Fandom Persona 5: The Meta War CLOSED

[That Weird girl]

"Tragedy!" Morgana shouted in the vents as he watched the battle unfold and decided to make his entrance known to Rex and Suzuki as the Bakeneko knew they could not lose now. Morgana blew a hold out of the vent and dropped down onto the floor and held the three will seeds in his little hands hoping it would work on Metatron as he did not think he and Masami could take on Rex and him even with the others. But Morgana smirked at Rex, "Sorry but you're too Late."

Morgana faced Metatron and sent a heavy wind attack at him which would tear through his armor to hurt him like a cold wind. But Morgana wasn't trying to kill him but make the treasure easier to get for Masami or whoever else would help them out. He was figuring out a way to get that mask off Suzuki somehow, he could pull it off maybe? But first they were going to have to defeat Metatron which was going to be a piece of cake now.

The little creature lunged for Suzuki in a last ditch effort to hopefully grab onto her face and tug on the mask. He grabbed onto Metatron and attempted to reach Suzuki. If this did fail then it would give Masami a chance to recover or strike Metatron. He knew that Suzuki would not like a small cat like him in her face but Morgana forgot about Rex since he thought the Frella would handle him....

Luckily for the second team Ann, Baron, Shiro, and Isao were coming into the palace to help steal the treasure. Ann bursted in the lab to provide support and used Media on Masami and Imato to hopefully heal them. Carmen raised the defense of the thieves and Jiro and Mina. "Think you guys can steal the fun?" She joked.

The girl thought about Roadkill and how they would probably see each other again and what he said. That made her a little happy but also sad that she would have to fight him.


Nellancholy Maeve Valor accursedjobber Anthem TreasureSniper

 

[Nellancholy]

"THIS...IS THE PRICE OF TREASON." Rex's shocking attack on the intruders themselves caused Beowulf to stagger, giving Metatron the opening he needed to plunge his spear into Beowulf.

Gathering his strength, Metatron charged up a massive blast of light, sending Beowulf flying back. In this space, Beowulf's strength was Jiro's...but so was his pain.

"Jiro!" Mina could barely react before she was struck by lightning as well. It seemed they might lose what little advantage they had...but Loki was at least able to even the odds with his explosive attack, seemingly taking Rex out.

"EXPENDABLE. BUT YOUR FUTILE ASSAULT STILL HAS NO MEANS OF harming my divine form..." Metatron's voice fluctuated for a moment as even more backup arrived, almost as if it was a machine running low on power. When Morgana blasted him, the plates and joints of Metatron's armor seemed to float a short distance off Suzuki as if repelled by magnetic force, exposing her devious face once more. But her expression was no longer as calm as it was before.

"You...what HAVE YOU DONE?!" Her voice shifted back to Metatron's robotic tone as she flailed desperately at the newcomers, the metal plates crackling with blue lightning and bashing Morgana away.

Despite their remaining strength, the connection was almost severed.

It would take just one more good blow to break the bond between the Matriarch and Metatron...

Maeve Valor

 

[Maeve Valor]

Masami twitched as the electricity surged overcoming her into paralysis momentarily until Rex followed up with a quick slash with precision diagonally in front of her before moving onto his next target. Masami stabbed her blade in the ground to prevent herself from getting down on her knees as her abdomen began to bleed through her fabric. From the corner of her her she saw Loki assist Tragedy by holding him up so she fully looked over just in time to see him valiantly cast one more attack before completely collapsing to unconsciousness.

"Tragedy!" She heard her voice echoed by a familiar voice which was soon after to be revealed as Morgana. She had never been more relieved to see him as he began taunting gearing up for being on the offense, Masami took this opportunity to run to her fallen ally. Thankfully, from all the training they had done over the passed few days with Baron, she was able to unlock a new ability that helped in such an occasion. She knelt down beside him and placed a hand over him uttering the word, "Recarm." As her hand glowed as green as her hair she knew that it wouldn't heal him very much but it would stabilize him enough to get him back on his feet. Not wasting any time she threw his arm over her shoulder to help him up. Suddenly more help showed up in the form of Ann, Isao, Shiro, and Baron.

When Ann healed healed some of her and Tragedy's health with a quip at them it reminded her of the back and forth banter her and Tragedy had earlier so she responded with, "I believe Tragedy here has had a little too much fun."

Masami's attention was then drawn to Metatron hearing their wavering voice seeing that their defense seemed to be rapidly decreasing from all the damage that has been done. Masami called to her persona, "Scheherazade, go all out." She nodded and charged in with a shrill cackle all while winding up for an uppercut with her huge claymore. Upon contact she knocked them upward and then followed up by making her sword disperse into blood red daggers made of cursed energy motioning each of them one after the other in a barrage to keep them airborn for if anyone else wanted to join into the all-out attack.

 

[accursedjobber]

Aw man cults are always a mess, that means that they'll do like cult things like sacrifices or attempting to summon otherworldly creatures, Indoctrination and all that jazz from what he remembers from the safety videos not to mention the vulnerability of the targets, one more point towards the present theory about metaverse selection favoring the delusional apart from himself of course. Enough to think about for later as Isao joins the merging of the two teams finally escaping the embrace, one crazed runner short importunely. but by the looks of things, they were just in time as another holy figure was present.

"What does that mean? Why does everybody speak in riddles?" Isao was fortune to not be mentally exhausted in contrast to the beating they received not braining it out of him though this didn't match his currently expressed confusion along with concern in misunderstanding Masami's words as Tragedy certainly didn't look like he was presently having fun from Isao's best guesses.

Following along with Masami's attack to ensure overkill instead of underkill Isao with a snap of his fingers with the count's hand copied the motion as the signal to join in the offence. Ice sculptures of outstretched hands appeared frozen in an incomplete grasp at nothing around Isao's persona reaching and gliding towards the target joining the attack even as Isao felt the drawbacks of using the peak of his abilities 'bufula' sending it forth to attempt to help in the attack on the Matriarch hoping to end this fast.

 

[TreasureSniper]

Despite all that was happening, Rex was pretty confident that he could win this fight. However, that confidence quickly shriveled upon seeing the arrival of the reinforcements. The collective strength of the Phantom thieves and traitors of the cult would likely be more than enough to overpower him, not to mention Baron, a metaverse user that greatly surpassed him in power and and experience. Nonetheless, Rex was ready to fight tooth and nail for the Matriach, as per the duties in his contract.

However he was swifly knocked back by Imato's nuclear assault, sending him flying backwards, violently sliding across the floor. The damage he suffered was significant enough to strip off the gold plating on his armor, revealing the metalic finish underneath. "That actually hurt!" He shouted back, angered by this development, charging up his blade, he was about to unleash a powerful move known as the lightning gun. But just before he could fire a shot, his coms had come alive, communicating something vital to him. Rex turned his blade towards one of the walls and fired, blowing a massive hole through several rooms, providing a clear way out. "Apologies, Matriach. Your contract is no longer deemed profitable and has been terminated." Using midas to create a path of gold, Rex would disappear in a flash of lightning.

Baron on the other hand was deeply impressed by the efforts of the team. Seeing them wear down the Matriach like that without his help was no small feat. "So much for the Great Matriach Suzuki. All of this could have been avoided had you simply heed my warnings. In the end, you're not even the villain of this story. Heh, you are not anything!" Baron mocked the ruler, giving her a hearthy laugh. "I trust that you guys can wrap this up without further assistance?" Baron turned around and faced the exit, preparing to leave the area. "...We will be in touch..." The moment the thieves took their eyes away from Baron, he'd disappear without so much as a sound.

 

[Nellancholy]

"NO...impossible! THIS IS NOT THE END!" Scheherazade and the Count's attacks lashed out like keen blades, each strike severing one of the threads of electricity connecting the Matriarch to the parts of Metatron. "Traitors...AND HEATHENS CANNOT GO UNPUNISHED. DIVINE LAW must come upon this world..." The lightning that Metatron encased swelled for a moment...and then fizzled out, as easily as turning the switch off on a running machine. The immaculate woman fell over to the ground, her body charred and beaten. The plates of armor that once formed a fearsome angel fell soon after, clanging on the floor one by one.

"Ergh...well, that's it I guess." Mina and Jiro relaxed, as if they had been holding in one single breath since the beginning of the battle. "Can't stay here any longer...so I guess we'll see you guys on the other side..."

"...sorry, guys." Still not quite able to look at the Thieves straight on, Jiro bowed low to them instead. And in the next moment, the red lights on the goggles they wore turned off and they dematerialized, returning to the physical world.

With the connection between them and each one of their human "partners" erased with the severing of the Matriarch's power, the tulpas found no reason to stay either. One by one, every single tulpa roaming the base or sleeping in a pod stirred awake, truly conscious for the first time in their brief existences. Were they merely Shadows? Or something more that the Matriarch had collected into tools to serve her plans?

Either way...they were free now. All kinds of beast and humanoid shattered the pods, spilling red effluence onto the floor and letting out triumphant cries and bellows. For the moment, none of them were hostile, nor did they feel any real regard towards their saviors...

Even so, Beowulf turned back to the Thieves. "Jolly good show from you lads back there, eh? Must say I wasn't terribly impressed with that Jiro bloke. Rather craven little fellow, but perhaps this'll be a lesson to him. Well then, cheerio!" With a mighty leap, Beowulf and Hecate left through of the hole created by the detonation of Arahabaki's bomb, the other tulpas swarming out after them to parts unknown.

And finally...the mask of Metatron fell on the floor before the Thieves, waiting for someone to claim it. Despite all the angel's sound and fury, the mask lay perfectly inert, merely able to pulse with traces of its former power.

"No...don't you DARE lay your hands on it!" The Matriarch growled, crawling desperately towards it. "That was MY gift! I deserved to possess it! Please...don't take it! I'm nothing without it!" Her anger turned to pleading, as the weight of her newfound powerlessness bore down on her.

 

[Anthem]

Despite still being decently injured and a strenuous battle just being won, Imato could only think of what hell the next palace could bring. But for now as his breathing slowly returned to a normal tempo, Imato would trudge his way towards the mask of Metatron in order to prevent the Matriarch from evening holding the mask again. "Just shut the hell up already, if you need a damned mask to be worth something then maybe it's better off if you just give up." He would say to the Matriarch in a stern voice before bending over with a strained groan and picking up the mask.

"I'll give you the mask once were on our way out of here, Mona." Imato would say to Morgana, knowing how much the bakeneko liked treasures and that he could probably find a way to make a proper profit off of it if possible. Turning back to the defeated Matriarch, he wouldn't bother speaking any other words since they wouldn't go through to the Matriarch most likely. So he would return to standing beside his allies, clutching the mask tightly in his hand to ensure that it wasn't going anywhere.

After retrieving the treasure, Imato stood in wait to see if anyone else wanted to say anything to their fallen opponent before leaving the palace with the mask and whatever other goods either team may have stumbled upon. Either way, the teen was rather relieved to get to leave from the hellhole this palace turned out to be upon the assault.

 

[That Weird girl]

"I'll give you the mask once were on our way out of here, Mona."

Morgana was excited to hear that and purred. This meant that they all could have a good dinner after this with a lot of sushi! There was this one restaurant that was 5 star that served really good food and dessert and the Bakeneko was already dreaming of the food and how great it would taste. He didn't really have anything to say to Suzuki except to never underestimate a Bakeneko since it could be costly for you and plus the Phantom thieves are awesome.

"You need to promise to change," Morgana said to Suzuki, "tell the whole world of your manipulation and disband your cult..." Morgana hoped non of his teammates would kill her because then she would never be able to admit what she did was wrong. He walked away from her and transformed into a bus and honked for everyone to get on so they could escape the palace in one piece.

Ann glared at Suzuki but got in the Morgana bus so they could have another day to live and come clean. Like Kajiki did Ann knew that Suzuki would turn herself in to the police and that the thieves would be investigated more by that police lady and they would get more publicity for taking down a cult leader. Ann could only imagine the future of the Meta Merc phantom thieve conflict. It wasn't going to be good...

 

[Anthem]

Imato would glare at the Matriarch once more through his mask, shaking his head once again. "Well, since there is nothing else to be said... Let's get the hell out of here." He would declare to the thieves, seeing the walls starting to crumble more and more as cracks grew longer along the walls. The teen would enter the bakeneko bus, sitting down and leaning forward a bit to rest. As he entered the bus though, the sound of the crumbling palace would become much louder as their time to escape started to lessen more and more.

Not wanting to waste anymore time as the palace was crumbling away more and more, Imato pulled off his mask to summon Loki once more. Loki would gather the remaining thieves, grabbing them two at a time and bringing them to the Morgana bus before disappearing once again. "There, now get us out of here Morgana... Or no sushi before you." Imato would say with a smirk behind his mask before sitting back in the seat, relaxing finally. Though he wondered how things would continue from here, what challenges would lie ahead of the thieves and how they would fair against them. But for some reason he had a good feeling everything will turn all right in the end.

 

[Nellancholy]

"I...no! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" The lab, a creation of swindled wealth as much as the creation of the immense power of the Metaverse, crumbled almost entirely, falling into the ruins below. What appeared to be Matriarch Suzuki's last words were as fitting as they could be, as rock and metal fell in on itself with the weight of her hubris and greed. The voice of the Matriarch was silenced for good, amidst what was soon to be a heap of rubble that once fueled the Order of Metatron.

With the strain of a ferocious battle upon her, even Shiro's valor was spent. As much as she would never get used to being...inside that thing, she fell into its seats nonetheless. The day was won, and Shiro hoped against hope that it would be the last. How much more of her life would she spend struggling like this? On one front against the troubles of the world...and on another, mortal combat against such hideous beasts, all originated from the hearts and minds of man. That was the thing, wasn't it? It all came back to "humanity"...an obstacle with no clear solution, at least none that she could have thought of in her young life.

"...You did well today." She looked first at Masami. "I mean to say...all of you. It would be disappointing if any of us could not leave intact."

And quite sadly, Shiro knew that evil was far from gone from the Metaverse. Had Haze survived thanks to Baron's intervention? Would Roadkill and his vanity continue to plague them? And after that...the Allfather behind it all...

 

[Maeve Valor]

After Loki had escorted her into the Morgana bus, she looked out the back window and watched as the palace crumbled behind them now knowing what it would be like if the world literally was coming to an end. Such a scene was terrifying, but Shiro and Ann seemed to be at ease so it helped Masami to do so as well. After the initial shock, she was left with thoughts of the Matriarch and how it all started because she wanted to help people. Would she too fall into the same trap by wanting to change the world and then ultimately fall into temptation by taking advantage of the power they had been given? It was then that Shiro looked to Masami complimenting the work that was done on this day and made a small smile back. After hearing Shiro's encouraging words, though short spoken, she knew she wouldn't ever end up like Suzuki. Because with a group like this, she trusted in the fact that they will be able to keep her on the right path should she ever stray from it. For the time being, she was reveling in the victory that they all shared.

"Don't forget yourself too. I bet you gave them a taste of hell back there too," she said to Shiro with a grin occasionally needing to stop mid sentence as the Morgana bus violently rocked side to side during the escape.

 

[That Weird girl]

Monday October 7th

"Welcome to Channel 11 news," Izumi Fukunaga greeted the audience watching the news. The woman was a little frazzled at what she read from the teleprompter, "Breaking news...the creator of the Metatron had turned herself in to the police last night claiming that she now regrets everything and promises to disband Metatron." Sae Niijima sipped her cup of coffee while watching the news and heaved a sigh of frustration. She looked at the calling card that was addressed to Suzuki but still did not understand.

"Doesn't make any sense..." Sae muttered to herself, "how can you change someone's heart?" The woman kind of admired the phantom thieves for covering their tracks from a trained detective like herself. She didn't have a clue about where to look next and felt that maybe she had to wait until their next target. The phantom thieves hashtag was trending on social media. Sae left some yen on the counter and walked out of the cafe.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mishima was quite proud of his new website. Unfortunately the male stayed up all night working tirelessly on the Phan site that he had trouble concentrating in Ms. Chuno's class. He had his head down on his desk snoring which made some girls giggle at him. The truth was that Mishima felt like the Phantom thieves were so inspiring and he used this to stand up to Kamoshida as best as he could but the man was still scary.

One thing was that a new girl called Masami joined the volleyball team and the pervert had his eyes on her now. He hoped that she would be safe even though he never spoke to her. "Mishima?" Ms. Chuno placed her hands on her hip looking at the boy causing him to wake up and turn red.

"Wonder what he did last night," Morgana said to Ann as he sat on her desk, thanks to Sougo cats were allowed in the school and Morgana was apparently the support animal. Ann shrugged and looked at her phone scrolling through twitter seeing posts about the Phantom thieves and smirked showing Morgana the feed. The Bakeneko grinned seeing that people were beginning to believe, "Lets keep them believing," he said to her, "after school lets sell that mask and get a good dinner...I am expecting sushi!"

Ann chuckled and nodded, "Calm down Morgana...first we gotta make sure the others can go. You wanna help me convince Shiro?" Ann had doubts that Shiro would want to dine in a fancy place with rich people. "I think Masami should do that..;Shiro is more likely to listen to her than me."

 

[Nellancholy]

"While the Order of Metatron has ceased operations effective immediately and its 'Matriarch' is in custody, more questions than answers remain. Known accomplice Dr. Hiroshi Kudo remains at large. Furthermore, the divestment of the Order's assets has hit a snag as financial records point to significant expenditure towards experimental medical and electronic equipment that seems to have vanished without a trace."

The gang stood huddled around an electronics storefront in Nihonbashi as they watched the news, having relocated there after clearing out of Ginza. Wouldn't do to be stinking up the place in a posh region like that for much longer. The ten or so girls milled around, the younger members distracted by the next snack or wallet to try and lift.

"Not to mention the many lay members of the Order who are left destitute or close to it due to surrendering their assets and net worth to the Order." A row of pixelated faces appeared inset on the screen. If Shiro squinted she could almost tell which of them were Jiro and Mina. "On that topic, we turn to our guest and cult deprogramming researcher, Professor Stephen Matsuda..."

"That was some crazy shit, huh Banchou?" Amane, one of the members of the gang who went to Ginza on the scouting mission mimed a spit. "Pteh! Last couple of weeks more and more pissheads were wearing those medallions. Fuck, even Yui took one-"

"Mane!" Yui, one of the shorter girls, punched Amane in the arm before turning to Shiro. "B-banchou-sama, I was never going to join them, I just thought the guy giving them out looked kinda pitiful-"

"Calm down." Shiro glanced over to Yui, raising her hand slightly in a gesture of reassurance. "You lot know well enough that if they took any of you, I'd have been there even faster. And besides...it's over now." Of course, it would be far too difficult to actually explain how much of a role she actually played in ending that little affair. With that said...Shiro swept her gaze around, tallying up her subordinates. "Pray tell, where is Koyuki-dono?"

"Koyuki-chan?" Yui's eyes widened. "I-I haven't seen her at all today..."

"Yeah." Amane scoffed. "She's been disappearing almost as often as you have lately, 'banchou'. Not much of an army with our leaders MIA half the time, are we?"

Shiro slowly clenched one of her hands, then opened it again. "Rest assured that all we do is in all your interests, Amane."

She'd been away for a while. The fact that Koyuki wasn't around stewarding the rest of the gang was frankly, news to her.

Taking a few steps towards a bench and falling onto it, she was briefly distracted by the phone of the boy sitting next to her. He was browsing...some kind of Metaverse-themed website? Damn it, if she never saw those bands of black and red again it'd be too soon. Wait...the logo on it...it wasn't unlike the one one of her teammates drew. Which meant that was...a Phantom Thieves-themed website. But how would they know how it looked...?

Shaking her head, Shiro pulled out her own phone, firing off a text to Koyuki first.

"Koyuki-dono, where have you been? I expect you to regroup with us by 11 PM tonight."

Her trusted lieutenant, disappearing on her like that? Was something worse to come...?

 

[Anthem]

"Imato, if you're going out make sure not to get caught since I don't want your mother or I getting a call since you're not going to school today. Alright?" Imato's father would ask him if he remembered the terms of their deal and he did, since his grades were in a good position he was allowed to have a rest day every now and then as long as he doesn't get caught up in trouble. As his father left the house to go to work for the day, Imato would remain in the house for a short period of time before changing into some casual clothing and leaving as well.

The teen had his usual mask in the small bag he left the house with, but didn't bother putting on the accessory since he didn't think that he would interact with any of the other thieves at the time. He would just stroll down the road, not really having any plans for the day other than taking a load off and meeting up with the others later for a celebratory feast at some sort of restaurant that Morgana had chosen specifically. While he did like the idea of having a celebration, he was unsure if it was wise since they were a group of teens with a random cat that would be eating at this rather high-quality establishment. But for now he kept those thoughts tucked away since there was most likely a plan to avoid suspicion of them rising, at least he hoped there was.

Having finally arrived in the commercial district to perhaps get some shopping done, Imato would start looking around at the stores not really paying attention to where he was going. Though as if luck had decided to screw him over, he ran right into a pedestrian who was annoyed rather quick that some 'punk' shoved them. Like clockwork they would start yelling out, acting like they were attacked to see if anyone oblivious enough to believe it would help them. With an annoyed groan, Imato would actually shove the pedestrian out of the way and started to run to avoid getting caught up in any major conflict. As he ran past store after store to get away, the teen would just push more people out of the way until he was far enough away from the initial incident. "Shouldn't have taken a break day..." Imato would mumble, out of breath.

 

[accursedjobber]

Jab to the body, Left hook, right hook then elbow. The punching bag once again didn't move an inch even from Isao's repeated attempts, making noise in the training area of the flat, though the only apparent side effects were Isao's losing battle against it as he backed away while wrapping his hands with a cold soaked towel as he finished the third set. Despite the success of the thieves' victory and the public knowledge as it once again blared on the Idle tv illuminating the room in its sickly color, Isao was undergoing a crisis of sorts as he came to a realization

'I'm deadweight'.

Overreliance on the Barons and his own persona's help was evident along with being carsick in the Bakeneko mobile, he was powerless to stop the mercs attacks, too unskilled to counter and too weak to make a knockout. To call it a victory was being generous considering it was simply over exhaustion that gave them edge, even if his persona grows in power, he needed to train his body and mind rather than rely on the spells of his persona. Helplessness was an unknown feeling that Isao intended to never feel again as he went back to going through drills. The door opening mid set to his father's entry and questioning look. "So, what's up?"

"I want to punchout bigfoot"

"Sweet just don't get caught, lotta paperwork"

Isao's dad returning to their room and as always collapsed in bed as usual. The word's exchanged invigorating Isao even more deciding to take time to train, refusing to stop out of boredom or insecurity he spent the days waiting for a update (that would of course be of great importance) attempting to get stronger becoming a new source of obsession.

 

[TreasureSniper]

//// Sougo's Room
For now, everything was going according to plan. With the thieve's recent success, a power vacuum should form within the cult's previous position, allowing other parties to take their place. There were bigger threats on the horizon just lying in wait, but even Sougo thought that it was appropriate to let the tricksters celebrate their recent victory. They've played their part well, and therefore deserve the spoils they have fought so hard for. The young man stood in his dimly-lit room as he reviewed the stats of each and every member of the phantom along with their persona on a large monitor. They were different from the Metamercs, having the ability to raise their threat level over a significantly shorter span of time.

Slumping back in his chair, Sougo made a few calculations based on his earlier findings regarding metaverse users. Theoretically, given enough time, their strength would eventually surpass his, at least in his current state. Though this matter shouldn't be a problem as long as their objectives aligned with each other. The last thing he wanted to was cut their journey of growth and development short. They weren't bad people and seemed genuine in their intentions to root out the evil in society. That said, if push comes to shove, Sougo would do whatever it takes to move forward his own agenda, whatever that may be.

Looking at his watch, it was almost time for his weekly fortune-telling session. Turning off his computer, Sougo would quickly descend the stairs of the Jazz club and into the streets. From there he would take the train to the red-light district in Shinjuku. There, the fortune teller was waiting for him, sitting comfortably under a prop-up tent that Sougo had so kindly donated to her. In return, she would offer him her services at discount. And today's fortune...was the same as well...the reverse tower, signifying a looming disaster. He didn't usually believe in fortunes but so far this lady has managed to hit the mark at every turn. However, it seems like no matter what he did, an unavoidable disaster awaits him. Sougo sighed and simply looked up at the sky. Guess he would have to prepare for such a day regardless. Who knows? Maybe things will go his way this time?

//// Shujin Academy

A few days have passed, since Sougo's return to school. There were a lot of questions about where he had been, though he insist that he was just feeling under the weather and managed to produce medical certificates to back it up. With the news of the recent success of the phantom thieves, circulating around school, there were bound to be rumors about who they were and where they came from. However, since there have only been two confirmed cases, there weren't any theories that were exceptionally close to the truth.

During his absence, there has also been an increase in rumors about Kamoshida's abuse, but once again, none of them has led to anything substantial. However, there was a silver lining to all this, as his abuse has recently been reported on this website made by one of the juniors. It seemed like at least one person has been inspired to help the thieves in their own special way. This was good, and would likely be an important tool in future operations.

Towards the end of the day, he would send the Phantom thieves a message through the special watches he had given them under the guise of Baron. His message read as follows "My fellow tricksters, the time to discuss my "payment" draws near. Meet me at the Metaverse Leblanc after you've finished school." Once again, Baron demonstrates that he has a good estimation of where and who everyone is in his vague message. He didn't really mind if some of them were unable to attend the meeting. As long as there were two of them, they should be able to relay the information he had to the other members.

//// Metaverse Stronghold

​

Within the castle of the MetaMercs, a symbolic funeral was being held by the members of the mercs for their "fallen" brethren. Ten members of the Metamerc stood on each side over what looked to be a sarcophagus covered with the insignia that resembled a dogu statue. There were many whispers who and what was to blame for the comrade's sudden departure, some blaming it on the inexperienced leadership of Rex, while others thought that it was good for them to finally rid themselves of the weakest member of the group.

Two humanoid birds would descend onto the scene, immediately prompting the silence of all parties. Once again they open their mouths, allowing a voice to speak through them. "My dear MetaMercs, although Haze may not be the strongest merc, he was one of us and should be respected as such." The voice paused for a moment, giving a few seconds of silence as respect. "Fate, often calls to us when we least expect it. Despite being called on such notice, Haze was ready to die for what he believed in, could I say the same for all of you?" The voiced boomed throughout the room seemingly displeased by everyone's attitude. "Make no mistake, the Advent of Judgement draws near. I only ask that all of you prepare yourselves, lest you want to be found wanting..." The voice sighed before delivering one last "These..."Phantom Thieves" are proving to be much more troublesome than we initially thought... keep an eye on them...and do not engage them in hostilities unless absolutely necessary. They may yet prove to be usedful..." and with that, the two birds flew off, leaving behind a crowd of metamercs with mixed feelings on the matter.

 

[Maeve Valor]

As Masami finished her classes for the day, she seemed to walk with trepidation. She knew that Baron had requested them all to be there, but she had other matters to attend to. That morning, she was reminded by her father that she needed to meet the "quota" soon; something that she had been putting off since joining the Phantom Thieves. Each month her parents set a goal for her on how much money she should acquire from poor saps who fell for her cons. This month, they were expecting the same thing as usual or else... well it wouldn't be pretty what they would do.

While walking outside of Shujin Academy, each step seemed to be more labored as she continued to think about how her situation wasn't changing as quickly as she wanted it to. Her mind then wandered to the flash drive from Sougo that was currently hidden in her backpack, the weight of the secrets inside it seemed to be heavier than it normally was. She could easily hand it over to the police and be rid of her parent's nefarious dealings, but the effects of such an act were so far into the unknown. So she told herself she had to be patient and abide by their rules for now. Once she got strong enough, she wanted to take care of this problem no matter what. So on this day, she decided to continue her ways as Masami, the swindler among the streets of Shinjuku. She only hoped that because of the meeting going on, she wouldn't bump into any of the other Phantom Thief members while she was working.

Before getting on the subway to her destination she changed into some more flattering clothes to be able to target a broader range of people during this outing. As she stepped out of the public restroom, she sighed in disappointment as she gathered herself before trekking onward wishing that she wouldn't have to make these quotas for much longer. I think I'll go with the 'Lost my cell phone' scam today.

 

[Anthem]

Imato would look at the text sent by Baron as soon as his phone buzzed, sighing upon reading it. 'Damn, thought we would get a break from the Metaverse for at least a day.' He thought to himself, wondering if he should bother going but since he had nothing else to do at the time, he decided that going to the meeting would be best. Plus, learning what Baron would like as his payment would reveal what his intentions could possibly be, whether they are for the good of ridding evil from the city, or for his own benefit. That chance was enough to make Imato want to go.

'I could just enter Mementos and kill off some fodder shadows for training until it's time for the meeting. And I won't have to worry about the others seeing my face while Loki is summoned, now that's a plus.' The teen made up his mind on what to do with a small smile, while he had barely any experience with the labyrinth known as Mementos, that wouldn't keep him from training a bit. Imato would walk off to an alleyway where there were less eyes to observe him before opening up the navigator app and entering the Metaverse.

Since he was alone on this expedition, Imato didn't dare travel to one of the more tedious paths that were located within Mementos. For now he would go to the 'Path of Aiyatsbus', since the shadows' threat levels were generally low, making it easy to test / create attacks that can be used in actual battle. "Alright, time to have some fun..." He said to himself, with a rather cynical smirk.

 

[That Weird girl]

"Come on man...." Morgana grumbled complaining about Baron already contacting them for a meeting and it has not been too long since they were in that palace. Honestly the Bakeneko did not want to go into another place so soon and deal with another messed up desire but he would do it if there was a good treasure involved. He wanted to remind Baron that the phantom thieves don't work for free and they just don't do random jobs for fun. "I could be eating fatty tuna right now," Morgana complained to Ann as they appeared in Leblanc cafe.

"Baron thinks he can boss us around just because he helped us with one thing," Morgana said annoyed, "this better be good..." Ann clapped a hand over Morgana's mouth being kind of afraid that Baron would hear him, "Morgana shut the fuck up! You're really walking on hot water." Morgana did not care at all about if he heard and jumped up on a bar stool to wait for the meeting to start while Ann sat next to him.

The trickster's rebellious nature caused him to hate being told what to do but he was afraid that he had no sway over his team. He had no reason to respect Baron like his team and the Bakneko did not trust him because he just popped up. He hated the Phantom thieves having a leader.

 

[Nellancholy]

"Yo, Banchou! You got a text!" Another one of Shiro's subordinates flung Shiro's phone straight across the dusty, largely abandoned warehouse. Thankfully, it had a cheap plastic case on and Shiro managed to grab onto it, or someone would be getting hit over the head.

Meandering around the crates of 10-year-old graphic cards and flip phones that had long been written off, Shiro sighed. Koyuki had been effusive and polite as always, though she clammed up when Shiro tried to press her about where she'd been. Another Banchou might try to beat it out of her, but Shiro would never even dream of that. Was she running with a different gang? Was she doing some kind of work she wanted to keep secret? Certainly not. Koyuki...wasn't many things. And she definitely wasn't the type to hold out on the gang, or on her Banchou. Still...if it was something she couldn't handle on her own, it'd always fall back to Shiro to bail her out.

With that, she pulled up the text. The Baron. Of course. Talking about his debt again...or rather, the one the Thieves owed to him.

That swaggering buffoon. Shiro hated the idea that any of them owed him anything...but the information he gave and the materials he provided...they wouldn't have won their last battle because of it.

Fine. It couldn't hurt to hear him out at least.

"Kanata." Shiro looked up, pointing at the other girl. "I'm going out. Ensure that you properly tally the money each one of our associates brings back today and lock it up."

"You got it, Banchou!" Kanata tapped her forehead in something approximating a salute. "Eh, what am I gonna do if Mane starts talking shit again while you're gone?"

Rummaging in her pocket, Shiro pulled out one of the Frost Magatama she hadn't used and tossed it back to Kanata. "Simply instruct her to suck on one of these and chill out." With a scoff, Shiro stepped out of the warehouse, looking for a corner in which she could enter the Metaverse without being observed. Trouble was brewing on the home front as well...

 

[accursedjobber]

The ringing tone of Isao's phone marked the end of the honestly pretty brief period of rest intersected with school given to the phantom thieves, it seemed logical to keep apart so that the heat though low would die down leading to a lessened possibility of being able to have the phantom thieves and associate be grouped together in a suspect way as a timeline. Still the sense of excitement and urge to get out there for some practical training was ever present, along with another new feeling of probably loneliness after all who else could he talk metaverse theory with other than the other members of the thieves as well as the correlation to the creation of cryptids and what came first.

Still the wording as with a variety of things Baron seemed to say etched out Isao's sketch meter, even still it would unwise not to go. Entering the metaverse after a short trip from school's seemingly ever long final session disappearing from the empty alleyway, finishing the trip with a brisk walk in the now dimmed streets of the walk up to the metaverse variation of Leblanc still identical from the previous trip, Isao hoping that this miasma of disinformation would clear and to fulfill his social quota.

Opening the door once again with a brisk greeting and wave before seating himself down by the counter to wait for the others to arrive for this sudden meeting.

 

[Anthem]

As time passed, an alarm from his phone would awaken Imato from the state of focus he had entered upon starting the path. With a sigh, he would toss down a smoke bomb to ensure a escape with minimal resistance from any outside force. Only when he reached the exit of the path did he take a moment to unwind a bit, relaxing his body and mind for a moment. 'I doubt my threat level rose at all, but now I have ideas... Which might prove to be even more useful.' The teen would think to him self before starting to leave the area of Mementos he was currently within.

As he walked in absence of others to interact with, he took the chance to align his thoughts and remain prepared for whatever Baron could ask for as his payment. But with thought, Imato's mind filled with the questions he had been asking to himself these past days, still lacking a proper answer to most of them. The questions varied in complexity, ones were simple like: 'Who is Baron, and why is he helping us?' to more complex questions such as: 'How are people chosen to awaken a Persona? If they are chosen at all..?'. With a shake of his head, Imato purged the questions from his conscious for now as he approached the Metaverse Leblanc.

As he walked through the door, Imato gave a subtle nod as a greeting to all who were currently present before heading to the secluded seat he had sat in when they first gathered at the Meta-Leblanc. After all, he was only here to get answers, not to socialize.

 

[TreasureSniper]

Unbeknownst to Imato, Baron had already been in the Metaverse way earlier than any of them. He's been secretly stalking ever since he started his solo "session". While he was impressed by the boy's initiative to get stronger on his own, he thought it was reckless of him to dive into the metaverse alone. Aside from the stronger shadows, the MetaMercs tend to roam around the Metaverse, looking for their own targets. While most of them won't go out of their way to attack other metaverse users, the less stable ones tend to pick a fight with just about anyone. He also got a glimpse of who was behind the mask, which was a useful piece of information to have, but for now, he will keep that to himself.

Once Baron was satisfied that Imato was safe from harm, he would quickly make his way to the metaverse Le blanc before everyone else had arrived. He had already prepared for their arrival before hand with some "gifts" and presentations. Sitting on his own fancy swiveling chair, he patiently waited for every member to arrive. Once enough of them arrived, he would begin his presentation. "Welcome, my dear tricksters. First off, I would like to congratulate you all on the successful heist against Matriarch. Despite the interference from Meta Merc, all of you remained steadfast and focused on the mission. The mark of true professionals. In any case, I believe such success deserves some celebration, as such, I have procured you all tickets to the Wilton Buffet." Baron took out six tickets and placed them at the table. The place wasn't cheap and usually, only the rich folk were able to afford to eat at such a place. "I am confident that the buffet will have something suited for all of your tastes. If possible, I'd like all of you go there together. Its important for all of you to build a strong team spirit with one another. After all, there is only so much one can achieve alone..." Baron was secretly referring to his own effort towards his own agenda, but no one needs to know that.

"Now onto the next agenda. I have decided to update the terms of our joint venture." Pressing a few buttons on the table, the walls of the cafe begin to shift, revealing giant monitors and weapon racks. "As of late, I've come to realize that most of you have a common desire to make a change in this world. And I am sure by now that most of you have also realized that the Metaverse is an incredibly powerful avenue for you to fulfill this desire. That said if you really want to make a change in this world, you must choose your targets with more prudence and care. Simply changing the hearts of goons and thugs of the streets may net you a small victory, but you must set your sights much higher." Pressing a few more buttons, the monitors would come alive, to show three different profile pictures of adults and their respective shadows. One of them was their school gym teacher, Suguru Kamoshida. The second one was an old man who was a well-known artist, Ichiryusai Madarame. And finally, Junya Kaneshiro, a mob boss that even the police had been struggling to catch. "These three are the targets I have identified for all of you. I am sure some of you are already familiar with some of them. Personally, I would advise you to take on the Kamoshida palace first. Based on my scouting operations, his palace is the weakest out of the three. It'll be a good opportunity for all of you to raise your threat level." Baron of course had more personal reasons for them to target Kamoshida, but he wasn't lying about needing them to raise their levels.

"On the note of threal levels.... I can see that some of you have decided to venture into the metaverse alone to get stronger....I'd strongly advise against this. At least for now. While all of you are definitely stronger than before, you're still significantly weaker than the majority of the MetaMercs. Essentially, its still too dangerous for you to start exploring mementos alone. As such, if you wish to go to mementos, I'd recommend going in as a group, or at least bringing one other person with you." traveling alone was a dangerous thing to do in the metaverse. He didn't want the team to split up to often, lest they want to get picked off by the stronger ones that often come hunting for stragglers. "Which brings me to my next point. My services. I will continue providing all of you with supplies and weaponry to foster your growth in strength as long as you continue to change the hearts of the targets given to you. Aside from that, I will also be available for more personal requests, should you have any shadows of people you require assistance with. You're also free to pursue the shadows of other targets as long as it does not interfere with the current operation. Trust me, these people deserve it, but by all means, feel free to conduct your own research on the target if you are not satisfied with my word." Baron didn't just want a team that listened to his beck and call, he wanted a squad that had some level of autonomy.

"Those are the new terms, do any of you have any questions?" He was open to some level of discussion, after all, he knew these people still probably did not trust 100%, especially since he has not revealed his identity. But at the same time, he has saved them numerous times already. Surely all his good deeds would amount to some level of goodwill.

 

[Maeve Valor]

The first place Masami decided to scope out in Shinjuku was the flea market. For this particular scam, she had to be observant and choose her targets with the right criteria: seemed kind enough to lend a helping hand and had a money transfer app on their phone. For about half an hour, Masami wandered the stalls, listening and watching others with her peripheral vision until she found someone. A middle aged man that didn't have cash so he used an app to pay the stall owner for a flower vase. She saw that he already had previously bought some flowers and immediately placed them inside the vase once it was officially his. Masami wondered what the occasion was, what kind of special person he was going to give this to. Was it an anniversary gift? Or was it for a sickly family member in the hospital? She had to stop herself from dwelling on such thoughts. It would only make what she was about to do much harder on herself.

She followed him a ways before going around a stall and intersect his path by "accidentally" bumping into him as if she was in a rush. "Oh my gosh, I'm like, so sorry. I even almost made you drop your beautiful vase thing!" She acted like a ditzy high schooler that's in distress to really sell the bit.

"No, no! It's okay. Is there something wrong?" he asked clearly concerned; a good sign that this would work so far.

"Oh it's totally fine. I just lost my phone and I have somewhere I like super duper need to be at," she said as she patted her pockets and bag as if she may have missed looking in some place on her person. "Um, if it's not too much to ask, can I use your phone to text one of my parents and let them know what's going on?"

"Sure thing! That's so unfortunate, I hope it wasn't a thief or something that stole it. I've heard that many of them like to frequent flea markets like this one," the kind man with glasses stated as he handed her his phone.

"Why did he have to mention that?" she thought as she took the phone before responding with, "oh yeah, I think I've heard about that too. So not cool." She then quickly worked on logging into his money transferring app. At the corner of the screen it showed his name, Hiroto, as she sent out the money to a burn account and then sent a text to one of her parents' burn phones before handing his phone back to him.

"Thank you so much, you're literally a life-saver. Have a nice day!" she waved and Hiroto happily waved back as she left.

Masami repeated this act a few more times before she felt like she had reached her limit on time. Even in a big area like this, it was best to know when to dip out before anyone caught on and sought her out. She wasn't proud at all of the "work" she had done that day, but at least she was close to meeting her quota for the month. When Masami took out her phone and saw the time, she thought that she could still make it to the meeting if she left then. So that's exactly what she did. She found a secluded place to head into the Metaverse and made her way to LeBlanc. As she walked in seeing that of course everyone else was there, she gave a noticeably hollow apology, "Sorry for being late. I hope I didn't miss too much." She seemed in a foul mood as she sat down at a booth next to the main one most of the others were sitting at since that one was a bit crowded.

 

[That Weird girl]

"No way! Wilton Buffet!" Ann squealed in excitement getting a look from Morgana of annoyance. "What?! I can't be excited over the best food in Tokyo." Ann started to daydream about cheesecake and deserts that she would get to devour. Of course the girl was listening to the targets and frowned when Baron mentioned Kamoshida, "Ew! you mean that pervert who oogles Masami? I don't even wanna be in the same room as him!" Morgana however was interested in the treasure that this Kamoshida had to offer.

"Hmm then I am guessing then Lady Masami will be our ticket in," Morgana said and looked at Masami, "can you maybe stick around him and get his keywords....do you know what his palace is like Baron? And should we spilt up again?" The Bakeneko was rubbing his chin trying to think of what infiltration tools he should bring along to the palace and what he would have to deal with. The Meta mercs were a worry for Morgana since now they knew the Phantom thieves were dangerous and would probably be better prepared.

"Tragedy and Masami," Morgana spoke up, "any ideas on how to deal with those losers? They might even be hunting us if we go to Momentos to train....even the mercs know more about the layout than me." he sighed not liking that the mercs were more smart than him. Morgana was going to have to get used to making quick escapes and somehow manage to lose them.

Anthem Maeve Valor