time, huh?"

"Shut your mouth!" Ichigo shouts.

"Is that how you speak to a king? Like always, you don't understand the position you are in. Not only have you sneaked into my castle, but you also committed the crime of insulting me - the king."  the short king snarls. "I've talked for long enough. It's time for your execution. Take him out!"

Ichigo and Peter back away from the bars. The guards come in and surround Ichigo first. Peter had only Mineta in his way to freedom, but he wouldn't abandon someone like that. The cornered boy wouldn't go down without a fight and tackles a guard to the ground. The second guard delivers him a savage punch to the guy for that. Ichigo screams and falls to his knees. Seeing that Peter tries to tackle the guard like Ichigo did but fails.

"Just go!" Ichigo yells. "Hurry up and get out of here!"

Mineta laughs. " Hahaha! Are you really going to abandon your friend?"

"We're not friends!" Ichigo responds. "Get outta here already!"

What should I do? If I run away, he'll surely die. But if I stay, we could both end up dead. Can we make it past the guards at all? Could I even live with the guilt of abandoning him?

"Why aren't you running away? Too scared?" Mineta asks condescendingly. "Pathetic vermin aren't worth my time. First I'll execute the troublemaker."

Two guards pick the orange haired boy up by his shoulders. Mineta's golden guard moves right up to him. Then Mineta bashes Ichigo with his round scepter. Peter, who's held against the wall, can only hear the impact as Mineta keeps hitting Ichigo cruelly.

Is another person going to die right in front of me? Am I that powerless that I can't even safe someone when I try?

The guards let go of him and he falls to the ground.

Uncle Ben.

"Where'd your energy from earlier go, peasant? I have more *interesting* beatings to get back to, so execute him now."

Peter has had enough. "Stop it!"

"Hm?" Mineta turns around. "Don't tell me you don't know who I am?"

Peter glares him in the eyes resolutely.

"The look in your eyes irritates me!" Mineta yells as he bashes him in the head. "Hold him there. I'll execute him afterwards."

Peter tries to rush to Ichigo's help but gets pinned against the wall by two guards. Even using all his strength doesn't get the guards to budge at all.

"He hehe. HAHAHAHA." Mineta cackles as he approaches.

The world stops. And a blue butterfly appears.

"This is truly an unjust game. Your chances of winning are almost none." a mysterious voice says. "You appear to have a reason for living. If you had power, you could live? Rebel. And you will live unlike any other human. A different Providence, a different time, a different life. In exchange you will challenge the distortions of the world."

"What's the matter are you simply going to watch?" a different voice asks. Peter looks around but doesn't find the source.

"Will you stand by idly and not take fate into your own hands? Death awaits him if you do nothing. Will you repeat the same mistake twice?"

I won't.

"Good... I have heeded your resolve."

"AAAAARGH!" Peter screamed. He's feeling the most excruciating pain he has ever felt before. Sweat begins to run across his body, his muscles tense, his start to roll backwards. He's flailing around and the guards struggle to hold him back.

"I am thou, thou art I." the voice in his head says. "Thou who art willing to commit acts of rebellion for thine own justice. Call upon my name, and further my will."

"Execute him!" the king commands.

"That's enough!" Peter shouts.

Mineta stops to look at Peter. The guard drops Ichigo to the ground.

"You desire to be killed so much? Fine!"

Two guards position the spears at Peters neck so he can't escape. The third guard raises his sword up in the air. Mineta signals them to execute him. Just when the dangerous blade would cut of his head a strong shockwave eminates from him. The guards lose their grip, and the executioner takes a step back. Mineta shields his eyes from the sudden wind and almost falls of his subordinate.

The wind dissipates and Peter raises his head. A mask fully covers his head. It's a dull red with black lines coming from the center like a spiderweb. Two large white shapes are one eye level and act as visors. Peter grabs the mask to remove it but something is resisting. He pulls harder and harder.

He realizes it's stuck to his skin but doesn't stop pulling. "AAAAAARGHH!" he screams as he rips his mask of his face. Blood covers his face and drips onto the ground. He raises his head and he has a euphoric grin combined with unnatural yellow eyes. Suddenly blue fire engulfs his face and evaporates the blood. It rises higher and flickers above Peter. It takes shape and materializes into a human figure. Its eyes are covered by what looks like round orange sunglasses and it seems to have a rectangle shaped white mustache. It's wearing simple pants, a red cardigan and a white shirt underneath. Paper flies to this creature and arranges itself behind him. It looks like it has wings out of comic book pages. It was also holding a pen and a notebook.

When the fire from Peter cleared up he was wearing a tight dark red and blue suit that resembles a superhero from some comics. But he was also wearing a trench coat above it that was split into two parts on the end.

A second shockwave knocks all guards and Mineta down. He panics and crawls away as fast as he can. Ichigo looks completely shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"I am Stan Lee - the Recreator of Heroes." the unnatural being introduces itself.

"What the-" Ichigo gasps.

"I am the rebel's soul that resides within you. If you so desire, I will give you the power to face this crisis."

"Lend me your power." Peter says.

"Very well."

"What the hell are you!" Mineta yells. "Guards! Start by killing that one."

The guards stand up straight, shake unnaturally and dissolve into red and black mass. In a second the weird substance transforms into a creature with a pumpkin head that sits on a broomstick while carrying a lantern.

"Face the true power of my men."

Peter positions himself in what he hopes is a battle stance, but even with no fighting experience he feels confident with Stan Lee by his side.

"This power of mine is yours. Bring your imagination into reality, run wild with your creativity, defeat them however you want."

This feels like a dream. I might be able to do things that I couldn't ever do before, he thinks.

With that Peter jumps on Pumpkin head’s shoulder's, punches it in the face and backflips back by kicking it hard in the face and lands perfectly where he strated.

Both Pumpkin heads wack Peter with their lanterns, only causing light damage.

Peter summons Stan Lee and fires a Frei at the damaged creature, defeating it.

He then dodges the attack.

Adrenaline is flowing trough his veins. He's standing up to these creatures and he's winning. As far as first fights go, Peter thinks, this one is going very well.

He fires another Frei. The monster is almost dead. It's not giving up yet though.

"Agi!" it screeches.

A ball of fire hits Parker on his shoulder. He feels the heat and the pain, but he's not burning at least.

So Peter ends the fight by kicking of the pumpkin like a soccer ball. It explodes into what looks like pennies. That's weird, he thinks.

"What was that?" Ichigo asks with wide eyes.

"You little peasant." Mineta, who's back on his golden servant, sneers.

Ichigo stands up and knocks Mineta off with a punch. Peter notices how Mineta dropped his keys at the impact and picks them up.

"Let's lock him up and get out of here." he suggests while he's walking towards the door.

Ichigo follows him swiftly. Once outside the cell they lock the door. Mineta didn't get outside in time and crashes against the metal bars.

"Damn you." he growls.

"What the hell just happened?" Ichigo asks Peter. "And what's up whit those clothes?"

At this question Peter glowed blue and turned back to his uniform.

"It went back to normal?" he mutters.

"GUARDS! THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED!" the king screams at the top of his lungs.

"No time for questions. We need to run." Peter says.

The place is overrun with grass and moss. Multiple cages hang from the ceiling, but they are empty. In front of them is an underground stream of water. They look around to decide where the exit is. On the right the path is closed of by metal bars. They notice a stairway on the other side of the water, but they can't get to it.

"We need to find a way to the stairs." Peter says.

"There's a bridge over there." Ichigo points over to the end of the hallway.

So, they make their way there, but they stop because they hear the familiar metal footsteps not too far away.

"Look for the intruders." one says to the other.

"We better not get caught." Orange hair whispers.

"Let's hide behind these conveniently placed crates." Peter whispers back and drags the taller guy with him.

"Don't call 'them conveniently placed'. You're making it sound like we're in a video game." he mutters.

Before Peter could apologize or reply, the footsteps become louder and louder until they see the guard passing them by.

"The guards here sure aren't good at their job." Peter says once the guards round a corner.

"Nevermind that. There's the bridge."

They tiptoe to the bridge only to notice that it's half in the air. They need to lower it, but they can't find a lever or a button. There's a Mineta statue right next to it.

"Shit. How do we get this dumb bridge to lower itself." Ichigo curses.

"Hmmm." Peter thinks. "What about the statue?"

"It's really ugly. That's for sure."

"That's not what I meant." he responds. Peter tries to turn the crown, poke the eyes, twist the ears, puts his hands in the mouth.

"Dude. For the last time. This isn't a videogame." Ichigo complains, he'd rather do something productive than waste his time on the statue.

 "Shhh."he shushes him. "I really didn't want to do this." He pokes the statue in the nose, a faint click resounds and the drawbridge lowers.

Peter turns to his fellow intruder with a smug grin. "If you had a base like this, would you use secret mechanism, yes or no?"

"... probably." Ichigo admits.

"Obviously you would. And so would every teenage boy, like Mineta."

"I get it. Jeez. Let's just go to the stairs."

They make their way to the stairs, hoping that it is the exit. They open the door at the top and are met with more water and less path to stand on. There are still multiple dangling cages hanged across the room.

"We still have more to go." Peter says.

They carefully make their way parallel to the water trying not to fall into it. As Ichigo looks around to see the next stairway, he notices something else.

"There's a person there." he whispers loudly while pointing.

"They're in a cage." Peter responds.

"It doesn't look like they're conscious." Ichigo notices. "Damn. What the hell is Mineta doing here?"

"We need to go. I don't want to end up like him."

They go farther up to a metal gate. On their side it's closed but it's open on the other. They notice a broken bridge and with enough momentum they jump across it. Making their way further up they notice the stairway.

"Hey, you there." says a voice that is neither Ichigo or Peter

They turn around and look into a cell. A figure cloaked in shadows sits on the bench against the wall.

"You guys aren't guards, right? Could you get me outta here?" 

Chapter Text

Peter and Ichigo, who are currently trying to escape from the castle, turn around and face the person in the cell. They were sitting at the end of the room and are cloaked by shadows.

"Who are you?" Peter asks.

The figure stands up and walks to them.

It was a woman about Peter's height. Her hair, which was green and blonde, was styled with two buns and a braid. She wore a pair of sunglasses that kept her eyes hidden. She had puffy green pants that had a rectangular pattern of varying shapes. Her midriff was exposed, and she wore a top with the same color, it had a butterfly symbol in the middle. Lastly, she wore a biker's jacket that was ripped at the shoulders.

"You can call me JoJo." she says.

"Jolyne? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asks.

"You know her?" Peter asks quietly.

"She's in my class, but she hasn't attended school for a week." he whispers back.

"I can hear you." Jolyne says suddenly. "The key is right next to you guys. So could you please free me already."

"Right." Peter says as he grabs the key. He then unlocks the door and opens it.

"Thanks." she thanks Peter.

"Why are you here?" Ichigo asks.

"I could ask you guys the same thing."

"We got lost." Peter explains.

"Sure. Why not? You just accidentally entered a place that doesn't exist in the real world."

"Doesn't exist in -" Ichigo tries to say.

"Found the intruders!" a guard interrupts him. There are three of them.

Jolyne pushes the guys behind her. "Leave this to me." she says as she takes out a metal pipe from behind her.

The guards transform into the pumpkin head and a small flying pink devil with a long nose.

"Come, Stone Free!" she shouts.

Behind her a figure appears. It's a blue humanoid with green sunglasses. It has grey shoulder pads and four grey ridges on its head. Multiple bulbs are layered across its body.

"You have something like that too!?" Ichigo asks.

"Too?" she wonders.

Peter is engulfed in a bright blue light and once it fades, he's left standing in his new costume.

"You're a persona user?" Jolyne asks, her eyes widening.

"I don't know what that is, but I can fight." Peter responds.

The monsters tired from the waiting attack the one closest to them, Jolyne. She takes a hit from pumpkin and dodges the attack from the flying one.

"Stone Free!" she yells as a shard of ice hits the pumpkin head. It falls down screaming.

Immediately after she rushes at it and hits it with her pipe. The defenseless creature melts away after getting hit.

"Whoa." Ichigo gasps.

"When you hit an enemy's weakness you get an adrenaline rush allowing you to act again." she explains to Peter. "Try it."

"Okay." he says as he narrows his focus on the pink devil.

"Stan Lee!"

A blue ball of energy gets shot at the enemy. When it connects Peter feels like he has hit a homerun.

Driven by the euphoric feeling, he rushes forward a jump on the enemy like a WWE wrestler or Mario.

"Well done." Jolyne compliments him.

"Thanks" he says. He flashes blue again and his uniform returns.

"Looks like you're still a newbie." she comments. "When did you awaken your Persona?"

"Uhh, five minutes ago? If you mean my ghost buddy."

"It's called a Persona. It's a manifestation of yourself."

"Can we save the explanation for later." Ichigo butts in. "We still have to get out of this place."

"Right. Follow me, I know where the exit is."

They decide to follow Jolyne. Jumping on rocks to get over to the other side, hiding behind crates, eve using vines to swing across like Tarzan. Just as they reached the stairs Ichigo stops dead in his tracks.

"Hold on a second." he says. "There's people imprisoned here."

They look in the cell and sure enough two guys are sitting there with their heads down. They are wearing black and white uniforms that really make them look like prisoners.

"We have to save them." Peter says as he begins to look for the key.

"Don't bother with that." Jolyne says.

"What?" Ichigo asks. "You want us to just leave them behind?"

"We need to escape right now. There's no need to worry about them."

"No need to worry about them?" Peter repeats flabbergasted. "You want to ignore people that are in the situation that you were in just moments ago?"

"Helping them out is unnecessary, I'll explain why later. But if you guys want to waste your time here and get caught, be my guests. I'm getting out of here and you should too."

Before either of them could respond they hear faint metal footsteps behind them.

"Damnit!" Ichigo curses. "Looks like we don't have a choice."

With heavy hearts Ichigo and Peter follow Jolyne up the stairs. The new floor is well managed and decorated with red carpet as well as fancy candles instead of torches.

"Looks like we're back on the first floor." orange hair comments.

"I think the exit is over here." Peter says as he tried to open the door only for Jolyne to grab his hand.

"Don't open that, you idiot." she berates him quietly. "The main entrance is swarming with guards. We need to find another way out."

"Sorry." he apologizes.

"So where are we supposed to find it?" Ichigo asks.

"Let's start with that room." she responds. "It's near the entrance so it's wall should be the only one in the way."

They go inside. The room is small and is very messy. Barrels and crates fill almost the entire space. The window is so high it's pretty much unreachable.

"We can't reach the window. Any other plans?" the orange haired boy asks.

"There are better ways to escape a palace anyway." Jolyne huffs. "A phantom thief can simply crawl through-"

"The vent. I think it leads outside of the castle." Peter blurted out. He was lost inside his head thinking of an escape route.

"I think one of you seems to make a better phantom thief here." she comments.

"Whatever. I didn't steal shit anyway, so I'm not a thief." Ichigo responds.

Jolyne grabs the cover of the vent and rips it off its hinges. "I'll be going first."

Peter follows afterwards, leaving Ichigo as last. He's not entirely sure that he'll fit through the vent, but he doesn't have any other option.

"...This might not have been my smartest decision." Jolyne mutters.

Peter heard her anyway and slightly panics, he doesn't think that he could crawl backwards good enough. "Does it not lead outside?" he asks.

"It does! It's just... Nevermind. Forget it." she responds quickly.

'Lady's first' shouldn't apply everywhere, Ichigo thinks.

Teacher's lounge

The new student still hasn't arrived yet, Byleth thinks. And the school day is almost over. He's not the first that refused to go to school here, even though he seemed different than most of my other students. 

"Ms Eisner." a gruff voice called out. "Here's your coffee."

She looked up at the tall slender man. He had long black hair that was unkempt, evenly unkempt was his facial hair. He had bags under his flat eyes. Like always he just wore a simple all black outfit.

"Thank you, Mr Aizawa." she thanked him. "Your coffee is the best around here."

"... The new student hasn't arrived yet?" he asks after a while.

"Not yet. Jolyne Kujoh hasn't attended my class for a week already and I couldn't contact her at all. Then, for some reason, Ichigo Kurosaki also hasn't come to school today either."

"Must be a rough day for you. I wouldn't want to be in your position."

"How are your students doing?" Byleth asks

"Fine. I expelled three students that were unruly this month."

"Here I thought you were going soft. Last year you didn't expel anyone and now I'm stuck with more students than ever before."

"All of them behaved nicely. Probably because their seniors warned them of me."

"You did expel half the class at the end of the first month."

"And I hope to break my record this time." Mr Aizawa says with his usual horrible smile.

"We both know that isn't true." Ms Eisner replies before she sips her coffee.

Castle entrance

"Can't believe we actually escaped." Peter says.

"Yeah. I thought we were going to die." Ichigo agrees.

"I'm glad that I'm no longer in that stupid cell." Jolyne throws in.

"What was all that anyway.?" the orange haired boy asks.

"I'll explain it to you guys later." she responds and begins to walk away. "Right now, I'm fucking starving. So, we can talk about it tomorrow."

"I don't think school is over yet so we could still make it." Peter says.

Jolyne turns around with an annoyed expression. "I'm obviously ditching school, moron."

"But weren't you missing for a week?" Peter asks. "If you don't show up today you might get expelled."

"Whether I show up today or tomorrow, isn't going to matter much."

"Hold on." Ichigo interjects. "It's this guy first day here. He might get in some serious trouble."

"So? What's that got to do with me?" she asks.

"You're our excuse." he responds.

"Huh?"

Class 2-S

It was the last class for today. Usually, students would be restless at this hour, but not in this classroom. Nobody dares to interrupt Ms Eisner's lecture. At the start of the school year the biggest guy didn't believe that a woman could keep him in check, so he tried to threaten her. After getting embarrassed in front of everyone, he stopped his misogynistic behavior.

A short, green haired student looks out of the window while he's lost in thought. He wonders what kind of task Mineta is going to dump on him next. Before he knows it, he's looking at a pair of people standing at the entrance. He recognizes the orange hair of his classmate and the purple afro that belongs Mineta.

"Ms Eisner!" he shouts and raises his hand at the same time. "Ichigo just arrived at the school's entrance."

"I see." she says. "Thank you for informing me, Izuku. Everyone, finish the exercise while I'm gone."

School gate

After they managed to convince Jolyne to come to school with them, they run into Mineta of all people.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up." Mineta commented smugly.

"What the hell are you doing here, asshole?" Ichigo asks threateningly.

"Me? I was just going to school." he responds. "I take my studies seriously. What about you, delinquent? Getting into more fights?"

Ichigo who still didn't understand the situation was pissed at Mineta. He didn't get how he was able to talk like that, when he pretended to be some sorta rotten king in his free time.

"Shut your mouth!" he yells. " I'm tired of your two-faced bullshit!"

"How about you just fuck off Mineta." Jolyne, who's not in the mood for this, suggests.

"How dare you talk to me like that. Ichigo, your grades have been dropping. And Jolyne, you ditch school every chance you get." Mineta points out. "I guess that's what happens when you only have one parent to raise you."

Peter didn't intend to join this conversation at all. But he could feel that this comment was simply cruel. Attacking someone this way wasn't something he could forgive. He could tell by their faces that it stung.

"Your heart is as ugly as your face." he starts before his schoolmates can explode in anger. "It's clear that your parents didn't even love you even half as much compared to their single parent."

"What did you say to me!? I'll make sure that-" he was cut off.

"Mineta." Ms Eisner says slowly the moment she arrived. "Since you don't have any school more for the day, could you let my students to their class."

Mineta huffs lightly and turns around with a smile. "Of course. I was just lecturing them about their tardiness."

"Please don't concern yourself with my duties." she says. "You three. Follow me."

Mineta passed by them and whispers to Peter. "Don't act so high and mighty, newbie."

Peter glares back before he followed Ms Eisner. Ichigo and Jolyne follow soon after with matching sour expressions. Neither of them could believe that he would stand up for them before they would say something themselves.

"How come you didn't tell me that he'll be in our class." Jolyne asks Ichigo quietly.

"I didn't ask him in which class he was. No way would I think he would be a delinquent like us."

carrot top responds.

"Even though you're friends with that green haired pushover? You didn't even consider it a possibility that what's his name could be a criminal?"

"I ain't friends with him. Izuku shouldn't even be in this class in the first place." he tells her.

"Right, not friends. So, what's his name?" she asks while looking at the brown haired boy walking nervously in front of them.

"It's... Uh... Maybe it starts with a J?" he says unsure.

"You didn't ask him?" she asks a little louder than intended.

"Well, I didn't have time to." he responds defensively.

"More like you forgot."

They arrive at the teacher's lounge. Ms Eisner suggest that they sit down while she lets her class out early.

"Do you guys really think this is going to work?" Peter asks.

"You asked that already. It's the best plan we got." Ichigo responds.

"Looks like we won't be going to school today anyway. But you guys are still going to keep your promise, right?" Jolyne asks.

"Yes. We'll buy you one free meal every day for the rest of the week."

"Great!" Jolyne says satisfied. "By the way, you still haven't introduced yourself."

Did I really not introduce myself even though I know both of their names, Peter thinks.

"My name is Peter Parker. I'm in the special class. Nice to meet you." Peter introduces himself.

"Wow Peter, you're really in the special class?" Jolyne asks.

"Yeah. You guys are in the same class, right?"

"Wait!" Ichigo interjects. "Why do you assume I'm in the class for delinquent."

"Uh... Well... I just thought-" Peter tried to correct himself.

"Oh, shut up Ichigo." Jolyne interrupts him. "It's kind of obvious, isn't it?"

"What the hell do you mean by that!" he shouts. "Also like you're one to talk."

"What? Don't compare me to you?"

Before Peter could find a way to diffuse their bickering their teacher entered the room. Jolyne noticed her first and immediately stopped talking. Due to the position of Ichigo's chair, he didn't notice her at all. To make the spikey haired boy shut up, Peter elbowed him and gestured towards the door.

When Ichigo looked back, his eyes widened, and he started sweating.

Byleth didn't care what they were talking about, she just quietly made her way to her desk and sat down slowly. Everyone, except for her, felt that the tension could be cut with a knife. She straightened her shoulders and looked at her students one after the other.

"I hope you understand what you have done wrong, because I don't want to repeat it. Explain what happened." she simply said.

Peter gulped down nervously. When he first saw his teacher, she seemed bored with the proceedings, but now her expression felt intimidating. Like she could see right through him and is waiting for him to slip up.

"I met Ichigo on my way to school today. I was hoping I could find someone from my class before school began and Ichigo..." he looks over at the orange haired student. "...he looked like he was in my class due to how sloppily he wears his uniform. Afterwards something seemed to have caught his attention and he just said, and I quote, 'Follow me. Something important came up.' and without waiting for an answer he ran off. I followed him thinking it was going to be quick."

"What did you see Ichigo?" Ms Eisner asks.

"I saw Jolyne. She wasn't in her school uniform and was headed somewhere in the opposite direction of the school. I wanted to ask her why she wasn't attending school."

"Why did you ask Peter to follow you?"

"Wasn't sure if he knew the way to school. I'd feel bad if I left him there by himself. Anyway, Jolyne saw us approaching she ran off and we needed a long time to catch up to her."

"Why did you run away Jolyne?"

"Cause talking to them was a waste of time." she responded. "I knew Ichigo would ask me about my absence. After I finished what I wanted to accomplish they found me. Afterwards I still had to change to my school uniform. At that point we were pretty far away from the school so that's why we are so late."

"What was so important that you didn't come to school for a week?" Ms Eisner asks.

"Family stuff." Jolyne says while she looks Byleth in the eyes.

"... I see." she says after a while. "Jolyne you're getting detention for a week. Ichigo and Peter, I'm letting you go just this once. Don't ditch school again."

Peter and Ichigo sigh a breath of relief. Jolyne just shrugs uncaringly.

"Thank you Ms Eisner." Peter says

"Did you really need to order six goddamn tacos?" Ichigo asks incredulously.

"You cannot believe how hungry I am right now." the female delinquent responds. "Be glad that you're not paying for it alone."

"C'mon Ichigo, it's not that big of a deal. We did agree this after all. Also, we should find out what happened back there, and I don't need to remind you that she seems to know a lot more than we do." Peter says.

"If you knew my boss at my part time job you wouldn't say that it's not a big deal." the taller boy complains. "But you do have a point. So, Jolyne, can we get some answers now."

"This could be hard for someone like you to understand." she sighs. "The place we were at was a palace. It exists within the metaverse, a place you can only enter using the metanav on your phone. A palace has a palace ruler, which is also the cause of the existence of a palace. Basically, when a person's heart becomes distorted and they begin to view reality through their twisted inner worldview, it creates that distortion in the metaverse."

Peter tries to absorb all the information. "So, we were in a different dimension because Mineta is an evil arrogant dude. What about the ghosts you and I have?"

"Those are called personas. They are a manifestation of your rebellion. Those who have personas become Phantom Thieves, since you need a persona to fight a shadow. The guards at the castle for example."

"I think I get it, even though it sounds like a load of BS." Ichigo says. "Why were you stuck in that palace thing anyway?"

Jolyne takes a bite out of her taco and her expression turns serious.

Chapter Text

"Why were you stuck in that palace thing anyway?" Ichigo asks her.

Jolyne didn't respond to the question right away. Instead, she grabbed her last taco and looked out the window. Her expression was unreadable.

"I was searching for something, or rather someone." she tells them after a while. "But I didn't find them." She seemed sad about it rather than just disappointed or irritated like she often was.

Peter really wanted to change the topic at that kind of expression, sensing it's not something he should push. "If Mineta sees some students like prisoners, then what is he doing to them in real life?"

"He's got the delinquents under his thumb." Ichigo says, disgruntled as he crossed his arms. "He's forcing them to do his bidding, like cleaning up after him, paying him, doing his work for him, and even getting more people under his control by intimidating them."

"What?" Peter asks, shocked. "How is he getting away with all of this?"

"Because he's the principal's son." Jolyne answers now focused back onto the conversation.

"Then how are we going to bring him down?" The brown haired boy asks her.

She looks at Peter confused. "Why would we do anything at all? It's none of my business."

"But his heart is distorted, right? We can't just do nothing when this guy is doing something horrible right in front of us." Peter reiterates.

"I agree with Peter." Carrot-top says, cracking his knuckles. "I'd be happy to teach Mineta a lesson."

"You guys can do whatever you want." she tells them with a sigh. "I got detention anyway."

"Fine." Ichigo says with a glare. "We'll stop Mineta alone then."

Peter would rather have all the help he could get, but he's not going to force her to cooperate. Not that he could anyway.

"Do you have a plan already?" he asks Ichigo instead.

"Yep, we're going to get some info out of his crooks." The orange haired boy replies with a grin.

Aunt May is closing up the café after another day of work. She loved her job of serving coffee to her customers, but today, she couldn't focus properly. Today, it was Peter's first day at his new school, and Aunt May was constantly overthinking about what could go wrong. It also doesn't help that it was getting a bit late and Peter still hasn't come home.
*What if he got in a fight or accidentally pissed off a delinquent? Or even worse, a group of delinquents? What if -* aunt May's thinking got cut off as the source of her anxieties enters the café.
"I'm home, aunt May." Peter calls out as he takes off his jacket.

"Peter! Where were you?" the coffee shop owner asks concerned.

"I uh made some friends at school." the student responds, still a bit unsure to call them friends.

"Really?" Aunt May blinks in suprise and asks. "What are they like?"

"Ichigo is rather straightforward and grumpy, and Jolyne is....kinda mysterious and tough." Peter replies, trying not to focus too much on their bad parts.

"I see. Well, as long as you think they're good people, then that's all that matters." Aunt May says, even though the description didn't leave a very positive image.

"They're pretty good, I think. Well, anyway, I need to catch up with the school material, Aunt May. I'll go upstairs to my room." He tells her, giving her a quick hug and then heads upstairs.

"I'll leave you to it, Peter." The older woman replies with a nod.

Upstairs, Peter opens the notes he got sent by Ichigo, who got them from a person called Izuku Midoriya. The notes were neat, readable, and most importantly, complete. He sits down at his desks and gets to work, though he keeps getting distracted by thoughts of what happened today. Eventually, once he is satisfied with the work he has done, he changes and goes to bed.

"Stand up, inmate." A voice says firmly, jolting him awake. Peter stands up, rubs his eyes, and looks around. The blue walls, the bars, and his small cell reveal his location to him. Walking up to the bars, he sees the mysterious girl C.C. in her blue uniform and that long-nosed old man.

"Trickster, I've been awaiting you." The creepy old man says in a tone that sends shivers down his spine. "Your rehabilitation may finally begin."

"Right, uh, my rehabilitation." Peter brings out, rather confused. "Are you connected to the Palaces?"

"Oh? So someone has informed you about them? How curious." Igor replies with a chuckle. "But do allow me to clear things up further. You have awakened your persona. In other words, your 'mask' - an armour of the heart when confronting worldly matters. The Metaverse Navigator will help you and your allies, Trickster."

"The Metaverse Navigator... that's the app, right?" The brown haired boy deduces, to which Igor nods. "Alright, one more question. Why are you calling me a trickster?"

"You'll see why soon. Try your best to combat the distortion of this world for the sake of your rehabilitation." The long-nosed man replies enigmatically.

Before Peter can ask him to elaborate C.C. cuts him off. "Your time is up, inmate. We'll see you soon."

Peter wakes up in his own bed, in his own room. Though he has a lot of questions, he knows he won't get an answer to them anytime soon. Instead, he gets ready for school and whatever plan Ichigo came up with. During break at school, he'll meet up with him.

Right before the door to class, Peter takes a deep breath, hoping his classmates aren't going to be that bad. He opens the door and sees mostly people you could categorise as typical delinquents. There's also a scrawny short kid with messy green hair and freckles, who doesn't look like he belongs in a class full of delinquents. Scanning the room, Peter tries to see which seat is free and which isn't, though it's hard to judge since some students haven't made it to class yet.

"Yo Peter, the seat in front of me is free." Jolyne says, barely looking up from her phone, gesturing to the seat right in front of the teacher's desk and next to the green haired kid.

Peter can see why this place was free. No troublemaker would sit right in front of the teacher. He sits down and gets his notes on the table, readying himself for class. Glancing at the boy next to him, Peter prepares to introduce himself.

"Hey, uh, my name's Peter. What's yours?" He asks the green-haired guy, swallowing his nervousness with a smile.

"Oh uh, m-my name's Izuku. You, uh, don't look as bad as t-the criminal record suggested." Replied Izuku more nervous than Peter was.

Peter's smile faltered, remembering his record and that incident. He felt his whole body tense, the words catching in his throat. Thankfully, the teacher, Ms. Eisner walks in and starts the role call. It gives Peter enough time to regain his bearings.

"We'll have a new student in class, Peter Parker." Ms. Eisner starts, gesturing towards Peter. "His crime is assault, burglary, theft, and ....attempted murder."

Silence washes over the classroom. Peter grits his teeth at the last part, looking away from everything.

"Though beforehand Peter was a good student, so he was permitted here in the special class. Do treat him as any other." She says, her tone still expressionless.

Throughout the class, Peter tried his best to focus on the lesson and not the whispers and glances. He could tell some of the delinquents were sizing him up.

At lunch break, Peter sees Ichigo approaching him with his hands in his pockets. He packs his notes and belongings with nervous hands.

"Let's talk outside." Ichigo says, gesturing him to follow.

"Uh... yeah." Peter responds quietly, gulping out of fear of judgement. He's not sure how the orange haired guy sees him now, but follows Ichigo out into a quiet part of the hallway.

"So, about your record." Ichigo starts, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "Is any of that true?"

"It's uh.... just the assault and burglary part. Definitely not the attempted murder part, I wouldn't kill anyone, I swear!" Peter said quickly.

Ichigo walks up to Peter, looking him in the face with his usual scowl. His face is close to Peter's, looking him directly in the eyes as if he was scrutinising him. Peter can feel the sweat forming on his face and his hearts sinking

"Fine, I believe you." The orange haired guy says finally to Peter's suprise. "You did save me yesterday in that castle, and you're not the only one who got falsely convicted. I owe you my life, so I believe you."

Peter's eyes widened at how easily Ichigo accepted his words, a feeling of hope and gratitude swelling in his chest. He kinda forgot that he did save Ichigo back there. Now he can't help but smile at how relieved he feels.

"Thanks, man. Really, it means a lot." He thanks him, rubbing his arm nervously.

"Don't mention it." Ichigo says and shows a small smile before leaning away and going back to his usual scowl. "Anyway, we still gotta get some info out of Mineta's crooks. Follow me."

Peter and Ichigo walk through the hallways of the school, occasionally getting dirty looks from some students. Peter assumes they are from the normal classes since he didn't see them in his class. All it takes is one glare from Ichigo to make them look away, to Peter's relief.

Soon enough, Ichigo spots a guy with blonde hair and a lot of piercings. He checks for any teachers, and when he finds none, he gestures for Peter to follow him.

"You're one os Mineta's cronies, right?" Ichigo asks him, standing in front of the cornered delinquent.

The delinquent turns to him, seeing he is outnumbered. "Tch, why the hell would I work for that midget?"

"Don't try to play dumb. We know Mineta has a bunch of crooks under his thumb." The orange haired boy says, getting into his face. "You have to pay him just to not get beat up by his other crooks, don't you? We just want to know some of Mineta's blind spots."

"Sh-shut up, man! I hate that scumbag, too, but I'm not crazy enough to go against him and risk going to juvie." The blond exclaims. "You can beat me up, and I still ain't gonna tell you anything. Screw off and just find another target, asshole." He finishes and pushes past Ichigo and Peter to run off somewhere.

Peter watches him run off and can't help but comment. "Wow, he seemed really scared of Mineta. Do you think there's anyone who would actually tell us anything?"

Before Ichigo can respond, another voice cuts him off causally. "Tell you anything about what?"

The two boys both turn around fast and see a girl with blonde hair and golden eyes. Peter recognises her as the girl he saw on the first rainy day of school. She had her hands behind her back and was looking at them with a wide smile that looked a bit too plastic to Peter.

"Jesus Chr- why the hell are you sneaking up on us like that, Himiko?!" Ichigo exclaims, seemingly knowing the girl's name.

"Aww, so mean. I go to this school too, you know. And you didn't answer my question, Strawberry." The girl, Himiko, responds with a pout. Ichigo scoffs at the nickname that Peter doesn't get. "How about you tell me instead, new guy."

"Oh, uh, I just wanted to know why Mineta is so.... popular." Peter lies, scratching his cheek nervously. "I mean, I'm hearing his name everywhere."

"Uh huh." The girl says slowly, taking a step closer and holding out her hand. "Well, he's popular amongst the delinquents because he hosts study sessions over at his house. Some normal students also come along, including yours truly, Himiko Toga."

"Ah, i guess that makes sense." Peter replies, shaking her hand. He doubts that what Mineta actually does are legit study sessions, but at least he got some information on how to get to his house. Though, he did call Mineta ugly yesterday, it might not be an option to him. "My name's Peter Parker. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Himiko responds, letting go of his hand. The bell rings, signifying the end of lunch break. "Looks like we have to go back to class. See you, Peter and Strawberry."

"I told you to stop calling me that, damnit!" Ichigo responds irritated as the blonde girl runs off.

"Why does she keep calling you Strawberry? Also, do you know her or something?" Peter can't help but ask.

"We were classmates in middle school, along with Izuku too. She's in the normal classes unlike us delinquents." Strawberry responds with a sigh. "And she calls me Strawberry because it's one of the things my name translates to, albeit the male version my name is actually written as means "one who protects". In short, she's calling me that to annoy me."

"Aha, I see." Peter says, heading to class now. "That's pretty funny, eh Strawberry?"

"Don't start calling me that too now!" Ichigo tells him, following with his hands in his pockets. "I swear to God."

At the teacher's lounge, Byleth hears a heavy sigh. She glances in the direction of the door where Aizawa just entered. Taking a sip of the coffee she made herself, which didn't taste as good as the one Aizawa makes, she turns to face him fully. "That was a heavy sigh."

"Yeah, well, I have a problem child in my class." Aizawa replies, slumping down in his seat."

"Why not expell them?" Byleth asks him blankly. "I thought that was your hobby."

"Haha, very funny. I don't expell students for fun." He replies sarcastically. "Besides, i can't even legally expell him because he's not breaking any rules."

"Not breaking any rules?" The lavender eyed teacher muses. "So how is he a problem child exactly?"

"Ugh, he's attempting that stupid rule we put in place that if he beats each disciplinary teacher, he'll make it out of the delinquent class." The shaggy haired man groans, clearly regretting putting that rule into place. "The kid knows some martial arts and is decently trained, but he's so hotheaded. He's been challenging me every damn week, and I can't refuse. I thought he'd learn his lesson by now."

"Ah, so he is attempting that rule, hmm?" Byleth repeats to herself, taking a sip of her too-bitter coffee. "Well, even if he makes it past you and then me, I doubt he would ever beat Fury."

"You're damn right about that. Maybe i should lose on purpose to get the kid off my case." Aizawa replies but gets a chop on the head for the ill-tasted joke.

"Hey Izuku." Mineta calls out to the freckled boy with a smirk.

"M-mineta, uhm, what do you need?" Izuku gulps, trying to suppress his stuttering. He is being blackmailed by him and has been doing Mineta's homework to not get expelled.

"Ah, nothing much. The next study session won't be happening cause my dad will be busy at home." The short bastard replies, his smirk widening. "But i still need to finish a project, so I'll be coming over to your house today. You'll do all the work and I'll just do the audio recording, kay?"

"Uhm.... sure, my house. Got it." Izuku replies, not having much choice in the matter anyways.

After school, Peter and Ichigo meet up to discuss their progress. They stand in front of the school gates with ichigo leaning against the wall.

"Ichigo, I don't think our plan of getting information out of the thugs is working." Peter starts, a bit unsure on how to proceed. "I mean, sure, they get scared a bit, but I don't think they have useful information, you know?"

"You're probably right about that. They're useless." Ichigo admits. "It was worth a try, though."

A silence washes over them as they think of their next plan of attack.

"I have an idea." Ichigo says finally, making Peter snap his head towards him. "It's a stupid idea, though."

"I just hope it's not as stupid as your last one." The brown haired boy sighs. "Well, what is it?"

"Let's check out that palace again." He responds, standing up straighter. "And I don't mean that we should go in guns blazing. I just want to see it again, to make sure I'm not crazy."

"I understand what you mean." Peter starts slowly. "But we'll have to be sneaky about it. And not go too far in."

"Yeah, we'll keep it on the low." Carrot-top agrees, nodding. "Ready when you are."

Peter takes a deep breath and clicks the metanav app. The air around them distorts and turns red, leaving an air of danger. The school is no longer. Instead, a giant castle is standing there just like on the first day. Peter's clothes change as well, and he finds himself once again in his outfit and mask, feeling power coursing through him.

"Damn... I still can't decide whether your outfit looks cool or silly." Ichigo says, eyeing the spider symbol on his chest. "You like spiders or something?"

"No, not particularly." Peter replies, shaking his head. "I do like the web shooters I desi- I mean, Oscorp designed recently. Yeah."

"Oh yeah, those. They did look kinda rad, but I heard they're still in beta testing." Carrot-top remarks. "Anyway, let's focus on why we're here. Maybe we can find some vault or whatever else we can gain information from."

"Wow, that's actually clever." The now masked boy states before adding cheekily. "You're smarter than you look."

"Shut up, I'm not dumb." Ichigo mutters with a ticked off eyebrow. "I'm a straight B student."

"Well, I'm a straight A student." Peter replies, probably smirking under his mask.

"Good for you, nerd." The taller boy says, focusing his attention on the castle now.

Ichigo looks over at the main door and immediately crosses out that possibility. None of the windows seem to open from outside either, not leaving a lot of options. Looking around, he finally finds an option for entrance.

"Bingo." Ichigo smirks, ripping over the cover of the vent. "We'll use the same method we used to escape yesterday."

"Alright, that makes sense." Peter concedes. "We probably shouldn't go any further than this floor, though. It'll be safer that way."

"Yeah, sure."

The two guys crawl through the vent and reach the end. They climb down into the room and check for enemies. But what they see suprises them even more. It's a person they recognise.

"Jolyne? What are you doing here?" Peter asks in disbelief.

Jokyne turns around, suprise evidence even behind her sunglasses. "You two? Why are you back here?"

"We came to investigate, Jolyne." Ichigo responds gruffly. "What about you? You said you didn't care and preferred not to get involved."

"I-im not getting involved." Jolyne replies defensively, crossing her toned arms. "I'm just here to... train. Yup, just to train."

"Training, huh?" Peter asks, smiling underneath his mask because he knows she's lying. She does have a compassionate heart, after all. "Well, we're investigating and could use a little extra muscle. Going together should improve our chances of not ending up in a cell. What do you say, Jolyne?"

Jolyne uncrosses her arms, evaluating the situation. "Fine, but only cause I don't want to end up in a cell again. You guys have a plan where you wanna go?"

"We were planning on exploring the first floor, but no more." Ichigo informs her.

"Alright, makes sense." She nods. "Do you have a codename yet?"

"Ah uh, a codename?" Peter asks, confused. "I mean, it sounds pretty cool, but I haven't really thought about it."

Jolyne sighs, rubbing her forehead. "It's not to sound cool, it's to protect your identity from Mineta's unconscious. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Oh, so you mean that Mineta will unconsciously associate me with the stuff I do when I'm in his palace and make him more suspicious of me?" He replies, thinking about it. "Just for reference, what's your codename."

"It's JoJo." She says. "It's a nickname my mother called me since both my first name, Jolyne, and my last name, Cujoh, have 'Jo' in it."

"Jojo, huh?" Peter muses. His name could make a nickname too, technically, but he doubts P.P. or Pepa would be good codenames. "Hmm. I wonder what my codename should be?"

"Your outfit makes you look like a superhero, with the mask and tight material." Ichigo notes. "And with that spider symbol, I'd say Spiderman would be your codename."

"Spiderman?" He asks his friend, surprised, scratching his cheek a bit embarrassed. "I don't know if I can live up to that."

"For now, you'll be Spiderman. We can discuss codenames later." Jojo tells him. "We'll be sneaking along the walls and dispose of shadows when they're alone. That will be our plan of attack. Understood?"

"Right on, I'll lend you my support." Spiderman responds with a thumbs up.

"I guess I'll play lookout." Orange hair says irritated, but moreso at the situation. "Tch, I can't believe I can't be fighting Shadows just cause I don't have any fancy powers like you guys."

"Yeah, without a persona, you won't be able to do shit. Don't even attempt to fight, Ichigo." The green-haired girl tells him with a stern face.

Ichigo's eyes narrow, and he grits his teeth. "... I know, you don't have to tell me."

"We're here to investigate, not fight." Peter reminds everyone. "Let's go, everyone."

The two others nod, following Peter. They check the doorway for any guards, walking along the wall sneakily. They find the kitchen and a single shadow they quickly dispose of using Stan Lee and Stone Free. Nothing noteworthy seems to be in the kitchen, so they move on.

Sneaking along further, they find empty rooms decorated with red and gold. Further in, there seems to be another staircase leading downstairs.

"That where the cells were." Ichigo scowls. "This seems like a different entrance. Should we go?"

"We could get find some info down there." Peter admits. "What do you think, Jolyne?"

"It's worth checking out, plus i want to smash in more shadows." Jolyne answers, cracking her knuckles. "Let's go."

The trio goes downstairs, preparing themselves for any combat they must face. At the end of the staircase, they find the door, hearing thuds coming from beyond it. They open the door and see multiple cells.

In the first cell, there are two rough looking guys in prison uniforms fighting each other. On the sidelines of that cell sit many others, betting money and watching the fight.

"They're fighting." Peter brings out, looking down into the cell. "Why?"

"Who knows?" Ichigo responds. "This place makes me sick."

"The palace is the distorted reality of Mineta." Jolyne starts, eyes narrowing. "In other words, this may very well be something that is happening in real life. My guess is that he makes the delinquents fight against each other for... entertainment."

"Entertainment?!" The taller boy asks, his voice a bit too loud. "What kind of sick bastard gets off on forcing people to fight?"

"Apparently, Mineta does." Peter replies grimly, looking away. "Let's move on and find more clues."

The others nod, looking into the next cell. Inside, prisoners are carrying heavy crates from one side to the other and loading them up for them to dissappear. They seem to be tired, sweating, and panting without a break.

"They're working themselves to the bone." Jolyne notes, frowning. "I can't tell what this means, though. It's not like Mineta has a farm or a company."

"You're right, it is weird." The masked boy admits. Unlike the fighting, it isn't very entertaining to watch people working. "I wonder why he's forcing them to work."

"Guys, I think a guard is coming. Let's hide." Ichigo whispers urgently, hiding behind a (conveniently placed) barrel. The other two hide behind it as well.

A knight in silver armour slowly walks down the hallway, his footsteps heavy. Unlike the others, he does not have a helmet and instead has a face with unnatural golden eyes like King Mineta. He wears an ugly smirk, looking over the prisoners working.

"Listen up, maggots!" The knight says, banging on the bars with his shield. "It's time to pay up."

The trio is listening in, hearing some mutters from the prisoners. Many of them scrap together all their money, giving it to the Knight. One of them seems to be panicking, fidgeting around in his pockets.

"A-again?" The prisoner asks. "We already had to pay up on Monday. I-i don't have enough money!"

"Not enough money?" The knight asks, then laughs cruelly. "Hahaha! And how is that any of my problem? You don't pay up, you get to be the next example."

The knight grabs the prisoners by the collar, dragging him along while snickering. The prisoner begs, he pleads, but he can't escape. The door behind them shuts, leaving only a sickening silence before the other prisoners get back to work.

"Did you guys see that, too? Peter asks quietly.

"Yeah, that guy just got dragged off." Ichigo whispers, eyes widened. "Just because he missed a payment. And he didn't even look like a shadow, but like a person. I recognize him, he's a year above us and basically Mineta's right-hand man."

"He wasn't a shadow, but a cognition. Basically, that's the unconcios manifestation that Mineta's subconscious created of him. At least now we know what this cell represents." Jolyne mutters. "Mineta is collecting money from the delinquents. I'm guessing this work represents their part-time jobs they have to get in order to pay up."

"Ugh, the more we find out about that bastard the more I want to punch his face in." Carrot-top growls. "What do we do now?"

"The punishment." Spiderman says firmly. "We should find out what that is."

The other two nod, following the sound of the clanking boots of the silver knight. They're careful not to get discovered, as they get deeper in the dungeon. They see the silver knight enter a large door but decide to find an alternate view of what's inside. The trio jumps on barrels and makes it way through a vent, eventually ending up right above the room and being able to see down through the gaps.

The silver knight throws the prisoner to the ground, right in front of Mineta, who's sitting on a golden throne.

"Sire, Prisoner 17 wasn't able to pay today." The knight says, keeping the prisoner under him with his foot.

"P-please, forgive me! I don't have enough time to get more- AAAAGH!" he starts but gets cut off by the knights grinding into him with his sheathed sword.

"Silence." He says coldly. "We do not care about your excuses.

Mineta speaks up, having finished chewing on his junk food. "Man, you're so useless. All you have to do is pay me 150$ per week, and you can't even do that? Just get another part-time job, you lazy idiot."

"B-but i still have school. My dad will ki- AAAGH!" The prisoner tries to defend himself again.

"Oh well, I don't care what happens to you." Mineta says dismissively before smirking coldly. "We can get some great entertainment out of you. Send him to the game room."

"The game room?" Peter asks quietly. "That doesn't sound very scary."

"Shh. Shut up, idiot." Jojo whispers sharply. "Do you want them to hear us?"

"Hey guys?" Ichigo whispers, looking rather panicked. "Is it just me, or is the vent creaking?"

Both Peter and Jolyne look down, realising that maybe it wasn't a good idea for all three of them to be in the same vent, at the same spot. Sweat rolls down their faces as the creaking gets louder, and finally, a screw falls out.

"Oh fuck." Is the only thing Jolyne says before the grate breaks, causing all three of them to fall right into the room.

Chapter Text

With a loud creaking, the grate of the vent falls off, leaving the trio to fall. Peter closes his eyes in an inevitable collision, but when he opens them, he finds himself landed on his feet, practically unscathed besides a dull soreness in his limbs. He can see that Jolyne is already on her feet from a roll, while Ichigo is groaning on his back. Spiderman guesses that awakening a persona must have given him better reflexes and skill, something that Ichigo sadly did not have access to. Straightening themselves, Spiderman and JoJo turn towards Mineta and the silver knight, who look equally surprised and angry. Meanwhile, the prisoner just seems flabbergasted underneath the knight's boot from the falling group.

"Sorry to crash the party, Your Highness." Spiderman says sarcastically, giving a bow just to piss him off further. He didn't know what exactly he was doing, but the adrenaline in his body made him go on autopilot. "But you see, we overheard how you wanted to punish this prisoner, and we just couldn't stand it."

JoJo gives him an incredulous look at his attitude in this serious moment before fixing her attention to the opponents. Mineta, meanwhile, grits his teeth and balls his, admittedly small, fists. "You dare mock me in my castle?! You thieves should be taught a lesson, especially an insect like you!"

Before Peter can correct him that spiders are arachnids and not insects, Mineta shouts a command to his subject. "Crush them! I want them executed now!"

"Prepare yourself, Spiderman." JoJo tells him, holding a crowbar as a weapon. "And you, Carrot-top, stay behind us."

"Ugh, yeah, fine." Ichigo responds, still groaning heavily in pain as he shifts away from the battle.

The silver knight unsheathed his sword with a bloodthirsty grin, his muscles bulging under his armour until it got teared off. Two white wings erupt from his back, making him seem even more imposing. In a flash of light two angels appear next to him at his sides, or at least Peter guesses those are angels due to the wings, but strangely enough, they seem to wear what looks like BDSM gear.

"Prepare to be executed!" The knight grolls, swinging his sword at the two. Jolyne steps back quickly to dodge the sharp edge while Peter manages to duck in time. JoJo's attack gets blocked by the shield, and before she can follow up, wind magic from the left angel hits her from the back, and she lets out a pained cry. Spiderman immediately rushes between them, using Stan Lee to unleash an attack to knock it back.

"Are you alright?" He asks over his shoulder.

"I'm alive, don't worry." , barely blocking the knight's sword with her crowbar. "Wind is my weakness, so keep those angels away from me. I'll handle the knight."

Peter wasn't so sure about this idea, but he didn't have a better one. "Alright, I got your back. Don't lose."

"You should be more worried about yourself, Newbie." JoJo scoffs, albeit touched at the worry. She uses her persona to drive the Knight away from the angels. She uses Stone Free to hit him with a Zio, but he easily shrugs it off to her annoyance, resisting the attack. Meanwhile, Spiderman does his best to fight against the two angels alone, most of his fighting consisting of dodging attacks. He can feel the odds are stacked against him, as he gets more tired and hurt throughout his battle. Spiderman can hear the repetition of 'Ora Ora Ora Ora' coming from Jolyne until it gets silenced by a sickening crunch. In that split moment, he glances in JoJo's direction only to find her head underneath the knight's foot, bleeding. The angels both fire off a wind attack that hits Peter and sends him to the ground, where they quickly restrain him.

"Haha, good. Good!" Mineta claps, looking down at the beaten heroes with glee. "You crushed two vermin, only one more to go."

Ichigo should have known this was a bad idea. He suggested going back to the palace. And now he was sore all over, Peter and Jolyne restrained by the enemy. He was the one who got them into this mess, but he's completely powerless. This can't be happening. His ears are ringing, and his throat is dry, but he picks himself off the ground.

"You always try so hard, but fall flat in the end, Ichigo. It's honestly pathetic." Mineta tells him and laughs at his own remark.

"Shut up, you bastard." Ichigo responds trough gritted. He picks up the grate, as it's the only thing he could use to fight.

"Oh no, i am so scared." He responds sarcastically, twirling his sceptre. "You always fight the most unnecessary battles... like that one two years ago."

Ichigo grits his teeth harder in anger, a vein popping on his forehead. "Don't you dare bring that up, you bastard! You'll regret what you did to that girl, to me and to Izuku!"

With that, Ichigo rushes at Mineta and attempts to strike him with the grate. But the headless, golden armoured knight that carries Mineta in his hands kicks him away easily. Mineta laughs at the sight of the thieves beaten to the ground, especially Ichigo. "Ah ah ah, you're still holding that grudge? Nobody asked Izuku and you to play hero. It's your own fault that you got involved."

"Damn... you." The beaten boy groans, holding his aching side. "How could we not get involved when you and your delinquents were about to strip that girl of all her decency! You're absolute scum!"

The golden armour kicks Ichigo in the face while Mineta grins. "Hey, what can I say? She was hella cute in that cosplay. But of course, you and Izuku had to ruin the fun by getting involved. Thankfully, my crooks managed to beat you two, not that Izuku was that strong to begin with. Afterwards, pinning the blame on you two was so easy. I only needed to make one of the girls I blackmailed pretend to be that victim that ran away, confess that you were the ones that assaulted her and tadaa! We were the ones in the right, and you two were in the wrong to the judge. Don't you know history is written by the victor, Ichigo?!" Mineta cackles, signalling for the golden knight to take his sword and stab Ichigo in the chest. Blood gushes from the wound as the knight pulls his sword away. Both Peter and Jolyne cry out at the sight, but Ichigo can't hear what they said. Static noise fills his ears, and his vision is starting to get blurry.

Ichigo can't believe it. Mineta's degeneracy knows no limit, blaming his crimes on Izuku and himself. He looks at Peter and Jolyne still being restrained by the enemy as he hears Mineta's ugly cackling. The bitterness rises up inside him as he bleeds on the ground. Powerless. If only he was strong enough back then, he and Izuku wouldn't have been beaten and convicted as criminals. If only he was stronger, he wouldn't be bleeding out right now. Peter and Jolyne wouldn't have been beaten if he was stronger. If only he was stronger, he could protect people.

While these thoughts are running through his head, golden armour raises his sword above him, aiming for Ichigo's neck. The world turns grey right before the blade connects. Ichigo suddenly gets a pounding headache. It's like his head was going to split apart.

"Ichigo." A deep and calm voice calls him. He looks around, but he can't find the source. "Tell me, which is it that you want? Do you want to fight? Do you want to win? Or do you just want to live? Well? Tell me which is it that you want, Ichigo." Ichigo can't tell what's going on, but something inside him thinks about his answer. Instinctively, he responds through gritted teeth. "I want to win. Fighting by itself is meaningless. Living by itself won't achieve anything. I want to- no , I need to win!"

The voice is silent for a while as if assessing his answer. "Very well, in order to protect you, I will lend you any strength necessary. Fight, Ichigo. Fight and-" "SHOW THEM WHO'S NUMBER ONE, PARTNER!"

(Cue the ost)

The world regained its colour. A shockwave sends the headless knight flying, his armour clanking against the wall right next to a shell-shocked Mineta. A dustcloud obscured everyone's vision of Ichigo, and when it settled, he was standing there. A white, bone-like mask with teeth and red markings on the left side covered his whole face. He grabbed it with one hand and began pulling as hard as he could. Peter and Jolyne watch as Ichigo rips the mask off, his face covered in blood, his usual scowl looking more determined as he glares Mineta down. "I know one thing for sure, the last two years I spent avoiding you were a mistake. I should have kept fighting. I should have tried until i succeeded in beating you and all your scummy crooks, until i made things right. I won't make that mistake again, Mineta. I'll fight until I win!"

Gold-yellow energy engulfs him, building up and shaping into a cocoon like shape. Waves of energy hit the two angels restraining Peter, and slowly Ichigo comes into sight. He's wearing a black robe, which is tied at his waist, and a red zig-zag string comes down from his shoulder to his hip. But what really catches everyone's attention is the giant blade Ichigo is holding over his shoulder. It's easily as big as him, with no crossguard and a long cloth at its hilt that flutters behind him. Honestly, it looked more like a giant kitchen knife than a sword. Behind him floats a long-haired figure clad in black, dark orange sunglasses covering their eyes. The figure seems to meld with shadow. It's cloth moving unnaturally and slowly, just like its hair. It has one hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Damn it, this one too?!" Mineta asked in shock and fear, scrambling onto the golden armour. "Get rid of them, I want them all executed!" He barks the order at the silver knight.

His subordinate quickly recovers from the shock and raises his blade to embed it deep into Jolyne's neck. "I don't think so!" Ichigo shouts, quickly closing the distance and slashing at the knight with his giant sword. The heavy hit sends the knight flying against the wall near Mineta, who's already being carried by the gold armoured knight.

"Execute them, or you're dead! Understand?!" Mineta barks out in panic and quickly leaves the room to escape. Spiderman and JoJo are no longer restrained and are able to stand up, getting ready to fight the silver knight and the angels, which are also regaining their composure.

"Three against three, it's finally even." The newly awakened boy muses with a smirk. "Let's beat the crap out of them, guys. Lend me your strength... Zangetsu!" The shadowy man raises one hand and fires a garu at the knight, knocking him temporarily to the ground. JoJo fires off her Zios on the two angels, knocking them to the ground as well. "Alright, now's our chance! Go for an all-out attack!" JoJo shouts, rushing to the toppled enemies. The boys follow suit quickly, kicking them while they're down and quickly defeating them.

Stan Lee's comic page wings quickly detach from him one by one, gathering around one defeated angel. They flutter around, forming a bubble. Then, a bright light shines through the gap, and the comic panels form a makeshift mask that floats into Peter's hands. As if knowing what to do, Peter changes his persona from Stan Lee to Angel. Ichigo and Jolyne look at him in shock.

"What the hell?" Jolyne mutters. "Peter, how did you do that?"

"I have no clue." Peter responds. "It just kind of... came to me naturally, I guess."

"Damn, you just had to steal my thunder, huh?" Ichigo asks, not really annoyed. "No matter, we should make a run for it before Mineta comes back with reinforcements."

The others nod and follow Ichigo out of the room. He wrapped his giant sword in the cloth and put it on his back. They quickly run their way through the cellar and up the stairs towards the room with the vent. The trio crawls through the vent and to freedom. The group once again finds themselves in front of the castle, this time with all of them having awakened personas.

"Whew, that was close. I thought we were goners." Peter sighs in relief. "You really saved our butts, Ichigo."

"Don't mention it. You saved me yesterday, so now we're even." Ichigo responds, crossing his arms. "That palace is seriously no joke. We should avoid going into it alone. That goes mostly for you, Jolyne."

Jolyne grumbles but doesn't deny it. "Good grief, fine. I won't go into the palace alone. I'm not that stupid."

"I somehow doubt that since you came back literally one day after we freed you from a cell." He retorts.

"I think that shows how determined she is." Peter cuts in, trying to pacify the situation. Ichigo mutters something about her being stubborn. "But Ichigo is right, Jolyne. You'd have less to worry about with people that got your back. You should join our team so we can stop Mineta."

"Stop Mineta, huh? You guys are still serious about that, but you don't even have a plan." She responds.

"You're right, we don't." Ichigo admits. "But that doesn't matter, we'll find a way. And we're not stopping until he's dealt with."

"I see." Jolyne says, seemingly debating the options. "You know, there is a way to stop him."

"There is? What is it?" Peter asks her with a hopeful tone.

"It's called a Change of Heart." She begins slowly. "A palace forms when someone's desires are distorted. Mineta, for example, believes he is the king of the school, that he rules everything. A change of heart is performed when you steal a palace ruler's treasure." "And what does this change of heart do exactly?" Ichigo presses. "The treasure is the core of their desire." She responds. "When you steal someone's treasure, they will no longer have desire, theoretically. They would no longer desire power, but they could also end up not desiring basic human needs like food and water."

Peter frowned. "You don't sound sure. We can't take that kind of risk, but we'll keep it as a last resort."

"Yeah, sounds pretty dangerous." Ichigo agrees. "Besides, I'm not a big fan of basically brainwashing someone. That sounds kinda... wrong."

Jolyne nods. "Alright, I just wanted to bring it up. We'll search for another way."

"Right. Do we have any other ideas?" Peter asks.

"I have one." The other boy responds. "We know Mineta hosts study sessions at his house for the delinquents. I bet those meetings also serve as the discussion for his extortion. Somewhere in his house must be some kind of evidence against him."

"That makes sense." She admits. "But none of us are invited to his study sessions. We need a man on the inside."

"Hey, Izuku." A girl calls out cheerfully. "Where are you going?"

Izuku, who had his head down, looks up and sees Himiko grinning at him. He blushes a bit, never really being popular with girls. "Oh, uhm, hi, H-himiko. I'm going home."

"But isn't today Mineta's group study session?" She inquires. "You always participate. I mean, without you, the thing would fall apart."

He rubs the back of his head bashfully. "Y-you think so? A-anyway, there won't be a study session today because Mineta's place has guests over. He's coming over to my house, so... so we can study, yeah."

Himiko senses the apprehension in his voice, but she doesn't let her smile fade, as much as she doesn't want to be smiling right now. She knows Mineta is making Izuku do his assignments for him, but she has a facade to uphold. The facade of the innocent, bubbly girl. "Oh, I see. You're going to have a study session without lil old me? Oh well, I guess there's always another chance. Have fun, Izuku~"

Izuku sees her walk off, his guts already twisting into knots from anxiety of what's to come. He forces himself to respond. "Uhh yeah, i will. Bye."

"Buh-bye! See you tomorrow!" She responds with a wave and a grin before turning the corner. On the outside, she keeps her peppy expression, but on the inside, she thinks about his situation. "Mineta, I'll make you regret laying a hand on Izuku. I'll bring your lies to the light, I'll crush your reputation, and I will make you feel pain. Just like you make Izuku feel pain." She thinks to herself, her smile widens and becomes more malicious. She resists the urge to grab one of the knives she has on her since she's still in public. "I just need a bit more proof before I can ruin you~"

The group is back from the Metaverse. With their clothes back to normal, they stumble into the bustling street. The sun is already settling low, so they decide to call it a day and say goodbye. Peter enters Café Leblanc and is greeted with the smell of coffee. He sees Aunt May behind the counter, turning to him as soon as she hears him come in.

"Peter." She says with a smile. "Welcome home. Do you want to try out some coffee?"

He has never really tried coffee before after trying its bitter taste as a kid. Remembering that he still has a lot of school notes to copy and that he's quite tired from the fighting in the palace, he decides it's worth a try. "I guess I'll try. Just uh, not too bitter, please."

Aunt May laughs under her breath. "Of course not. I'll make you something you enjoy, kid."

Soon enough, the coffee was done, set right before him on the counter. A spiral symbol of white lays on top of the caramel coloured drink. He hesitantly takes a sip and finds the drink to be more sweet than bitter. Aunt May must have added sugar or he was pranked by his Uncle as a kid.

"It tastes nice, albeit bitter." He says, taking another sip.

"I'm glad you like it, Peter." She responds with a fond smile. "This is called a latte. It's when you add milk to it to decrease the bitterness. By the way, how are things at school?"

Peter coughs a bit, having spent more time fighting in the palace instead of focusing on school. "Oh, uh, I'm keeping up in class. But I still have some notes left to copy."

"That's good." Aunt May says, pushing up her round glasses. "And no one has... picked on you? Or hurt you?"

He can see the worry in her eyes as she asks this. Her worry is, of course, natural. He was in a class full of people with a criminal record. "No, nobody picked on me. My new friends are scary enough on the outside to keep them away."

"Ah, I see." Aunt May has no idea whether Peter having intimidating friends is a good thing or not. For now, she's just glad her nephew is alright. "Oh, looking at the time. I have to close the café now. Make sure not to stay up too late, Peter."

"Alright, I won't." He responds, watching his Aunt close up shop. "See you tomorrow, Aunt May."

"See you, sleep well. Tomorrow is Friday, and afterwards, the weekend." She muses. "We should go somewhere together, kid." And with that, Aunt May closed the café. Peter takes his coffee upstairs and starts working on his school notes. But with the fatigue setting in, he soon finds himself asleep.

Once more, he wakes up in that blue cell, wearing a prisoner's uniform. He stands up and goes up to the bars, as it has become routine for him. Frankly, looking at a giant nosed man and his assistant through bars should *not* be routine, but hey, that's life. Peter realises just how out of hand his life has become in such a short time.

"Welcome to the Velvet room, again." Igor starts with his usual unsettling chuckle. "Allow me to congratulate you on gaining a new persona and a new bond, Trickster."

"Right, thanks." He replies, still not sure what to think of Igor. "How could I gain a second persona anyway? Do you have something to do with that?"

C.C. smirks a bit. "You're both correct and incorrect. While it is through my master's doing that you have the power to gain new personas, it wouldn't be possible to grant this to anyone but you, inmate."

"It wouldn't?" Peter repeats confused, not knowing what exactly is special about him.

"You are of the *fool* arcana, inmate." She explains, pronouncing the word fool slower to his mild indignation. "You are like snow, or rather like a blank sheet of paper. Unlike others, you have the capability to be written upon, to change your contents, so to say."

"Right, thanks." He replies dryly. "I would prefer not to be called a fool, though."

"Nonetheless." Igor speaks up, folding his hands. "You have done well as for now. But the bonds you made are weak and superficial. Strengthen them so you may progress your rehabilitation. Remember that, Trickster."

The doorbell rings, upping Izuku's anxiety further. His stomach kneads into knots, and his mouth feels dry, but he forces himself to open the door for Mineta. His hand reaches for the doorknob shakily, managing to turn it. Mineta stands there with his backpack and, of course, a smirk.

"Uhm, hi, w-welcome to my house." Izuku says politely. "Why thank you for the warm welcome." Mineta responds with a condescending edge, already kicking off his shoes haphazardly. "I hope there's lots of snacks."

Just then, a woman with long green hair, wearing an apron, goes to stand in the doorway of the kitchen. She seems to be in her 40s, and still rather young looking for that. Mineta can't help but check her out, despite knowing that this is most likely Izuku's mother.

She looks over at the two boys. "Izuku, who's this? A friend?"

"Unm, this is Mineta." He responds. "We have a project together, mom."

"Oh my." She gasps, her face turning apologetic. "I didn't know you had someone over. I didn't prepare anything to eat."

Mineta ceases his staring and puts on an innocent expression he mastered. "Oh, no, it's fine, ma'am. I'm the one who came over at the last minute, so the fault is all mine." "Hmm. Well, still, you boys go ahead and work, and I'll make you something nice to eat, alright?" Ms Midoriya insists. "Okay, mom." Izuku responds with a soft nod. "We'll just... go study." He says and goes to his room. Mineta soon follows, not before committing the woman's looks to memory. The door closes. "You know, Izuku." Mineta starts casually, but with a perverted grin. He sits down at the comfortable chair like he owns it. Izuku dreads the next words that are coming.

"Your mom is one hell of a MILF."

Chapter Text

Interrogation room. Date: ???

Peter's head is pounding, his vision is still blurry, and he feels lightheaded. It doesn't help that one of the scariest prosecutors in the States is staring him down to the soul. With an annoyed sigh, Hubert Vestra takes out the files and sets them on the table. He picks out the first case and shows Peter the picture. "Your first target, Mineta Minoru. Not as grand as what you have accomplished in the future, but everyone has humble beginnings." He starts, his voice dark and oppressive. Hubert leans his head on his fist and points with his other hand on the picture. "16 years old, high-school student, confessed to blackmail, sexual harassment, voyeurism, bullying, extortion, threat and mental abuse. He was scum, yes, but was a change of heart necessary? You didn't have any other choice but that extreme one?"

Peter groans, trying his best to sit upright. "No, we didn't have much choice." He states. "Mineta was basically controlling the school for a year, at least. He had multiple crooks that he would throw under the bus to save himself. After that incident... the police didn't do anything, the school was covering everything up."

"Ah, I see. So it's a desperate attempt of justice that made you into a vigilante." Hubert muses dryly, adjusting his gloves. "But that incident was on such a small scale. It was too personal not to suspect you. Although there were lots of suspects that had a motive against Mineta himself, that pool was relatively small compared to a nationwide known group like the Phantom Thieves. So tell me, Parker, how exactly did you make Mineta Minoru have a change of heart?"

Peter hastily packs his bag for school, having overslept. If he skips breakfast, he'd be able to make it on the bus. Cursing his lot, he shoves his lunch in his bag and runs to the bus station. He manages to make it onto the bus, panting hard from the sprinting. In class, he forces himself to pay attention, even though he keeps thinking about the situation with Mineta and the change of heart. 

Especially the change of heart. 

Peter wonders how it would work exactly. He's always been pretty much obsessed with science since he got that gift from Uncle Ben. Still, he was more into biology and engineering than whatever the metaverse is. It could be psychology or maybe metaphysical. Peter doesn't believe in magic. Anything can be explained in time after all. He won't be able to find out how the change of heart works until he tries it himself. And right now, he's not willing to take the chance. As despicable as Mineta is, he doesn't want him to end up braindead, brainwashed, or mentally scarred. 

The bell rings, ending the class and his thought process as well. As agreed, he met up with Ichigo and Jolyne in the hallway. Feeling massively hungry, he takes out his lunch as Ichigo and Jolyne discuss the plan.

"Alright, let's discuss the candidates we can recruit to infiltrate Mineta's study sessions, and thereby his house." Ichigo starts, taking one last sip from his water.

"Thereby?" Jolyne snorts. "What are you, an old man?"

"Shut up. That's a totally normal word to say." He responds before sighing. "Anyway, our options are limited. The three of us won't ever be invited. The delinquents are either being threatened and blackmailed or they benefit from Mineta's bs. That only leaves the students from the normal classes."

"I know the delinquents are being kept under his thumb, but won't some of them want to dispose of Mineta?" She asks.

"Sure, some might." Ichigo admits. "However, the chance that they'd be too afraid to pull through or would see an opportunity to snitch and be rewarded is too high."

"Wouldn't that last part apply more to the normal students?" Peter asks, having finished his meal. "I mean, they don't dislike Mineta the same way the delinquents do. They'd have less of a reason to be afraid of him and more of a chance to snitch."

Ichigo goes silent at that while Jolyne lets out an annoyed groan. "Okay, that was more pessimistic than I expected from you." He says after a while. "But you're not wrong. Instead of trying to figure out what kind of people we should ask, we should determine who definitely wouldn't snitch."

"You sound like you already have an idea, Ichigo." Jolyne notes.

"Oh yeah, I know someone who goes to Mineta's study sessions and would never snitch." Ichigo responds, a smirk forming on his face. "Izuku Midoriya from our class. He might seem weak willed, but I think we can convince him to help us out."

"Izuku, hmm." Peter mutters. He really only had one interaction with the guy despite sitting next to him in class. He was short and scrawny, with messy green hair. A typical loser and bully victim. Like Peter, he didn't seem to fit into the class of delinquents. From Mineta's shadow, Peter found out how the nervous kid got a criminal record. He helped Ichigo fight Mineta and his crew, who tried to take advantage of a girl. From this information alone, Peter could see Izuku working for them, or at least not snitching on them.

"Seriously? That guy?" Jolyne asks incredulous. "You think he has the balls to sneak around Mineta's house?"

"Yeah, I do." Ichigo says without missing a beat. "I know how he seems like, but I th-"

"Holy crap! Is that somebody on the roof!?" A student at the end of the hallway asks loudly, staring out the window.

Another one already has his phone in his hand. "It totally is! Oh my god!"

"Somebody's... on the roof?" Peter repeats slowly, turning to look out of the window. His eyes widen in shock when he sees a figure behind the railings of the gym building. To his horror, they seem to be only one step away from falling down. Peter doesn't want to look. He really doesn't, but his eyes stay glued onto the soon macabre scene. Long enough to notice the green curls fluttering in the wind.

"Th-that's Izuku!" Ichigo brings out, absolutely shell-shocked. Practically having his face pressed against the window, he looks like he would fly towards him if he could. "What the hell!? Don't do it, you idiot!"

"I-i don't think he can hear you!" Jolyne says, biting her nail nervously, which is unusual for her. Ichigo tries to open the window, but it has been blocked by the school. Frustrated, he punches it - hard enough to crack it, but not to break it - and runs to the exit.

Peter, meanwhile, remains glued to the ground, his legs not moving, his tongue not speaking, his mind not working. He feels nausea and dread as he is anticipating the worst. In that moment, the boy on the roof seemed even more fragile and feeble, as if a gust of wind could blow him off the roof, ending his short life. Peter isn't sure whether he blinked and missed it or didn't blink at all when he saw Izuku fall down.

He isn't sure he wants to know.

Izuku stood on top of the gym building, right near the edge. He had thought of ending it many times beforehand. Never did he think he'll actually do it.

Up until now.

He was bullied in elementary school. Izuku endured it.

In middle school, he moved to New York City, no longer being bullied, but also not making any friends due to his anxiety. It was fine. Izuku endured it. 

At the end of middle school, he put his nose where it didn't belong and got framed for a crime he didn't commit. His mother, of course, believed that he was innocent. Nonetheless, her son being charged with a criminal record broke her heart. That was the hardest to endure, but Izuku endured it anyway. 

Being in the same school as the person who framed him was hell, especially when he decided to make Izuku his personal gofer and worker. Izuku endured it. 

Being beaten up by Mineta's crooks hurt. Izuku endured it. 

Being treated like scum by the normal students just because he was in the delinquent class. Izuku endured it. 

Having to pay Mineta money every week, having to work himself ragged just to pay. Izuku endured it.

Being blackmailed by Mineta as a result of being tricked. The fear and anxiety of having his life ruined. Izuku endured it. 

But there comes a time when a human heart can no longer endure. When Mineta was obvious about finding his mom attractive and demanded that Izuku take pictures of her. Izuku couldn't endure it anymore.

He took a step forward.

A large crowd of students have gathered around the boy. The siren of the ambulance can be heard in the distance. Peter's eyes were unfocused, and his head was pounding from the cacophony of noise. Still, he saw as the girl, Himiko, barged through the crowd, pushing people out the way. She stumbles to her knees in front of Izuku's body. Himiko kneels deathly still until her shoulders begin to shake and tears stream down her face.

"...Izuku?" She asks quietly like a child's whisper.

The boy's unfocused gaze looks towards her direction weakly. He's alive, barely. His cracked lips move slightly, making Himiko lean her ear down.

"Himiko... is that you?" He asks, voice sounding like all the wind has left his lungs.

"Yes!" She responds desperately, her hands twitching at her sides. She's not sure if she should support his head or not touch him at all, not wanting him to get worse. "It's me, Izuku. I'm here."

"I'm sorry." Izuku says sincerely. Tears form in his eyes, and he coughs. "I'm sorry... I just couldn't... Mineta." Is all he brings out before his head lolls to the side, eyes closed.

"Mineta?" Himiko repeats slowly, with venom. She can feel her wrath boiling up inside her. Of course, it would be him, that disgusting, perverted, corrupt piece of human garbage. He tormented Izuku until it broke him. She clenches her teeth so hard that it felt like she would crush them. Scratch ruining Mineta. She was going to kill him like he killed Izuku.

Peter and Jolyne watched as the ambulance drove away with Izuku in it. He was not yet dead, but he was in critical condition. At that moment, they didn't care that they lost their potential man on the inside. All they thought about was how Izuku almost died today. Because of Mineta. Peter's head snapped up as he heard Ichigo's voice.

"Guys." He was standing with his fists clenched and anger in his eyes. "Mineta is going to pay for this." He snarls, starting to wall off again.

"Where are you going?" Peter asks him, but he already knows the answer.

"To beat his ass." Ichigo says like it's obvious. In his defence, it was. "Are you coming, Jolyne?"

She swallows dryly but nods. "Yeah. Let's teach him a lesson." She follows behind Ichigo. Peter runs after them, seemingly the only one who has kept it together for now. A part of him wants to hurt Mineta as well, but the louder part remains rational. There's still a better way. There's still the change of heart.

Mineta sits in the restroom, hyperventilating. He knows he's the reason why Izuku jumped. He may be a perverted scumbag, but he didn't want someone to die because of him. But it's not like he can just admit to his crimes. That would ruin his life. He'll have to pin it on someone else again. 

With a heavy step, he comes out of the restroom where four of his strongest crooks wait. Immediately, he stiffens up as he sees Ichigo, Jolyne, and that new student who was arrested for attempted murder walk towards him. Mineta goes to stand between his guards and tries his best to look confident. 

"Mineta! You bastard!" Ichigo snarls, rage burning in his eyes. "What the hell did you do to Izuku!?"

"I-i don't know what you mean." Mineta says, playing innocent. "There's no proof I did anything."

"We don't need proof when it's so obvious." Jolyne responds, stepping closer. "He jumped because of you!"

"Shut up! I didn't do it! I didn't do anything wrong!" He denies, grasping for straws. "It's not... it's not my fault he was so weak that he jumped. You should blame him. It was his decision!"

Ichigo's rage flares at Mineta's words. Everyone knows who's fault it is, and yet he dares blame the victim. He balls his fists so hard they start to turn white. "You piece of shit! I'll send you to the hospital in a worse shape than Izuku is!"

Before any of Mineta's crooks can step into action, Peter holds Ichigo's wrist firmly. "Ichigo, stop." He says seriously, but with lingering concern.

"Goddamnit, why the hell should I?!" He shouts, trying to free himself, but Peter's grip is unshakeable. "That bastard is the reason why Izuku could die! I can't forgive a bastard like him! Let me go, Peter!"

"No, I won't let you go." Peter replies, trying his best to hold Ichigo back. "Causing a scene won't help Izuku. Hurting Mineta will make it easier for him to play victim. We have better ways to solve this, Ichigo. Stop struggling and listen to me!"

Jolyne grabs Ichigo's second wrist. She has a steely look in her eyes. "Peter's right. I'd love to punch the crap out of that fucker too, but it's not worth it. We have other methods, so quit being a stubborn idiot!"

Mineta isn't sure whether he should be glad that there won't be a fight right now or worried about whatever the other method is. He gulps and decides he isn't going to let them get the chance. "T-that's enough! You delinquents have no proof for your assumptions, I won't be taken down by the likes of you." He declares, stomping his feet. "You'll be expelled! I'll tell my father to bring up your expulsions in the next boarding meeting! And I'll pin the suicide on you too!"

Ichigo stopped struggling against Peter and Jolyne, though he still was rather angry. He stared at Mineta for a while before he swallowed his rage. "You won't succeed. We'll stop you, and we will bring all your crimes to light. You should confess yourself before we choke those words out of you." He tells him, calm and yet more intimidating than before.

"Pshh, I'm not scared of a couple of outcasts." Mineta replies, but promptly walks off with his group. Peter, Jolyne, and Ichigo stay behind and think about the same thing. It's time for them to consider the change of heart more seriously. 
"Guys, we don't have the option to get evidence about Mineta from his home anymore." Peter starts serious. "Not only did we lose our best bet at a man on the inside, but Mineta is also on high alert and would hide any damning evidence."

"You're right. Our options are diminished." Jolyne says with a sigh. "We need to reconsider the change of heart."

Ichigo doesn't say anything, seemingly deep in thought. Peter decides to speak instead. "The boarding meeting is in a week. We don't have any evidence against Mineta yet, and even if we did, we could be expelled before the Police does anything. But what we do have is access to his Palace. As far as we know, only we have that option. It's our responsibility to use that power and bring Mineta to justice because no one else can do it."

Ichigo stands more upright, and he looks the other two in the eyes. "You're right. Only we can stop him now. We have the responsibility to. For Izuku and everyone else Mineta terrorised. We'll attempt this change of heart. Lead the way, Jolyne."

"Alright, let's head to the entrance while I explain the change of heart in detail." She agrees, leading the way. "Stealing a heart is only possible to individuals who have a Palace. In the Palace, there is a treasure, the original distorted desire, which is the heart. We need to secure a route to the treasure and then manifest it. I'll explain that later, but first, let's focus on actually finding the treasure."

They quickly go to the entrance of the school and use the metanav on their phones. Their clothes change to the outfits they've become quite familiar with. 

"Before we go in, we still need to pick a codename for Ichigo." Peter says, already thinking of possibilities. 

Ichigo groans, not in the mood for deciding codenames. "Fine, but in five minutes, we go in."

"Got it. You'll just be carrot top if we can't decide on anything." Jolyne chimes in and ignores his glare. "But if you'd prefer something better, how about skull? Like your mask?"

"Sheesh, I was just going with skeleton." Peter admits. "Skull is better, though. The mask almost gives him grip reaper vibes. Except he doesn't have a scythe."

"Grim reaper, you say?" The boy in question muses, looking at his outfit. "My codename will be Shinigami then."

"Shini-what now?" Peter asks, confused. 

"A shinigami is the Japanese equivalent of a grim reaper, Spiderman." She tells Peter, then teases Ichigo. "A god of death, it's kinda edgy."

"Shut up, Skull was equally edgy." Shinigami huffs. "Let's just go in already."

"Omg, I can't believe I witnessed someone jumping off a roof today." A girl gossips to her friends.

"Totally." Another agrees, inspecting her nails. "That was not on my bingo list today. He looked kinda scrawny for someone from the delinquent class, right?"

"You're, like, totally right, girl." A third one chimes in, her tone bitchy. "He looked more like a creepy nerd. I think he jumped cause no one could stand him. Do you think he, like, did it for attention or something?"

"Omg, maybe." The first girl gasps. "What do you think about it, Himiko?"

Himiko has been silent for the entire conversation, chewing on the paper straw of her chocolate milk. She's  been trying her best not to seem like she wanted to strangle, stab, or gut her 'friends' for those damn comments. "Uhh, I personally feel a bit queasy. I think I'll just go to the nurse's office." She says, giving a fake apologetic smile and trudging off. The girls give her a half-assed chorus of byes.

Scowling, Himiko made her way through the empty hallway. She's boiling with rage, her mind thinking of what to do about Mineta. How she should kill him. When, where, and with what weapon. She bites her nails, glaring at the ground until she hears three voices behind the corner.

"... bring Mineta to Justice..." 

"You're right..."

"...we need to secure a route..."

She peeked behind the corner sneakily, seeing Peter, Jolyne, and Ichigo. They're planning something to stop Mineta. Himiko doesn't think they will try to kill him. It's not in Ichigo's nature. Though she did hear that the new guy was arrested for a murder attempt. Seeing her chance, she decides to sneak behind them for answers. This might be her chance to end Mineta.

Being preoccupied with her thoughts, Himiko doesn't notice the world distorting, bending and changing colour. When she looks up again, there's a giant castle instead of a school. Himiko often did think she might be insane, but not in that way. She looked at the pink sky, not normal. Then she looked back at the castle, also definitely not normal. She tries to peek behind the corner for the trio and sees them in costumes all of the sudden, again, not normal. She can still tell it's the same people she followed, mainly because Ichigo's hair stands out, but that only left her more confused. She fumbles with her phone and sees that the camera app isn't working. And when she pays attention to the group again, they're gone. Himiko really needs to work on her stalking skills.

Suddenly, she feels a large metallic hand on her shoulder. When she turns around, she sees a knight with a porcelain mask and a large shield. "Consort Himiko, you shouldn't be wandering outside the castle." The knight says, their voice distorted as if speaking through a bad microphone. Did this weird larper just call her a consort? She wanted to argue, but the knight grabs her by her wrist and takes her into the castle. Himiko really needs to work on her stealth skills as well.

The Trio sneaks into the palace through the vents again. The cramped space feels familiar and the process easier. They emerge in the unused room, preparing themselves for the fight ahead. Spiderman breathes in deeply to concentrate. "So, where do you think this treasure is?" He asks JoJo.

"Most likely in the deepest part of the palace, either in the cellar or on a higher floor." She explains, examining her weapon. "We'll need to scout the whole building, so I suggest starting at the ground floor."

"We have to search the whole castle?" Shinigami asks, irritated. "Great, it doesn't sound like we can do all that in one day. How long will this take?"

JoJo thinks about it, not being sure about it because they don't have a map. "I'd say 3-4 days. I didn't see more than four floors from the outside, so that's my best guess."

"So we have half a week." Spiderman concludes. "Let's make the best out of it, guys."

"We'll be playing it more aggressively this time." Jojo states. "No more avoiding the main hall. We'll have to clear the whole ground floor."

"Now you're speaking my language." Shinigami agrees, cracking his knuckles. "Let's bust some shadows!"

The group moves out of the unused room and into the hallway. This time, they take the other route that leads towards the main hall. On the way, they beat any shadows they come across, occasionally walking into rooms to investigate. This continues until they reach the door to the main hall. Spiderman, JoJo, and Shinigami can hear strange sounds from it. The clanking of metal and a voice that sounds rather angry. Peter puts his eye to the keyhole, attempting to see through the small gap. He manages to spot a knight who's dragging a girl with him.

"Is that.... Himiko?" He asks outloud, confused. Why and how was she here?

"Himiko? Someone you know?" Jolyne questions, to which he just nods.

"You're saying Himiko is here?" Ichigo asks, shoving Peter away lightly to view through the keyhole instead. "The hell? That is her, and she's getting dragged away!"

"Hey, don't go kicking the door down just because there's a damsel in distress!" JoJo hisses, glaring at him.

"Relax, it's just one shadow. We can take him." Shinigami responds confidently. He swings the door open and steps in. The shadow and Himiko look stunned by the sudden interruption, as well as Mineta, who turned out to also be here. Spiderman can barely see JoJo shaking her head in disappointment from the corner of his vision.

"You thieves are back again?" Mineta grolls. "What is this, the fourth day in a row?"

"The third, actually." Spiderman corrects him.

"Shut up!" The king shouts before he regains his composure. "But I do suppose third times the charm. Guards, keep these vermin busy. The girl comes with me, I'll show her that Consorts aren't allowed up and run away." He says with a smirk, letting his many guards stand in the way. The shadow dragging Himiko followed his Highness, while Himiko was surprisingly compliant, letting herself be dragged away.

Shinigami grabs his giant blade, the wrappings moving on its own to unsheathe it. He points it into the direction of the enemy. "Let's make quick work of these canheads!"

Himiko let herself be dragged away, partially because she was stunned by the situation and partially because she was being led to Mineta himself. He was wearing a crown, a mantle, and seemingly nothing but underwear under it. He was standing on the hands of a headless golden knight to finally be on eye level. Himiko wasn't sure what exactly was happening, but she was getting a chance to be with Mineta alone. She grips her concealed knife harder. Eventually, Mineta enters a lavish room with beds, mirrors, and portraits of himself. The knight pushes Himiko in and leaves the two alone.

Now is her chance to kill him. All she has to do is play innocent, bat her eyelashes, and stab him when he least expects it.

Chapter Text

Himiko's eyes were trained on Mineta's back like he was prey, and in a sense, he was. He sat down on a bed with a smirk, the golden knight standing off to the side while he eyed her up and down. It made Himiko want to gouge his eyes out, but she kept her facade up. 

"What's with the school uniform, my dear consort?" Mineta asks. "In my castle, you do not need modest clothes."

She swallowed dryly, stepping a bit closer with a sway of her hips, a knife behind her back. "Oh, no reason. I was just feeling a bit cold. How about you call off Goldie... so you could warm me up~"

With an eager grin, Mineta orders the golden knight to leave. A couple of moments after he left, Himiko goes for the kill. She attempts to ram the knife into his face, but the loud noise of the door opening makes her only graze his cheek. She is tackled to the ground by the golden knight, losing her knife in the process. Out of the corner of her eyes, she can see one thing that makes her truly believe she has lost it all. Herself. She sees Himiko Toga in revealing lingerie and the usual smile she wears for school.

For a moment, there's something else she hates more than Mineta.

The Trio runs through the halls of Mineta's palace, having just fought a squad of guards. They were somewhat exhausted and injured but pressed on anyway. They needed to find Himiko quickly, since time was running out on her safety. They check every door and scan every corridor in an attempt to find her. Ultimately, they barge into the last door and find a shocking sight. Mineta had a cut on his shocked and fearful face, blood dripping down on the bed. But what was more shocking was the sight of two Himikos, one in her uniform and the other in lacy lingerie. The first Himiko was made to kneel down by the headless golden knight as she struggled, a knife clattered uselessly on the floor out of reach. The other Himiko was tending to Mineta's wound, being closer than necessary. The sight was shocking enough to make the trio freeze in their tracks.

"You... you dirty imposter!" Mineta screeches, pointing at the Himiko who tried to end him. "Guards! GUARDS! I was almost assassinated! Guards!"

The footsteps of metal-clad armour resound throughout the building. The trio prepares themselves for another fight, putting their guard up. Himiko continues staring up at her doppelganger full of hate. No one has seen her with that kind of expression before. 

"Imposter?!" Himiko questions, trying to make sense of the situation. She's enraged that the other Himiko is apparently the real one in his eyes. "Who the hell is this?! That isn't me!"

"Tch, this is the real Himiko, one of my most beautiful consorts." Mineta says, calmer and smugger as he sees the assassin pinned down safely by the golden knight. "Isn't that right, cutiepie?"

"Yes, your majesty~" The other Himiko purrs, having a ditzy smile on her face. She's finishing up cleaning the graze on his cheek. "You are soooo smart and funny and, of course, brave hihi~"

The real Himiko feels like she wants to puke, rip her eyes out, or just forget about what she is seeing. Her eyes are twitching, and her breath comes in short, huffy pants. Her ears are ringing so loud she barely registers the guards coming in and fighting the three masked intruders. She's too focused on the sight in front of her, of herself acting like a ditzy bimbo who agrees with everything Mineta says. She hates the sight so much, but also hates that it was how she acted. She should have done something sooner. She should have gotten her revenge earlier.

She should have been there at the trial that sealed Izuku's and Ichigo's fate, even if it went against the orders of her shitty, controlling parents.

She decided to go to Shujin because she wanted to reveal Mineta's crimes. She made sure to go to every study session and act like one of the ditzy girls so she could snoop around in his house. She spent so much time and effort trying to uncover his wrongdoings. But for what? She got caught, and her life will be over. More importantly, Izuku has already jumped and is in critical condition. She wasn't fast enough, not resolute enough, and now her crush, the boy that saved her, paid the price twice. 

"Are you done wasting away in self-deprication, young lady?" A feminine voice asked in a whisper that was both stern and amused.

Himiko glanced around the room frantically but couldn't find the person who spoke. Her headache was getting worse. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" She demanded, struggling wildly under the size of the knight.

"Ahahaha! Why should I show myself when you don't do that yourself, hmm?" The voice questioned in a teasing whisper that felt like it was right next to her ear. As Himiko kept struggling, she cut herself on the top of her forehead from the knights armour, blood pooling down onto the shiny floor. "You hide behind the facade of a good girl, play the part of an innocent young maiden that couldn't hurt a fly.... We both know that's not who you really are."

Himiko's heart begins to beat rapidly, and the pool of blood under her is increasing in size. She can see her face, the wide eyes, tears, and hatred, in the reflective crimson surface. "H-how do you- Who are you?!" She asks, unable to look away from her reflection.

"I am thou, and thou art I." The voice whispers, the lips of Himiko's reflection moving in sync. The face twisted into an unsettling smile. "Let your bloodlust run rampart! If you want to break free from the shackles of expectations. If you want the blood of those who you hate. Call my name!"

Himiko's headache reaches a breaking point, and she can feel fabric on her lower face. While attempting to pull it off, she has hee eyes closed in pain like the fabric is stuck to her face. Instinctively, she knows which name to call out to. "Bloody Mary..."

"Again!" The voice gauds her enthusiastically.

"Bloody Mary!" Himiko repeats louder, blood spilling from where the mask rips off, but she doesn't care. Her eyes open to see a large black mask on her face, one that looks like it has teeth.

"One more time!" Bloody Mary orders.

"BLOOOOOOOOODY MARYYYYYY!" Himiko shouts a third time, ripping her mask off. Blood splatters onto the ground. Energy that welled up inside her gets released, knocking the golden knight away. The whole room freezes, looking at her. Himiko is on her feet, the area around her mouth bloody. She's wearing a european-styled black dress with a high collar and puffy shoulder pads. What looked like bones were stitched atop the front of the dress outlined in gold colour, starting at the neck and stopping at the waist. She also wore white elbow gloves. The dress reaches her knees, fanning out in sharp edges, white and gold highlights fading into black. An apparition in female form hovers behind her. Long messy black strands of hair that fall onto its face, which has streaks of blood coming from the eyes. It's wearing a messy white dress with blood splatters and red shoes with ribbons.

The silence in the room is loud, and everyone is on edge. Except for Himiko herself. Her shoulders shake until she finally laughs. The sound reverberated through the room, tinged with madness. She licks her lips, tastes the blood, and kicks her knife up in the air to catch it. She dashes towards Mineta's direction, fast, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

The sound of a blade cutting deep echoes throughout the room. But instead of Mineta being cut, Himiko has stabbed her Imposter in the heart. Twisting the knife deeper, she whispers in her ear. "I'll never be like you again. The only Himiko Toga in the world is me, myself, and I." 

The imposter spit out black liquid and started to fade into shadow. It clung pathetically onto Himiko until it was no more. Himiko grinned and attempted to stab Mineta next, but Jolyne grabbed her wrist. Himiko whirled around with an annoyed and intense expression. "Hey, let me go! I was just going to stab him! Isn't that why you guys came here to do, too?"

"Like hell we are!" Jolyne responds agitated, trying to twist her knife away. "If you stab him, he'll die for real!"

"No shit sherlock. That's the plan, and you're getting in the way!" Himiko replies, thrashing around.

Jolyne has had enough. She uses her persona, Stone Free, to tie Himiko's hands together with her string. Jolyne hauls the blonde girl up with the help of her persona. "Spiderman, Shinigami, clear a path! We're retreating!"

"Got it! Leave it to us!" Shinigami responds, raising his giant blade and lets it crash down with a garu. The shadows get flung back to the walls, their armour making a loud clanking sound. Spiderman shoots his webs, tangling them against each other. Mineta was about to yell for more guards, but Spiderman blasts his mouth shut with webs. "Calling for guards is silver, but silence is golden." Spiderman tells him right as the group is about to leave. He pulls his mask up, just to stick out his tongue at Mineta tauntingly, then runs off.

"You doing okay?" Aizawa asks.

Byleth looks back at him, deep circles under her eyes, and her hair is dishevelled. She straightens up, settling her pen down. "I'm alright, just worried." She replies, her voice croaky.

Aizawa hands her a cup of coffee as he speaks. "Worried about the kid, huh? Me too, Midoriya didn't deserve to end up like that." 

"I failed him as a teacher, I could have done more." Byleth admits, looking away, which is uncharacteristic for her. 

Aizawa sighs, sitting down next to her. He puts his hand on her shoulder. "You didn't fail him. No fights happened in your classes. You didn't let Mineta near him often. The bullying mostly happened off school grounds."

Byleth processes these words, looking down on her coffee. "So you think Mineta is behind this, Aizawa?" She asks in a low tone.

"For now, that's my best guess. It's possible that Midoriya was being bullied outside of school by someone we don't even know." He replies, thoughtful. "But if it is Mineta, then we'll settle it like adults. Gather evidence and then try him in court."

"... thank you." Byleth says, looking up at him

"You don't need to thank me. I didn't do anything." Aizawa lied as he looked away.

Himiko was tied up in spiderwebs, hanging a couple of meters above ground. It would be kind of fun if she wasn't being interrogated by the three people she stalked. Mostly, she was confused and angry as to why they stopped her.

The three exchanged unsure glances until Jolyne spoke up. "Himiko, was it? You do realise you were about to kill Mineta, right?"

Himiko scowls at the condescending tone again. It occurs to her that if they have a holier-than-thou attitude, then they didn't come here to kill him. Whatever 'here' even means. "Yeah, I did. And you guys didn't?"

Ichigo responds indignantly. "Of course not, we don't kill! We were here to for the change of hea- oof!" Jolyne elbowed him harshly in the ribs.

Although, it was too late. Himiko heard the words, which made her even more confused. "Change of heart? You guys were gonna what? Talk to him, offer kindness and forgiveness to convince him that he's been a bad, *bad* boy? You can't be serious!"

"That's not exactly what a change of heart is." Peter mumbles. The three of them exchange glances again, turn away from her, and whisper about something that she can't hear. After a couple of minutes of a heated discussion, they break apart. Jolyne with a sigh, and the two guys with subtle triumphant smirks.

"Fine, we'll tell you what's going on. But in return, you'll have to tell us how you ended up here." She demands, giving her a stern look.

Himiko sighs, not having much choice. "It's not much of a long story. I overheard you guys talking about bringing Mineta to justice, so I followed you. After that, I zoned out, saw a castle, and got dragged inside by a knight. You guys saw the rest." She tells them.

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with what she said." Peter acknowledges.

"She's probably telling the truth on that part." Ichigo agrees.

Jolyne grumbles but doesn't argue. "Fine, that checks out. We'll tell you about-"

"Is the explanation going to be long?" Himiko interrupts, gesturing with her head. "'Cause this is kinda uncomfortable after a while."

Peter scratches the back of his neck. "So, do we just let her go?"

"You can't be serious." Jolyne replies, clearly not trusting Himiko. "She has a knife on her!"

"Then let's just confiscate her knife." Ichigo chimes in. "We can discuss it in a public space, so she doesn't do anything rash, too."

Jolyne takes a deep breath and confiscates the knife. The group unties Himiko from the webbing. "Don't think I'll forget about how you tried to kill somebody."

Himiko, being free from the restraints, stretches a bit. "Yeah, I'm sure you won't." She responds before breaking out into a wide grin. "I'll never forget it. The thrill, the adrenaline, the expression on my fake's face when I stabbed her! Pure bliss, I tell ya."

A collective shiver runs down the others back, and they exchange unsure glances. "We meant how you tried to kill Mineta, not the cognition." Jolyne replies.

"Oh, that." She says, less enthusiastically. Her face darkens, frustrated tears attempting to escape. "I was going to make him pay for making Izuku jump. Izuku is in critical condition all because of him. That bastard deserves it! Izuku... he might never wake up because of Mineta." Himiko takes a deep breath, wiping away the tears. "What other choice did I have? I couldn't just let him get away with everything. I couldn't just... turn my back on Izuku's pain like everyone else at school."

The other three look down melancholically, absorbing the information. Ichigo particularly can sympathise, having wanted to beat up Mineta himself moments ago.
"I get how you feel, Himiko. I get it." He says, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But we can't resort to murder, especially not for Izuku. I doubt he'd want anyone dead because of him."

Himiko's breath hitches, her tears flowing even more freely. She grabs his wrist but doesn't pull him away just yet. "But... but what else am I supposed to do?" She asks quietly, sounding utterly lost.

"Don't worry." Ichigo responds, smiling bravely for just a moment. "We found a better way to deal with Mineta."

It was a pretty productive day at café Leblanc. Aunt May was working hard, serving her customers. The day was coming to an end, and the evening was almost there, but Peter wasn't home yet. Just like he wasn't home at the expected times throughout this week. She was starting to worry about him and the friends he's supposedly hanging out with.

Although it did make it easier to get food home to her. Aunt May felt guilty for making Peter sleep in the attic and keeping her a secret from him, but she needed permission from her first. It was her duty to make that child feel safe after all.

"Woah, I didn't understand like half of what you said, but basically, we entered a separate dimension where we have powers, and can make Mineta confess to his crimes by ripping out his heart?" Himiko asks with a smirk poking the top of her drink with her straw.

"By stealing his metaphysical heart." Jolyne corrects, glaring slightly across the table at her.

"Okay, okay, stealing the heart or the treasure. Whatever." Himiko replies, chugging on her drink. "But it's probably going to be protected by the big boss himself, so there's still going to be some intense action, right?"

"It's not out of the question that we would have to fight." She admits. "But you can't kill Mineta in the metaverse. That would cause the real Mineta to become braindead, basically killing him in the real world, too."

"Besides, stealing his heart will solve all the issues anyway." Peter chimes in. "He'd confess, never hurt anyone again, and we won't have to resort to murder."

"So what you're saying is..." Himiko starts. "That you have a method that is unsolvable to the police, is pretty convenient, and is a way for me to take revenge without burdening Izuku even more? Count me in!"

"Whoa, hey. Who said we want you to join?" Jolyne asks quickly.

"We should let her join." Ichigo says simply." It doesn't hurt to have extra people on the team, and besides... she already knows how to enter the metaverse anyway. If we don't take her as our teammate, she'll probably go in alone and hurt herself or Mineta."

"I agree with Ichigo." Peter tells them. "It just makes the most sense to have her on our team. Also, I just don't think it's right to ostracise her because of one mistake."

"Peter, she tried to kill someone." Jolyne growls quietly since they're in a public place.

"I know, I know that." He replies, gripping his drink more firmly. "But this is the same day that someone close to her almost died. I know that feeling. Your body is on autopilot, you're not thinking straight, and then you lash out at a target you deem guilty without thinking of the consequences. But she has power now, and more experience, as well as us, who can keep her on the right path. I say we should help her, not push her away by making her seem to be pure evil."

Jolyne looks away, thinking. Ichigo mumbles something about a corny speech, and Himiko seems immensely grateful. "Alright, I get your point." Jolyne relents with a sigh. "And I didn't say she was pure evil, I was just being cautious. Especially with the comments she was making."

"Oh, you mean like when I said the heart-ripping thing or how I described my feelings when I stabbed my fake or-" Himiko asks before getting interrupted by Ichigo, who's shaking his head. "All of them. I'm pretty sure she meant all of the above."

"Aww, I guess she'll just have to get used to it. Maybe I'll tone it down a little bit when I'm feeling like it." She giggles, chewing on her straw. "I'll keep my bloodlust on the shadows, I promise."

"You better." Jolyne grumbles. "Man, it's getting late. Exploring Palaces takes so much time."

"It didn't feel that long to me." Peter mumbles under his breath, thinking of possibilities. "Does the time flow differently? Or does the travel between the physical and metaphysical use up time?"

"Wow, he's going full nerd mode." Himiko snorts. "Earth to Peter, you're talking out loud."

"Uh, whoops. Anyway, since it's so late, I think it's time to end this meeting." Peter says with a cough. "Aunt May is probably waiting for me already." 

"Oh, wait, wait. I have a great idea!" Himiko almost shouts. "We should make a group chat so we can keep in contact."

"Good idea." Jolyne agrees. "First time I heard you make sense."

Peter creates a group chat, inviting everyone in. They exchange phone numbers as they get ready to leave. "So what should we call the group?" He asks. "Call it Phantom Thieves or just PT for short." Jolyne replies simply. Everyone agrees and heads out.

Outside Peter gets stopped by Himiko. "Hey, leader. I gotta show you something or rather someone." She says, not waiting for an answer. "Cmon, it's on the way here!"

"Hey, wait a second." Peter protests, but lets himself get dragged along. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see, you'll see. It's important for Phantom Thief business, though." She promises with a sly smile.

Peter stops protesting, intrigued by what she meant. If it can help them then it's worth checking out. Not much time passes until they stand before a dark green shop, decorated with doodles of firearms and grenades. Himiko drags him inside, where a man in a mask seems to be cleaning a mechanical yellow duck toy. It was a superhero mask, reminding him of his own mask in the metaverse, only his was grey and black. The man turns to them and speaks. "Hey, the shop is closed, the shop's open." 

Peter is confused as to whether the shop is open or not, and why the masked guy is speaking like that, but Himiko speaks up first. "Hey there, Twice. How's it going?"

"Himiko, it's going great." The man, Twice, responds with a thumbs up. "It's going horribly. Anyway, who's that guy with you?"

"Oh, he's just a friend and a potential customer." She replies, pushing Peter closer. "Peter, this is Twice. He sells toy weapons and talks funny. Just focus on the positive thing he says and you'll understand him just fine."

Peter, still unsure, nods. "My name is Peter Parker, mister Twice. So, you sell toy weapons?"

"Oh, man! Calling me mister. You're a real respectful kid, I love it, I hate it." Twice answers, snapping his fingers. "Yeah, I sell toy guns. I mean adult toy guns, you know, models. They look realistic, but they don't fire bullets."

"Twice has a real talent for building them. They look so real." Himiko sings songs. "Sometimes I pull the trigger and expect things to go splat, but nothing happens."

"I did not need that description." Peter states, looking away. He sees the price being around 50-70 dollars each. That's going to cost a lot for a group of teenagers. "Looks like I'll need to get a part-time job. By the way, Himiko, how exactly will these help us?"

"Well, I didn't understand Jolyne's explanation exactly, but she said something about how cognition shapes what's real in the metaverse." She begins, whispering so Twice wouldn't hear. "Figured maybe these fake guns will actually make the shadows go splat."

"Hmm, I see." He replies thoughtfully. "So was the knife you had in the metaverse also a fake?"

"Ahaha. Nope, that one was real~" She tells him. "It's one of my... personal collection."

"You have a collection of... knives?" Peter questions. "You mean like daggers?"

"Sure, sure. They look so cool and sharp." Himiko gushes. "Though I haven't gotten the chance to use them until the Metaverse."

"Well... I'm glad you haven't used them in real life at least." He sighs. "I'll keep this shop in mind, but right now I'm broke."

"Haha, that's a shame. Well, we'll see you later, Twice." Himiko waves him goodbye as she opens the door.

"Got it, kids." He replies with a thumbs-up. "Hope you have a safe trip home, hope you get mugged."

Peter steps outside, thinking about a lot of things. Everything that happened today, Himiko's Persona awakening, Mineta's threat about expulsion, the distortion Igor is talking about, and how everything is connected to him. Why did he gain the power of a Persona that day? Why are others gaining it as well? 

"Hey, Peter, before you go." Himiko starts, shaking Peter from his thoughts. On her face was a smile that curled upwards, eyes shining like stars. "Thank you for standing up for me and letting me join your group. It means a lot to me since I never thought people would accept this part of me. Thank you."

Peter was speechless for a moment, never having heard such sincere thanks before. He shakes himself from the stupor, managing a smile himself. "It's no problem. I'm glad to have you on our team, Himiko."