Goetia Palace.
After Ren, or The Shadows, brought down the hammer of rage upon the goetias, practically almost everyone is in complete disbelief or distraught state.
Inside the palace, the goetias are a mess. Paimon is still dead, Octavia is in a distraught state with her feathers in disarray from the electrical pulse, her mother is in the same state but more angry if anything, while Stolas is battered, and bruised. Despite that, he's currently comforting his daughter. Andrealphus is- wait... where was he during all that?
Well, that'll have to wait. Now we cut to an angry Stella angrily pacing back and forth as she angrily tries to formulate a proper full sentence.
"That little- he dared to fucking ornery fuck- when I find him, I'm gonna-"
"Is he gone?" Andrealphus asks, popping his head out from behind one of the curtains by the windows on the opposite side of the room where Saber Thorn didn't blast any holes in.
Stella looked at her older brother in absolute fury and disbelief.
"Have you seriously been hiding there this WHOLE! FUCKING! TIME?!" Stella screamed angrily.
"W-Well yes, b-but I had to! You saw what that thing did to Paimon! He could've done that to me!" Andrealphus tried to defend.
"HE COULD'VE DONE THAT TO US TOO, YOU STUPID ASS UNDERCOOKED TURKEY SHIT FUCK!!! YOU COULD'VE JUST FROZEN HIM IN PLACE, BUT NO!!! YOU DECIDE TO BE THE USELESS ARROGANT COWARDLY BITCH BOY YOU WERE BORN ASS!!!" Stella yelled angrily at the top of her lungs.
Andrealphus said nothing as he shrunk back from his sister's outburst.
Sniffling can be heard, and the two bird demons turn their attention to Octavia, who's being held by her father as she cries.
"He does hate us." Octavia whimpered.
"Oh, Via, no he doesn't," Stolas reassured.
"Yes, he does! He stabbed Uncle Andy's hand! He decapitated Grandpa! He blasted you through a wall! He electrocuted Mom and I, and he just fucking left!" Octavia sobbed at the end.
Stolas rubbed her back in a comforting manner before he reassured her.
"No, Via, he doesn't hate you. If anything, he hates the rest of us. He doesn't hate you, sweetie. Besides, that thing wasn't Ren. It was just a monster in his head." Stolas explained calmly to his broken-hearted daughter.
"As much as I don't want to agree with your father, Octavia, but... he's right. That thing wasn't Ren. Just a monster we created by accident." Stella said.
"So what do you plan to do now?" Andrealphus asked.
"YOU BE QUIET!!!" Stella snapped at her brother.
Andrealphus yelped like a balloon squeak and returned to hiding behind the curtain.
"If we want to get our child back, we must first figure out how to expel the shadows out of him. Once we do, we bring him back, and discipline him to the point where he'll be the most obedient son I ever had, and the most loving brother Octavia has ever had. He'll never leave us again." Stella plotted out loud, giving an evil smirk at the end.
...
Back outside the palace gates, the whole group from earlier is still there. Blitzo included... but he's burnt to a crisp, and dead.
Verosika, and her succubi posse, were planning on what to do now that Ren, or Shadow Narukami, was on the run again. The succubus pop star didn't want this deal she made with the imp girl to go to waste.
Loona had a distraught saddened look on her face. She had just watched her pet turn-shadow completely fry her adoptive dad to death! She couldn't believe that Blitzo had just died like that in front of her. She wasn't sure what to think about this. She wasn't sure if chasing down Ren was even worth it anymore.
Millie was distraught as well, but she had tears running down her face as she silently cried. She had just lost her baby again. Only this time, he turned into a Shadow and leaped away like the Incredible Hulk. Moxxie of course trying to comfort Millie the best way he can right now, and it's just hugging her as she continues to stare off where she sees her precious baby go.
"It's going to be ok, Millie. We'll get him back for you, and it'll be ok." Moxxie said, being supportive.
"...H-How?..." Millie asked, just above a whisper.
"I... don't know. Maybe we can have Loona or Vortex track him?" Moxxie suggested.
"What?! No way in hell am I tracking down that maniac!" Vortex exclaimed angrily.
"What?!" Verosika and the succubi exclaimed, surprised to hear this from the hellhound.
"What do you mean you won't track him?!" Verosika demanded.
"What else does it mean?! I'm not tracking down a maniac that has nothing to do with ANY OF YOU! I'm not risking my neck or ass just so you can make him your fuck toy!" Vortex vented angrily.
"Well, I'm your BOSS!!! So YOU do what I tell you to do, and I'm telling you to track down Ren! RIGHT. NOW." Verosika demanded.
"Is tracking him even worth it anymore?" Loona spoke up, her voice sounding hopeless.
"What?" Moxxie questioned.
"Is it worth it now? To track down someone who will only get us hurt, or killed? Someone that wants nothing to do with us? Especially the Shadow he's turned into? In case you haven't noticed, but he just fried my dad! I don't even know what I'm doing anymore!" Loona vented in frustration.
She could hear Shadow Narukami laughing, Of course, it was only a part of her imagination.
"He's my baby..." Millie said just above a whisper so everyone could still hear.
"What?" Verosika questioned.
"He's my baby... I want my baby back... but that monster isn't my baby." Millie said, still staring off towards where Shadow Narukami was last seen.
"You're still here?... I suppose that's good in this situation." Stella spoke up as she approached them.
"What do you want?" Verosika asked rudely.
"I have a proposition for you. If I can find a solution to expel the beast within the boy, we can work out a deal so we all can keep him to ourselves." Stella proposed.
Everyone, except for Vortex, looked at each other in a thinking matter and looked back at Stella suspiciously.
"How do we know you won't cross us?" Verosika asked with suspicion in her tone.
"It's either you accept my proposal, or you lose that kid to the Shadow he's become," Stella stated firmly.
The girls remained silent as they weren't sure if they should take the deal.
"I'll give you all a minute to process," Stella said as she walked back into the palace.
"Stolas! Your impish fuck toy is dead on the pavement!" Stella called out as she walked back inside.
"WHAT?!" Stolas exclaimed loudly.
Even though he was inside the palace, everyone could hear him yell out in shock and worry from outside.
Stolas suddenly rushed outside like a speedster and stopped to see a charred corpse that once was Blitzo.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU MY BLITZY?!?!" Stolas screamed in horror as he held the fried body of Blitzo before sobbing uncontrollably.
Meanwhile with Ren
Ren Felt the floor hard but when he woke up he was in a grey void...nothing ness around him.
Ren: What the hell? Ren said looking around and just walking...
Ren: Hello?!
???: Dude!
Ren heard a voice that he recognized...
Ren: Wait...Ryuji?
Ren: Ryuji?!
Ren Called out to him...
Suddenly Ryuji Fades into view surprising both of them, they were both in their phantom thief attire.
Ren: Skull!
Ryuji: Joker!
Ren: Where the hell are we?
Ryuji: I don't know... the last thing I remember is...
Ren: Remember what?
Ryuji: Okay this may sound crazy but...the last thing I remember is being surrounded by magic and thrown against the wall by some tall owl...
Ren:!
Ren's eyes widen hearing that was the same thing he experienced.
Ren: Wait...Me too!
Ryuji: For real!?
Suddenly Ann, Yusuke, Morgana, Akechi, haru, Futaba, Makoto and Sumire appear...
Akechi: W-what is this!?
Makoto: What's the meaning of this?!
Morgana: What the hell?
Haru: W-what is this place?
Futaba: Woah what is this place?
Sumire: W-what the?
Yusuke: What in the hell is going on!?
Ren: Guys!
Futaba: Joker! and Ryuji?!
Ren: Guys what are you doing here!?
Futaba: Well this may sound crazy but...
Ryuji: You were surrounded by Magic and thrown against the wall by some owl demon?
All of the Phantom thieves except Ryuji and Ren were surprised.
Akechi: What the...that happened to me too...
Makoto: same here.
Yusuke: Same here...
Sumire: Same...
Haru: Me too...
Morgana: me three...
Ann: Me four...
Futaba: What are we going to do?
Ren: I don't know...
???: Holy crap the Phantom thieves!?
All of them turn around to see a teen boy with a brown hoodie.
Ryuji: Huh? Who are you? Do you know us?
???: Oh boy here I go explaining...my name Is Jessie Drackus.
The human teen now known as Jessie said.
Jessie: Each one of you is from a different timeline...like alternate universes and shit...
yusuke: Alternate...universes?
Jessie: You're right...each of you is experiencing the same scenario just that it is you instead of your other team...
Ryuji: This is so confusing...
Jessie: Alright look I'm at a different point in my journey...But all of yours are the same...
Ren: That means we could help each other out...
Jessie: You know the book we stole right?
Akechi: Yeah?
Jessie: If you managed to get it back you should be able to visit each other universes and help...
Morgana: For real!
Jessie: I am currently sleeping while you guys are unconscious...so we can only do one thing and talk about how to escape these freaks...
All of them then huddled together and started talking about how to escape from hell.
Pentagram City.
Pentagram City. The prime city in hell's pride ring that's home to sinners.
Sinners are demons that were once human in life and have gone to hell once they've died. Once they appear here by either falling or just appearing out of nowhere like a ghost, their once-human appearances change to match whatever aspects that were once part of their life when they were alive. Some resemble animals and monsters, and sometimes appear more human than others while still having some differences.
Others are just straight-up amalgamations.
A powerful roar can be heard echoing in the distance. It was loud enough to catch the attention of many sinners who were out on the streets of the city.
None knew what it was. Some were curious, while others just didn't care, and everyone went back to what they were doing.
Meanwhile, a figure can be seen running along the rooftops and leaping from one roof to another like the Incredible Hulk.
That figure is Shadow Narukami.
Shadow Narukami has been traveling throughout the city to get as much distance as he can from the Goetia palace. He may have forgotten some of Ren's things, but he has a trick to get them back once he runs out of steam, and reverts to the young Phantom Thief.
Shadow Narukami had stopped for a quick minute on top of a tall building and summoned Asterius Picaro which roared in the sky in a display of dominance.
He didn't care who saw him or not. As long as it wasn't anyone that would recognize him, he should be fine. Plus, who else would care about a high schooler leaping across rooftops?
After a minute to catch his breath, he leaped over to the next roof. Despite the next roof being further down, and farther away, Saber Thorn landed with ease. Even though he created a crater where he landed. He wasted no time and leaped over to another rooftop.
As Shadow Narukami traversed along the tops of the buildings, he surveyed his surroundings and saw a city of bright lights amongst a background with many shades of red, and black. The neon colors he saw clashed with the darker red shades he saw amongst the buildings, making it look like a scene straight out of a piece of cyberpunk fan art.
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a demon girl is standing upon a wrecked car, and holding a big cherry bomb like it's a baseball or stone ready to be thrown as she stares out into the city.
Back with Shadow Narukami, the golden-eyed high schooler is seen still leaping from building to building. However, he stops on top of one of the buildings and is breathing heavily from exhaustion.
He walks over to the edge of the roof and gazes out into the city. He sees a city full of neon lights, and unique designs. It's like Las Vegas Times Ten. A Sin City with no laws. A true sin city. Even the advertisements either feature drugs or sex very openly.
Shadow Narkuami even saw some demons flying through the air. Thankfully, none of them took notice of him. The shadow then looked down onto the street and saw many demons of all shapes and sizes. Some looked like amalgamations of monsters, animals, and humans. Others just looked unidentifiable to him.
He took a breath of air before exhaling in an exhausted sigh. He's not sure if he should revert just yet. He may be running out of energy, but it seemed like nowhere in the city seemed safe enough for him to do so, and he didn't want to do that in a highly dangerous area. However, for all he knew, that could be anywhere, and he soon won't have a choice on where in the city he reverts into Joker.
Shadow Narukami then backs up and takes a running start before leaping to the nearest building.
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, the demon girl's silhouette is seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop with ease like it's parkour. While she does this, she's throwing explosives left and right, and each one goes off in an explosion with a fantastic display of smoke and fire.
She continued to run, and leap across the rooftops, throwing more explosives as she did.
We then cut back to Shadow Narukami, who's now climbing up the side of a skyscraper apartment building with ease. When zoomed out, you can see that he's very high up! Once he reaches the top, he gets a bird's eye view of the city.
The city is much larger than he expected. He's not sure how to describe it. The city is just so vast that he's not sure where it ends.
Shadow Narukami heard what sounded like either explosions or fireworks going off. He looks around the city from where he's standing, then walks to the opposite side of where he's standing, and sees multiple explosions going off in the distance.
Back with the demon girl, she's planted multiple explosives around several billboards that are advertising a porn studio owned by someone named Valentino.
Once set, she pulls out a single-button detonator. She gives a big malicious smile that shows off her sharp teeth and presses the button of the detonator.
The explosives went off one at a time, and each explosion blew up each billboard into pieces with ease.
The demon girl had a satisfied grin on her face as each billboard exploded while she watched safely from a high viewpoint.
Back with Shadow Narukami, he sees that the only way off of this building is to go down. However, he could hear a huge gunfight beginning to start down below. He looked down and saw gunfire being exchanged with what he assumed were rival gangs or something. He wasn't sure.
He didn't want to get caught up in that mess, so he began to think of a solution since he was getting exhausted from roof jumping.
Suddenly, he got an idea.
He wanted to get down and test out one of his abilities at the same time. So he backs up to take a running start and leaps off the roof.
Instead of going towards another building, he plummets straight down to the ground, and blue hellfire begins to engulf his body so he looks like a blazing blue comet.
Shadow Narukami curled up in a ball before he got too close to the ground. As soon as his flame-covered body struck the ground, he created a blue-flamed explosion with a shock wave.
The demon girl could see, and hear the explosion in the distance. She can see an ice blue-colored mushroom cloud made of ice blue fire rise to the sky before it becomes smoke.
She's honestly impressed by the explosion from where she's at. She's never seen an explosion like that before. She's seen similar explosions, but not one made of blue fire, and what impressed her the most was that it took place in the territory of an overlord she hated the most.
Back with Narukami, he jumps out of the crater without a single scratch on him and looks around the area his powerful ability had affected.
He saw windows shattered, and some of them broken. He saw the whole area his flames affected was covered in scorches, and some stuff was on fire. Only the fire is the same neon ice blue that he uses.
All around him are either burnt or charred corpses of demons with guns. On his left, these demons had matching suits. The demons on his right had matching suits as well, but theirs were more like coats, and they wore hats... at least, what was left of their hats.
The hats looked like the fedoras of what a pimp would wear... or something.
Anyways, seeing that no one alive was in sight, Saber Thorn quickly made his way towards an empty alleyway with a dead end and leaned against the wall as he began to stumble a bit.
His back slid down the wall until he was now sitting on the ground. His form became engulfed in black smoke and red electricity, and the cloud began to shrink before dissipating to reveal a knocked out, Ren Amamyia.
Jessie slowly began to open his eyes, and his vision was blurry. He blinked a couple of times until he could see clearly. He saw that he was sitting in an alleyway, and became confused.
Ren: What the fuck?
He croaked and sounded exhausted.
He wracked his brain for anything that could help him figure out what happened, and how he got here.
It suddenly clicked when he remembered what happened back at the Goetia palace. He remembers stabbing Andrealphus's hand with a knife, then he got swatted like a fly by Paimon, and he blacked out.
Ren: DAY FUCKING RUINED!
He yelled into the night sky but he also remembers meeting the phantom thieves and Jessie in his mindscape.
Seeing that the 'other guy' had gotten him out of a jam, he figured that he should move his ass before he gets spotted.
Joker groaned as he stretched his arms and legs. He pressed his back against the wall so he could place his legs under himself, and stand up.
As he stood, he could feel the aches in his body and groaned from discomfort. He stretched his back, hearing a couple of satisfying pops, and popped his interlocked fingers when he stretched out his arms.
Ren: Where the fuck did you take us, dude?
Joker muttered to himself.
'Yu Narukami.' The voice in his head said.
"What?" Jessie asked.
'My name is Yu Narukami.' The voice said.
"Oh. So that's what you're calling yourself. You know, throughout this whole experience I never really knew what to call you." Ren said, leaning his back against the wall as he stood.
'Now, we need to get moving. Who knows who or what could be out here.' Shadow Narukami insisted.
"Right. Wait a minute, did we just leave without my stuff?" Ren asked, sudden worry building up.
'Not to worry. Watch.' Shadow Narukami said.
Suddenly, Joker's arm moved on its own, then did a finger snap.
In a puff of smoke, Joker is suddenly wearing his dancing all-night outfit along with his backpack.
"Thanks. Hang on..." Joker said, smelling something.
He then sniffed his arms and noticed that they smelled... clean. Like fresh out of the wash.
"They're clean?" Joker questioned.
'I had them cleaned the moment I teleported them. Don't ask how. It's magic. Enough said.' Saber Thorn explained.
'Exactly. Speaking of which, I just thought of something that'll prove to be convenient for us.' Shadow Narukami said.
Joker's arm moved on its own again, doing the same finger snap, and his backpack disappeared.
"What the?! Where did the bag go?!" Joker exclaimed in worry.
'TV world. Now we can travel lightly.' Shadow Narukami said.
"Oh. Thanks. That's highly convenient." Joker said.
'Work smarter, not harder. Now let's get going before someone sees. Go down to your right.' Shadow Narukami said.
Joker put his bandana up, and cautiously looked left and right before going down the directed path when no one was around.
'So, did you sleep well when I kicked ass?' shadow Narukami asked.
"If by sleep well, you mean wake up in a blank white landscape thinking that I got killed by a giant owl man for stabbing the hand of KFC's undercooked brother-in-law? Then yes. Thankfully, I didn't die, and I met the rest of the phantom thieves and some random dude in what he calls a shared mindscape." Joker explained.
'Random dude?' Shadow Narukami questioned.
"Yeah, he said his name is Jessie Drackus and he, get this, was sleeping but the first time he entered that landscape was by the same demons that brought us back down here," Joker explained.
'The three imps, and the hellhound? How is that possible?' Shadow Narukami asked.
"My best guess is that he lives in another timeline where he's experiencing the same scenario that we're experiencing," Joker said.
'Good to know that we're not alone in the multiverse.' Said Saber Thorn.
"It's honestly yet oddly refreshing in a weird way. He even has powers of his own, and they are different than yours in his universe Persona's don't exist but he could turn into a monster" Joker continued.
'First of all, it's 'ours'. My powers are your powers. Secondly, different how?' Shadow Narukami asked.
"He can turn himself into A white lizard monster-like thing named Saber Thorn with his own conscious and stuff, " Joker explained.
'Fascinating. Anything else about him?' Joker asked.
"Well, he's more hot-headed than I am in hell. When I first saw him, I wasn't sure what to think, and I had a mini panic mode. But he seems cool. He even made me laugh when he did a pun out of my last name." Joker explained.
'I see. I wonder why that happened in the first?' Shadow Narukami questioned.
"Who knows? I guess it's a mystery. Speaking of mysteries, why did we need that book?" Joker asked.
'I have a hunch that this book is somehow connected to both Stolas and IMP. Think about it. Did it ever occur to you as to how they're able to go to the human world in the first place?' shadow Narukami explained.
A sudden realization dawned on the phantom thief.
"Son of a bitch..." Joker said.
'Yes. Unfortunately, I could not retrieve it.' Shadow Narukami said.
"So you're saying that there's a way home in that book?" Joker asked.
'Possibly. I wouldn't know because I've never read it, but it's possible. However, we need a plan to steal it back, and I know it's going to be extremely risky.' Shadow Narukami said.
"Dammit! Why's it never easy?" Joker asked frustratedly.
'Because bitches be crazy!' Shadow Yosuke suddenly said.
'You said it Partner' Shadow Narukami said with a chuckle
Joker snickered with a light wheeze, making him sound like Muttly.
"Ok, true," Joker said.
'Besides that, look on the bright side. At least we escaped those bird brains they bored me anyway.' Shadow Yosuke said.
"Again, true," Joker said.
'So uh Joker is it true that you hate Octavia?' Shadow Yosuke asked.
"Pff what kind of question is that? Of course, I do...that bitch didn't help me when I need it...and I hate being called "little brother" it fucking annoying" Joker said outline.
"To be honest she's the second one I fantasize about killing," Joker said shrugging.
'Then who the mo-'
"Loona and Milie" Joker cut off Shadow Yosuke.
'Exactly... wait, something's not right.' Shadow Yosuke said.
Joker froze, immediately stopping in his tracks, and his fear skyrocketed.
'What? What's not right?' Joker thought.
'We're being watched.' Shadow Narukami said, making Joker's blood run cold.
'What do we do?!' Joker thought.
'Keep going forward like everything's normal. Turn right on the next street, and run as soon as you turn the corner.' Shadow Narukami explained.
Joker continued to walk towards the corner, pretending everything was normal. As soon as he turned the corner, he took off running!
It's times like these where he's thankful that Sumire's athletic training came in handy enough to run this fast. Even more thankful knowing that he's got a separate sentient beings living in his subconscious that can alert him of these sorts of things.
As he ran, he could hear the sound of screeching tires not too far behind him around the corner.
'Head down the nearest alleyway, and climb up the wall on your right!' Shadow Narukami said urgently.
Joker did what he told him to do, and quickly made his way to the nearest alley, and immediately began climbing up the wall. Narukami then summoned Izanagi No Okami Picaro and He's climbing up the wall so easily using its blade, you'd think he would be Spider-Man.
As soon as Joker reached the edge of the roof, he quickly climbed over it and laid his back flat on the roof motionless until whoever or whatever was following them in whatever vehicle had passed.
Joker hears a vehicle quickly get closer, and he is expecting it to drive by. However, his blood went cold when it immediately stopped in front of the building he was on top of. He heard a door open and could hear someone speak.
"Where the fuck did that kid go?" A male voice questioned angrily.
The male voice down on the street sounded like it had a bit of a scratchy voice mixed with a synthesized hum like the kind you'd hear at a strip club.
However, the fact that this guy was looking for him is what made Joker's blood freeze with fear.
"He could've taken an alleyway or is probably just hiding in one of them like an idiot." Another male voice said, this one sounding deeper.
The deeper male voice has a more electronic growl to it.
Joker doesn't care who they are or what they are, he does not wanna get caught by them. He can already tell that they're bad news.
"Looks like we have to check them all." The deeper male voice grumbled with agitation.
"No need." Said the first male voice calmly.
"What? Why not?" The second male voice asked.
"Velvet just texted me his location. He's right above us." The first male voice said sinisterly.
Joker practically went numb when he said that.
'SHIT!/SHIT!' He and Shadow Yosuke thought in unison.
Joker wasted no time and immediately scrambled back onto his feet to make a run for it.
Well, he tried to.
Before he could start running towards the back of the building he's on, a tall slim demon with a flat-screen TV for a head appeared in a flash of cyan-blue electricity, and Joker skidded to a halt.
"Going somewhere?" He asked rhetorically with a sinister sharp-toothed smile.
"Not with you, flat face!" Joker said defiantly.
Suddenly, his arm is shot with two tranquilizers, and he almost immediately begins to feel drowsy.
'FUCK!!!' Shadow Yosuke exclaimed in frustration and shock.
"Fucking dammit!" He spat angrily.
Joker then got so fatigued that he fell flat on his back, slowly starting to fall asleep. Before he's fully knocked out, he sees the face of a demon girl he's never met before.
She has medium grey skin, eyes with red sclera, white irises, and black pupils that were slit like a cat. She also has long hair with velvet reddish pink, dark brown, and white. She had her hair in long pigtails. She also has black lipstick, and white teeth with fangs. He couldn't describe the rest of his characteristics because he was blacking out. However, she spoke to him while he was still conscious right before he fell asleep.
"Hi, cutie pie~" She purred before giggling like a crazed schoolgirl, and he swears he still heard it.
Joker: Week...Fucking...ruined....
and so he blacked out.