Of Phantoms and Thieves

Afraid of Terror

Ren threw his head up and his gold eyes stared right at Morgana. Instantly, Morgana regretted screaming his name. This was his shadow, not the real Ren. He didn't care about Morgana. So why did Morgana care if he got hurt?

"R-Ren, are you alright?!" Morgana exclaimed. He didn't know what made him do it. He'd lived much of his life with Ren. Seeing him in pain, even if it wasn't real... That made him snap. "Ren, what's wrong?!"

Ren wiped the blood from his mouth. "Of course, there's more of them..." He cocked his head to the side. "Morgana, right? Or do you prefer Mona?"

"You... you don't remember me..." Morgana breathed. "You don't remember the real me! Ren, snap out of it! Stop this madness, this... this insanity! You're not a character in a play, you're a real person!"

Ren blinked a few times. Then his gaze hardened. "I told you, I'm not Ren! That pathetic fool is not worthy of my title!"

"Well then, Joker! Listen to me, you idiot!" Morgana screamed. "I don't care what you think you are, you're our leader, and we miss you! Have you forgotten what happened last year?!"

"I haven't forgotten, I just want to forget!" Ren shouted back. "Everything that's happened up until now... If it hadn't been for Shido, none of this would have happened!"

"Stop blaming Shido! There's so much good that's come from the bad!"

"If it hadn't been for him, my parents wouldn't hate me so much!"

"Ren, your parents don't hate you!"

Ren grabbed his head again. "I told you, I'm not Ren!"

"Ren, listen to me!"

Ren pulled out a gun and loaded it.

"Joker, stop!"

Ren paused, glaring up at Morgana. Morgana realized that there were tears in his eyes.

"So, Ren's heart has changed..." Sojiro sighed. "That kid's been through a lot more than you know."

"What happened to him?" Ann piped up. "I mean, he lost an arm. That's traumatizing enough. What's been going on back at his place?"

"Well, I've heard his parents have been arguing a lot. They got in a bad car wreck. And..."

"Those cuts," Morgana cut in as Sojiro trailed off. "It's been a bit abusive for him."

"Right, he's one to stick his nose where it doesn't belong," Makoto followed up. "It's just like with what happened with Shido. He just wants to make things right, but doesn't know how."

This is him trying to make things right, Morgana thought. He just doesn't know how, and it's gotten out of control.

"Ren- I mean, Joker. Listen to me."

It's not the real Ren, Morgana reminded himself. If something goes wrong, he could get hurt in the real world.

Ren still didn't lower the gun.

"Joker, put that away. I'm not here to hurt you. Look, something's gone wrong with you. You've got a palace now. You... you can't use your persona anymore... Sound familiar? We'd always go into the cognitive world, scoping out criminals and people with distorted desires. We'd take that away from them, and turn them into good people. The only ways to do that is to go through their cognitive palaces, and steal that distortion. We're just trying to do that with you. We want to take this pain away from you, okay? It won't hurt if you don't fight back."

Ren's expression didn't change.

This isn't the real Ren, Morgana repeated in his head. It's not the real thing. All this is fake. It's just cognition. The real Ren is safe at Leblanc, and Sojiro is taking care of him. What is there to worry about? But... it doesn't seem like Ren's shadow seems to know much about being a Phantom Thief. Has Ren truly forgotten what it's like to be a hero? To stop crime, and set things right...? That was all he ever wanted to do...

Ren then lowered the gun and started laughing. "What? That's the most nonsense I've ever heard! You speak to me as if I know of this!"

Morgana gulped. "Yo-you do. You were our leader."

Ren shook his head. "Those days are over, cat. Let those things fly over your head. It's all in the past now. What we can do is just sit back and watch the show."

There he goes again, comparing life to a play, Morgana thought. He really has become distorted.

An idea formed in Morgana's head.

"You like to rebel, don't you?" Morgana shouted. "You like being in charge of yourself, being a misfit, doing whatever you please as long as you think it's right! I gave you the codename Joker for a reason! You're our wildcard, our chance of winning no matter how terrible things seem! And you're just going to give up now?"

"The Phantom Thieves disbanded!" Ren shouted. He then seemed a bit confused, as if split between something.

"You're trying to forget," Morgana told him. "You're trying to erase your own memories, just so that it doesn't hurt. There should be another way to take away the pain! You can't do it this way!This isn't the real you. This is just a fake created from your distorted mind! You have to free yourself from this prison that you created!"

Ren grabbed his head and groaned. Morgana could tell that he was torn between choosing the Phantom Thieves or his own guilt.

"Ren, that car crash..." Morgana pressed. "You must remember that? It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is!" Ren shouted. "It's all my fault! I'm the one that said something, that reached out and told them to stop! They hate me!"

"Ren, again, your parents don't hate you!"

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING ME REN!!!"

This is going absolutely nowhere, Morgana thought. His distortion is too strong. I should probably get out of here before things get-

Morgana's train of thought stopped as Ren again pulled out the pistol.

"MROWWWW!!!!!!!!!" Morgana exclaimed, his tail sticking up in the air. He leaped off the balcony and bolted for the exit, which led into the lobby.

I need to free the others, and fast... Morgana thought. Ren's lost his mind!

"Mona, you get back here right now!!!" Ren shouted.

He wants to kill me. He wants to kill me. He wants to kill me- WHY DOES HE WANT TO KILL ME?!? He's the one that started all this in the first place! He saved me in the beginning! Perhaps I should have never made him leader... No, stop it, Morgana! You have other matters that are more important! I'm the one that gave him the codename Joker, I'm the one that's caused him to be like this. Well, at least his shadow self... the real Ren is probably fine!

Morgana heard a gunshot, and he froze. Pain erupted in his arm. Ren had shot him. Morgana grimaced and looked back. He couldn't stand the insanity that now danced in Ren's eyes.

Ren snapped his fingers, and the shadows came to attention.

"Go chase after him," he stated. A grin slowly spread on his face. "I guess we can play a bit of cat and mouse."