Of Phantoms and Thieves

Change of Pace

"Mona, what the heck?!?" Ryuji shouted as Ren dropped him into the cell. "Great! Now we're stuck here for hours!"

"I'm sorry..." Morgana breathed, slowly standing.

"Behave yourselves, please," Ren stated. "You've only got to wait until morning. I'm giving you time to decide what to do."

Ren turned around and left the room, dimming the lights and locking the door.

"Thanks a lot, Mona!" Ryuji exclaimed. "We're going to be forced through who knows what!"

Morgana pulled a set of keys out of his pocket.

"Mona-chan!" Haru cried. "You got some keys!"

"Do they work?" Makoto quizzed.

"They should work," Yusuke reassured her. "Morgana, what happened back there?"

"This shadow is nothing like the real Ren," Morgana breathed. "He shot me."

"He what?" Futaba asked. "I don't see any damage on you."

"I healed myself."

"That makes more sense."

"Why did he shoot you?" Ann pressed.

"I asked some... some personal questions. Look, this shadow is split between remembering and not remembering us. He's trying to forget everything that happened. We can't let him do that."

"Anything else?" Ryuji cut in.

"He'd grab his head in pain sometimes. His face would, like, bleed for some reason."

"Do you think this has any effect on the real Ren?" Makoto asked.

"If it does, it sounds severe," Futaba concluded. "We should hurry and get out of here."

"And just leave him to suffer?" a voice chuckled.

"Who's there?" Yusuke shouted. "Show yourself!"

"Fools. Rotten. Terrible. Fools. Have you already forgotten me?"

A clawed hand reached from above and snatched the keys from Morgana. The arm disappeared to the roof of the cage. A figure swung down and dangled the keys out of reach.

"Akechi?!?" the Phantom Thieves said in surprise.

Akechi grinned. "Is there something wrong with my presence?"

"We thought you were dead!" Morgana cried. "Where have you been for the past year?"

"That's not for you to hear," Akechi growled. "You guys really don't know how to bargain, do you?"

"Explain yourself," Makoto hissed. "Tell us everything. There's no point in hiding anything, is there?"

Akechi dropped down and swung the keys on his finger. He turned around and strolled over to the door, unlocking it.

"Wait, stop!" Ann shouted. "Akechi, stop! Help us, please!"

Akechi turned around. His face twisted with disgust. "Why would I need to help you? I can handle myself. I can function just fine. Why insist on having me help if you haven't helped me at all? I'm here to help Ren, and that's all."

"Why are you trying to help him?" Yusuke asked. "This doesn't make any sense. You're going against what you just said."

Akechi stared at them. "Did I include him while I was talking?"

"But why do you want to help him?" Yusuke repeated.

Akechi grumbled to himself and turned around.