Joker looked around. While the boys on the terrace were facing them, they could aim downwards and keep her own team out of the firing arc. She switched stances, falling back to absorb the recoil from her pistol instinctively. "OPEN FIRE!" It took a moment for the others to pull out their firearms and start shooting, but it seemed to be effective. Angel wasn't been able to follow along - her own weapon, a spear, was simply too big for her to handle a sidearm. Thus, she summoned up Norea and shouted "Begone!" Kamoshida recoiled further while light shone down from somewhere above.

By the time Joker's magazine was empty and Queen was dumping out her cylinder, the giant Kamoshida monster was bleeding all over. Joker smirked, reaching into her belt pouch for her final magazine. She almost missed it as her giant opponent stuck his fork into the cup and pulled out a girl's legs, still flailing about, and ate it. "Ugh. Just when I thought you couldn't get any more disgusting…" But then her revulsion turned to abject horror as the bullet wounds closed. Her jaw dropped open, and she was so surprised when the creature's tongue lashed out at her that she was only barely able to roll with the blow, landing against the wall behind her covered in slime. Queen tried to strike at the appendage on its' way back into Kamoshida's mouth in retribution, but missed.

Morgana had better luck, taking his slingshot and launching several pellets at the giant crown. "Give me that Treasure!" he shouted.

Kamoshida just laughed. "You want something valuable, cat?"

"I'M NOT A CAT!" Morgana yowled. Kamoshida took advantage of the momentary distraction to stab at him with his gilded knife, forcing him to dodge away from Skull. The follow-up consisted of the chained slaves pelting Skull with a number of high spikes.

Skull roared in pain. "Whip'im, Persona!" Captain Kidd responded, sailing through the air past Kamoshida's head and ringing his bell, seemingly literally, with an anchor swung around like a giant flail. "Aww yeah!"

"Dammit…" Kamoshida groaned. Queen and Joker tried to follow up the distraction, but were thwarted by Kamoshida's other two arms pushing them back.

Joker backflipped on her own out of the way of the clumsy strike with a curse - literally. "Adler, take him!" The demonic Persona appeared right behind the equally demonic gym teacher, whispering blasphemous words in his ear. He waved his knife at the beast, but it was seemingly too late...until he swallowed the contents of his wine glass, then ate another pair of legs from the goblet hiding his crotch. "Dammit!"

"Joker!" Queen called out as Kamoshida spat the two Cognition girls back out into his wine goblet. "We can't let him keep doing that!"

Queen couldn't quite tell what Joker's expression was behind her mask, but the meaning was all too plain a moment later when she said "If anyone has any ideas!"

"ZORRO!" Morgana called on his Persona, trying to conjure up gale force winds. Kamoshida hunched over the goblet protectively in reply, Angel stabbed at his arms while Morgana and Zorro increased the intensity, but Kamoshida just tightened down. Angel was about to try again when the tiny slaves started pelting her with volleyballs. Joker pulled out her knife again, moving up behind the creatures until she was almost on top of them, but Kamoshida's tongue slurped through Angel. The force was enough to knock Angel across the room, into Joker, and send them both slamming up against the pillar, completely stunned. Johanna appeared, and both of the girls almost knocked silly were surrounded in the blue light of Cherenkov radiation. The slaves backed away from the two in fear.

However, Morgana couldn't keep it up. As the wind died, Kamoshida pulled himself back up to his normal height. "That all you got, you little sneak thieves?!" He shouted while Ann and Shiho's voices began shouting "Go-Go-Ka-Mo-Shi-Da!" Then, while the Phantom Thieves readied for another assault, he lifted the goblet containing his 'meal" in one awkward hand holding the golden knife while the other pulled out another pair of girl's legs and, the legs kicking the whole way, devoured it.


Kamoshida had managed to stumble into his car despite the incredible pain in his head. He pulled out some light pain killers and tried to dry-swallow them, but choked. He reached for his phone next, but it kept slipping out of his hand.

The next few minutes passed like that, until suddenly he heard a knocking at his car window. Opening his eyes, his current boss seemed to swim in front of him, the sound of muffled yelling reminding him that he was inside the car. He opened the door. "Are you alright, Kamoshida-sensei."

Kamoshida groaned. It was worse than the hangover from the party after the Olympics…"I'll...I'll be all right. Stupid Amamiya pulled some kinda prank…"

"I'll have him in jail by morning." Kabayokawa said. "Whatever he did…"

"NO!" Kamoshida roared suddenly, causing the other man to take a step away from him in shock. "No...that's too good for her, for allofem." He winced at the sound of his own voice. "Sakamoto, Takamaki, Suzui, and. . . and Niijima. All five of'em."

"But...but…" Kabayokawa moaned.

Kamoshida grinned, or at least he pulled his lips back from his teeth in a rictus. "Give me an emergency assembly in the morning. I'll take care of it."

"But..Kamoshida-sensei, that isn't…" Kabayokawa was about to protest that that wasn't the proper procedure...but really, it wouldn't be that bad.


Kamoshida's laugh was quickly becoming the most annoying sound Joker had ever heard. Rei frowned, and mentally counted their ammo. We're running low...crap, we need a distraction. She glanced around, then up at Morganna. He's still got enough, but if this doesn't work...Another glance, this time to Queen, and she marked the hand Queen gave her a quizzical look in return, but nodded. Please, Morgana, take advantage of this… she thought.

Queen nodded her acknowledgment, then began to circle around left. The riding crop was on the opposite side of her immediate target, or rather what she hoped Morgana would see and go for. Queen saw the gesture, then indicated the target with another slight gesture of her head. Joker nodded.

"No use playing smart. Ya can't win, kids." Kamoshida's shout was punctuated by another hail of volleyballs from the 'slaves' at his feet, which seemed to appear only when needed or they would be in much worse trouble.

Queen considered. Currently, Kamoshida's attention was on them, but that could change any second. To get to the arm without getting hit….she realized there was no way to do it without getting hit. She gave Joker a panicked look. In return, Joker looked pained but nodded. Angel saw the interchange and shook her own head. Then, suddenly, Angel was charging forward. Queen shouted her dismay, even while Norea appeared, her arms around Angel in a protective gesture while the Thief leaped up onto Kamoshida's arm. When she got there, she dropped her spear and just wrapped legs and arms around the offending limb. Kamoshida began shaking her. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

Joker cursed, and ran out herself. "ANGEL! CATCH!" Joker's dagger flew through the air, handle first. Angel, somehow, caught the knife and reared back. The knife stabbed home, and Kamoshida screamed, raising his wineglass almost up to the level of the balcony.

A sound rang out through the hall. Not only Morgana, but also Skull began putting everything they had into the wine glass. It sounded like a bell being struck by a machine gun. The glass wobbled, warped, and then shattered, dumping the two Cognitions inside to the floor. "NO!" Kamoshida snarled, swiping at the veranda with the remains of the wine glass and his knife.

Joker rolled forward, taking up Angel's spear and twirling it around. Kamoshida tried to swat her aside, but Angel stabbed his arm again. Joker finally took advantage of the distraction, leaping right over the goblet sitting on the floor, bouncing off Kamoshida's chest, and using the butt end of the spear to knock the goblet down. She rolled as she landed. Angel came back down to earth as well, and Queen ran back out of the way as well.

Then the two Cognitions stood up. Morgana shouted "Something's not right!" Ann had a pair of Pom-Poms, and Shiho had a volleyball and a wicked smile.

Joker sighed. "If I have any more bright ideas, feel free to smack me."


Ann swallowed as another pair of guards went by, crouched at the base of one of the lewd statues.. She whispered "Okay, seriously, how come they don't see us?"

Common cognition, 'Rei' answered. You look like a ninja, so as long as you make some kind of token effort to hide we're basically invisible. One of those stupid camo T-shirts with 'You Can't See Me' on it would probably work the same way on some of the weaker ones. There was a long pause. You didn't understand that at all, did you? Just look around, will you? I need to see where we are. Ann did so. Okay, we're almost there. I just hope we're not too late.

"Too late for what?" Ann murmured, creeping onto a nearby elevator.

There was a snort. You should know, given the fake Ann running around. He got tired of waiting in the real world and took it out on me. Well, the other me, I can't go into the real world.

"He's that out of control?" Ann asked as she began to rise far beyond the roof of the castle.

You bet, Rei replied. If I hadn't come along, it would probably have been Shiho-chan. That...had been a mistake. Ann felt an axe split her skull, from the inside. She grabbed at her temples, falling all the way to her knees. Golden eyes opened briefly. Crap, crap, crap. Not yet. Ann, listen to me. Put Shiho-chan out of your mind. I know it's difficult, but you could kill me, Rei, and yourself, and what use would you be to her then?

Don't listen to this intruder, another voice said, almost seductive. She worked with the enemy.

'Rei's' voice countered Do you know your way around? No? Then go all primeval once we get there!

"Nnnnnngh!" Ann curled up on herself, trying to resist the urge to slam her head against the floor.

'Rei' was starting to get desperate. Look, I know I don't belong here. I'm not your Shadow. But if we split now, I won't have the strength to keep you hidden or either of us safe. Bottle it up a little longer… Her mental voice lowered conspiratorially, as if speaking directly to the third voice. It'll be all the more explosive when you finally take out the cork.

After an eternity Ann finally felt the pain of a continual explosion pushing out from her brain recede, all too slowly. Her blue eyes opened again, and she managed to look around. "What...what the…"

You're fine for now, Rei said. We need to hurry. Can you walk?

"I...I think so."


Angel was finding the two Cognitions extremely distracting for some reason. Their cheers for Kamoshida seemed to contrast with their barely-clad bodies in a way that was like one of those anime that aired well after the watershed. Not that she would admit to ever watching those, except maybe to try to fall back asleep late at night.

There was also the problem of her weapon. While Joker seemed to have no issues with the spear, she had never learned how to fight and Norea hadn't imparted any knife techniques to her the same way she had learned the basics of the spear from her Persona. So, while Joker kept the demonic Kamoshida off their backs and Queen made sure to stay inside the range of Shiho's own counterpart to prevent her from circling them and attacking with the ball, Angel found herself face-to-face with Ann.

This job was more important than it looked. Every time Angel let up, 'Ann' began cheering and the wounds on all of their opponents would slowly close. It seemed that Joker's clever plan had just replaced one problem with a far more serious one.

So Angel continued slashing wildly at the copy of her childhood friend, hoping against hope for a lucky hit. Soon enough, she spotted the opening, and started to lash out, but then 'Ann' winked at her. "So, you're like, totally hoping to get His Majesty too, huh?"

Angel growled. "I've got no interest in spreading my legs for that gross, disgusting - "

"Ohhhh." Ann said again. "I get it, you're one of those. Well, I may be a slut, but, like, a lezzie? No way."

Joker shouted. "It's not real Angel!" She parried two attempts by Kamoshida to get through her defenses with the oversized fork. "Don't bother talking!"

Ann smirked when Angel missed her again. "Can't do it, can ya? Not a piece of ass this hot." The cognition gestured to herself. "Wanna make out with me? Well, too bad, I already have a boyfriend, and I don't need to make him all hot and bothered for me…"

Angel ripped off her mask. "Norea, smite her." The cognition's eyes widened as the angel-like Persona suddenly loomed over her, Angel herself sniffing dismissively. A light shone down from nowhere, slamming the cognition into the ground. When the light stopped, it was smoking lightly, almost comically. Shiho sniffed. "You. Are not. Ann."


Ann felt another throb in her skull as she leaned up against the last pillar. She knew it was the last pillar because she felt the remains of her Shujin uniform fall back into place around her while 'Rei' appeared next to her. "This is my stop."

"Huh?"

Rei sighed. "Takamaki, you're on the edge of a brain aneurysm as it is. I told you that what we just did isn't natural. My other self is on the other side of this door. You want to help her, you're on your own from here."

"What do you keep talking about, your 'other self'?" Ann asked, feeling her headache start to recede. Rei reached into her pouch and pulled out a bottled juice, which Ann took and gratefully gulped down. "Thanks."

"No problem." Rei said. "Okay, this is almost exactly wrong but it's probably the only way you're going to get any understanding. You realize you're in the Metaverse, a world that reflects the entirety of the human mental condition, right?" When Ann made a soft noise that Rei took to mean agreement, she continued. "Well, this is Kamoshida's Palace, where his True Self grew powerful enough to warp the entire school into his personal playground. But this isn't the whole of the Metaverse. You can think of it as a layer cake, maybe? Or. . . well, maybe more like a train station, that goes down infinitely. There's a mirror of Tokyo outside the castle, for the most part, with some other people's Palaces breaking things up. That's because all but the most twisted people agree on what 'Tokyo' is."

"Well...okay. I'm not sure I get it, but close enough." Ann agreed. "But what does that have to do with there being two of you."

"There's two of everyone," Rei said. "Me, you, Ryuji, Shiho-san, Mako-chan. It's just that most of us aren't so disconnected that we make Palaces. At least, there should be. Tokyo's been weirdly deserted ever since I got here. Of course, that was about the time - never mind, no time for that now. The point is, this is who I am, regardless of what the physical world wants, yes?"

Ann scrunched her nose. "So...you're…."

Rei sighed. "Should have figured a human wouldn't get it. Or maybe I'm just no good at explaining. Anyway, the point is, if you want to help you're going to have to find that voice that nearly killed us again on your own." Rei smirked. "I would suggest listening at the door. I'm okay, so I'll watch the stairs just to be sure no one surprises you….but Kamoshida's busy."


Queen realized her mistake as soon as she'd made it, but it was too late. The flash of light from Norea had pulled her attention away from the other Shiho for a critical moment, and turned to see the blue-clad Cogntion leaping up to spike the first volleyball into her face. Except it didn't stop with the first. Every time she tried to slip around, Kamoshida noticed and shot a tongue out over Joker's shoulder. "Joker! OW!" That latter followed from another blow, which came from several more that followed from Shiho, far too quickly to be natural. "A little help here!"

Unfortunately, Joker found herself occupied trying to fight a four-limbed giant. Sure, she was holding her own despite the distraction of having to do this while said giant was revoltingly naked, but it was taking all of her attention. Each parry with Angel's spear took a small toll on the weapon as well, and Joker took one step back, and then another. Realizing there was no help coming from that quarter, Queen looked to Angel.

The situation there was no better. Angel was still standing, but it was obviously only through sheer willpower. The Ann cognition had to be really stupid to think Angel had another blast like the first in her. The boys weren't in much better shape - from their spot on the balcony, they hadn't been able to conserve ammunition or the reserve to call on their Personas any further. And Joker had all the supplies that might have remedied the situation - poor planning on their part.

Finally, one last volleyball forced Queen to her knees. She cried out. Joker looked over, and Kamoshida's tongue lashed out and flung the team leader into Queen, sending them both tumbling. Unable to stay standing any longer, Angel finally fell to one knee herself, knife still held at Ann's throat.

"Heh heh heh…" Kamoshida's ominous chuckle echoed through the hall. "See? You never had a chance. Give up now, and maybe you'll still have a place in my world."

Joker slowly lifted up her mask and tried to spit in Kamoshida's eye.

"Have it your way….but first...I think I'm in the mood for the real article…" Kamoshida's eyes went to Angel. "Come here, Suzui." Angel didn't move. "I said, COME HERE!"


Ann heard Rei's screaming, followed by one that chilled her. Shiho!

But when she tried to open the door, Rei was already there and caught her wrist. "I know you're not this stupid. My other self wouldn't put up with this much of an idiot."

"But Shiho - "

"Won't be helped by a normal human charging in and getting turned into the bimbo you seem to be determined to act like. I told you before, find that voice in your heart. That's your Shadow. Then convince it to help." Another scream, higher-pitched and outraged as well as terrified. "That shouldn't be hard."

Ann squeezed her eyes shut, trying to drown out the screams for a moment. No, that's the wrong approach. The third voice talked to me when I thought about her. Why not now?

I thought you were too good for my help. The other voice said.

Ann smiled. There you are. And that was just about the guide. We'll take care of her after the bastard in the next room.

Are you sure? Aren't you just restraining yourself?

Ann felt the pain return, but grinned ferally. Her eyes glowed. Just until the right moment.

In that case...I will lend you my power.

"One…" Ann struggled to her feet. "One more second, I want him to see this." She kicked open the door, her foot slamming onto the ground. There, she saw the giant Kamoshida holding Shiho, wearing the same costume as outside, by one leg while he leered at her and drooled. "STOP!" She screamed, her voice suddenly distorted. "You BASTARD! I can't believe I let this go on so long!"

"Well, well, all of the jewels of my crown in one place." Kamoshida growled out in what he probably thought was a seductive way, although the situation and distortion just made it a mixture of terrifying and pathetic. "You'll have to wait your turn though."

Ann started to convulse, but her voice was clear. "I'm finished with waiting for someone else to take care of you. CARMEN!" Flame surrounded her. Her outfit dissolved, forming a skin-tight red catsuit that, even moreso than Joker and Queen, left absolutely nothing to the imagination. The tail trailing behind her twitched as if it were alive, and a whip appeared in her hand. Behind her, a Flamenco dancer, with two men with what looked like large chocolate or jewelry boxes for heads, were led around by collars. "I AM THOU! THOU ART I!" the pair said together. "We will end this in FIRE!"

The flames filled the hall. But what really surprised Joker was that the warmth filled, rather than consumed, her. She stood up easily now. Queen, Skull, and Morgana were similarly pulling themselves up. Angel was behind them, having fallen to the floor when Kamoshida dropped her.

Kamoshida hadn't fared nearly so well. He had taken several….well, scoots back and was looking at Ann in alarm. "How...how many kids like you are there?"

Ann smiled. "It doesn't matter. It only takes one more, and I'm it."

Joker grinned, sure they had him. Then Kamoshida snapped his fingers. She tossed the spear in her hands back to Angel.

Queen saw it too, a giant volleyball being brought out by slaves. "Get ready, he's going to counter-attack!"

"Yeah. I was hoping to save this for the guys up there, but I guess I'll have to show you my kill shot." His smile turned from lustful to simply bloodthirsty. "As in, I'll make the kill."

The slaves tossed the ball into the air. The girls all covered their faces with their arms, not incidentally to prevent from having to look up while the four-armed monstrosity jumped and exposed its' crotch. However, someone was paying more attention. On the balcony, Morgana carefully timed his shot. "ZORRO!" The Persona appeared and filled the hall with a howling gale. It was aimed, not at Kamoshida, but at his projectile. With the ball tossed casually off-course, Kamoshida missed and stumbled to the ground.

The girls took advantage and rushed in. Blows and magic rained down on Kamoshida from all sides. Light blinding him, fire burning his long forked tongue. Joker recovered her knife and threw it, hard, into Kamoshida's spiking hand before Adler sliced the other open with a kick. From there, they just whaled on him, Joker even resorting to her bare hands and feet until she managed a jump into range of her knife, which she ripped out of the giant hand with no sense of gentleness.

But it was while Kamoshida was recovering from the brutal assault that Skull leaped across the hall, knocking the crown off his head. It shone as it flew, shrunk down to normal size, and fell right into Ann's hands. "Aww yeah! You guys were awesome!" He shouted at them from the floor.

"Nooo...noooooo….my...my precious…." Kamoshida babbled, his form already starting to shrink. Joker reached for her gun and realized that Ann's fire had even refilled the bullets. She drew a bead on Kamoshida's head. "No...no...it's all right," he said, sounding utterly defeated. "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"What I…" Rei ripped off her mask. "What I wanted? What is wrong with you?" Everyone except Kamoshida took a step back. "How can someone purporting to be a human being be this blind?" She pulled out her pistol and leveled it at the former King of the Palace.

"Just...go ahead and do it. I go down, and so does my real self." Kamoshida said. "You're finished when you lose, right? That's your right. Hell, isn't it even part of that stupid 'budo' code you Karate types preach about?"

Rei cocked the hammer. "Normally? Not at all. I told you, I've been fighting all my life. When you lose, you get ready for the next battle. Sometimes, you have to take the consequences first. But as long as you keep living, you can keep fighting." She steadied her grip on the pistol. "But…"

Ann snorted, gripping the crown more tightly. "This guy doesn't deserve your pity."

Queen nodded. "We know he's too dangerous and too connected in the real world. I don't like it, but this may be our only chance."

Angel winced. "He's touched every girl and beat down every boy in the volleyball club, and a few others besides….but...should we kill him in cold blood?"

Morgana sighed. "It's your call, Joker. He hurt you more than any of us."

Rei pulled the trigger.

For a moment, no one moved. Then they all realized the bullet hadn't hit Kamoshida at all, but instead buried itself in the stone right between his legs. She was silent for a long moment. "Wait...does that mean you forgive me?"

"No." Rei said. "But I'm not the only one involved. If you just die, no one knows what happened and there's no chance for anyone to do better. It's even possible the next teacher will see you got away with it and be even worse."

"Then...what do you want?"

"I...I want to not have almost been raped." Rei said. "I want to just be me. But...you can't do that."

"...you're right. I apologize...to you...to everyone." Kamoshida finally said. "I'll return to my real self. Come to school tomorrow morning. You won't be disappointed."

With that, he vanished. Rei holstered the pistol less than casually. Skull quietly squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, so….man. You sure about this?"

Rei sighed. "No."

The castle picked that moment to begin rocking. Morgana shrieked. "Bloody hell! This place is about to collapse! We've got to get out of here!"

They ran. With no more Shadows, there was nothing to contend with but falling rock, barely an obstacle to those with the power of Phantom Thieves. When Morgana turned back into a cat, Queen just scooped him up on Johana, and the same when Skull's knee gave out, not even giving him time to hit the ground. She could have zoomed on ahead, completely safe, but she stopped at each intersection to make sure the runners were still behind her. Eventually, they reached a window overlooking Shujin's courtyard. Joker, now masked again, growled. "Dammit….anime time." Everyone stared as she charged at the window and jumped out of it, falling over twenty meters to the ground.

When she stood up and waved, they sighed in relief and followed. Just in time, because the castle vanished behind them, replaced with the Metaverse equivalent of Shujin. "Woohoo!" Angel shouted. "We did it! How did you know that would work, Joker?!"

"Hunch."

There was a clapping sound, and a second voice almost identical to Rei's called out "Oh, bravo, bravo! That was amazing!" They all turned to stare as she stepped out from the front gate. Instead of a ninja outfit or even the Shujin uniform, instead she was just wearing a plain, public-school sailor-style uniform with a modest length skirt. But her hair was down over golden eyes, hiding them for a moment before she looked up. "What's everyone looking at?"

Queen recovered first. "Morgana? I thought she was a cognition."

"...no, I'm sensing...but how...someone with a Persona can't have a Shadow." Morgana said, his jaw dropping open completely. "It's just not possible."

"It is, with the Wild Card." The other Rei said. "...oh, completely forgot, there's something I'm supposed to say here." Everyone was completely nonplussed as the other Rei said loudly "Come on, turn around, it doesn't work if you can see me come in…"

"What are you, five?" Ann poked Joker lightly in the rib while they turned around.

Joker sighed. "Whatever…"

Then the other Rei's voice lowered menacingly. "*Ahem*….I am a Shadow...the true self."