#accept in maybe one line from Zenkichi

[almoststedytimetravel]

Pour one out for the Persona characters that fell ill with "Time-skip cop" pray that they may one day find a cure.

[shadowtarot]

oooh identity reveals!!! In any case...

CHM: Ryuji, Maruki, Zenkichi contacted every one. It pisses Ren off, he calls for Futaba to contact Kirijo and stop their contact with Ryuji at once.

Chariot’s Mystery Part 17 Heading into an old warehouse, Ryuji along with Zenkichi and Maruki finally have a chance to relax. “Geez...can’t we just catch a break for once?” Finding a somewhat stable chair, Ryuji takes a seat. “We can’t just sit around. We’ve been found out, meaning we’ve put targets on everyone now.” Zenkichi whips out his smartphone, noticing that glitching app is on his phone now as well. “It’d be best to tell everyone, yeah. But with all of us separated, there’s not much Ren can do. ...but we kind of need his Wild Card shit to even last a second against those guys.” Ryuji takes out his own smartphone. The Chat Group: Zenkichi: Sorry to message so late, but there’s been an urgent turn of events.

Ren: I don’t like the sound of that.

Makoto: What did Ryuji do this time?

Ryuji: HEY! Don’t go thinking this was my fault!

Maruki: A new form of the Metaverse Navigator’s appeared. Though it appears semi-corrupted, and it even reflects what the Metaverse within looks like. Almost as if it’s being coded in real-time. And shoddily at that.

Sophia: Ichinose hasn’t received such an app though, and I haven’t sensed anything Metaverse like since the Jails vanished.

Zenkichi: That’s the issue. It appeared on Ryuji’s phone first. And...when he went to activate it, not only did Maruki and I see it happen...but Sho, the guy who threatened Ryuji to cough up intel spot him..but Officer Sanada as well. And Sho ended up forcing all of us into the Metaverse, which reveled that Sanada is connected to Kirijo as well.

Ren: Tch, so we can’t even trust the Police that are rooted close to their HQ. Did they attack you?

Ryuji: Yeah, and they’re both wicked strong. That Sanada guy fights a lot like me, lightning and all. But he talked like he’s had his Persona for a lot longer. And Sho didn’t even summon his once, but the dude’s inhumanly fast and dangerous to boot.

Futaba: Well people being connected to Kirijo having Persona lines up with everything we know so far. And Mitsuru did say Sho was dangerous, which you three saw first hand. So maybe we could pump them for more intel?

Ren: No, it’s too risky now. They know Ryuji’s face. They can easily run a backlog of Shujin Students from last year and learn a good majority of our identities. Our only option is to strike a bargen with them, and hope we can get out of this mess without being unmasked. 

Sophia: What do you propose we do?

Ren: We request that they cease any and all contact with Ryuji, and in return...we’ll capture Sho Minazuki for them.

Ryuji: Dude, didn’t you read what I said earlier? He didn’t even summon his Persona, he’s way too strong for us!

Ren: I’m not an idiot, Ryuji. I know a way I can make this work. Sho’s their enemy, and based on Kirijo’s actions...an enemy of our enemy is a Confidant.  Maruki: So wait...you’re gonna use Sho as a Trojan Horse?

Ren: It’s a way to get into their good side and actually judge them for who they actually are. If they don’t see through our actual intentions that is. Futaba, open up the access point for Kirijo, I’m talking to Mitsuru one on one this time.

Futaba: Sure thing!

Kirijo HQ: 

Akihiko had just stopped in to let Mitsuru know what had happened, and Mitsuru’s reaction was both of shock and annoyance.

“So, in the chaos of all that, Sho escaped again?” She folds her arms. “Letting one cause of crisis escape is why we can’t take action against any of these cases officially.” 

“But I encountered three Phantom Thieves as well, confirming Sakomoto’s connection to the group. But the other two never appeared in Shido’s Broadcast Calling Card...which means there’s more members then we’re aware of.”

Akihiko and Mitsuru’s conversation is cut short however, as a monitor behind them bears the “Take Your Heart” logo once again. “Is that...them contacting us again?” Akihiko questions, turning to the screen. “It’s just a single monitor and not the whole system this time...” Mitsuru notes. “I hope you realize the more you do this, Joker, the more we’ll figure out your location.”

“It seems we didn’t need to wait for another incident to find out your true colors. You want to prove your innocence to us, yet one of your own attacked one of ours.” Joker states, voice hidden like always but the sound of dissatisfaction rings true.

“Akihiko, did you actually attack him?” Mitsuru asks. “He was trying to flee, what else could I have done? It’s like you said, we don’t know if they’re innocent so I was going to try to bring them in for questioning.” Akihiko responds. “Sadly, as per our agreement, we’ll not hesitate to target you. We might not have evidence of you being the cause of the Breakdowns, but you’re making an enemy of us just by starting conflict.” “You just wanted an excuse to attempt a change of heart on us, didn’t you?” Mitsuru glares at Joker’s hidden face. “I dare you to try it.”

“Don’t be absurd, we know we can’t change your heart. But, if you want a show of good faith still, you just need to agree to one thing: stop targeting Skull. If you can keep good on that, we’ll do what we can to bring this...Sho Minazuki to your doorstep. If he’s truly as dangerous as you say, it might be best if he’s dealt with in the proper manner.” Joker smirks, which is slightly visible even through the filters. “So you’re asking that we cease investigation into your group and you’ll help us capture Sho?” Mitsuru questions this odd deal. “What would you even get out of bringing him to us?”

“We protect the public by exposing truth and locking away threats. Sho just happens to fall into the latter. Even if you said no, we’d still capture him ourselves and take full credit. But, us bringing him to you will grant the credit of his capture to your group. Sound better now?” 

The proportion didn’t sound bad, and in Mitsuru’s eyes this would mean a possible face to face interaction with someone with the group. Though she questions how a group of inexperienced Persona Users could even attempt to capture Sho. But she’s been surprised before, after all. “Fine, we accept your deal. We’ll lay off your group for the time being. Just don’t give us any reason to break that promise.”