After two days of rest, the team couldn't wait anymore. Time was ticking on Yusuke's painting being stolen, and they wanted to get him out of the situation as soon as possible.
Ren took a deep breath and lay down in bed, thinking deeply about visiting the Velvet Room. He hadn't tried this way before, but Margaret assured him this was the safest method of entry.
Rattling chains.
Silence.
The jail cell was quiet and empty. He could vaguely hear the sound of the piano that always played whenever he was here, but this time, it was soft and soothing. Not sharp and ominous. There was no echoing chorus singing creepy notes. Just a gentle piano song.
Ren stood up slowly and said, quietly, "Caroline. Justine."
"Huh? The inmate? Trickster?" Caroline said, seemingly incredibly confused.
Justine grabbed her head, looking at Ren as she dropped her clipboard. "G-guest?"
Ren had heard from Margaret that this might happen if the twins were who she believed they were. She assured Ren it wouldn't hurt them, but it was still upsetting to see his little friends in such pain.
"Banish the one from beyond the cosmos," Ren began chanting.
"I, the Wild Card, invoke the many-masked man."
BOOM!
There was a blinding light as Igor appeared in a rage.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, TRICKSTER?!"
He was completely unaware he had entered the Room.
How?
He wasn't summoned. He didn't enter from a door in the real world.
"I am thou... Thou art I... From the sea of my soul, thou cometh..."
The Room began to rumble and shake. The concrete that formed the jail ruptured, revealing a much larger dimension. He could see several people smiling at him.
"NO!"
"PHILEMON!"
Ren finished the chant.
A brilliant light unfolded.
'Igor' yelped in fear.
"This interference cannot be allowed!"
"Silence."
Ren heard the word before blacking out. It wasn't something he understood.
But it was.
It was incomprehensible and kind, yet mechanical and false-sounding. It was like everyone he had ever met talking at once, but also like a machine beeping at the same time.
"Begone. This Room stinks of control."
A man with a ponytail and a full-face mask pointed at 'Igor.'
'Igor' frowned and tore a hole in space before jumping through it and exploding into golden light.
"Come, my servant. My creation."
Igor appeared.
The real Igor.
And the Velvet Room began to change.
The Room elongated. The concrete and bars vanished as if they had never been there. A steam horn sounded from somewhere outside the Room, and the floor began to lightly rumble. The walls shifted and turned into velvet, red and soft, lined with gold borders. Windows appeared along the elongated Room, revealing the Sea of Souls in all its splendor.
The Velvet Room had taken the form of a steam train.
"Hehehe. Fitting for a thief," the real Igor said with a chuckle.
He turned to the masked man and deeply bowed.
"Igor," the masked man said mischievously. "You'll be pleased to hear that the heir to the demon painter has appeared."
Then he vanished.
Igor sat down and began to shuffle his deck of tarot cards. He looked deeply at the Trickster in front of him, who was now lying on a couch.
In his Metaverse gear, Ren appeared imposing despite being asleep.
When he awoke, he would know the true purpose of the Room.
A sanctuary for Fools.