5 days remaining, daytime

Goro restlessly leaned against the wall as the Phantom Thieves- those absolute fools- argued out the finer details for Ren's Palace. None of them even looked his way, not even the cat, who was mostly ignored. They were only talking, talking, talking, like they didn't know they could just attack the Palace and learn that way.

They'd already discovered the boundaries of Ren's world- Arsene had explained it well enough. There was a barrier extending into the sky at the end of the road, although it was easy enough to fly around it. The Persona had no idea where it ended. Goro hadn't seen the Hope Palace, but Takamaki said that it was the least distorted of the three. That was all the information they would get unless Kronos decided to waltz in, so why weren't they doing anything?

Morgana jumped onto the chair. The Thieves had their temporary base inside their truck, not too bad of a decision. "Our Personas only appear at night-"

"Like mobs?" the girl with orange hair asked. Goro resisted the impulse to tear the truck apart as she started meming.

"Will you be serious?" Niijima scolded.

"I am!" she protested.

While they bickered like the foolish children they were, Goro pushed himself off the wall and paced the truck. His head ached and he was furious with himself for allying with a bunch of idiots. Loki's life was on the line here, and all the Thieves could do was argue!

"Akechi," Morgana said, pawing at his leg. It took everything he had to not throw him across the truck. "Are you alright?"

He glared, deciding that the question didn't deserve a verbal response.

"I haven't been contacted by Lady Lavenza in some time," the feline meowed. "Did you, by any chance, enter the Velvet Room?"

It wouldn't hurt to tell him. For the moment, they were allied, and it wasn't like he could do anything with the information. Besides, he'd called the girl Lady Lavenza, the second time he'd heard it. If a god had called her that, too, Goro should probably wonder why.

"Perhaps," he said, slipping into the Detective Prince's mask. One day, Goro promised himself, he would get rid of it.

Liar.

"By Velvet Room, do you mean a blue train?" he added. Knowing talkative Morgana, he might dispense some kind of information, hopefully the useful type.

"Exactly!" Morgana jumped up on two legs in his excitement. "Did you see a girl? What'd she say?"

"My memory's a bit fuzzy," he lied. Maybe the monster cat would tell him something about the power he felt coming off her. Or maybe he'd explain the purpose of the hell train, or whatever that was.

The cat dropped back down to four paws. "Blue dress, butterfly headband, long hair?"

He pretended to think for a moment before nodding. "Yes, of course. She did her best to explain where I was... then told me to come here." Goro played at being confused. "I confess I didn't understand much of what she was saying." There. If Morgana knew anything about the Velvet Room, and he was almost positive the cat was connected to that place, he'd spill.

"The Velvet Room," he started- excellent, the Thieves were as predictable as always- "Was created to guide humans along their paths, and reflects the state of the visiting human's heart." Lavenza had said the second part, even commenting on his. He remembered that clearly. But the first part... "It's run by Master Igor and his assistants. I was born there."

Well, that explained the talking bit about the cat, and definitely his connection to the place. Not much else made sense, and Goro was beginning to wonder if he should've just gotten rid of Morgana instead. He would be a liability once the Palace was defeated.

But something felt off...

"How do they choose the... humans?" The last word felt strange to say.

Morgana shrugged. "Who knows? I wasn't told this stuff." He blinked up at Goro with his eerie blue eyes. "Did Lady Lavenza say anything else?"

Goro, knowing there was nothing else he could get from him, only shook his head and watched Morgana pad back over. Their useless arguments would get him nowhere, so when their backs were turned, he just slipped out of the truck.

He would've gone for the park- the exit to the Palaces- if he didn't smell coffee and curry from the other direction. Having more or less lived at Leblanc for the past year, it was as familiar as the back of his hand. Goro knew it was coming from the burned down house and his instincts told him to follow the smell. After all, coffee and curry meant Leblanc, and Leblanc always meant Ren.

Sure enough, the moment he entered the fenced-in rubble, the world shimmered and warped around him, transforming into an exact replica of the restaurant. Looking around, he realized it was a perfect copy of Yongen-Jaya, not just Leblanc. The worn concrete was half-covered in unpacked boxes and kittens darting around the alleys. The streets were closer to each other than the original. If he looked up, he could see the roofs stretching unnaturally high up. Ren must've changed that, because the roofs were at different heights than before, although none were directly accessible from the ground. The windows were all covered by curtains, and he had a feeling that they were made of some kind of strong glass. He'd need a Persona to break through, something he didn't have.

Through Leblanc's window, Goro could see Yusuke inside with a plate of curry. It wasn't exactly surprising- after all, he knew the artist's financial situation was shit- but it nixed that way in. The only other obvious was the roof, but again, none were directly accessible. Except... the dark-red overhang above Leblanc was clearly supported by strong metal. Said overhang, if he happened to climb onto it, would make the roof just within jumping distance.

"Fine," he breathed, hoping he still had some of his strength. If he didn't, it was going to be a very painful drop onto concrete. Goro felt his muscles strain even as he went through the familiar motions of pulling himself up. Loki had forced him through drills like these hundreds of times when he was only ten. There was no reason Goro couldn't do this now.

Once he got onto the overhang- the fabric was bouncier than he'd expected- he scowled at the jump, the distance yawning wider. He could've sworn that the drop looked twice as bad from here. Goro shook his head and looked away. The first rule was to never look down! What would Ren say to him about this? What would Loki?

Don't be a sissy!

Encouraging, Goro thought dryly.

If you don't make it, you won't get to see Loki. Red mist crept up his arms, feeling like cold sweat.

Well, he supposed that was the most encouraging it would get. He took a running jump for the roof. For a second, Goro felt the wind rush past him and saw the ground get closer and the full moon laugh at him and was sure he would die and Loki and him would rot in he-

His arms slapped against the roof.

That was anticlimactic.

He jumped up and silently prowled across the shingles, peering into the windows. Sure enough, Ren was inside. He was talking to the tech girl- what was her name again? Futaba?- and gesturing angrily. His voice rose enough that he could make out a few words.

"I'm serious! We put the entrance at heavy gravity and it might take out the Thieves, but not the Personas. Some of them can act without their masters, and just one blindisde and we'll be in trouble."

Futaba puffed out her cheeks and said something else.

"No, of course not! I know it's my Palace, but-" He shook his head again. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'll give our defenses more thought."

Goro crouched lower and snickered to himself. Here was Joker, the one person he actually respected, and he was apologizing to a Shadow that he created. Goro was not impressed.

He was even less impressed when Ren summoned another Shadow, one with brown hair and a dangerous look in it's red eyes. His Shadow. Obviously, it would be the Detective Prince, and a weak copy at that. Ren knew nothing about him, despite their game of flirting. With Goro having no capability for love and Ren having no capability to take anything seriously, there was never a clear winner. That was all Ren knew about him. He was sure of it.

Inside, Ren smiled happily. "Are you coming?" he asked the Shadow.

It shook its head, waving Ren's spot-on impression of an enthusiastic puppy away. He couldn't hear what it said, but Ren sighed and looked sad before he darted down the stairs. A few seconds later, Goro heard his voice casually greet Shadow Yusuke.

Footsteps crossed over to the window, and before Goro knew what he was doing, he slipped off the roof and caught the underside of it. He braced his feet against the wall and stayed spread-eagle, pressing his hands against the side of the roof as hard as he could. A moment later, he felt the strain in his arms and cursed the four month's sleep. He was as weak as the Thieves now. He was useless.

"Come out," his Shadow said, his voice like chips of ice. Well, shit. Shadow Goro had all of Real Goro's instincts. No, he was not going to call that monstrosity by his own name. It was the Shadow from now on.

Goro reminded himself that it didn't matter and he was here to get information. Not screw with pathetic copies.

"Don't make me find you," the Shadow huffed. "It's a waste of both our time."

No way he was going up against his own Shadow. Last time, it hadn't turned out well, and it would be even worse now (considering the position he was in and the asphalt below.) Goro dared to take one hand off the wall, compensating for the loss of support as quickly as he could, and eased a knife out of his jacket.

Footsteps hit the roof. "You asked for it." It prowled towards the edge, every step exactly how Goro preferred to walk. "All the same," it mused. It's voice was almost right over him. "It'll be strange to kill another version of myself."

Goro pushed off the wall, swinging himself onto the roof and throwing the knife at the same time. He slammed his free hand over the Shadow's mouth to muffle the cry of pain and hooked his foot behind its ankle, putting it on its back. The traitor braced his elbow against its chest, earning a muffled curse.

Just like that, the Shadow was on its back. How pathetic.

His muscles ached, but nothing seemed wrong downstairs, so Goro tuned out the discomfort and focused on his captive. "Tell me everything you know about Ren's Palace."

The Shadow raised its eyebrows. Goro lifted his hand off its mouth.

"Go to hell," it spat.

"Been there, done that," Goro spat back. "Tell me or my knife just might slip and cut off your tongue."

It made an obscene gesture, showing him exactly where he could put his blade. Then it frowned. "You're the Shadow that helped Trae, right?"

Normally, he would've told it that Goro wasn't a Shadow. He didn't respond to anyone. Except interrogation wasn't working too well. "What about it?"

Suddenly, it looked a lot less hostile, maybe even hopeful. With a pained grunt, the Shadow yanked the knife out its arm, clenching its teeth against the spray of blood. "I have a deal for you."

Another deal. How many strings would he tie to himself before he was dragged down?

Reading his expression, it said hastily, "It's not much to ask of myself." He gestured for it to continue. "I'll give you the entrance, exits and maps for The Hope, Despair, and Wish Palace." It winced and pressed its hand against its shoulder. Sweat beaded on its face. "In exchange, you rescue Trae. Tonight."

"That's all?" It would mean a detour, and he hadn't been planning on rescuing anyone, but knowing that Trae was stuck in one of the Palaces changed things. She was... he wasn't sure, but Goro knew that Trae was special, somehow. And any information would be incredibly useful.

"Ren manipulated her, that bastard," his Shadow snarled viciously, surprising Goro. He put more weight on the Shadow, who hissed. Its eyes were unfocused. "He put her there, and I couldn't do a damned thing. I have to follow his orders like a well-trained dog. My god-damned code forced me to help."

Fury turned his vision crimson and it was all he could do to keep the chaos power from blowing up around him. He had done what to Trae? She was only a bystander! Why would he pull someone else into his mess?

"Why the hell would you obey your code?"

"I'm a fucking Shadow," it spat. "Tell me, when has a Shadow been able to turn on its master?"

He had a point. But by that logic, it would tattle on him the moment Goro let him leave. "You'll tell Ren I was here."

"Not unless he asks." The Shadow grinned wickedly and sang in a high-pitched voice, "Goro, did you see someone, go on the roof, get tossed like a pathetic bag of bones, and interrogated by yourself?"

Well, their opinions of themselves were the same. Only Goro would call himself a pathetic bag of bones.

"Now accept the deal or not. I have things to do."

"Who's things?" slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Damn him for not using the Detective Prince mask.

To his surprise, the Shadow turned a dark shade of red and bared its teeth at him. Did Ren seriously think he reacted that way to mentions of love? He was almost eighteen! "Shut your mouth, pancake boy."

Goro flipped a knife warningly. "One more word about pancakes and I'll slice you apart and find the maps myself."

"I'm waiting on your decision, you know." It pushed Goro off him weakly. Goro let it get up and brace itself against the wall. Blood leaked down its arm. "You don't have all day."

"Fine." Rescuing Trae would only mean a minor detour, anyways. "Swear you won't tell Ren." Like he believed anyone anymore. If he had learned one thing as the Detective Prince, it was that there was always a motive. So what was the Shadow's?

"Ren won't know," it promised, summoning the maps from thin air and handing them over. "My thanks." It tilted its head. "Ren likes you."

"So I've heard."

It gave him a smile. "Just keep it in mind." Then it vanished with a flash. Goro heard footsteps pound on the stairs and cursed. He swiped the knief and the maps off the ground and hurtled across the rooftops.

-

Goro stormed into the truck, startling the Thieves. In less than a second, he was surrounded with guns, throwing knives, and a metal pipe. He brushed them aside and threw the maps at Yusuke, the only one with his weapon sheathed. He caught them in his right hand. "As soon as the sun's down, we're leaving," the traitor growled.

Sakamato tossed the heavy-looking pipe back on his seat. "Hey, what happened?"

"It's not just Ren in there," Goro said, trying to meet everyone's eyes. This was important. They had to rescue Trae, and not just because the damned Shadow said to. "There's a little girl in the Hope Palace. We have to get her out."

"Oh? It's we, now?" Niijima said archly. "Last night, you called us... what was it again? Pathetic wannabes?"

Goro clamped his mouth shut, fighting back his retort. He couldn't find Ren's Treasure and rescue Trae, not alone. He was too weak, as painful as it was to admit it. There was no chance of him winning without the band of Merry Thieves, so, he told himself, he had to kiss ass again.

"You are pathetic wannabes," Goro snapped.

What had he just said?

"You'll leave a child in the Palaces to spite me. I believe that's the perfect example of pathetic." He frowned to himself. "Or was that 'petty, vindictive children?'"

Futaba was the one to snap back, to his surprise. "And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Nice try, girl. Goro told himself the same thing every day.

"The fact remains that you still, unfortunately, haven't agreed to help one girl. If you can't help her, forget calling yourselves Phantom Thieves. In fact, forget calling yourselves decent human beings at all!" He laughed bitterly. "I can call you Akechi one, Akechi two-"

"D'you think we'd leave someone?" Sakamoto yelled. Goro shut up, realizing that he'd said more than he should've. He'd just given the Thieves some top-tier ammo to use against him, hadn't he? "We don't kill!"

The unspoken we're not you made Goro's vision turn red, but he kept his mouth shut tightly. The last thing he needed was to give them even more ammo.

"Then do your best to save her," he said with exaggerated politeness. Goro shouldered his way through the truck, sitting down at the back. "I'd welcome more assistance, but I leave at sunset with or without you." Trusting his instincts to wake him up, Goro fell asleep with a blade in his hand.

He woke up to a loud whistle and the steady rumble of an engine. Goro jumped to his feet, looking around and finding blue seats, blue-gold rugs, a wood desk, and curtained windows. He was in the Velvet Room.

Lavenza sat on the desk, idly swinging her legs while reading through an enormous book. As soon as his eyes landed on her, she looked up and closed it with a snap. "Ah, Shapeshifter," she lilted, hopping down and smiling with her wide golden eyes. "You've returned."

"How'd I get here?" As soon as he asked the question, he felt stupid. Obviously, if Lavenza was as powerful as he thought she was, she brought him here.

"Do not worry. In your world, you're asleep." Lavenza tilted her head. "How is your task going?"

"Unfortunately," he said, doing his best to mask his anger, "Ren happens to be the source of the storm you sensed."

She bit her lip. He noted that Lavenza was shit at hiding her worry. "Have you told him yet?"

Goro sighed. "I'll do that."

"Now, as to what I've summoned you for." She opened her book to a page and snapped her fingers. A pen appeared in his open hand.

That had to be the least weird thing that day.

"First," she said, "Typically, people who come to the Velvet Room must sign a contract. It's quite simple. You only have to promise to take responsibility for your actions and sign." Lavenza seemed more self-assured than before. She'd probably practiced in the mirror or something.

He'd been avoiding responsibility since he was born, but it wasn't like Lavenza would care. He signed the page and glanced up at her. "The other thing?"

She smiled. "You may have noticed strange things happening after you were exposed to the dark force. Perhaps... a voice?"

"How-" He cut himself off. Lavenza knew more than she let on. There was no point in asking how she knew anything about his reality. "Is it relevant to the danger in Jamestown?"

"No, but it may assist you, depending on how polite you are." Goro felt offended. He was very polite! Some people just didn't understand that he was telling the truth. In a... harsh way. "Please summon your psychotic power."

He raised his eyebrows at the little girl, who looked calmly back. Goro wasn't sure if she realized how bad of an idea that was, given the fact he could barely control it without a Persona-

"I realize this may be a bit difficult, but you must trust me," she said.

Right. She could hear his thoughts. How annoying.

He sighed and imagined himself back on Leblanc's roof with Ren next to him. They'd been there together only once. Goro had been fascinated with sunset, but he was staring at him. Do I have something on my face? he'd asked.

The most beautiful eyes, Ren answered like the cheesy, idiotic Phantom Thief he was. It had taken every ounce of self-control to keep himself from pushing him off the roof.

Red mist circled his hands, hissing softly.

Let's kill her!

"Is this satisfactory?" he hissed through clenched teeth, trying to keep the coiling energy from exploding.

"Talk to it."

He almost blew up the chair in front of him. "Excuse me?"

Lavenza shrugged, her lilting voice borderline teasing. "Was my accent too much?"

He hated little girls.

Except for Trae. Trae was a ray of sunshine, and if anyone tried to hurt her (Ren) he would cut an apology out of them.

Goro sighed. "Hello, psychotic power." He enunciated every word dramatically. "How are you doing this fine day?"

Not bad, how bout you?

He yelped and jumped about a foot in the air. "I'm sorry, but did you just speak?"

No. The hissing voice had a melodic lilt to it, sort of like Kronos's. Greece.

"Lavenza!" He turned circles, trying to find where the echoing voice was coming from. It seemed to be from every angle, but it was only him and the Shadow girl, who only smiled. She gestured for him to speak again. "Venom wannabe."

Clearly Futaba had influenced him with her fandom powers.

How dare you call me that! Do I look like a symbiote to you?

"I don't know because you hide away like a coward."

I am not a coward, human!

"He's a Venom wannabe," Goro said to Lavenza with a straight face.

I'll have you know that I'm your Persona!

"What?" Goro all but screeched, whipping his attention towards Lavenza, who giggled. "My Persona?" The first time he'd received a Persona was Loki, for his true self. Then he formed a contract with Robin Hood during his infiltration of Sae Niijima's Palace, for his Detective Prince self. Who the hell was this one?

Finally, the Persona hissed. You can know once we've formed our contract.

"Why don't you tell me now," Goro hissed back, "and I'll decide whether to destroy you or not."

No.

"Ass," he muttered. "Fine, get on with it."

The stabbing pain in his head made him wish he'd just ignored him. Goro bit back a scream as the Persona almost gleefully recited, I am thou, thou art I... He could've sworn he was drawing this out. Goro choked as pain blindsided him and shoved a broadsword down his throat. He would've screamed, but his chest constricted like something was wrapping around him.

Behind him, Goro thought he heard Lavenza scream. He couldn't see a thing through the overwhelming red. His breath cut off suddenly as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. He felt his knees give out as he desperately gasped for air.

Thou who pursues their enemy to the ends of the earth-

Who the hell was this one? Some kind of mystical creature wasn't any kind of hint. It definitely wasn't human. He felt his eyes slip shut, his lungs bursting-

And take what they will, defying the gods themselves-

Slightly less useless. A male creature that captured something of the gods'. Goro clawed at his throat. Something was wrapped around it, choking the life out of him.

My contract is thus: I shall remain with you until the gods have been destroyed. The voice wasn't all around him anymore, but hissing next to his ear. Call my name, child of humans, and wreck vengeance upon our enemies!

A name popped into his head. Greece. A hissing voice. An enemy of the gods'. The strange awakening, which seemed designed to kill rather than do any of the actual awakening. And his warped psychotic power, which shifted and shimmered like-

Like snake scales.

"Python?"

It was more of a guess than a war cry, and much less dramatic than his other awakenings, but the pressure lessened. He hunched over, gulping down air and bracing himself against the ground. Goro winced at the pain in his head, but-

Where was the mask?

Robin and Loki both forced him into a different outfit, but he was still in the clean, red and gold jacket he'd put on that morning. There was nothing different, no feeling like his skin was peeling off. It would've been a relief, except that could only mean something was wrong.

"Shapeshifter?" Lavenza's voice was a squeak. Goro looked up to see her peer out from behind the desk. "That's a very big snake."

He looked up and immediately dug in his jacket for a weapon to fight the giant red snake in the middle of the room. It was so massive that its coils sent chairs flying and knocked the windows open. The blue walls bulged outwards, threatening to tear off. Screams reached his ears and Goro was transfixed to the ruined landscape and bloody masses. The knife clattered out of his hand, and one part of him knew he should be focused on the snake, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the hell that the train was speeding towards.

An enormous tail slammed into his chest like a battering ram, sending him into the desk. Lavenza let out an 'eep!' as his body hurtled into it. He had the sense to tilt his chin down, sparing himself a concussion.

"What happened to 'trust me?'" Goro roared, digging in his jacket for more weapons. Why hadn't he thought to bring some flash grenades? He was underprepared. "And if you attack me again," he snarled at the reptile, "I'll rip out your fangs."

You were going to join the masses in hell. Would you rather that than a few broken ribs?

"My ribs are fine, no thanks to you."

No thanks to you? he repeated, sounding incredulous. I am Python!

Goro dropped his gun. A snicker escaped before he could stop himself.

If it was possible, the snake looked affronted. What's so funny?

"That's your name?" he sputtered. Remembering that this Persona was a cold-blooded creature with jaws big enough to swallow him in seconds, he told himself to be polite. "You're... not quite what I expected."

Not so polite.

My name is Python. I'm a snake. What else did you expect?

"Perhaps a snake that didn't get shot up by his enemy's son?" Goro suggested innocently.

Why you little-

"Go to mask form, little snakey."

But there is a terrible god out there! Python protested. Lavenza tilted her head curiously. And he is related to the one who killed me! I want to kill him!

"I leave at sunset. Kill whoever you want then," Goro told him. "We can talk later. Turn into a mask."

The snake huffed. You're no fun. With a flash, he transformed into Loki's old mask and vanished.

Lavenza winced, getting out from behind the desk. "My apologies," she mumbled. Her cheeks were redder than his jacket. "I've never seen a Persona like that before."

Goro stared straight ahead, keeping his gaze away from the hellscape- no, don't look there- and stiffly nodded. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to head back to my reality."

The little girl raised her hand to do that, but a thought struck him. Morgana had said something interesting that morning- shocking, but true. "How do you choose who arrives in the Velvet Room?"

"Oh." The girl looked away nervously. "Our Persona."

"Our?"

In an instant, two girls appeared in front of him, both wearing blouses and black skirts. They were almost identical, from the platinum hair to the conductor's hat, except for their eyepatches, which looked like half a butterfly.

"Our," they said in unison, stepping towards him. Goro stepped back. "Would you like to meet them?"

Being a good assassin, Goro knew when it was time to leave.

---

Words: 4568 (hit that dab)

Welp I was up till three again writing this cause I was rewriting "Goro meets his Shadow who acts like a slightly more civilized version of him" over. And over. ANd OVER.

Okay, school starts in 17 days. Im trying to write and edit as many chapters as I can before that.

Anyways, Trae isn't just an extra character anymore! Nope, she's got a place in the plot! I'll make sure of it. Reug on the other hand...

get outta here you extra. You're only here for the moment to piss Ren off. 

You can really tell I'm finishing everything up at 3:00, can't you?

Thank you to all my readers! If there's soemthing that I can improve on, like repetitiveness- too much he or it or there was- I'll go on and fix it. Feel free to drop a comment or say hi or ask about anything.

Edit (since I can think properly now and its not 3am) If you don't get the Venom reference, it's a spiderman thing. There's a seperate movie on Venom to, where he's the antihero intead of the villian, and personally i like that one better. i could probably rant about it, but this is Persona 5 not spiderman. I just wanted to put in my headcanon that Futaba forced him to watch all her favorite movies.

Robin out! (dang i need to make a new thank you for reading)