Fandom Persona 5: The Meta War CLOSED

[Maeve Valor]

(Short collab with TreasureSniper )

Sitting at a desk comfortably stationed at his home office, a particular middle-aged man with brunet hair was surrounded by papers and books strewn all about the place. To most others it would seem like the room was cluttered having no rhyme to reason to it all, although to him there was a method to the mess. Every book, every paper, every utensil, this doctor knew where it all was.

With the most recent batch of updated information given to him by his cohort known as Baron in this strange alternate world, he found himself most intrigued by one case in particular. He pondered this special case as he looked down at a manila folder with the name "Jun Shibaura" written on the side tab of it. "How odd, such a troubled individual. Despite now having the ability to operate in the Metaverse, he has refrained from affecting the consciousness of the people around him even though it would solve his problems. The student seems to have some sense of moral code, yet why is he so fixated on this hyper-imposed fixation on reprisal? Is it possible that he believes that is the missing piece to his inner happiness? Hm... no, no. Based on prior notes before his discovery of the Metaverse, he is intelligent and is self-aware of his emotions enough to know that won't help. So then what is the missing piece he needs? Darn it all Maruki, think..." The counselor muttered to himself as he briefly took his glasses off to give his eyes a much needed rest from going over these all too fascinating new entries to add to his research into Cognitive Psience.

It was then that he heard his phone ring which was buried under a stack of papers. Based on the ringtone, he could tell who it was that was calling and so fumbled with his glasses to put it back on before then scrambling and flinging papers about to get to his phone. "Hel-!" When he finally picked up he earnestly answered but was cut off by Baron's sudden request. The mere fact that he called him by his code name, he understood that this was a request somehow involving the Metaverse.

Though this was such short notice, Maruki was never one to turn down an excursion to the Metaverse. Each time he visited, it seemed he always learned something new no matter how small or big the new information was. "Oh! Very well, of course I'll help. Give me about 15 minutes and I'll meet you at the usual spot. See you there," the man hung up after making sure Baron hung up first out of respect. Afterwards, he grabbed a satchel followed by putting a notebook, a pen, and a few other materials in it. Right when he was about to leave he stopped and wore an expression that showed he just remembered to bring something else. He then put a few snacks and juice boxes into his bag before turning on his heel too fast, making him trip before regaining his balance and hurried out of his home.

Upon approaching the meeting spot to wait for Baron to escort him, he wore a comical-looking brown paper bag over his head that had two eye-holes on it having his regular glasses over it as well as his typical lab coat along with some latex gloves obviously used for cleaning.

As promised, Baron had briefly exited the metaverse to meetup with the odd doctor. Although he didnt specify, Sougo would always expect Maruki to bring some form of disguise when he entered the metaverse. Thus far, he has tried all manner of disguises, including but not limited to festival masks, an oversized hat, or even a bala clava. Sougo couldn’t help but sigh as soon as he spotted the doctor wearing a very…interesting disguise. He could already see nearby passerby eyeing him for his strange combination of clothes.

With a bit of reluctance, Sougo would eventually walk up to the doctor from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. “Doc…what are you doing?…” He whispered, absolutely confused by what he was trying to achieve with this “new” look.

Ludicrously, Maruki too seemed confused in response to his own question as if it should have been obvious what he was trying to do as he tilted his head, “This is my outfit to be incognito. If we are meeting others in… that other place I figured putting a little more effort in the disguise this time would be more beneficial for me.” This response showed that despite his incredulous nature, he had the sense to pick up that there was a great possibility he might be meeting other Metaverse users based on what very little was said over the short phone call. “Is there something wrong with it?”

While his answer was very much reasonable, Sougo still couldn’t help but think his choice of outfit was a bit rough to say the least. The fact that he chose to wear before even going into the metaverse was also questionable. “Yes..but haven’t I provided you with better alternatives? Nevermind, lets get going.” While he would loved to discuss his fashion sense further, today, he was on duty for the phantom thieves and therefore had a schedule to keep. Taking hold of one his gloved hand, he would lead him to a secluded area where it was safe for them to enter the metaverse, away from prying eyes.

“We don't have time take the long way, so you’re gonna have to hop on.” Baron wasted no time, immediately getting onto his powerful custom motorcycle and revving the engine a few times, scaring away a good portion of the weaker shadows present. “You're gonna have to hold down tight this time.” Baron warned the odd doctor, knowing full well he would have to endure heavy motion sickness as he will not slow down for his sake on this particular journey.

By this point, the doctor was used to this sort of treatment from the young man. To most and how they would perceive the interaction between the two it was as if Sougo was the adult and Maruki was the student. But that was what Maruki found worked best when dealing with him. While much was still a mystery to the counselor, it didn’t take long for him to know that he was the type of person that was comfortable being a figurehead and as such, he lended to that in order to be in hopes of being in his good graces (regardless of the fact that it didn’t seem to make much of a difference anyway). Aside from this, there was also the blaring fact that he couldn’t navigate his way through the metaverse nor could he fend for himself. Which was another reason why he gladly let Sougo lead the way as he usually did when the doctor ventured there. “Right, holding tiiigght!” Maruki braced himself slightly later than he should have jerked back as they went on their way.

Baron motorcycle accelerated to a break neck speed in a matter of seconds. His movement and pathing was disorienting, with the motorcycle taking sharp turns at every opportunity, narrowly avoiding the many obstacles that were present, be it shadows or otherwise. Seeing this as a rare moment to slightly loosen up, Sougo deliberately drove into a large tunnel like structure and proceeded to execute wall climbing maneuver with the bike. While this would be near impossible in real life, the strange properties of the metaverse and his gear allowed him to live out his fantasies. Eventually, they would run out of road, seemingly running into a dead end. But much to the Doctor’s surprise, Baron would continue accelerate further, redlining the machine to its absolute limit, sending flying towards the solid wall.

A small grin formed around Sougo’s lips shortly before he summoned his persona. The massive dragon shot out a ray of pure almighty energy, boring a clean hole into the thick wall, and allowing new path to be formed, a shortcut that allowed him to cut the travel time down significantly.

Having been shown to be a good escort to Maruki, for the most part he trusted Sougo’s actions to what he did in the Metaverse. But he did have his limits on when he should worry of what was to come. As the dead end approached closer and closer without any sign of him doing anything to prevent a collision he warily yelled out,“Um Agata-San are you sure this is a good-.... I’ll retract what I was about to say. Nicely done!” It was towards the middle of his sentence that the new path was made and made him change his tone.

“Don’t think this changes anything..and that's not my name here.” Sougo swiftly replied, regaining his usual composure as they closed the distance on their destination. Once they got close enough, Baron would perform a hard drifting motion with his bike, leaving an incredibly long skid mark on the platform before finally grinding to a halt. “Alright. We’re here.” Baron said, hopping off his bike while gesturing the doctor to follow him down the stairs and into the entrance point. As they walked down, he decided to give a early warning of what was to come from this encounter. “You’ll be talking to the phantom thieves. Speak only when spoken to, and absolutely do not give away anything pertaining to your life in the real world, understand?”

“The Phantom Thieves? Really? You’ll finally let me meet them? What a pleasant surprise! And of course, I will follow your directions to the letter.” The man smiled from beneath the brown paper bag as he too got off the bike and started walking in the same direction as Baron.

“Evidently.” Baron spared no more words as descended onto the subway station platform where the others had been waiting. “Thank you for you patience, my dear tricksters. I’d like you all to meet someone. As peculiar as he is, I can see no one else more qualified for the task of diagnosing this anomaly.” With some level of reluctant, his hand gesture towards Maruki, hoping that he would make a good enough introduction himself.

Following a bit behind Baron, he approached the group and with a gloved hand, he waved cheerfully, “Pleased to meet you all. I’m Dr. Mar- u-um I mean Sage! Right, code names, code names. - Uh, I will help however I can with what you need! What’s this about diagnosing an anomaly?” Maruki tried to change the subject as he began to feel glare coming from Baron’s direction due to his slip-up.

Nellancholy Azurian Dream Anthem

 

[Nellancholy]

"As you wish, then." Shiro let go of her weapons, sheathing them on her back again. She lifted the visor of her helmet, revealing her face and dismissing Thrud for the moment. Just because they were currently uninjured thanks to healing magic, didn't mean that they were free of fatigue from the day's exertions. So it was a small miracle that their target was apparently right before them, according to Oracle and Prophet. She sat down on the rough floor, taking a moment to gather herself.

And in the meantime, she and the Shadow merely looked at each other, like two warships facing off, measuring the reach of their weapons.

Baron excused himself for a moment, and returned...bringing yet another strange companion in tow. Just how many people...or rather what kind of people did Baron know? Between this stranger and the meta mercs...

Shiro tilted her head up from where she sat, barely making eye contact with the paper bag. If she noticed his slip-up, she didn't show it. "You never cease to illuminate, Baron. Now then, sir Sage. Do impress us with your magic."

 

[That Weird girl]

Crap...It seemed that Koga had recognized Ann already from her modeling gig with Sadako and Dascal. She felt a needle hit her, she could be in danger of jeopardizing this whole operation, shit. Ann panicked a lot internally and glanced at Masami with a worrying look, she didn't think this was going to end well for either of them. The model vigilante cleared her throat and quickly thought of 2 questions that she could ask first and get the conversation going.

"So," She began, "Is it true that the studio only focuses on your projects and not others?." She looked at Koga and her eyes darted around her office space. She really hoped that Morgana was on his way to sneaking and seeing what was in the cabinets, because she didn't think that they could extend the time that Koga set for them. Come on Morgana! Ann thought to herself, hopefully the cat could get the things needed in time.

"Another question to add," Ann said, "How well do you treat your employees?" Ann wondered how bad Koga studios was in the entertainment sector, if it was then it would be good to takedown. She thought of what that old man said to her and if what he said was true, well it was good that they would take Ms. Koga down. It was going to be a long day today....she wondered how the other thieves were doing in their mission.

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As soon as Ms. Koga was distracted with the ladies, Morgana leaped out of the bag with a lock pick in his mouth. He quietly made his way behind her mahogany desk and saw some filling cabinets, three to be exact. The cat went for the middle one as he jumped up, attaching his claws to the cabinet. He attempted to pick the middle drawer, which was difficult, even for him. Morgana decided to try the bottom drawer to save time. He moved the lock pick with his mouth in the drawer lock and it did not budge. "Come on!" The cat complained.

He looked back to Masami and Ann for a second, realizing that they couldn't stall her forever. He tried the middle on again and this time positioned his body to be upside-down because it might be a better angle. The office aroma got to Morgana as the heavy smell of lavender made it hard to focus as his senses were being messed with. "Damn being a cat," Morgana muttered to himself, while trying to ignore the heavy scent.

"Ugh," Morgana groaned as he moved the lock pick with his mouth and his luck was beginning to turn, as the lower drawer had a thunk noise. He assumed the middle drawer was now open, trying to pull it open. It didn't work so Morgana glanced at the lower drawer, still locked. Mona resisted the urge to throw up and tried the top drawer, finding more luck to open it since it was a regular key hole. He heard two clicks ring and checked the top drawer which had not opened, instead the bottom one had.

"What..." Morgana gasped as he saw a New Nombo M60 in the bottom drawer, supporting the idea that Ms. Koga was the palace ruler. The cat was shocked to find a firearm in one of the drawers and it looked like it had fallen from the middle cabinet too. The Bakeneko had a blank expression on his face as he lost his balance, falling to the ground. He assumed that she was displaying scare tactics, especially with the Black Pearl Pendulum in her office. Hopefully, she wouldn't turn to the noise he made and find him, Morgana closed the drawer and scurried under her desk more and hid.

Spoiler: NEW Nombo M60

Azurian Dream Maeve Valor

 

[Anthem]

A small grin was upon Tragedy's visible visage as he took Prophet's hand, using him to pull himself off the cold ground. His physical stamina was recovered to the peak it would reach, with the troublesome battle they just experienced one-hundred percent would be impossible until he partook in rest in reality. But for now the fool just simply remained silent, and at the ready. Until Baron returned with what was presumably an ally, one that could identify just what the hell was going on with this shadow that had just saved them from Frostbite's wrath.

"Pleased to meet you all. I’m Dr. Mar- u-um I mean Sage!-"

Tragedy's eyes squinted a bit as the supposedly qualified individual introduced himself. The man had let himself slip, revealing a decent amount of info just from the few letters he had verbalized. He was a doctor, while it would certainly be hard to pinpoint one doctor out of many he had two more defining points. The man had access to the Metaverse, so he most likely showed evidence of that in reality somehow. And then there was the few letters Sage had pronounced, M-a-r. Probably not too many doctors that have access to the Metaverse and names start with said letters. But for now the fool would just keep notes of Sage's potential identity to himself, as they had different problems to attend to for now.

"Now, now. While I do agree that having allies for various situations is indeed a great quality... don't be using too fancy of language on him, Heartbreak. We don't want to boost Baron's ego too much." Tragedy joked with a light chuckle before looking to Sage once more. His eyes squinted once more, before turning their focus to the shadow once again. Hopefully Sage would be able to pinpoint what was afflicting the warship shadow.

 

[Maeve Valor]

Masami was fully prepared to counter Koga's statement about how she was taking advantage of her employment to gather information for a club at her school; But at the mention of Ann's modeling job, Masami inwardly became alarmed thinking that this mission needed to be cut off. Though fortune seemed to be in their favor on this day as Ann ended up gaining respect from the intimidating woman. When Ann looked over to Masami, she could tell that the the girl was starting to freak out. As much as Masami wanted to cut in, it seemed that Koga was mostly interested in Ann more than her. The swindler knew that if she were to take over speaking, the distraction most likely wouldn't be as strong as if it would be if it was Ann speaking, so Masami merely just gave her friend a reassuring smile and gestured for her to carry on.

As Ann began to ask her questions, Masami briefly looked at her bag and was glad to see that Morgana had already taken the opportunity to jump out and start snooping around. She averted her attention back to Ann, listening to her questions that in her opinion, were very good ones to ask the CEO. Masami wanted to hear Ms. Koga's response to them; but when she heard a faint thunk from under the desk, Masami assumed it was Morgana who made the noise and immediately tried to keep the woman preoccupied by asking some more questions of her own. "Since I see that you're quite the busy person, I'll go ahead and run through a few questions of my own as well if you don't mind. What do you find is the best form of promotional tactic for the company?" This first question was in Masami's mind a reference to the very script contest that Morgana was currently finding clues for. She hoped that by asking this, she would gain at least a little more information than what they have already gathered just in case they are unable to obtain any physical clues.

"In your opinion, what was the turning point towards the success of Kongo Burst?" With this inquiry, it was to see if she mentions anything about the particular event that happened ten years ago that is such a mystery. "Lastly, with your vast experience in this industry, is there anything that you would have done differently?" It might have been a bold move to ask, but with it being the last question Masami decided that she might as well see if her response matches up in any way personality wise to the palace ruler they encountered.

That Weird girl Azurian Dream

 

[Azurian Dream]

~Compliance, Reprive, Chaos~
That Weird girl , Maeve Valor

Koga waited, but surprisingly not too long as Ann was quick to fire off a round of questions that were unexpectedly sharp. Koga had given praise to the girl yet had not expected a follow-up to it with such fever. It seemed these two were not messing around coming off like actual reporters in fact as she had been unprepared for the first round like someone who had done some very deep research. However, she was a businesswoman so while her eyes may have snapped to Ann in a bit of take back her body kept to its intimidated pose as she slightly chuckled before beginning this apparent legit interview of a prominent industry figure.

"Yes, though noted as ruthless a tact we from the very beginning realized we couldn't rely on dreams, and grandeur we had to go for legit full scaled talent. Idea's that hit from the moment you read the first page of the script, acting that made you believe every word spoken, directors who realized they had to bring everything together not for just the audience but those whose paychecks relied on the next project being green light by the backing of the first, and of course, the drying talent on the shore of practical effects and magnified excellence of digital effects," Koga expressed first not exactly addressing the immediate question was painting the picture around it as she adjusted her hands one now on her hip, and the other waving nonchalantly at the end of her statement... seemed the thought of practical effects was something that annoyed her notable, and strangely enough they were all over Sakuras current movie. Had that why she had been mad that day? It was a studio catered to pulling off big effects in person after all.

"So yes only the projects I deem worth their salt pass on into the fireworks, and for that I have six massively accomplished award-winning mix of stand-alone movies by Yua Sakura's hands. I only accept the best to go to her hands as I know she will only deliver the best," she smiled hauntingly with a momentary sneer at the tip of her lips that may have hinted at some form of enjoyed... falsehood? It was strange as it was clearly an answer that would catch no one else's attention, but the prior master of schemes and lies may have noticed an oddity now starting to protrude. Though before the dust could settle the woman was again caught off with another strange yet direct question she had not foreseen from humoring these kids. A scowl now formed on her face.

"I won't lie I am aware of the dislike of the current direction from those from the old days. Yet it is the cause of this direction they have jobs still. I treat them as valuable resources, and somewhat while not to my liking do keep troublesome ired individuals who show talent from prior events that showed their worth," Koga's unamused glance in thought would no doubt remind Masami of that first day there was clearly a clash of thought between Koga, and a few select members of Sakura's crew like Tanbono(Casting Director), Oppo(Caterer), and Tashi(Lead CameraMan).

"Though I can gladly address that all are paid as per their agreed contracts starting the same for their fields for both genders. I also proudly stature we go a step above the care of our employees above the competition with raises negotiable every two years with a starting ground of a five percent raise minimum regardless," Koga broke down for the girls watching now to see how they took notes, and demonstrator their reason for being there. As there was this pause a notable rattle could be heard that caught Koga's attentive gaze. At first, it seemed everything would fall apart as her body started to turn yet the other girl the more unimpressive one who was currently under her paycheck writing brought a rather unflattering regular question most wouldn't waste a precious moment on when interviewing someone as busy as her... the sheer level of bad pressing dumbfounded Koga enough to bring her full attention to Masami... well it was clear which one of the ones carried the brains to Koga...

"Shibuya itself is Japan's most successful billboard. We run promotional sales with numerous benefactors big and small in business. It helps sets the trend to pay attention to our projects. We also do numerous talk show visits with Ms. Sakura leading the helm drawing people in with her words," oddly enough there was a now a more prompt notice of attention to Sakura's name coming out of Koga's mouth... almost spiteful, or longing annoyance. It may have been because they were kids that these minor twitches of thought were sneaking past or do to an unknown pressure that she was being notable in her mannerisms. Unknowingly that a master actress of her own craft was watching and analyzing her each step the woman's sharp eyes were now fully on Masami on her next question this time... with clear unexplainable ire.

"Well as you may know that before we released the flood waters of Yua Sakura upon Japanese viewers it is to be directed at the moment before. With a competition we held ten years ago looking for talented individuals in the hopes of putting together a well-glued crew... that crew of selected individuals picked out from the teams that attempted to make their mark is the very same crew that has stuck with Yua Sakura to this very day," Koga explained with no joy of emotion just an empty now unfortunately unreadable tone.

"Skip, and I remind you only one question remains," Koga drove home raising a single finger as she looked at Masami starting to find her questions professionally strange. While a school journal club would no doubt not be expected to be high caliber on moving questions the ones being given were... unusual in combo. It felt like a measure of stalling yet each one required not only a long answer in turn were also slowly etching into the company's past which is not something journalism concentrated on against the much more viewed current news like the new movie people were dying to get information on, and yet not a single question of that nature had been fired.

"Glance me a question of my own will you? Per se what are you aiming to write in this article of yours," the question would be a heavy knife stabbing into both Ann and Masami as their ability to keep the mission afloat was now in jeopardy as Koga was no doubt starting to unexpectedly slice through their distraction, and notice something was up. Almost like she in turn was now reading into their bodily habits. She had been on Masami but once the star gaze blinding defense of Ann's fame had faded the notable panic in the girl was casting its shadow into Koga's sights. Masami to was clearly starting to show a lack of understanding of journalism, and now their interrogation was now starting to be turned on them. A massive skill to attention to detail was starting to creep up a chill to the girl's back's as unexplainable they would suddenly feel out of their league in interrogation just from one question of hers. A dangerous attention to detail was now in full effect.

......................................................................................................

~Stranger Tides~

Nellancholy TreasureSniper Maeve Valor Anthem

Upon Baron's stat check with the shadow's alignment, it was clear upon the annihilation of one of the meta merc shadows that no aggressive bone was to be found in Asahi's shadows it didn't even seem to register it was in danger of any kind like an empty husk Prophet watched with uncertainty how he felt about the method used, but it seemed to gain favor for Baron to agree upon the call to his mastered all of these things. All things considered, it was clear the Baron had a more direct no-nonsense approach so lucky it should be considered that this hadn't backfired all things considered. Humorously in that turn, Baron made a comment about the strategy lacking a sense of self-preservation in the methods the trio had used.

"Wild to say, but it was that reason we barely lasted long enough thanks to their decision to be so brazen. I must admit you two are rather wonderous in your own rights," Prophet did agree with Baron's quip for he wasn't wrong, but in the thick of it all it was that driving fever that had let Baron get to them to de-escalate the situation as it was. Though not enjoyed by the clockwork fellow all methods were necessary at one point, or another in the holy garbs' own experiences. Even if vexing it was interesting to hear that while knowing Heartbreak, and Tragedy were the ones to give him the fever to join them in on the topic of method. Indeed a wild investment clearly existed between the frayed wires of Baron, and the Phantom Thieves.

For now, though it seemed things would need to wait as Prophet steered his sights to Heartbreak as she relaxed as the team was healed by the very notable model citizen behavior to heal them that was the investor. It seemed the rough em up girl was set to hold a staring contest with the Asahi's unnoticing shadow looking in her direction. He was aware of her identity as Shiro, but the background he had found had been rough much like his own yet over a longer period of time the difference between the two. He wondered what she gained really from doing all this having let go of her prior practice as a gang lead...

Nonetheless, Prophet would be pulled back to his own outstretched hand as Tragedy took well to the gesture helping the fellow teen up he could tell the wild child still felt quite a bit of mental fatigue from it all, and given what Prophet had seen it had been well earned. If Heartbreak was the shield Tragedy was clearly the sword that strikes after her block, the two were pretty well to function around. Still, the wild boar seemed to have some onery mentality adding to his bruiser-like title in Prophet's mind. Tragedy much like Heartbreak had not much left to add it seemed as Baron called in someone codenamed "Sage".

The wait wouldn't be too long as Baron left to grab his associate, but the silence allowed for some study of the Phantom Thieves in their natural state of relaxation. Upon some loud and showy noises off in the distance, it was clear the clockwork investor had returned with his assistance of an ally... that immediately proceed to slip up in one massive blunder of secret identity keeping. Prophet slowly turned his gaze to Baron with a clear amount of numerous formed questions but given the urgency of the matter refrained from such. Given Baron's bravado in how he expected people to act it was extremely bizarre to see this new person's behavior. Prophet could hear a stifled laugh being held back by Oracle fighting his own off as he neared Dr... Sage. Tragedy and Heartbreak equally had unexpected reactions which quickly told him this had not been something they had expected either of the investor's acumen.

"Dr. Sage it is a pleasure to meet you I am Prophet, on comms is Oracle, and Cryptid," Prophet finally spoke through the awkward moment as he decided not to waste any of the man's time as he stepped to the left revealing Asahis Shadow blotching and phasing happening all around his body. Any attempt to talk or interact had been fruitless as it simply stayed there like a ghostly stone.

"We need some knowledge from their past specifically what may have triggered this stat to befall them. Not too long ago they were in full-on personification mode seemingly looking for me, but once he neared me he shut down. My only guess is my persona may have influenced some motor function to return to due to real-world interaction with me," Prophet explained only giving Dr.Sage the info needed and nothing much else. Not knowing much about the good doctor, and in fact, knowing they were a doctor of some sort left a strange faint taste of concern in the Prophet's mind.

Oracle herself watching everything through her Necronomicons lens found something a bit strange as well, but being that Cryptid was right there next to her refrained from scanning the new individual.

 

[Maeve Valor]

The green-haired hired hand could tell that she was still very much not in the good graces of the CEO as the questions were answered. But even though that was the case, Masami decided not to focus on that for the moment. All that mattered was that Koga was sufficiently distracted from the small sound that came from her desk and by the looks of it, she had succeeded. Along with it, the responses seemed about what she had anticipated from a person of her stature, including and especially how she dismissively skipped her last question. Although she did find two things interesting. One was her comment about how Yua Sakura has kept a majority of her staff the same for years; Meaning that if needed, the thieves could also try to get information from the shadows of the main staff members. At this, Masami's mind briefly went back to Tanbono's shadow as dancer, but she quickly brushed aside that thought.

The second thing she honed in on was Koga's demeanor when Yua Sakura was mentioned. One would think that she would would be proud to speak of someone as talented as her working for them. It was then that the image of the girl with the pearl in the show that they saw within the palace came to mind. On top of that, Masami found interesting her wording of Miss Sakura's success was described as "flooding waters". Was the irrigation system surrounding the palace possibly representing the drowning success of someone else? The signs just continued to pile on as all of them pointed to Koga as the Pirate Queen herself that they encountered.

Furthering this suspicion, Koga continued on to portray the same kind of dauntless personality that the palace ruler did by swinging a powerful verbal parry of her own through her own question which made the usually perspicacious Phantom Thief actually hesitate to respond. She then decided to partially use her original excuse when she first walked into the building. "These questions are aimed around how to make a successful company and keep it afloat. We hope to give the readers something to strive for and base their goal on if this kind of career branch is something that they are interested in."

Her plan upon first approaching someone to ask about the history of the company was to say that she was working on a project to go over the rise of the company. Her lie merely morphed in the process, which is something Masami was most of the time keen on doing, but this particular mission was rocky to the say the least. "Ann, why don't you go ahead and ask the last question?" Masami offered, thinking that having her take over was the safest decision at the moment.

That Weird girl Azurian Dream
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Despite the doctor's strange behavior, he could tell that the Phantom Thieves were very standoffish around him. This was understandable considering the dangers they constantly have to face so he did not take it personally as he kept his smile while continuing to make small talk. "Haha, yes 'fancy language' and 'magic' are not exactly what I specialize in, but that would be pretty cool."

When Prophet spoke up to address Sage, the doctor noticed that he too seemed taken back by his presence although his attitude seemed to come from a place of being stupefied for some reason. Regardless, he responded in a manner less formal to ease the tension of everyone. "Comms? There are more people in a separate location? Ah, they must operate like surveillance security for you all. Yes, I see, how professional. It's no wonder why Baron speaks so highly of the Phantom Thieves." Before Sage could have the chance to sense another glare from his escort, he stepped close in front of the shadow to confirm that he non responsive for the time being.

"Very intriguing. Such a fascinating case. This actually falls in line with one of my theories in Cognitive Psience. My theory is that when you are speaking to someone in reality, not only are you socializing with them consciously, but you are also making a link with them on a subconscious level. You mentioned he has had at least one real world interaction with you, right? My guess is that a link was made then and then when you activated your persona he was able to sense that familiar feeling of being trustworthy through that initial contact. So many times us as people underestimate the bonds we make with others. Even small interactions can cause huge impacts on others. But... that still doesn't account for why he shut down when he was finally able to reach you." Sage paused, putting a hand to his chin in thought, causing a crinkle with his paper bag head wear. The doctor stared at the shadow as if he would just give Sage the answer to this conundrum until he finally spoke up again and asked, "Is he difficult to speak to in reality? He might have been searching for your persona because he desperately wants to tell you something, but he can't get it out. If that's the case, I should be able to lift the mental block for a short while." Right after coming to this conclusion, Sage placed a hand on the shadow's shoulder and a blinding bright light followed by a green afterglow emanated from Asahi's shadow.

TreasureSniper Nellancholy Anthem

 

[Nellancholy]

As Sage exercised his strange power, a sensation of relief washed over the vicinity, a sensation that had become foreign to Shiro as of late. The efficacy of the Thieves' methods notwithstanding, it appeared that there were still mysteries of the Metaverse for them to solve, such as the different ways to connect to peoples' subconscious and get them to talk. Ways of relieving their burdens even a little, and bringing about their change of heart from a different angle.

Someone had to talk to the Shadow that had apparently been seeking them out. May as well be her.

She stood up, undoing the chinstrap of her helmet and taking it off as she looked head on at the Shadow. Just like the Shadows that they had battled against before, the ones that symbolized the palace masters. This Shadow too, was roiling with repressed emotions, bearing the burden of someone who could not speak. She had seen eyes like that before, on the faces of her "sisters". A look that had all but given up, showing someone who felt as if they had nowhere to turn.

"Asahi." She left her weapons where she was sitting, doing her best to look reassuring. "Asahi Beppu. You sought us out. More than that, you are seeking justice." Who knew how much time they actually had to speak to it? Or what it could actually tell them? "I ask you, share with us what cannot be spoken. What are the secrets that cause you such pain? Once we know, I promise, we will avenge you."

 

[TreasureSniper]

"Such kind words are rare from you. I'll accept them nonetheless." And there it was, despite however brief, Baron showed that did indeed have a slight sense of humor in his response to heartbreak. Tragedy's extra comment regarding his ego did not unnoticed, with Baron immediately cocking his head towards him. "Hm." He gave a small nod of acknowledgment towards his comment. It was difficult to tell what his reaction was supposed to imply but it was a reaction nonetheless. However, the following reaction had towards Sage's small slip up was much less ambiguous, as his gaze remained fixed on the Doctor.

He would make sure to remind him of the importance of anonymity after this, but for now, he would stay his tongue, allowing the eccentric doctor to continue his diagnosis. From there, he watched Prophet introduce himself enthusiastically to the each other was surreal. He had an inkling that someone like him would get along with the doctor. Even now he did not fully understand the motives of this Prophet. Was this something purely altruistic or personal? One way or the other, he get his answers and more importantly his long overdue payment.


As annoying as the doctor he was, he could not deny the fact that he was an important contact that he needed to work with for multiple reasons. "Ahem." Baron would interrupt the doctor's little opinion-sharing session with a fake throat clear. "We are short on time, Sage. You may socialize with the thieves in your own time, we have work to do here." Once again, Baron had returned to his usual serious self, an individual who understood that there was a time to be silly and a time to be serious.

Silently, he watched as the Doctor used his unique powers to probe the shadow, attempting to lift the mental block that hindered their progress. While this was going on, his other hand kept itself close to his firearm, ever ready to spring into action should the shadow show the slightest hint of hostility towards either the team or his resident expert. While he would prefer not to damage the psyche of an innocent victim, the well-being of his team superseded that of a stranger.

 

[That Weird girl]

It had seemed that their time was running out soon...Ms. Koga was slicing through their defenses and would soon discover Morgana. Ann could not allow their mission to fail, after all, they needed Morgana to get these files. She heard a thump, probably from Morgana. She couldn't figure out if she was feeling massive anxiety or if she actually wanted to hurl. This was strange for her, as she was used to preforming under a lot of pressure due to her modeling. Maybe it was the fact that if they mucked this up then they would never get another shot at this.

Ms. Koga was smart, she knew how to interrogate. Ann felt like she was wayyyyyy out of her league and kind of wished that she was invisible now. Her charm could only go so far before it disappeared. Koga could tell that they were stalling her time and knew that they were not journalists, Ann couldn't tell if Koga had suspected something...well considering that noise Mona made, Ann would not be surprised if she caught him.

Hopefully their feline friend was as fast as he always bragged he was. Ann bit her lip pretty hard and could taste blood in her mouth, she wasn't sure what the best plan was here. Massami had switched the speaking piece over to her for the last question, she nodded at her request and looked at Koga. It was a matter of fate, she would succeed or fail.

"We would like to ask you what advice to you have about making it in the movie business," Ann posed the lackluster question, "a lot of our classmates have expressed interest in this field." She paused for a bit to collect her thoughts, "Any challenges you've faced in your position that you would like to share?" Hopefully this would work out, if not then Morgana would have a hard time.

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

Morgana realized that his time was beginning to run out, by the way conversation was going. He had to find those documents fast! The cat turned his attention to the left cabinet which looked different and more like an older design. Cherry wood with grooves of used woods, looked like a predated piece in comparison to the others. He noticed that there seemed to be no locking mechanism on the cabinet, so Mona tried to open it with no evil.

There had to be a locking mechanism...

The cat scoffed, the great Morgana was trumped by some stupid cabinet. Refusing defeat, the cat investigated and walked round the cabinet quietly and noticed an odd piece. He touched it softly with his paw and found that he could move it to reveal some rusty lock. Morgana smirked to himself and went to pick the lock with the lock pick in his mouth.

Screech

The lock made a little noise and Morgana struggled to keep it as silent as he could. He nervously took a glance at Koga who he hoped would not turn to look at her left cabinet. He carefully shifted the lock pick around the lock with extreme care and precision until he got it. All three of the cabinets unlocked suddenly. "Jackpot," Morgana whispered to himself, hating how much he sounded like Imato.

The top cabinet was where Morgana started, it was a bunch of strange files with confidential tape with a warning that Morgana ignored. He moved them around and saw the name Tabana Oniko on a file marker. That was something of note that Morgana would pass onto the thieves at one point. Morgana gave up looking in the top cabinet and searched the middle one next.

He found doctorates and plaques and documents on a doctorate, nothing useful here for Morgana. He moved onto the bottom cabinet and this was where he found what he was looking for. Event folders matching the date for the competition, the cat grabbed them with his mouth and made his way down to the floor. Now, he had to make it back to the girls without being seen and heard by Koga. Easier said then done,

Maeve Valor Azurian Dream

 

[Azurian Dream]

~ Truth Or Problems~

Oracle watched through Prophet's view pondering on the language spoken by Dr. Sage... she found his terms of attention to not being muddled by thoughts of fancy magic came off rather scientifically familiar in a language she weirdly found herself similar to, but couldn't put her finger quite on it. Prophet himself also felt something kindred in nature with the good doctors mentality on things. The man's enthusiasm was also well received, and very observant. Almost immediately as if driven by intense curiosity Sage made his way to the shadow testing its reactions upon intrigue. However the moment the words Cognitive Pscience escaped the man's lips a notable minor flex of reaction came from Prophet who was now very attentive to the doctor's approach to Asahi. Oracle herself had a notably concerned flinch of her lips as they both immediately realized this man was in the same field as Oracle's mom. That had been the last thing they had expected to come... no wonder Baron was so protective of this informant he was a bomb of capability and knowledge in a world like this.

It was also humorous to note how Sage also did not exactly line up with Baron's expectations of business manners it seemed to be a problem that plagued Baron to no end from all sides. The glare he held to the back of Sage's head was well ascertaining as Baron was also a bit loosened up as Tragedy, and Heartbreak spoke. Maybe the business approach was really just his own form of emotional defense from letting others in?

"No kidding," Prophet spoke nonchalantly not allowing any of his concerns to rise to the top for now as he simply watched Sage work. A man of science with a unique specimen was rarely an artwork not for disastrous potential. "Yes, I was assisting him during a violent mental episode," Prophet spoke giving no further detail than needed to assist this scenario. "Currently he's in an unexplainable half comatose state," Prophet expressed loosening up again as he knew for now he needed to trust the Phantom Thieves and by extension their Investor's contact. As such he took a silent deep breath as he watched the good Doctor take a swing at the problem at hand.

"My concern is how this more so came about. We have had some conflicting facts of late jumbling up our investigation into the connected matters contradicting some thoughts in the process. If it wasn't for that I would be all for expressing ideas, and crossing theories with you on cognitive measures of the psyche," Prophet expressed watching as Sage started to induce some ability as a green light started to take to Shadow Asahi's form. At first, it seemed it was going in the right direction, but then for a moment, a malicious aura appeared around it as the imposing chime of a metronome started to tick and tock as if trying to rip the light apart. For a moment it seemed like Shadow Asahi was about to take back to its personified form, but then the green light started to devour the malicious aura away with the chimes receding to a whimper. Yet when it was all said, and done Asahi still remained unresponsive... that was until Heartbreak made an attempt to address him.

There was no reflexive movement at first, but the sound of a projector starting up induced a change to the environment as the starry night sky appeared above them, and albeit a grainy afterimage started to form around them showing the docks around Yokohama port. The ocean breeze could be heard over the wafting winds with those present finding themselves at the edge of the docks a bit behind an extremely sweating, and visibly concerned Asahi holding onto a unique embroidered silver suitcase. The waves around were getting violent as the wind picked up confirming the start of a thunderstorm clearly about to take off. Yet the person ahead of him held a tight grip on the tensity of the situation along with a magnum between her lithe fingers. The woman was a visible identifiable problem... she looked like no one they knew around the matter. Clearly, age had a factor on appearance in this matter, but the girl with light brown hair, and sharp emerald eyes flickered wildly by the curves of the dangerous tides bellowed caressed by numerous tears seeming to yell at Asahi.

For whatever reason the sounds of their voices were muted not attainable by whatever blockers were in place. Yet what was clear is they were arguing over the case as she seemed to point at it before pointing back at him clearly expecting him to hand it over. They were both emotional wrecks from the looks on their faces with hers a cosmetic disaster from tears and ocean spray, and clearly worsening as his words seemed to fail him.

"...iko you don't have to pretend.... your... wonderous.... don't live... lies," Asahi's voice finally started to filter in as the storm picked up thunder and lightning now brazenly echoing on the scene. Whatever the whole sentence had been had clearly rattled the woman to her core it seemed as if shock, and confusion set in her grip winning as the firearm shook in her hands. In some last attempt to ease the situation, Asahi reached out to her moving a step forward. A massive flash of light overtook the memory blinding everyone present as it cleared out in the white they could see Asahi trembling as he looked down to the slowly forming pool of blood around his abdomen he looked back up confused looking at a startled and equally shocked female who dropped the gun immediately running towards him as he reached out to her... before falling straight into the ocean. Disorientation would take place as the viewpoint swapped to a submerged violent twisting sequence as Asahi was taken by the waves... drowning... the memory would violently flip in all directions until halting for a moment as something seemed to snatch onto him before once again violently spinning. Yet this time with the notable direction of tugging here, and there before the image resurfacing blinded everyone to a street lamp by the beachside. The image would open a bit wider as it came to show... the female had dived after him saving him from a watery grave. The intense ringing sound cut off any ability to hear anything but it was clear as she got atop of him and started to compress against his chest with her hands... she was trying to save him. While the sand caked and spread around the woman's arm with each tearful attempt the silence turned concerning as the light dimmed around the image. As this all played out the Shadow of Asahi suddenly muttered something to Heartbreak.

"No... not... me.... we.... justice... save," was all that escaped as the bright lights of a van landed on her before a team of people dressed in black rushed in getting her off him as they seemed to bring in proper equipment, and started to work on him. It was here a distorted figure appeared reaching a hand to the female offering to help her up. It was clear words were being exchanged as another man in black came up bringing up the suitcase Asahi had offering it to the distorted figure as they in turn offered it to the girl. It seemed some sort of deal was taking place over the contents of the case. The female was hesitant, not sure, and clearly disoriented herself as she seemed to look at the case, and then Asahi. It was here a more prominent stern face appeared upon her features as she seemed to counter offer catching the distortion off guard before seeming to vibrate in the form of laughter. When it subsided it seemed a deal was struck as the distortion offered a hand in acceptance. From there Asahi was lifted and pulled away allowing them to see no more of the scene as it eroded away.

"... W....t.....f...," Would be quietly heard from Oracles lips over the comms as the train area returned to normal. It was a unexpected continuation of the very story told at the shadow theater performed by the palace ruler
.....................................................................................

~For Better or Worse~

There was hesitation in the air that filled Koga's senses as the prominent cinema figure was now eerily turning completely to Masami. Staunch fingers pittered and pattered against the woman's sleeves with eyes locking onto the mossheads. She had heard about the Shujin Academy coach incident, and the backing filtering of neglect that imprisoned the principal as well, but Shujin was still a high listing school so why or who would be so foolish to allow such a hesitant club member be sent to act in a program that could further hinder recovery of that properties name. After a moment of silence however the green girl spoke returning to her original reasoning.

"I see. Very well... continue," Koga responded placated for now as the story hasn't been changed and there was no sign of the story changing to latch into actual concern. The green girl however seemed unwilling to stay in the sequence almost as of concerned... yet it seemed the blonde bombshell was starting to be hesitant as well... and now that Masami had taken the attention of herself was now more intriguing and grabbing of her notion than before. Something was up the green one could at least hide the the guise of being a stunt person so social skills could be awkward, yet the blonde was a model their hesitance to social speaking shouldn't have been so off kilter. Yet the question that followed this time was one that made sense to ask. It was a legit reporting question... so these girls were simply new to the field maybe. The harsh glare that has been slowly flowing from her eyes died down starting to accept a formal truth that these two could also just be in a club miss managed with a generation of newer members. Letting out a annoyed sigh she stopped her signs of annoyance seeming to accept that her stature alone was probably a reason to why they were acting so strange it wasn't the first time after all.

"Listen carefully if your friends desire to enter this field they need to be willing to not only destroy their competition, but take from them as well. The film industry is as much a business as any other ideas are really original in this day and age. And while most companies will play safe to make small earnings the real riches come from salvaging what didn't work and combining it with different themes. Just cause someone has a good idea doesn't mean their perfect for running it, but if you take their idea and hand it to someone more capability you'll end up with a gold mine of success. Sometimes too climb up to be noticed you need to give up on your own ideas and run with someone else's," Koga shared her theory to success in the field of cinema.

While this was all going on a small group of workers passed by a bit more boisterous than liked Koga sent them a quick glance causing them to freeze up before hurrying their pace clearly having no desire to be in the line of whatever fire could be brewing. As they left the small sound of creaking metal would be hard at the end by Koga.

"Can't be happier to be leaving this "historical" building nothing but a eye sore," she strangely reacted in a hiss. Thanks to this moment of distraction Mona would have just enough time to bolt and make it to Ann's bag. Regardless what took place next the woman finally turned away from the now gone crowd to the girls.

"Alright your time is up. I must say you both have a long way to go if you consider this a field choice you want to pursue, or help your current jobs," Koga bluntly recorded to them clearly not sure what to make of what they were up to with minor options for and against them being intellects, or just plan dim minded. Regardless she reached a hand closing her door as she seemed to be prepped for her next meeting.

"Also I remind you in particular don't fuck up my movie I have a lot riding on this finale, and I have no problems drowning those who fail to perform as directed," without even batting a eye or with any emotional output addressed Masami before walking away as if it was just another day on the job.
.....................................................................................

 

[TreasureSniper]

As always, Baron remained mostly silent throughout the remaining exchange between the Phantom Thieves and the odd doctor. While he never had any doubts that the doctor was capable of accessing suppressed memories and thoughts, he was indeed bewildered by the sheer intensity of imagery coming from this relatively mundane individual. The echo of the memory seemed to have sucked the entire crew in, turning them into reluctant spectators of this unfortunate soul.

From what Baron could gather, while the shadow itself may not be a significant threat, it was indeed capable of feats much greater than the usual rabble of the same threat level. Many questions went through the young man's mind as the story of the mysterious individual slowly unraveled. As tragic as this person's story was, the reality is injustice such as this happens all the time. While Baron had some sympathy for the poor soul, he knew for a fact that they had more pressing matters to attend to. The people that came from the van were of much greater interest to someone like him. There wasn't much information to go around for that specific party, and yet in his eyes, it was the only element that was truly intriguing. Who were they affiliated with? Can they be found? Will they be useful in furthering his own agenda? Many more questions emerged rather than answers.

"Interesting." Baron made a comment in passing, gaining a renewed sense of interest in the mystery of this shadow and how it was connected to the palace. The meta merc presence, the men in black, the irregular shadow. He can feel it, they are on the cusps of something significant here. "And so the mystery deepens...." He was intrigued by all of these circumstances. At the very least, even if he won't get any satisfying answers to his questions, the experience of solving such a mystery and overcoming a palace of this caliber would give the Phantom Thieves a much-needed boost in confidence and growth of their threat levels. "Thank you for your service, Sage. Now then...we need to make a decision on how we would want to handle this matter." At the end of the day, the thieves were the ones who needed to decide their own fate, or at least believe they were.

 

[Nellancholy]

Shiro had expected...something. Testimony, perhaps. Like a witness spilling their guts to a cop. Like a sinner at confessional (or so she heard). Instead Asahi's Shadow projected out a torrent of light and smell, an odor that was reminiscent of the sea. Somehow, the ocean and symbolism surrounding it was becoming more and more relevant to this case. And speaking of cases...

Asahi, when he was still in the land of the waking, seemed to have something within that case that was of considerable value. Not materially, perhaps, but because of some important information that it held within? She couldn't tell. That girl with emerald eyes, despite her confronting Asahi with a weapon, seemed to be reluctant to hurt him, and desperate to gain his compliance.

But it happened anyway.

The rest was a blur, from Asahi's point of view.

The girl with the gun seemed to have taken possession of the case, while Asahi was taken away and presumably treated, though not by people who had much care for him.

And his Shadow's last words...asking for justice for "we"? Not just himself, but the girl who shot him...

Shiro shook her head, regaining her senses.

"Beppu...his heart is not centered on himself. What I mean to say is...his concern for this 'Iko' seems to override any feelings he has regarding her attack on him." She crossed her arms. "I counsel that we meet back up with Panther and Mona, go over their findings. It is my belief that Iko, or rather the case she was holding...is our key to unraveling the secrets of the master of that palace."

 

[Maeve Valor]

Thankfully, Koga seemed to buy into her lie for the time being. Even so, Masami was still on edge and with Koga's response, it did not help. This woman was diligent, cold, and selfish. A dangerous combination of traits that Masami found unsettling, encouraging her to leave the area as soon as possible. So after Koga's constructive criticism followed by what she took as a threat, Masami was unable to resist making a challenging remark of her own to combat her uneasiness around the woman. "I have no such intentions. Despite what you may think, I always take my tasks seriously and I always perform as directed. Whether it be for school or for a part time job," she said intentionally dropping her facade to take one last risk. Since Koga already had a low opinion of her, Masami decided it would hurt to bare her fangs a little at the woman. Koga seemed like the type of woman to those who were confident. Maybe not of people as confident as herself, but that were enough to get the job done.

Slightly reverting back to her polite student demeanor as she followed Koga out of her office she stated, "It was a pleasure interviewing you Miss Koga. I hope to further prove my worth in the future." She did a curt bow to the woman before leaving along with Ann after she made her own exit.

Assuming that Morgana was able to find his way back into Ann's backpack undetected by this point, they left the building. She then searched for a spot that looked like it didn't have any surveillance cameras in the area and led Ann around a building nearby before taking out her phone. "Let's head into the Metaverse so that we can openly talk about what we were able to gather as we travel to meet up with the others," she said as she pressed the red icon on her phone and wondered if the rest were able to gather anything more from Asahi's shadow.

That Weird girl Azurian Dream

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When there was no response within the first few moments, Sage had started to wonder if he perhaps needed to take a different approach when it came to halting Asahi's catatonic state. Though when Heartbreak spoke, it seemed to jump start some latent part of him in the form of a projection. It was all so fascinating to the doctor since he had never seen any Shadow in such a warped state in this way before. He had seen many shadows go into a frenzy due to their own desires; but an opposite effect occurred with this shadow because of whatever his situation was in the real world. On top of that, this shadow was now showing his past in broken parts by means of projection. As the scene continued on, Sage dared not utter anything so as not to potentially break this new development. He himself had very little to go off of when it came to the context of what was going on, but he gathered that any discovery from watching this could help his new acquaintances. Although, he couldn't help but feel a bit queasy at the sight of Asahi's blood as it brought up a memory of his own that regularly escapes the confines of his mind to plague him. To stop himself from lingering on this thought, he looked away uncomfortably.

After the projection had ended, Sage was about to say something aloud pertaining to the results as a way to block out his previous thoughts until he remembered he was instructed by Baron specifically that he was not to speak unless spoken to first. So he decided against being verbal once more all up until the point when Baron thanked him directly, giving him the window of opportunity that he was looking for. "No, I should be the one thanking you. This already has given me so much more input to study with," he said as he scratched the back of his own head over the paper bag as he listened to what Heartbreak had to say.

"Considering the fact that he is desperate to communicate, I was able to momentarily give him what he wanted. So what you saw definitely was something he wanted you to see. You might be onto something miss. Perhaps it was the case that he wanted to bring to your attention as worth looking into. Whatever seems to be mentally blocking him must be a heavy burden on him though... I wish I was able to do more for you folks and him." The more the doctor spoke the more somber his words became, showing that he truly felt sympathy for Asahi. Upon realizing his own tone he tried to lighten the mood by then asking Baron, "Is this the kind of stuff you usually find yourself in with the Phantom Thieves? If so, why don't you invite me more often? I would imagine that they are a magnet for heaps of valuable research material. Oh but don't let me ramble, please go ahead discuss what you must."

Nellancholy TreasureSniper Anthem

 

[Anthem]

Virtually gluing his eyes to the projections that was set before the thieves via Beppu, Tragedy would immediately start reading the scene for clues and info onto this case. Nothing was too small of a detail to potentially be of some usage to the thieves, especially in a case such as this one where their info has been so limited as of lately. Normally he would be typing into his cellular device to keep track of key points, but the fool didn't dare glance away for a singular moment as that could be all it takes to miss the most of important of it all. So he watched every single moment with his eyes peeled, not even flinching as the proclaimed "-iko" had shot the defenseless Beppu. The only visible reactions on the boy's visage were visible disdain towards "-iko" and the other figures involved within the scene mixed in with some general curiosity. Light taps could be heard emitting from his general vicinity as his thought process started to work over time in an attempt to at least loosely connect everything to what they already knew to the new information they had just acquired via the mind-show.

"Yokohama..." Starting to ramble under his breath, Tragedy's eyes would be bouncing from side to side like a screensaver with it's speed boosted by at least ten times. It was like he was looking at invisible components, and was trying to connect them but only ending up with a knotted up web of mystery that still had too many holes within it to truly call it solved. "An attempted murder by "-iko" who then saved him from a watery grave... A team saves Beppu as the suspect most likely makes a deal of some kind... with laughter on top of it..." Biting his knuckle and closing his eyes, the fool tried his best to make a logical assumption of it all, but he just couldn't gather enough info to make a confident enough statement. So instead the brute would let out a tired sigh as he walked towards the unstable shadow and patting him on the shoulder a few times. "We'll make the head honcho of this twisted fate pay for this, I'm sure of it." A valid display of compassion, as the will to find the just who the ruler of the pirate's palace truly was grew ever stronger within Tragedy's heart.

Walking away from the Beppu, the fool's head quickly swiveled as his gaze had locked onto Sage, the boy having heard the supposedly mood-lifting question the doctor had asked Baron. His gaze darkened as he spoke in a stern tone. "What we deal with isn't simply "research material", it's the wellbeing of people's lives and making sure a few bastards get what they had coming for them. If you see it solely as something to observe and research from a distance, instead of taking action... Maybe you should back the hell off." After the unexpected words from the fool, he had faced back towards his original route, his mood lightening back to what it was previously. He would look over to Heartbreak and nod to his ally. "Agreed, let's hope that whatever they learned brings calm to the chaos we just witnessed..."

 

[TreasureSniper]

Sage's additional input was expected, given his fascination with the metaverse, and understandably so, Tragedy was rather annoyed by the doctor's fixation on his research material instead of the person's misfortune. While Baron knew it was not Sage's intention to do so, the young man could not help but feel mildly irked by his blatant disregard for the mood of the room. "Sage, you will find that not everyone shares your...obsession... with the metaverse," Baron spoke with a neutral tone, reminding Sage to be more mindful when talking with the "team". "That said...there is one commonality between all of you..." Pausing for a brief moment, Baron decides to share his observations of the group.

"A strong sense of altruism." In the past, this aspect was often criticized by Baron, however, he is beginning to realize that this was the reason why the cohesion between their team was so strong in the first place. Indeed, as much as faults them for being supposedly naive, this aspect is likely the reason why this band of misfits is still standing. "As for you joining our operations, I will leave that for the thieves to decide. While your talents are useful, your...obsession can be a hindrance to their progress." He wasn't blind to the possible friction between Sage and the thieves. "That said, I will vouch for Sage. As long as he stays within his set perimeters, he is a valuable asset to the team." Baron gave credit where credit was due, the doctor was very useful when it came to dealing with strong anomalies and finding answers to mysteries. "I have no doubts that his powers would be useful in uncovering who these perpetrators were. And if they can be found....they can be crushed with impunity. " Despite being seemingly coldhearted, even Baron had a strong distaste for injustice such as this.

 

[Maeve Valor]

"Such a sudden domineering reaction to my statement. A strong pension for integrity often means that they were treated unfairly at some point or even currently in their life. It also potentially means that they have something they want to prove to themself. Is that why he was passionate about this? Did all of the Phantom Thief members have something that they each needed to prove?" Sage pondered after first was taken aback by Tragedy's words, although he couldn't fault the young man for thinking that his intentions were in the wrong place. "If only he knew..." he thought understanding how his excitement in the research of Cognitive Psience could come off as him disregarding when in fact it was quite the opposite. He knew that any new fact was a step closer to hopefully lessen the emotional scars of those who have been battered and beaten down by the inequity of the world. Thinking about potentially alleviating any of that pain due to his studies usually delighted him as this was further brought up by Baron who spoke soon after.

"Thank you Baron. Right, of course. The last thing I would want is to be a hindrance. I will just politely extend an offer of my services to all of you then. And I also apologize for perhaps coming off as enterprising. Please keep in mind that as a doctor, I strive for the wellbeing of others- um" Sage pointed a finger in the air upward to emphasize the point he was trying to make and seemed like he wanted to say something else but the words were caught in his mouth. "Sorry I don't believe I caught your name. There's Oracle, Cryptid, Prophet, Heartbreak, and of course Baron but your name hasn't been addressed," Sage asked guilelessly and yet inwardly the counselor was beginning to take special interest in the hooded thief.

 

[Anthem]

Stopping dead in his tracks and trying to show at least some respect to the investor, Tragedy would hear Baron out for a little bit as the fool took a moment to calm his animosity towards Sage. Talking about bringing their current targets to justice, by crushing them like the scum they are brought a small smile to the hooded thief's visage before the boy nodded a few times. "Fine, fine... The oh so great doctor can remain as long as he continues to be useful. That's the only reason why I'm okay with such a result." His response was said in a huff but at least he spoke his mind... even though it was just more spite towards the one who wore a paper bag as a mask. Despite his wishes, they weren't meeting up with the others quite yet as the doctor had just one more question, specifically for the horned thief before him.

"My name? I doubt you'll need it as I'm sure to avoid you as much as possible... But sure, I'll humor you." Turning to Sage to look at the doctor "eye to eye", Tragedy started his miniature introduction. "Among the thieves I'm known as Tragedy. You know, like the works of Shakespeare, Sophocles and Euripides?" Being a tad dramatic, the fool would perform a small bow, truly showing his act as a showman, a trickster. "The displeasure is mine." His faked smile returned to the grimace he had before performing the small scene. Rising after the bow, the fool would turn away and took a few steps away as he awaited for them to meet with the others.

Maeve Valor

 

[That Weird girl]

Morgana had managed to use that distraction to slip safely into Ann's bag, still holding the files in his mouth. Hopefully they weren't too soggy for the others to look over. When the cat made it into Ann's bag, he let go of the files and sighed, jeez that was a close call he thought to himself. Mona agreed with Masami on that, he wanted to get the hell out of there. "Thanks for uh covering for me girls," Morgana said and smiled a little, "that would have turned ugly fast if Koga had heard the sounds I made..." He shivered at the thought of if Koga had caught him in the act of breaking into her stuff, although she might faint from shock if a cat was doing it.

"Good work Morgana and Masami! Yeah lets go back." Ann cheered when they were in the clear, away from everyone. Masami had led them away and pulled out her phone, pulling them into the Metaverse. Soon, Morgana was standing on two feet and Ann and Masami had their costumes on. Morgana still held the files in his hands and looked at the two girls, "Sooooo, is Oracle going to come get us or something?" He was confused on where to go.

Ann thought for a moment, "yeahhhh I probably should let her know that we are done..." She quickly tried to contact Oracle via comms, "Oracle? This is Panther, we got the evidence."

Maeve Valor Azurian Dream

 

[Azurian Dream]

~Burning Questions~

Anthem Nellancholy Maeve Valor TreasureSniper

Once everything came back down to conciseness and verbiage of the projected memory Prophet was unable to speak much at the moment. Whether it was Baron's intrigued interest in the unknown element revealed at the end in the form of the men in black a desire to take from what could be gained, Heartbreaks concerned notice of emotional strings attached from Beppu to this "iko" connecting to her own heartstrings of understanding the need to protect, Cryptics benign notice of the unusual details most would ignore as useless yet was of the pact to twist the Palace rulers goal to their advantage, Swans obligation to see things fixed for the better rather than shatter a obstacle useless, Panthers drive to be of use to move forward, or Tragedy's studious fever of anger as the scene played out by those at fault. It was such a strange sense of so many different goals and reasons laid bare that the Prophet finally understood something most curious. The Phantom Thieves were each their own kingdom of woes and phantoms that drove them to help others of similar fates. What plagued them, what made them so willing to throw caution to the wind, and what were the scars that pushed them so? Prophet found them so different much like himself they all had different reasons as to why they were doing this. Yet... here they were two missions in experiences a first look into them all in one way or another, and from the mass of insanity to all being shown Prophet could see only the outer layer of what made them so unique. And found himself wanting to know more.

"They really are a genuine diamond in the rough aren't they," whether that was directed at Oracle, or Sage was a hard guess yet Prophet felt strangely pulled to them in the heart of their burning embers. They were such a magnet for a death wish, and yet as dire as this was all quickly becoming with the meta-mercs being more than what he expected as a gun at their side Prophet found himself with a feeling he hadn't had for a while... that passionate drive to see it through just like them. Yet was that okay? Was it okay to let that which harmed him so much be his force forward? Yet again Dascal and Prophet were too different masks of the same entity as long as he kept those burnt embers away from Dascal surely it was okay to let them glow as Prophet.

"That is rather kind of you psycho top, I am going to hold you to that promise," Oracle softly spoke watching Tragedy pat shadow Asahi's shoulder concern easily notable in her voice for the man though before any words could be shared she watched him get into it with Sage causing Cryptic to catch a soft smile at the boy's goal to be sweet moment and an understandable ass the next.

"It was definitely Yokohama port by the way I just looked up some visuals around that year, and there a complete match. Unfortunately, the police have no idea that was the case as he was reported being found at a hospital parking lot somewhat attended... enough to be given time to be saved by said hospital, They drove him pretty far away from the original scene," Oracle pulled up going over the original report or what she could find of it from the newspapers at the time. Prophet had forbidden her from hacking the police for direct information as it was deemed to be taking a step without a valid reason to play that dangerously.

Given that Tragedy's growing anger at Sage's remark could be felt as a sign that they had been at this too long for a day nerves were clearly reaching limits with what all had been revealed. Something to which Prophet knew simply needed to be redirected rather than detained surprisingly though, Baron noticed making an interesting comment of his own that was well marked to what he had observed of them which weirdly fit Prophet, and Oracle. How strange a world to run into such a rare trait amongst a group none the less. Even more surprisingly it seemed to be infectiously showing Baron's emotions a bit desiring to see justice wrought as well. Though justice was a beautiful word Prophet wanted to see things in full strain in understanding. The scale of justice and judgment was very harsh, but one could also miss things if driven home too hard... this case was not so simple anymore before.

Yet just like the Prophet was breaking them down in understanding... Oracle could see Sage doing the exact same thing... and why did that concern her so? Oracle had been watching her big bro's view noting his minor tweaks in certain directions to certain members. She could guess somewhat what he was thinking, but really her attention was now on Sage... Oracle could only imagine the explosion of potential her mother could have if she discovered the meta-verse, or even what she could do. Yet here there was someone just like her in the thick of it all, and yet he was limited in his cognitive presence... why? Oracle mulled over her concerns he mentioned his research which sent unusual shivers down her spine... what was his goal in this unknown scape. Yet in the end, Baron mentioned his proxy of having good faith in Sage... yet the unknown was never easy to invite in even if vouched for by another. Once Tragedy was done with his introduction...

"Prophet may I inquire about an inherent or shall I say embryonic thought," Cryptic requested causing the said unaffiliated party to tilt his head.

"Oh? By which would you like to divulge with each other," Prophet asked curious now as to what they had both apparently noticed.

"The Meta-Mercs," Cryptic voiced with a sobering tone though one which Prophet clearly clicked to as well as he seemed to take a much more unexpected nor seen before serious stance as he lifted his hands into a crossed position with his left raising a hand against his chin.

"Ah, you noticed as well. Yes, let's discuss that real quick to not hinder the rest of the party before we head back in. I believe it is time to rule this palace out as a resort function. Dr. Sage would you be so kind as to be our proxy of example," Prophet spoke in deep contemplation as he moved over to the bagged man.

(Awesome collab bit with Maeve Valor )
After listening to Tragedy’s official introduction, Sage pondered just how fitting the code name fits the story of his life. The voice of the Prophet and what he had to say about the group further made him curious. The way he made it sound like was that he himself was not part of the Phantom Thieves. Before he could inquire on this Oracle moved the conversation on along with Cryptic to speak about the MetaMercs. A group that Sage himself had thankfully hardly ever come across. To Sage, the Mercs’ intentions were even more of a mystery than the Phantom Thieves were. So the fact that the Prophet wanted to speak to him about such things confused him slightly yet he was fully ready to help. “Of course, I will assist however I can.”

"Excellent, say you're in charge of a highly sorted merc industry then," Cryptic oddly placed it out there with some rhyme, but no standing reason clearly expecting him to say it actually allowed.

"O-oh okay," Sage responded as if appalled with the thought of being involved in such a thing. "I am in charge of a merc industry," he repeated as he placed his index fingers in the sides of his head where his temples were.

"We're method actors. Now say you select a resort location for your group. The optimal choice would be that of something lower range, unnoticeable, and not drawing much attention right," Prophet asked giving a humored reason for Sage to move on from his confusion.

The doctor thought for a moment before confirming, "That is correct. The ideal location would be well out of sight from people that could potentially recognize them."

"So why would you choose such a complex location? With numerous detrimental factors that could turn on you with one wrong attitude, or better yet let it be obvious it is of something interesting by trapping it in a notable cube of colossus mass for all to see. Why not let it hide via natural means why the extra layer of notable security... or in better terms why develop a scare tactic," Cryptic asked in a quick rapid session.

In a manner just as lively and not even pausing to think this time, "True but we mustn't forget the foundation of this prompt in that there still needs to be ties to such a place. If not for recreational means the other two options would be either personal or for business reasons."

"Indubitably. So why wouldn't you chase out an Invading element to avoid harming such an investment regardless of type? Why would you an organization dead set on being the best, and in turn being undermined by said invading force not then pull away all elements that could harm said location from the outside of your control," Prophet paused as suddenly the dots started clicking in quick rotation.

"If I had to wager, I would say that this is probably more business-oriented then. If it were a personal matter they would drive out any opposing forces to their cause, yet on the other hand they have an obligation to secure it so they must be benefiting in some way," he mused.

"But why the inspiration of risk. I mean there's playing with your food but this seems rather outlandish," Cryptic muttered.

"Cause like a shadow, you may or may not have altered to keep certain things about the palace secret... in fact, why would you be completely unexpected of its arrival in an area it roams," Prophet voiced upon the only solid answer to the series of thoughts.

"Cause you don't know it exists...," Cryptic spoke in a whisper upon making the same goal.

"Which means It's not a job nor a pleasure, but to someone else it is that important," Prophet answered turning his attention to the others with the knowledge that the men in black were indeed not part of the meta mercs but indeed some other function operating inside the metaverse. Going to such a extreme length to avoid contact with a palace they knew existed, and help create yet still had someone else minorly handling it with as little information shared as possible.

"I am going to hide Asahi's Shadow the last thing we need is the potential of someone coming back to find out what's going on like us or the real culprit looking to cut loose ends. I'll meet back up with you guys at Oracle's safe room," Prophet expressed before heading over to Asahi's Shadow quickly guiding him out of mementos via shadow stealth jumping.
........................................................................

~Con'ed~
That Weird girl Maeve Valor

"Birds of fucking prey... you would think the prospect of closing out a massive retirement check would be elating news," Koga's sour scowl was hinted with pure agitation by another sequence of some of the older leads wanting to start working on branching out again upon the end of Sakura's contract, and the international rights sales to all her prior IP's. In their madness, they wanted to keep working and try to make a gaggle of golden eggs, as if they would ever find anyone quantifiable near Sakura, and her team's talent. Endless gluttons the lot of them, made her sick to her stomach how much they reminded her of that "vulture" aiming to taste everything in his view. He couldn't just be satisfied with the means to be comfortable no he needed to be... drowned in it like that disgusting vagabond he was. Yet it didn't matter, their use for one another was soon to be over. In the long game, she had furnished her fame, and now her end to it all no more need to play the parts in this endless monotony of masquerades to play.

They always wanted more never happy with what they had while others were made to live by the scraps thrown around in the higher powers that be's rush to the next entree. She was there though about to whet her appetite, and finally have the end result of her endless sight brought to a satisfied... end. Koga opened the door to her office eyes suddenly going wide as she saw her cabinet files a mess, and not just any cabinet files. Those of the most complicated designations that would take clear ominous means to break into. She rushed over closing the door behind her and locking it as she checked the sides before fully entering. He wouldn't dare... the woman went straight for the one on the far right slamming into her desk in a panic causing her to hiss as she didn't halt regardless of the pain.

"No... it's untouched... good, good," she hissed playing her hands atop it just glad to see no signs of infiltration or attempt to force it open. "She" was still safe for now it seemed Koga paused looking to the one at the far left freezing in place as she looked down to see her gun unfastened from its hiding spot. Still in pain, she slowly inched over to the middle using the top of the cabinets to help her move over as she slowly squatted down. Rage started to take her over... if the firearm had been untaken what had, and why? She moved back up to her full length before realizing the far left one of a wooden unique security design... had also been tampered with.

On the side of the wood, there were strange scratch marks unnatural by any means of existence yet feline in nature? Only someone of precision and extreme skill could have opened these two in such a short matter of time... those girls. Who else could it have been she had just exited her office when they were distracting her no one could have gotten past her, and the way those two carried the conversation was odd in all the strangest places the only other way to potentially do so was through... of course. Koga's fist came down hard on the metal cabinet leaving a notable slowly bloodening dent. He wasn't above using any means to make his point... he was sending a message... of course, he had left in such a benign hissy fit over his lost toy that he would do this. Before mentally thinking to see what was taken in the documents she flipped to her desk grabbing her office phone as blood dripped from her palm.

"Yes, mis..."

"Yuno where are those girls."

"Ma'am?"

"THE STUDENT REPORTERS FROM SHUJIN."

"Oh, one sec they just left the building."

"HAVE SECURITY GRAB THEM."

"Ye....s...yes ma'am," In a panic the secretary could be heard running off yelling out the directives to security. For a moment Koga scowled in her draining patience going over every defensive maneuver she now had to the situation. She was right there all that had to happen was for the movie to screen, and it was done all off it... he had nothing on her to stay no reason for her to continue helping him with his crude wants. They were done, and he was now acting like a clown trying to ring her back in... she knew it was possible for him to see her as one of his shiny attractions to keep his tastes in line... yet going this far to keep her via phantom tactics... no she wouldn't let it slide that's why she had "her" at the ready. In her thoughts she quickly grabbed her cell phone pulling Shujin Academy's information site within a few quick clicks she was calling one of the school lines.

"Hello, this Is Fumio Inshi from the Shujin Academy Journalism Club how might we spotlight you," a very lively energetic girl clearly with braces sung.

"Hi, sweetie this is Mrs. Takamaki I don't mean to be a bother, but my lovely Ann has been attempting to join for the past few weeks and well seems to keep getting cold feet. Yet today she was so excited that I had to know if she finally approached you all," Koga spoke in a rather well-drawn tone of motherly worry so sickly sweet it would have disturbed anyone to see it come from the bloody faces smiling woman with violently shaking eyes.

"Aw we had no idea, Ann's so popular, and well-loved that I am surprised we never noticed it before, but no worries ma'am I will totally root for her success to join the club," the girl on the other side of the room spoke with undeniable shock to the news followed by way too much excitement. Koga's nails started to dig drag marks into her desk as her vicious smile grew as her free hand reached for a financial report from Tanbano... there it was.

"Darn, I was hoping today would be the day. What about her friend Yumi Asuka," Koga asked looking up the name of their stunt woman.

"Huh, I am not going to lie I have never heard that name before, but I guess that confirms she hasn't either BUT I'LL ROOT FOR HER TO MA'AM," the braces girl chimed.

"Thank you darling please do me a favor and keep this between us, also have a good day," Koga disgustingly sang as a charming lady before hanging up the phone still having heard nothing back she brought up the stuntman guild sight typing in the girls name as her secretary came back on the call.

"Ma'am I am sorry they are nowhere to be seen," the secretary finally responded hesitant and scared of how her boss would react. Koga's eyes went back from amused to anger to confusion so quickly were these emotions she started to laugh in a rage causing the secretary in her own panic to accidently yelp as Koga slammed the phone disconnecting the call as she dropped into her desk rubbing her bloody hand all over her face with a vicious smile. On her phone was a picture of the stunt woman Yumi Asuka.... and well it looked nothing like the girl they had hired on. A fingernail snapped against her desk...

"So whips lashing out against the crowds or nothing at all is it? Fine, I'll play one last round of jumping through the flames with you."

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

~Gathered Results~

That Weird girl Maeve Valor Nellancholy Anthem TreasureSniper

After hiding Shadow Asahi, Prophet regrouped with the rest of Team Tragedy as they were waiting for Team Swan to touch base. The green monk was silent as Oracle was waiting on her end to do her bit. The events of the day were starting to weigh heavy on their shoulders for the duo it had been a long afternoon after all. As the Prophet came into the safe room he rested his side against Oracle's computer before suddenly being met with her extended outhand.

"Give it up boss man," Oracle blankly expressed with her hand stretched out to him.

"Hm?"

"Don't play coy with me you know its time is up... shattered out of the competition just like the baton," Oracle spoke analyzing everything they could find on Asahi's cause rapidly taking in an immense amount of information in mere moments that the regular eye couldn't keep up with minus those of hacker, or cybercrime origin. With a soft defeated sigh, he pulled out his tri-barrel shotgun handing it over to Oracle as without even turning away from her research she disengaged the grapple hook from it. As she used her feet to pull out two cases from underneath the table she was working at she was quick to hand him the smaller case with her feet before tossing him the grapple hook attachment. Upon opening it revealed a much more polished and well put together golden laced Tri-barrel shotgun.




Going over its more majestic design, and smaller frame Prophet spun it a few times as he became familiar with its weight proportions before adding the grappling hook attachment to it. As he did such Oracle finally stood up grabbing the bigger case surprisingly bringing it over to Heartbreak raising it up in a awkward offering to her.

"I noticed your jousting lance was getting near that same strain of issue thankfully we actually have something for you in the polearm category... if you want. I wish I had a gun to your liking as well but we haven't came across such in our own travels of the metaverse," Oracle wasn't sure what to make of Heartbreak yet as the two hadn't exactly talked, but she had been just as much a part of Prophet coming back in one piece as the rest and she wanted to thank her for that in a way that held meaning. Though right as it was handed over Oracle received Panthers transmission.

"Oh there back one sec I'll get them here," running up to Necronomicon the team present would watch as a bunch of tentacles would come out catching her before lifting her inside her persona. Within a matter of seconds Panther, and Swan would find themselves showing up in a flash of light amongst the rest of the crew. As such the events of both parties was shared giving out quite a hearty hefty of information to follow about. At the end of it all though it came down to being heavy on what both sides experienced.

"I think our best course from here would be to concentrate on what the files reveal in turn with the memory given by Asahi. If your okay with it I would like to go over it," Oracle requested of Swan who currently has the documentation.

"We'll need to lay low on our actions for a few days given the meta mercs now are expecting us to return eventually given the nature of your earlier conquests that know you won't stop until a change of heart has shifted," Prophet proposed before adding.

"Though before we depart I know it may be strange to ask but what are all of your reads on this situation. I mean it has evolved beyond what even I could have projected honestly. Atop the fact the meta mercs are getting more crazed to hunt you due to my own actions I would rather not add a second hunter further of my own goals on your heads," Prophet advised seeking both their thoughts and maybe well giving them a chance to back out if they wanted as this could get well end up crossing the streams with another highly dangerous group. Yet he doubted backing out was even in their vocabulary as such he was more so seeing what they believed should be concentrated on or what they caught that he didn't to add to the overall directive they should initiate going forward.

 

[Nellancholy]

Shiro was not yet privy to the discussion that had occurred between Sage, Prophet, and Cryptic, and frankly she would have been too tired to contribute anyway. The day had been very long, and few people still had their hearts in it to do much more work.

She exhaled, taking off her helmet in the apparent safety of Oracle's safe room. The circuit of power between her and Thrud was cut, and she could breathe easier again.

Oracle did her little show, making a display of giving gifts to Prophet and herself. She hadn't thought much of actually changing the weapons she bore (which had seemed quite adequate up till today), but it was quite welcome.

"Appreciated, Oracle. I ask not what you had to endure to get this, but I thank you all the same."

She hefted the heavy polearm as if it wasn't much more than a baseball bat. The tip of the weapon had a short and finely-edged blade, all the better to lacerate any poor foe that found themselves run through with it. The flare near the handle was somewhat flat and angled, allowing it to cover a good part of Shiro's torso when it was set under her arm. All in all, the weapon seemed like it would be somewhat less effective when thrown as she sometimes chose to, but all the stronger on offense and defense in close quarters.

Unconcerned with the matter of her gun or the other adversaries for now, she looked to Panther and Swan as they arrived, a welcome presence. "Welcome back." Not that the other members of the team were unreliable, but she certainly appreciated the trust the two had extended to her, especially Swan. "You two appear to have fought a battle of sorts as well. I trust your findings are well worth it."

 

[Maeve Valor]

After the riveting conversation, Sage couldn't help but be impressed by Prophet and Cryptic's reasoning. Even though he wasn't filled in on all the details, he still believed that their logic was sound. And with Prophet following up to relocate the person known as Asahi, Sage in the mean time decided to study the surrounding area close to the group. One of the things he has wondered the significance of why certain sections of Mementos looked different than the previous section; And why the lower one goes, the more eerie the areas seemed to be. Was it just the atmosphere? Was it instinctual? Or was it the inane ability to sense certain danger that most seemed to acquire when they accept their persona?

Later on, Swan, Mona, and Panther were all brought to the safe room followed by Swan muttering to herself, "I will need to get used to getting assistance from a UFO..." She then looked around the room to make sure everyone was there before starting a debrief on what the two teams had discovered in which they all were accounted for and there was even an additional person she had not expected. Her eyes landed on the stranger with the paper bag over his head as she looked over the rest of his attire, coming to the conclusion that this must be the doctor that Sougo had briefly mentioned he was helping with his research.

Whilst thinking this, Sage had also obviously taken notice of the trio's arrival and did a headcount as well. He realized that from the information given by Baron, there should be only six Phantom Thief members and yet he was counting eight people present aside from himself and Baron. He recalled to a moment not to long ago when Prophet spoke as if he was separating himself from the rest of the group. So with remembering this, it now made sense but that still left one person; and judging by who he seemed closest to, the other person who wasn't a Phantom Thief member was probably Oracle. While this was interesting, he didn't dwell too much on this since it was probably beneficial to have as many allies as possible when dealing with the Metaverse.

It was then that Heartbreak addressed the others by inquiring on their mission and Swan walked over to take a seat of her own as she smiled to Heartbreak, not even trying to hide the look of annoyance that accompanied the smile. "You could say that. Thankfully what we retrieved was indeed worth the trouble. Along with some interesting insight from the Kongo Burst executive, Ms. Koga. From what we gathered, she is a person that is willing to take away anyone from the spotlight that she thinks is getting in the way as well as put someone in the spotlight for the success of the company. Pretty despicable if you ask me... even though that show in the palace told us she feels a bit of guilt for using others like that, it doesn't change anything of what's been done..." Swan looked down briefly, recalling her own past and wondered just how much damage she herself has caused.

While the doctor wasn't adept in reading people visually, he excelled in reading people's words as it was part of his job to do so and with Swan, he noted that she didn't need to bring in her opinion for this discussion so this particular must hit home to her somehow. "At any rate, this includes Yua Sakura as a person she is utilizing who she seemed very bitter about when mentioned. Considering what we know so far, I think Koga fits as the palace ruler. Not to mention, what Mona came across, right? Swan gave Mona a chance to go over what he found as well as if Ann wanted to add anything.

Soon afterwards, Oracle requested to to go through the files and Swan obliged by doing so. Mona would only be able to get a couple of words in before Sage cut in and unable to abide by Baron's rules when there was a talking cat involved in the mix. "OOOOOO IT CAN TALK?!?!?! Are you a human in reality or are you a cat?! Or maybe a persona???" He excitedly yelled as he picked up Mona to inspect him further. Even with the enthusiasm, the fact that he was talking directly to Mona showed that he understood this was a cognitive being with intelligence .

"Hey, do you not know the conduct of personal space?! Our identities are anonymous in reality, that includes what genus we fall under," Swan snatched Mona away from the doctor and sat back down as she set Mona on the table. The green haired girl then sighed to keep herself from chastising him further, "You must be the doctor I've heard about. Look, I get that Mona is a marvel to observe, but please contain yourself better. Don't get freaked out by ever talking cat you see, there are more weird stuff to come when dealing with the Metaverse... such as U.F.O.'s but that's besides the point. Anyway, I'm Swan, this is Mona, and the girl in red is Panther."

"Oh darn it, I spoke out of turn didn't I? Nice to meet you all, I'm Sage and I'm so sorry, won't happen again. I'm just going to go back to being an idle observer. I will say though that I am very interested in this Koga person if she really is this palace ruler you all are having issues with. The results will be a fascinating read for me. Guilt is such a complex emotion that is always piggybacked onto other emotions. So it is a perfect topic to bring up in my research," he smiled to himself.

Hearing this only raised suspicion to Swan as she asked, "I suppose... say doctor what exactly are you researching?... You know just so that we know if we can help as well in anything in the future."

If anything Sage lightened up to the question rather than dubious as he immediately answered with, "As a doctor basing my career around psychology my aspiration is that through cognitive psience, I can ease the emotional struggles people go with. This would of course be without the use of drugs to alleviate it since that's all it would do. Alleviate the pain, not cure the root of it. I hope that answers you question, I tried to explain it the best I could without all the nonsensical details." He finished his explanation with a short, cheerful chuckle.

 

[That Weird girl]

"I AM NOT A CAT!" Morgana yelled at Sage as he picked him up and examined him like a marvel, interrupting the cat's information briefing. He squirmed in Sage's arms and tried to get free, wanting this man to stop doing this. Thankfully, Masami had snatched him back from the crazy doctor and set him back down on the table. He glared at Sage and cleared his throat.

"Well, before someone interrupted me! I was going to agree with the statement Swan made about Koga being the palace ruler...she had a firearm and a Black Pearl Pendulum in her office." He looked at the other thieves to gauge their reaction to see if they were surprised at all with his findings. "It also took a few tries to get into her cabinets, so that could mean security is tight in her palace."

Ann nodded, agreeing with him. She waved at Sage when Masami mentioned her name, then focusing her attention back to the group. "I don't know if Koga fell completely for our lies...she will notice her open cabinets and suspect us, so I don't think we should have me and Swan visit Kongo Burst in the future..." She was going too obvious for not being in the journal club, her status was too popular for that. She couldn't even remember the last time she had interacted with those kids.

"So, whats the next plan Mr. Mastermind," Morgana said to Dascal, teasing him a little bit because he was the reason this all started.

Azurian Dream Maeve Valor Anthem Nellancholy TreasureSniper

 

[TreasureSniper]

The inside of the UFO was surprisingly comfortable enough, which was surprising considering it looked a lot smaller on the inside. It reminded him of one of those sci-fi shows he used to watch when he was using. That said, he thought the current cast of characters inside was much more...chaotic compared to the ones in the show. The sight of the secondary team's return put a small smile on his face. Even if they could not see it, Baron was uncharacteristically happy about the team's safe return. "I trust that was a fruitful venture?" Baron mused as the investor took out something from his pocket. It was a can of tuna. Right after handing Morgana his fishy treat, he would turn his attention to the rest of the party, carefully listening to what they have uncovered with their latest escapade.

However, he at first took notice of Oracle's gift to Prophet. A finely crafted firearm, no doubt a drop from a fairly powerful shadow. A tri-barrelled lever action rifle, with ornate engravings. While the ornate exterior provided no tactical advantage, he still had to acknowledge that it did look cool. He thought the grappling made it front-heavy, but nonetheless gave the gun strong utility. "You have good taste." He mentioned passing. As a person who also liked golden guns, he couldn't help but compliment the freelancer. Aside from the Prophet's new gun, he also took some time to observe another gift, this time provided to Heartbreak. He wondered what the purpose of this gift was, but chose to see it as just a gesture of goodwill. "It's a bit too late to worry about that now, Prophet. Oddly enough, because of your marked status, no other merc would likely dare to banish you. Knowing you now..you'd probably use that to your advantage."

Swan was the first one to speak, sharing insight about the Kongo Burst executive, Miss Koga. Based on her description, she sounded like a machiavellian individual, a person who was willing to do whatever it took to forward her agenda. That said, this type of person was quite common in this world, there were those who had the power to back their strong desire, while others were a lot more akin to that of a paper tiger. For now, at least, he was rather unimpressed by the supposed figurehead. What made her more threatening than what they had faced so far? Thus far, they have taken down a gang leader, cult icon, and perverted teacher. "The strength of a palace is often proportional to the power of the ruler. Though aberrations do exist, for now at least, I don't see this palace or this ruler as anything exceptional. However, they are as good of a target as any of them." As long as the Phantom Thieves were able to use this target to get stronger, he saw no issue with pursuing them. "Good work, Swan."


"Sage..I'd appreciate it if you'd Mona with a bit more respect. While he looks different... he isn't any less of a member of the Phantom Thieves. You'd do well to remember that." While his voice seemed laid-back, his body language hinted a slight irritation at the Doctor's faux pas. Thankfully, Sage was professional enough to immediately offer an apology to the involved parties. "Essentially, he is someone I call in when analysis and preservation of a shadow is a priority. Admittedly, that is an area I am lacking on." Baron summarized Sage's role as a triage unit, a healer and a support provider, a strong contrast to Baron's role as a one-man vanguard of devastation.

"Worry not about what you told this woman. I'll make sure that your cover story checks out from the other end. And if needed, I will visit Kongo Burst in your stead for further investigation." In all honesty, he didn't quite understand why Ann was so worried about someone like Koga. But then again, perhaps they were worried about student life more than anything else.

 

[Anthem]

Tap tap tap tap tap...

Oracle wasn't the only one typing away while within the Safe Room, since they had finally gained a chance to lay back and recuperate from their extended excursion Tragedy was taking the chance to finally add and create connections to his own notes. If one were to get a glimpse of the small screen he used, they'd see what seemed like a spider's web of information. Every detail had details, and everything was connected to another point in one way or another... even if it was vague. From Asahi's shadow alone there was so many more questions to be asked, and only so many answered from the little display that Sage had so graciously created for the party. Luckily the web would be expanded upon via the info retrieved by Swan, Panther and the ever annoying Mona.

The fool's attention was first caught by the firearm bestowed to Prophet by Oracle, and then the polearm that was then given to Heartbreak. He unholstered his own pistol at this point to take the chance to spin it around on his finger, inspecting it closely before letting out a small huff. His melee weapon was more than effective, even up against some of the higher ranked mercs so far but his ranged tool was starting to lack once again. Perhaps it was time to finally reach out to that armorer Baron had suggested before? For now that would have to wait, so he would simply place the weapon back in the holster at his hip while fixing his hood to ensure not too many features of his face were visible.

After the fact, finally came the time to listen to the reports from the trio that had gone on the excursion in reality. Tragedy's teeth gritted a bit, showing visible disdain for the woman that Swan had described. Just another manipulative bastard that needed to be shown the error of their ways, even if they didn't "intend" such actions against the undeserving. The fool's focus momentarily snapped away from the meeting as Sage had suddenly grabbed Mona, inspecting the feline like he was some sort of long lost treasure. His fist slammed against the table as he rose from his seat, nearly aiming to grab Sage's wrist to free Mona until Swan had intervened. "Hmph." Tragedy glared daggers into Sage once again before lowering back into his seat to listen to the rest of the report from Mona and Panther.

Even though Baron ensured cover stories worked out in reality for the two girls who questioned this Koga lady, Tragedy had a churning feeling in his stomach so he decided to address a few points of his own. "While I don't doubt your ability to cover for Swan and Panther's work today Baron, I have one major worry. This isn't the only job Swan has taken undercover when it comes to Kongo Burst, her and I had to take up the visage of stunt workers to even gain access to the palace." The fool would point at Panther while looking at Swan. "Following what Panther said of not having our lovely Swan here go to Kongo Burst any further jeopardizes that connection, and I hate to say it... But when it comes to the two of us, she's much more vital to that lie than myself." The boy huffed after finishing that explanation of his thinking, though it didn't quite end there. There still was the subject of the mercs.

"Sadly, even if you hadn't already painted a target on yourself Prophet, our problems with the mercs within this palace will just continue to grow. Considering the critical injuries of that damned avian, and the tiger bastard my best assumption is that they'll have their hold on this palace tighter than any of the previous ones." It was clear that Tragedy was somewhat upset still with how the whole battle against the mercs went, especially since he was the one to skewer Phoenix but couldn't finish the job in the end and get another merc out of the way. The fool would lean back with a sigh, looking up into nothingness.

"Basically, our hell will only grow further as we push closer to changing another heart."