Persona 5: Akira's Palace

Chapter 9 - Stealing Akira's Heart

"Alright, we ready to head in?" Ryuji asked the other Phantom Thieves at their old hideout in Shibuya.
"Hell yeah!" Ann said. "Let's save Akira!"
"No objections?" Morgana asked. "Alright, let's head in to the Theatre to steal Akira's heart!" And with that, the Phantom Thieves entered the Metaverse to save their friend.
Once they made it to the Treasure Room, they looked up to see the treasure materialize into something.
"Look!" Futaba said. "The treasure's materializing!"
"Is the treasure... Akira's mask?" Makoto said, as the treasure fell to the ground.
"Here, I'll grab it." Ryuji said, leaning over to pick up the treasure. Just then, someone jumped in and grabbed the treasure. It was Shadow Akira.
"It seems you Phantom Thieves are quite persistent." Shadow Akira said, holding the treasure.
"Please, Akira." Haru said. "Just come peacefully. We don't want to fight you."
"Too bad, Phantom Thieves." Shadow Akira said. "If you want to change my heart, then you have to fight for it!"
"Sorry, Akira." Ann said. "We have to do this."
"Well..." Shadow Akira said, smirking. "Bring it on, Thieves!"
—————————————————————————
Akira was curious. Ever since he had received that calling card only but a few hours ago, he had wanted to see what his palace would be like. He opened his phone, and checked for the Meta-Nav. Sure enough, there it was.
"What could my keywords be..?" Akira thought, fiddling with the Nav. He typed his name, and then typed LeBlanc on a whim. It was a hit.
"...okay. Now what would my palace be?" Akira said. He tried a few things, like graveyard, morgue, and some others until he typed theatre on a whim. To his surprise, theatre was also a hit.
"Well, I guess now I can go in." Akira said, hitting enter. He then entered the theatre, and noticed that he wasn't in his Phantom Thief attire.
"Strange." Akira said. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to check this place out." So he walked into the theatre.
—————————————————————————
Shadow Akira laughed as he transformed into his shadow form, which was Arsène with yellow eyes and a massive weapon.
"Try and beat me now, thieves!" Shadow Akira said.
"Alright," Ryuji said. "Let's do this!" The Phantom Thieves summoned all of their Persona's, and began rallying on Shadow Akira. After about 5 minutes, they had barely made a dent in Shadow Akira.
"This is gonna take forever!" Futaba said, giving buffs to the Phantom Thieves. "Here, strength up!"
"Just give up on me already!" Shadow Akira shouted, using a super powerful attack that left the Phantom Thieves pretty close to death. Just then, as Shadow Akira was about to wipe them out, the door to the room opened. The Phantom Thieves turned around, and were quite shocked at who they saw.
"Akira?!" Yusuke said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"What the hell?" Akira said, confused. "Is that... thing... supposed to be my shadow?"
"Hm. Looks like the guest of honour has arrived." Shadow Akira said, laughing maniacally. "Go on, Akira. Tell them that they should give up on you and let you perish."
"This is what's been going on in my heart?"
Akira said, with a saddish tone in his voice. "I've been pushing you all away this much?"
"Akira!" Ann shouted. "Look out!" Akira looked as a burst of magic was aimed towards him. He quickly jumped out of the way and stumbled onto the ground.
"You are weak." Shadow Akira said, frowning. "Allow me to fulfill your deep wishes to perish." Akira started to hold his hands out to shield him, but he then froze, and clutched his head.
"It seems you're in quite a rough spot." A voice said in Akira's head. "Maybe you could use a little bit of help here. I am thou, thou art I. Reawaken to what once was." A mask then appeared on Akira's face. He felt it, grinned, and ripped it off of his face. He was then shrouded in blue flames, and when they died down, the Phantom Thieves couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"Did Akira just...?" Futaba said, shocked.
"Akira's reawakened to his Persona!" Ryuji said.
"Everyone, I'm sorry." Akira said. "I pushed you all away, when all you wanted was to help me. Well, I'm never pushing you guys away again. Come on, Phantom Thieves. Let's steal my heart!" Everyone nodded, and the fight began Shadow Akira began again. Before the fight, since they only had the Persona's of the other Phantom Thieves, the fight was very difficult. But now, with Akira's wild card abilities, they were able to rally harder on Shadow Akira. After about 5 minutes of rallying, Shadow Akira fell on the ground.
"Is he down?" Morgana asked. Akira shook his head.
"I don't think so. Prepare for a big attack, guys." Akira said. Just as he finished that, Shadow Akira got back up, and transformed again. This time, instead of Arsène, Shadow Akira transformed into Akira's ultimate Persona, Satanael.
"Be careful guys!" Futaba said. "Shadow Akira's transformed into his most powerful form."
"He's stronger than ever now." Yusuke said. "If we're not careful, he could wipe us out in one attack."
"Exactly, Fox. Here, power up!" Futaba said, using a buff that helps the Phantom Thieves hit harder. Then, Shadow Akira spoke.
"You puny little thieves can't do a thing." Shadow Akira said. "Just give up, dammit!"
"Not happening." Akira said. "I don't know if you know, but we Phantom Thieves have a tendency to see a mission through to the end. Which means, we're either gonna overcome you, or die trying!" The other Phantom Thieves agreed with Akira. Shadow Akira then spoke.
"Well then." Shadow Akira said. "The only outcome for you is death."
"Phantom Thieves!" Akira said. "Let's do it!" They began to rally on Shadow Akira until he was close to death.
"Dammit..." Shadow Akira said. "How can a group of brats beat me..?"
"Just give up." Akira said.
"No..." Shadow Akira said. "Never!" He got back up, and shot a huge attack that knocked the Phantom Thieves down.
"Now..." Shadow Akira said. "Allow me to put you in your place." Just as he was about to kill the Phantom Thieves, Akira stood up.
"Hm. It looks like one is still standing." Shadow Akira said. "I'll just have to charge up even more to make sure you stay down."
"...I'll never stay down." Akira said, slowly gaining more strength.
"Oh, just give up already." Shadow Akira said.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Akira said. "No matter how many times you knock us down, we'll rise up again." As he said that, the other Phantom Thieves all began to slowly get up.
"Now." Akira said. "Let's show this shadow the true power of the Phantom Thieves!" The Phantom Thieves all used their strongest attacks on Shadow Akira, then Akira charged up his ultimate attack, which finally defeated Shadow Akira. After that, Shadow Akira fell to the ground, transforming back into his normal form.
"Shit..." Shadow Akira said, barely having the energy to hold himself off the ground with his hands. He looked up, and saw the Phantom Thieves standing above him, with Akira holding out a gun aimed at his head. Shadow Akira just stared.
"I think it's about time you give up." Akira said.
"You're not gonna... kill me, are you?" Shadow Akira said, with a slight quiver in his voice.
"No." Akira said. "Give us the treasure."
"No need." Shadow Akira said. "It's already on you."
"Joker, your mask." Morgana said. "That's the treasure."
"My mask?" Akira said, removing his mask from his face.
"Yes." Shadow Akira said. "That is our treasure."
"Guys, you might wanna get out of there." Futaba said." It looks like the palace is starting to collapse."
"Let's return home." Akira said, looking at all of his friends. They nodded, and then promptly hightailed it outta there.
—————————————————————————
The Phantom Thieves awoke on the ground outside LeBlanc.
"Ugh, where are we..?" Ryuji said, rubbing his head.
"Where did Akira go?" Yusuke said, looking around.
"And where's the treasure?" Ann said, searching the ground for Akira's treasure.
"Yo, this it?" Ryuji asked. The other Phantom Thieves went over to where Ryuji was.
"His treasure is... his probation journal?" Haru said, confused.
"It seems so." Makoto said. Just then, someone came out of LeBlanc.
"What are you crazy kids doing?" Sojiro said, confused. "You know, you don't need an invitation to come in."
"Oh, Boss." Yusuke said. "You're right. We'll come in." Everyone went into LeBlanc, with Ryuji holding the journal. After they had some coffee, Ryuji spoke.
"Yo, Boss. You know where Akira is?" Ryuji asked. Sojiro looked at him.
"He should be in his room, where he's been for the past few days." Sojiro said. "Why don't you go say hi to him quickly? I'm sure he'd appreciate it."
"Of course." Makoto said. "Come on, guys." The Phantom Thieves nodded, and went upstairs to Akira's room. When they got up there, they saw Akira sitting on the floor.
"Yo, Akira." Ryuji said. But Akira was silent.
"Akira? It's us, your friends." Yusuke said. Silence.
"Is he okay?" Ann asked. Futaba walked up to him. After about thirty seconds, she walked back to the rest of the group.
"He's asleep." Futaba said. "Out like a light."
"So just wake him up then." Ryuji said.
"Ryuji, when we came out of my palace and I was out like a light, did you wake me up?" Futaba said.
"She's right." Morgana said. "We should let Akira sleep."
"We could at least put him on his bed." Ann said. So, after lifting Akira onto his bed, they went back downstairs.
"How was he?" Sojiro asked.
"He was asleep." Ann said. "He seemed pretty tired, so we let him sleep."
"Alright." Sojiro said. "You all heading out?"
"It is rather late." Yusuke said. "We should be going." The other Phantom Thieves agreed, and left LeBlanc, waiting for Akira's recovery.