Blues on the Canvas

5.5

October 13th of 2016

"You're such a coward huh? How are you going to stop me if you're too scared to fight?"

"...damn you....you'd even fight a friend?"

"...friends? You'd consider me a friend? Despite knowing who I really am?"

"I've given you...a second chance already. You already know that."

"You're such a fool...and I like that. I hope in the future, you'll be brave enough to even scratch me. Of course...you have one of my gloves don't you? I've had you as my rival for so long and I've found one even more entertaining than you. But, I look forward to the day where we can really fight...alongside another person of course."

"What? I'm not letting her go into harm like that."

"It's not harm if she has the power in her...we've talked for too long...I have a job to finish. Don't get in my way and leave if you're not going to defend yourself here."

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

The thieves were back at Leblanc's attic, this time with Haru with them. Though she was less energetic, it was clear she had the strength to find out how to get Hanae back into the real world. 

"Hey Yusuke...you said a guy was gonna join us for this job?" Ryuji asked, leaning against the chair. "Man...he's taking so long..."

"He'll be here shortly...his schedule is what I would call...hectic." Yusuke replied, his eyes never leaving the staircase. He was getting a little impatient as he wanted to get the job done quick, but he surpassed this thought by taking a deep breath.

And within a few seconds, emerged the long-awaited figure. It was Hiro, in a jeans jacket and white hoodie, with a newly dyed hair of his natural brown at his roots and dirty blonde at the ends. Ann widened her eyes, shocked to see an idol in front of her. She contained her squeals, though Futaba side-eyed her silently from behind.

"Hey guys! I'm Hiro, and if you don't know...Hanae's my sister." the idol proudly said, immediately causing Makoto to tell him to be quieter in case someone hears him from downstairs.

"Hanae has a brother? Well that's new...what's your purpose here newbie?" Futaba said, slightly glaring at him. 

Hiro's expression hardened, taking a deep breath.

"I hear you all are...the phantom thieves correct?" he said in a low and serious voice. "I've heard about the metaverse...and I've travelled into it on accident."

"You?! You've been into that world?" Ryuji exclaimed, gaining a hard hit by Ann on his back.

"Yes. And Yusuke here has told me Hanae's trapped in there correct?"

"Yes, that is correct. But what are you proposing? You don't seem to have fighting capabilities." Makoto said, glancing at the idol head to toe as if examining his fighting skills.

"I do dancing training everyday- well anyway...Something about keywords gets you into that weird place right? I accidentally went into...my father's palace, as you call it."

"What? President Uchida has bad intentions? Ooh he was the next person I wanted to hack-" Futaba remarked, immediately getting her laptop out and typed away.

"Well...he's done shady things yes, and you'll see more when we're in the metaverse, that is if you join me to stop him."

"What do you say Leader man? We might get more leads onto how to get back into Hanae's place." Ryuji said, poking Akira's elbow. He nodded in return.

"Show us the palace then."

"Great! Well then...here's the keywords. Uchida. Ikebukuro. Church."

"Ikebukuro and Church? His office is located there?" Morgana asked, poking his head out.

"Talking cat- well that...should be normal. Well yeah, all the major companies there have been influenced to be ruled under him. So he owns every single company that is located in Ikebukuro."

And as he finished saying those words, they got teleported into the metaverse.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

The phantom thieves were all in their attires, except for Hiro. 

"Hey Hiro...where's your outfit?" Skull asked.

"It's...complicated, but I won't make you guys slow down because of me. I brought a toy gun...I was told that they'd look real here so I figured why not give it a spin. Well anyway, do look at the structure before us."

It was a giant church, but it loomed over a land of broken homes and everything was just desolate. But there was so much energy from within the church, and the thieves figured that his cognition thinks everyone in Ikebukuro now worship or serve him. They navigated to the rooftop of the church, where a small glass pane was broken. And from above they saw rows of people, sitting at pew chairs, praying to a statue of President Uchida himself.

It was a disgusting sight, and it made Hiro even more determined to end it once and for all.

"We should find a safe room first...and figure out our way from there." Mona said, jumping down and making his way across a thin path of marble above the pillars of the church. Everyone followed along and they snuck deeper into the floor, finally finding a safe room that was surprisingly not guarded at all.

But something was off. There was still remnants of distortion, but it wasn't the type that was malevolent. 

Joker opened the door.

It was a terrain of snow and mist.

It was Hanae's palace.