Chapter 9

Planeptune/Eresthian City/Hotel Room/Morning

Sean's eyes glanced open as his nose picked up the scent of heated toast in front of him.

He looked at his surroundings only to find a woman around his age whom appearance had consisted of neck length orange hair with an ahoge which curved into an 'M', red eyes with orange musical notes for pupils, a white shirt with one – very strong – button holding her shirt from spilling her 'assets' which oddly resembles a corset, a dark grey skirt which was partially hidden by the dark grey sweater around her waist, and also a pair of black and white knee high socks and black shoes, a pair of detached cuffs with a ribbon on her right wrist and lastly a belt and red ribbon connecting her shirt together.

"Yuppy! Your awake!" She chirped happily to which Sean silently nodded at her and observed the plate on the mahogany desk which was provided by the hotel.

It had toast, egg, sausages and... Milk. Why milk? Anyway, Sean averted his gaze to Morgana who was digging into some cat-food fervently.

'Weird, I've never seen Mona eat cat-food so viciously.' He noted as he then noticed a box which stated "deluxe edition cat-neppers" and then understood 'Oh. Guess she can't go against her cat instincts, afterall.'

Sean then picked up a fork and knife and began to eat silently, whilst the orange-haired girl silently stared at him.

'Why is she staring at me?' He questioned as he chewed on a sausage and peaked upwards. She had a smile which seemed... eerie, forced, as if she was smiling for someone else and not because she truly wanted to smile.

"What?" He asked as she gave off her fake smile.

"I didn't catch your name! My name's MarvelousAQL but everyone calls me Marvy!" She chirped "What's your name?"

Sean thought IF already told her.

"My name's Sean Lupin; I don't have any particular nickname. Nice to meet you." Sean responded as he inwardly thought 'Any nickname I could normally consider has to do with either phantoms or thieves; so yeah, none in particular.'

There was a moment of silence as they both stared uncomfortably at each other.

"Do... you need something?" He asked as he finished breakfast.

Her eye twitched as if she saw an annoyance. Sean could see hatred and rage in those eyes for a split moment.

'What's with the emotions in her eyes?' Sean questioned.

"No, no! You just remind me someone I knew of!" She responded as she shook her head.

Sean noticed that she spoke in the past tense.

"My condolence." Sean muttered as she seemed uncomfortable and slightly frustrated.

"No, no! You've got it wrong! He was someone I didn't know much of and I didn't really like him." She responded as she tried to play it down but Sean noticed her hidden rage.

'So she hated him?' Sean questioned '...If I remember correctly, she's from another dimension... Does that mean there's another version of me considering there's a resemblance? One that did bad things to her? No, I'm probably stretching the truth; I don't originate from this world so another version of me is unlikely.' Sean reasoned.

"I see..." He muttered as there was another uncomfortable silence.

Sean sipped on the glass of milk whilst Morgana leapt up near him and began to sleep near him.

"Your cat was really helpful in finding you and Iffy." She commented as her smile became... melancholic.

"Yeah, she usually is. Her name's Morgana but I usually call her Mona." Sean commented as he glanced at her smile which contained genuine emotions.

She leaned over the table and began to rub Morgana who began to purr.

The silence then became slightly more comfortable.

"So, where's the others?" Sean asked.

She glanced at him and replied.

"Iffy left to the bathroom whilst Jojo left to train in something called 'hamon', he said he'll be back in the morning." She responded as Sean noticed he wasn't supposed to know about Jotaro.

"So, I'm guessing Jojo is the guy in white who busted us out of their base?" Sean questioned to which she nodded.

"Yeah! His name is actually Jotaro Kujo but he doesn't mind being referred to as 'Jojo'." She responded as she then commented "Something about the nickname being a family tradition, or something."

"I see..." He nodded as he pushed up his glasses "Guess I'll change." He got off the couch and headed towards the bathroom connected to the hotel room.

"W-wait!" Marvy called out but she was too late, he had already opened the door.

You already know how this goes.

"Meh." He commented as he entered and closed the door.

Or you don't. Afterall, Sean's senses which had been enhanced due to his overuse of Third Eye already noticed there was nobody inside.

It was at this moment that Marvy knew that she was mistaken.

"Wait, she went to the Hotel bathroom and not the room's bathroom." She slapped her own forehead. "Her foresight sure is good." Marvy commented about IF.

Soon Sean exited in a different attire from his white jumper and jeans. Now he wore black shoes, black trousers which had been plaided with red designs – although the black trousers seemed dominant – and a white sweatshirt under a black blazer which was also under a navy-blue jacket, his hood also had fur on the inside which partially sticked out and he also wore a scarf which resembled his pants except the red plaids were dominant. All in all, he looked classy.

He was also noticeably not wearing his glasses; seems like he forgot to put it on.

'My clothes – not including the jacket and scarf – kind of resembles Persona 5's school uniform except my outfit doesn't have a badge as an emblem, or any emblem for that manner.' Sean commented.

"I'm done." He commented as Marvy stared at him in amazement.

He smirked at her stunned expression "Falling for me are you? Sorry, but I'm not looking for a relationship currently."

She seemed genuinely flustered.

"W-wha! No, no, no, no!" She shook her head in denial "I was simply... shocked." She commented as Sean wanted to tease her.

"Shocked at how fabulous I look that you fell for me?" He questioned as he dramatically twisted his body "Oh, how sinful I am!"

"No! I-uh! Uh! Meant that you look like a bishonen!" She commented.

"Oh? And what's a bishonen?" Sean questioned the Japanese term he already knew.

"O-oh! It means handsome boy or cute male; it generally is used as a way to define a good-looking male." She responded quickly.

"I see..." He nodded twice "But is that all?" He winked.

"Uh..." She seemed flustered at a lost for words.

But it was at this moment someone else entered.

"What's with the commotion?" IF entered in her usual attire through the door but then she paused. She saw a flustered MarvelousAQL and... Sean.

Her mouth dropped.

"W-what?!" She pointed at him "W-who are you!" She slid out her katars.

Sean genuinely feared for his life at this moment as he raised his hands.

"W-wait don't shoot – or stab me, in your case – it's me, Sean!" He seemed panicked as she seemed shocked.

"Your... joking..." She commented as she lowered her katars in shock "But... you look... so... different!" She tried to put it in words.

Sean shook his head in amusement as he put on his glasses, and suddenly he looked like the average – easily lost in a crowd – Sean Lupin.

"W-what? How?" IF couldn't help but question.

"Remember when I said people from my father's side of the family look like a better version of the natives?" He asked to which she nodded "Well, I can look more average with glasses. It's a nice trait I discovered from my father's side."

IF seemed baffled at this revelation.

"So... your like, a hidden bishonen?" She couldn't help but ask as Sean shrugged.

"Seems so."

After calming down, they all sat down on the couches and awaited the arrival of one last person, Jotaro Kujo, so they could properly plan out their next decisions.

After, tens of minutes he finally arrived whilst everyone was busy; Sean was reading a book to increase his Understanding, IF was dual-wielding phones to gather information and Marvy was watching cat videos with Morgana.

"Tadaima." Jotaro informed them as he sat down at the end of a desk.

Sean raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Jotaro, was it?" Sean called out to which Jotaro sighed and looked at him.

"What do you want, scrawny idiot?" Jotaro asked.

"Where you from?" Sean asked as he noticed the Japanese term for 'I am home' and thus could not help but ask.

"What's it to you?" He glared at Sean who wasn't phased by the latter's unfriendly behaviour; the other residents in the room shifted uncomfortably as they thought Jotaro was unfriendly to new people.

"Nothing really, I just overhear a lot of people using terms like those but since I'm from the middle of nowhere I don't really know where the terms actually come from." Sean explained.

Jotaro nodded in acknowledgement.

"It comes from a country called the Rising Sun in the PC continent." Jotaro explained and didn't delve in further. Sean nodded in understanding and decided to investigate this later.

"Anyway~ since everyone's here, let's start the planning shall we?" Sean asked as he channelled a bit of Arsène's charisma. He chose to initiate the meeting simply because Jotaro seems bad at social communication, IF prefers to listen and then put in her own input and Marvy seems to be waiting for someone to initiate the talks.

"So, first things first, what's our next course of action?" Sean asked.

"Beat them down 'till they give us information." Jotaro instantly replied.

"Don't we have information from the files?" Sean asked but IF spoke up.

"We have names, dates, places and so on but we're missing the main source of the problem." IF explained.

"Main source?" Sean raised an eyebrow.

"The two gangs never intended to go this far," Marvy explained "However suddenly overnight they all became rampant with anger and chaos."

'That's odd....' Sean noted.

"So if we dismantle these gangs, more are likely to pop up." Sean realised 'Someone is doing this intentionally, but why?'

"I... have an idea." IF spoke up again everyone looked at her to let her continue speaking "When we were kidnapped I noticed that a few of them slightly glowed in a dark-purplish colour."

Sean also knew of that but didn't mention it since Sean thought that was simply a new function for his Third Eye. Afterall, his Third Eye colour-coded his enemies like red being dangerous, yellow being the same level in power as him and green being weaklings.

"So they're probably in a state of semi-berserk because of the purple aura." Sean commented "But where did it come from?"

'Purple... Maybe, Arfoire? I only played Megadimension Neptunia and there's only a few others who can be linked with that particular colour.' Sean noted 'Or it could be an entire new enemy.'

"I propose we gather more information, I already have a few suspicious places that need to be checked." IF commented.

"Hmm... I think we should get reinforcements from the Guild." Marvy suggested but IF spoke up.

"We're surrounded y'know?" She couldn't help but point out.

"But still, maybe we could break through." She seemed somewhat hopeful.

Jotaro then spoke up suddenly.

"Won't work." He dragged everyone's attention "They're being helped by an info-broker named 'Orihara Izaya' and he's quite the fickle one." He commented.

'Fickle?' Sean raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" IF asked.

"He's an info-broker who transferred from the Rising Sun, and his information network is valuable to a lot of people." Jotaro commented "But the bastard is quite fickle, he has some fascination for 'humanity' to the point that no one knows what he's thinking as he mostly ruins people's lives for amusement." Jotaro glared at the desk.

"That's awful..." Marvy commented.

'So, he does exist.' Sean noted.

"So~ let's find this Izaya-guy and knock him out for information!" Marvy chirped a bit too eagerly.

"So what's the plan?" Sean asked as everyone then looked at him.

'Wait why me?' He inwardly raised an eyebrow as he seemed undisturbed on the outside.

"Hmm...." He murmured "I think we should go for IF's idea first, then we confront Izaya, adapt a plan of action, knock out both gangs and then we take care of the core of the problem." Sean stated "Although, we're going to have to first find the core of the problem."

"Any other suggestions?" He asked.

"Should we really confront Izaya?" IF asked as the other two had their interest piqued.

"I think we should, he seems like the type to enjoy stuff like this to the point he wouldn't interfere." Sean explained and Jotaro nodded in confirmation.

"Anything else?" He asked once again.

"What if we don't find a core?" Marvy asked.

"Then we knock them all out and detain them for the Guild to handle." Sean responded.

"Anything else?" Sean felt like a broken record.

There was silence.

"I see..." He nodded "Now then, is everyone properly stocked on supplies?" Sean asked as they all nodded and then spoke up again "Okay good, then I guess meeting adjourned!"

And thus they all left their seats.

IF fiddled on her phones and everyone's phones beeped.

"I sent everyone places of investigation." She informed "If you need help, then make sure to call for it." She informed as everyone nodded and exchanged contact information.

Sean slid out his phone and looked at the address he was given.

'Hanamaru Ramen Shop, is it?' He tilted his head for a moment and proceeded to leave just like everyone else.

Planeptune/Eresthian City/Western-Foodie District/Morning

"This the place?" Morgana asked whilst in Sean's bag.

Sean glanced to the shop he was staring at. It seemed to seem more like a diner than a ramen shop, although the decorations were a mix of a classic Japanese style – with the logo on the sheet outside the store – and that of a building. Near the shop – on its right – there was a large alleyway between the ramen shop and a apartment complex.

"Think so..." He muttered as Sean focused on his passive Third Eye – since he didn't want his eyes to glow red in public – even though it was weaker than it's active form.

There were a lot of cameras, like a lot.

'This seems to be some sort of base.' Sean decided.

'But it seems too outlandish for the gang we made contact with; take caution Trickster.' Arsène warned.

Sean took a step forward and approached the store however his ears caught voices from the alleyway. Now, usually, he would stop to listen in but currently he doesn't have that leisure as multiple cameras are taking sight of him. Hence, he ignored them and entered the ramen shop.

"Welcome." A woman behind the counter called out. She had her black hair tied into a pony-tail with bangs partially covering the top of her left eye and some strands of her reached her other eye. She wore a black tanktop over a white undergarments and she wore a traditional ramen shop cloth around her waist which presented the shop's logo, navy trousers and white boots.

Sean nodded in her direction as a greeting and took a seat near the counter and took a menu. There were a lot of variety, however Sean just settled for some "beef bowl ramen".

"May I have Beef Bowl Ramen?" He asked as he stared at her onyx eyes, she nodded.

"Coming right up." She then proceeded to work her way around the kitchen to make the ramen.

During this, Sean laid his head down on the counter and closed his eyes. He then focused on his Third Eye to observe the surroundings. He noticed that she was the only one in the ramen shop – which was commendable considering it's size – and outside the shop he noticed around 5 people hanging around a garbage bin which had a fire set off inside. Sean focused on his Third Eye even more and observed the sound waves.

"T-e... d—lars are getting -oo -----nt around th-- are-. W- might n—d t- m-ve." The words were broken but Sean figured what he said was 'The dollars are getting too.... violent around the area. We might need to move.' The violent part was merely conjecture but it made sense.

"S----sly? B-- we've been here since long ago!" Seems like the person in questioned devolved to shouting.

"Ssh! N---r know who's -round." Someone else warned, his voice was smooth but he himself was also loud.

Sean could sense a few nods.

"L--s go m—t b-ss g—l f-r -he -ay..." Sean could sense them getting farther away as they approached the apartment complex. Sean extended his Third Eye – even at the cost of a headache – and saw which room they entered.

CLINK

Sean's eyes opened as he looked at the ramen bowl in front of his face.

"If you wanna fall asleep, then do it out my shop." The hostess warned as Sean nodded and picked up a pair of chopsticks.

The hostess raised an eyebrow, she hadn't seen anyone use a chopstick in a long time.

Sean isn't a stranger to chopsticks as his mother was half Japanese and half Korean whilst his father was half French and half German. His mother's parents were fully-blooded from where they came from but his dad's parents were also halfs. Sean is also Russian, Portuguese, Mexican, Spanish and much more since his father's side has a lot of halfies, although he himself has more relevance to his mother's half Jap and half Kor side whilst taking minor relevance to his father's half Ger half Fren side.

His family was very diverse. Luckily, he wasn't treated as an outcast since he looks normal enough.

"Time to dig in..." He muttered "Thanks for the food." And then he began to utterly demolish the ramen. It tasted good, afterall.

†

After he finished digging in, he decided to investigate the room they entered. Afterall, the people who entered had already left.

"Thanks for the food." He repeated as he exited the establishment and left into an alleyway to prepare to sneak in whilst avoiding any surrounding cameras.

Hands in pockets, he put on his hood on to cover his face temporarily.

"Lets do this." He muttered as he observed that the cameras extended towards the surroundings of the building and the ramen shop, but Sean realised the one flaw. There were no cameras in the sewer; so, in classic assassin creed style: he proceeded to enter the sewers, light up a torch and travelled to underneath the apartment complex's sewers.

FLUSH

Sean twisted his head and saw that there was waste coming down a certain stream, so he picked the cleanest stream which seemed to only contain water – and not a hint of any human waste – and then proceeded to climb upwards, and as it became thinner he actively balanced on the pipe. He eventually reached the toilet, although he was observing it from the other side.

He did what any normal person would've done in this case.

GRACK

He smashed it and proceeded to enter the building through that toilet. When he came to, he arrived at the inside of a toilet stall which seemed to be closed off with tape. Luckily, the door was still there so people wouldn't notice his arrival.

FLAP FLAP

Sean heard the sound of the restroom's doors opening.

□□□

"UGH!!! I hate the landlord!" A exclaimed as he entered a toilet stall.

Sean heard a deep sigh.

"What did he do now?" B asked.

"The fucker keeps saying how he's going to fix shit but he never does; he just spends his time in his office doing who-knows what!" A exclaimed.

"His office on the second floor?" B asked "Yeah, about that; apparently, he has recordings of some of his female tenants and he blackmails them to do... that kinda stuff." He trailed off in the end.

"SERIOUSLY?!" A shouted.

"Uh huh, today he left because apparently one of his victims wanted to escape so he's going to find her and he's using the need for materials as an excuse." B sighed.

"So?" A asked.

"So what?" B responded.

"So what are you going to do?" A asked.

"Nothing, obviously." B responded as if it was common sense, which disgusted Sean.

FLAP FLAP

"He's got more power... over me..." And soon Sean couldn't hear him anymore, not like he wanted to anymore.

□□□

'Lets do something about this before heading back.' Sean decided as all his personas agreed, he glanced towards Morgana and she agreed too.

'Office on the second floor, let's see what I can do...' Sean muttered.

Sean tried to open the door, only to realise it was taped.

'Lets hope there isn't much sound.' He kicked down the door and let it rest on the toilet.

'So, how am I doing this?' He muttered as he observed the bathroom. There's a window which leads outside, but over there is some cameras; there's an air-vent above Sean which he could access by jumping on a counter and jumping off that, or he could simply use the door to go outside from there.

'My current target is the second floor, and I have to reach the twelfth floor from there to that room.' He readjusted his hood as he decided on what to do.

'Guess I'll take the vents.' He muttered as he leaped onto the counter near the taps, he then proceeded to get his Great Thief Stick out then slash it open and lastly he jumped in whilst putting the cover on one side.

"Focus..." He muttered as he observed the layout and found a path to both the room and the landlord's room using his Third Eye. 'Guess the rooms are small or are unnecessarily stocked with ventilation.'

He manipulated his Third Eye to discard the current objective's room's path and instead focused on the landlord's room's path.

'Time to get rid of some scum.' He inwardly decided as he knew that the law-enforcement in Planeptune was pretty good from online articles. Although, that could've merely been manipulated by the Planeptunian Church but he's heard comments from different adventurers too about it.

He followed the path and was inwardly amazed. There's next to no security in the vents, it's as if no one considered the vents as a possible path.

'Either I'm too used to robbing things, or this place is surprisingly relaxed in terms of security.' He couldn't help but think as he made it to the desired room and since he could see no one inside...

SHATTER

He kicked open the vent, but it shattered into shards. It was fragile.

Sean entered and observed his surroundings. He immediately regretted it.

On the walls were pictures of his victims in nude, and near a computer there was a paper on a board which had certain... 'commands' crossed out which some of which were very explicit.

Sean walked over the computer and he was even more disgusted. Luckily, he didn't need to scan it as much because all Sean needed was evidence. Sean slid up his phone took pictures of the room and some of the contents of the computer, then he took a video of the room and scrolled down the computer, then he proceeded to turn on the lights and let it fully process the room; there was a room number on the door.

As soon as he finished gathering evidence, he texted IF.

◇◇◇

The Fool: Hey, slight complications.

Wind Walker7: ?

The Fool has sent Attached Video and Attached Photos X15

Wind Walker7: I hope your not the one who did this...

The Fool: Don't even joke about that.

The Fool: Anyway, from the information I found out that somewhere in your area he's going to do it red-handed.

The Fool: Think you can do something about it?

...

Wind Walker7: Yeah, should be able. I sent it to the Guild and they gave confirmation to take him out. Seems like he's quite the criminal with multiple records of arson, murder, blackmail and the four letter word starting with the letter 'r'.

The Fool: ...And how hasn't this guy been found till now?

Wind Walker7: He has a pretty powerful disguise skill which can emulate almost every characteristic of a person.

Wind Walker7: But that's not all.

The Fool: What?

Wind Walker7: He can take the memories of any persons skin.

The Fool: Of fuck. He's going to take her skin, isn't he.

Wind Walker7: I'm going there pronto.

The Fool: Will you be safe?

Wind Walker7: I should; he should have a low amount of skills but his level is the problem.

Wind Walker7: But don't worry, I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

The Fool: Call if you need help.

Wind Walker7: Okay; you should just continue your original objective now.

The Fool: ...On it.

◇◇◇

Planeptune/Eresthian City/South-Arms District/Evening

IF slid her phone in her inventory, as she trailed the location that Sean sent. She soon found herself near a warehouse.

'Oddly cliché for a kidnapper.' She muttered as she climbed the warehouse and was near the roof which had multiple windows. 'It's as if they're begging me to infiltrate.'

IF observed the inside of the building and observed a medium-sized group of disguised people – who looked armed – which had gathered women in one area.

'I'm sure there's more, but unlike Sean I don't have some freaky sixth sense.' She knew as she heard footsteps from the inside whilst she mildly complained.

As she was observing she saw a car arriving in the distance. When the car arrived, a handsome man with blond hair and blue eyes – whom seemed surprisingly fit – exited the car. She knew, this was the target.

TAP TAP

She felt someone tap in her shoulder and she immediately swiped one of katars towards her back as she kicked the person away.

"Owie~" A full-blown man wrapped in bandages groaned "I wanna die as a painlessly as possible, not painfully~" IF raised an eyebrow as she noticed that on his side was this kid in a detective get-up and another normal-looking man in dark clothing.

IF observed their movements for a moment. The man in bandages seemed to be... 'cheerful' and defenceless but IF knew he had his guard up. 'He's simply playing the fool.'

IF then observed the other two. The detective wannabe had a ever-present smug smile with absolutely no guard present whilst the guy in dark clothes had his hands in his pockets, but IF knew he was ready to attack at any time.

IF narrowed her eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked as the man in bandages responded.

"We're from the Armed Detective Agency." He replied as IF's guard was slightly lowered at the familiar name "Though, in particular my name is Osamu Dazai." He had this... 'smile' which suggested he knew more than he should for a split moment.

He then pointed to his two allies.

"This here, is Ranpo Edogawa and the quiet one is Kiritsugu Emiya, and I think we're here on the same case."

Given that there's three 'skilled' mercenaries/detectives, IF knew she bit more than could chew.

'Oh well, at least I got the information needed before Sean sent me here.' IF groaned.

Planeptune/Western-Foodie District/Evening

And there Sean was, above the objective's vent. The room on the inside was small, but he could see two dozen of screens attached to a computer on a bed which had a young Japanese looking-girl with long hair on it, in the corner of the room Sean could see a fridge and a bunch of desks.

"I know your there." She called out.

So she knows he's there? Guess he doesn't need to surprise her then.

FLAP

He leaped into the room through the vents and landed at the bottom of the bed near it.

She turned towards him with a poker face.

"I assume you won't take off your hood, so we can speak face-to-face?" She asked as Sean shrugged and took off his hood.

'Better to build trust.' He muttered as he saw a raised eyebrow on her face.

"I didn't expect this..." She muttered as her eyes widened upon seeing his face "You are...!"

"Nice to meet you, name's Sean Lupin." He bowed "I assume you know me?"

She noticed that the 'supporting adventurer' was surprisingly stealthy.

"Yes, I do; Supporting Adventurer." She responded. "Though, I do wonder why you have decided to contact me."

"I also wonder how you knew I was here?" Sean replied as he glanced towards the multitude of computer screens, he already had an idea.

"A trade off, is it?" She asked as Sean shook his head.

"No, a request for a hacker such as yourself." Sean clarified as she looked insulted.

"I am a NEET Detective, thank you very much." She puffed her cheeks.

"Ah, yeah sure..." He didn't expect her to show this side, he cleared his throat "Anyway, I want information."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I want to know the origination of the gangs." He asked.

"They simply bottled it all up till it burst, did they not?" She inquired as Sean shook his head.

"From my information it seems like an 'outside force' is influencing them, but the 'outside force' in-question is unknown so I'm looking for clues." He asked as she lowered her eyebrow in realisation.

"Ah... Then you should visit Dapner Cave in Virtua Forest, it all escalated from there; it was supposed to be peace-talks but it resulted into what you see before you." She explained.

Sean raised an eyebrow.

"This easily?" He asked.

"Their scuffle have been quite unpleasant for my job-prospects. They seem to be creating too much fuss for my... men to work." She responded as she then spoke up "But that is not all; this isn't for free."

Sean raised an eyebrow.

"I would like your contact information." She the clarified even more "I would need some assistance from a certain Supporting Adventurer to clean my room and be a personal butler." She stated with no shame.

Sean glanced around her room.

"Sure." He slid out his phone and exchanged contact-information with her.

CRACKLE CRACK

I AM THOU... THOU ART I...

THOU HAST ACQUIRED A NEW VOW...

IT SHALL BE THE WINGS OF REBELLION THAT BREAKETH THY CHAINS OF SUBMISSION.

WITH THE BIRTH OF THE (HERMIT) ARCANA THOU HAST OBTAINED THE WINDS OF BLESSING THAT SHALL LEAD TO FREEDOM AND NEW POWER...

'New Arcana get!' Sean inwardly smiled as he observed her facial expression. 'She either has a strong poker face, or she didn't get any skill.'

"Guess, I'll be on my way." He proceeded to turn around.

"Wait!" She called out to him which prompted him to halt his footsteps.

"I would like to incur a request for you to clean my room." She asked.

Sean shrugged his shoulders.

He then proceeded to clean her room and headed back.

Planeptune/Eresthian City/South-Arms District/Evening

Meanwhile with IF, she was fighting a tough battle with a skin-stealing serial killer.

BOOOOOM

IF dodged a bunch of bombs by a hair's breadth.

"Next time Sean tells me to do something like this, I'm kicking him!" She grunted in frustration. Honestly, she doesn't mind helping him out with something like this but what annoys her is that he told her to do it with the limited allies and even after she informed him of how dangerous he was, Sean still let her go 1v1 him.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

'He was supposed to insist to help me!' She complained as she slashed multiple bullets. She didn't know that slashing bullets – or even interacting with bullets – was even humanly possible till she saw leaked videos of the Phantom Thief's most recent heist in Lastation. Naturally, like most adventurers, she tried to adapt some of his own moves to her own.

'Though, it doesn't feel bad knowing he has a lot of trust in me.' She inwardly muttered as she generated light in her palm.

"La Delphinus!" She proclaimed as she dove to one of her sides and caused an eruption of light to appear under Imposter's feet.

"ARGH!" Imposter grunted as he was blasted on the floor and shrugged it as if nothing happened.

"Rain Parts the River!" Imposter exclaimed as he sent a stream of high-pressured water-drills towards IF who promptly dodged it.

"Ugh!" Or at least she thought she dodged them, but it seems like one of the water-drills dug into her left arm's bicep.

"Hah..!" She rolled to her left as she dropped her left katar on the floor and created a distance between them.

They both stared at each other and observed the others movements.

'This just became a lot harder than it should've been.' IF could tell as moving her arm became a lot more difficult because some of the water from the attack had a paralysis effect.

"Tch!" She clicked her tongue as she heard the sounds of firearms in the background 'They're taking a lot of time to free all the kidnapped women.'

Suddenly, Imposter made a dash towards the left of IF. IF jumped backwards, however Imposter didn't hesitate as he dipped his fingers in some of IF's blood on the floor.

"Huh?" IF was confused until she made a connection that he would get stronger with her blood.

"Masks are Stolen not Formed!" He licked his fingers as IF just stared. He licked the blood off his fingers quite explicitly.

"Huh, what are you doing?" She asked as he began to giggle ravenously.

"La Delphinus!" The Imposter called out as IF's own move appeared beneath her feet.

IF saw it coming and jumped backwards, dodging the eruption of light beneath her.

"I see, so that's it." She then decided to leap onto the walls of the warehouse – whilst dodging bullets that came her way – and then proceeded to wall run to behind him and dived towards her foe.

"Heh." Imposter giggled "Demon Flames!" He called out as he used IF's attack which was supposed to attack all nearby enemies within a certain range.

"What?!" IF exclaimed as she was blasted backwards and collided with a wall. 'But I didn't even show him that Skills! Did he know about me? Can he use ALL my Skills? Is he AWARE of all my Skills?' She went into a mild panic as she rolled back onto her feet whilst dodging a bullet to the head.

BANG

"Confused are you?" He questioned as he taunted IF.

"How'd you do that?" IF asked as she noticed that beneath his feet was one of IF's katars.

"You see, my skill let's me to partially take on the 'existence' of any skin I wear." He explained.

"Wait, so that's why no one can find your identity?" IF inquired as he responded.

"Yes; with this, they can't identify me with the locator that the Planeptunian Oracle left before she disappeared." He explained "That annoying locator always seems to hold a record of everything and everyone." He complained "Although, I doubt I'm the only one wearing skins."

Now that piqued her interest, having more people on the loose like this is dangerous.

"...What'd you mean?" IF asked as she took a step backwards, positioning herself in a good position to commence her plan.

"The Phantom Thief." He stated as she raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? What about him?" IF asked "He runs on a no-kill rule from what I hear."

Imposter chuckled.

"Can't be so sure. According to my information network within the Guild, whenever the Phantom does a job the action is blamed on someone who doesn't exist or at times is blatantly labelled '[ ] (blank)' as if he also steals skins." He explained.

'That's a big problem.' IF's eyes widened 'Also, information network within the Guild? I'll have to have them investigate.'

"I'll deal with the problem later." She responded as a pale glow surrounded her palm and then soon her body "Tech Support!"

With her accuracy increased, she threw her last katar against a nearby box and it bounced off to hit the katar on the floor which proceeded to be flung in the air.

"HAAAAH!" She exclaimed as jumped onto a wall and leaped off it in a front flip to grab her katar and before he could move away she landed and attempted to chop his head off.

"AHHHHH!" He screamed in extreme pain as even though IF failed to chop his head off, a large gash was present on his neck.

"NO, NO, NO!" He screamed in panic as he then began to internally scan his Skill Menu to look for a plausible skill.

"FUCK!" He exclaimed as he glared at IF "WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU UNLOCK YOUR HEALING SKILL YET?!" He unjustly blamed IF.

"Not like this!" He tried to cover the wound with his own palm as he scanned his inventory for any suitable blood.

"FOUND IT!" He carried a vial blood in his fist.

He consumed it, but before he could do any harm someone grabbed him from behind.

"No Longer Human." A certain Osamu Dazai who had part of his vision blocked by his chin-length hair muttered aloud as his bandaged palm glowed in bright blue as ethereal words of unknown quantity leaked out his palm and then he pressed it onto his head.

"W-wha?!" Imposter exclaimed "Why isn't it working?!" He exclaimed as Osamu spoke up.

"No Longer Human, the ability to negate any form of supernatural ability or phenomenon at will." Osamu stated he grinned. "Do bleed out quickly?" He asked as Imposter's face grew pale and soon he dropped dead.

"Mission complete~" A smug Ranpo Edogawa approached IF as he threw a vial "Heal yourself up."

She nodded in thanks as she chugged it down.

"Time to head back." She soon decided.

Planeptune/Eresthian City/Hotel Room/Evening

Sean Lupin saw IF enter the room the last – exhausted – whilst he was playing a farming game on his phone to increase his Understanding and Kindness.

"How was your day?" Sean asked as she face-planted on an unoccupied bed.

"Don't ask." She muffled through the blanket.

"Take a bath before you sleep, you smell." Sean blatantly stated.

"Don't tell a girl she smells." IF muffled whilst Marvy raised her head.

"It's bad manners to tell a girl she smells." Marvy complained as she shook her head in disappointment.

Jotaro merely shook his head in disappointment silently, which hurt Sean more than the vocal disagreements.

"Oh really? Well I don't care." He then proceeded to play his game to increase his Understanding and Kindness. His current Kindness Social Stat may be 'considerate' but his current actions sure don't convey that.

Also, he turned around to face the couch to ignore their faces of disappointment like a chad with no qualms about what people think about him. Definitely not because he felt slightly guilty. Definitely not.

Soon enough – after he finished his game – sleep enveloped him.