Holy shit that hiatus lasted longer than it should have. Never underestimate the power of VR and 2D spessman game. That was like a whole month of doing nothing, so I'd say I'm ready to get back to writing.

By all accounts of everyone involved, Joker (or Akira Kurusu, as he was known in the real world) was missing and presumed to be dead. His team's realization of this happened as they were coming off of the tail end of a non-stop barrage of heroic acts. They had faced off against their former school counselor, a man named Dr. Maruki, and his persona Azathoth. That on it's own was a tough battle, with Azathoth generating enough shield tentacles to block even a few uses of Thanatos' skill Hades' Gate. While difficult, the Phantom Thieves pulled through and secured Maruki's treasure. As they were leaving, however, Maruki had unveiled some bullshit use of telekinesis and stolen his treasure from their hands, using it to mutate his persona into the giant that was Adam Kadmon. After being pummeled for a bit, Joker had finally managed to put a bullet into Adam's head with the aid of his team. Joker's cat and the team's transportation method (as somehow the Metaverse gave him the ability to transform into a van) Mona had unveiled that he had a helicopter form, which was used to attempt to leave Maruki's crumbling palace, only to be stopped by one of Azathoth's tendrils. Joker, always one for stepping up to do what needed doing, decided to go meet up with Maruki for the stereotypical final confrontation. The fight, however, was rather plain compared to his previous exploits in the Metaverse. It could best be described as a sloppy fist fight with a side of angry venting on the behalf of Maruki.

"I gave up everything! EVERYTHING!" wailed Maruki. "So, why!?" Maruki staggered towards Joker, cocking back his arm. Joker, exhausted from his most recent fights, fails to defend against the blow, which sends him reeling backwards.

"Because... You can't just take away what makes life worth it!" shouted Joker, throwing his own punch at Maruki aimed at his jaw.

"But why..." Maruki began, tears welling in his eyes. "Why Rumi!?" He scrambles as fast as his exhausted body can carry him with the sole intent of winning for once. Once again, he winds up for a punch and hits Joker square in the forehead.

Joker, oblivious to the pain, shambles towards Maruki once more. "You think she'd want you doing this shit?" Doing his best to beat some sense into him, Joker throws a devastating punch at the doctor's ribs, knocking the wind out of him.

"All I want..." wheezes Maruki, barely keeping himself upright. "Is a reality... where no one suffers..." He swings at Joker once more, his strength leaving him as exhaustion sinks it's teeth into him. The punch collides with the thief's shoulder, throwing him off balance. No longer caring about speaking to the man, Joker concentrates on letting loose one punch that will end this confrontation. He steps forward and delivers a savage uppercut that sends Maruki to the ground, where he lays dazed until he speaks.

"I guess this is it, huh?" Maruki asks weakly, reaching for the falling snow. "I'm done. I get it now. All thanks to you..." His arm falls back down to the floor, accepting that his dream won't come to fruition. Just as this happens, the palace begins shaking, causing Joker to lose his footing and fall as well. As Joker tries to get up, the glass platform that they are on decides that a spider web of cracks looks good on it. Shortly after the quaking began, the platform gave way and both Maryki and Joker began their descent to the afterlife.

''Well shit. Can't say it wasn't a climactic end, at least.' Even in the end, Joker's- no, Akira's thoughts were an attempt to bring humor to a grim situation. Knowing his tenure on Shit-Outta-Luck III was coming to an end, Akira had one final thought.

'I hope the others don't take it too hard.'

Akira awoke to the sound of the familiar duet of a female opera singer and a piano, along with the clanking of chains. Opening his eyes, he saw the velvet blue padded walls of his cell in the Velvet Room and couldn't help but feel as though he was going to be pissed at what Igor and Lavenza had to say to him. Sitting up, he realized he was still in his Phantom Thief attire instead of the usual black and white prison garb.

"Hello again, Trickster,"

A female voice pulled Akira from his ponderings as he jerked his gaze towards the direction the voice originated from. In the center of the Velvet Room stands a small blond child dressed in a blue dress, a large tome in her hand and a blue butterfly pin in her hair.

"It is good to see you again" says Lazenva, a genuine smile on her face.

Akira sighed and idly rubbed the back of his neck. "That it is. Kinda confused as to how I'm still alive, but I'll take it,"

"Indeed," says Lazenva her smile faltering for a brief moment. "The events that occured inside Maruki's palace should have ended in your death. However, it seems there is yet a purpose for you, Trickster,"

"Another?" Akira asks, frustration already mounting. "I thought that I was done with this whole 'game' of your guys',"

Lavenza sighed at this, her face mimicking Akira's current emotions. "Indeed, you should be. However, the current situation has proven to be rather urgent,"

Akira moved his mask up his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to stem the oncoming headache. "What is it this time? Another god? More psychopaths wreaking havoc in the cognitive world? Jesus with a gun?"

Lavenza paled slightly at the last scenario he mentioned, but quickly regained her composure. "There is another world, similar to yours, yet vastly different. This world stands on the brink of ruin, much like yours did. Any attempts of creating a Wildcard in this world have proven ineffective, as they are killed before they can cause any change. Other Wildcards from your timeline have been contacted, but are..."

Minato Arisato has been doing the same as he has been for the past few years. Acting as a glorified lock/doorknocker for Erebus, a manifestation of humanity's desire for self-annihilation.

Yu Narukami, having decided to return to Inaba to live near friends, sits in his bedroom, contemplating how he's going to deal with the fact that every female in the investigation team has texted him asking for a date. He sighs and thinks that just maybe Margaret had been right in calling him a manwhore.

"...Occupied with other duties,"

"So you're saying I'm the last resort for this situation?" While he didn't like that he was being called upon again, it did feel nice to realize that he could wide up as the first interdimensional Trickster. "Well, not like I had anything else in mind for my life. I'll gladly take the second chance at life, thank you,"

"I'm sure my master will be glad to hear that," said Lazenva, a beaming smile on her face.

"Just one question, though," Lazenva nodded. "Will I be able to access the Compendium in this other world?"

"Yes," Lavenza answered. "Much like this world, doorways to the Velvet Room will be made in areas where they are able to be,"

Lazenva entered Akira's cell and walked to the far back of it, swiping a card the same shade as his cell walls, causing a vortex of swirling red and black to open in the wall. "One more piece of information: the cognitive world will not exist in this world. Instead, you will simply rely on your soul to summon both your outfit and your Personas. Now, walk through the gateway, Trickster."

Seeing no further reason to delay, Akira gave Lazenva a wave and tepped through the portal.

Stepping through dimensions had to be the least pleasurable experience Akira had ever had. The sensation of being compacted and pulled apart hundreds of times a second, combined with the feeling of when he first entered the Metaverse, but at least five times as bad. This persisted for a mercifully short time before he was unceremoniously dumped into what looked to be an especially thick forest in the middle of the day. Standing up and dusting off his clothes, he realized he was in clothes similar to what he wore when he had faked his death. He had a black t-shirt, a a dark red hoodie that matched the color of Arséne's coat, a black vest, and (surprise, surprise) black jeans and dress shoes. Reaching his hand up to make sure his hair was not too messy, he froze upon feeling two new additions to his figure. One simultaneously uncomfortable yet pleasurable examination later, he reached the conclusion that he had... cat ears. Great. Once again feeling an incoming headache, Akira swore that he wouldn't let Lazenva get away with this; otherworldly bullshit be damned.

Bringing his Phantom Thief attire to his thoughts, Akira found that it was as Lavenza had said. By simply making a mental connection, he could once again don the outfit and equipment of Joker. Calling for his ultimate Persona Satanael, he took off his mask as he usually would only to be stopped by an extreme sense of dizziness and a splitting headache. Recallinv his Thief attire, Akira searched his pockets, looking for anything the Velvet Room may have left with him. In his pockets, he found his wallet, his Velvet Key, and a strange slab of what looked like black glass of some kind. After fruitlessly looking for a button to activate it, Akira resorted to just pulling at the sides of the device. To his surprise, that seemed to do the trick and he was greeted with a welcome screen, which was quickly followed by an interface that included several things he would normally find on his phone. Deciding that finding civilization was his highest priority at the moment, he opened up the map function on his device and was about to head to the nearest town on the map when he heard what sounded like animalistic growling from behind him.

Turning around, Akira was greeted with what looked to be some kind of wolf-like shadow. 'Jeez,' thought Akira, calling his Thief equipment to him. 'If shadows are manifesting in the real world, then this place must be getting pretty close to the end.' Gripping Paradise Lost in one hand and God of Destruction in the other, the Trickster peppered the shadow with his handgun while rushing in for a blow with his dagger. Surprisingly, the wolf shadow could take very little punishment, despite it's threatening looks. Seemingly drawn by the gunfire, six more of the shadows began circling around Joker. One of these shadows in particular drew his attention, however. It was a good deal bigger than the others, with more of it's bone plating on display. Going off of instinct alone, Joker knew this one wouldn't be as much of a pushover.

Deciding he's had a long enough day already, Joker tears off his mask, calling Thanatos to the field. With a quick cast of Maeigaon, most of the shadows we're dispatched. The only one that remained standing was the larger one he had singled out earlier. Seeing that the backing of it's packmates was now absent, the beastly shadow turned tail and left as fast as it's feet could carry it. Dispelling his Thief attire, Akira winced as a headache slammed into him with a strength comparable to Makoto after a bad day.

Shaking his head, Akira pulled out his phone-tablet thing that was apparently called a Scroll and checked his nap for the nearest road. Sure, he had a job to prevent ruin from falling on this world, but it'd be nice to have some coffee first.

In the treetops above Akira, a man watched his fight with the Grimm. Said man was clad in a style that could be best described as "celebratory formal if it was slept in for three days". The stench of alcohol clouded the air around him as he stared at the site of the recent battle, a mixture of fear and excitement on his face. 'Holy shit.' thought the man. 'I gotta tell Ozpin about this.'

Edit (June 6th, 2020): changed some minor things to better support later development in the story.