Futaba zoomed Necronomicon into a headlong dive, knowing she'd never make it in time.

"Panther, dodge!" she screamed over the Thieves' voice link.

Ann tried to twist out of the way, but the Shadow swung the blow to match. Futaba wanted to shut her eyes, but couldn't tear them away. Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

A blur of yellow cloth and blue light streaked to meet the cruel slash of the jagged limb.

Ann yelped, collapsed onto her rear, and shielded her face with her arms as a Persona caught the blow in both hands. Futaba's jaw dropped as the muscular, banana-yellow Persona stood firm under the force of the strike. As a short-haired girl in a yellow-orange kung-fu uniform craned over Ann, another flash of blue streaked past and resolved into a second Persona, this one vaguely frog-like in an undeniably ungainly way, which severed the leg in a single blow. The severed portion bubbled into sludge in the yellow Persona's hands as the stump of the leg flailed backwards, the monstrous Shadow hissing in agony. Its malformed head spat half-intelligible invective.

A long-haired woman in gauzy silks and a man in something approximating a superhero costume ran to join the kung-fu girl as she checked Ann for injuries. Based on their clothes, all had to be Persona users. Futaba ruthlessly suppressed any twinges of jealousy at the man's outfit. Goggles were cool too, she reminded herself.

Inari and Mona leapt forward to press home the opening the newcomers had created. The rest of the Thieves stared on in surprise as the short-haired girl hauled Ann back to her feet.

"Be careful, okay?" the girl said. "That thing almost got you."

While hardly an expert on the niceties of social interaction, even Futaba could tell that Ann seemed lost for words. Fortunately, that's why they had Joker.

"Don't take this the wrong way," he said, "but who exactly are you?"

"Oh!" the kung-fu girl said. "I'm Ch-" Her voice abruptly cut off as the man elbowed her in the ribs. She whirled on him and hissed a rejoinder under her breath. Futaba snickered. They could whisper all they want, but it wouldn't get past Necronomicon. She tuned in.

"What the hell, Yosuke?!"

"We've all got masks for a reason!" he said with a furtive glance in the Phantom Thieves' general direction. For some reason, his gaze lingered on Necronomicon in particular. "Don't just give out our names!"

"Jeez, don't be such a jerk about it!"

The silk-clad woman pushed in between them. Her face split into a beaming smile as she spoke to Joker.

"We fight Shadows too," she said. "We can work out the details later, 'kay? We're here to help."

Ryuji shrugged.

"You don't hafta tell me twice," he said. "Let's go kick this creep's ass."

Skull always had such a blunt way of putting things.

"What are your abilities?" Makoto asked. "If we're going to fight as a team, we'll need to know what you can do."

The silken girl spoke up first.

"I do support and navigation," she said. As Futaba hovered closer, the girl somehow locked eyes with her straight through Necronomicon. "Don't worry, I won't step on your navigator's toes," she said with a wink.

Futaba already disliked her.

The woman gestured at her companions.

"She's got an ice persona, and his uses wind. We've been doing this for a while, so don't worry about us."

"As you say," Makoto said. "Let's get to it."

As she'd somehow missed a vital issue, Futaba opened a public commlink.

"Codenames!" she said. "You guys don't have any, so I'm gonna give you some. You're Kung-Fu, you're Masquerade, and you're Captain. Done!" She cut the channel. The sentai-looking man twitched at the mention of his codename, but stayed silent behind his mask. Futaba shrugged. Not her problem.

Joker nodded in Futaba's direction. She could have sworn she saw his lips quirk into the ghost of a smirk. Hers, she didn't bother to hide.

With a wave of his hand and a whoosh of his cape, Joker spun on his heel and faced the monster. As he did, the air behind him exploded into the elegant form of Arsene. Makoto, Ann, and Ryuji fell in behind him, while Kung-Fu and Captain stood together, slightly off to the side.

"We'll follow your lead," Captain said to Joker, who nodded in return. Masquerade hung back and cupped her hands, forming a receptacle for a blue tarot card which dropped into them and burst apart. A Persona appeared behind Masquerade, a slender, tall figure with feminine curves and an antenna array which rotated in place of a head. Okay, an antenna might look well-suited to navigation, but Futaba knew Necronomicon was still way cooler.

A dozen meters away, the Izaya monster-thing swept a blow into Yusuke's stomach. He folded over the arm like a hinge. With a disdainful glare and a derisive cackle, the monster effortlessly flicked Yusuke into the air. He tumbled end-over-end before slamming into the stained wood of the game board and skidding to an ungainly halt in front of Joker. Futaba winced. Even Inari didn't deserve that.

Once more, Kung-Fu was there to help a Phantom Thief to their feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "That looked like a nasty hit."

Yusuke blinked his eyes open. His nod, when it came, was somewhat strained. Johanna roared into existence under Makoto and bathed Yusuke in healing light.

Morgana leapt back to join them. "Whoever you guys are, make sure to stay on your toes. This Shadow is strong!"

Futaba saw Masquerade's lips moving, most likely in a private message to her friends, and spliced into the channel.

"So theirs is a cat, huh?" Masquerade said.

"If it makes a meow pun, I'm taking Jiraya and leaving," Captain said.

"His name is Mona," Futaba said. "He's very touchy about cat stuff, so don't call him one!"

"Hey, no eavesdropping!" Masquerade said. "This is private!"

Futaba felt Masquerade sever her splice into the conversation. Some people had no manners.

"Let's take him," Joker said, and charged.

Futaba could tell the fight wasn't going well.

At first, it had seemed like the addition of the mysterious new group of Persona users would be enough to overpower Shadow Izaya and win the day. If anything, however, his ferocity had redoubled to meet the reinforcements. To make matters worse, he'd also begun to summon allies, bogging the Thieves down in waves of relentless foes.

Skull and Kung-Fu had been cut off from the others by a teeming gaggle of Shadows. These Shadows wore human form, appearing as youths toting knives and lengths of steel pipe. Some wore scraps of blue or yellow cloth fastened around one arm or tied over their forehead, while other sported no colors at all.

Sparks flew as Skull clashed pipes with one of the Shadow thugs, then beat him down to the ground with a brutal backhand. Behind him, Kung-Fu moved like a tornado given human form. With at least a dozen thugs strewn in her wake, she wove through blows from three opponents in turn, sweeping their legs or catching them in the solar plexus with whirlwind kicks. For every Shadow who went down, however, two more seemed to take their place, and the beleaguered duo were swept further and further away from their allies.

On the other side of the surging press, Fox parried a keenly-aimed thrust from a teenaged girl in a school uniform. The girl's innocuous appearance belied her vicious competence with her blade, which seemed to slice the air itself in twain as she lashed out once more. Her blade caught on Fox's with a harsh rasp. Though he had met the blow, he yielded a step in the process, lurching back as he blocked. Without missing a beat, the schoolgirl flowed into her next attack. Her irises glowed a lambent yellow.

The rest of the Thieves and their new allies remained locked in mortal combat with Shadow Izaya himself. They were flagging, however, while Izaya's reservoirs of energy seemed infinite. Captain barely twisted out of the way of a blow he'd have dodged effortlessly ten minutes ago, with his Persona's riposte swatted away by another arachnid arm.

Izaya laughed, all eight of the eyes on his distorted face fixed firmly on Joker. Futaba flinched at the sight. This guy was way more gruesome than anything she'd seen in her Palace.

"You're finished!" the Shadow cackled, its voice echoing as though speaking from multiple mouths. "You imbeciles really thought you could stop me from loving humanity? What a joke!"

Panther, Mona, and Queen stood besides Joker as Isis burst forth and unleashed a torrent of flame. Carmen added her strength to the fire, while the others called up another shower of healing magic.

The fire hurtled against Izaya, then dissipated with no evident effect on the monstrosity. Futaba's heart sank. How were they possibly going to win? He was just too strong.

"Now, die, you worthless scum!" he howled. Grasping tendrils of sickly red energy erupted from the ground and rushed for the five facing him down. Futaba pounded Necronomicon's console in frustration as she registered the strength of the attack. Dammit, she had to be able to do something. She watched on in mute horror as the tendrils crested over the group like a looming tidal wave, ready to sweep them all away.

"No!" came a shout from the rear. Futaba whirled to see Masquerade glowing with power. Golden light from her Persona suffused the game board with warmth.

A glowing simulacrum of Masquerade shone into view before the party and raised her hands against the wave, erecting a shield of brilliant golden energy. As Futaba looked on in awe, the blood-red wave dashed itself against the barrier with futile rage and faded away into the ether, followed by the image of Masquerade.

Masquerade herself slumped first to one knee, then to both, her Persona gone. Whatever she had done, she didn't seem able to do it again.

The Shadow of Izaya snarled. "That won't change a thing, you brats!"

This was it, Futaba realized. They had to bring him down now or never, while they still had energy left to fight. She opened a commlink to everyone.

"I'm gonna give you guys all the buffs I've got left, so make it count!" she said. "You better not wipe!"

She darted Necronomicon high into the air over the battlefield, punching every button within her reach on the console. Her eyelids drooped and her limbs grew heavy as her energy flowed out of her body and into her Persona. Multicolored lights of every description strobed forth from Necronomicon's underbelly and bathed all of her friends and allies, transferring Futaba's energy to them.

As Futaba's eyelids sagged, so did Necronomicon. It tilted into a dive, flickered, then vanished entirely along with her last reserves of energy just a few feet from the ground. Futaba slammed into the wooden floor shoulder-first and tumbled to a stop a meter and a half away.

"Ow…" she groaned, trying to ignore the throbbing pain as she forced her deadened limbs to prop her up on one elbow. Before her, the Thieves and Captain unleashed their final assault on Izaya.

The air crackled with energy as their attacks flared out to meet him. The ferocious blows hammered him back first one step, then another. Despite their force, however, he remained on his feet.

"This isn't enough!" Makoto said, as the Shadow laughed and forced its way forward once more. Futaba felt tears welling up behind her eyes. Her first heist, and she'd failed them. She'd never find out the truth behind her mom's death.

Suddenly, an unearthly whinny echoed through the air. Despite the yells of the Shadows and the mad laughter of Izaya himself, the whinny chilled Futaba straight to the bone, as though an unseen spirit had whispered it directly into her ear.

Izaya's head whipped around to confront the whinny's source.

"You!" he snarled. Futaba flopped herself over to her other elbow, and witnessed the Black Rider itself tear across the game board, no more than a meter or two from her face.

Vines of inky-black darkness surged from the Rider's motorcycle and wrapped themselves around the limbs of Izaya's Shadow, stringing him in a web between a stack of human-sized shogi pieces and a colossal ivory chess castle. As the Rider shot past the web and curved around behind it, a ripple of darkness in its right hand shot out into a tremendous scythe, its wickedly-curved edge gleaming midnight-black in the red glow of Carmen's flames.

As the Shadow hissed and writhed in an attempt to tear free from the web, the very ground itself rumbled with a bellow of unrestrained primal fury.

"IZAAAAAAYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A tall man with bleach-blond hair stormed across the room towards them, raging as he went. His blond hair wasn't what most shocked Futaba, though, nor even the immaculately-pressed bartender outfit he wore.

No, what was most shocking was the fifteen-foot-tall, onyx-black chess king that he carried in both hands with no more apparent effort than Futaba might have expended lifting a book.

The man hefted the chess piece like a colossal lance.

"I'll send you straight to hell, you bastard!" he roared, and charged.

The Phantom Thieves scattered out of the bartender's way as he sprinted into a flying leap and rammed the razor-sharp angled crucifix at the head of the piece through the Shadow's chest, like driving a telephone pole-sized stake through the heart of the world's largest vampire.

As Futaba's mind made a gallant effort to process the events of the last thirty seconds, the Shadow howled in agony, then fell limp as a rag in the Black Rider's web. The Rider circled back around the web, and glided to a stop at the bartender's side without so much as a noise. Their web retracted from the Shadow and shot back into the black leather of the Rider's suit. As its support vanished, the Shadow sagged to the ground, its body beginning to spark with consuming embers of white light.

With the Shadow's defeat, the allies which it had summoned rippled back into the air, disappearing without a trace. As Inari, Skull, and Kung-Fu sprinted back towards the group, Masquerade rushed up and knelt at Futaba's side.

"Hey, are you okay?" Masquerade asked.

"C'mon, help me up already!" Futaba said.

After a few moments of fussing and a surprisingly strong grip, Masquerade had Futaba back on her feet, and the two of them hobbled over to the rest of the group. As they went, Masquerade's gaze seemed fixed on the Rider.

"Celty?" she murmured.

The Thieves and Masquerade's friends stood clustered together, with the bartender and the Black Rider off to one side. Between them, the last remnants of Izaya's shadow disappeared in sparkling effervescence. Where it had once stood, there now lay a small wooden game board, a normal-sized version of the sprawling monstrosity on which they now stood. Joker quickly stooped and snatched up the Treasure.

"The hell's going on here?" the bartender asked. He cast a dubious glare at the group over his sunglasses.

"It's…tough to explain," Queen said.

"Don't give me that crap," he said with a growl. "I'm not stupid, so explain."

The visceral crunch of splintering wood filled the air. Futaba looked down. A jagged crack had rent the game board at her feet.

Oh, right. That.

"Guys!" she said.

"Huh?" Masquerade said, staring at the crack. "Uh, should that be happening?"

Queen quailed under the bartender's glower.

"We're sorry, but there's a lot-"

The crack splintered further.

"That totally shouldn't be happening, right?" Masquerade said.

"GUYS!" Futaba yelled. "Run!"

The rest of them noticed the crack all at once. Or, maybe they just noticed that the floor had begun to rumble. Or both.

"Mona!" Joker said.

Mona blanched. "I can't carry this many people!" he said.

"Hold on, he's going to carry people?" Captain said. "How is he going to carry people? And why is the floor shaking?"

"I'm not going anywhere with you freaks," the bartender said. He crossed his arms. "Not without an explanation first, anyways."

The rumbling grew louder. Futaba didn't need Necronomicon to tell her that Palace collapse was imminent.

"All of you, quiet!" Queen said. Her eyes flashed. "We need to get out of here, now. Whoever you are, ride out with your friend. You can get an explanation after. Mona, I'll get out on Johanna. You carry everyone else. Now move!"

Mona gulped. "Roger, Queen!" he said. Smoke billowed, and the Mona-van leapt into existence. Kung-Fu and Captain windmilled backwards in surprise, nearly toppling over. The floor now shook so badly that Futaba could barely stand, even with Masquerade's support.

The bartender opened his mouth to object further.

"MOVE!" Queen snapped.

With another whinny from the bike, the Rider hoisted the bartender onto the bike behind it and zoomed away. Johanna flared into existence beneath Queen, and she tore off in pursuit as Skull, Panther, and Inari piled into the Mona-van. After a moment's hesitation, Kung-Fu and Captain followed.

Joker strode over to them and transferred Futaba's arm from Masquerade's shoulder to his. "Nice work, Oracle," he said. "Time to go."

"Get me outta here!" she said.

Masquerade swung herself up through the Mona-van's rear doors, which swung shut behind her. Joker helped Futaba through the side door. She squished onto the middle seat next to Captain.

"Out of the way!" she said.

Joker leapt into the driver's seat and gripped the wheel.

"Hold on, everyone!" came Mona's disembodied voice from the seat beneath them.

Captain grimaced. "This is so wrong," he said.

Joker floored the gas as chunks of the Palace walls tumbled to the ground all around them.