Chapter 8

Planeptune/Train/Morning

The morning to the Eresthian Train was fairly normal, however even though it was normal Sean was still preoccupied with his thoughts as he looked at his own reflection as he stood holding a pole in the train near a window.

'If they got a skill from the persona system – my social links to be more precise – why haven't the others said anything about their skills?' Sean questioned 'Did they simply not have theirs? Did they not simply find it fit to mention it? Or is it given under certain conditions?'

BZZT BZZT

Sean's phone vibrated but he ignored it for the time being.

'First let's think back... what is the persona system based on? No, persona 5 system based on? Persona 5 is based on cognition and the subconscious, in other words how I see it and... well... the subconscious.' He muttered inwardly 'So maybe it's because I don't have a clear image or cognition of what the arcanas themselves represent and they'll only get the ability if I recognise or change my cognition of it.' He glared at his reflection 'After all, my cognition of 'magicians' is that they are good at magic hence that means the siblings may have gotten something magic related, and my cognition of 'devils' are people who enjoy taking more than what is needed or simply materialistic people and because of that Ranpo got a reward bonus skill.' He reasoned 'Then does that mean when I actively change my cognition of something then an extra skill will appear for them?' He then added on 'Wait, "arcana" is the plural form whilst "arcanum" is the singular form so does this mean that they can be granted more than one ability?'

BZZT BZZT

"I'll have to experiment on this with IF when I get the chance." He decided as he slipped his phone from his pocket.

◇◇◇

Wind Walker1: Hey.

...

Wind Walker1: Uhh... Hello?

The Fool: Sorry, I was deep in thought.

Wind Walker1: Huh really, it isn't often when you personally mention that you have a problem.

The Fool: Nah, it's more like I may have had a power I never knew I had

Wind Walker1: Uwa~ that sounds kinda 3rd grade syndrome-ish

The Fool: Your saying this to me?

Wind Walker1: Hey! I don't have third grade syndrome!

The Fool: I never said you did. You just said it for SOME reason.

The Fool: Got anything to confess? Don't worry I'm very magnanimous and understanding.

Wind Walker1: I don't have it!

Wind Walker1: Anyway, enough diverting from the topic!

The Fool: Tch, you noticed.

Wind Walker1: Wait, you did that on purpose?!

The Fool: Whatever could you mean~

Wind Walker1: You totally did that on purpose! Hell, your doing it even now!

Wind Walker1: Enough dancing around, and tell me what's troubling You!

...

The Fool: I'm currently contemplating whether I should say no or just explain...

Wind Walker1: Well, why don't you just explain?

...

The Fool: I'm kinda used to hearing out other people's problems whilst bottling up my own.

Wind Walker1: ...That's not healthy.

The Fool: I do have a way to relieve myself of such stress tho.

Wind Walker1: That's still not healthy!

The Fool: Meh, it depends on your perspective of the term 'healthy'.

Wind Walker1: Damn it! When your here I'm gonna force you to vent your frustrations and tell me what's bothering you!

The Fool: I... don't see what's the big deal...

Wind Walker1: And THAT is the big deal!

Wind Walker1: Your doing this whether you like this or not, ok!

The Fool: ...

Wind Walker1: OK!

The Fool: ...

Wind Walker1: OKAY?!

The Fool: ...

Wind Walker1: O-K-A-Y?!?

The Fool: Fine.

The Fool: I'll tell you some of it later.

...

Wind Walker1: Talking about later, when are you coming here?

The Fool: In like, 10 or 20 mins.

Wind Walker1: Good, I got everything prepared already for the quest.

The Fool: K, I'll see you later.

Wind Walker1: I'll see you later; and you will tell me you frustrations!

◇◇◇

'I don't understand why she even cares so much.' Sean inwardly muttered 'I mean seriously, she's only a rank 2 social link which would probably amount to a mere friend. Who knows, maybe SHE'S the one who wants to vent.' He concluded.

'Trickster, tricking yourself would do you nothing.' Arsène stated out of the blue which drew silence from the young thief.

'I know. It's just hard to open up.' Sean shook his head 'How did my confusion about the powers of my social link become a confusion of how I deal with my stress?' He wondered as Morgana peaked through the bag in worry.

"Guess I'll do something while I wait..." He muttered as he slipped his phone into his pocket.

He observed his surroundings and saw that he was in a train. It was fairly cramped, but it was also fairly empty with the only passengers being himself, Ranpo who was merely sleeping and some other dude who was dressed in white.

'Hold on... That's Jotaro Kujo dressed in his diamond unbreakable attire.' Sean realised as he noticed that Sora and Shiro would probably want to meet him. 'Does that mean Dio exists? I hope to dio not. Heh, dio means god.'

Sean sighed.

'Well, not like I got a real reason to care about him.' He turned his vision away and saw that someone left a newspaper on a seat.

"Guess I'll read." He muttered as he walked towards the newspaper, picked it up and sat down to read it.

'Hmm... It's made by Dengekiko.' He noticed 'Wasn't that Famitsu's rival or something? And why is this about good gaming stores? Oh yeah, Planeptune has lazy citizens which means they need entertainment to not drive them crazy.' He reasoned as he skimmed and scanned the newspaper 'There are quite a few locations I could buy games from. And luckily I can raise some of my social stats from games, for some reason.' He then decided on something 'I'll check this out when I get free time.'

"PLANEPTUNE ERESTHIAN CITY... PLANEPTUNE ERESTHIAN CITY..." The train echoed throughout the carts

"Looks like it's my stop." He muttered as he realised something which Morgana spoke up about just now.

"You talk to yourself a lot." The cat giggled.

Planeptune/Eresthian City/Morning

"I'm here..." He muttered as he looked around for a nearby vending machine and he approached it.

"Hmm..." He mumbled as he waited for a couple of people to finish ordering their drinks from the machine, he also overheard their conversation.

"You think boss-girl is gonna eventually leave her room?" A guy with glasses asked a tanned muscular guy.

"Heh, nah. She herself said that she's a NEET detective when in actuality she's just a shut-in who plays detective whilst we're the guys who actually handle it." The tanned muscular guy showed off a smug smile whilst a white haired dude spoke up.

"Less chatting more ordering, we've got company." The pale white haired dude was kinda stern as they all stared at Sean with Sean's poker face unflinching.

"Are you done ordering?" Sean asked while ignoring their suspicious stares 'They seem kinda shady.'

'They seem to be some form of gang.' Arsène observed.

'How do you figure? They just said they were detectives.' Sean inquired.

'There are all types of people; some people enjoy personally handling situations whilst pretending to be 'true' detectives whilst they enact their own 'justice' and hide it under a facade of righteousness.' Arsène said with a hint of distaste.

'I see, so kinda like us except we know what we're doing is wrong but we're fully embracing it to help both the people and ourselves. Although, we haven't taken down many criminals now that I think about it... Just a few criminals here and there and also Avenir.' Sean concluded.

'Somewhat similar, but they think what they're doing is righteous when in actuality they are merely disrupting order.' Arsène commented as he continued 'That I would merely conclude as childish enthusiasm as both you and me have gone through it, but the scent of blood on them tells me otherwise.'

'I see...' Sean realised the difference 'Us criminals have rules but the number one rule as a thief – a Phantom Thief – is not to kill, they however have no qualms with killing.' Sean would remember this.

'Take my words at face value as we do not have enough information, but my instincts are telling me there is something wrong with them though and I fear the consequences of letting them bark around too long.' Arsène stated.

'I'll see what I can do.' Sean muttered although he won't lie about feeling slightly hypocritical.

"Yeah, we're done." The tanned guy stated as he glared at Sean and then he turned around towards them "Let's go guys."

As they left they glared suspiciously at Sean.

"Meh." He muttered as he observed the options.

"Dr. Paper?" He muttered as he clicked the button for Doc P and bent down to get it, but not before getting a green soda first.

'If I remember correctly, apparently the first meeting with MAGES. Was about this particular drink.' He thought as he grabbed both drinks.

Sean then leaned on the wall near the vending machine and threw the green soda at a certain direction.

CLAP

Someone caught it.

"You knew I was here?" A youthful voice asked as she approached Sean.

"No, I randomly buy drinks and throw them in random directions." Sean sassed as the young woman approached with her over-sized open blue coat dangling it's open silver belt in the open.

"I can just feel the sarcasm," She commented as she reached a hand on her black corset with silver highlights and let her other hand rest near her black shorts which also had silver laces. "It's just like a warm summer breeze over a meadow."

"You watched SAO abridged?" Sean asked as she momentarily stopped walking with her blue boots which was decorated white between the tied up X laces.

"What?" Her stern emerald eyes seemed perplexed at what he asked.

"Abridged? What? What are you talking about?" She tilted her head – which had long brown hair which was tied up by a green ribbon on one side behind her head and also reached past her shoulders – slightly as she wondered what he was talking about.

Sean shook his head.

"Don't worry about it." And then he began to take a sip of his Doc P. His eyes slightly widened 'This takes like the Doc P from my world...' He then began to gulp it down like no tomorrow.

"Find a drink you like?" She asked as she took a sip out of her own drink calmly.

'There is such a gap-moe between her stern real self and her relaxish free online persona.' Sean noticed.

"Yeah, called Doctor Paper but it tastes surprisingly good." He answered her as he continued casually sipping on his drink.

She stopped sipping on her soda.

"You know, I thought you were going to fight those guys for whatever reason." She stated.

"And you would've just watched?" Sean asked.

"Nah, I would've let you get your ass handed to you then I would've stepped in." She responded.

"I wouldn't pick a fight I know I don't want to fight." He stated.

"You'll need to get rid of your hesitation soon you'know? People are starting to get frustrated with the so-called supporting adventurer." She responded "Even more so now than ever before."

"I'm a pacifist." He responded.

"I'm sure you are, but your detection abilities say otherwise." She observed which was bad considering she noticed a lead on his night-job.

"Anyway, what's going on now if even I'm gonna need to fight." He questioned as he paused sipping his drink.

"Lots of gang violence in the past month; it's increased on stupid levels to the point that even the Guild had to get involved." IF explained.

"And this relates to me how?" He asked as she raised two fingers and counted down to zero as she explained her points.

"One, rumours about your supporting abilities has increased and well... they're not wrong, considering how much a single spell of yours increases someone's parameters." She then took a sip of her soda as Sean spoke up.

"How large are the rumours?" Sean asked.

"They span the whole city and a little beyond." She responded as Sean began to choke on his drink. "People are getting hasty to leave their homes nowadays and a lot of shops are beginning to close down, the shops still up are either shady or going to close down soon."

"I haven't heard much rumours though." Sean stated.

"Has there been any people that could even speak rumours?" She questioned as Sean's eyes widened.

'The reason why the train was so empty... The reason why I didn't overhear much rumours...' He realised how important this was 'The Guild getting involved tells a lot considering that they're neutral on almost all grounds; they're only goal is the conservation of lives so it makes sense if it's as dire as she presents it as.'

Sean spoke up.

"Why haven't they recognised me? I helped a lot of people out to my recollection." He asked as she finished her soda and threw her drink in a nearby bin.

"You really underestimate how normal you look; you could easily get lost in a crowd to the point it's scary how normal-looking you are from afar, it's like a passive skill or something." She informed.

"Hmm... Maybe? Everyone in my family from my father's side looks like a high-spec generalisation of the natives." He stated as she raised an eyebrow "It's probably how our genes for some reason make us look like the average native – If not slightly better – to the point it's stupid. My dad looked different from me – with blond hair and green eyes – and I inherited by mother's features, but my genes somehow  generalised it to 'normal' even though my mother was known as quite the 'catch' if you get what I'm implying." Sean seemed deep in thought as he contemplated what the fuck is wrong with his genes.

"Huh." IF muttered "It's not everyday that you talk about yourself." She noted as she then muttered about how it would be easier than she thought to relieve him of some stress.

"Anyway," He approached the topic again "What's the second reason?"

"The second reason is quite simple, the Guild has nominated both you, me and a friend of mine for an undercover mission." She responded.

"Can I refuse?" He asked.

"There would be no point in refusing, because your already being used a decoy." She informed.

"Thought as much." Sean muttered.

"So it would be really about if your getting free money or not." She oversimplified.

"What's stopping me from leaving?" He asked in curiosity.

"Simple, we can't leave." She responded which issued a raised eyebrow.

"Meaning?" He questioned as he noticed the word 'we'.

"They got the whole of Eresthian City on lockdown, the Yellow Ribbons and Blue Dollars got notice of your arrival in the city and have blocked off all exits." She explained with visible frustration.

"So when can we meet our mutual friend?" He asked.

"She's scouting the area and sending info occasionally." IF responded. "So I don't think you will."

Sean sighed.

"So what do we do in the mean time?" He asked.

"We should gather information in the entertainment district." She answered.

Sean deadpanned at her.

"You just wanna relax till then, don't you." He accused.

"No I don't, anyway let's go!" She then proceeded to grab him by the hand and lead him to the entertainment district.

When they left in the distance, something sparked. Behind where Sean was standing there was a ripped out broken-camera that was near the vending machine.

'Looks like they were watching me already.' Sean observed as he slid a memory card in his pocket.

Planeptune/Eresthian City/Entertainment District/Morning

Sean let himself be pulled by IF as she proceeded to go shopping, with him carrying her stuff for her. He didn't have a reason to refuse anyways.

"Hey what disc do you have equipped?" She asked out the blue.

"Disc?" He questioned "I'm not playing any game, you know?"

She seemed stunned into silence for a few moments.

"By disc I meant the disc for your equipment section on your system." She answered.

"Oh that, I never really knew what that was for." He raised a fist onto his palm in realisation "What's it for?"

She simply sighed in disappointment.

"It's for extra status effects like extra health regen or boosts to one of your stats." She explained as she then realised something.

"You know, that may be why your skills are so effective." She said out of the blue.

"Huh?" He mumbled in surprise.

"You see skills are formed by either intense desire or intense training. Although, you can also unintentionally get skills as you level up or have some innate talent with a particular skill." She explained.

"And that relates to me... how?" Sean asked.

"Your a pacifist even when confronted which could be linked to intense desire and thus how you obtained skills in the first place, you also exercise your skills a lot since you main support a lot which links to intense training and you may have some sort of innate talent for the said skills." She reasoned.

'Yeah, let's go with that.' Sean found a convenient explanation for his skills. She's also not wrong as he did need intense focus for his skills to be learnt and he did need some form of desire to learn the skills in the first place and since his personas taught him said skills then it could also be related to his innate talent.

"Though there is something which confuses me..." She muttered which got a raised eyebrow out of Sean.

"That is?" He spoke up.

"Your philosophic nature and your sense of justice. Why is there no skills for such parts of your personality?" She muttered.

"Sense of justice?" He questioned.

"Yeah, I've noticed the looks you give when people do something frowned upon. You don't hate them but you seem to hate that they have a reason for doing so, which might I add is quite fatal and can lead to consequences in my – and currently our – line of work since it can lead to hesitation." She explained as she stared deeply at his face.

Sean was growing nervous at the intense stare.

BZZT

One of IF's 9 phones beeped which she instantly slid out and entered a call.

"Hmm..." She muttered "I see... I see... We'll be going then... WHAT! WA! It-It's not like that!" She blushed heavily for some reason as she slid the phone back down into her pocket.

"Trouble?" Sean asked as her blush faded and she nodded.

"Yeah, and it's nearby too." She then led him to an alleyway nearby.

"Focus..." He muttered lightly as he observed the surroundings. There were cameras scattered about, guns hidden in bins, a suitcase near the end of the alleyway and... at the end of the alleyway a bomb.

"Stop." He gripped her shoulder in a firm voice which drew her attention, he then pointed at the bomb near the suitcase and her eyes widened in realisation.

"Close call..." She muttered as she then wondered how Sean knew.

"So you noticed?" A man came out of of a corner near the end of the alleyway. He wore a standard black suit, sunglasses and a bowl hat which covered his bald head. "Well, that won't do... Especially with the Guild snooping around where they should not."

"What's your intentions." IF asked in a tensely calm voice.

"Now, why would I say that? Do I look like an idiot?" He questioned.

'You would be surprised how many people explain their own plans.' Arsène inwardly commented.

'Not now Arsène.' Sean muttered inwardly as he gripped the fists that were in his jeans.

"I didn't know that people from a street gang would dress up in suits, is this a new fashion trend or something?" Sean sassed as he observed that there were people behind them too.

'I need an answer...' He muttered inwardly as he examined all the solutions which didn't hold much consequences 'Hmm... I can use a flashbang, steal a gun from a bin, kick a camera towards the bomb and explode the bomb, the man should go flying because of his position near the bomb. The people behind me will fire, I'll throw IF aside and take them all out. Plan set. Plan start.' He inwardly decided.

"I've got a plan." Sean muttered near IF's ear even though she seemed as if she had her own one, though after glancing towards Sean she slightly nodded.

"Trying to stall? Sorry but not sorry. Time is precious and time is money, I'm not gonna drag this out longer than needed." He then raised his own pistol at Sean first. "But I guess we can use a new girl, though we don't need you."

"Wait, don't." IF muttered towards Sean who understood her intentions.

"In that case why don't you take us both? I can... do services, whilst my friend can cook, clean and be the perfect servant. So, what do you say?" IF bargained.

There was a pause in his movements as he took a moment to consider it.

"You could also take us hostage for the Guild. The Guild has more uses for us alive than dead." Sean chipped in.

He nodded as he considered it.

"Hmm... True, but the question is if your worth the effort." He stated.

'Just one more push...' Both Sean and IF thought at the same time.

"Oh, and also I got skills in weapon modification." Sean implied.

He looked surprised.

"And how would I know that?" He asked.

"I come from Lastation and I work part-time at Passe." Sean explained as he then looked as if he won the lottery.

"Passe?! Passe the factory which is known to have gained even the Goddess Black Heart's approval?! Jackpot!" He said out loud as he then nodded. "Alright, I'll let you guys tag-along."

Both Sean and IF calmed down at that.

"But for safety protocols you can't know where the base is." He then finished of his last sentence.

"Huh, wha?" Those were the last words Sean muttered before someone knocked him out, however before being knocked out he stole one of his henchmen's identification.

Then all was blank.

Game over? Restart from last save? New game? Rebooting save data?

Planeptune/Eresthian City/???/???

'So, how'd ya think I did?' Sean asked his personas as he was pretending to be asleep, he had woken multiple hours ago.

'It could be better...' Messiah Picaro was quite kind with his words.

'You need more training.' Arsène stated.

'Are you hurt?' Lilith asked.

'He Lets beat them up Ho!' Jack Frost was raring to go.

'Ho retribution for hurting our Trickster He!' Jack O' Lantern was as livid as Jack Frost.

'Next time don't get knocked out.' And Succubus bitched about it.

'First, I agree. Second, I'm okay. Third, not right now and you guys probably won't. Fourth, stop bitching.' He replied as he used his Third Eye to scan his surroundings.

'Seems like they blindfolded IF whilst they knocked me out.' Sean noticed as he was currently face-planted on IF's knees. Sean twitched his nose twice to let her know he's awake and she coughed twice to say "oh-kay" a few hours ago 'Fucking simps.'

'We're probably being tracked down by IF's scout-friend, though the matter about reinforcements is a whole 'nother story.' Sean realised as the van finally came to astop.

Sean then felt someone grab him and lift him over their shoulder. 'What am I? A body bag? Show me at least some care damn it!' He couldn't help but complain about the rough treatment.

"W-wait! Where are you taking him?" She questioned whilst sounding kinda desperate.

'Nice acting skills.' Sean couldn't help but compliment whilst every persona but Messiah Picaro and Arsène shook their heads. Messiah Picaro instead looked at him with pity whilst Arsène seemed troubled.

'What?' He couldn't help but ask as they all replied in unison.

'Nothing.'

"He'll go to the cellar in the basement, he can do what he needs to from there when he wakes up." And thus Sean was dragged away from IF and soon yeeted onto a very hard surface.

'Customer service sucks.' Sean's sarcasm wouldn't fail at this moment in time as he waited for the door to close, though there was some sort of note nearby a desk. 'This resembles a prison with how minimalistic it is. Though, this doesn't have a bed so I guess a prison is better.' Sean observed with his Third Eye as he then scanned for any nearby presences.

He found none except rats.

'I swear, if I get sick from sleeping near rats I'm so gonna ask for a pay-raise.' Sean decided as he was trying to calm his nerves with idle thoughts and even succeeded.

He sighed as he got up off the floor.

"Now then... what to do?" He muttered as he scanned the room he was in. He found a desk which had two pens and a bunch of paper, there was also their laundry here.

"Let's do this stealthily, shall we?" Sean didn't bother getting anything out of his neptunia inventory because of the fact that the room had disabled the use of the system and he had no noteworthy things in his persona inventory.

"Wait, where's Mona?" He realised as his bag wasn't near him. 'Must've dropped him when I got knocked out.'

'Eh, if all goes well he can work together with the scout to find us or do something useful.' He wasn't really worried about his persona-summoning cat.

"Now then... to get started." He grabbed the paper and dropped it onto the floor whilst covering it with a blanket from the laundry 'At least they'll think I'm still sleeping.'

He then grabbed the pens and proceeded to pick the door's lock and exited the door whilst also locking it again.

"PT style or nah?" He muttered as he then decided "Nah."

'Don't wanna give IF more clues on my identity, I'm kind of a criminal.' He reasoned as he walked pass corridors after corridors and explored the place with the use of his Third Eye. Fun fact, for a local gang they're surprisingly high-tech.

'They've got cameras everywhere.' He inwardly noted as he used his Third Eye to evade all the cameras and continue onward looking for an important-looking room.

'I'm sure IF can handle herself, so I've got to do my part as well.' He muttered as he evaded the people who he assumed to be the 'Yellow Ribbon', their yellow scarves are kinda obvious.

Sean explored the place and eventually hit a floor second to top floor, he entered and noticed that there was a window. He peaked out and he saw he was in a skyscraper of some sort.

'Hidden in plain sight, huh?' He muttered as he continued onwards and found some kind of glass which showed bottom floor. Over there he could see IF tied up as the people who captured her were spouting bullshit about claiming the city for themselves, the strong eat the weak, they'll become the new gods of the city and other third grade bullshit.

Sean used his phone to reflect the windows light onto IF to get her attention. She noticed and her eyes slightly widened upon seeing him, whilst he merely nodded to indicate that he's coming, she nodded slightly. The people around her noticed her odd behaviour but when they saw where she was staring at they merely saw the clouds through the windows, whilst Sean was hiding behind a wall.

"Well, I assured her everything's going to be fine." He got off the wall and continued going upwards towards the gang leader's room.

"Focus..." Sean used his Third Eye and scanned the room, there was one guy using his phone inside. Probably the boss.

'Let's just deck him in the face.' He decided as he opened the door and saw some blond dude on his phone, the blond dude raised his eyes to see who it was but it turned out to be not who he was expecting it to be.

Sean then proceeded to punch him multiple times in the face to knock him out whilst he grunted not that loudly but still would need caution from then on. He pulled out a taser to try and paralyze or knockout Sean, but Sean was having none of that shit.

"I'm a pacifist." Sean stated as he then redirected his own taser towards the dude and then he proceeded to knock himself out.

"Pacifism at it's finest." He muttered as he grabbed a nearby rope – why does he even have a rope? – and tied him up.

"Huh..." Sean muttered as he stared at the guy he knocked out 'Isn't he Masaomi Kida from Durarara? Well, that explains a lot... Izaya is probably the one who spread my arrival in the city. ' He then decided on something 'I'm gonna kick him in the dick when I see him.'

"Focus..." He activated his Third Eye and proceeded to store all the important-looking papers in his neptunian inventory. They held locations, dates, names, associates, businesses and even future plans; seems like a good find.

Then, Sean found a computer which linked to the security of the building.

He lip's smirk began to resemble his Phantom Thief smirk.

"Oh, this is going to be so fun~"

†

"Intruders! I repeat there's intruders in the director's office! Requesting for backup! I need around a moderate amount of people up here!" A voice resembling Masaomi requested as people then bursted into a sprint towards the director office and more than needed proceeded to kick down the door and entered inside observing the situation.

They came to see Masaomi tied up screaming something. They all knew then.

CLAP!!!!!!

The doors shut close and smoke – sleeping gas – began to fill the room like no tomorrow.

FLAP!!!!!!

The lights turned off and all movement became still.

"EMERGENCY! THE INTRUDERS HAS ESCAPED INTO THE VENTS AND THEY'RE CURRENT POSITION IS IN THE STORAGE ROOM!  THEY'VE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO TAKE US ALL OUT..!" A desperate sounding Masaomi exclaimed.

The storage room resided near the main hall which IF was being surrounded in.

"Something doesn't sound right..." The bald man from before suspected and then he came to a sudden realisation.

"WAIT!--" The storage room doesn't have any vents! Is what he would've said if it wasn't for them having already opened it.

There was around 100 grenades placed on the ground and a gunshot resonated throughout the hall followed by an explosion.

BANG

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The force of the numerous grenades threw almost everyone flying, some probably were injured but miraculously no one died. As IF was freefalling in mid air – because she got flung by the explosion – she knew who was behind this. The self-proclaimed pacifist.

IF then twisted in mid air to try gather her footing as she shrugged off the ropes and cuffs holding her down, although she was aware she was a few metres away from landing on the ground.

However,

To her surprise, Sean appeared out of nowhere and let her drop into his arms in a princess carry. Needless to say she thanked him - quietly for some reason - as she was placed on her own two feet once more.

"That was unusually flashy." She commented as Sean smirked.

"Not gonna lie, it was pretty fun." He then gripped her arm and began to lead themselves out of the premises.

"Looks like the doors are broken closed." Sean commented "We'll need to find another way." He then proceeded to go to another exit which was the back entrance they entered from.

"Why didn't we just break the windows?" IF asked.

"Lady, I threw multiple grenades and shot many bullets but there was still no effect." Sean replied exasperated "What the fuck is up with their windows?!" The supporting adventurer couldn't help but exclaim.

They kicked down the door and proceeded to navigate through the entire skyscraper, IF taking out any who attacked them whilst Sean supported her with spells. They practically steamrolled through the place and when they were near the exit, Sean felt something off.

"DOWN!" He tackled IF to the ground as a bullet pierced through the door and shot Sean in the arm. IF nearly took a bullet to the heart.

"That was close..." He muttered as IF looked at him concerned.

"Are you okay?" She asked with clear concern.

"I took a bullet to the arm, I'm the pinnacle of 'okay'." Sean sassed as IF seemed somewhat relieved that he still had the Guts to sass her whilst injured. Well, his Guts Social Stat is Lionhearted for a reason "Alright, let's get moving." He proceeded to ignore the fact that there was a sniper behind the exit, he planned to run really fast anyway. All damage can just be healed later.

TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP

He planned to move with IF however he couldn't. They were cornered.

"Or not." He muttered.

TAP... TAP... TAP... TAP...

A certain blond-haired guy with nutty eyes and a yellow scarf approached from the crowd. It was Masaomi Kida.

"You." He glared at Sean.

"Me!' Sean replied "I knew I was handsome but to think you would glare so intensely at me..." Sean shook his head whilst Masaomi seemed perplexed.

"That wasn't what I was--" The yellow-scarved gangster was confused.

"—But don't worry! If I was gay, I would be gay for me too! So, I'm sorry that I can't accept your feelings." Sean explained as he got ready to throw a few Flashbangs.

"—That wasn't what I was—" Masaomi tried to explain.

"Boss is gay?" A gangster asked another gangster.

"I mean... He does surround himself with women to the point that it's as if he's pretending to be straight." Another gangster reasoned.

"You know..." Another gangster was going to say something was interrupted.

"ARGH! I'm not gay!" Masaomi exclaimed whilst IF managed to notice that Sean somehow managed to divert the whole topic to something else.

"I don't know, that sounds kinda sus." Sean responded whilst a few of his own gang members nodded in unison.

"I'm the guy you knocked out in the room with the laptop!" Masaomi explained "Speaking of, where is the laptop?" He seemed intensely livid as he asked that to the point everyone was stunned in silence.

There was a moment of silence.

"I destroyed it since someone hacked it." Sean replied as he replayed the scene on how 'Heavens Memo' was enacting justice by stealing their files, deleting and encrypting them in his own mind. Fucktard. Really messed up Sean's escape plan at the last minute.

"FUCK YOU! DO YOU EVEN KNOW MUCH THAT COST?! SO WHAT IF IT WAS HACKED? I COULD'VE JUST GOTTEN SOME GUY TO FIX IT!" Masaomi seemed livid and Sean retaliated.

"Just buy a new one." Sean offered the obvious solution.

"FUCK YOU! YOU FUCKING CUNT, I'M THE ONE PAYING FOR IT!" Masaomi exclaimed.

"Oh well, excuse me – you sick fuck – it ain't my fault that you're a dickhead who's only sole purpose is causing the residents of an entire city to leave or shut themselves in the their own homes because you Yellow Ribbons and Blue Dollars have some weird dick-measuring contest going on which is messing up both the economy and the fucking order of the city." Sean ranted in one breath as he then added on "Because your leadership skills is hotdog water given by the fact that your own minions – fucking yellow midgets – kill the people on the fucking street if they're investigating you or simply if they're horny enough they'd just bring strangers into the fucking base!"

There was a moment of silence.

'How did we divert so far off?' IF couldn't help but question. 'From questioning his sexuality to ranting about how much a computer costs and then back to the start of gang violence.' She shook her head 'Just how good is this guy at diverting topics?' She remembered the last time they messaged each other 'I'm still gonna need him to vent after this.' She concluded.

'Also, it may just be that his topic diverting skills are so out of place that people can't help but actually think about it.' IF theorised as she shook her head 'Even I'm getting diverted in my own thoughts.'

Or maybe it's because Neptunia is a Compile Heart game and almost every Compile Heart game has conversations which divert from the main topic.

'Nah, can't be that.' Sean replied to the narrator 'I'm just that good.'

"You know, I just remembered why we're here in the first place, to put a bullet through your head." Masaomi then slid out a pistol and aimed at Sean's head.

'Meh, I'm already prepared.' Sean then proceeded to yeet a flashbang between them.

BANGGHHH

"My eyes!" Masaomi and many others exclaimed.

"Let's go!" Sean stated as he dashed out the door with IF but soon paused.

"Oh fuck me..." Sean muttered as he noticed he was surrounded by all sides.

"I'm going to fucking kill you personally." Masaomi glared at Sean as he approached them from the circle of gangsters around them.

"Dude, language! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Sean sassed as he inwardly panicked 'We're surrounded on all sides, I could win if I go persona – that's for sure – but I don't want to expose my identity yet.' Sean faintly used his Third Eye to scan his entire surroundings.

He smirked.

"Hehehe..." Sean chuckled whilst IF looked at him perplexedly.

"What's so funny?" Masaomi sneered.

"I mean really, surrounding us in a circle? Can you get anymore cliché?" Sean chuckled.

"It worked didn't it?" Masaomi raises an eyebrow as Sean smirked a smile resemblant to his Phantom Thief smile.

"You sure about that?" Sean asked as he pointed behind them.

TAP.... TAP.... TAP.... TAP.... TAP....

"Yare, yare daze." A buff man spoke as he held onto his white cap and approached the adventuring duo calmly as his bright white coat danced in everyone's eyes. He wore a purple shirt and equally white trousers and brown boots.

"Oi, chibis," Jotaro fucking Kujo called out to Sean and IF "Are you Lupin Sean and Idea IF?" He asked to which they nodded.

"Yare, yare daze." He muttered "I'm your reinforcement, the orange-haired bitch already explained everything and she's currently watching from the hotel." He explained as he then looked at them and turned around "Let's go."

"Hey, you can't just leave!" Masaomi protested as Jotaro just ignored him "Fuck it, just shoot them!" He ordered the Yellow Ribbons who all proceeded to fire their guns along with the snipers firing their rounds.

"Yare, yare..." He muttered as he gripped his own cap "STAR PLATINUM! THE WORLD!"

Everything stopped.

Time stopped for everyone, everyone but Jotaro and Sean.

'Why am I not frozen?' Sean questioned his personas as he pretended to be frozen which was easier done than said.

'We're protecting you from it.' Arsène responded.

'Uh, how?' Sean questioned.

'As a Wildcard who's opened the pathway to become a Universe, only something on the scale of stopping the universe will work on you; merely stopping the world is not enough.' Arsène explained.

'But I'm currently nowhere near becoming a Universe.' Sean responded.

'Think of his time stopping as the ability to stop all entities that are spiritually level 1. You as a being who forms bonds with others and gather personas – which can also be considered spiritual beings of sorts – can be considered to have something like 1.1 as a spiritual level. They are similar but it is not enough.' Arsène explained as Jotaro proceeded to grab all the bullets in the area with a purple figure.

'But beware of the fact that if he's strong enough, even you will stop.' Arsène warned.

'Why can I see his stand? Oh wait never mind. Probably because I myself have spiritual beings like personas.' Sean reasoned.

'Precisely.' Arsène nodded.

Soon, everything fell into motion again.

'How long did he stop time for?' Sean forgot to count the seconds.

'Ten seconds.' Arsène responded.

'More than his anime counterpart, but reasonable considering that he just needs a high vit stat to extend the time stop's time limit.' Sean then realised something 'Oh shit, that's kinda scary. Not gonna lie.'

"Wha? What happened? Where did all the bullets go?" Masaomi exclaimed.

Jotaro tilted his cap forward.

"Yare yare daze." He then proceeded to walk as if nothing happened. Everyone was too stunned trying to process what was happening, IF was too but Sean dragged her to follow Jotaro.

And like that, they escaped with the important info and everything. Oh, and Sean still has a bullet in his arm.

Planeptune/Eresthian City/Hotel Room/Evening

'Huh, kinda funny that even if I'm being hunted for my skills I can still freely enter a hotel.' Sean noted as he sat down near a couch with Morgana resting on his lap. 'And apparently, Morgana led Jotaro to us.'

He shifted his glance to the other residents in the hotel room. Jotaro was eating food, an orange-haired girl was sleeping, IF was dozing off on a couch and Sean held a book in his hand whilst both Morgana and him were reading a book. Pretty calm.

Jotaro looks like he wants to be left alone hence why Sean did leave him alone, whilst Sean continued to read his book. After tens of minutes of page swiping, Sean finished his book.

"I felt my intelligence increase..." Sean muttered as Jotaro raised an eyebrow as he ate more ice cream.

'How are you supposed to feel that?' Jotaro couldn't help but ask inwardly. 'Like, do you feel your brain grow bigger? Do you analyse all the things you did wrong and understand their flaws? Or are you just saying that?'

'What should I do next?' Sean muttered as he knew he had around one more thing to do.

"Guess I'll play a game..." Sean went on his phone and played a free game which increased his Courage which was already RANK 4.

The game was fairly simple, there were 26 players in total, 5 murderers and 1 sheriff. Coincidentally, Sean was a sheriff. After tens of minutes of playing said game, Sean had won. Although only 10 of the innocents was the amount he was able to save.

"I felt my Courage increase..." Sean muttered as Jotaro raised his cap as he looked at Sean again. He was trying to get some sleep on the other couch, but the dude mumbles a lot to himself and they were stupidly as if he felt that he had some sort of real life social stats or something, simply absurd.

'Oh wait, this world does run like a game so it may be possible but it's unheard of.' He closed his eyes to doze off back to sleep.

'What next?' He mumbled inwardly.

BZZT BZZT

◇◇◇

[ ]A: You cool for a game?

[ ]O: We're bored.

The Fool: Sorry, can't.

[ ]O: ?

[ ]A: Huh, why?

The Fool: Currently, taking down two gangs that have somehow gained control over a whole city.

[ ]A: Wait, really?

The Fool: Yeah, maybe later.

[ ]A: K, thx tho.

[ ]O: Bye.

◇◇◇

'Now, I wonder how many scenarios and running through their minds now?' Sean questioned.

BZZT BZZT

'It's Chian.'

◇◇◇

Chian: Hey, how you holding up?

The Fool: Doing perfect, minus the bullet that I had to take out of my arm.

Chian: Huh what happened?

The Fool: Got hired to fix some gang violence.

Chian: Huh, knowing you, you could probably do something about it.

The Fool: Yep.

Chian: Anyway, stay safe.

The Fool: Yeah, see ya.

◇◇◇

'Guess she was making sure I was okay.' Sean realised 'In hindsight, I should've not mentioned the bullet.'

'Oh yeah, Ranpo doesn't have my contact info.' Sean's eyes widened 'That's the first time I've had a Confidant I couldn't contact.'

BZZT BZZT

'It's RED.' He did decide to let all bygones be bygones.

◇◇◇

Wifey Collector: Heya best buddy, how ya doing?

The Fool: I'm doing fine, only got a bullet in my arm.

Wifey Collector: ..Who did that to you?

Wifey Collector: I'll kill em.

The Fool: Even if it was a wifey?

Wifey Collector: ...Maybe.

The Fool: Meh, it wasn't a wifey. Just a happenstance of a job, nothing to worry about.

Wifey Collector: Call me if you need help.

The Fool: I'll see.

The Fool: Anyway, bye.

Wifey Collector: Bye bye fellow wifey collector!

◇◇◇

'She seemed fairly protective of me...' Sean muttered 'Maybe because she feels guilty?'

'I really need to increase my Understanding.' Sean thought about his only RANK 1 Social Stat.

He waited a few moments for if anyone else was going to call.

No one called.

"Guess, I'll sleep." He muttered as he rested his head on the couch and closed his eyes.

Like that, he dozed off