"Wha- what is happening?" Natsumi asked in shock at Kokichi's newfound power. To her and everybody else, one moment he was about to be killed.

The next moment, he was having some kind of spasm as a surge of powerful wind blasted monsters away from him rendering him to stand up, his eyes flashing the same pink as Natsumi's, pink splotches appearing on parts of his body before a black and white clown mask suddenly appeared in his hand that he slowly put it on.

Soon afterwards, he changed, with his hair tied into a short ponytail. His clothes changed into a neat vest with golden trimmings on the cuffs and black pockets covering a checkered black buttoned shirt completed with a black flowing cape pinned with a golden clasps on both shoulder blades to his vest.

He had white and black gloves on both his right and left hand. He wore white pants with black leg belts tied with a checkered belt that held black and white swords with purple handles that had a pink sphere attached on each side and black shoes. And at the back of him...

'What for are thy stalling? Dally no longer and show them thou power.'

"With pleasure," Kokichi responded to Napoleon behind him, taking out the white and black sword, taunting the people with his black sword motioning himself to them, as if saying, 'Come to me.'

Natsumi's face became twisted in rage at that, "Just because you got some little power up doesn't mean you can defeat us. Guards, you know what to do!"

Monsters suddenly surrounded Kokichi, but this time behind his mask, he smiled fearlessly as he slashed the black sword into nothingness when the monsters jumped and attacked him.

So it looked like to them, but at outside point of view, the moment Kokichi slashed the sword, the monsters suddenly started attacking each other, leaving Kokichi plenty opportunities.

Kokichi rushed through the horde of fighting monsters to Rantaro. Although all the monsters were confused, some still had the sense to know who the enemy was which made them attack Kokichi, but he defended with one swing of his white sword, at times paralyzing them until he reached Rantaro.

"What?" Rantaro asked, agape at Kokichi's costume and fighting, with the weapons actually able to hit the monsters.

"No time, Amami-chan," Kokichi said swiftly, "Let's just get out of here."

He could have tried to explain himself, but he didn't have one. In fact, he was trying to adjust this absurdity like it was nothing. At least he had practice with such.

"Oh no you don't!" Natsumi shouted but Kokichi was one step ahead of her.

Kokichi plucked out the sphere from the purple handle of his black sword and threw it down for smoke to engulf Rantaro and Kokichi.

Like a magic trick, Rantaro and Kokichi were gone once the smoke cleared.

It was a moment of silence until Natsumi finally shouted, "Guards! Don't let them escape!"

The monsters scattered as they tried to search the premises, trying to find them.

Luckily they were all stupid enough not to check the ceiling.

"I would ask how we are walking on the ceiling but we have more important questions," Rantaro said.

"We are going near the wall first. Defying gravity is not going to last forever, you know? And the blood going to your head isn't good for you too," Kokichi said, as he walked naturally to a wall and Rantaro followed.

"Then, why the ceiling?" Rantaro asked.

"Oh, elementary, Amami-chan," Kokichi said, "No one bothers to look up when someone escapes, because it's near impossible for a person to even reach here at all, let alone in a short span of time. So they will search through the ground and the rooms of this place but they will never search here."

"But you said this isn't going to last forever, right?" Rantaro asked.

"Exactly why we are walking to the nearest wall so we can at least climb down instead of falling," Kokichi said.

"Alright," Rantaro said, "But you still have to answer my questions."

"Fine..." Kokichi said, as they reached a certain wall with no guards below and climbed back to the floor.

As soon as they stepped on it...

"AHHHH!" Rantaro and Kokichi shouted, as they fell down... down from a trapdoor. Of all the bad luck, with Kokichi thinking, 'Why on earth is there a trap door here?' and in the fall, something had to be done.

Rantaro was the first to act.

He quickly caught Kokichi with one arm, took out the white sword from Kokichi's belt with the other and stabbed it to the wall, which stuck but still scratched downwards at least slowing their fall as they landed safely without any injuries.

Then, Rantaro safely put Kokichi back down as he handed the sword back to Kokichi who sheathed it. Afterwards, with a burst of flames, Kokichi's outfit went back to his school uniform which surprised him and Rantaro both, but they had no time to dwell on it.

They looked around, seeing that they somehow landed themselves in the dungeon, filled with cells... empty with splatters of blood, all except one.

"What is a girl doing in a place like this?" Rantaro asked, as he and Kokichi ran toward one of the locked cells which housed a sleeping girl, of white clothes and red hair strangely shaped like hearts. Immediately, Kokichi fished out lockpicks as he eyed the traditional lock barricading them from the girl and unlocked it swiftly.

Rantaro took the girl out, as finally her eyes fluttered open... they were a feral yellow as she blearily looked at them, and said, "Hu... mans? What.. are you doing here?"

"I would like to know that myself," Rantaro said, glancing at Kokichi who gave a benign smile that said he knew and didn't at the same time, because that's exactly true.

He obviously knew this was a different world where he was fighting monsters, damn Tsumugi's prediction becoming right. He felt that this place was related to Natsumi and he could probably use it, but that was about it.

Kokichi didn't know why he was really involved with this, except for that damn silhouette of a bear... Monokuma, although unsure. He can't just rely on himself's visions after all. The only thing he could do was move forward with speculations, questions and hopefully answers that would fit the puzzle.

'Don't worry, she will provide the answers of this place, and if you are smart enough, you will be able to take advantage of it.'

A tinny voice in his head, but he knew what it is. And he trusted it because why wouldn't he trust himself?

Rantaro continued, "But still here we are. What are you doing here, locked in this place?"

"I was captured by the guards when I tried to infiltrate the place, and they tried to Corrupt me. Any longer and I'm sure they will succeed. So thank you for saving me," the girl said, "Let me return the favor."

"Hmm... and how exactly are you going to do that?" Kokichi asked, as he tilted his head.

The girl turned back to them, as she said, "I know this Court well. I can lead you back to the exit."

Kokichi crossed his arms, "Really?"

"Yes. It won't be difficult for me at all. So let me help," the girl said, and Kokichi detected no malice or deeper intentions. He decided to take up the offer as they do need to get out of here, but keep his guard up.

"OK," Kokichi said, "And while we are going, we can talk a little more about each other."

"Of course," the girl conceded, "But be careful... those bodyguards can come anytime. I don't want you to get hurt."

"You mean the bodyguards turning into monsters? Why can they do that?" Kokichi asked.

"Because they are Shadows, attacking us because they are led by the Corrupted," the girl answered.

"Shadows? Corrupted?" Rantaro asked, as they moved stealthily.

"Shadows are creatures in this world that mirror you humans although there are many who belong to no other self and are simply born out of emotions and desires of humans, which can be minions of Shadow selves."

"Corrupted are such as Natsumi Kuzuryu who runs this place are Shadows twisted with negative desires by a bear of despair that goes with the name of Monokuma. The difference between Corrupted and Shadows are that the Corrupted have a red slit for their right eye, except for Shadows that are working under the Corrupted so they also  got that red slit for the eye. For example, Natsumi Kuzuryu is definitely Corrupted but her bodyguards are still called Shadows."

Among the baffling statement, one thing came in hard for him: Monokuma. The accursed bear with endless malice when he first met him in the haze, scheming, the accursed name that gave more meaning when he saw himself in that killing game and saw the evil budding. The bear that appeared to him while coming here, calling him a player... There's no denying it this time, huh?

'Of course. You just didn't believe me. How rude!'

"And what did Monokuma exactly do? Why is he doing it?" Kokichi asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"As for what, he likes to infect Shadows, turn them Corrupted and send their minions to wandering Shadows to spread the Corruption. As for why, it is unknown except it is causing fear throughout my world. I do not understand."

"Your world?" Rantaro asked.

The girl said, "You are in a different world parallel to your own. A world called Twin'verse where there are Shadows and Arcanas such as myself. There are many differences among us, but the easiest is that my eyes are yellow, and theirs pink."

"Arcana?" Kokichi asked, remembering that in each profile for his friends, there was also an Arcana. There is a relation, of what? He will figure more down the road.

"According to legend, Arcanas are past Persona users who come into this world reborn again with tarot cards in their hearts signifying a certain power over other Shadows to some extent. But we mostly live peaceful lives of our own although certainly more powerful than Shadows."

"Persona users?" Kokichi asked, brow raised.

"You will see," the girl said, "Anyway, I was wondering... people can't access to this world. So how did you?"

Kokichi showed her his phone, as he said, "I got this strange app one day and it led us here."

The moment her eyes landed on the app, she sucked in a breath. She looked at him with sorrowful eyes, "You have landed yourself in Monokuma's schemes. Be careful."

"Of course," Kokichi nodded, "Careful is my middle name after all." But that's a lie, was left unsaid.

Rantaro looked at this exchange, absorbing everything before saying, "OK then. But I'm still confused about this world. Where exactly are we? And how do you know about our world?"

They were already walking up a set of stairs at the end of the dungeon as the girl talked, "This is Natsumi Kuzuryu's Court created from whatever incident from your world that Monokuma used to make her Corrupted and chain her like this. As for how I know... there are legends about your world, OtherSide we call it, which shaped our world too."

"OK," Rantaro said, although he was still lightly confused.

Soon enough, they reached the top of the staircase met with some kind of white and black scanner in front of a door that even said, 'Please scan here.'

The girl looked at Kokichi and said. "Your phone has that app, right? I still don't know why, but try scanning it and see what happens."

Kokichi looked at the app, with its weird settings, and he remembered, that it was all a game. To the bear at least. Why? Well...

'The bear really loves his games, huh? And he really wants you to be his player. Again. The bear must really hate us... and mocking us if he thinks we can play it without doing anything harmful to him.'

So Kokichi swiped the scanner and saw that it revealed a part of the map of this place, that even had a teleport waypoint activated with a white and black bear symbol pointing the exact same spot they were standing. The door also opened, revealing that it was an empty room.

The girl said, "Hmm... this looks like a safe room. You can rest here if you are tired from the Shadows and recuperate. From your phone, it seemed that you can even teleport here when we Arcana cannot... Hmm..."

"I have observed that the bear likes his games. It seems that he made the app specifically for this purpose. Maybe he is tired of playing with us Arcana and Shadows and decided to bring you humans here."

'See, just like I thought.'

But Kokichi ignored that for now and responded to the girl, who he now realized that they didn't know her name and she theirs.

"Hey, don't just call us humans," Kokichi snapped childishly, "I am Kokichi Ouma."

"My name is Rantaro Amami," Rantaro introduced himself.

"Kokichi. Rantaro. I have memorized it," the girl said, "My name is Sophie, and I am a good friend of the people."

"A good friend of the people? What does that mean?" Kokichi asked.

"I am a good friend of the people," Sophie repeated, tilting her head.

"OK the- hide!" Kokichi hissed as they saw Shadows creeping through the floor but Sophia seemed unfazed as she said, "We cannot move forward unless we defeat them. Stay here."

"Wai-" Rantaro started, but it was too late as the girl ripped off the masks from behind and started turning into those monsters... Shadows, but Sophia remained unfazed as she cried out, "Pandora!"

Suddenly, she changed into some kind of giant woman... Pandora that unleashed an attack upon enemies dealing great damage before she turned back to herself and suited up, and as she brought up blasters, shooting down the enemy.

Unfortunately, she was unaware of a sneak attack on one of the guards which Kokichi cried out, "Napoleon!" And was back in his costume where he intercepted the attack with a slash of his white sword, grinning to a surprised Sophia, "Can't let our guide go defeated, can I?"

Soon enough, the both of them quickly defeated the Shadows which Rantaro finally came out, as she spun on Kokichi, who once again returned back to his school uniform and said, "It seems you cannot maintain that form yet... because you recently awakened to it, probably. But... you are a Persona user?"

"Persona?" Kokichi asked again, tilting his head.

"Another you," Sophie answered, "The Shadow of yourself that becomes your Persona... when you accept it as yourself or through other means, although I would not know."

Sophia turned to Rantaro and asked, "Are you also one?"

"Unfortunately, no," Rantaro said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Then, unfortunately you cannot fight. Only Personas are able to fight the creatures here, with the weapons from your Persona, like those swords you used," Sophie said to Kokichi.

"Then why did Kokichi's flame thrower work on one of the bodyguards? I'm sure I have seen that," Rantaro said.

Sophia tilted her head, as they walked while looking around for Shadows and said, "The bodyguards were in human form back then, correct?"

Rantaro nodded, and Sophie looked thoughtful as she said, "Maybe as long as they are in human form, you world's weapons will work on them. But that's simply a theory."

"Hmm..." Rantaro said, "But if it's true, then all we have to do is sneak attack as I taze them unconscious. And we can make an exit peacefully."

"Peacefully, he says," Kokichi snorted.

"Of course peacefully. We are going to get out of here safely and figure out what to do later," Rantaro said.

"Nah, we can figure things out while walking. I'm curious about the Court and what it has to do with our world, you know? Maybe there's a reason I have that stupid app that led me here..." Kokichi said.

"If that's what you want," Sophie said, "I can explain more about the Court."

'Ah, something important. This could be used to great advantage, so listen carefully!'

Kokichi nodded, and Sophia explained, "Because this world is parallel to yours, whatever you feel, your Shadow feels too. So whenever you have any negative emotion, your Shadow can feel it too and Monokuma twists it to let one of his virus turn you Corrupted and conjure up the Court to make sure the power core or motive, as the bear liked to call it, is protected."

"Natsumi Kuzuryu... and the rest of the Corrupted became like that, and in our world, it's the Arcana's and the rest of the Shadows Jon to turn them back to normal. Unfortunately, we have not made much progress in the Courts. I was trying to help Natsumi but ended up being captured," Sophia said sadly.

"Hmm... what happens when you turn the Corrupted back to normal? What will happen to the person in our world?" Kokichi asked.

Before Sophie could answer, they saw a few Shadows and tried to sneak off them before they could continue the conversation.

"The person themselves would move on from that despair that Monokuma chained them to. Most likely, they will have better lives. As an example of Natsumi's case, she seems chained down because she could not become the Ultimate Little Sister for her brother so her Court portrays the dream that never came true. If the motive is taken away and the virus is defeated, I theorized that Natsumi in your world will try to move on from her motive and any negative actions related to such motive might be prevented."

Kokichi tapped his chin cheekily, "Useful... useful indeed. Hey, tomorrow, how about we come back here again?"

"What? Why?" Rantaro asked, looking at Kokichi like he was crazy, but jokes on Rantaro, Kokichi was crazy.

"Because- oh crap! Hide!" Kokichi said as a few bodyguards were spotted and this time, they were blocking the pathway so... Rantaro smiled and put up the tazer. Quickly, he lunged at the bodyguards, tazing them quickly and managing to get a few before the last one turned to a Shadow and attacked Rantaro. If not for Sophie covering for him and then...

"Pandora!" Sophie cried out, defeating the Shadow quickly before anything else could happen.

"Let's go before more come," Kokichi said, and they left quickly as Sophie remarked, "We are nearing the exit."

"Also, I am curious. Why do you want to change Natsumi back to normal?" Sophie asked.

Kokichi shrugged, getting a good picture of what he would like to do with this new information. Natsumi was volatile, and had a temper to boot. She swore revenge on his subordinate. She decided to meet him twice and promised to be back. Kokichi simply decided to take this opportunity for what it's worth.

"Because... why not? I have a feeling doing this can also open up paths for world domination for me."

And maybe Kokichi might learn something about them. That was his initial goal to begin with. He was just using extremely complicated and totally not weird supernatural methods to achieve it this time. Why not? Kokichi wasn't about to look at a gift in a horse's mouth. He was going to take it for what it is and screw it if there seemed to be any disadvantages about it.

Sophie tilted her head and said, "World domination?"

Rantaro shook his head with a faint annoyed smile at Kokichi like he was a younger kid and told Sophie, "Don't worry too much about it. Ouma-kun is a liar, so it's best not to believe everything he says."

"Kokichi is a liar so I must be careful to believe what he says. I understand, hmm... Sophie said, as she hummed a tune after looking like she learned something new.

"Oh come on, you guys don't even know me that long. I don't lie all the time," Kokichi protested.

Rantaro shrugged and Sophie gave a curious look as she asked, "Do you?"

"Who knows? I'm a liar after all, but still... you didn't have to be mean about it," Kokichi said, pouting and as if on reflex from the pouring, Rantaro patted his head.

Soon enough, they finally made it out, as Sophie turned to them, and said, "I have brought you outside of the Court. But to get out of this world-"

'Get out of this world. Do you want to return back to your world?'

Kokichi immediately fished out his own phone, to see that in the map, a screen appeared with the option to go back to the outside world. Rantaro saw this too.

"Are you telling me that that was there the whole time? That we didn't have to go through all that trouble if we just checked your phone?"

"Nishishi. Oops," Kokichi said, as he stuck his tongue out and winked in a cute manner. Actually Kokichi checked his phone first when he arrived here and he knew there was no such thing there, but Rantaro didn't need to know that. Most likely, the screen appeared due to what Sophia said, as expected of a voice-activated navigator. Rantaro sighed.

"At least you can go back to your world. Stay safe," Sophie said cheerfully.

"Hey, don't say it like I won't be back! I wasn't lying when I say I want to go ahead and revert Kuzuryu-chan back to normal," Kokichi said.

Sophie tilted her head, "Is that really not a lie?"

"Of course not. You will totally see me tomorrow, promise~" Kokichi said.

"But I rather you not," Sophie said firmly, "Because this place is dangerous. You have your Persona but this Corrupted business has to do with the Arcana and the Shadows. I... don't want to involve you in this mess. This is how I feel."

"Too bad you don't get a say in this, because I can come back anyway!" Kokichi said, waving his phone, "And I will definitely change Kuzuryu-chan back and finally get her off my back."

Rantaro looked at Kokichi with those words, his intentions a little clearer but said nothing.

"Or you will indirectly kill her," Sophie whispered.

"What?" Rantaro gasped at the risk told. Kokichi frowned and nodded to Sophie to keep explaining.

"A mistake when fighting Natsumi's Shadow to get rid of the virus will also affect her human self, the worst consequence being death itself," Sophia frowned, "It's something she doesn't deserve even though she captured me. Because as Arcana, it is my duty to return them back to normal, but not like that. So, please... leave this be," Sophie said.

Kokichi looked squarely at Sophie said, "No way... this is becoming an interesting life or death game. How about we make a deal instead and we get both what we want?"

"A... deal?" Sophie asked, tilting her head.

"The way you are talking is that you want to change all the Corrupted back to normal, but making little progress, while I want to change Kuzuryu-chan. So how about we work together, and see where that goes?" Kokichi asked.

"Work... together?" Sophie asked.

"Sure! You tell me more on how to revert Kuzuryu-chan back to normal you couldn't do, and maybe I will find something in my world that will help. Is that a deal?" Kokichi asked.

Sophie was thoughtful, as she muttered, "Having help from the other world, the reason for the Corrupted being the humans and getting ideas from there to revert the Corrupted back to normal..."

Sophie looked up, "And nothing I say will back you out of this?"

Kokichi shook his head which let Sophie gaze back at Kokichi determinedly.

"Then, I accept the deal. At the very least, I can keep an eye on you and benefit the both of us. I will be in your care," Sophie said.

"As will I. From now on, we will work together as we resolve this," Kokichi said, as he gave out his hand to Sophie.

Sophie smiled, and shook his hand, "Of course. I will do my very best. I hope to become your friend as well... as a good friend of the people."

'Friends, huh?' Kokichi thought, a little too premature for that, but it was OK to indulge Sophia's interest in such things to him. She just better not regret it. Then...

I am thou, thou art I.

Thou hast awakened a new vow.

Beginning the road in optimism and positivity,

Rises the Hope Arcana that will lend a hand in times to come.

A tarot card came out of Sophie's chest directly into Kokichi's own, as they both gasped at it and the phone ruined the moment by beeping. He checked it irritably, wondering what the hell this all knowing app, made by the bear, had anything to say about this.

~Obtained Hope Arcana~

Sophia (code name Sophie), an AI with Pandora. Kokichi was surprised to see that bout of info, because well... the AI was standing right in front of him. And a code name? What for? Maybe it has to do with this world, that she's an Arcana here and in his world... Anyway, Sophia was a great person although with a pure curiosity but not necessarily gullible and upholding being a good friend of the people as she wanted to help because of it, and cared about them for it. Hmm...

Meanwhile, Sophia looked in shock at Kokichi as she said, "So you are the Rebel?"

"The Rebel?" Rantaro asked this time when Kokichi did not, trying to comprehend this.

"It was said that one day... a human from another world called the Rebel will come here in times of trouble and bond with us Arcana to reach the best ending. It is true..." Sophia explained in awe, "Meaning that you have the power... the power to stop Monokuma. I am glad that you are of help to us."

A lot of people, by now, would be overloaded with information and thinking why was this so complicated. If this were a game, most people would probably be complaining about it already with their hands over their head, crying in frustration and trying to play longer hoping this would ease to something simpler. For Kokichi, he was like... deal with it. Reality is a crappy game anyway.

"That means I am at your service, Kokichi," Sophia said.

"... OK, I had enough information for one day. I'm going back to my dorms, investigate Kuzuryu-chan and try not to die at school tomorrow," Kokichi said, tussling his ponytail as he grabbed Sophia by the arm as she asked, "What are you doing?"

"We are going back together. I have seen your profile and if I'm right, you would be very useful indeed in my world," Kokichi said.

"But-" Sophia said although it was too late and in a flash, Rantaro and Kokichi met with the same red eye as soon as Kokichi pressed 'yes', sending them back in the real world, at the exact spot with a tinny voice saying:

'You have returned to your world. Welcome back.'

For some reason... Kokichi felt very tired. He wondered whether that had to do with the awakening, but he can deal with that later, keeping up his facade and dealing with both Rantaro and Sophia.

"It looks like we escaped..." Rantaro said, as he looked around and then realized that there was something amiss.

"Where's Sophie?" Rantaro asked.

Kokichi smiled and he whipped up his phone, smiling at what he saw and then showing it to Rantaro proudly, "Ta da!"

"What... am I doing here?" Sophia asked, blinking with her new aquamarine eyes at the phone screen as she said, "Hello."

"Why are you stuck in his phone?" Rantaro asked.

"Well, let me reintroduce myself so you will understand. I am Sophia, an AI whose a good friend of the people. Sophie is my code name when I infiltrate Courts," Sophia said, "As Kokichi dragged me away, I had to sense his presence and find myself here."

"You can do that?" Rantaro asked, surprised.

"Yes," Sophia said simply, "Although I don't know why I crossed to the other side... because I have never known of any Shadows and Arcana to do that. In fact, some tried and failed to do so whenever they figured out it's existence."

"Hmm..." Kokichi said, "Maybe it had something to do with our deal, or the fact that your tarot card just went inside my heart for some reason."

"Maybe it is that," Sophia easily agreed, "I'm glad to be here. Maybe I can find more about Natsumi like this and have better access to such information. Thank you, Kokichi."

"Aw shucks, no problem. You can repay me a ton with your newfound power with the Internet as an AI, right? Imagine all that could be done..." Kokichi said, already at a daydream state of the chaos to come.

"Sophia... please make sure that whatever he asks of you, refuse if it breaks any laws," Rantaro said.

"Understood," Sophia said.

"Boo, that's no fun," Kokichi pouted, but there were still many options with this AI 'legally'.

"OK... now that everything is over..." Rantaro said, looking at Kokichi with a confused face, "Everything doesn't make sense. Is this a dream?"

Kokichi burst out laughing as Rantaro said that, and when he stopped, Kokichi said, "And you were handling it so well."

"Well, excuse me for being overwhelmed like a normal person. Even I have limits," Rantaro scoffed.

Kokichi giggled before he turned to the dorms. It's been hours since their excursion and the sun was now setting. So he said, "I'm also in shock too that I think I'm going to have a heart attack! So to prevent a dead body in the campus so early, I'm going to try self surgery back in my room and come back as Frankenstein tomorrow so we can discuss things later, don't worry."

"I do not understand. Why would Kokichi lie like that?" Sophia asked.

Rantaro shrugged, "I guess that's for you to find out, Sophia. After all, you are living in his phone."

"Mmm... I will. Thank you Rantaro. Hmm... hmm..." Sophia said, humming once again, maybe in happiness at the new opportunity. Who knows?

Rantaro smiled and then looked at Kokichi, "Well, let's just walk back to the dorms, shall we?"

And they did, as the rest of the evening was used to hide Sophia from the others, saying he wanted to keep quiet of her existence so no questions were raised. There were plenty of loose ends to tie with especially considering the deal with Natsumi and them.

The best thing to do, with all he learned in that Twin'verse was to catch up on Natsumi. He told Sophia that he will get the details tomorrow because... well, Kiibo. He needed to be alone, or at least with a lot of people where they can mind their own business.

For now, what Kokichi knew he had to do was to find out more about Natsumi and her motive. Since one of his member had direct involvement with Natsumi, he needed her story even when Hearts outright refused to tell them, for the sake of honor. Per DICE code, they don't butt in each other's lives. That's why they respected Heart's decision not to tell. But when things escalate and revenge is at hand, all that is thrown out of the window.

That's what he written to Hearts in their DICE chat log, and the importance of finding out about them. At first, Hearts tried to defend herself... but with more members' coddling and because this was really getting out of hand, Hearts agreed to meet Kokichi, time depending on himself.

Finally. You had no idea how long DICE waited to get the truth out of Hearts, ever since the hit list. Sure they tried to respect, but at the same time they felt that keeping whatever it was to herself was bad for Hearts that they wanted to fix it. But Hearts adamantly refused and life moved on. They didn't give up, but they did it subtly. Still didn't work.

So finally. Putting one thing after another behind them.

For the meeting, Kokichi could have cut classes, but well... if it broke school rules somehow and made him go there... Even Kokichi had a line he would or would not cross. He would rather freeze in Hell than go there.

He knew what to do tomorrow. And he prepared for it.

Finally, he also written his diary, of course omitting and lying about the crazier parts, and ended with:

13/4 (Sun)

... and then, I just relaxed in the dorms, trying to observe the robot in it's natural habitat. In the end, so much has happened and so many things will probably happen in the future too. Hopefully, not too much because even evil overlords like me could get overwhelmed too, you know? I have homeroom tomorrow and I have to go. Boo. So, g'night!

Archive

Twin'verse: The parallel world where Shadows and Arcanas lived peacefully before a bear by the name of Monokuma appeared and turned Shadows into Corrupted and brought out Courts. It is up to the Arcanas and the rest of the Shadows to defeat that bear and bring them back to normal, but have not made any progress...
-> Shadows: Creatures of people's other selves or simply born out of the emotions, desires or wishes of people made tangible. Shadows of people tend to mirror their counterpart in actions, consequences and personality, so if something happened to their human part, the Shadow part will be affected as well and vice versa. Known for their pink eyes, ability to turn into monsters best representing themselves when in danger. Mostly prefer being in human form during peace times.
-> Arcana: A step above the Shadows, with feral yellow eyes who are able to transform into Personas in fights although they have their own weapons as well. Their origins unknown, they hold tarot cards in their hearts, each holding a special power that makes them Arcana. They are able to bond with the Rebel, becoming the Rebel's companion when both wished for it, letting the tarot card be in the Rebel's care meaning they are together. Among the benefits of the bond is that Arcanas are able to go back and forth between worlds if the Rebel wishes, allowing Arcanas to help in both worlds, having a battle companion and gaining their power.
-> Monokuma: A despairful entity that made it's way to the Otherworld a long time ago, wrecking havoc there with it's own motives unknown and actions confusing. So far, as the Arcana and Shadows battle against him, little is known except he likes playing his games and he is a black and white bear with a red slit for an eye on his black side.

Persona: When the Shadow self has accepted the person, they will awaken within as Persona. There are many ways for a Persona to be awakened, depending on what the Shadow wanted from you, and what you want from the Shadow. The Persona would mostly be yourself, a conjuration of what you want to be, what you could be, mostly based on fictional characters, mythology and historical figures...
-> Napoleon: A French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in early 19th century.
-> Pandora: Based on the mythology of Pandora's Box where a young woman by that name let her curiosity get to her and opened the Box that let loose all negative emotions plus a dash of hope.

***

Kokichi felt pairs of eyes staring at him once again and he was not surprised to see himself back in the Velvet Room with some small major changes.

First was that the ruined outside world was now shrouded in fog, it's fate unknown. Second was that the clown mask was off his face. Third was himself was there as well, in all his glory wearing Kaito's stupid jacket just like when he first met him in his mind with addition of the mask that he used to wear looming down on him at the side of his throne.

"... What are you doing here?" Kokichi asked after getting over his shock.

The other him somehow wilted as if he was pouting although he could not see his expression, "Not even a scream. No fun at all."

"Why should I give you the pleasure of it?" Kokichi asked dismissively, "So now I have a doppelganger. If this turns out to be invasion of clones, please spare me."

"Relax," himself said, "You know that I'm nowhere near your clone. That I am..."

"My Persona, Napoleon, which I'm gonna call you that from now on. But... why are you here? How are you here?"

"This is a place between dream and reality, mind and matter. How can I not be here?" Napoleon asked, "Consider me... one of your advisors and cheat in this game. As you awakened me that I can finally appear here."

Well... as long as you are here, I might as well get a few things straight. The flashes... what will happen to them?" Kokichi asked.

"Since you have awakened yourself to me, there won't be anymore of those flashes. Those flashes were really never meant to be. They were my thoughts poured out to you when I was trying to get to you, but there's no use of that since you are fully aware of me. So rest easy."

That was good. He still didn't have any idea what to make of those flashes and the concise explanation Napoleon gave him of the killing game that started all and continued towards worlds unknown until Kokichi himself. It was absurd, but that was about it.

Did it have anything to do with him? Probably. Should he care? So find out more. What is he supposed to do? Easy. Avoid the bad ending.

Sure, he never exactly got the full story out of Napoleon, but did Kokichi really want to know? After all Napoleon was still Kokichi, a Kokichi that lives many lives as himself in different life scenarios. This type of situation loosely connects to the idea of different universes, divergent branches of a single life making out many same people who become different, lived a different life, different place, different world.

Kokichi and Napoleon were such people, with Napoleon experiencing every single one of that, unbelievable as it was. Having said that, Kokichi knew what Napoleon wanted was out of all the different lives, there was one point stuck that led to a certain result, an ending ruined. And that was Monokuma.

Kokichi knew that Napoleon had lived many lives, as a specter watching himself living many different lives ever since that killing game, seeing many bad endings, seeing that bear, and this is the first time he ever managed to contact a Kokichi of their own world and use them to stop what he wanted all this time.

Monokuma and Kokichi... the present Kokichi had no idea what alternate universes, stories and scenarios entangled them. And he did not want to know.

In the end, no matter how many lives you possibly live in different worlds, even the simple idea of it, the reality is that you live your own life right now, at this moment, in the present world and whatever other lives you live, your past lives? They don't matter in the present. And even if Napoleon knew everything about Kokichi's life and foreseeable futures, that door will remain close. After all, Napoleon was only here for one thing and it was not to interfere with Kokichi's own life.

As for Kokichi himself, he might be still behind in whatever conspiracy, fate or whatever that's happening, but the only thing he could do is move forward. He cannot run away without knowing the consequences if he did so. All he could do was see where this goes, solve the mysteries, live through the adventure.

For now, Kokichi sighed out in relief and told Napoleon his verdict about those flashes, "Good."

Then, both turned to look at the patient Igor and Kirumi who were looking at them, the latter having a small smile on her face for such developments and Igor's unchanging but pleased nonetheless.

"It seems that you have been coming quite far after only just shortly coming out from your visit with us. A Rebel like no other... you are already on the road of your mission and going the right direction without confusion despite the piling questions mounting one after another," Igor commented.

"And that's where we come in. Since you have finally met yourself, Napoleon as we will now call him," Kirumi said with a smile, "The Rebel in your soul has awakened, and so as the tools that will help you push forward to the future."

Kirumi then opened the book that was tucked in her hand as she opened it and spiraling out were five petal flowers, colorless and dull, along with one single tarot. Those items came with a film of scenes that happened during his day; Kiibo, Nagito, Kaito, Rantaro, Miu, Kaede, Shuichi, Gonta, Angie, Kirumi, Maki and Sophia.

"These are the bonds that you share with people, with Friendship Fragments... and Arcana that you have recently obtained," Kirumi said, twirling the flowers before playing with the card, "But as you can see, they are weak. Because you have yet to spend time and strengthen their bonds."

"So you are saying that I have to spend more time and befriend them and I will become powerful. Like friendship is magic from My Little Pony shit," Kokichi said, slightly disbelieving.

Kirumi gave a light smile as she closed the book with the flowers and the card gone.

"Yes, but do not underestimate them. Friends can go a long way, and the strength of the heart made from friendships reflect the strength of Personas as well, because  bonds that will never break or go away once you start them and the power they will have in the other world."

"Indeed," Igor affirmed, "Many a guest in the Velvet Room had benefitted from them, unlocking many skills and power to come. In this Compendium," he waved toward the big book that Kirumi held, "... lies the many Friendship Fragments and Arcanas that you will obtain, which also come in locked skills, passive or active or moves in battles that can only be unlocked through strong bonds of friendship. I am sure, with this help, you will be able to go farther than without, but only if you make the move yourself."

Then Igor tossed a key to Kokichi, who caught it quickly as Igor said, "Since you have taken the first step, you are welcomed to the Velvet Room anytime. You will find many doors unseen by your peers leading to this place and the key you hold accessing them. We would formally like welcoming you to the Velvet Room, Rebel. As by contract, we will help you in exchange that you accept the consequences of your own actions."

Kokichi pocketed the key, before he asked:

"Friendship Fragments, Arcana... this is exclusively for a Rebel like me, a guest of the Velvet Room, right?" Kokichi asked.

"Yes," Kirumi said.

"Then, why does that strange app that I have got those functions? I don't think you made it, it's more likely that bear's doing but still..." Kokichi said.

"You are right in that," Igor affirmed, "That app didn't come from us, but we made some modifications to it... which is why you have the report card and Arcana."

"How?" Kokichi asked.

"We have our ways," Igor smiled, and Kokichi wanted to probe but thought better of it.

"It seems you are going to awaken soon. Whatever decisions you decide to make at this moment is up to you. Per contract, we only help but you must face the consequences of your action by yourself. Remember... choose wisely and go forth to the truth. I hope that you reach your goal."

And Kokichi awakened to another day...