Of Phantoms and Thieves

Justice and Mercy

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Ryuji groaned. "Here comes mister goodie two shoes, stained with blood."

Akechi took a few steps towards them.

"Do not be alarmed," he stated. "I have no desire to kill any of you."

"Oh yeah, Crow?!? How about that time you tried to kill Joker? What do you call that?!?"

"I was simply following my father's orders. It was all part of my plan to earn his trust and then turn my back on him and reveal how terrible of a man he is. In the end, we had the same goal, no? We both wanted to get back at Shido. He'd wronged us, and we wanted justice."

"Are you sure we have the same definition of justice?" Yusuke questioned. "We had no intention of killing Shido or anyone. You call assassination justice?"

"Does justice mean the same thing to anyone?" Akechi countered. "Sure, Joker and I were opposite of each other. Sure, I let jealousy get the best of me. But I failed to realize that we could have become potential allies."

Akechi's image flickered and the Phantom Thieves blinked a few times. Ryuji turned to Ann and mouthed, "He's not real."

"Is that really you, Akechi?" Haru suddenly shouted, taking everyone by surprise.

"Is... this the real me, you say?" Akechi asked calmly.

"Don't try and mess with us, we know when others are trying to deceive us!" Haru yelled. "You betrayed us in the first place. I still can't forgive you for what you've done to my father, and I understand what you wanted, but it's time that we move on from this!"

"Noir, wait-" Yusuke started.

Haru hefted her axe and charged at Akechi. When she swung, Akechi disappeared before the hit could connect, leaving Haru tumbling and tripping to the ground.

"Noir!" Ann cried, running to Haru's side.

"I'm alright," Haru mumbled, getting to her feet.

Though she and the others were soon knocked over as the entire palace began to shake. Blood oozed from cracks in the ceiling. From everywhere, Ren's voice seemed to echo.

"I can't... It's all my fault..."

After a few minutes the shaking stopped, and the thieves carefully stood up.

"Do you think Joker's in trouble?" Morgana asked.

"It would appear so," Yusuke agreed. "We must hurry and try to find the treasure. That would undoubtedly heal him."

"Eh, I doubt it's going to be anything too special..." Ryuji muttered.

Ann elbowed him. "That's not important! The whole point of doing this to help him, not make a profit off of him!"

"Ow! You hit hard!"

"Sorry..."

Morgana coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Maybe we should focus on actually doing instead of standing around?"

Everyone nodded.

"It looks clear for now," Morgana breathed. "Come on, we're almost to the auditorium."

The Phantom Thieves got to the hallway and they took a few turns. Morgana stopped and opened a door. The thieves stepped in and gawked at the sight.

"What the...? I don't remember this room looking like this...

Papers were littered all over the room. Desks were overturned, and claw marks covered the ceiling, floor, and walls. The light flickered on and off.  Ann bent over and picked up a piece of paper. She began to read it as Yusuke examined the walls, Ryuji fixing desks and Haru staring up at the ceiling.

"T-This place wasn't like this..." Morgana whispered. "Everything was neat and tidy... the lights worked fine.."

Ann put a hand over her mouth. "This script right here..."

She dropped it and didn't continue.

"These claw marks are so deep..." Yusuke muttered. "Do you think a Shadow did this?"

"If so, we need to watch out," Haru noted. "Look at those feathers stuck in the broken lights."

"Dude, these desks are smashed..." Ryuji added. "And the chairs aren't even chairs anymore..."

"Feathers... claws..." Morgana's expression grew worried. "It can't be Arsene. Joker can't summon his persona anymore. And he hasn't come into the palace yet."

"Are we sure this thing can fly?" Ann pointed out. "Maybe we shouldn't worry just yet. And even if it was Arsene, why would he go berserk?"

Morgana stared sadly at the floor. "You can never be too sure about anything. You've all seen how Joker can cause Shadows to become Personas."

"You're putting it far out there, Morgana," Yusuke mentioned. 

"Look, I doubt it's Arsene," Ryuji said. "We're just all paranoid. It's something else. Can we just get going before a Shadow or something comes to attack us?"

"I agree with Skull," Haru spoke up. "We must hurry. The sooner we find the treasure, the faster we can steal his heart."

"I personally would not want to run into this Shadow," Yusuke commented.

"Come on, Mona, let's get out of here," Ann urged.

The thieves walked to the other side of the room and opened the door opposite of which they came. It opened up to a small, bland, dark hallway. Yusuke took the lead as Ann and Haru trailed behind, Ryuji and Morgana taking up the rear.

"It smells a little bit like blood," Ann observed. "Then again, we were just walking-"

CRASH!

"What was that?!?"

"Apologies. I tripped on something," Yusuke muttered.

He stood up and brushed himself off. Ryuji pulled out his phone and turned the flashlight on. The thieves collectively gasped.

"W-What's a truck doing in the hallway?!?" Ryuji shouted.

Ann put her hand over Ryuji's mouth.

"It's... it's the truck..." Morgana mumbled.

"Mona-chan... is this...?" Haru didn't finish her sentence.

Morgana climbed on top of the overturned truck and frowned. It was indeed the Amamiya family's pickup truck.

"I didn't tell you the whole story, did I?" Morgana whispered.

"The whole story?" Yusuke repeated.

"Ren's felt so guilty since that day... He feels like he was the one that caused his mother's death."

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, cat!" Ryuji cried. "His-?!?"

"Quiet!" Ann exclaimed, clamping her hand over her boyfriend's mouth again.

"Can you continue?" Yusuke pressed.

"Well, you see... Ren's parents had been fighting a lot," Morgana continued. "He... he got in a fight with them while they were driving. It wasn't until after we got back when he found the divorce papers, and..."

"That's just awful..." Haru breathed, putting a hand over her mouth. "They didn't tell him?"

Morgana shook his head. "He... has been through a lot. I don't think he could bare anymore. I prefer to think that's what his parents thought too, and so they refrained from telling him. I'm pretty sure they were going to send him back to Leblanc anyways. Um... we should get going."

Morgana hopped off and started down the hall. He stopped when he noticed the others weren't following him. Sighing, he walked back.

"Come on, there's no time to gawk at this."

Ryuji balled his fists. "All this is just freaking wrong..." he growled. "Just wait, we'll fix this..."

"Come on, Skull," Ann sighed. "We should get going."

"Yeah..."