Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So, this is the power that resists Ruin!”

“Did we do it!?” Oracle gasped in horror, “No, it’s power level—!!”

The God of Control fluttered his wings above the tower over the clouds. Joker was doubled over in exhaustion, his friends spread out around him equally spent from fighting for their lives, and for the countless voices below.

“Dude, it’s still not dead!?” Skull cried.

“H-how do we beat a god?” Queen whispered, “I thought we almost had him!”

“Get it together people!” Mona leapt in between Joker and Queen, “This is our final battle! What better target to take down than a god who’s grown too arrogant!? I will see my justice through for the sake of the people I care about!”

“Morgana…” Panther whispered in awe.

“The same goes for you guys too!” Mona had fire blazing in his sapphire eyes, “If you’ve decided to take this world from him, then don’t compromise your own ideals!”

Fox regained his composure, hand on his sheathed katana, “What an artful way to put it, Mona.”

“Yeah!” Panther flailed her whip and stared at the God in defiance, “We won’t go down so easily! We’re going all out!”

“That’s right!” Noir traced the rim of her hat with one hand, and waved her other in an elegant arc, “We’ve come too far to give up now!”

“Hmph. My control shall not bow down to Ruin, nor shall the will of the masses overcome my power!” Yaldabaoth’s voice resonated with the fabric of reality itself, “I am the ultimate truth of this world, and will not lose to the likes of you mortals!”

“Heh, the vanity of this god knows no bounds!” Arsene appeared behind Joker in a veil of blue flames, black chains writhing around them, “Show this failure what it feels like to be purged! Come, unleash my full power!!”

Joker grasped the chains in front of him, the chill of its unnatural metal sent a wave of goosebumps down his arm.

“Wait, these readings…” Oracle gasped, “GET DOWN!!”

Joker hesitated.

It was that single second of pause…

That. Cost. Them. Everything.

Yaldabaoth’s wings shed a horrid black wind over the land. The chains vanished from Joker’s grasp, and Arsene’s horrible scream was silenced as he was ripped away from his Trickster. The sudden void in Joker’s heart and the cries of his friends sent a flood of terror through his veins. The voices in the city died, cut from life like the snap of a thread.

Skull jumped to catch Oracle when Prometheus disappeared in a flurry of blue ash.

“What did he do!?” Mona shouted, “I can’t feel my persona!”

“Mine is gone too…” Queen muttered weakly.

“Foolish mortals!” Yaldabaoth’s shadow fell over them like a death shroud, “The sin of rebelling against a god is severe. As punishment, I banish you to other worlds unknown!”

The whole world shifted as the black wind swirled around them, twisting and contorting to create broken fractals in the flow of time and space. Yaldabaoth pulled his hand across the air over them, a movement as if ripping apart the weave of fate itself.

Joker gasped as bizarre doors flickered into existence around them.

One, a monolithic set of stone doors engraved with an alien image, cracked open to reveal a terrifying eye swimming in a void. The next, a glowing white shoji door exuding a strange energy that prickled at their very souls. The third, a circular ornate gate set in the floor, the bulging eyes at the top drank in the scenery as its gaping mouth pooled with vile black sludge. The final was nothing more than a fluctuating cloud of black and purple mist.

Panther stepped back in horror, “What are these!?”

“No,” Oracle, trembling in Skull’s arms, was pale as a sheet, “This isn’t possible!”

Mona whirled around, “What is it Oracle!? What do you see!?”

“It’s… Th-these are…”

“You have no means of escape, humans.” Yaldabaoth said with a wave of his hand, “Accept your fate with dignity!”

The gates hummed with power as the next wave of churning black wind descended on the Phantom Thieves.

“Skull, Oracle!” Fox cried as the entangled pair were blown into the shoji door, and it shut with finality.

“Everyone,” Mona dug his claws into the ground, “Hold on!!”

“Joker!” Queen reached out to him, his hair whipping from the wind, “Take my hand!”

Joker whirled around to Queen, arm outstretched. Their fingers brushed together, but she was ripped away in a violent gale.

“QUEEN!!” Joker shouted.

Fox leapt to Queen’s aid, and together they fell into the towering stone gate. The eye inside narrowed with glee before it slammed shut. Panther and Noir huddled in each other’s arms as they landed into the ornate gate in the floor, their screams going silent as they sank into the demon gate’s black tar.

“Th-this can’t be happening!” Mona said, “Joker, we have to—!”

“Watch out!”

Joker was about to dive for Mona, when Yaldabaoth swung down one of his many arms. A golden sword the size of a building split them apart, the impact’s vibrations knocking Joker off of his feet. His own shocked expression reflected back at him through the shining metal.

“Joker!”

Mona was silenced with another beat of Yaldabaoth’s wings.

Great creaking metal howled in Joker’s ears as Yaldabaoth lifted the sword. Mona, his other teammates, and those strange door were gone. Joker slowly pulled himself to his feet, eyes wide as he stared up at the lustrous god.

“What… what did you do to them!?”

Yaldabaoth’s cold chuckle echoed through Tokyo, “They have been banished to other worlds unknown. The strength of your comrades have been lost in the flow of time and space, but worry not, Trickster.” Yaldabaoth stretched his wings, another wave of distortion rippled through the air, “I saved the best one for you.”

Joker whirled around to the bright flash behind him. Like the black mist, this was not a door at all, rather a circular portal of white light. Several rows of strange symbols slowly circled the outer border of the portal, an alien language he didn’t recognize.

“Trickster, for the sin of rebelling against me, I banish you to a world where humanity has already met its doom.” Yaldabaoth raised his sword as Joker gaped at the portal, “You have no means of escape. Accept your punishment of solitude with dignity!”

Yaldabaoth swung.

Immense pain encompassed Joker’s body as he was tossed into the strange portal, his world turning dark as Yaldabaoth’s cruel laughter followed into his nightmares.

~*~*~*~

Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped in a never ending spiral of life and death. Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle… and wonder if we’ll ever have the chance to kill him.

…

Meanwhile, above a city ruin overtaken by nature, the sky opens and a boy from another world falls.

~*~*~*~

“It doesn’t matter how much oil you give him, little guy. You can’t make a machine your brother.” 9S shook his head as he watched the small robot pour oil upon a larger one.

9S sat on a suspended beam looking over the factory, it seemed to be nothing more than a bunch of rusted buildings surrounded by endless water, but that didn’t fool Command. There were traces of Goliath Class machines here, and enemy robots producing more of themselves for fodder in this war.

He stood as a sound rumbled above, revealing the trails of several Flight Units descending from the heavens. 9S pitied the tiny robot before he turned his back on it.

“Well, looks like it’s time. Pod, anything from Command? We should be getting orders right about now.”

Pod 042, who floated at his side, emitted a hiss of static, “Crit1cal Err0r.”

“...What?”

“I. Hear. A. Sound.”

9S frowned, “Pod 042, what’s wrong?”

The hissing noise stopped as quickly as it started. Before 9S could make heads or tails of his Pod’s behaviour, it displayed a direct message coming from his operator.

“Operator 21O to unit 9S. Come in, 9S.”

9S stared at his Pod. As an android, he shouldn’t be allowed to feel pity or confusion. And yet here he was, feeling pity for a small robot who would never have a brother, and confusion at his Pod’s strange message.

A weird signal? Or a glitch? He’d have to run diagnostics when he got back to—

“...9S? Come in, 9S!”

“Uh, 9S here! Go ahead.”

“The YoRHa troops have commenced their descent—”

~*~*~*~

Joker awoke to pain.

A pathetic whine escaped his throat as his body thrummed with sharp stabs and a tide of pins and needles dancing across his body. Bright sunlight pierced through his clenched eyes, striking him with a blinding migraine. It took everything in him not to curl up in a ball and throw up everything he ate before fighting Yaldabaoth.

“Ren!? ” Arsene’s voice was both a relief and a lance of pain across his temple, “Thank the heavens you awoke, we thought… well, it doesn’t matter. You’re heavily injured and we’re greatly weakened. I suggest using a healing item before you pass out again. You may not wake up next time.”

His trembling hand reached into his pockets for a Bead. He fumbled and nearly dropped it, but in his painful haze he managed to use it. Joker sagged into the soft grass as blissful relief coursed through his body at the Bead’s healing light, the pain washing away as if it were never there.

“Good. Now stand and proceed with caution, we know not our surroundings.” Arsene encouraged.

He opened his eyes. He blinked, and blinked again, not comprehending the gently swaying branches of a ginormous tree above him, the curtain of green leaves shedding dappled sunlight on him. He pulled himself into sitting. He looked at his crimson gloved hands and down to his pitch black tailcoat, then to the giant branch laying next to him.

One end was in splinters, as if it had been violently snapped.

“It broke your fall.” Arsene whispered.

“My… fall?” Joker looked into the high branches reaching into the sky.

Joker startled to his feet. The memories hit like a sledgehammer. Yaldabaoth, his teammates. Those portals—

“Oracle?” He reached into his ear for a com that wasn’t there anymore. He looked around the grass at his feet and the twisting roots of a tree consuming the entirety of a crumbling building, “Mona!? Skull, Queen, Fox, anybody!?”

A feathered wing brushed his mind, “Trickster, remain calm. It appears you are… alone, but we are here with you.”

His mind was briefly overtaken by calls and voices, trills and roars of support. Joker closed his eyes against the verdant scenery and took several breathes to calm down, running through each and every Persona in his stock.

“...Okay.” He opened his eyes and looked up into the tree that saved his life, “Okay. We’re okay. We’re totally lost and alone in some weird place, but we’ll be fine.” Joker turned away from the tree and faced a clearing of wildflowers and smaller trees fenced in by crumbling buildings. “We’ll be… okay?”

As it turns out, they weren’t alone.

Entering the clearing from the other side was a bipedal robot. Taller than Joker, its metallic skin heavily rusted while its limbs ground together from a lack of oil. It’s head was a perfect sphere, decorated by nothing more than two bright red lights that served as eyes.

“What is this? It’s not a Shadow.” Arsene growled as they saw the crude rusty sword in the robot’s hand, “We’re not in Tokyo anymore, not even in the Metaverse or a Palace. But this city consumed by nature, the giant tree that broke our fall, and now this robot… something is terribly wrong.”

“A great calamity has befallen this place…”  Joker’s heart twisted at Kohryu’s exhausted voice, “Leave before it spots you. We need to recover our strength and gather information.”

There was an opening in the winding roots behind him and out to what looked like a street broken up with patches of green. He stepped backwards, eyes still on the robot.

Until he broke a twig, the accompanying snap detonating the peace of the clearing.

The robot whirled around, eyes flaring as they landed on him. Gears clanked and metal screeched as it lumbered towards him, faster than Joker thought possible for such a large body.

“Go!” Arsene screamed.

 Joker bolted for the opening in the roots. The robot raised its sword and was about to strike before he could get through—

Arsene clawed himself from the mindscape and burst into reality, blue flames licking at his bladed heels. His black wings spread as cursed black fire consumed them, the robot faltering before Arsene beat his wings. The robot exploded from the blast, metal shrapnel flying everywhere as the heat of the explosion bathed them.

Joker’s energy sapped away as the edges of his vision turned black, but he managed to squeeze through the roots as Arsene fell to his knees and returned to him. He made it a few steps before his strength fully left him, collapsing onto the ground like Arsene moments ago.

Metal screeching sounded from behind.

Joker looked over his shoulder to see several more of those robots reaching for him, too big to fit through the gap. They must’ve been right behind the other one. Their piercing red gazes stabbed into him, becoming exceedingly desperate as they tried to hack through the wood with their swords to no avail.

Joker forced himself on his feet, looking up and down the broken road sprawling with greenery. Smaller humanoid robots were in the distance to his right, while the left looked clear.

“Let’s see if we can find food, water, and shelter for the time being.” Shiva whispered hoarsely, “We need rest.”

“Arsene, your attack cost a great deal more than it would have back home.” Byakko rumbled, his voice trembling, “What is going on here?”

“Yes, why are you all so weak!?” Seth roared, “I feel fine! Energized, even! Let me at those pathetic metal puppets, Trickster, and I’ll tear them apart!!”

“Seth, no.” Kohryu said, “We must escape unseen. At least have the decency to lend the Trickster your strength.”

“Bah, fine!”

The world stopped tilting as Seth became Joker’s mask. The change between Arsene and Seth was night and day, the fatigue fleeing his body as energy flooded his soul. He turned to his left and sprinted down the shattered road. The shadow of the overpass above provided shelter from the sun’s warmth as the clanking sounds of metal faded into the distance.

~*~*~*~

“You’re 2B right? My name’s 9S. I’m here to provide support.”

~*~*~*~

Joker stood at the edge of a crystal clear river, staring wide-eyed at the ginormous moose taking a drink on the opposite shore. There were no birds and hardly any insects despite the explosion of greenery consuming the collapsed skyscrapers and other constructs so old they were but rotting corpses being used as foundations for further growth. The alien scenery didn't phase them as they stared back at Joker, an intelligence sparkling in their black eyes. Joker himself wouldn't reach their shoulders, their mighty antlers were wider than he was tall.

Sensing no threat, they ignored him and continued drinking, leaving him to stare back at his own rippling reflection in the river.

“This water is clean.” Vasuki’s feeble voice crept across the mindscape, “No poisons, parasites, or other filth contaminate it.”

“Is it still safe to drink it like this?” Arsene asked.

“Even if there were remains of contaminants or parasites, my power would eradicate them from the Trickster’s system.” Vasuki promised. “It is safe.”

Joker cupped a small amount in his palm to bring to his lips. The water was chilled to the perfect temperature, soothing his dry throat and clearing away the headache blooming from dehydration. It’s the best water he’s ever tasted; fresh, crisp, and refreshing with such a purity never to be found in city water. He drank several more handfuls before he was satisfied, standing and shaking the extra water from his gloves.

“Water, check.” Seth said with an impatient flick of his tail, “Can we find something to fight now? Or go on a hunt? Those moose look delicious…”

Arsene wearily sighed, “We should find a good view of our surroundings and work from there first.”

Joker turned to the tower behind them, some sort of ancient power pylon overtaken by rust and ivy. An intact ladder traveled all the way up and to a roost of sorts at the top, perfect for reconnaissance.

Joker pulled on his gloves and walked towards it.

~*~*~*~

“You know ma’am, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Why?”

“Scanners like me mostly work alone. Scouting out enemy lines and all. I don’t usually get a partner. It’s kind of fun!”

“…Emotions are prohibited.”

“S-sorry ma’am!”

“And another thing… stop calling me ma’am. It’s unnecessary.”

“Alright, then. 2B it is!”

...

“What is it?”

“Huh?”

“If you have nothing else to say, then end communications. It’s wasting time.”

“There was something weird. Before you arrived with your Flight Unit, did you get a strange message from your Pod? Something about… hearing a sound?”

“No.”

“Oh… well, it was probably just nothing then.”

“If it’s nothing, then don’t bring it up when we’re on a mission.”

“R-right! Sorry ma’am— Er, 2B!”

~*~*~*~

The hollow wind flowed through Joker’s hair as he stood at the top of the tower, staring at the skeletal remains of a city, a veritable sun-bleached corpse picked clean and overtaken by a verdant carpet. Nearby, further down the river, was a deep canyon with either side connected by a flimsy wooden bridge. On the other side was a destitute shopping mall, of all places, separating this broken city from a stretch of thick forest only visible due to the monster sized trees in the distance.

Why was everything in this world so big?

The moose, these weird robots, the plants…

No civilization. No trace of human activity. Just… wind howling through shattered remains of what was once a bustling city, dotted here and there by barely recognizable chunks of rusted metal that were once cars.  

“Yaldabaoth said he banished us to a world where Humanity was already doomed…” Titania whispered in horror. “It can’t be…”

“The Sea Of Souls…” Cu Chulainn sank next to Cerberus, who had laid down and fell asleep to conserve his energy. “Why can’t I feel any trace of the Sea Of Souls? Is this why we've no strength?”

“And why my attack took so much out of the Trickster…” Arsene said. “There's no source for us to draw from.”

Seth snorted. “If there is no Sea Of Souls to provide the rest of you with power, then why do I not fall to weakness? Strange magic has seeped into every living thing here… ancient and not of this world. Do none of you feel it?”

“NO!” Pixie yelled with her last burst of energy, before she plopped down on Cerberus's head. “Ugh, too sleepy…”

“Do you think other world travelers came here and caused all this?” Ishtar asked.

“That is what I just said,” Seth snapped. “But it happened so long ago, they probably met their demise many hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. Maybe it was a single cataclysmic event that spiraled out of control until the world simply ended up like this.”

“And took Humanity to their graves.” Arsene said solemnly.

Joker’s chest tightened.

No humans.

Humanity has already met its doom, Yaldabaoth had said.

He was all alone.

He sunk down to his knees as terror crept through him. He had no teammates. No Arcanas. Mona was gone, probably to another world, isolated like he was. At least the others were paired up… but…

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

His heart pounded in his chest and it was suddenly hard to breathe. His limbs trembled as his vision blurred, the cotton in his ears muffling the gentle wind on his face.

“Snap out of it!” Seth’s throaty howl was thunder rolling across his mind, ripping Joker’s panic off like a snake shedding its skin, “I will not have you fall to petty weakness too! I am thou, thou art I! Get a hold of yourself, Trickster!!”

Joker’s face fell into his hands as Seth’s presence shoved his inner turmoil down, “Sorry…”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Arsene said, glaring as Seth puffed out his chest. “This is not an easy situation.”

Seth snorted again, “We’ll get through it just fine! Stop worrying so damned much!”

“We need shelter to protect us from the elements.” Sraosha said serenely, ignoring Seth. “Look over there, Trickster. See that building with the tree entwined around it? The one next to it seems to be in the best condition around here, ironically protected by its zealous neighbor. Let us check there for a suitable place to rest.”

Joker took another deep breath and got to his feet. He wiped his eyes before taking one last look about the city, then slid down the ladder to the soft grass below.

The huge and winding tree roots were as wide as a road, making it easy to navigate to the desired building, leaping from the adjacent tree limb and into one of the open windows of the building next to it. It was an expanse of concrete that smelled of mold, dust, and rot… less discernible as long as he stayed by the windows.

He planted himself under the window to take stock of all the items with him. There was some junk food, like yakisoba pan, a few jelly packs, and a couple pieces of fruit. It would last him a day… maybe longer if he really stretched it. Any Metaverse items, crafting items, and skill cards were kept safely in his pockets.

Then he dug out the thermos.

Filled to the brim of the last pot of coffee he made in Leblanc. Any sane person would drink it now and fill it up with the clean river water nearby, but this… this was special to him.

He opened the cap and smelled it, a sudden sense of homesickness pervading him. Joker quickly closed it, trying to ignore the lump in his throat as he set it on the ground.

“Try to get some sleep.” Arsene said softly, “We’ll figure this out, Ren. I swear it.”

He shoved everything back in his Thief Outfit and finally let the heaviness in his body to take over. His costume evaporated in waves of cerulean cinders, revealing what he wore before fighting the God of Control; A black jacket with a plain white shirt underneath, jeans, and boots. The wallet in his back pocket was all but useless.

“At least its warm outside.” Ren said as he lay down, using his arm as a pillow, and promptly fell asleep in the City Ruins.

~*~*~*~

“Heheh… Talk about… bringing the battle to them… huh, 2B?”

9S helped 2B into sitting, despite his missing arm revealing a bunch of metal and sparks, his internal parts in his abdomen had been slashed and gored. Several Goliath Class robots rose from the water surrounding the one they were on, their metallic gurgles and stomping footsteps in seawater would be their death knell.

“...Contact Command…” 2B said hoarsely, “Request assistance.”

“No… it doesn’t look like that’s… going to be necessary…”

The giant robots’ shadows blanketed them, their howls so close it they rippled through their android bodies.

“I don’t imagine that this is going to end well…” 9S said as he held up his Black Box, faintly glowing with intricate white patterns, “It’s ready.”

“...Right.”

2B retrieved her Black Box and held it up alongside his, knowing that their fate was inevitable.

“Requesting… destruction of enemy hostiles via Black Box reaction.”

“Request accepted.”

Seawater splashed them as the Goliaths’ towered over them, their soulless red eyes blazing like the fires from hell.

“2B. It was an honor to fight with you. Truly.”

“The honor was mine.”

The androids smiled as they clinked their Black Boxes together, not unlike how humans would with wine glasses several thousand years ago. The boxes turned white hot as their vision was consumed by the light that turned everything to dust.

~*~*~*~

Ren blindly felt around as hazy consciousness returned, “Morgana?”

His hands felt rough, cold concrete, not the soft blankets or lumpy mattress in Leblanc’s attic. Ren opened his eyes to the eerily still concrete building, the sudden memories hounding him as he shot up.

Right…

He was alone in this empty world.

Ren rubbed his eyes and the soreness out of the shoulder he slept on. His Personas, aside from Seth and Arsene, barely acknowledged his awakening.

“About time you woke up!” Seth’s roar jolted a few others awake.

“How long was I asleep?” Ren asked as he stretched, his joints popping. His body felt way too heavy for it to be a light sleep, but the sunlight painting splotches on the floor had not moved an inch.

“Several hours. I was so bored.”

“Enough, Seth.” Arsene growled, “But he is correct.”

“Did I… sleep for an entire day?”

“I don’t think so, but the sun doesn’t appear to have moved at all.” Arsene said.

Ren summoned his Phantom Thief Outfit in a swirl of cerulean flames. He hopped out the window, using his acrobatic skills to jump and climb the tangled roots and down to the ground level.

“We’ll need more than junk food for breakfast.” Byakko said, yawning widely to show his fangs. “Perhaps there are some fish in the river? I noticed darting shapes within it before.”

“I don’t have a fishing rod or anything.” Joker said.

Byakko chuckled, “Leave it to me. That is, if you can summon me.”

“It will be a good test in this foreign place, but let’s withhold from using magic for the time being.” Arsene said.

Joker reached the river. No giant moose were in sight. The thought of using the thermos for water crossed his mind again, but his stubbornness didn’t want to let the coffee go just yet. After drinking his next fill of water, he backed away to summon Byakko.

Byakko’s mask felt like a flickering candle compared to Seth’s blazing sun, and the steep shift in power was evident when Byakko stepped into reality. He was so much smaller than when Joker last summoned him in the Prison of Regression, about the size of a normal mountain lion instead of a hulking divine beast, but no less protectively fierce as Byakko rubbed against Joker’s legs.

“Shall we?” Byakko asked, a chilly mist escaping his lips.

“I’ll make it easier.” Joker crouched by the river and activated Third Eye.

His heart soared when it worked like normal. The rest of this strange world faded to a deep blue, while darting shapes of fish within the river glowed gold.

“Can you see them?” Joker asked.

“Of course.” Byakko smirked, “Allow me to catch a proper breakfast for you, Trickster.”

Byakko crept into the water like a phantom, making no ripples as he expertly waded to the middle of the river. The Persona waited several minutes until an unsuspecting fish crossed the threshold between his paws. Suddenly, there was a great splash and a thrash of Byakko’s head.

Joker held his breath when Byakko held a fish between his jaws. As he proudly walked to shore, Joker heard something strange. He let Third Eye fade away, and suddenly it was clear as to why the fish made metallic scraping sounds.

Byakko dropped it at Joker’s feet, sitting primly as if expecting to be praised.

“Uh, Byakko?”

Byakko tilted his head, his tail twitching, “Yes, Trickster?”

Joker grabbed the robotic carp by the tail, unsettled by how it still wriggled like a real fish, “I can’t eat this.”

Seth roared with laughter, startling a few more Personas into dazed awareness.

“Even the fish are made of metal?” Byakko grumbled as his ears flattened.

Joker flinched as the fish suddenly wrenched itself from his grasp, flopping over grass and mud to disappear back into the water. Joker sighed as his stomach grumbled, any hope of tasting fish again died right then and there. He planted himself on the shore, reaching into his pocket to tear into the yakisoba pan he bought from Shujin’s store.

“I’m sorry, Trickster.” Byakko said as he deeply bowed. “I've failed you.”

Joker swallowed the bit of stale bread and noodles. He reached over and scratched Byakko behind the ears, “It’s not your fault. Yaldabaoth is the one who did this to us.”

Byakko purred as he lay down next to Joker, placing his head on Joker’s lap. He finished the yakisoba pan with a few more bites, still petting Byakko as he watched the sunlight glitter over the water. His stomach gurgled at the food.

“Summon me so I can get us a real meal!” Seth cackled. “There has to be more of those giant moose around here somewhere. They’ll be helpless against a hunter from the skies!”

Byakko returned to Joker after one last scratch under the chin. The sudden lack of a feline companion cut through Joker like a dagger, but he covered it by hastily switching masks.

Seth stepped into reality.

If Byakko was smaller than before, then Seth was bigger.

Much bigger.

Seth towered over Joker, his shoulder height almost twice as tall as those massive moose. His great black wings would be large enough to shield several people from a storm, his tail would snap the normal sized trees like toothpicks.

Seth wiggled his ears and gave his wings an experimental stretch, enjoying the sunlight on his charcoal skin. He saw Joker gaping, his eyes as bright gold as the unmoving sun.

“What is it, Trickster?”

Seth stretched his massive neck over the river to see his reflection, seemingly admiring the numerous spikes on his head and the smaller pair of wings fluttering on his neck.

“That’s no fair.” Byakko deadpanned.

“I’ve simply gained a size befitting my glory!” Seth opened jaws wide enough to swallow a man in one gulp, not that Joker had to worry about that. “I’ll be back as soon as I can… with fresh meat!”

Joker braced himself as Seth dug the claws of his wings into the dirt, and launched himself forward. The earth trembled and water splashed as Seth hurled himself towards the bottomless cliff nearby, the rush of adrenaline and unrivaled joy  bursting through Joker as Seth jumped into the canyon.

There was a moment of silence—

Then, winds strong enough to rival a twister exploded into the atmosphere, shooting the dragon upwards. Seth’s laughter echoed as he rose into the sky and disappeared over the broken buildings.

~*~*~*~  

“I’m just saying you need to be more careful, Devola!”

“Why? I got the stupid parts Anemone needed.”

“That robot almost ripped off your arm! What do you think would happen to you if I weren’t around?” Popola scolded her sister, “You’ll never do that again! Do you hear me!?”

“Okay, okay. Sheesh.” Devola avoided her twin’s gaze as she tugged on one of her wavy scarlet locks, “Let’s just get back to the Resistance Camp before any more of those dumb robots show their ugly faces.”

Popola sighed, “Yeah. Sure.”

They crossed the City Ruins in silence for a while, with Popola stewing in anger as they walked over broken concrete and between the endless rows of rotting buildings. Seriously, what did Humans even do in these things?

They came across a familiar clearing, speckled with smaller trees and the strange rusted boxes called ‘cars’. A small group of moose and wild boar grazed here, but wouldn’t attack as long as they kept their distance.

Thud.

Popola was about to step onto the grass, when Devola thrust out an arm to stop her.

“What is it?” Popola asked.

“Shh!” Devola tensed, eyes narrowed, “Don’t you hear that?”

Popola strained her ears, “I don’t—”

Thud.

The animals nearby raised their heads in alarm, ears swiveling.

“What is that?” Popola whispered, “It doesn’t sound like a machine…”

THUD!

“Shit. Whatever it is, it’s getting closer!”

Devola grabbed her sister’s arm and bolted into one of the buildings. They dove through the windows just as a burst of wind beat down on them, throwing up a cloud of dust. They held themselves against the wall as the earth shook, and Popola flinched as they heard one of the moose screeching in pain and terror.

Wet squelching noises covered the sound of thundering hooves as the other animals fled. A moment of silence passed, either twin staring at the other with wide eyes. Devola swallowed as she slowly pulled herself up to stare out the window. Her mouth dropped in a soundless scream, frozen in place by whatever she witnessed.

Popola copied her sister, going stiff at what she saw.

It was a horrifying visage of black wings, spikes, and tail, with extra frills at the base of its tail and another small set of wings on its neck. Its golden eyes contained their own inner glow as if to spite the sun itself. Gore and blood dripped from the dead moose in its jaws as the beast raised its voluminous wings—

Popola’s boot scraped the floor.

Her vision blurred when Devola frantically pulled Popola down as the beast whirled in their direction, dropping the moose with a wet thud. They kept still as the hulking monster’s shadow consumed the whole floor of this building, its wings blocking out the sunlight. Hot wind rushed in through the windows as the monster breathed out its own merciless gales, terrifying growls rumbled through stone and into their skin - through their very cores.

Devola bit her lip and scrunched her eyes shut.

Popola couldn’t tear her eyes away from the windows as bits and pieces of the monster became visible. She grit her teeth together to not make a sound, the tension so thick that her chest could explode. Thankfully, the beast seemed to grow bored at finding nothing. It lumbered away, scooping its prize in its mouth before another down burst swept clouds of dirt through the windows.

The beat of its wings gradually faded into the sky.

“Holy. Shit.” Devola muttered as she picked herself up. “What the hell was that thing!?”

“I-I don’t know… It definitely wasn’t a machine.” Popola said, a familiar gnarl of self-hatred flared at her trembling voice, “Y-you don’t think that monster is responsible for all those missing androids, do you? Or recent reports of how the machines in the area are acting weird?”

“No way. It’s the first time we’ve seen it around. You saw how that thing slaughtered that moose like it was nothing, and those damn things are usually so resilient! But if the machines do piss it off or something… well, no skin off our noses.”

“We should get back.” Popola took Devola’s helping hand and wiped dirt from her clothes, “We have to inform Command about it as soon as possible.”

Devola scoffed, “I hope they’ll believe us.”

“If they don’t…” Popola shivered at the thought, “Then it’ll be their funeral.”

“Yeah, well, I  hope no hare-brained battle units from YoRHa get the bright idea to fight it. We’re low on numbers as is. Do you think the Commander would sic Flight Units on it if it attacked us?”

Popola shrugged, “As long as it leaves us alone, maybe it’ll be fine?”

“...Yeah, maybe.”

They hurried towards the Resistance Camp, unable to stop watching the sky in fear of black wings.

~*~*~*~

Joker’s stomach roiled as he stared at the mutilated moose Seth dropped in front of him.

Seth bounced eagerly between his wings, and after a few moments of awkward silence he nudged the moose’s body towards Joker as if he were a picky hatchling.

“You wanted to eat, so eat. All things that live must consume something else, Trickster. It is the natural way of things. Unless you want to keep eating that processed garbage you humans call ‘food’. How long will it be before that runs out? You can’t avoid this forever.”

Joker took a deep breath, a bad idea considering his whole nasal cavity filled with the scent of sticky iron. “I can’t eat it like that. Humans need to cook meat so we don’t get sick.”

Seth rolled his eyes. With a whipping flick of his tail, a small area between the river and the rusty tower was stripped of grass and foliage. Seth ripped out a small tree with his jaws, snapped it in half over the dirt, and then lit on fire with a Maragidyne shooting from his throat. The wood crackled as a small pyre consumed it.

 Arsene sighed at the small wisps of smoke rising into the unchanging sky, “You saw no nearby enemies, I presume? Smoke would give our position away.”

“None nearby, though I thought I heard something after I claimed this prize. Turned out to be nothing though.”

“Okay?”

“But if any enemies would be dumb enough to attack, then I’ll simply slaughter them!”

“Great.” Joker ran a hand down his face, reluctantly staring at the dead moose through his fingers, “We’re off to a fantastic start.”

“Better than starving to death! Now eat, before it rots away into bones.”

Cu Chulainn let out a long sigh, “Seth, preparing a moose of that size will be a considerable effort. Trickster, I can dress it for the best cuts of meat. It’ll be bland since don’t have any spices, but it’ll have to do.”

Relief radiated from Joker, “Really?”

“Yes. I’ve had to learn to survive off the land before I met my teacher. I am thou, thou art I. Allow me the honor of teaching you.”

“...I would appreciate it.”

Seth disappeared with one last snort before Joker switched to Cu Chulainn. Like Byakko, Cu Chulainn was smaller than his normal size in the Metaverse, now no taller than Joker. He shrugged out of his white cape and impaled Gae Bolg into the soft dirt, then kneeled in front of the moose.

“I’ll need a knife, Trickster. Seth’s teeth have damaged the hide, but the meat is still salvageable.”

Joker grimaced, but handed him one of the old knives he bought from Untouchable. He gestured for Joker to kneel next to him, then began instructing him on how to properly bleed the animal, where to start cutting after the remnants of red were dispelled in the river, and how much pressure he needed to get through such a thick hide.

This was… an odd experience. He'd never gone hunting before, and while he went fishing in Tokyo, it was for fun and not as a means to sustain himself in the wild.

So far his Personas have fished and hunted, defended him from some crazy robot, and now one was showing him how to dress a moose.

As if they were real.

Weakened, yes, with some growing more faint as the hours passed in this permanently sunny ruin, but it was more than being summoned for a few seconds to attack Shadows. Cu Chulainn carried himself with more grace and strength than a normal person. Hell, the Persona could move this whole moose with ease as he worked to skin it.

“We’ll have no choice but to live off the land for the time being.” Shiva said as he bowed in respect for the moose’s sacrifice. “We have access to clean water, and we should find a reliable source of food and a more permanent shelter next.”

“Only when these needs are covered can we search for clues on how to get home. Yaldabaoth will get his due recompense for this madness.” Arsene ran a claw down his metal mask, “It won’t be like this forever. It can’t. Maybe some humans discovered some safe haven from whatever calamity destroyed this world. Prolonged solitude would be a grave detriment to us all.”

“...It’s unlikely, given how the Sea of Souls here is completely destroyed… All humans have succumbed to Death…”

Arsene turned to Orpheus, surprised at hearing his voice, “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

Orpheus turned away with a weary sadness and, like many others in the mindscape, returned to a deep slumber to conserve their withering energy.

Seth remained silent.

He’ll mention the strange castle and flashes of bright lights he saw after the Trickster gets a full stomach.

~*~*~*~

2B found him waiting for her in the Bunker. He wore that smile he always did, and some broken thing inside her cracked a little more.

“So… mission complete and all that, huh? The Goliaths were wiped out, and we secured a route into enemy territory. Now we can—”

“9S?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For uploading my data to the Bunker.”

“...Um, I did that? Sorry, I don’t remember. There wasn’t a whole lot of bandwidth down there, you know? I probably only had enough time to back up your memories. Mine are intact to the point just before we rendezvoused.”

“...I see.”

9S put his left hand over where a human’s heart would be, “Glory to mankind.”

2B ignored the shards of emotion writhing within her as she put her hand in the same spot, “Glory… to mankind.”

She stayed there as 9S walked past, her other hand forming a fist so tight it could break stone.

It only served to deepened her desire to kill the god responsible for her suffering.

~*~*~*~

Like Cu Chulainn said, the meat was bland and a little gamey, tough with thick muscle and sinew. But Joker didn’t care after the best cuts were cubed, skewered with twigs, and roasted over the fire Seth made. It felt like ages since he’d had his last proper meal, so he wolfed it down without protest. Not like his phone could tell them the time.

It still turned on, but the cracks spreading from the bottom left corner barely made it legible. It didn’t know the time or the date, and getting internet connection was impossible. For now, he turned it off and put it safely into his Phantom Thief costume, then returned his attention to the smoldering pyre.

Seth, creating a crescent shaped barrier around the make-shift camp with his body, idly watched as Joker turned the sticks over the smoke. Joker nodded at Seth, who put his wing over the smoldering fire to help smoke the meat.

As for the rest of the carcass, Joker didn’t like to think about it.

Seth devoured the hide, entrails, and bones with sickening vigor. It made Arsene seethe from a blatant lack of table manners, like an old woman clutching her pearls.  

“It’ll be no more than an hour.” Cu Chulainn said, exhausted from being summoned, “After its done cooking, store the meat somewhere dry and it should keep for quite a while.”  

“Got it.” Joker stepped away from the clearing.

Seth raised his head, “Where are you going?”

“For a short walk, see if we can’t find anything interesting while the meat finishes up.”

Seth hummed, “Be careful, Trickster.”

Joker nodded, and followed the flow of the river. It took a few minutes to reach the canyon Seth used to vault himself into the sky. The river turned into a waterfall, the spray of water cast a rainbow over the abyss. He closed his eyes and drank in a deep breath of the fresh air.

Air which would never be this crisp and clean in the heart of Tokyo.  

He opened his eyes and took one last glance around the canyon. Then, he froze. Something glimmered down in the rocks below. The surge of excitement caught Seth’s attention.

“You see enemies to fight!?”

“I don’t think so.” Joker’s eyes trailed over the rocky path off to the side of the waterfall that led down to the unknown glimmer, “It’s not moving at all. Could be something valuable.”

“There seems to be a path down.” Arsene said, his voice alarmingly softer than it was earlier. “Be careful not to slip.”

Joker carefully crossed the shallowest point of the river before he reached the rocky path leading down into the canyon. His natural acrobatic skills made climbing down a cinch, though he almost lost his footing from a patch of moss halfway down. Finally, with one last jump, he landed in front of the strange glimmer.

“It’s a treasure chest!” Joker said as he tried to open it, “Locked. Of course.”

Arsene chuckled, “That won’t stop a master thief.”

Joker smirked as he dug out the Eternal Lockpick. The lock was old and rusty like the rest of it, and it creaked open after several minutes of muted frustration. Wonder held Joker in its grasp as he lifted a weapon from the chest.

It was a golden dagger, part of the blade was a sweep of feathers of what looked like a phoenix. Though it seemed to be as old, if not older, than the rotting chest, the blade was still sharp.

“Well, this is proof that humanity lasted a while after the calamity struck.” Arsene said, excitement soured by sorrow.

“Another weapon to add to our arsenal.” Joker flipped the Phoenix Dagger around his fingers, “I’ll keep it.”

He tucked the weapon on his belt, his fingers brushing the one that had been with him since the beginning, long before the world went to shit. With a sigh, he climbed back up and returned to Seth.

Seth pulled his wing back when the meat was done. Joker dug through his pockets. He had some spare parchment and tanned leather, he simply wrapped the finished jerky in them and shoved the bundle in one of his pockets.

Seth chuckled as his finned tail bobbed back and forth, “Your Phantom Thief attire defies all logic. How is it that it holds everything and yet it doesn’t encumber you?”

“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Joker poked at the dying embers with a stick. “We'll move faster if I don’t have to carry huge bags of luggage. I’ll have to ration the Metaverse items though, since we can’t make much without a source for materials.”

Seth scoffed, “Yet another inane thing to worry about.”

“...Yeah.” Joker’s back was turned to Seth as he focused on the glowing embers, barely visible with the sunlight, but he could feel something bothering the Persona. “What’s on your mind, Seth?”

Seth’s claws kneaded the dirt, “Earlier, while I was hunting, I saw a castle in the distance. It seemed to be… occupied, considering all of the lights and sounds around it.”

Joker dropped the stick and whirled around to Seth, “Occupied? Did you see anybody?”

“No, I was too far away. I heard faint explosions, and I believe some of the lights were what you humans call fireworks.”

“There could be people there! We have to—”

One second, they were safe. The next thing they know, there’s the sound of grinding metal as rusted bodies leapt down from the nearby rooftops. A familiar group of towering robots led the smaller ones, with a few flying above with some sort of modified jet engines. A sea of blazing red eyes surrounded them as Seth jumped up, a sweep of his tail sending the first wave of robots in all directions.

“You think you’re any match for me!?” Seth bellowed as he raised his wings in a challenge, “Bring it on, you blasted rust buckets!!”

Joker dodged a string of strange dark orbs of energy the smaller robots shot, while the bigger ones charged into the clearing with their weapons raised. Joker dodged and weaved through their strikes. He unsheathed his dagger and countered one of them, his own weapon useless as it did nothing more than get stuck a few inches in.

He let go and leapt away from another strike, leaving the Rebel Knife impaled in the robot’s side. A shadow fell over Joker from behind, and he turned to see one of the hulking robots swinging its sword down—

Only for it shatter as it struck Joker’s chest.

The robots froze, as if they all experienced a moment of shock and hesitance at once. Their red eyes flashed in a rhythmic pattern.

Seth laughed as his throat glowed with tongues of flame, “I’m glad you put Null Physical on me, Trickster! These whelps will perish for attacking us!!”

Joker ducked as Seth whipped his tail towards him, a few robots breaking into shrapnel, others flying through the air and exploding with great booms that struck Joker’s body. The one with the Rebel Knife stuck in it avoided the fallout as it fled from the fight.

Movement flickered in the corner of his eye. Joker looked down the river, towards the overpass in the distance.

“Seth, we have to go!”

Seth crumpled a small robot in his jaws like wet cardboard, unaffected by the oily blood spilling from his teeth, “No way! We are invincible against them, Trickster! Those puny little orbs they shoot barely even tickle!”

Joker growled as he vaulted over one of the smaller humanoid robots, “It doesn’t matter, more are just going to keep coming!” He pointed to the second group of robots fast approaching, their red eyes flashing like mores code, “We have to leave!!”

The dragon ignored him by shooting a huge stream of fire from his mouth, consuming the whole camp-site and surrounding area in a blaze.

“SETH!!” Arsene boomed from the mindscape.

Seth cut off his fire with a snap of his jaws, his head lowering, “Fine. Fine! Trickster, get on!”

Without a second thought, Joker jumped onto the base of Seth’s neck, gripping onto the spikes as Seth’s head rose above the robots. He spread his wings, drowning the enemies in shadow. The flying ones had some sense to try and scamper away as Seth beat his wings. Buffeting winds blew away any surrounding robots as he soared upwards with hard flaps, ramming through a flying robot without mercy.

Joker shielded his eyes from the explosion and smoke washing over him, wind howling in his ears and whipping through his hair. The ground shrunk as Seth shot into the heavens, the rusty bodies and glaring crimson eyes disappearing in the distance.

Arsene heaved a sigh as his presence weakened like a sputtering flame, alarming Joker, “Arsene, are you alright?”

“Yeah, just… tired. Yelling at a certain someone took a lot out of me.”

Seth snorted an indignant puff of smoke as he leveled out. The City Ruins spread out for miles all around them, with a stretch of trees from the forest and even what looked like a desert in the opposite direction.

“I… I need to rest.” Arsene whispered.

Joker’s true other self faded into a deep sleep. He wasn’t the only one. Joker’s mindscape was littered with weakened Personas growing even more so, the battle with the robots wasn’t enough to wake them. The silence was unsettling. It was like watching the stars wink out of the night sky one by one.

“Why am I not affected?” Seth’s wings stilled as they drifted over a warm updraft. The dragon’s battle-lust became a storm of anger, guilt, and confusion, “Why do I feel such a great well of power in this world while my brothers and sisters do not even have the energy to stay awake? I do not understand, Trickster. Even the old one, the most powerful among us, has not awakened from his slumber in a long while.”

Joker grimaced.

Both Kohryu and Sraosha were the first to fall dormant, and have yet to stir even after all of the excitement. Alice, Shiva, and Ishtar, too. The strongest Personas were affected more than the weaker ones.

“I don’t know…” Joker said as pet Seth’s neck to comfort him, “Orpheus said humans have all succumbed to Death, and others say the Sea Of Souls has dried up. Yaldabaoth must’ve known what this ‘world of solitude’ would do to us.”

“But that doesn’t explain why I alone have strength in droves. Byakko and Cu Chulainn grew weary within minutes of being summoned, but Cu pushed through to teach you how to survive.” Seth’s throat rumbled in frustration, “And even Arsene’s strength waned after casting a single spell in the heat of the moment, while my fire is like a boundless volcano within me!”

Joker could only answer with silence. The rest of the mindscape was eerily still, sending a ripple of disturbing disquiet up their spines. Joker leaned closer to Seth, while Seth’s presence wrapped tightly around Joker’s mind in return, comforting each other.

“…I’m sorry.” Seth said after a moment, “Abut being lost in bloodlust.”

“I’m really glad I put Null Physical on you, otherwise I…” Joker’s throat tightened, “I would’ve…”

“You would have died because of my foolishness.” Seth craned his head so one of his golden eyes could look at Joker, who realized that one of Seth’s eyes was bigger than his fist. “I do not feel tired when I’m out. Therefore, I want to be around to protect you, and if the ground isn’t an option then I will guard you from the sky.”

Joker smiled, “We’ll give anything that attacks us a very nasty surprise.”

Seth’s eyes glowed bright as he cackled, “Yes, exactly! Although… the robots do not taste good, Trickster. I’ll need another moose to wash the foul oil from my mouth. Can we go hunting again?”

Joker chuckled as he reached over Seth’s spikes and scratched behind his ear, “One thing at a time, buddy. Let’s get to this castle first. Where did you see it?”

Seth straightened out and banked towards the south-east, “It’s this way.”

Joker squinted, but couldn’t see anything past the City Ruins, “Are you sure there’s a castle out there?”

Seth smirked, “My eyesight is ten thousand times stronger than any human’s, Trickster. Get comfortable, we have some miles to fly before we reach it.”

~*~*~*~

The command room was filled with the voices of dozens of Operators, the quiet taps of their keyboards joining in with their soft murmurs as they directed YoRHa agents scattered all across the globe. The Bunker, floating safely in orbit between the moon and earth, was their impenetrable fortress.

This place lacked any color compared to the surface, and the somber coldness befit a true Fortress of Lies.

2B and 9S used the small elevator to the first floor. They passed more Operators as they approached Commander White, a woman of calm composure that seemed like aloofness to some.

Commander White heard their footsteps and turned around, her long hair flowing elegantly with her movement, “Ah, 2B. Maintenance finished?”

“Yes, Commander.”

“You detonated your Black Box in order to defeat the enemy. Bold, but risky. Try not to be so reckless next time.”

“Understood.”

The Commander nodded, “I know you’re fresh out of maintenance, but I have another mission for you. Two, actually.”

“Two?”

“Your first mission; I need you to head to the surface, rendezvous with the Resistance and do some recon.”

“Doesn’t YoRHa have a dedicated Resistance contact already?” 9S asked.

“We haven’t been able to get in touch with them recently.”

“Understood. What’s the other objective?” 2B asked.

“Right before we lost contact,” Commander White’s brow furrowed, “There were some reports that the Machines have changed their behavior suddenly, that they’ve been more frantic and unpredictable. What they’re after is unknown. Another saw… something strange.”

2B let her stoic mask slip into a frown, “What is it?”

“If the reports are to be believed, then it was a black dragon. The very first report from the Resistance confirms the sighting.”

9S chuckled, “A dragon? You can’t be serious! Maybe they mistook it for a new type of machine?”

He flinched as the Commander glared at him, “No, it wasn’t a machine. They made that clear. Your first priority is to establish communications with the Resistance, the next is to investigate what the machines are looking for and if there’s some connection to this black dragon’s sudden appearance. The reports are too closely timed together to be a coincidence.”

“Understood, Commander.”

9S would never know why 2B and the Commander shared subtle glances of concern. Undetectable to most other models, but 9S stayed quiet and made no comment as the Commander and 2B seem to have another private conversation by maintaining eye contact.

2B turned to walk away, her mind drifting to the many truths and ancient histories hidden from the larger part of YoRHa.

A Red Dragon falling from the sky, White Chlorination Syndrome, the failure of Project Gestalt and the Extinction of Humanity. How most of the androids thought they were protecting the remaining Humans that fled to the moon, sacrificing everything during these countless machine wars over the past several thousand years… all for nothing .

“The surface?” 2B snapped out of her thoughts as they left the command room, “That means we’ll be getting Flight Units, huh? Do you think we’ll find that so-called black dragon? And the Commander gave us not one, but two missions! Two! What a hardass—”

“9S!”  9S froze as 2B whirled around to him, obviously angry. “Take these missions seriously. I won’t say it again.”

“I-I am! I didn’t mean to upset you? You’re acting different ever since the Commander mention the dragon—”

2B turned and walked away without another word.

“Uh… right! To the hanger then?”

~*~*~*~

Joker thought it was a trick of the light, but the further they flew, the more it became obvious that his eyes weren't spontaneously going bad.

The sky was darkening.

Warm, endless sunlight turned into an ocean of purple, orange, and pink as the whole world fell into the grip of twilight.

“Not only did this world suffer through a great calamity, but it stopped turning altogether. Interesting…” Seth said as they passed over a copse of trees and thrust into the view of the breathtaking castle.

If Kamoshida’s castle was the twisted epitome of lust and sinful desires, then this castle was one of wondrous imagination and beauty. Pointed towers rose high into the sky, with the clock tower being the tallest building in site. Hundreds of windows twinkled with soft yellow light, and it seemed to be in perfect condition considering it had a giant heart shaped hole through the center of the castle.

Seth slowed down as they soared over a ferris wheel as large as the castle itself, but unusable due to being tilted on its side at a steep angle. Other rusted rides dotted the enclosed area, with a railway for a roller-coaster trailing around the castle. A lake surrounded what looked like an opera house. Flashes of bright fireworks added to the wonder as the water reflected them, pops of gold and greens and blues and dozens of other colors.

“It’s an Amusement Park.” Joker said as Seth pulled into a hover, their bodies colored by the surrounding fireworks.

“I see figures below.” Seth growled, “More robots. Shall we land and destroy them!?”

“Wait.” Joker pointed to an entrance to the park, “Let’s start there and work our way inside. It doesn’t look like there’s much room to land elsewhere.”

“There’s a bridge to that opera house. It’ll be a tight squeeze, but it’s better than having to start from the beginning!”

“Not if we get surrounded again.”

“Bah, fine.”

Seth descended at a sharp angle. He landed in front of the entry gate with a thunderous boom. Joker jumped down, coattails flaring wildly, as they both fell into battle stances, with Joker wielding his new Phoenix Dagger as the large group of robots looked at them.

“Oh wHaT Fun!!”

Joker blinked, “What?”

Groups of robots, wearing brightly colored jester costumes and hats, threw clouds of confetti into the air, happily twirling.

“oH WhAt fUN!!”

“Let’S Be hAPpY TogeTHeR!!”

A larger robot with a gattling gun as its arm raised its weapon towards them. Seth snarled as he shielded Joker with his wing… only for another cloud of confetti to shoot into the air and sprinkle down over them.

Joker and Seth watched, dumbfounded, as the confetti fell to the ground, harmless. They exchanged glances as the robots continued dancing and spouting things about happiness and fun, all within endless showers of confetti and streamers.

“They’re not hostile.” Joker said as he sheathed the Phoenix Dagger, then he plucked a piece of confetti that landed on Seth’s nose, “Their eyes are white, too. The other ones were red.”

“That makes one of us.” Seth muttered, “What shall I do? Anything past here is too small for me to traverse.”

“Continue scouting from the air, I’ll work my way through here on the ground. It looks like this path lead up to the Opera House, so let’s start there before we move to the castle.”

Seth’s lips curled in disgust as more confetti was thrown into the air, “Understood.”

He rose into the sky with a hard wing beat, the wind kicking up tornadoes of confetti and balloons. The robots cheered as confetti fell around the Amusement Park like snow.

Joker shook his head and took his first steps inside, approaching a group of four robots.

“Hello?”

“Oh WhAt FuN!!”

“Uh… I have some questions and was hoping you could—”

“lEt’S bE hApPy ToGeThEr!!”

“tOgEtHeR!! ToGeThEr!!”

Joker got another round of confetti in his face before the robots twirled away. He shook his head, his hair shedding countless brightly colored pieces.

“Oookay.” He dusted confetti off his shoulders, ignoring how Seth laughed at him from the mindscape. “Don’t ask the funny looking robots questions. Got it.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and continued forward, walking past a golden robot statue with rabbit ears that creeped him out. It felt as if it were watching him. He quickened his pace, entering an avenue that was straight out of a fairy tale, complete with rustic stone buildings strung up with fairy lights.

“This world grows stranger and stranger. A dead city locked in sunlight, robots that either attack without warning or try to spread ‘fun and joy’ in an Amusement Park with an endless supply of fireworks and glitter.” Joker saw Seth’s black form highlighted by the constant pops and booms of color. “But still no signs of any humans.”

Joker’s hands balled into fists, “Let’s keep moving.”

“...Roger.”

~*~*~*~

The Resistance Camp was a lot different compared to the Bunker. It was in a hidden alcove of decrepit buildings, stitched together by tents and tarps and had a collection of small warehouses tucked further in. Other androids, models far older than the current YoRHa units, were scattered around, doing any menial tasks that needed to be done. There was a clearing in the middle of the camp, a patch of fresh green grass and small flowers. Nobody dared to trample on them.

“What’s this?” Anemone, the leader of the Resistance, asked as 2B placed a white and black dagger in her hands.

“That’s what we were hoping you would tell us. We asked others around camp and nobody knows anything about it.” 9S said, frowning, “We found it stuck in one of the machines we defeated, but our Pods confirmed that it wasn’t anything made by YoRHa.”

Anemone frowned as she studied the dagger. “I don’t recognize it either.”

2B sighed. “Great.”

Anemone handed the dagger back. “Sorry I couldn’t be of any help. Where did you find it anyway? Where was this machine?”

2B and 9S exchanged glances, before 9S answered, “It was in a weird spot by the river. It looked like some huge battle had taken place, the ground was burnt to a crisp and there were a bunch of machine parts everywhere.”

“So somebody fought them with that dagger?” Anemone’s eyebrows shot up, “Well, it’s nobody from my camp, I can assure you.”

9S clutched his chin, “Could there be an android with the dragon?”

“Wait, back up a moment.” Anemone asked, alarmed. “You saw the dragon? And you think there’s an android with it?”

“The surrounding area was burnt by intense fire, but its not what would happen from a self-destructing android. We found several footprints in the soot. A few were enormous and not anything a machine or any other animal could make.” 2B reported, “If the reports about the black dragon are true, then the footprints may belong to it.”

“Yeah… and there were another set of footprints too, smaller and obviously made by another android.” 9S bit his lip as he thought, “We think this dagger belonged to whoever is with that black dragon. There was evidence of a camp fire there, too.”

“I see.” Anemone shook her head, “It’s nobody from this camp. Everyone’s accounted for.”

9S frowned, “And YoRHa says the same thing on our end.”

“So we have a rogue android on our hands on top of a black dragon?” 2B asked, “Do you have any additional information on the black dragon? Was anybody seen with it?”

Anemone shook her head, “No, it hasn’t been spotted in a while, and earlier reports have stated that it was alone. The pair who saw it up close are currently out on a mission and won’t be back for some time.” She shrugged, “I’ll ask around to see if we can’t find where it flew off to, and triple check to make sure every android is accounted for.”

“Thank you.” 2B said.

“No problem. I just hope this doesn’t become a big issue for us.” Anemone waved her hand, “But aside from that, there is something you could do for me while you’re waiting for information.”

“What is it?” 9S asked.

“There have been a lot of reports about dangerous machines appearing all over the desert recently. It could be related to how the machines have been acting so weird, which could mean that they’re cooking up something big. Can you go check it out for me? I’ll gather intel about the dragon and a possible rogue android in the meantime.”

“Sure.” 2B replied.

“Thank you. I’ll be sure to tell our allies in the desert that you’re coming.”

2B nodded and turned away.

9S sighed when they exited the Resistance Camp, staring at the strange dagger on 2B’s back, “So, we have to deal with a black dragon and a rogue android? And now we have to go all the way into the desert for something else entirely. Just great.”

“What did I say about complaining?”

“Er, sorry? It’s just… this is a lot of work for just us two. Can’t YoRHa send in anyone else to help?”

“No. The Commander trusted us with these missions. So be quiet and just follow orders.”

He grimaced as 2B marched ahead, “Right…”

9S sighed and followed her as they slowly trailed towards the desert.

~*~*~*~

The Amusement Park got stranger the more Joker explored.

The main walkway leading to the Opera House was safe, for the most part, but branched off into many of the smaller alleyways usually leading into danger. Rogue hostile robots with red eyes skulked around abandoned areas, broken down rides were everywhere, and there was even a huge tank roaming around a clearing next to the start of the roller coaster.

He forbade Seth from fighting it, since the robots driving it weren’t hostile and only shot more confetti around, but it was something to keep in mind.

Eventually, with nothing else to scout, Joker returned to the main path and slipped through a barred gate to the bridge that led to the Opera House. The burnt scent of smoke and ash accompanied the pops and booms of the fireworks right over his head, his shadow elongating around him from the constant bright lights.

He crossed the stone bridge and entered the Opera House.

What was once a prestigious establishment meant to entertain the rich was rotted away into a shadow of itself. The grand staircase, littered with decay and trash, was lined with a tarnished red carpet that had long faded in color.

He climbed the stairs, listening to the faint fireworks in tune with his own footsteps, the smell of mold pervading his nose. He walked through a set of grand double doors, surprisingly in decent condition, and into the auditorium.

A grand stage was on the other side of the large circular room, but there were no chairs or benches. Just… open space. More akin to some form of arena than an auditorium. A sense of unease curdled his stomach, and before he could back away the double doors slammed shut behind him.

“Wha— hey!”

A loud buzzer sounded, and Joker turned, Phoenix Dagger in hand. Lights turned on and the tattered crimson curtains parted to reveal the full stage. Additional stage lights turned on as a massive metallic form gracefully turned towards him.

At first, he thought it was some metal imitation of Milady, Noir’s Persona.

This wasn’t a Persona, but a robot.

Twice as tall as Noir’s Persona, with a flowing red ball gown and a billowing veil over layered plates of thick metal. Joker felt ill when he saw humanoid corpses decorating its dress. Not human, but robotic. Silvery metal in place of normal skin and muscle, their faceless skulls hollow and cold. It stopped twirling, fully facing him, and his focus was on the pair of dead robot bodies dangling from its fanned headdress like there were expensive earrings.

How? Why?

Were these mere robots like the others, or something more? Were they… made by past humans before they all died out?

Before he could make a move or attempt any dialogue, the giant robot spreadher arms and released a sonorous and sorrowful note that rattled the sconces hung around the walls. Joker clamped his hands over his ears until she stopped singing her horrible, screeching aria. The giant female robot gathered up her dress and used a set of jets to exit the stage, looking as elegant as Cinderella descending a long staircase. She stopped when she touched the floor. Joker’s hands slowly fell away from his ears as they stared at one another.

Hope for any sort of beneficial conversation went out the window when she slashed an arm through the air, and Joker jumped aside at the array of missiles shot at him. Small explosions washed searing heat over his back, the shock waves nearly knocking him off of his feet.

“TRICKSTER!!” Seth howled.

Joker threw himself into a roll and broke out into a sprint as soon as he was on his feet. She slowly turned, following his path in his failed attempt to flank her. He whipped out his gun, the silver winged pistol made from Metatron, and fired. Loud BANGS made his ears ring as the bullets hit her.

They bounced off like they were nothing but gnats, a single dented bullet rolling across the floor.

The robot laughed at him, her voice reverberating through her cold steel body. She sang again, firing orbs of crackling energy that exploded on impact with the floor. He sheathed his gun before she prepared another attack, sprinting towards her as he grasped the Phoenix Dagger.

A running slash did nothing more than graze the surface of her metal plates, sparks flying. She laughed again as the metallic base of her dress lifted off the floor, and metal whirring drilled in his ears before crimson lasers shot out. He cursed as he threw himself out of the way, avoiding the attack that would've bisected him otherwise. No matter what he did, or how many times he hit her in the ensuing dance of lasers and missiles, no damage was done whatsoever. Her armor provided perfect protection while any attack of hers would kill him in one hit. A single mistimed dodge would mean death.

Her laughter continued to taunt him as a hail of missiles and magic orbs danced through the air.

She was just toying with him.

It wasn’t until the lasers and missiles stopped, and she put her hands together like in a prayer, where he could stop and catch his breath. Then, a bright white-gold light exploded out from her. He closed his eyes and shielded his face with his arms but… nothing happened.

The attack phased through him.

It didn’t hurt aside from the feeling of static over his skin, and there wasn’t any sign of an ailment being cast on him. He opened his eyes and lowered his arms. This robot… seemed surprised. Scarlet eyes glittered and her head slowly tilted to the side, the metal corpses attached to her headdress dangling like those sent to the gallows.

An idea came to him as he felt Seth frantically circle over the Opera House.

Before she could recover, he reached into his pockets and threw a Stun Gun.

Her grating scream chilled him to the bone as a bolt of lightning struck her. She collapsed, the top half of her body leaning over the bottom part of her dress. Smoke wafted from her.

“Beautiful… Beautiful…” Her arms and head twitched oddly as she stood back up, her arms waving erratically like the hands of a broken clock. “I MUST BE BEAUTIFUL!”

Another piercing scream rang into his ears and brought on a wave of dizziness, but this time, that wasn’t the end. Loud thuds and more screams of metal voices joined in a grand chorus, and Joker found himself surrounded by crucified humanoid robots all singing in unison. Their eyes gleamed ruby red.

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH!!”

A shadow pooled around them as glass ceiling above shattered. Seth landed in the auditorium, legs crushing the bound robots while his tail knocked over others. His eyes were set on the female robot before a jet of fire left his jaws.

Her screech would haunt Joker’s nightmares as the robot’s crimson dress burned away. Fire licked her whole body as she flailed, the overlapping steel plates shifted and morphed.

“No, no, no NO NOOO!” She wailed as she turned from a thing of beauty to a robotic horror scrambling on a multitude of sharp legs.

“I have her, Trickster!” Seth howled as he raised his wings, “Focus on the other screaming robots!”

Seth tackled her while Joker whirled around, his bullets finally piercing through the skulls of the other robots. It sickened him how they moved just like real humans. A shot through the head or a slash through their bound bodies was enough to silence them, and the strange yellow energy they shot at him remained harmless.

A final howl, metallic and horrible and somehow laced with fear and desperation, echoed through the Opera House as Seth finally got a grip on her and tore her body in half with his jaws. Either halves were thrown to the opposite sides of the room in a splatter of oil. Metal clicking reached Joker’s ears as the top half of the woman reached out for him, but not in a malicious fashion, more of how someone reached for one they desperately loved.

“Beautiful… beautiful… I m…must be… Be…eau…t… i…ful… Why won’t you… look… my… wa….y…?”

Her arm clattered to the ground as she and all of the other robots were brutally silenced. Seth and Joker remained in place as the bound ones went limp, their eyes turning dark. The Phoenix Dagger fell from Joker’s grasp and he collapsed on his knees.

“Trickster, are you hurt?” Seth asked as he slowly crawled towards his Trickster, pressing his nose into Joker’s chest.

“N-no, I’m not hurt, I think… I just…” A cold chuckle escaped him as he covered his eyes with his hand, “What the hell just happened?”

Seth blinked, “We defeated an enemy and won. That’s what happened.”

“Then why doesn’t it feel like we won? We just barged into somebody’s home and killed them! She… in her last moments…” For some reason, his vision went blurry and his eyes felt warm. Why was he crying? He wiped away his spontaneous tears, “She didn’t…”

Seth hummed, the vibrations in the dragon’s throat grounding Joker, “Let’s leave this place. It’s caused nothing but misery.”

“Yeah,” Joker stood with the help of Seth. He picked up the Phoenix Dagger and sheathed it in his belt, “Can you get out from here or do you want to return to me?”

Seth curled his lip, “I’ll crawl out through the skylight and continue scouting the area. Compose yourself outside. We’ll figure out where to go from there.”

Joker numbly nodded.

Seth whipped his tail against the closed double doors. They exploded off of their hinges with a shower of splinters, and with one last nudge to Joker, Seth crawled up the walls and out of the giant hole he made in the ceiling.

Joker took a breath and looked around.

The auditorium was peppered with broken glass and burn marks darkening the floor. Robot parts scattered across the floor while oil gathered in puddles. Blood and bones, Joker thought. The female robot’s dark eyes still stared at him with her hand outstretched.

All of the bound robots had human proportions, and some even had clothes.

Were there humanoid robots wandering around too? If so, were they captives or willing participants in this? Would others be hostile or would they help Joker?

Joker walked out, leaving the room full of cold steel corpses behind.  

~*~*~*~

“Hey. Our leader told me all about you. Name’s Jackass. Nice to meetcha. I heard you were gonna take out all the machines in the desert. Looks like we need to get that entrance open.”

9S winced, “Looks like it. So… um… Jack… ass, was it? What are you doing all the way out here?”

“Hm? Oh, that? Well….”

A nearby explosion shook the canyon, dust and debris and a wave of sand went everywhere.

Jackass smirked as smoke continued to plume, “We can’t have anyone caught up in that, can we?”

9S gaped, and 2B remained silent.

The entrance to the rest of the desert was open.

~*~*~*~

Joker didn’t know how long he sat at the edge of the stone bridge outside the Opera House, idly swinging his legs back and forth as he mindlessly gnawed on a piece of jerky.

Did time really matter when the world didn’t move anymore?

He watched the fireworks with blank eyes, his mind turned elsewhere while the mindscape remained eerily silent.

“Trickster, do you want to rest?” Seth asked, circling from above.

“Where?” Joker wrinkled his nose as he packed the jerky away. “I want to be as far away from this place as possible. The castle isn’t an option for a base of operations anymore.”

“...Understood. We can go back to the City Ruins.”

“No.  I don’t want to go back to the city either, after what happened. We saw a forest and a desert off in the distance, right? Maybe there are settlements somewhere in them.”

“Fine by me—”

Joker drew his gun and whipped around at the whirring noise right behind him.

A flying, white-eyed robot hovered in front of him.

“Don’t shoot. I come in peace.” A robotic voice droned.

Joker narrowed his eyes at the white flag attached to the robot, but didn’t lower his weapon. Seth’s wing beats grew louder until his shadow swallowed them, the dragon hovering several meters above with smoke pouring out of his nostrils.

“You defeated the broken machine. You saved us.”

“What do you want?” Joker snapped, Seth snarled.

The robot’s eyes went dark for a split second, as if it could blink. Its head turned up to stare at Seth, then back to Joker with a jagged movement.

“We repay you. Come to our village.”

Joker slowly lowered his gun, but didn’t drop his combat stance, “Do you have information?”

“Any information we can share. Is yours. Come. This way.”

The hovering robot turned around and scuttled through the air, back the way they came into the Amusement Park.

“What do you think, Trickster?”

“I’ll follow, but stay close. If this is a trap…”

“Then no blasted robots will survive.”

Joker sheathed his weapon and followed the robot with the white flag.

“This way. Over here.” It droned.

They ducked through a dark alley. Instead of an ambush like Joker feared, the robot hovered by a ladder that wasn’t there when he checked this alley before.

“Come.”

The robot floated up.

With a sigh, he followed. It led Joker through a hidden passage set over the buildings in the Amusement Park, and as he continued to follow the robot, the more the path trailed away from the park and into thick lines of trees and greenery. A tight knot in Joker’s chest unfurled when they finally left the Amusement Park behind them, the booms of the fireworks fading as they gained distance. The path turned to wooden bridges suspended over tall trees. He had to jump and hop to different platforms to keep up with the robot.

Then, something bright appeared in the corner of his eyes.

Joker stopped on one of the bridges, facing a clearing with the Amusement Park’s castle in the distance. Three bright dots flew upwards with billowing smoke trails.

“Wait.”

The robot stopped and turned to face him.

Joker pointed to them, “What are those?”

The nameless robot turned to the rockets, then back to him, “YoRHa.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Come. Pascal give more information.”

Joker sighed as it turned and continued. He cursed under his breath and followed, hazy purple twilight fading into that of late morning. Eventually, the wooden platforms turned to metal, bridges into larger platforms, until they reached a sight that made Joker’s heart leap into his throat.

The robot with the white flag stopped by another bridge connected to the largest tree Joker’s ever seen. Wrapped around the tree were metal terraces dotted with houses and tiny huts, and more importantly, dozens of robots that waved white flags in unison. Large robots. Small ones. Flying ones. Joker spotted the largest robot, who would tower even over Seth, down on the grassy ground below, a white flag attached to its back. All of their eyes were white or yellow. A passive color, he learned.

“Go on. Pascal waits at end of bridge.”

Joker snapped out of his shock and walked across the bridge. Another robot waited, different from the others. Instead of a circular head, it was cylindrical, same with the body. Long metal limbs maneuvered easily on oiled joints as it set the white flag down. Its eyes weren’t red or white… but green.

“Hello, my name is Pascal. I am the leader of this village.” The robot greeted in a kind voice, though it still reverberated like the others. Something about its intonation reminded him of Futaba for a reason he couldn't identify. “Before we begin, you must understand that we don’t want to fight. We are not your enemies.”  

“I understand.” He really didn’t. Joker cleared his throat after a beat of silence. “My name is Joker.”

Pascal chuckled, actually chuckled, “Hello, Joker. I want to extent my thanks for defeating that dangerous machine in the Amusement Park. They gave us a lot of trouble.”

“...No problem.” Joker looked back at the first machine that led him here, “That one said you’d have some information.”

“Oh! Of course, I’d love to share any information we can for the one who saved our village.”

By pure accident. Joker thought.

Pascal turned to all of the other robots and waved one of his(?) hands. The others all set down their flags and seemingly continued about their day, as if they didn’t just slam another mountain of confusion on Joker.

“Come, we can talk by my house. It’s on the upper terrace.”

Composing himself as best as he was able, Joker nodded. “Lead the way.”

And so he did. They walked along the lower terrace. Joker’s eyes scanned every detail of the village as they passed. Shops were sprinkled around the first terrace, and the owners greeted them as they passed, other robots chatted away like gossiping housewives. It was when they reached the first ladder that really drove a mix of confusion and wonder into Joker’s core.

“Mister, mister!!” The leader of a group of 3 robots, about half Joker’s height, eagerly jumped up and down, “Come play with us!”

The second one walked right up to him and grabbed his sleeve, gently tugging him like a child would, “Please, mister? Let’s play!”

“Now, now, children,” Pascal interrupted. “I need to speak with our guest first, but don’t bug him if he doesn’t want to play after, okay?”

“Awww, okay!”

“Okay, we won’t bug him!”

The two giggled and ran off, and the third one hesitated.

“I picked these for you, mister! My mommy said I should give these to you as thanks for saving us from the monster!”

The smallest robot placed a crumpled bundle of white flowers in Joker’s hand.

“Thank… you?”

She giggled before she turned around and ran after the other two.

Pascal was looking at him as Joker stared at the flowers in his grasp, “I… I didn’t think there would be children.”

“Indeed. They are a handful, but I would give everything to make sure they have a bright future.” Pascal said. “Come, my house is just up here.”

Pascal used the rocket on his back to shoot up and over the first ladder, and Joker scrambled to keep up. More machines moved out of their way, and Joker still felt off-kilter when they bowed to him or gave thanks for saving them, the bundle of white flowers hung out of his pocket.

Pascal stopped in front a metal hut near the top of the village, shaded by hearty green leaves. Piles of books were scattered around, all thick and leather bound. Ancient and slightly damaged, but not unreadable. The few lined on a bookshelf were kept in pristine condition.

“What did you want to know?” Pascal asked.

“Everything.” Joker said without missing a beat.

Pascal’s eyes darkened for a moment like a blink, “Oh. It may take a while to explain…er… ‘everything.’ Any place you want to start specifically? What information were you after, exactly?”

He’d start with something simple. Easy.

“What year is it?”

“The year is 11,945 AD.”

Joker blue screened.

In the distance, he could hear a tree being felled as Seth crashed into it.

~*~*~*~

 “THIS. CANN0T. C0NTINUE!”

~*~*~*~

Joker and Pascal sat in front of Pascal’s home. Although, ‘sat’ might be stretching it. Pascal’s metal legs simply folded in on themselves in some weird semblance of sitting. Silence sifted over them, though by some miracle it wasn’t awkward. Joker spent the past who-knows-how-many minutes staring off into space as his brain tried to digest the information Pascal freely gave him.

Aliens invading earth in the year 5012 AD.

Dozens of machine wars with androids.

A base floating between the moon and the earth filled with the newest generation of humanoid androids, while other older androids were stuck wandering the earth.

How all of the machines, save for the ones in this village who willingly disconnected from it, had some sort of hive-mind network to share information between one another.

How the last dregs of humanity had fled to the moon thousands of years ago after the initial invasion, but Joker knew that was bullshit. His mindscape was actively withering from the dried up Sea of Human Souls, his Personas aside from Seth falling into a deeper and deeper slumber.

But this left more questions of what this ‘ancient magic’ Seth felt in the world, something the others didn’t. Seth drew strength from this strange source, and whatever it was, Pascal didn’t know anything from before the Machine Wars started.

Pascal also said that they were in the ‘Kingdom of Day’ because it never got dark, confirming that the world didn’t turn anymore. Were there Kingdoms of Night, then? Was the other half of the earth just a frozen wasteland without the life giving warmth of the sun?

“Are you alright? You’ve been quiet for some time. I wasn’t aware YoRHa androids could short circuit like this. Do you need maintenance? We’d be glad to help with repairs in case you were damaged.”

There was that word again. YoRHa. YoRHa androids. The newest top of the line generation of androids.

“I’m not an android.” Joker said.

If his mind was more clear, he would’ve kept his mouth shut. However, the current circumstances, a hefty amount of shock, and being utterly exhausted in both body and mind loosened his lips considerably.

“Oh, you’re definitely dressed liked some of the YoRHa units we’ve seen around the City Ruins. But if you’re not an android… and you’re obviously not a machine life form… then what are you?”

“Human.”

Another stretch of silence passed, but this time Pascal’s head turned to stare at him for a long while.

“Human?” Pascal’s voice shifted, his tone turned to honest intrigue and wonder. “I thought they would never come down from the moon. It’s so dangerous with those other machines around!”

Perhaps it was the fight with the Opera Machine. Maybe he hadn’t slept in a long time, or it was the fact that he'd tried to keep himself together despite the isolation and growing despair. Now that he was sitting and talking with someone(?) that technically wasn’t his other self… something finally snapped.

“What? The moon? That’s not…” Joker hid his face in his hands. “There are no humans on the moon. They’re all dead. Everyone is gone and I’ve lost everything I’ve ever cared about!”

Pascal chuckled, “Is that some sort of android joke? Humans have been hiding on the moon for years. Every machine and android knows that.”

Joker dragged his fingers down his face and remained silent. The atmosphere turned heavy.

Pascal’s laughter stopped on a dime. “That’s not a joke, is it? You’re not…” Any trace of humor left their voice, Pascal’s eyes brightened like headlights as he studied Joker, almost in concern, “You’re not joking, are you? Are you… the last human? If there are no more left, then all of these machine wars have been—”

Joker shot to his feet as his chest tightened worse than in the Amusement Park. Pascal jumped back. Joker didn’t know why, but he just felt dizzy, and his stomach churned and he couldn’t think straight. Everything around him drowned in static. The panic that Seth buried earlier surged with new strength.

Seth brushed against his mind, ”Trickster—”

“I… I need to clear my head.”

“I’m coming.” Seth said.

Joker bolted.

“Wait!” Pascal called.

The other machines stumbled out of his way. He didn’t know where he was going even as he slid down a ladder and almost fell flat on his face. Pascal’s voice echoed in the static, growing in desperation.

Eventually he clambered down from somewhere and found himself in front of a large gate the led deeper into the forest. Joker crashed into it, trying to force the door open. The guards on either side of the gate startled and waved their hands as if to stop him.

“Wait! Please!” Pascal landed behind Joker, his jet pack sputtering, “I didn’t mean to upset you. If you could just come back and talk—”

A rumbling shook the village like a crack of thunder.

Seth’s head and neck snaked around the gate from the other side. Robotic screams and rattles came in all directions. Pascal stayed rooted to the spot as Joker climbed on Seth’s neck and they disappeared into the forest together.

One of the guards approached Pascal, shaking as the dragon’s footsteps faded, “What do we do?”

“Leave them be, for now.” Pascal did some imitation of a sigh. “I think… he just needs some time alone.”

“But the Forest Kingdom is dangerous. We can’t let our village’s savior get hurt.”

Pascal chuckled, “I think Joker’s friend will protect him better than we can. All we can do is wait for his return.”

The other machines shifted uneasily, and the village fell into a concerned disquiet.

Eventually, the guard muttered. “YoRHa androids are weird.”

At that, Pascal remained silent.

~*~*~*~

“Hey, 2B?”

“What is it?”

“I was wondering if we could take a moment and plan our next move. I’m worried about the damage we took fighting those weird machines.”

2B sighed, the desert sun on their back was becoming unbearable and she had sand in places no android ever wanted gritty sand. But there was a list of smaller objectives that needed to be done first.

“Let’s keep moving for a little while. There’s something I want to do before we return to the Resistance Camp.”

“Er, okay… if you’re sure.”

“It wont take long, I promise.”

“If you say so. Following your lead, 2B.”

“Pod, set the coordinates to the robot factory. We have some weapons to recover.”

~*~*~*~

Seth couldn’t fly through such a dense forest, so he crawled on the ground like a bat instead. His claws and wings crushed any foliage in his wake, his sweeping tail running over anything that escaped his footsteps.

The bobbing and weaving motion from atop Seth’s back soothed Joker as they took in the forest’s calming scent. Fresh humid air, the musty scent of moss growing over trees and and rocks, the sounds of a waterfall nearby singing with the gentle wind brushing through the leaves. Uneven patches of sunlight and shadow melded together on the ground overtaken by brush.

For a moment, Joker was thrown back into the forests and mountains around his hometown. He’d go and camp out for a few days whenever he needed to get away, relieved by the sight of the stars every night.

He’d wondered if he’d ever see the stars again. They stopped next to a shallow point of a branching set of rivers, waterfalls roaring just up the way. Seth laid down to let Joker slide off and onto solid ground.

Joker stepped to the flowing water and sat down, hugging his knees into his chest as Seth lay his head next to him.

“I feel like an idiot.” Joker stated after a few minutes listening to the forest.

Seth snorted, “Why?”

“I panicked and ran away like a scared child.” Joker set his chin on his arms, frowning, “I should’ve stayed calm and gathered more information like a real Leader would. We could’ve gotten a location or more information about the androids, and whether or not they would help us out.”

Seth flicked an ear, his golden eyes watching the water, “We are but one being against an entirely unfamiliar world. That information from Pascal was… shocking, even for one as great as I. It was wise of you to get away and think on it in peace.”

Joker hummed, “Do you think Yaldabaoth sent us to the distant future, or is this some sort of alternate world in a parallel universe? What sort of portals did the others fall into?”

“I know not, Trickster. But the damned Holy Grail knew what he was doing. The others… continue to wither away without the power of a Sea Of Human Souls. If the mindscape continues like this, then I fear that I may be the only Persona left standing by the end.”

Joker’s mouth went dry.

Judging by his heavy limbs and gurgling stomach, a long time had passed since they last heard from any of the other Personas. Not even Arsene stirred after the intense battle in the Opera House.

“Why are you the only one?” Joker asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I've asked that several times myself. My strength continues to grow,” Seth closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “I sense… some deeper magic sleeping within this world, far older than perhaps the machines and their thousand year wars. Another power that could end worlds.”

Joker waited, furrowing his brow as Seth frowned.

Seth opened his eyes, “It doesn’t want to reveal its secrets just yet, but perhaps I’ll come to understand it more with time.”

They spent another short bout in peaceful silence before Joker sighed, “I guess we should return to the village.”

“Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“You need food and sleep, and some more time to dissect the information given to us. It will be better to return to Pascal when we have a clear mind.”

Joker chuckled, “When did you turn into such a mother hen?”

“I am not!” Seth raised his head suddenly, “I am Seth! God of storms and chaos and not a mothering hen looking after her lost chick!”

Joker narrowed his eyes, “Doubt.”

“Why you —” Seth suddenly froze, turning his head towards the river, “Oh. There are fish here.”

Joker deadpanned at the sudden change in subject, “More metal fish we can’t eat, you mean.”

“No.” Seth got to his feet. “Most of these fish are not made of metal scraps, but of scales and fins and flesh.”

Joker straightened, “Can you catch a few? I’d really rather not have to dress another moose so soon.”

Seth suddenly plunged his head into the river. Joker covered his face with his arms as water splashed over him.

“Hey, watch it!”

A sucking noise overtook the gurgling river as Seth raised his head, taking a sizeable chunk of mud and water with him, spewing out between Seth’s teeth. He slowly craned his head away from the river and onto a flat surface behind him. He opened his jaws and spat out his catch. A deluge of water exploded over the grass, and Joker gaped at all of the fish flopping awkwardly.

Huge arapaima and arowana, smaller kilifish and carp. All real fish. There were a few carps and one arapaima that were robots, to which Seth kicked back into the river.

He sniffed at the huge fish, “Well, Trickster? I’m a much better fisher than Byakko, aren’t I?”

Joker smiled sadly, “I’ll start preparing them. Can you clear a dry spot for a fire?”

“With pleasure.”

Seth walked down the river and began flattening a place for Joker to cook the fish. Although, the arapaima was way too big for him, longer than he was tall… maybe he could hand that one off to Seth and prepare the others for himself.

He still had a thermos full of coffee and could eat the last of his junk food for dessert, then save the jerky for a rainy day.

With a clear plan for supper, Joker unsheathed the Phoenix Dagger and got to work.

~*~*~*~

“This place looks amazing.” 9S stated as they stood outside the gate of the Amusement Park.

“These machines don’t seem hostile, but stay on your toes.” 2B ordered as she walked ahead, showered by confetti. “Don’t you remember what Anemone sent us here for?”

“Yeah, yeah.” 9S sighed as they ventured further inside.“Several reports talked about strange activity here, not only of missing androids but a possible lead about the black dragon and the rogue android. Anemone gave us another lead to one of her contacts in a village nearby in case we don’t find anything, but warned us several times that they are vital allies of the Resistance. That about cover it?”

2B chuckled, a rare but pleasing sound he wouldn’t mind hearing more often, “Sounds about right. You still have the package?”

“Of course I do. I just find it weird that Anemone won’t tell us what it is or what it has to do with this mysterious village she wouldn’t tell us about. Don’t you find it weird, 2B?”

“If Anemone says they’re trustworthy, then they’re trustworthy. Let’s focus on getting clues now and worry about the village later.”

“If you say so, 2B.”

They explored the Amusement Park, not finding anything significant about their mission for some time. It wasn’t until they neared the Opera House that they overheard a small group of machines talking.

“That was so scary! I’m glad that big bat thing is gone!”

“Hush now!” The taller robot chastised the smaller one, “Don’t talk badly about the ones who saved us, even if they looked scary.”

“Um, excuse me!” 9S approached them, fingers ready to grab his sword should they be hostile, but they turned their white eyes towards him.

“Yes, young man?” The tallest one said.

“Can you tell me more about the… ‘big bat thing’?”

“Oh, the bat—”

“It was HUGE!” The smaller robot wildly waved its arms around, 2B and 9S tensed for an attack that never came, “It had spikes and wings and a long, long tail!”

“It looked more like a flying lizard to me. It circled the park for a while.” The third machine spoke for the first time. “But at least the android with it didn’t look as mean.”

“Android?” 2B’s voice returned to a cold chill. “Describe this android for me.”

“Hmmm, he wore black clothes like you, and had black hair. He didn’t stick around long enough for me to thank him. But boy are we glad he came. Simone was causing trouble for everyone, and now we don’t have to worry about being her next victims.”

2B frowned, “And this android was definitely with the… flying lizard?”

The machines nodded, and the first machine that spoke to them pointed at the Opera House.

“They were in there for a while if you wanted to take a look. We haven’t started cleaning yet, so Simone’s er… parts, are still untouched.”

“Thank you.” 2B turned away and they headed towards the bridge.

They were halfway across the bridge when 2B looked at 9S.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I just find it weird that we actually talked with machines. And that little one showed excitement and how the other two actually seemed thankful… almost as if they had real emotions or something.”

“Machines don’t have feelings. You said so yourself when we were in the desert.”

9S sighed, “Yeah, I guess so. At least we finally have real confirmation about the black dragon and android working together!”

2B’s frown deepened as she thought of the black and white dagger on her back. Each weapon they'd collected had a name and story attached to it that the Pods would store in their database, and while this one was no different… the first chapter of this weapon’s story was stranger than most.

Where have you been?

Been searching all along

Come facing twilight on and on

Without a clue

Without a sign

Without grasping yet

The real question to be asked

Where have I been?

They were almost lyrical, in a way. She wondered if she should spend precious resources upgrading it to unlock more of its secrets, or whether she shouldn’t bother wasting her time now that Virtuous Treaty was back in her hands.

They stepped inside the Opera House and both of them gasped when they reached the raw destruction of the stadium.

“2B, these androids!” 9S sprinted toward a pile of android bodies and crouched down, activating his hacking screens. “Shit. They’re… they’re dead. Their circuits are completely fried and their black boxes are inactive.”

2B slowly walked inside, her footsteps loud in the dismal silence.

“You don’t think the other android did this to them, do you?” 9S asked, his voice almost quiet if it wasn’t for the slight echo of this room.

“No, come look at this.” 2B crouched beside the still form of massive machine torn in half, “Those other machines said they didn’t have to worry about becoming this thing’s next victim anymore. It would make sense that it was the cause of the missing androids, rather than the rogue.”

“There’s no information in our database about a machine like this.” 9S said as he stood beside 2B. “I can’t even imagine the kind of power this other android has to be able to kill it. He’s got to be a combat model like you then, don’t you think?”

"Combat models are all usually female." 2B looked up to the broken ceiling and the burn and claw marks all around them, “He must've had help from the black dragon.”

They looked around a bit more with their Pods, but found nothing else of significance.

After several moments, 9S sighed, “Well, I’ve sent several photos and a video of this to my Operator, as well as a mission update. We should head out and look into that other lead Anemone gave us.”

“Agreed.”

They walked out of the Opera House. The same machines from earlier pointed the way, stating the the android and ‘flying lizard’ left with another machine waving a white flag towards the village outside the park. They found the hidden passageway around the rooftops and put the Amusement Park behind them.

~*~*~*~

“Talk about a rude awakening!” Seth snapped.

Dinner was delicious, Joker ate enough roasted fish to fill him to bursting. After, he devoured the last junk food and sipped one cup full of the last coffee in this world. He washed himself in the river after, and he ended up dozing in the crook of Seth’s neck for a little bit, the dragon’s wing covering him from the outside world.

He felt so safe, like a child would under their bed covers.

The peace only lasted a few minutes more before they were surrounded by red eyes and clanking metal, their temporary campsite trampled under metal troops. These machines were different than any other they’d seen so far, with horned armor and armed with spears. A few rode on four legged machines like horses. Brave samurai protecting their territory.

Seth flapped his wings, blowing a portion of the machines away. He then dug his right wing into the mud and threw his weight in a tight circle, his tail becoming a battering ram. Machines crashed into trees and exploded to pieces, while others were crushed under Seth’s stomping footsteps.

“There’s nowhere to fly, Trickster!” Seth said as he looked around the thick vegetation and trees, “We might have no choice but to fight! Their tiny spears and bullets can’t harm us!”

Joker cursed under his breath, “Do it, we’ll be fine as long as we aren’t separated!”

Seth trumpeted a battle cry, the ground shook under his might as hundreds of leaves fell over them. The machines scrambled, uselessly jabbing at Seth’s side or belly or wings with their weapons. Explosions consumed the sound of the waterfall.

But then, halfway through fighting the small army, something unexpected happened.

Or rather… someone.

She dropped from the treetops, long silvery white hair whipping in the wind. Joker only saw the blur of her bright hair and tattered black clothes before she landed on one of the machines, her sword piercing through it as easy as cardboard. She jumped off of her first victim before it exploded, and onto the next in her reach.

She moved like a reaper on the battlefield, her sword singing with splashed oil and broken cogs.

Joker snapped out of his staring as Seth finished off another chunk of machines, throwing down bombs of ice and lightning to finish off the rest. With the aid of their spontaneous new… ally? Enemy? The remaining machine forces were wiped out.

Metal parts crunched under their feet as they scanned their surroundings, but Joker’s stomach dropped when he met the woman’s eyes. She raised her weapon and made to charge right for Seth.

“Wait!” He cried.

She stopped, her tattered heels skidding over mud and oil.

“What are you doing?” Seth asked as Joker raised his hands over his head.

“Follow my lead, Seth. She could help us!”

Seth snarled, but lowered his head at Joker’s insistence.

Joker slid down to the ground, hands still raised in the air as the woman’s eyes narrowed dangerously at him, her sleek sword still at the ready. Joker got a good look at her once they were face to face, barely ten paces away from one another.

Bits of black cloth clung to her torso and legs, but left most of her damaged skin exposed and weather worn. Judging by the strange, harsh lines in her shoulders and legs, and the ease of which she slaughtered those machines… she must be an android. Her pale blue gaze pierced him in an icy glare, and her long silver-white hair fell all the way down her back in beautifully wavy layers - untangled despite the battle.

“What’s your name?” Joker asked.

“You first.”

Her voice was like velvet, and even though she was an android, hearing another normal human voice nearly made him burst out into tears. He swallowed down the tangled ball of emotions.

“Joker.”

The woman chuckled coldly, “‘Joker?’ Is that the kind of names you YoRHa types pick now? Sounds dumb to me.”

“I’m… not with YoRHa.”

“Don’t bullshit me.” She growled. “You’re wearing their brand of weird black get-up, just without the stupid blindfold. I don’t get what’s up with your friend there, though. Did you decide to ditch the pods or something? Those little bastards were more annoying anyway.”

“You’re the first android I’ve ever seen.”

Alive and not used as a macabre accessory, he thought. He didn’t say that out loud though.

The woman looked Joker up and down, “You’re either the dumbest YoRHa android I’ve ever seen, or you’re just a lying piece of shit.”

Seth’s nostrils flared as the idea flowed through them.

“Joker, don’t—”

Joker dispelled his costume and into his casual clothes, the woman’s eyes going wide as she watched the cinders fall into the river. Seth vanished into the mindscape in a fit of rage, a large swell of cerulean ash fluttering in the wind.

“I told you, I’m not with YoRHa. I don’t even know who they are, really. The most I know about them is their name.”

The woman tilted her head, like a curious tigress would before killing trapped prey, “Well then, ‘Joker’, if I’m the first android you’ve ever seen, and you’re not with YoRHa, then what are you? You’re obviously not a friend to these machines, either. Are you a rogue android, too?”

Ren pursed his lips. He still didn’t know what this meant to the other androids yet, but it was the last ace he had before their bad situation ended up getting worse.

“I’m human.”

They spent a long time staring at one another. Maybe it was only a minute, or an hour, perhaps just 10 seconds before her expression turned livid.

“You lie!” She charged forward and slashed her sword in an arc in front of her, the tip of the blade slicing Ren’s arm as he jumped back, “How dare you spit in the face of humanity! I’ll kill you, you son of a—”

She froze.

Ren froze too, one hand trying to stem the bleeding on his arm, his mind screaming at him to run away, heal, or summon Seth again. The other slumbering Personas were dead weight against Seth’s unbridled fury.

Her eyes slowly drifted to her sword. A line of liquid crimson trickled down the blade, a bead of his blood was about to drip from it before she raised her weapon to her face. She ran her fingers down the crimson line before pulling her hand away, her expression falling to confusion as she rubbed blood between her fingers.

“This isn’t… android blood.” She whispered. “The blade cut through so easily… not like reinforced android skin.”

“I told you,” Ren felt light headed, but despite being pale with blood running between his fingers, he smiled at her. “I’m human. Joker is what I use as a code name, by the way. My real name is Ren. Amamiya Ren. Nice to meet you, Miss…?”

The last of her anger vanished, replaced by whirlwinds of sadness, horror, and awe. The grip on her weapon went slack as her arms fell limp at her side, metal clattering with stone. The woman’s pale blue eyes watered, but that was all Ren saw before his vision darkened and the ground reached up to meet him.

The woman rushed forward to catch him.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!!”

Was the last thing he heard before he fell into peaceful darkness.

He still didn’t know her name.

~*~*~*~

Stone turned to wood, and wood turned to metal as they ventured into the forest. Once again, they stopped in their tracks at another sight they weren’t expecting.

“2B!” 9S grabbed his sword, “There are machines everywhere!”

“Wait.” 2B held out her arm. 9S froze as she crossed a bridge and right up to a large machine behind a counter, “We have a package for Pascal from Anemone.”

“Oh! More YoRHa androids coming to our village. How strange to have so many visitors! Pascal is up on the top tier of our village, but…”

9S cautiously approached, “But what?”

“Ah, he seems to be in a mood. Something happened with our previous visitor and it has him concerned.”

9S and 2B traded hidden looks of doubt.

They walked away and around the lower tier, keeping an eye on the robots that talked without a care in the world. A group of smaller machines ran past them, laughing like children. It wasn’t hard to find their way up, but the happy and relaxed atmosphere in a village full of killer machines put them on edge.

They spotted a machine that was different than the others, talking to itself.

“Maybe we could do something to cheer him up when he gets back… Or would that be too much?” The machine pretended to sigh, its voice crackling as it lifted up its shoulders to mimic breathing. “Oh, I don’t know what to do…”

The machine saw them approach.

“Hello. Welcome to our village. As you can see, we mean you no harm…”

“You’re Pascal?” 9S asked dubiously.

“Yes I am. How can I help you?”

“Anemone has a package for you.” 2B said bitterly.

9S flinched before he held it out.

Pascal blinked at it, “Ah, I was wondering when she’d send another.”

“Another? So you are in contact with the Resistance Camp?” 9S asked as Pascal took the package and set it aside.

“Yes. We’ve helped each other out quiet frequently, and trade what we can. We help recharge power sources like batteries, and they give us the spare parts we need for any maintenance on our bodies. It’s been quiet helpful for both sides.” Pascal looked down at the rest of the village, “We just want to be able to coexist with you androids and live peacefully.”

“Peacefully?” 9S gaped, “How can it be peaceful when you’re probably spying for the enemy? How do we know that there won’t be an ambush the moment we step outside the village?”

“You misunderstand.” Pascal said gently, “The other machines don’t know we’re here, or that this village even exists. Everyone here has voluntarily disconnected from the machine network. We’ve learned to communicate verbally in order to understand each other, instead of being able to share all of our thoughts instantaneously. It hasn’t always been easy, but we’re… happy here.”

9S and 2B stared at Pascal, digesting the new information.

“Um… was there anything else I could do for you?” Pascal asked after a minute of silence, “It will be some time before Anemone’s package is ready.”

2B snapped out of it first, “We’re looking for another android. Word is he passed through your village with a black dragon.”

Pascal froze, his eyes flashing rapidly, “A-another android? You are the first YoRHa androids to ever step foot in this village.”

“You’re lying.” 2B snapped, “One of your friends below said otherwise.”

“I can just hack you, you know.” 9S said airily. “You can’t hide information from us.”

“Please, there’s no need for that.” Pascal held up his robotic hands, “I just… You YoRHa androids fight to protect… humanity. You’d do anything for a Human, right?”

“Well, duh,” 9S impatiently waved his hand, “We all put our lives on the line to protect the last humans on the moon from machines like you.”

2B said nothing, but her hands balled into fists and her jaw was clenched.

“R-right.” Pascal hesitated again, green eyes sputtering rapidly. “If I tell you, then you have to promise not to hurt him.”

“So you have met him.” 9S said with a scowl.

“Y-yes, and we’ve seen his black dragon before he left, too. However…” Pascal fidgeted again.

“Just spit it out. Now.” 2B’s anger was laced in her voice and posture, “Stop wasting our time.”

“I think he’s lost and all alone. He was… very distraught after I spoke to him.”

“What do you mean?” 2B asked.

“Well, he wanted information about what year it was, and he seemed shocked when I told him. He’s never heard of the machine wars or even anything about you androids. He claimed that… that…” Pascal’s voice lowered in volume, and he looked around even though they were the only ones there, “That he was the last Human, and that there aren’t any humans on the moon because they’ve all died off.”

2B’s shoulders tensed.

“So this android thinks its human?” 9S asked, his mouth dropping, “That’s… that’s… pretty messed up.”

A breeze kicked up, and 9S suppressed a shiver as the air between Pascal and 2B became thick with emotion.

“2B?” 9S tried to reach for her, but she turned quickly and out of his reach.

“9S, stay with the machine. I need to report to the Commander.”

“Y-yeah. Okay…”

2B walked away, a hair’s breadth from shaking with pure rage. She found a secluded spot on the other side of the tier and had her pod connect to the Bunker, it only rang once before a cheerful voice filled her feed.

“2B! I’m so glad you called! You won’t believe what happened on my date last night —”

“Operator 6O, connect me directly to the Commander and up the encryption on our line. This is an emergency.”

“Uh… o-okay! One sec!”

The screen changed from her cheerful operator to the stone cold seriousness of the Commander.

“2B.” Commander White’s greeting was as gray and colorless as the rest of the Bunker, “6O said it was an emergency, and I see that our communication is at max security. What’s happened?”

“Commander, I have new information on the rogue android and the black dragon. You’ll want to hear this yourself.”

The Commander frowned, “Yes, I was just reading the newest reports and video evidence from 9S. What have you found out?”

“This android thinks its human.” 2B spat venomously, “And has stated that it’s the last human and that all of humanity died out. I want to put in a request to kill it on sight, as well as have Flight Units on stand-by to deal with the black dragon.”

Commander White stiffened. The same sort of rage sparked in her eyes, but she was able to keep a neutral tone, “This is… unsettling news. I’ve been wondering whether we were dealing with an android at all.”

“What do you mean, Commander?”

She shook her head, “It doesn’t fit the description of any known rogues on earth, and any and all androids from the Resistance and YoRHa have been accounted for. If it’s not an android, then it could possibly be one of the advanced machine life-forms you and 9S encountered in the desert. It may have convinced itself that it’s human.”

“That would… make sense.” 2B’s hands curled into fists, “If this machine went haywire, it would make sense why all of the other machines have been acting differently. So does that mean the two in the desert were a second attempt?”

“For now, all we can do is theorize until its captured. Both of your requests are granted.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“When you kill this android, or machine-life form, or whatever it is, be sure to recover its body. I want to know who made it and why, how it knows the truth about humanity, as well as how it partnered up with this black dragon or where it came from. If killing the dragon first is not an option, then prioritize its partner at all cost. We’ll deal with the dragon at a later time if it comes down to it.”

“Understood.”

“One last thing.” The Commander whispered, “We can play it off for now, but don’t let this information spread. You know what to do if 9S gets wind of the truth again.”

That broken little thing inside her continued to crack, but she forced the pain down.

“...Understood.”

They ended communications. She stood there, at the edge of the tier, the ground hundreds of feet below her. Her pod floated serenely at her side, silent, while she wanted to scream and cry at the cruelty forced upon her.

She reached to her back for the black and white dagger, her grip tight over the handle. She had the sudden urge to break it, or throw it in a fit of anger, or both, but she shoved it into her Pod’s inventory for the time being.

One thing was clear.

Their target had to die before it was too late and 9S would be lost to her again.

2E renewed her vow to kill the god that put them in this position in the first place.

~*~*~*~

Ren awoke to his head stuffed with cotton and his mouth as dry as desert sand. Nausea bubbled in his throat. A migraine was pounding in his head as he blinked up at a rocky ceiling covered by patches of green moss. Drips of water echoed in the cave around him.

His muscles were stiff as he forced himself into sitting up. He grunted as his arm throbbed with sharp pains, and looked down to see the remains of his jacket torn to strips and used as makeshift gauze.

“Oi, lay down before you pass out again, idiot.”

Ren jumped and looked to the entrance of the cave framed by ivy and leaves. Sunlight draped over the woman’s shoulder and highlighted sprinkles of water dripping down from a nearby river.

Ren gestured to his arm. “Did you do this?”

“Yeah.” Guilt crossed her face before it returned to being neutral, and she walked over to him. “I don’t know jack shit about how to take care of human injuries. All I could do was stop the bleeding and hope for the best.”

“Oh. Thank you.” He reached for the make-shift gauze and undid the first knot.

“Hey!” The woman tried to bat his hand as gently as she could, “What are you doing!? Do you want to bleed out?”

Ren felt his face heat up. “Well, I need to remove it in order to heal myself.”

Her face went as still as an undisturbed lake. “You what.”

“Let me show you.”

He undid the bandages, pushing down a nausea inducing grimace as the wound was revealed. A grisly line slicing open the back of his hand almost to his inner elbow. He’s lucky she didn’t nick a major artery. She jumped back as he donned his costume in swirling blue flames, then used his good arm to dig into his pockets for a Bead. He used it, and her eyes went wide at the swirling lights curling all around his body.

Joker sighed in relief as the pain and grogginess lifted off of him like sunlight through fog.

With a wide grin, he rolled up his sleeve and showed her his unblemished arm. “See? All better!”

Her expression remained unchanged. She reached out to him, but hesitated before she touched him.

“How is that possible?” She whispered reverently.

Joker blinked, “Uh, magic?”

Silence. The only noise were the trickles of water plopping on moss and stone. Several more heartbeats passed before her expression crumpled and she lightly backhanded him on the side of his head.

“Ow! What was that for?” He said as he rubbed his head.

“You idiot!” She stood, anger washing over her face as her fists shook, “You didn’t think to do that BEFORE you passed out!? How fucking stupid are you!?”

“I—”

“Fucking god damnit,” She paced in a tight circle, her long hair whipping around her as she sharply turned, “I thought I almost killed the first human I’ve ever seen. Do you even know what that would’ve meant for us androids!?”

“No, I don’t! I… I didn’t mean for it to go like that.” Joker said as he stared down at his gloved hand. “I just…You’re the first android I’ve ever talked to and you looked like you were either going to kill me or run away! What else was I supposed to do to make you stay?”

She froze in her tracks, her expression falling slack with shock. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything a voice boomed within the cavern.

“By not being a total idiot!!” Seth manifested himself, blue cinders sputtering out as his bulk took up most of the cavern. Joker cried out when Seth put his head on Joker, smooshing him onto the rocks, “Do you know how worried I was!? I don’t like how the mindscape was so black after you passed out! I was so alone without all of the others and I never want to experience that again!!”

“Seth, buddy…” Joker patted Seth’s chin and wheezed, “Please get off. I can’t breathe.”

“No!” Seth cried as he stomped his feet, the cave trembling, “Not until you apologize!”

“But—”

“Your friend is right.” The woman crossed her arms and glared at him, “I’m sorry I was so brash, and I’m also sorry that I caused your injury, but your bullshit stubbornness could’ve gotten you killed.”

Joker deflated, “Fine. I’m sorry, Seth.”

Seth snorted, but raised his head.

Joker slid out from underneath him and got to his feet, not-too-gently nudging Seth’s head with his elbow.

The woman looked between them, alarm fading from her. “So, what’s the story between you and the giant bat?”

“I am not a bat!” Seth raised his head in offense, but bashed his head against the cave ceiling. Drips of water and moss rained down on them, but Seth didn’t seem to feel it as his nostrils billowed with smoke, “I am Seth! God of chaos and storms, rightful ruler of the desert and true chief god of the Egyptian pantheon!”

“Okay. That was a mouthful of shit and I have no idea what it means.” The woman muttered, “I bet I could kick your ass without lifting a finger.”

“Oh yeah?” Seth bared his teeth and approached her, his head barely a foot away, “I’d devour a tiny toothpick like you before you could even draw your sword!”

“I’d skin you alive and wear it as a cloak.”

“Smash you into the dirt and bury you under rubble!”

“Cut off your head and mount it on a wall.”

“Call down lightning to reduce your pathetic existence to dust!”

“Break your wings and leave you to the machines.”

Joker stared back and forth between them, flabbergasted. He could almost see the lightning they tried to shoot at each other from their eyes. The pair stayed that way for a long time before the woman spoke again.

“A2.”

Joker blinked, “What?”

“My name is A2. I like your friend. Seth, was it?”

“I like you too.” Seth pulled his head back, and Joker felt a cascade of joy from him, “She has a lot of fight in her, Trickster!”

Joker’s face fell in his hands, “I can see that.”

“So, you are going to answer my original question?” A2 crossed her arms, “I never knew humans could cast magic, and I’ve never heard of any human having a companion like yours.”

“Simple.” Seth stated, “I am thou, thou art I!”

“...What the hell does that mean?”

“Seth and I are technically one and the same being.” Joker said as his hands finally fell to his sides. “We are bound together, body, mind, and soul. There are others with us but they’re… sleeping.”

A2 deadpanned, “I’m so lost.”

“It’s complicated.”

A2 sighed, “I can tell, and I probably won’t even understand any of it. Well, since you’re not dying anymore and you’re explanation confuses the shit out of me, want to go take out some machines? That’s what I was doing before I saw you.”

“Yes!!” Seth exclaimed.

“Seth.”

“What? I’m still craving a good battle, Trickster! The others have all been far too short!”

“If it makes you feel better, Amamiya Ren,” Hearing A2 say his name so softly made his throat tighten, “This machine is the leader of all the others in this forest. If we take it out, then the rest won’t be so damn savage anymore.”

Is that why Pascal had such a heavy duty gate guarding the forest? Would doing this help ensure the village’s safety? He still felt bad for how he left, maybe he could go back and apologize after this.

Joker sighed as Seth happily bounced on his wings, “Where’s this machine?”

“In a castle nearby. We could probably sneak in and off it while your friend here distracts the guards.”

Seth grinned and looked to Joker, excitement buzzing in their soul. It was like tempting a puppy with a new squeaky toy.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

A2 smiled, barely more than a ghost of one, as she turned and walked out of the cave. Joker squinted from the bright sunlight as he followed, with Seth lumbering behind him. They were in a different part of the forest, where the river turned into a waterfall pouring into a gorge and the soft grass into rocky outcrops and moss.

Seth stretched his wings as he stepped out into the sunlight. He gently nudged Joker’s shoulder, “I’ll be scouting above until its time for chaos!”

He jumped over the gorge and flapped his wings before he shot off into the heavens.

A2 watched him soar over the tree tops with an unreadable expression.

“So, what’s your story?” Joker asked, “You look… more run down than what I imagined an android to be, but you still fought those machines like they were nothing.”

“YoRHa and I don’t see eye to eye, so I’ve been on my own for years.” She bluntly stated.

“What are you going to do after this?”

“Dunno. I’ve just wandered around killing those damn machines wherever I could.” A2 turned to him, eyes softening, “But meeting you changes things. Is it alright if I go with you after we’re done here?”

“Sure. Could you help us out? I’ve been trying to get more information about how to get home, but… we haven’t been successful so far.”

A2 studied him, brow furrowed, “Alright. I’ll have to keep an eye on you so you don’t do anything stupid again.”

Joker laughed, “Sounds like we have a deal.”

“Yeah.” A2 faced the rest of the forest, her small smirk hidden from Joker, “Let’s see if you can even keep up with me.”

She dashed off, and Joker sputtered before he threw himself in a sprint.

~*~*~*~

“Another battle site…” 9S said as his shoes crunched over burnt grass. He knelt down and felt the ground around the campfire, “It’s still warm. This must’ve been recent.”

2B scowled, “Then it must be nearby. See if we can’t gather any clues on which direction it went.”

“Say, 2B…”

“What?”

“What did you and the Commander talk about? You’ve been acting… really scary since we talked to that machine. We promised not to hurt this android so the machine would tell us where he went, but we’re not going to do that, are we?”

“Focus on the mission.” She snapped, “All that matters is killing it.”

“But what if he’s telling the truth?”

2B felt ice sprout through her chest, “What?”

9S held his hands up at her biting tone, “I-I’m just saying. What if… what if he’s descended from humans who never got to the moon? If what that machine said is true, and he is just lost and confused… we have to help him out right? Especially if he really is a human! I’ve never met a human before so I’m excited—”

“9S!”

He flinched as she scowled at him.

“Don’t be stupid.”

“But I—”

“No. It’s not a human. It’s a thing that’s pretending to be human to spread lies. Don’t you think the Council of Humanity would know if one of their own got left behind?”

“W-well…” 9S deflated, his voice dispirited. “I…I guess so.”

“Alert: Large flying anomaly detected nearby.” Pod 042 broke the tension between them.

But they didn’t need the Pod’s warning, they saw it for themselves. A large black dragon flew over the canopy above and soared past them, the tree branches bending over the wind it generated.

2B scowled, “Pod, contact command and have them send in the Flight Units ASAP.”

“Affirmative.”

“9S, we’re going after it. Maybe it’ll lead us to our target.”

“R-right behind you, 2B.”

~*~*~*~

Joker found it strange to be sneaking through a castle again. It was nothing like the one in the Amusement Park, old and falling apart, a majority of the stonework being taken over by nature. It was only a small fraction the size of Kamoshida’s Palace, and while the lack of grotesque imagery was refreshing, it was no less dangerous to traverse. High walls protected it, but that didn’t stop the inherent acrobatic abilities of a Phantom Thief and a super advanced android.

Seth had landed in the large courtyard with a thundering boom, and machine guards poured out of the doors to confront his wrath. A2 and Joker had no trouble sneaking through the unguarded hallways and rooms, the distant explosions accompanied by Seth’s boistrous laughter and bloodlust.   

Parts of the castle interior were crumbled and broken apart, and A2 kept her shock to herself when Joker was able to keep up with the wild amount of parkour needed to get through some of the more damaged parts of the castle. They encountered a few machine stragglers, but A2 slaughtered them before Joker could even blink. Machine parts peppered the ancient hallways before they reached the deepest part of the castle.

A2 found an alternative way through an outside path and through hole, and they crept over stone pillars into the sprawling throne room undetected. Most of the robot guards were fighting Seth, so it was mostly empty. Joker felt conflicted at what he saw. Where the throne should sit was a cradle, another massive hole in the wall over it bathing it in gentle sunlight. Metallic gurgles and coos came from a tiny machine wrapped up in bands of metal like a baby swaddled in blankets.

“There it is.” A2 whispered as she glared at the cradle.

“That can’t be right.” Joker whispered back, “It’s just a baby.”

A2 scoffed as she grabbed her sword, “It’s their leader. It needs to die.”

Joker latched onto her arm, “You can’t.”

A2 glared at him, “We don’t have a choice. The rest of the machines in the forest will continue to rampage until this thing is dead.”

“But—”

She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and dropped.

“No!”

He jumped after her, but it was already too late. She descended on the cradle, sword piercing through the small robot. The coos stopped as sparks flew from its body, and its little eyes went dark. She lifted the machine in the air with her sword before swinging it in an arc. The tiny thing was cast aside as it thumped onto the floor.

Joker couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

‘Mister, mister! Come play with us!’

‘Please, mister? Let’s play!’

‘I picked these for you, mister! My mommy said I should give these to you as thanks for saving us from the monster!’

The crumpled bundle of white flowers were still in Joker’s pocket, suddenly weighing a ton.

“Oi, snap out of it.” A2 sighed before her sharp footsteps approached him. She latched onto the front of his coat and forced him to look at her. “Listen to me. Machines can’t age. They don’t have emotions and they never change.”

“But we could’ve taken it somewhere else! You didn’t have to kill it.”

A2 shook her head, “And then what? I just said machines don’t age. You’d be lugging around dead weight while painting a target on your back.” She released him as he continued to glare at her, “Look, I’ve sacrificed everything to help protect humanity and kill whatever machines I come across for that reason. I’m not going to apologize. It’ll be easier for you to accept it this way.”

Joker’s gaze went to the ground. He thought of his first encounters with the machines in the City Ruins, then the Opera House and the female robot who bore her heart before death, and Pascal’s village. Pascal seemed like he had emotions, had shown actual concern for Joker before he ran from the village. The children seemed so innocent and full of life.

Was that just a fluke, then?

“We know not the greater history of the world, or its people.” Seth’s presence brushed his mind, “But she has lived in it for years. It is a cruel truth, Trickster, but you must accept the harsh nature of this world or you will be consumed by it.”

Joker said nothing to Seth. He walked over to the baby robot’s body and set the bundle of white flowers next to it. Joker shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to A2, his stomach sour.

“Let’s get out of here.”

A2 solemnly nodded, “Where to?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? He wanted to stay away from the Amusement Park, and now this forest had been ruined for him, too. He doubted he could go back to Pascal’s village with someone like A2, either.

“The City Ruins where I woke up.”

A2 furrowed her brow, but another voice echoed in the throne room before she could utter a word.

“We finally found you.”

The feminine voice was cold as ice, not too different from A2 when they first met. A2 raised her weapon and jumped in front of Joker as two androids walked in. The woman had a bob of white hair and wore an elegant black dress. A long white blade floated at her back as another, smaller robot hovered at her side.

The other male was in equally dark clothing, with short white hair and a black katana at his back. A darker version of the small robot hovered at his side, too.

For some reason, the both of them wore black blindfolds, but Joker felt the hatred of the female’s gaze striking his heart.

“Shit. It’s YoRHa.” A2 muttered.

“Maybe we can talk with them?”

“Not a chance, they’ve been after me since—”

The female YoRHa android charged with a battle cry.

A2 snarled as she jumped forward to meet her, their blades singing with sparks.

Joker stepped back, and the other male android seemed just as hesitant as the other two entered a frantic dance of blades. Joker stared at him, but made no move to draw his Phoenix Dagger.

The male android frowned, but Joker couldn’t see his expression past that.

“9S, move it!” The woman snapped between swings of her blade.

9S jumped, but joined the battle with black blade drawn.  

“Oh, god damnit!”

A2 kicked the female YoRHa android away and slashed towards 9S, who dodged with a strangled gasp.

“Get out of here, Joker!”

Joker drew his dagger as the two enemies recovered, “I’m not leaving you behind!”

A2’s body glowed red and she was at Joker’s side in a blur of motion.

“I’ve dealt with these assholes before. I’ll keep them busy while you escape.”

“But—”

“Just go, dumbass!!” She grabbed Joker’s coat and threw him out of the hole over the throne room as if he weighed nothing. He tumbled and landed face-first somewhere outside, but jumped to his feet and broke out in a sprint.

“Pod!”

A2 turned just in time to get a laser to the face. By the time she recovered, the pair of YoRHa androids were jumping out after Joker.

Joker heard footsteps behind him, and looked over his shoulder to see the YoRHa androids charging towards him at a speed no human could ever match.

“SETH!!”

A draconic roar boomed through the castle grounds as Seth bulldozed through stone walls and rounded the corner to face them. The ground trembled as Seth threw himself forward, sliding to a stop between Joker and the androids. The dragon stopped just long enough for Joker to jump on his back before he leapt into the sky.

He barely heard A2 screaming a colorful string of profanities.

“Oi, you’re supposed to be after me! Leave him alone!” She howled as she leapt out of the throne room, “Hey  — GET BACK HERE YOU YORHA PIECES OF SHIT!”

Joker looked back as Seth flew higher, but his stomach dropped. The pair of YoRHa androids had gotten into a pair of jet/mech hybrids waiting on the castle walls and were flying after them.

“Faster, Seth!”

“That woman said they were after her!!” Seth howled as his wing beats sped up, the forest below becoming a green smudge, “Did she lie to save her own skin!?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Joker ducked down against Seth’s neck as bullets flew through the air. Seth dodged and weaved around them.

“Can I at least destroy these pests, then?”

“No, we should try to talk with them. They’re androids, and if they’re after us then we have to find out why!”

Seth snarled as a missile soared under his wing, “How do you expect to get them out of those contraptions!?”

“The City Ruins… We’ll split up there. I’ll go into one of the buildings and you draw one of them away through the air. You can always return to me in case things don’t go well on my end.”

Seth growled, but had no choice but to accept the Trickster’s crazy plan.

~*~*~*~

“9S, can you do anything to slow it down!?”

“I-I’ve been trying, but there’s nothing to hack! Not even the android riding it is showing up on my screens!”

The City Ruins flew under them. Despite being in the latest Flight Units, this dragon was an aerial master who could compete with them in speed and maneuverability. Most bullets and missiles were dodged, and the few that had hit didn’t phase it at all.

She swore under her breath as the black dragon continued to gain distance.

Until it slowed down suddenly and dropped like a stone. The Flight Unit engines whirred as she careened to a sudden stop, watching as the dragon landed, its partner jumping off to run into one of the many abandoned buildings.

The dragon stared at them from the ground before leaping into the sky and flying further away.

“They’re splitting up. What do you want to do, 2B?”

“Prioritize the dragon's partner. That’s our order.”

They started their descent, the Flight Units landing on the soft grass outside. They dismounted, and 2B shot into the building as soon as her feet touched the ground. She held Virtuous Treaty tight in her grasp as they entered, yearning for the pretender’s blood.

9S had a grimace as they looked around the abandoned building, but followed close behind.

The first floor was clear, as was the second.

Their ears were strained at the eerie silence, trying to listen for a footstep or rustle of cloth. They found their target on the third floor, hiding in a smaller room.

“Come out!” 2B ordered, “We know you’re in there!”

9S still looked hesitant to fight, but at least he didn’t need her to tell him to draw his blade this time.

Footsteps echoed through the empty building as their target walked out. It matched the descriptions from the machines in the Amusement Park. Without that other android in the way, they could see him clearly.

Fluffy black hair, dark coat, but he had no blindfold to hide his silver eyes. He faced them head on with unbridled confidence, and yet he didn’t have a weapon in his hand. How foolish.

“I don’t want to fight you.” He said as he held up his hands, his voice deep and smooth and charismatic. “I just want to talk.”

9S lowered his weapon, “2B—”

“Shut up!” 2B had readied her weapon and prepared to strike—

When both Pods suddenly left their sides and hovered protectively in front of their target. Shock crossed the target’s expression as he glanced between the pair of tiny robots who had turned their weapons on the androids.

“Pod, what are you doing!?” 2B demanded.

“Alert: Mission Parameter Altered.” Pod 042 stated, “Proposal: Lower your weapons and bring him to the Resistance Camp. Ensure his safety at all cost.”

“Wha—” 9S stepped forward, “Why the sudden change?”

This time, the other Pod answered, but its words struck the androids to their deepest core.

“Alert: Human life-form… confirmed.”