The Royal Strikers

Chapter Three: The Metaverse

Hello, all! The New World Fool here. Thought I'd interject for a moment before we kick things off to express my heartfelt gratitude to you all for your support for this experiment. To paraphrase Ango Natsume (arrogant douchebag with a very punchable face though he may be), it's thanks to readers like you that writers like me and countless others are able to keep doing what they love to do. And it is my hope that I can continue entertaining the masses who enjoy my work for many years to come. However... I have come to realize that the task of crafting a Persona 5 Royal version of P5S is a rather daunting task. So, to help with this, I have brought a co-author onboard, one CloudStrife07. He will help with the dialogue while I handle the action scenes.

But, that's enough outta me. Let us start the game!

Chapter Three

The Metaverse

No sooner had Ren input the keyword into EMMA than he, Ryuji, and Morgana figured out something was very wrong, as everyone around them disappeared into thin air, despite the three of them having been smack in the middle of a very crowded Shibuya on a hot summer's day, as well as finding themselves encompassed by an all-too-familiar heavy and oppressive atmosphere that reminded them of the adventures the three of them had been on only a year prior to these events.

"I dunno, man... feels like..." Ryuji muttered before he turned and got a good look at Ren and Morgana and cried out in surprise. "Whoa! What happened to you guys?!" he exclaimed.

The reason for Ryuji's shock was patently very obvious. Ren's outfit had changed into a black leather ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, black pants, brown-black winklepickers, and a pair of red gloves. Adorning his face was a white and black, birdlike, domino mask. Morgana, meanwhile, had turned from a normal cat into a cat that looked like something from a cartoon with a yellow neckerchief tied around his neck and a fanny pack with several pouches around his waist.

Morgana, or rather Mona, was quick to point something out to Ryuji. "It's not just us... you've changed too," he said, pointing to Ryuji as he spoke.

"Whoa! For real?!" cried Ryuji, or rather Skull, as the blonde looked down at himself to discover that he was now clad in a black leather jacket with matching pants and knee pads, a red ascot, combat boots, a pair of yellow gloves, and a skull mask.

A serious expression crossed Mona's face as he looked around at the area the trio had found themselves in. Heaving a sigh, Mona knew that there was only one place this could possibly be. "I don't know how, and I don't know why, but it looks like this place is connected to the Metaverse," he said.

A moment later, another familiar voice rang out to the trio. "Well, it certainly seems that way, now doesn't it? The question is, how and why do we have access to the Metaverse again after you all defeated this God of Control, and after we dispelled Maruki's so happy world?"

Ren, or rather, the Joker, froze in place at the sound of that voice as he, Mona, and Skull turned to face the source of the familiar voice to find a young man around their age with shaggy light brown hair, brown eyes, and a stern expression on his face, clad in a body-covering, black and dark blue striped outfit with several black studded belts strapped around his legs and arms, a short black cape and clawed gauntlets, a dark enclosed knight helmet with a black mask with red lenses that resembled a sharp beak that was slid up to reveal his face, and black boots. A serrated sword in its scabbard and a high-caliber pistol in its holster hung at his side.

"AKECHI?!" exclaimed Mona and Skull at the same time in complete and utter shock before babbling about how they'd thought the person in front of them, Goro Akechi, was supposed to be dead.