[Sunnivale]

(Berserk 1997 OST - Behelit)

Madotsuki had brought some matches for tonight. Among other things that she was going to show to Joker and Akechi once they get to her Apartment that were going to vital for the mission, as the items that she bought were needed to help get the two into the Dream World so they can help her find the Nightmare Item and vanquish her nightmares.

It was going to be a simple mission. They were just going to go in and out of Madotsuki's dreams without seeing anything that would allow the two to know more about her...

Or any nightmarish things.

Then again, Madotsuki's dreams were pretty wild. Who knows what might happen during this dream venture.

She didn't really care if this mission might scare the two people that were going to help her. Akechi was a detective, she thought. That meant he probably seen like tons of corpses already.

And this Joker guy was from a group called the Phantom Thieves. Whatever tools that he had according to his sign up it better not involve surgery. Madotsuki hated doctor stuff, ever since that one incident in health class...

It's weird that a detective guy was solving cases at such a young age, he should be attending school.

What would his parents think?

Madotsuki didn't care, he was preppy so he was going to be annoying, but she needed all the people that she can get her hands on to help her stop these annoying nightmares.

She had finished lighting the last candle in the Apartment, now all she had to do was to wait for Joker and Akechi's arrival, they should be here sometime soon.

---

And, indeed, because a few minutes later. Akechi was the first of the two to arrive, but he didn't go up to see Madotsuki just yet.

(Berserk 2016 OST - Beacon of Fire)

He had overlooked the mission sign ups again and saw who joined. "So... I guess we will finally cross paths again." He began thinking about him and just why exactly that he was here for this mission.

Was this to really help Madotsuki, or was this because Akechi had also joined the mission?

There's likely going to be an instance where they would be alone, and Akechi was going to take it now.

He didn't want to see his face again, not after what he did to him, but Akechi knows that if anyone can get on this planet, and he managed to do so, then it was only a matter of time until he and his annoying friends would come too.

He just didn't expect it to be today. Instead of entering the Apartment to meet up with Madotsuki, Akechi instead stood nearby, and waited for Joker to appear next.

He wasn't exactly hidden in plain sight. He was just standing away from the light that was barely shining on the door to the Apartment building.

He looked out at the stars, and thought about a night that was familiar to this one. He had to stand out in the streets late at night while his mom was doing work. It scared him sometimes but, he would always have a toy with him that helped him make him feel safe, as well as the stars that would often shine during those nights that helped it the quiet streets feel less, lonely.

Sometimes he would just fall asleep just looking at the stars. No matter how warm or cold it was outside.

---

Madotsuki: 170/170
Bubble Shield: 60/60

Goro Akechi: 120/120
Bubble Shield: 35/35

[Joker]

"Pleasant evening tonight, isnt it, Akechi-Senpai?" 

Behind Akechi, Ren Amamiya walked up to him with a smile on his face, opening his hands in a sign of surrender. "...Didnt think it was entirely necessary to me to come to you dressed up, Huh?" Ren would ask, as he looked up to Madotsuki's apartment building. "She's up there, Right?" Ren would say, Rolling his neck in anticipation. He took a step, But, Then stopped as he looked to Akechi.

"...Whatever you may feel right now, Let's set aside our differences until Madotsuki's feeling better. Fair?" He asked, Smirking, as suddenly, Ren's body enveloped in a Bright Blue Flame, Burning his High schooler clothes away to leave him in a Domino Mask and Black Jacket, The Phantom Thieves attire! Following this, Joker performed some impressive Parkour Skills, Hopping off a Trash Can, Wall Jumping off a Second wall, and then taking hold of the Window to Madotsuki's apartment, Sliding it open, and Hopping inside! ...No Doubt to the fear of any normal person.

Never doubt Joker's love of Theatrics.


"Greetings, Miss Madotsuki. You may call me Joker, For the time that we are known to one another. Let's see how we can help you?" Joker had asked, With the sheer confidence and Air of Intensity that followed all his missions!

[Sunnivale]

Akechi coughed, hearing Joker's voice behind him actually creeped him out. He was always surprising, which he always liked, he often thought it was funny whenever he surprised anyone. But Akechi didn't expect he would also be good with sneaking up on people like he did to him just now. A shiver moved up his shoulder, but, he tried his best to make sure that Joker didn't see it. The detective kept his composure, after all, he always did when doing cases, or when he was in the Metaverse.

So the little twinge of surprise, was actually a first for him since that was the first time that had actually happened to him.

He slowly turned, preparing to see Ren for the first time since, that incident on the boat.

He seemed to let the water go under the bridge, or maybe he has a lot of things to say about that night. But right now, Madotsuki was more important, and clearing her nightmares was both of their priority.

To Akechi, if this mission succeeds, then he will get more attention, and maybe him, as well as his partner back at Hylia Grace, Ayumi Tachibana, will get more attention for their detective skills and maybe then they'll get more mature cases that the two can take.

Well, he will get more mature cases, as Ayumi was already starting to get one or two outside of school.

"Yes, it is full of pleasantness, as well as surprises of seeing old faces, wouldn't you agree Amamiya? Heh, it brings a wave of nostalgia that you would still refer to me as Senpai as well." Akechi, didn't use honorific's to refer to Ren as of right now.

Mainly because, he was still, thinking about how he feels about him right now, so for now, he was just going to refer him as just his surname. He was distant, but someone to keep an eye on, regardless of the mission.

He didn't want to be completely distant to him.

He didn't know why, he just, didn't want to.

"Oh, I'm feeling many things. You may be familiar of one of them." Akechi smiled.

"Unbridle rage over our reunion." Despite how he was feeling, Akechi remained as calm as ever as he looked upwards towards the window of Madotsuki's apartment.

"As for the girl, whatever her name is that we're meant to help. I can guarantee that she lives up in that precise apartment up there, the one with the creepy message." Akechi said, briefly letting his true side show to Ren, seeing as how he was familiar to it by now as he pointed to the window in question with the message written on it with Madotsuki's breath.

"I knew it was her Apartment. Since she saw me earlier by that window, she got angry that I was waiting for you for our little chat just now, and wrote the message." As for the message itself, it read as follows:

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, GET THE HELL UP HERE NOW!!!!

Followed by a little drawn of what looked to be, a small sword, a dagger? Akechi couldn't really tell from where he looked.

There was another, smaller message below the first one that Madotsuki wrote. While it was small, Akechi managed to understand what it said:

I would of yelled the other message to you, but my window's jammed. Just get up here as soon as possible.

"Let us not keep her waiting shall we?" Akechi inquired, before following Ren into the Apartment. He saw that Ren had turned into his Joker costume, while Akechi managed to stay in his regular appearance as they got by the door.

"I shall ring it, since I have the more, heroic reputation in society don't I?" Akechi decided, as he rang the doorbell, causing music to play as the two waited for Madotsuki to answer the door.

(Yume Nikki OST - Nasu)

Yet for some reason, she didn't answer it. Curious, Akechi rang the doorbell again, but again. She didn't answer it, which began to make him angry over what Madotsuki was doing, and why she was keeping him and Joker waiting.

"Ugh, what is she doing, does she want us to do the mission or not?" Akechi pondered, why the doorbell finished playing the tune for the second time, Akechi was about to press it for a third time to see Madotsuki would answer.

Only for her to quickly open it and surprise him again.

"SHI--I mean." Akechi took a deep breath, and regained his polite composure once more as he leaned down towards Madotsuki's height.

"Sorry about keeping you two waiting, that was my fault. I was just putting the finishing touches of what we need to do to enter my---Why, hello little girl." Akechi suddenly interrupted Madotsuki.

"Little?"

"If you are the one that is called Madotsuki, then fear not, the detective prince here will make sure you don't suffer any nightmares anymore. It's dreadful to think that someone so innocent like you would have to go through these horrible nightmares. Madotsuki, before we go into your wonderful apartment. May we ask, did you see anything that may have traumatised you in your past, or before you've come to Li?" Akechi gave a light, but condescending introduction towards Madotsuki, who quickly took offence by the way that Akechi was talking to her.

For starters, she forcefully grabbed Akechi and pushed him back into the way that he was standing before he leaned down to her.

Finally, she answered him. "First of all I'm 14, not little, and who the fuck decided that you should decide my personality." Madotsuki told off to Akechi, before moving aside to let Joker and Akechi in.

Akechi was caught off guard by her response, but she mellowed out by her next answer, which was the answer to Akechi's question. "As for your question about what traumatised me, a lot of things do. I mean, don't we all suffer something bad that had happened to us at one point or another in our lives? It tends to build character." Madotsuki decided to spin the question around at both Joker and Akechi as she closed the door. Akechi remained quiet, and decided, for once, that he wasn't going to answer it.

"Hmph, interesting. I quite say, I never expected someone like you to ever answer me like that, a few have." Akechi leaned forward towards Joker, because, well, he didn't have anyone else to talk too regarding. Madotsuki, who walked forward down the hall of her, not so wonderful apartment.

In fact, her apartment's weird, the walls were painted purple, and she had a red carpet that led down into the living room. She also had some strange portraits, of eyes, if Akechi looked at them, then they would get the feeling that they would follow him no matter what he does.

"I, didn't expect this girl to respond to me like that. This is making me wonder what kind of, things that she had gone through for her to act like this?" Akechi whispered to Joker, before moving down to the Living Room.

Where he was surprised to see candles lit up everywhere in the room, and three beds in the center of the room, they were in a triangle position as Madotsuki sat on one of the beds.

"Anyway, to start, I need you two to get in bed."

"Wh-Wh-"

"The separate beds of course. To access my dream world, we need to lie in separate beds, but in a formation of a certain shape. If there was more people coming tonight, then the shape wouldn't be in a triangle, but something bigger to include other people, as well as more beds, but since it's only you and Joker so it's just three beds in a triangle position."

"What if something goes wrong and we don't end up in your dream world, but say, either me or Jokers?"

"Yeah right, like anyone would want to be in your dreams."

"And what makes you sure of that? My dreams are pleasant. I would let anyone view them if I had the ability too, like say, the ability you supposedly have that would make this ritual to enter your own dreams easy to do."

"Would you let Joker in? You two seem to talking an awful lot before you came up here." Once again, Madotsuki silenced Akechi, and, this time, judging by his silence.

It seems as though Akechi and Joker had a history together. She didn't know what that history was, as she only saw Akechi talking to someone from the window, followed by Joker going out of the darkness that he came from, implying that the person Akechi was talking too was of course Joker.

Speaking of Joker, Madotsuki turned to him as well.

"In all honesty, thanks for coming, the both of you, I know it appears to be part of your job description as a Phantom Thief Joker, but, I appreciate you coming to help. Before we do this ritual, I should give you a more, in depth description for this mission since my dreams can be a little. Stay with me at all times and don't wander off when you enter my dreams, they can be messed up regardless of the nightmares that I'm currently facing.

The ones that I've been having recently have been a bit, creepy even for my tastes. I don't know if it's from traumatised incident or something that I saw recently in a previous mission, but I need to find a nightmare item to get rid of them and so I can sleep peacefully again.

The ritual won't mess up, I can assure the both of you, yes, I do have dream based powers, and because of them, I can easily pull anyone into my dream world whenever I feel like it. To end my nightmares, we just have to find something called a Nightmare Item, it's like say, a treasure." When Madotsuki mentioned a treasure, Akechi's eyes lit up.

"You can also think of my dream world as some sort of palace like place where we have to get this item out of. In this case, some sort of treasure." As Madotsuki continued, Akechi's eyes grew even more.

He looked angry, as they brought back memories of, his past encounters with palaces and treasures. More so at, what he did in one of those palaces when the treasure was collected.

Kunikazu Okumura.

It was one of his two biggest regrets in his life, killing him, because of the consequences that happened soon after.

"Excuse me if I'm interrupting---You are." Madotsuki turned, before looking back at Joker as she silenced Akechi again.

"Anyway yeah, we just need to go into my dream, get the nightmare item, which can be anything really, but I will tell you when we're close to it, since I'll feel a pull when we're near it. Alright?" She asked the two.

"Hmm, if Joker can protect anyone, then you'll be safe Madotsuki. Of course, I'll also be there too." Akechi nodded.

"Whatever happens, we'll make sure you'll be dreaming peacefully. I'm being serious when I say that people deserve pleasant dreams rather then nightmares, especially those from the past." Akechi said, this time, Madotsuki didn't say anything to him, as she turned back towards Joker.

"If you have any questions then feel free, otherwise, to start the ritual, lie on that free bed over there, close your eyes and begin counting to ten In your head and once you reach one, you'll be asleep and in the dream world." Madotsuki waited for Joker's questions, before she entered the dream world, Akechi had already fallen asleep.

"Hey, mind if I ask, what's with you and Akechi-san? Were you actually talking to him before you met up with me?" Madotsuki asked.

"I'm kind of disappointed if I'm honest. I was expecting the white haired guy in the red coat to be there instead of him when I heard that a preppy detective guy was going to help me." Madotsuki sighed, oh well, two people were helping her.

Two was better then none she supposed and they had similar abilities as Madotsuki by the looks of it so this mission should be a breeze.

Granted, it was her dreams that everyone was going into, and Madotsuki's dreams often had the habit of going of course to where Madotsuki wanted to go in them, which was always a bad thing for her.

---

Madotsuki: 170/170
Bubble Shield: 60/60

Goro Akechi: 120/120
Bubble Shield: 35/35