This choice: She's saying that her "Prince" has arrived. • Go Back...Chapter #8Prince Akira is an unlikely ally. by: Unknown Attention all Students and Faculty! Prince Akira Kurusu will be here in less than 5 minutes and the No Stars haven't even finished! Just how useless are you idiots!?" The Giant Shadow's voice could be heard even in the Safe Room. "Useless, huh? Looks like she doesn't think too highly of her students." Queen said through gritted teeth, the Shadow's comments hit quite a sore spot.... "Well if it makes you feel any better, I didn't recognize anyone we know in the No Stars..." Joker said, hoping to deflect some of her anger. "No, it doesn't. You say she's the nicest person you've ever met, yet she has a Palace where all of her students get treated like slaves!" Queen was yelling now, her position as Student Council President was making her angrier than normal. "It's a Palace! This is the dark corner of her heart that she doesn't want to acknowledge!" Joker retorted. Queen wasn't backing down though. "Oh really? Cause every other target we've had didn't seem to have a problem with what they were doing! Good people don't have Palaces!" The arguing was cut short by a sniffle in the corner, Oracle was starting to tear up. "Oh.... oh Futaba-chan I'm so sorry, I didn't mean......" She walked over to console the Navigator, she had been so wrapped up in her rage that she had forgotten about Futaba's Palace. "I'll say it again, this Palace is very different from the others. What happens here isn't accurate to what happens in the real world." Joker was panting, he was worked up by Queens comments, and he needed to cool off.
"Joker's right. The distortions here don't feel like anything I've ever seen before. I think his theory that this is a world that the darkest parts of her heart wants is spot on....." Mona said, breaking the awkward silence from the other side of the room. "Well, it's still kinda messed up that some part of her wants this....." Panther said nervously, she wasn't used to seeing their leader or strategist lose their cool. "Kinda, but we all have a dark side don't we? Y'know, that side of you that thinks effed up stuff that makes you uncomfortable?" Skull said. "That.... actually makes sense." Queen said, her hand on Oracles shoulder. "There is one thing that bothers me though." Fox finally spoke up after staying quite the whole time, getting everyone's attention. "If Joker is the Prince, and Kawakami is the Queen, wouldn't that make him her son?" The group was silent for a beat, then everyone else started laughing, Fox's bizarre observation had completely shattered then tension.
Once the laughter had died down, Joker spoke up; "No, I think I'm the 'Prince' cause she's the older one in the relationship. When we started dating she even told me that she wants me to rely on her." He got a curious look from Noir. "So, she's the dominant one?" Joker's face started to redden. "W-well, kinda." Panther started grinning. "So, you're a submissive then?" Joker's face went fully red. "D-don't say it like that! It's sounds embarrassing....." The two girls giggled at his bashfulness. "So have you two..... y'know......" Skull started nudging Joker in the ribs, earning a slap on the back of his head in return. "No, we haven't, we both agreed to wait until I was 18 before we tried anything."
This got the groups attention. "But, your probation will be over long before that...." Joker raised an eyebrow. "And? Hell will freeze over before I go back to my hometown." The group shared a concerned look, their leader was never comfortable talking about his past, so none of them pressed the issue. "But, where will you stay?" Noir asked. Joker hesitated before answering. "I don't want to impose on Sojiro anymore, so I was planning on picking up some part-time jobs and trying to rent an apartment. We would live together, but the chance of us getting found out are too high....." He didn't seem confident in the plan. "Well, Sojiro did say he was going to miss you when you left, he might let you keep living in Leblanc." Oracle said, making Joker perk up. "Really? I might have to talk to him about it when I get the chance...." He couldn't hide the hopeful excitement on his face, the idea of being able to just stay in Leblanc was something he had only dreamed of. The group wasn't able to revel in the feeling though, as they could hear the Shadow's voice once more.
"Attention all Students and Faculty! Prince Akira has finally arrived!" Joker bolted out of the Safe Room, ignoring the warnings of the others. He needed to see how his girlfriend perceives him. He looked out of the nearest window to see the various students of the fake Shujin lining up and bowing down to a man, not a doll, in a robe of the same design as Kawakami's, only it was black with a white trim, and he had a slightly less ornate crown on his head. The most perplexing thing by far though, was his expression. He seemed to be embarrassed and kind of sad..... "That's strange, surely her perception of me would be overjoyed to be with her..... does she think I'm not happy in our relationship?" Joker's thoughts were cut short by a cold hand grabbing his shoulder. "And who exactly are you? I've never seen you around here before." Joker turned to see a doll with dark brown hair, glowing red eyes, metallic skin, and a Gold Star staring at him. It was quite clearly a cognitive version of Queen. "Oh Mako-chan! That's a new transfer student, I was explaining to him how the Star Ranks work." The Haru doll reappeared, looking happy as usual. The Makoto doll wasn't convinced. "I wasn't informed of any new transfers coming today." She grabbed Joker by the wrist, her grip was strong enough to bend steel. "T-they had to move it up a week due to family matters." Joker was struggling to get out of the fake Makoto's grip, she was getting dangerously close to breaking his arm. "Oh really? Well let's ask Queen Kawakami about this, she'll know exactly what's going on....." As she started dragging the thief outside, Joker noticed a small key in her back turning as she walked. "She's a wind-up toy....." He would've laughed at it, were he not in such a dire situation.
The giant Shadow was still sitting in her throne, only now she was actually teaching, with various students in front of her. The No Star's were laying around her, most of them asleep. The Bronze Stars were at actual desks, but none of them were paying any attention. The Silver Stars were listening intently, and there weren't any Gold Stars in sight. "My Queen! I found this man sneaking around the school. He claims to be a transfer student." Kawakami's Shadow paused and looked down at the mechanical doll. In doing so, she revealed a very disheartened Prince in between her breasts. "Transfer Student? There aren't any transfers planned for the rest of the school year. Any plans Joker had were stopped by the Makoto doll slamming him to the ground. " I knew it! My Queen, I will eliminate him on your orders!" The Giant Shadow sighed, before reaching down for Joker. "Niijima-san, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don't think that'll be necessary." The Fake Makoto moved out of the way and bowed, as her "Queen" gently picked the thief up. "Clearly he wishes to adore and love me like the rest of you, he was just too nervous to approach me!" The rest of the Phantom Thieves were watching from distance, trying to form a plan to save their leader.
"Now then, what's your name little one?" The Giant Shadow was a far cry from the other Palace Rulers they had faced, she seemed to be genuinely kind and gentle at the moment. "R-Ren, Ren Amamiya." Joker nervously said, that was the fake name he used whenever he wanted to stay anonymous. He saw a flash of recognition on his cognitive self's face. "Ren Amamiya..... that's a cute name. I think we'll get along just fine Amamiya-kun! The Shadow gave him a large smile before kissing him on the top of the head. Joker looked down and saw the Cognitive version of himself get out of the Shadow's cleavage, climb up to her shoulder, and start whispering in her ear. "Ok then, Amamiya-kun! The Prince has specifically requested that you become his personal steward! He'll explain the specifics of the Job inside of the school. She set the two of them on the ground, and they walked inside.
The Cognitive Akira grabbed Joker by the hand, and spoke. "If you guys want the Treasure you need to listen to me." The other Phantom Thieves came out from their hiding places. "How do you...." Skull started before the 'Prince' cut him off. "The real Sadayo knows that Akira Kurusu is a Phantom Thief, so she perceives me as knowing how this works. I know that I'm just a cognitive version of the real Akira, and I know that the real one is standing right next to me." The group paused for a beat, this was easily the weirdest thing that they had encountered in the Metaverse. "So, what do you want exactly?" Mona asked. The Cognitive Prince hesitated before speaking......   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
