Guys, I am so, so sorry. I didn't expect for this to take nearly as long as it did, but considering I spent over a month in the psychiatric ward, I had no computer access for as long, so this got pushed WAY back. But I'm out, I'm on the mend, and I'm back with my writing! Thank you all for your reviews, I really appreciate your input!

Watcher of Ways: Thank you so much! That's such a glowing review, I really appreciate it! Kamoshida's always been an awful guy, but considering the way gender changes things in real life, I felt I would have been writing a dishonest portrayal of what goes on in these situations IRL if I didn't show how he got worse. If he's unlikeable, then I did my job!

"So we're doin' this for sure." Ryuko affirmed, pushing herself away from the vending machine. "If we just gotta get rid of his Palace… Hey, Morgana. Is getting rid of one difficult?"

"When did I ever say I've done it before?" Morgana sat up, curling her tail around her hindquarters. She looked terribly cute like that- not cute enough to keep Aki from realizing what she'd just said, though. She'd never even taken down a Palace in reality?!

Ryuko's face conveyed her shock clear as day. "Wait, what?! Were you just pretendin' to know?!" The cat's nose scrunched up, and she got to her paws with a huff. Before she even had the chance to give a (presumably very sassy) response, another voice broke into the conversation.

"Is it true that you're getting expelled? Everyone's talking about it…"

That voice wasn't usually so small and miserable- it took Aki a moment to even realize that voice belonged to Ann Takamaki. Turning in surprise, the black haired girl's mind briefly flittered to the fact that there was a cat sitting in the middle of the table, but she quickly got herself back on track- hopefully Ann wouldn't be paying attention to that right now. After what she'd been through today… It wouldn't be surprising.

"Expel- Motherfucker, he's at it again…!" Ryuko, now also turning to face Ann, seemed to have realized what this meant at the same time Aki did. Kamoshida had said something, hadn't he? Of course he did. The blonde Persona-user muttered what sounded like a few more expletives under her breath before raising her head, staring at Ann. "Don't tell me you came over here just to tell us that."

Ryuko's voice was sharp, and while Aki couldn't blame her for it, she knew Ann had been through too much today to deserve that treatment. Sending Ryuko a stern glance, Aki turned to face Ann, offering her a much more sympathetic look. "Takamaki-san, I… I'm sorry about what happened."

"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything." As Ann responded quietly, Aki felt her stomach twist as her gaze fell to her loafers. The pigtailed girl was right in that she didn't do anything- she hemmed and hawed and took no action despite having the power to take down Kamoshida before he drove a girl to jump off the roof. Aki'd done nothing when she should have done something. They had to act now for the sake of everyone he'd hurt. Feeling the familiar flicker of determination in her, Aki looked up to look Ann in the eyes- and was surprised to see a similarly intense gaze returned in the blonde's expression. "But if you're going to do something to deal with Kamoshida… I want to join you."

… Huh? Aki blinked, mouth parting slightly as she fully intended to speak, though nothing ended up coming out. Ann wanted to help them? She'd learned already that the blonde wasn't in that pseudo-relationship with Kamoshida out of her own free will, but… Why was she willing to join up with two girls supposedly bad enough to be expelled, especially after their previous interactions? Ann kept speaking, answering Aki's question for her. "I can't just sit back and do nothing after what happened to Shiho. So whatever you girls are planning- let me help."

Right… Her best friend was in the hospital because of Kamoshida. Aki felt silly for even wondering why Ann would take this risk. Tight friendships weren't something she'd ever been familiar with, but she had seen the way people did whatever it took to protect a friend. From beside her, Ryuko made a low rumbling noise before speaking clearly. "Look, Takamaki- I know you're mad, but this really doesn't have anythin' to do with you. You should just stay outta this."

Predictably, Ann didn't take that too well. Eyes turning sharp, she snapped her head to face Ryuko as her voice raised in volume. "It has everything to do with me! Shiho's my-"

Ryuko really didn't like being spoken to in that tone, Aki had learned these past few days, and the transfer student watched as the girl's face contorted into a snarl and she stomped her foot. "Did you even hear me?! I said stay out of it!"

Jesus christ, this wasn't going well. Ann looked like she was about to say something else, but closed her mouth at the last moment. There was a moment of tense silence as the pigtailed blonde inhaled sharply, exhaling and giving Ryuko a cold glare. "... Out of all the people here, I thought you'd understand why I can't let this go, Sakamoto."

Even if Ann had resorted to a quiet anger, Ryuko had no such inclination as she snapped back. "Don't think we're alike just because the whole school thinks we're both easy! You can't help with this, so back the hell off!" Out of the corner of her eye, Aki watched Morgana's back start to arch. Things were getting way too tense.

"Guys, stop!" That was enough, Aki decided as she finally cut in, moving to get in between the two girls. It didn't seem like they'd make a move to get at each other, but the black haired student was well aware of what both of the blondes had been through today- emotions were running high, and Aki didn't want to risk someone doing something stupid. "Neither of you are helping! Just calm down and-"

She didn't get to finish before Ann took a step back. Aki's words died in her throat, the pigtailed girl giving her a stare that seemed like it was meant to be harsh, though the tears forming in the corners of her eyes ruined the effect. Before Aki could even say anything else, Ann had jerked to the side, running off and out of sight. There was a heavy silence surrounding the three left in the plaza, broken only by the sound of the side door opening and slamming. It was… pretty stupid of her to assume that Ann and Ryuko could achieve anything close to calmness after today, Aki realized belatedly as she reached up to awkwardly rub her neck. "Shit…"

"That was getting hairy," Morgana's voice finally re-entered the situation. Aki's initial presumption had been right in that Ann hadn't noticed the cat with them. Or at least she didn't say anything if she did. "Weren't you kind of harsh, Ryuko?"

The remaining blonde had stepped back as well, taking a deep breath of frustration as she leant back against the vending machine. "Whatever. Maybe. It doesn't matter, 'cause it's not like we could've explained what we're gonna do or take her somewhere like that. We just gotta hurry and deal with it."

She… had a point, if only about explaining the Palace. Best case scenario, Ann would be confused and wouldn't believe them. Worst case scenario, she would think they were messing with her on the worst day of her life. Aki couldn't even imagine taking her inside, either. It was risky enough for the three Persona users, so bringing a normal person into a world crawling full of Shadows? Hard pass. Maybe it was for the best that the flashy girl was kept in the dark, as terrible as Aki felt when she remembered Ann's expression. "... No, you're right. The best way to help her is to take care of Kamoshida. Let's get going."

This alley smells awful, Aki noted with a crinkle of her nose as she crouched next to one of the narrow brick walls in order to unzip the bag carrying Morgana. The tall walls were littered with a mess of pipes and gutters the higher you looked up, so chances were the foul odour simply came from whatever ended up getting drained down here. It was too bad that this was the entry and exit point for the Palace, but it did have the benefit of being out of the way of any peering eyes. The cat looked like she noticed the smell too, judging by the way her nose twitched for a few moments before she shook her head, staring up at the two girls. "Now, listen closely. The moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like real phantom thieves, so I hope you're ready."

Ryuko and Aki shared a brief look of confusion. Phantom thieves…? Morgana seemed to pick up on this, continuing to explain. "Our costumes are suited to the name. Elegant ladies who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure- that is what we will become!"

In the middle of thinking about whether or not a cartoonish cat would ever be considered an 'elegant lady', another thought interrupted, Aki's face lighting up with recognition over a certain word. "Oh! You mentioned being a lady thief back when we rescued you from those cells, right? And you said something about phantom thieves when we came back to see those cognitions. Is this something like that?"

"You have a good memory," Morgana swished her tail contentedly. "Lady thieves and phantom thieves are one and the same, but phantom thieves can cover both men and women. It's up to preference, really."

"I'd rather be called a phantom thief for sure," Ryuko piped in, hands stuffed in her jacket pocket. "Lady thief sounds too girly for me."

"A lady thief is especially beautiful and graceful, a truly clever noblewoman," Morgana's ear twitched as her feline smile extended just a bit more. "I guess it makes sense that

wouldn't want to be called it, Ryuko."

"Yeah- wait, what's that supposed to mean?!"

"So when do we go in?" Aki squashed that argument before it could even begin. They really didn't have time to bicker, and she didn't know if she could handle another argument between those two without pulling her damn hair out. "We just have to say the school, Kamoshida's name, and castle, right? Then we should end up in his Palace."

"That's how it worked last time, anyways." Ryuko seemed to have forgotten her anger as she recalled their goal, pulling her hand out of her pocket with phone in hand, looking down at the screen. "How's all this work, anyways? Did someone make it?"

Didn't Igor say something about that once already…? Aki pursed her lips as she tried to recall her peculiar dreams about the long-nosed man and the tiny wardens. He might have, but she couldn't remember clearly, and she felt like complicating things any further with that information right now would make things too confusing and slow the group down. She'd bring it up again when she knew for certain whether or not he'd made it. "I don't know. It doesn't even seem like it's taking up space on my phone- I checked my settings the other day, and it's not even listed."

"That's kinda creepy, but it seems useful enough. Good thing it doesn't take up space, my phone's kinda hurtin' for it right now." Ryuko nodded, seemingly alright with not knowing everything as of yet. Dark brown eyes flitted back down to her phone screen, and the girl's face focused in determination. "Now let's go show that effin' Kamoshida!"

"Let's go!" Morgana nodded as Ryuko opened up her app, and Aki prepared herself for the stomach twisting experience of entering the Palace, bracing herself as the world started to tip and turn purple, entirely unaware of the girl staring into the supposedly isolated alley.

For better or for worse, the castle looked the same as always. As Aki stared up at the imposing turrets amidst the dark sky, she noticed the faint outline of the mask she wore in her peripherals. A quick scan of her own body revealed that she was once again in that peculiar costume. It wasn't bad (she kind of liked it, honestly!), but it still was going to take some getting used to. How could she even run in heeled boots when she'd sprained her ankle trying to walk in those kitten heels back in middle school? Palace magic, probably. She'd go with that until Morgana explained further. Speaking of the devil, a black flash settled into a familiar cartoonish shape as the cat lept onto one of the (former) flowerbeds that now stood as the borderline between normal world and castle. Aki heard Ryuko's excited laugh, looking over to see the costumed blonde staring up at the castle as well. "All right! Time to get to work!"

Opening her mouth to respond, Aki was cut off before she could even begin by a confused shout coming from just the group. "What on earth is this?!"

… She'd heard that voice very, very recently. The three Persona-users spun around to see a panicked Ann Takamaki stumbling in their direction, wide eyed as she jerked her head from side to side, trying to take everything in and failing. "T-Takamaki?! What're you doing here?!" Ryuko sputtered, drawing Ann's attention in her direction.

"Wait, that voice… That fried hair… Sakamoto?!" Ann squeaked in shock, likely not even noticing the way Ryuko huffed indignantly at the hair comment. Baby blue eyes shot over to Aki, looking her up and down. "A-And are you Kurusu-chan?! What's going on?! Where are we?!"

Aki held red gloved hands out in front of her during the barrage of questions, trying to keep the pigtailed girl from panicking any longer. "Takamaki-chan, just calm down! Everything's fine, but-"

"Everything's not fine!" Ann snapped, bringing a hand up to her mouth anxiously as her eyes kept darting around, seemingly unsure on what to take in. "Isn't this the school?! I was just outside that alleyway!"

Morgana's quiet caterwauling from behind her distracted Aki briefly, and she tilted her head to watch as the cat stared ahead, mesmerized by Ann. The feline might as well have had hearts floating around her head for how obvious her attraction was. Coughing briefly to get Morgana's attention back to the situation at hand, Aki almost rolled her eyes as the cat snapped back to reality, tail frizzing out briefly. "I-I see… Perhaps she was dragged in because of that app. If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it stands to reason it'll pull anyone nearby. So if she was outside the alley as she claims, that's how this happened."

Aki mentally kicked herself for not even considering that as a possible risk of using that strange app. Here they were, so gung-ho about the whole changing hearts business that they'd already gotten careless. That didn't seem like it spelt good news for their future. Lowering her voice, she narrowed her eyes as she spoke mostly to herself. "We really need to get her out of here before Kamoshida finds her."

They'd all seen that strange, bikini clad 'cognition' or whatever it had been called. Ann sticking around couldn't be a good idea. However, it seems like hearing the teacher's name had caught the pigtailed girl's attention, even with Aki's low tone. Ann quickly whipped her head to face her, hand coming down from her face and hovering before balling into a fist by her hips. "Wait, is this all related to Kamoshida?!"

Ryuko quickly hopped in, seemingly about as eager to disclose that information as Aki was (which is to say she was more eager to have a tooth pulled. Ann had been through enough today without having to stress about this, and they'd already made a mistake for not realizing she was being pulled in). "Look, you really gotta leave!"

"No!" Ann barked back, a sharp reaction that didn't exactly surprise Aki. There was the sound of shifting behind her, and a somewhat hesitant mewl made its way out of Morgana's mouth.

"Hey, the Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene." As the cat spoke, Ann's eyes drifted from Ryuko to directly behind Aki- and despite being wide with shock to start with, they now closely resembled dinner plates in size as she froze on the feline thief.

"No way! Oh my god, did it just talk?! It's a monster cat…!" The blonde gasped, bringing her hand right back up to cover her mouth again. Had she just not heard Morgana earlier or something? This had to be one massive shock. As the cat made a wounded noise, Ann's face twitched, going from shock to a blend of anger and panic. "What the hell is all this?! I'm not leaving until you two explain what's going on!"

Ryuko hissed, sucking the air through her teeth before turning to Aki and Morgana. "Looks like we gotta force her out… How are we supposed to do this?"

"Take her back to the place we came in. It's how it worked last time, after all." Morgana sounded glum after the 'monster cat' comment, tail drooping and big eyes turned down to the ledge she was standing on.

Aki offered the cat a sympathetic smile before turning her attentions back to Ryuko. "Alright, let's… just pull her out of her, I guess?"

Getting a nod from the skull masked girl, both thieves turned their attention to Ann, who was staring at the two of them in confusion. "What're you doing?" Ryuko offered a quick glance in Aki's direction, and the two stepped forwards and towards the increasingly irritated Ann. "I asked a question! Why are- hey, let go of my arms!"

"God, we gotta be more careful from now on." Ryuko's shoulders sagged as the group stared at the misty point where they'd all but dragged Ann out. Slender she may be, but the pigtailed girl had put up a pretty strong resistance against the two other students.

Morgana sighed, rolling her eyes. Looks like being called a monster cat had really put her in a sour mood. "You should've checked the app you used! I'm just watching, so why do I know more about it than you two?!"

"We don't know how to test it for abnormalities, it just… appeared." Aki offered a weak rebuttal, but even Ryuko seemed frustrated enough to just take the scolding and move on, so she let her voice die out at the end as the blonde started to speak once more.

"Ugh, I can't believe Takamaki found out right when we were startin' off…" Ryuko sighed, reaching up to snake a hand under her mask so she could massage her forehead. "We really gotta deal with this fast!"

"Looks like you're right for once." Ignoring Ryuko's offended glare, Morgana crossed her arms, staring off into the void where Ann had just been forced out. "That girl's name is Ann Takamaki, right? Lady Ann…"

... Why am I not Lady Aki?, the black haired girl very nearly asked with a potent mixture of about ninety percent sarcasm and ten percent offense floating through her mind. What was with this cat and her habit of ignoring the fact that she already had two perfectly pretty (well, Aki at least thought Ryuko was cute once you got past the crappy dye job, but the jury was still out on herself) girls as companions? Though the more Aki thought about it, it was probably for the best that Morgana didn't nickname her something like that- it sounded cheesy. She couldn't even imagine the title 'Lady Ryuko' without wanting to giggle a bit. Her thoughts were pushed on the back burner as the other two Thieves approached the entrance of the castle, Aki following closely behind as they stopped just under the school sign.

Morgana's ears twitched as she leant forwards, staring down the door. "The Shadows have noticed us after all that commotion. We'll need to brace ourselves." Turning around, the cat smiled as she waved a paw towards Aki. "We're counting on you, Joker!"

Aki stood in confusion for a moment before checking behind her to see if Morgana was referring to something there. Unless that flowerbed just past her was both A) named Joker and B) somehow crucial to the mission, Aki really had no idea what the cat was talking about. Ryuko seemed just as confused, tilting her head. "Joker? Is that some kinda nickname?"

Morgana huffed. "Don't refer to it in such a lame way. It's a code name! What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name? And there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace, especially considering that Kamoshida knows you both. It's a safety measure."

That… Made a lot of sense, actually. Aki found herself nodding in sync with Ryuko as the blonde spoke again, asking the same question she was thinking in another moment of harmonious behaviour. "So why's she Joker, then?"

"Because she's our trump card when it comes to fighting strength," Morgana nodded, tail flicking. "Hence, Joker!"

Was she really that strong? Either way, Aki wasn't going to turn down the compliment. "That's not too bad, actually."

"So it's settled, Joker!" The cat tilted her head over to Ryuko, looking her up and down. "Okay, Ryuko. You can be… hm… Thug!"

Aki held a hand up to her mouth to cover her giggles as Ryuko squaked indignantly. "Are you pickin' a fight with me!? I'll choose my own damn codename!" Pursing her lips in thought, the blonde hummed for a moment. "Let's see… For me, it's gotta be this mask. Honestly, I actually kinda like it. What if we named me after this?"

As her giggles subsided, Aki looked over to see the skeletal mask gracing the other girl's face. It was certainly the focal point of her outfit- naming her after it wouldn't be a bad idea at all. "So would something like… I dunno, 'Skull' work?"

Ryuko's eyes lit up from behind the darkened mask, and she pumped her fist victoriously. "Ohhh! That sounds awesome! Yeah, I'm Skull!" Smiling brightly (upon closer inspection, Ryuko's real canines were prominent enough that they suited the sharp fangs of her mask), the blonde looked down at Morgana. "So then it's just this one's code name. Or does she need one when she's not gonna be in danger in the real world from shoutin' her name or whatever?"

"It'd still be nice if we all had code names…" Aki mused, bringing a gloved hand up to stroke her chin pensively. "It makes us feel more like a real team. Maybe we can keep it similar to her name?"

"Yeah, guess you're right." Ryuko, consciously or not, mimicked Aki's chin stroke. "How 'bout… 'Mona'?"

"Well, Joker's going to call orders, so if she thinks it's easiest to call me that, I'll go with it." Morgana nodded, seemingly satisfied enough with her name. "All right. From here on our, we're Joker, Skull, and Mona. We'll need to be absolutely thorough about using those code names from now on!"

"Understood." Aki nodded in return, watching as Ryuko bounced from one foot to another in anticipation. No, wait, back to mentally correct herself- Skull bounced from one foot to another. If she was thinking their real names, what if she shouted it out? If she wanted to keep being seen as a trump card, she needed to be diligent with these sorts of things, even down to her own name. And so, shedding her schoolgirl lifestyle at the castle gates, Joker couldn't hold back a smile as she and her team started off towards the entry point.

It hadn't been a minute in the Palace before the first sign of trouble appeared. Coming out of the room that served as their entry point and turning to the right, Joker skidded to a halt as soon as she saw the huge number of Shadows standing at rapt attention, feeling a light bump followed by an 'oof' noise as Mona ran into the back of her knees. She almost smiled at the sound of Skull's muffled snicker, but the booming voice from in front of her drew her attention, leading her to dart to the leftmost wall, crouching in the shaded corner. Mona and Skull mimicked her position directly opposite to her, eyes trained on the armoured Shadows lined up inside the grand hall. Though the angle meant she couldn't see who was talking, the voice was obvious to everyone- Shadow Kamoshida.

"Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining. However, I cannot allow that trash to ransack my castle any further!" The man's voice, already sounding as if it was layered over itself, only sounded increasingly discordant by the way it boomed off the tall walls of the grand hall. "Strengthen the security! Kill them if you must, but if you can, bring them alive. I have business to take care of with two of them."

"Praise be to Kamoshida!" Joker almost jumped at how loud the Shadows sounded as they called out in unison, banging their shields on the ground. "Find the intruders!"

"Just hearin' him pisses me off," Ryu- No, not Ryuko! Skull, Joker chided herself mentally- Skull hissed angrily from the other side of the doorway. "Hey Mona. Can't we just beat the crap outta him here and call it a day?"

"Look all those soldiers, idiot!" Mona chided her, glancing up harshly. "It'd be suicide. Don't you want him to confess his sins? Beating him up now would only put our whole mission in jeopardy. We need to steal his materialized desires… His Treasure."

Skull huffed, shoulders sagging. "Fiiiiine. Then where's the Treasure?"

"Somewhere within the depths of this castle." The cat's bright blue eyes flickered with interest as the sound of marching came out from the grand hall. Aki peaked her head a bit past the doorway to see that the soldiers and Kamoshida all seemed to be taking the right exit- good for them, as the band of Persona-users were on the left. "They're clearing out, but going that way is too risky. Let's infiltrate this half of the castle while the heavy fighters are over there!"

"Sounds good to me." Joker nodded, getting to her feet and stepping out from the corner as the other two followed her. Let's see, there was a doorway to the left- looks like their route was decided. Wasting no time, she made her way over, stopping only for a moment in front of the aged golden door before pushing it open… And nearly walking right into a Shadow. Biting her tongue to keep from gasping, Joker jumped back, sliding against the wall just right of the door as she heard the Shadow mumble something in confusion.

"Shit, there's one in here too?" Skull muttered from where she was crouched just behind the black haired girl. "Can we go kick its ass?"

"Hm…" Mona's paw rested on Joker's calf as she peeked into the small room. "You know, I think I can teach you something here. When you get in there, knock the Shadow down as soon as you can. Joker, I'm leaving the timing to you."

Knock it down? She could do that. Nodding, Joker briefly took a step back before dashing around the corner, moving to the left before faking the Shadow out by darting right at the last moment, getting it square across the chest with her knife. The creature gurgled in surprise before melting into goo, the two other girls joining Joker at both sides as the Shadow reformed into a small girl, dressed in blue and flitting about on a delicate pair of wings.

"Nice one, Joker! That one's a Beguiling Girl!" Mona swung her sword out in front of her, smiling brightly. "Now listen. When you knock that thing down, you'll be able to communicate with it. Shadows are born from human souls, after all, and they might give you money or items in exchange for their life. Now, get it on the ground!"

"Got it!" Joker grinned, pulling her gun out from her coat and firing twice into the Beguiling Girl. There was a twinge in her wrist, that much was certain, but it was surprisingly easy to fire once you expected the recoil. The Shadow shrieked, spinning out like a helicopter before landing on the carpet. "Okay, everyone! Hold Up!"

Rushing in, the trio surrounded the Shadow, guns drawn and melee weapons at their hips. The Beguiling Girl was completely at their mercy, something she seemed to be acutely aware of as she let out a confused cry. "Ehhh?! You girls are the intruders King Kamoshida was talking about? I at least wanted to be defeated by some cute boys…! Ugh, it can't get any worse than this!"

"If you want to live, give me some money." Jeez, I'm mugging this fairy thing. Maybe the people calling me a delinquent weren't actually that far off. Joker was almost surprised by the authoritative tone she took without even thinking.

Perhaps it came with being a leader, or maybe it was Arsene's influence, but it certainly seemed to work as the Shadow perked up.

"Huh? So you'll let me live if I just give you some money?" The Beguiling Girl paused before her face fell again. "But this happened too suddenly… I don't actually have anything on me right now. I-I usually do, though! You caught me at a bad time!"

"W-What? This isn't how I was planning this to go..." Mona's voice fell, and she let out an annoyed rumbling noise. "Uh… Guess there's nothing we can do about that. I'll teach you about it later. Let's send this one to hell!"

Joker nodded, and Skull let out a triumphant hoot as they started to step back in preparation for an attack- but the Beguiling Girl shrieked, waving her tiny gloved hands in front of her. "W-Wait up, wait up! Can't we work something out? Don't kill me, please! Won't you let me go?"

As the leader, it was her job to act authoritatively, wasn't it? Joker's finger crept closer to the trigger of her pistol as she tried to come up with a sufficiently tough line. "I'll let you go... straight to hell!"

"Ugh, that sounded lame!" The Shadow rolled her eyes (maybe? Hard to tell when she didn't have any pupils) as Joker huffed, insulted. "Was that the best one-liner you could come up with? But I guess I say cheesy stuff like that all the time, so we're not all that different." Pausing, the Beguiling Girl's wing twitched. "Whoa, I feel weird… Something's happening!"

"What the- what on earth's going on?!" Mona yowled in confusion as a strange white light started to form around the Beguiling Girl's outline, rising her back to her fluttering position as she smiled brightly.

"Oh, I remember now!" She sung out. "I don't belong just to King Kamoshida! I'm an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity's souls, not some simple creature. My real name is Pixie! I am thou, thou art I, and from now on, I'll live inside your heart!" The light turned from white to blue, overtaking the Shadow and reforming her into a mask- Joker's mask. On pure instinct, Joker reached out, the mask floating into her hand before merging with the one on her face. As it connected with her skin, a warmth overcame her- a bubbly, sweet sensation filled her mind before mellowing, mixing in with the rest of her. In the reaches of her mind, she heard Arsene chuckle as Pixie giggled, greeting the two of them properly.

"Wh-What the hell was that about?! The enemy just got sucked into Joker's mask! Is it a freakin' vacuum or something?" Skull's surprised shout tugged her out of the recess of her head, and Joker turned to see the girl with wide eyes under the darkness of her mask. She herself was stunned enough to not even comment on the vacuum thing, which said an awful lot.

Mona's tail was frizzed out, and she shook her head in confusion. "I-I have no idea! I wasn't expecting it either…"

"That girl… Pixie, I can feel her with me." Joker murmured, feeling a shift of sorts occur in her mind. "It's like she's-"

"Intruders! Halt!" The group was torn from the puzzling conversation by the angry shout of a Shadow from the doorway. Crap- they'd been snuck up on while they were talking.

"We'll talk later! Let's get ready for a fight!" Mona took an offensive stance, joined in turn by Joker and Skull. "Dirty Two-Horned Beasts, and two of them!"

Did Mona just make these names up? Joker rolled her eyes as the focused in on the horse-like Shadows, the same ones she'd been taken down by before Skull awakened. They did seem like they were covered in some sort of supernatural grime, so the name wasn't exactly inaccurate, but really! Bringing a hand up to her mask, Joker paused for a moment before calling for Arsene. No, there was… Someone else. Someone else was at the forefront of her mind. Before she knew what she was doing, she turned on her heels, tearing the mask off with a flash of blue and calling out a name- "Pixie!" The blue flames surrounded her, though the presence behind her felt significantly softer than Arsene, and a lot more mischievous. Joker smiled as she pointed at the leftmost beast. "Ravish them!"

A spurt of lightning rained down from the ceiling, knocking the first horse to the ground with a pained whinny. "Zio?! W-Wait, was that Skull?!" Mona yelped from her left. Come to think of it- that was Skull's power, wasn't it? The blonde shouted something in return, but Joker didn't hear it over the sound of her second bolt firing down, knocking both Shadows to the ground.

She could really get used to this. Joker grinned- Aki's grin, gleeful and young- as she called for a Hold Up, and as soon as they were in position, stared the beasts down. She could talk to them, but… Wouldn't it be more fun to try something else? Completely on a whim, Joker bent her knees, launching herself backwards in a flip before landing right back on her heels, coat swishing dramatically along with her wild curls as she shouted an order. "Now, All-Out Attack!"

Skull and Mona, for all their shock, didn't miss a beat. A flash of colour, several quick strikes, and the beasts howled as they melted into dust. They'd won, and Pixie giggled from the back of Joker's mind, whispering 'Patra' to her before drifting back into her subconscious. A new skill…? In a repeat of last time, Skull's surprised sputtering pulled Joker back. "H-Hey, Mona! What was that all about?! What did Joker do?!"

Poor Mona- she just seemed more and more frazzled by the second. Her tail was currently puffy enough to use as a featherduster. "Wha- Joker, you just used that enemy as a Persona! You're… You're a Wild Card! I've never seen one before- I honestly thought they were just myths!"

"Wild Card…? This is all good, right?" Coming down from the exhilaration of battle, Aki could now take the time to ponder how goddamn weird this was, even by the standards of the last few days. Leaning against one of the tables, she watched as Mona gradually got her bearings back, tail smoothing out gradually.

"Of course it's good! Wild Cards are those who can hold more than one Persona. See, only one heart exists per person, so normally you're limited to one Persona per heart." Her ears gradually perked back up as she realized the benefits of this. "But you… This is incredible! That's going to give us a huge advantage in battle! Okay, both of you! Let's keep knocking enemies down so Joker can obtain new Personas!"

"I think I got it!" Skull smiled, fist pumping victoriously. "We'll hold every last one of 'em up!"

"So it's decided, then." Feeling a surge of excitement rush through her at the realization of this potential, Joker smiled too, eyes drifting towards the far door they had yet to open. "Come on, we've got a Treasure to steal!"

From where they were now, there was no way they could have sensed someone else entering the Palace...

The prowl, though slow, was going well. Inching their way through what seemed to be a sort of cellar wasn't the easiest task when it was crawling with Shadows, but their wounds were easily patched up by Pixie and Zorro, and Joker had two new Personas to try out- Jack O' Lantern and Bicorn drifted around with the other two, all melting together as she focused back on the real world. It's a good thing they'd found a safe room- her mind needed some time to settle with all these new residents, which wouldn't be the safest of options in the rest of the castle. From beside her on the table where the trio sat, Skull yawned, stretching her arms. "Man, there's even more Shadows here than before. We fought a lot just to get here, and it's- ow!"

"Stop squirming, the cut's closing!" Mona scolded, Zorro's looming figure behind her as she finished casting Dia on the nasty cut on Skull's shoulder, left by a rogue Gallows Flower (Joker really wanted to catch one of those, but no dice as of yet). "And there's only so many because you two are on his mind, and he's been provoked." Dismissing her Persona, Mona hopped up to sit next to the other two. "Still, it's a little weird how on guard he is… Because of that, we shouldn't be hasty. To steal the Treasure, we'll need to secure an infiltration route."

"Infiltration route?" Joker cocked her head, curls falling around her shoulders. Truth be told, she still wasn't entirely clear on the basics of what this 'Treasure' thing was or what they were supposed to do with it.

Luckily for them, Mona had thus proven to be trustworthy and a good source of information about this bizarre alternate world, even if she was a little bit smug with her little grin. "It's a path to the Treasure's location. We need it in order to come back and actually steal it." The grin faded a little, and she sighed, crossing her little arms. "To be honest, though, getting there with just three people will be tough… I believe we can do it, but it'd be nice if we had one more person in the group."

"Wait a minute!" Skull's voice piped in, and Joker tilted her head to see the blonde girl's eyes narrowed as she stared down the cat. "You say you don't have all your memories and whatever, but somehow you still know about all this crazy shit? How the hell did that happen?"

Hearing Mona huff and watching her hackles raise a bit, Joker quickly realized Skull had ran her mouth a bit too much. Speaking up, she waved her hand out in front of her in a casual, ever so slightly dismissive manner. "But that's a great thing for us, right? Those are some really important memories that she's held on to!"

Just as Joker had hoped, Mona's body visibly relaxed as she smiled triumphantly over in Skull's direction. "Nyehehe! It seems you're at least a step above that moron over there."

Well, she'd tried to quell the argument, but it looks like fate just wasn't having it today. Joker sighed, reaching up to scratch the back of her head as Skull huffed angrily. "Hey, don't call me a moron! You talk big, but what if it turns out you're just some stray cat in the end?"

"A stray?!" Mona yowled indignantly. "No way, that can't be it!"

Abruptly, a clunking noise from outside became audible, although the thick doorway muffled the sound somewhat. The heated conversation screeched to a (much welcomed) halt as the clunk grew into words. Someone was walking right by the safe room door, and judging by the echoey tone, it had to be a Shadow. "Now why was the princess in such an odd place? I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…"

"Princess…?" Skull repeated with a healthy dose of wary confusion as she hopped off the table to make for the door, pressing her ear up against it to hear better. Joker and Mona followed, and with everyone so close by, the sound of a second Shadow became clear.

"It doesn't matter now. We'll find the intruders soon enough. We must take her back to King Kamoshida!" With that, the clunking sound (Armour, Joker presumed) picked up pace until it finally vanished with the noise of a closing door.

"When they say princess… Didn't the cognitions in those volleyball uniforms mention princesses?" Joker mused aloud, looking over at the other two Persona-users for any sort of reaction. She got one (in a way) from Mona, who made a humming noise before opening the door and slipping outside.

"Don't you worry, I'll look into this. I'm an expert at stealth, so it'll only be a minute." With that, the cat vanished around the corner, leaving the other two girls alone in the room. Skull sighed, stepping back to sit down on the table again.

"All this 'princess' bullshit is startin' to make me sick. I hate this motherfucker so much." She muttered in irritation, bringing up a leg to rub at her knee idly. Come to think of it, that was the one she always seemed to have trouble bearing too much weight on… Joker realized she'd been staring, though Skull didn't seem to notice as of yet. Clearing her throat, the black-haired girl looked to the side out of politeness, staring idly at a curtain that had a questionably relationship with reality, sometimes phasing into a chalkboard.

"I can't believe you managed to put up with him for so long already. I would have gone crazy trying to deal with him for a year." Joker pursed her lips, stomach curling uncomfortably as she tried to figure out just how many years Kamoshida could have taught at Shujin. How long had he been doing this for…?

Skull shrugged, bringing her leg back down and stretching her arms out. "I kinda did go crazy at one point, so I don't deserve all that much credit. Came back to bite me in the ass, too."

People kept mentioning the blonde in an exceedingly negative light whenever she was brought up, didn't they? Joker had some seemingly disconnected stories from sources of questionable reliability, but she didn't know enough to clearly understand. What exactly had Skull gone through before she showed up…? It really wasn't her business, but-

"We got trouble!" Jesus christ. Joker nearly jumped out of her skin as the door swung back open, a wide eyed Mona all but sliding back into the room. "It's your friend, Lady Ann!"

"Holy crap, that scared me! Talk about fast!" Skull held a hand up to her heart as if recovering from the shock, staying like that for a moment before something seemed to hit her. "Wait, what about Takamaki?"

"She's been captured by Shadows! That hallway we passed earlier with the bars is open- she's being held in there!" Mona waved her arms above her head frantically. Joker's eyes widened- she remembered that hall, the one lined with armour. She'd dismissed it at first, but was Ann in danger…?!

Skull jumped in with the same question Joker was just about to ask as well. "Wait, what the hell? But we sent her home earlier!"

"I don't know how she did it, but the point is that she's here

she's in trouble!" Mona looked no less distressed as time went on. "Come on, we have to go save her!"

"Could she have the app…!?" Joker's eyes widened under her mask at the realization, and she nodded down at Mona. "Right. Let's go!"

"Right behind ya! Dammit, Takamaki, why can't you just stay out of these things…!?" Skull mumbled, pushing herself off the table and joining the other two as they made for the safe room door.

Getting back to the hallway wasn't as easy as they'd hoped. The trio had to fight their way through the same small room they'd come out of, now filled up with guards again. It hadn't been much of a problem either time around, but the second voyage back had the added urgency of knowing Ann was potentially in very serious, very imminent danger, so the fights were by no means invigorating or enjoyable. Wiping some of the dust from the final Shadow off her mask, Joker followed Mona as the cat lead the other two right to the doorway. Inside, a muffled shout from Ann became audible. "Seriously, I'll apologize for touching the armour without permission, okay?! Just let me go!"

"She doesn't even understand what's going on." Morgana shook her head as the trio approached the door. "Joker, come on! We have to save her!" The black haired girl nodded her head, inhaling deeply once before pushing open the door. She expected to be faced with Ann right away, most likely in some state of peril- what she didn't expect was an arching hallway with a collection of female silhouettes sprawled out on either side of the thick red carpet rolled down the middle. Coloured in pink without any sort of facial features, the girls still managed to let out various giggles and moans as they lounged about in their gym shorts, and- wait, gym shorts. That couldn't mean…

"This… Is this what he thinks of the volleyball players who give into him?!" Joker turned her head to see Skull recoil somewhat, fist tightly clenched around the metal pipe she carried with her. Even from underneath the mask, Joker could see the girl's face turn from shock to a hardened anger, gritting her teeth. "There's so many of them… That piece of shit's gonna pay for this!"

"Agreed, but come on, we have to save Takamaki!" Joker nodded firmly, darting forwards down the hall of female figures. They had to focus on Ann before they addressed this particularly sick part of the castle. And if she was being honest? Joker couldn't bear to keep looking at one particular female figure that seemed considerably less enthusiastic than the rest, covering her chest with one hand and the other raised overhead as if she was trying to protect herself from something- one with short, choppy bangs, and hair down to her shoulders. The black haired girl found herself looking away as they passed that one, turning the corner and allowing it to vanish from her line of sight.

What greeted them as soon as they turned, though, was worse than the hallway she'd been so eager to leave. At the far end of the cavernous room, done in shades of deep red and blue, a large cross-like shape was set up like a sick centerpiece and surrounded by Shadow guards. Worse, however, was who was strapped to the large 'X'- Ann, struggling against her bindings fruitlessly as the Shadows loomed over her menacingly. Joker's heart dropped to her stomach when a flash of patterned cape caught her attention. She'd been so distracted by the peril Ann was in that she hadn't even noticed Kamoshida approaching the pigtailed girl- and considering his appearance here, the fact that she'd still missed him originally was saying something about how deeply concerning her classmate's situation was. The blonde herself seemed to be in a similar situation, so distracted by trying to escape that she only seemed to notice the teacher in the middle of yelling at the guards. "Seriously, what's going on?! I'm going to- wait, is that... Kamoshida!?"

"What should we do?" Skull whispered from next to Joker, having frozen right next to her as soon as they'd left the hallway. "Run in there and fight him right now?"

"There's way too many Shadows!" Mona answered the question for her, which was just fine by Joker, considering she didn't have a proper answer. She was vaguely aware that Ann was sputtering about something, but she was too focused on the cat to make out the details. "Come on, back around the corner! We'll… We'll wait until we see an opening or something!"

… Mona's pause didn't inspire much confidence, but the black haired girl simply decided to go along with it- better than running in there and getting everyone killed- and followed the cat back around the corner, Skull tagging just behind her. Peeking just their heads out (something in the back of Joker's mind idly noted how goofy this would look to anyone behind them, but she somehow doubted that the moaning volleyball cognitions cared all that much), it seemed like an awful lot had conspired in the time it took them to move to cover- Cognitive Ann stood beside Kamoshida, the real Ann's jaw nearly on the floor. Shit, they'd really missed a key entrance there.

Kamoshida scoffed, shaking his head. "I can't believe you mistook someone like her for my Ann. A girl like this is nothing more than a simple slave."

"A slave?! What are you talking about?! And you still haven't told me who- no, what the hell that thing is! Why does it look like me?!" Ann's voice cracked midway through, the fear slowly but surely starting to creep into her tone even as she tried to disguise it with anger. "Have you lost your mind…!?"

"It's you who's lost your mind," The Shadow chuckled darkly as he observed the bound girl. "I am the king of this castle. I can do whatever I please in this world of my desires."

"Seriously, this isn't funny at all! I don't know what happened or who these people are," Ann jerked her shoulder roughly in the direction of one of the Shadow guards, "But you need to cut this bullshit short and let me out now, Kamoshida! If you don't, I'm… I'm telling the cops about everything you've done so far! You're going to be fired, you piece of trash!"

Predictably, the speedo-wearing man was unbothered by these threats, simply crossing his arms and watching Ann continue to struggle fruitlessly against her bindings. "Isn't that something? The slave thinks she can take me down. I wonder if her mind would change if she saw the last girl who tried to oppose me?"

There was the sound of high heels clicking from somewhere Joker couldn't place. "She'd realize how pointless it is to fight back."

That voice… it was docile, quiet, and still uncomfortably familiar. Joker could hear Skull choke on a breath next to her. "You gotta be fucking kidding me..."

Gently emerging from behind the curtains lining one side of the room, a different blonde girl slunk into the room. The familiar face made the black haired girl do a double take before the identity of the newcomer became terribly clear- it was Cognitive Ryuko. Despite her features being identical to the real one, Joker had a difficult time making the mental association between the two- for one, the real Ryuko would never have such an empty, defeated look on her face, and she'd certainly never wear a skimpy maid dress like that. Joker felt her stomach churn as the cognition dutifully took her place on the other side of Kamoshida, the man wrapping one arm around her waist and the other around that of Cognitive Ann, who giggled airheadedly and leaned into the man.

The real Ann's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Sakamoto?! You weren't dressed like that before- no, t-that's not important! Get away from him, he's dangerous!"

"I can't do that." Cognitive Ryuko's voice, though technically identical to that of the real Ryuko's, sounded far too meek to be convincing. Even as the lecherous Shadow ran his hand down to rub the girl's rear through the fluffed fabric of the maid dress, her disturbingly empty gaze stayed fixated on Ann. "I was a rebel bested by our King, and as such my freedom is forfeit. Don't you realize the same is true for you? Perhaps you cannot be a princess, but your options are to either serve our Master or be executed."

That was where Joker accidentally allowed her awareness to slip- she was too focused on the revolting scene before her to realize Skull was growling from beside her, and when the blonde shot off like a rocket around the corner, the black haired girl was helpless to stop her. "Wha- Skull, don't!" Realizing her friend was running into certain doom if she went by herself, Joker darted forwards as well, Morgana at her heels, hoping to… she didn't actually know. Catch Skull before Kamoshida noticed her? Create a diversion so she could pull the blonde back to safety? She'd mimicked her teammate's behaviour by running off so rashly, and the girl realized her mistake as every eye in the room shot to the trio, the guards in front of Ann raising their swords and causing the pigtailed girl to yelp in fear. Joker reached out to grab Skull by her jacket collar to stop her from going any further, but it seems like the threat of hurting Ann had given even the furious delinquent second thoughts, as she'd wound up frozen in place.

"One wrong step, and she'll be in pieces," Kamoshida growled as his head snapped towards the trio, his previous smug grin replaced with a tight-lipped scowl. Cognitive Ryuko observed the three blankly, her dead eyes deeply unsettling to Joker. Cognitive Ann gave an overdramatic sigh, draping herself across the man's side and resting her head on his shoulder. Joker could hear Morgana hiss quietly from her left. "What are you rogues doing back here?"

"We're here to kick your ass!" Skull barked, one hand reaching to her back to grab her shotgun before Joker's arm darted out to snatch the blonde's wrist, giving her a tense, warning look. The overeager girl gave a mutter of irritation, eyes flicking briefly to her leader, before continuing her shouting. "You got no right to do this to anyone! Let her go now!"

Kamoshida's angered expression morphed right back into one of amusement, the man snickering at the furious girl before turning his attention back to Cognitive Ryuko, who regarded the trio with a silent, blank gaze as the teacher continued to grope her. "This should be proof enough that I can do whatever I want. This is my realm, and if I want to kill unwanted pests, I have all the right to. Speaking of which…" The man's golden stare turned to the Shadows guarding the petrified Ann. "Go ahead and take care of that imposter. She's not worth the trouble to break."

"Wait, no!" Skull's anger had morphed into sudden fear, the group abruptly realizing that their focus on Kamoshida had allowed for another guard to slip in the room unnoticed, this one in shining bronze armour and wielding a much larger (much sharper) blade. If they tried rushing in on three strong enemies with the Palace owner right there, there was no doubt they'd be mowed down without any contest. Joker's panicked mind tried to run through as many possibilities as she could as the guards got into position, each one proving to be infeasible. What could they do here…? In desperation, she looked over to Ann.

The pigtailed girl's head was slouched, the fear on her face having since given way to despair (not unlike the way her eyes had looked as she stepped into the ambulance with Shiho, the thief noted with a painful twinge in her chest). Her voice came out warbled. "This… This is just my punishment for what happened to Shiho, isn't it? If I had just given in, then maybe…" From where she was standing, Joker could see Ann's eyes starting to water, the blonde's lip trembling as the reality of her probable death starting to sink in. "I deserve this… Shiho, I'm so sorry…"

… That was enough. Joker- no, it had to be Aki now, she wasn't the clever thief she'd hoped she could be in this situation- couldn't just stand there like a fool and watch an innocent girl blame herself for something that wasn't her fault even as she was killed. "Ann, don't you dare let him do this! Are you going to roll over and give this bastard what he wants!? That isn't the girl I've seen you be!" Stepping forwards, Aki allowed her yell to echo throughout the cavernous room. "He's going to get away with what he did to Shiho if you let him do this! Are you going to die, or are you going to bring him to justice?!"

"Huh…?" The blonde twitched as the other girl finished shouting. Aki never knew if she was saying the right thing in times like this. But as Ann's gaze slowly turned to the black haired girl, a switch seemed to flip- a spark that had so badly wanted to be an inferno had just been doused in gasoline. "... You're right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me… With the people I care about…" The girl chuckled ruefully, teary eyes hardening as she raised her head up to face the guards. "I've been such an idiot."

"It's just like I always say." Kamoshida's layered voice pierced the scene once again, as unpleasant and irritating as always. "Slaves should just behave and-"

"Shut the hell up."

Seemingly everyone in the room took a double take when they realized that came from Ann. The pigtailed girl was seething, her teeth clenched as she stared Kamoshida in the eye. "I'm not going to put up with this any longer." Was Aki imagining that flicker of orange and red behind Ann's eyes? "You've PISSED ME OFF, you son of a bitch!"

The flicker burst into a flame.

My… It's taken far too long.

Aki realized she wasn't the only one who could hear that sudden voice as she heard Ryuko gasp from her side. Ann yelped in pain, drawing the black haired girl's attention again as she watched the girl thrash violently against her bindings. Her eyes were wide- and golden. An awakening.

Tell me... Who is going to avenge her if you don't? The voice, sultry and smooth, continued on even as Ann shrieked, and twisted, fruitlessly trying to contort her body in any way that might relieve the unbelievable pain in her head. Forgiving him was never the option. Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within.

It couldn't just be Aki- the room was definitely getting hotter, like she was standing next to an open flame. Ann's screams as she threw her weight in any direction she could were chilling, but that did nothing to dispel the heat. If anything, it just kept growing. Now, hear your inner truth. I am thou, thou art I. We can finally forge a contract... With a final shriek, the girl yanked her body back against the cross before slouching down, drool dripping down her chin as her yellow eyes glowed, her warbled voice still sounding loud and clear to the Persona-users. "I hear you… Carmen…"

And just like that, her head shot up straight, blue flame encircling her face before forming into a red, catlike mask that displayed a furious gaze underneath. "You're right! No more holding back." Aki could see Kamoshida take a step back out of the corner of her eye, the sultry voice continuing to echo in her mind. There you go. Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. In a single motion, Ann's wrists broke through the cuffs holding her to the cross, followed quickly by her ankles. Stumbling to the floor, the girl steadied herself on her feet as her hand fumbled for her mask. Fingers wrapping around one ear for a better grasping point, the girl cried out in pain as she started to tear, a trickle of blood pouring from her face and onto her uniform. If you understand, then I'll gladly lend you my strength.

With a final scream that shook the room, Ann tore the mask off, and she was encased in blue flame.

The first thing to come into sight was the towering, pink figure. The huge, curvaceous being was decked out in a red and black flamenco dress, her waist covered in roses leading up to a deeply plunging neckline and a mouth holding a large cigar. Dragging two heart-headed butlers along on leashes of thorns, the Persona rested a heeled foot atop one of them as it turned to observe the room, huge black twin drills bouncing as enormous yellow and blue eyes looked out through a black cat mask.

Speaking of cat masks, Ann had transformed as well. The girl was standing below her Persona, decked out in a tight red catsuit with tall red boots. Aki might have narrowed in on the large cutout in the chest had this been any other situation, but given the way Ann was rushing to the side and kicking the sword right out of the gauntlet of a stunned Shadow, there was a lot more to notice. Leaping up and grabbing the sword in midair, the blonde girl brought it down directly on Cognitive Ann, who melted into dust directly in front of the horrified Kamoshida. Cognitive Ryuko was nowhere in sight, but judging by the sudden yelp and the identical wave of black dust that Aki- no, Joker again, she'd regained that title- saw Skull standing over with her weapon drawn as the Wild Card turned to check on her teammate, the maid had met a similar fate.

Turning her attention back to Ann, the girl was glaring at Kamoshida, who looked just about ready to piss himself as the blonde dropped the sword and approached. "You know what? I'm not just some cheap girl you can toy with, you scumbag."

"B-Bitch!" The teacher could hardly muster up any words, coming up with a lazy comment as he backed away in fear, the large bronze Shadow stepping in front of the King to protect the cowardly ruler. Ann showed no fear, and as Joker turned to give a simple nod to her teammates, Skull and Mona joined her as the trio ran to support the pigtailed girl from behind.

As a team of four, they looked immensely more intimidating, and as Ann drew her true weapon- a bright red whip, apparently- and held it at the ready, Joker did the same, gloves closing around her dagger as the other girl spoke. "You piece of trash. You stole everything from Shiho… You destroyed her… And now it's your turn!" Raising a pink gloved hand up, Ann pointed directly at Kamoshida. "I will rob you of everything!"

"How dare you! Enough of your insolence!" The bronze Shadow roared in anger, hitting its sword against the ground as it bubbled into black and red before transforming into… a demon on a toilet? Huh. Still not the weirdest thing Joker had seen today, and she was far too focused on the coming battle to fully acknowledge how strange it looked.

Ann didn't seem all too bothered by the way it looked, simply scoffing and entering a battle stance. "You know what? I've had enough of you!" Giving a quick glance to the other Persona users at her sides, Joker gave her a confident smile which was quickly returned in part. Turning back to the Shadow, Ann paused for just a moment, staring down the sorry excuse for an educator hiding behind the creature before focusing back on the battle. "No one's gonna stop me now! Let's go, Carmen!"

That was cue enough. The quartet rushed in, Joker opening by unloading a clip into the Shadow, who roared in anger. "You insolent lasses, you should know your place under King Kamoshida!"

"Don't make me laugh! I know I'm not bowing to that creep for one more minute!" Ann snapped, Carmen lighting up behind her as she threw a blast of fire ('Agi', Joker could recall from her Jack O' Lantern) into the creature. That satisfying ping echoed around the room as the Shadow roared, falling to the ground with a clatter as the porcelain made contact with the floor. Ann was slightly behind as the girls rushed in for a Hold Up, but she seemed to figure it out quickly, standing right in between Joker and Mona as she followed their lead in holding up her gun- a submachine gun, she was pretty certain.

The Shadow groaned in anger, and opened its' jaw to speak, but if she was being perfectly honest? Joker had heard enough from the inhabitants of this castle already. Time to tear this place up. "Ann, just follow our lead!" Calling out to the pigtailed girl, Joker allowed the rush of energy hit her, cheerfully propelling herself backwards and up to initiate the chaotic beating of the All-Out Attack.

It was over in a flash, a single Shadow weak to fire no use against the combined power of four Persona users, one of whom seemed to specialize in that element. The adrenaline starting to come down, Joker was brushing the dust off of her skirt when a movement in the corner caught her eye. Turning her head, she looked just in time to see a terrified Kamoshida escape around the corner. Judging by the way she stumbled after him, falling to one knee in her attempt, Ann had noticed him too. "Get back here, you bastard…!"

As the trio approached the fallen girl, Mona was the first to her side, worryingly looking over the girl. Skull, however, was the first to speak, sounding a mix of baffled and irritated. "Holy crap, Takamaki, how the hell did you get here in the first place?! And

did you think it was a good idea to come back?!"

Yeah, Joker was quickly learning that her new friend sometimes had her priorities out of whack (though she was willing to forgive the irritation in her voice under the assumption that the girl was still angry over her Cognition). Mona narrowed her eyes at Skull, huffing before speaking in an outraged tone. "Is that how you speak to such a lovely girl?!" Her voice did a complete 180 as she turned to Ann, resting her paw on the girl's knee. "Lady Ann, are you hurt? Do you need anything? Just say the word and-"

"Wait, 'Lady Ann'?" The pigtailed girl interrupted the cat, staring her down with a mix of confusion and bewilderment. "Okay, seriously, is this alive? Is it a doll or something? And- wait, that's not what's important here!" Placing one hand on Mona's head to steady herself and get back onto her feet, Ann ignored the cat's distressed yowl at being ignored to look at the other two girls. "Where are we? What's…. What is all this?"

It was hard to blame her for being distressed, really, and Joker had opened her mouth in preparation to explain things to the best of her ability before Ann looked down at herself and yelped, stopping the black haired girl before she could even begin. "Wait, I have one of these weird outfits too?! When on earth did I put this on?"

When you compared all three outfits, Ann's was certainly the…

of the three. Joker spoke up (before the blonde could say anything else, this time) in the hopes of quelling any potential worries. "We don't really know why we get these costumes, but I think yours looks nice, Takamaki-chan."

"I mean, I do like it, it's just… weird. Everything about this whole situation is weird!" Releasing the tail, Ann turned back to Mona, giving the cat a befuddled stare. "And you! Nobody told me what you are! Seriously, can someone just-"

"Christ, we're never getting outta here at this rate," Skull sighed, rubbing her face under the mask. "'Course all this shit has to happen just when I was gettin' fired up, too! Guess we gotta go now, don't we?"

"Cut her some slack, she's clearly exhausted!" Mona snapped, leaping in between the two blondes in a way that was so unnecessarily dramatic that Joker almost laughed. "But you're at least right about one thing- a search party is no doubt on their way. We need to get going, and quick."

Yeah, a fight while having to protect an exhausted Ann didn't sound super appealing right now. "Then we shouldn't waste any time." Stepping forwards, Joker approached Ann, offering out an arm. "I know this is a lot to take in, but we really, really have to get going. We'll explain as soon as we're out."

The station had been chosen as the resting spot simply because it was far enough away from the school to not allow for anyone who might matter to listen in, though nobody seemed to have accounted for the noise level. Aki's ears had only adjusted to the increased volume of the underground walkway in time to hear the end of Ann and Ryuji's discussion about drinks. How did they adjust so fast? Maybe they were just used to it as Tokyo kids. Considering how long she'd be stuck in this city, the bespectacled girl pondered as she mumbled a quick thanks to Ryuko handing her a drink, she'd better get used to it fast.

Feeling a nudge from next to her ribs, Aki shifted her arm to allow Morgana to poke her head out of the bag. Did anyone care that she was carrying a cat here? Were pets even allowed? "Hey, Ryuko, why didn't you get me one?"

"Huh?" The boisterous girl cocked her head in confusion, crossing her arms. "You're a cat, and these are carbonated drinks."

"Are they ever…" Ann mumbled in a notably disappointed tone of voice, though perhaps she was just tired. As the blonde cracked the seal on her bottle, she looked over at the creature in Aki's bag, a small smile forming on her face. "Morgana, isn't it? It feels strange to be talking to a cat… Wait, but you said you aren't a cat earlier, right? Sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's only natural to be confused after what you've been through today." Either not noticing or completely ignoring Ryuko's incredulous look, Morgana responded to Ann with a notable pep in her voice. "Are you feeling a bit better now?"

"I mean, since you explained most of this on the way over, I do feel way less lost," Ann took a sip of her drink, face scrunching up a bit. Guess she didn't care much for Manta? "Even so, it's just a lot to take in. My power… will it actually let me fight in that other world?"

"As far as I understand, yep." Following Ann's lead, Aki took a sip of her drink, almost making the exact same expression as the blonde. Oof, she was getting too old for 1UP's violent sugar kick. "That will help us enact the change of heart we mentioned."

Ann hummed quietly, fingernails drumming the plastic bottle in a slow rhythm. "So if we do that, he'll confess all of his crimes? Something like that… are we seriously capable of it?"

Ryuko spoke up this time, stuffing her hands in her pockets and tapping her foot. She seemed to do that when she was irritated or anxious about something. "Well, the volleyball team's been keepin' quiet about this, and parents and teachers are turnin' a blind eye all for the sake of the school's reputation. And if girls like us- 'specially me or Aki- try and complain? We won't get anywhere, and things are only gonna get worse for the girls on the team. This is the only chance we have to change things, so we gotta go in full speed ahead."

The pigtailed girl was silent for a moment before turning to Ryuko, a hardened determination in her eyes. Her hand tightened around the bottle, causing a bit of the liquid inside to slosh out, but she didn't seem to notice (and probably wouldn't have cared if she did). "Then I'm helping too. He's acting like nothing happened… I'll never forgive Kamoshida for what he did to Shiho. He deserves to go down."

"Then we're on the same page." Ryuko nodded, tilting her head to face the black haired girl. "Yo, Aki. Do we let her in?"

"Definitely." Aki nodded vigorously. "I wouldn't feel right just leaving you out of this, Takamaki-chan. You deserve your revenge."

"And we need the extra manpower, to be frank." Morgana shuffled around in the bag, wrestling her front paws out so she wasn't just a talking head any longer. "Don't worry, Lady Ann, I'll be sure to protect you?"

"Aren't you sweet?" Giggling lightly at the cat's declaration, Ann turned to Ryuko with a soft smile. "I mean, even if I wasn't joining you three, I'd absolutely be going in by myself. I hope we all get along. And…"

Her smile dissipated, a serious look forming over her beautiful face. Aki could have sworn she'd seen that fire again. "I promise Kamoshida is going to atone for what he did. Not just for Shiho's sake, but for the sake of every girl he's ever hurt. Nobody else is going to suffer at his hand while I'm around."

Was this the same girl that had been crying in frustration in a Big Bang Burger just days ago? Ann's newfound determination struck a chord with Aki, and the black haired girl couldn't help but allow her lips to curve up into a smile. They weren't as different as she'd originally thought, and just as she began to ponder how she could show her own resolve, a voice she'd heard a couple times already (but that she had yet to get used to) echoed in the back of her mind…

I am thou, thou art I… Thou has acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity…

With the birth of the Lovers Persona, I have obtained the wings of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…

"Kurusu, you have to pay attention."

Aki's blurred vision slowly returned to normal as Sae's words pulled her out of her daze for a moment. She raised an eyebrow before hissing in pain as the motion tugged on bruised skin above her eye. "... What were you saying?"

The prosectuor exhaled in frustration. "I said that I doubt acts as dangerous as the ones your group performed could be pulled off using orthodox methods. It wouldn't be odd if you had someone that was proficient in deceiving the eyes of others."

A pregnant silence filled the room as Aki allowed her head to slouch. Sae narrowed her eyes. "... If you're listening, then answer me!"

Wow. Would she ever actually get used to that happening? Aki hoped so, but she had her doubts. Luckily, she didn't seem to have missed much, as Ann was still looking at her with determination- though her hard face had softened somewhat as she returned the black haired girl's smile. "Just let me know when you guys are heading back in, okay?" She paused briefly, eyes lighting up after a beat. "Ah, wait! We don't have each other's contact information. Can we exchange numbers?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course." Rustling Morgana slightly as she reached for her phone, the three human girls held out their cellphones, plugging the new numbers and Chat IDs in. "I'll be sure to send you a message as soon as we're heading in, Takamaki-chan."

"Just call me Ann. We're teammates now, right? No need for all those formalities." Putting her phone back in her jacket pocket (how she and Ryuko got away with blatant dress code violations continued to mystify Aki), Ann smiled brightly.

Aki wouldn't admit it, but she'd been hoping the blonde would say something of the sort. Breaking down the barrier of first names created a trust she wanted to have with her team. "If that's the case, then please call me Aki, Ann."

"And call me Ryuko!" The resident tomboy chimed in with a wave.

"Morgana is just fine by me!"

"She was gonna call you that no matter what, moron. You don't have a last name!"

"Wha- just shut up, stupid!"

Watching the bickering break out between Ryuko and the cat, Ann giggled a little, turning her gaze to Aki. "Is it usually like this?"

"Yep." The black haired girl laughed, giving Morgana's bag a little shake to tear her out of the argument so that the two combative Persona users would pay attention. "We'll be counting on you from now on."

"And I'll do the same of you three!" Nodding, a few plesantries were exchanged among the quartet before Ann had to head off to catch her train, giving Morgana a little scratch behind the ears before heading off. Watching the girl go, the cat audibly sighed.

"Such a kind and considerate girl… She's so terribly brave to fight for others like that. That's a graceful woman we should all aim to become one day!" Caterwauling, Morgana could not clearly be more lovestruck.

"Jesus, dude." Rolling her eyes, Ryuko turned her head to Aki. "Anyways, should we all have some sort of meeting place for when we go into the Palace? Might save us some time if we don't gotta determine a new gathering point each time we get ready to kick some ass."

"That's not a bad idea, actually." Aki hummed, thinking it over. "... Oh! The school roof is off limits, but we can still get up there, right? It might be a private enough place for us to meet."

"An excellent idea!" Morgana shifted in the bag, turning around before all but leaping up to place her front paws on Aki's shoulder so she could get a better view. Ignoring the black haired girl's concerned mumblings about whether or not she should be so out in the open, the cat continued on. "It doesn't seem like many people go up there. And by the way, I can't contact you inside of a Palace, so I'll stay in the outside world for now. That being said, I'll need a place to stay, so…" Aki made a decidedly ungraceful 'oof' sound as Morgana used a paw to tap her in the back of the neck. "I'll stay with you!"

"Wha- hey, I'm not exactly living a free life at the moment!" The black haired girl blindly threw up the arm that wasn't holding an open soda to try and combat the unwanted taps, only to get her hand batted around in turn. She could hear Ryuko muffle a laugh as the worst battle ever continued. "My probation officer might not let you stay!"

Seemingly still stifling a laugh, the blonde girl still let out a slight snicker despite her best efforts. "Ehehe. Still, my house ain't that big, and my mom's allergic to cats, so you may be the best option."

"C'mon, Aki! It's the least you can do to repay me for training you!" Morgana finally got a good grip on the bespectacled girl's hand, only to lose it when Aki decided that the claws were apparently too much and yanked it away.

"Ugh, fine." Stuffing her slightly scratched hand in her pocket, Aki sighed. "Then you can stay with me. So I guess I'll just need to text you whenever we're gonna meet up, Ryuko?"

"I'll leave the times to you. I'm generally pretty free after school." The blonde shifted her school bag (why'd she wear it like a backpack? One of many mysteries about Ryuko Sakamoto), and looked as if she was prepared to leave before pausing. "... Hey, Aki? There's something I wanted to mention back in the Palace."

The black haired girl had been finishing up the last of the 1UP, though she paused mid sip when the other girl made her inquiry. "Hm? What is it?"

"... Those lines you used with the fairy thing were super lame." Flashing a toothy smile, Ryuko flashed an 'L' hand symbol on her forehead before turning on her heels and darting in the opposite direction. "Later!"

"Wha- get back here, you jerk!" Completely forgetting her train was the other way, Aki started off after the teasing blonde, Morgana yowling as she held on for dear life.

Yay, a new friend! Who is also blonde! Oh boy is this ever gonna make my narration confusing.

- It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do with Cognitive Ryuko. I knew she wouldn't be in a bikini like Cognitive Ann- Kamoshida doesn't see her as a 'princess', after all- but it was actually really hard for me to come up with something that both accurately conveyed how Kamoshida looked at her without making it seem like I was somehow fetishizing it (remember how I said a few chapters back that I don't like needlessly sexualizing genderbent characters? That made this tricky). I eventually settled on a maid dress, perverted without being outright obscene, and hopefully showing how Kamoshida sees Ryuko- he doesn't lust after her because of her looks, but rather enjoys the "challenge" of getting this angry, rebellious girl in a situation where he feels she has no choice but to submit. He likes the power he has over her, rather than liking her. Kamoshida is an awful person, and considering the way he relishes in his control over the volleyball team… Well, you get the picture. I'm saying this here just because I'm not very confident in my ability to make things clear in-story, so I want my intentions to at least be obvious here if I failed to make them that way in the text.

- I noticed people saying I copy-paste from canon a bit too much, and honestly, that's very valid and correct! I think I was really nervous about changing stuff too much at the risk of coming off as saying that Every Little Change I make is a result of the characters being female. But since I've gained more confidence, I'm trying to write more original content and change scenes up so it's not such a slog. That's just my quick disclaimer: not all changes I will make are because I assume gender would instantly change it! Sometimes I'll edit things because A) I have issues with how canon treated it, B) I want to be more original and make the story enjoyable for people who've played P5, and C) sometimes it's just fun to write new stuff! So I'm gonna be working on writing more of my own text from now on. Thank you so much for the criticism, I really do appreciate it- it helps make this story better!

- It made me so damn mad to read the P5 artbook and realize Ann was made to be uncomfortable in her outfit because "it would be cute" to put her in something embarrassing that she doesn't like, so [Final Pam voice] I take a hammer and FIX the canon.

Anyways, I think that's all I have for notes! Thank you all so, SO much for being patient with me while I was ill. I will try to come up with a more consistent update schedule from this point onwards, but I can't gurantee anything. Thank you for reading, leave a comment if you'd like, and I'll see you again soon!

... And listen, if you don't like the story, that's fine and valid! But when I'm told I'm copypasting AND somehow still making the characters too whiny... Well, maybe it's something else that's suddenly making you perceive these characters as whiny. I'm sure you know what I mean. Either way, thank you all for reading!