Chapter 3: Into the Metaverse

(A/N: Here is Marinette's Phantom Thief outfit: https://www.deviantart.com/justacreator/art/Princess-costume-849462019 https://www.deviantart.com/justacreator/art/Princess-mask-849461805)

(Mari's pov)

Over the next two days, things seemed to be just fine. I did my work, I studied, and did my best to bond with my new friends. Then, after the sports rally thing for the volleyball team, my life had been thrown into wack by a strange occurrence. How do I keep winding up in these situations? First, the miraculous now whatever this is?!

I was walking around the school, looking for my friends.

It was the end of the school day, and I wanted to see if we could hang out. I spotted them behind the school, they were talking. I made my way towards them when I noticed that there was a cat with them. They then pulled out their phones, and the cat meowed adorably. I love cats! I was about to call out to them when the world around me started to shift weirdly. Suddenly the school transformed into a castle! The sky turned red! I was so confused!

I turned to my friends and called out to them.

"Akira-chan!? Ryuji-kun?!" The two boys turned to me in surprise. Their outfits also caught me off guard. Ryuji was wearing a stereotypical biker's outfit with a mask that looked like a metal skull! Akira, on the other hand, was wearing a black jacket that had a tail that went down to his ankles! He also had bright red gloves on his hands and a white mask that showed of his pretty dark eyes.

"Mari-san? What are you doing here?" Ryuji asked as I ran over to them.

"I was about to ask you guys if we could hang out later, but now I just wanna know where the hell I am!" I told them.

"Who's this?" A voice asked.

I turned to the sound of the voice and was alarmed when I found out who it was. A bipedal, black, and white, bandana-wearing cat was staring at me.

"What the- why is there a cat? Why is it talking? Why does it look like that?" I was freaking out, to say the least. I barely heard Akira telling the thing my name. I mentally and physically shook myself, this was not the time to get into a mental breakdown!

"Nice to meet you, Marinette-chan, I'm Morgana!" The cat said to me.

"Nice to meet you to Morgana, but that doesn't explain how in the name of God I got here," I said.

"You must have gotten accidentally sucked in by the nav app," Ryuji said.

"The nav app is the app on our phones that allows us to come and go to the metaverse." He added.

"Ok, what is the Metaverse?" I asked.

The two boys and the cat explained everything to me. The Metaverse, palaces, personas, treasures, all of it!

"So, to sum it up," I said.

"You two accidentally stumbled into the Metaverse a few days ago. Trough the Metaverse, you discovered Mr. Kamoshida's abuse of the volleyball team. Now, you guys are gonna steal his treasure as the Phantom thieves to make him have a change of heart and confess all of his sins. Am I missing anything?"

"That pretty much covers it," Morgana said.

"Don't tell anyone," Akira said.

"I don't plan to," I said. The boys all sighed, but I added:

"Because I'm joining you," The Phantom Thieves before me spluttered in surprise.

"What?" Ryuji asked.

"I'm joining you guys as your fellow Phantom Thief," I said calmly.

"Mari-chan, there are large risks that are included in this job. Life-threatening risks. This is not something you want to be part of." Akira said.

"Well, I am not gonna stand by while Kamoshida does whatever he damn well pleases to my fellow students!" I yelled.

"I know how to defend myself. I might not look it, but I'm rather strong. Please, I can't let a man like that go unchecked if I have the power to bring him to justice!" The boys looked at me in shock.

"You have spirit, I'll give you that. But, as Joker said before, this is a dangerous job. Are you sure you want to proceed?" Morgana asked.

"Yes. Also, is Joker Akira-chan's code-name or something?" I asked.

"You catch on quickly! Yes, The Phantom Thieves have code names. Mine is Mona, Ryuji's Skull, and Akira is Joker!" Morgana explained.

"Ok then, let's go!" I said, about head into the castle, that was also the school.

"Hold on!" Ryuji said, pulling me back.

"You can't exactly fight in there, so you are gonna have to go on support." He told me. I sighed, at least I can help in a small way. We entered the palace through the secret entrance and wandered around for a while. I wonder how the Phantom Thieves do their thing.

(Time skip! Brought to you by Author's laziness!)

Why is everything happening all at once? One moment, we were taking down shadows effortlessly. Then, when we came across a treasure chest, opened it up and suddenly alarms blared, and shadows appeared out of nowhere! We tried fighting, but we were overwhelmed. The boys were pinned to the ground while a guard held me in place. Then, Kamoshida appeared. He had glowing yellow eyes, a golden crown on his head, and a royal cloak draped over his shoulders.

"Heh, well, look at that! The trap worked!" He said, laughing. He looked down at my friends.

"Serves you right for wandering around my castle as you did!" He then turned to me.

"Oh, look! You even got a lady to join you! How nice~." He said. He walked over to me and reached for my face.

"Stop! Don't touch her!" Akira shouted. Kamoshida turned to him.

"Guard, make him shut up," He said. The guard grabbed Akira's head and forced it onto the ground. Akira let out a cry of pain that angered me even more.

"Now then, let's take this lovely la-" Kamoshida started, but I cut him off.

"No!" I yelled. I kicked the guard that was holding me so hard that he flew into a nearby wall. I turned to the Kamoshida.

"Kamoshida, you are a sick, twisted, horrid excuse for a man! You enjoy making people suffer, you bask in their misery! I hate people like you, who think that they are beyond consequence! I won't let you or anyone else hurt my friends ever again!" I screamed.

"So... my waiting has come to an end," A voice in my head said. I recognized that voice, it was the same voice that told me to save them. As soon as I made the connection, pain shot through my body. I felt like my body was on fire! I writhed and screamed in pain. All I could hear was the voice.

"My dear fleur, your friends are hurt. What will you do? Will you choose the high road again? Or take action? You have represented hope once before, why not pick up that mantle again? To help guide your friends, let us create a contract. Call my name, and destroy those who block your way!"

"You're right..." I said to the voice. The pain vanished as soon as it appeared. A mask appeared on my face. I grabbed ahold of it and ripped it off my face. It was painful, it felt like ripping off my own skin! And judging from the wetness I felt on my face, I probably did. A burst of light blue fire surrounded me, I heard my name being called. When the blue flames died out, a giant stood behind me. A beautiful brunette woman on a white stallion stood there looking both regal and dangerous. The woman wore silver armor and held a silver sword in one hand and a white banner in the other. The flag was embroidered with Fleur-de-lis symbols. It also had the names Jhesus and Maria embroidered on it. As well as a picture of two angels and a man with a brown beard.

I wore an outfit that bore the pride of my heritage. It had pink Chinese sleeves and a pink skirt, as well as a red french top with black spots, red french leggings with black spots, red velvet gloves, and french leather boots. A pink silk fan was in my left hand and a red rifle with a golden dragon's head in my right hand.

"I will protect them... I will inspire them... So let's get 'em! Joan of Arc!" I yelled, pointing at Kamoshida and the guards that were holding my friends down. Joan lifted her sword towards the soldiers, and a barrage of light arrows came raining down on the guards. The guards dissolved, and my friends were free. The light arrows didn't hurt my friends at all.

"Thanks!" Ryuji said.

"No problem!" I responded. Akira smiled at me. I felt a weird sensation in my stomach, must be the thrill of battle! Kamoshida retreated behind more guards that appeared out of nowhere. The addition of Joan to the arsenal of personas proved to be very valuable. She had the unique ability to increase different stats every other turn. In the end, I can proudly say that we diminished Kamoshida's forces by a fair margin. We fled after reinforcements were coming. When we escaped, I fully realized what I was wearing.

"What the-?" I examined my outfit, I can't lie, I looked amazing!

"Looks like you unlocked your persona!" Mona said.

"I guess I did," I responded.

"Joan of Arc... what a persona!" Joker said.

"Yeah!" I said. Then I realized something else.

"Wait, does this mean I can officially be a part of the Phantom Thieves?" I asked with excitement.

"I... guess?" Skull said.

"I don't see why not!" Joker said.

"But what's your code-name?" Mona asked.

"Princess?" Joker suggested.

"Princess... I like that!" I said.

"Cool! Let's go with that!" Skull said.

"Then it's settled. Welcome to the Phantom Thieves Princess!" Mona said. I smiled at my friends, I knew it was the right desition to come to Japan! I wonder what the future has in store for me?