In front of Kamoshida's Palace…
After Akira, Ryuji, Morgana and Minato entered the world of Kamoshida with the use of the Metaverse Navigator on their phones (and their uniforms promptly change to their alternate outfits), they then look around the area for any signs of enemies, saw none and they turned to glance at each other.
"All right! Time to bust on through!" said Ryuji excitedly to both Akira and Morgana, who nodded in unison to him while Minato glance in silence at him.
"What is this!?" yell Ann in shock suddenly from nearby them (which make them flinch and gasped in surprise) before they turned to glance at Ann just as she approach and stopped in front of them.
"T-Takamaki!?" sputtered Ryuji.
"What the? How did she get in here?" said Akira in a disbelief tone of voice.
"Oh man. Could it be that she's standing nearby us without us noticing her before we uses the app to went into this other realm and she got dragged in somehow?" thought Minato with a shake of his head.
"You thought correctly, Minato." said Pharos.
"Those voices… Sakamoto!? Kurusu!? And… are you Arisato-senpai!?" said Ann as she glance even more in shock at them and their outfits.
"Wh-Wh-Why are you here!?" demanded Ryuji.
"How should I know!?" Ann snapped back at him before she look around at their surroundings. "What's going on? Hey, where are we…!? Isn't this the school!?" asked Ann in disbelief to them (while Morgana stared at her with a dreamy look on his face which both Akira and Minato noticed with unimpressed looks on their faces).
"Hey, earth to Morgana. Snap out of it now." said Akira as he raised his hand then snap his fingers in front of Morgana to snap him out of it and he did.
"O-Oh, sorry about that, Akira." said Morgana apologetically to Akira before he glance at him, Ryuji and Minato. "I see. Perhaps she was dragged in because of the app thing. If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it stands to reason that it'll pull anyone nearby into it." explained Morgana.
"For real…?" said Ryuji.
"Looks like it." said Akira.
"He's saying the same words that crossed my mind a few seconds ago." thought Minato.
"Wait, so THIS is related to Kamoshida!?" asked Ann as she glance at them again after she's done in looking around the area.
"That is none of your concern, Takamaki-san. You need to leave now. This place is dangerous." Akira warned Ann softly.
"No, I refused!" snapped Ann firmly to Akira.
"Be quiet. The Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene." said Morgana sternly to Ann.
"No way! It talked!? Oh my god, it's a monster cat…!" babbled Ann as she flinch and had a freak-out look on her face as she glance at Morgana.
"Monster…?" said Morgana as he gaped and widened his eyes in shock at Ann for calling him a monster cat.
"Pfft." snorted Minato with an amused look on his face when he heard what Ann just call Morgana.
"Poor Morgana. Being call a talking monster cat by a pretty girl like her." said Pharos in amusement as well.
"You three better explain to me what's going on! I won't leave until you three do!" demanded Ann as she glared at them (which make them sighed in unison before they glance at each other, at a brief loss on what to do with Ann).
"What are we going to do about her now, Kurusu, Morgana and Arisato-san? Should we tell her?" asked Ryuji.
"No, we shouldn't, Sakamoto-kun. There's no need for her to know even though she's being dragged into this world because of us. One or two of us need to force her out somehow, whether she like it or not." replied Akira firmly to Ryuji.
"Fine, Kurusu. I guess senpai and I'll force her out. But… how're we supposed to do that? And ideas, Morgana?" asked Ryuji confusingly to Morgana.
"Just take her back the way we came in. That's how it worked last time, right?" replied Morgana as he shrugged his shoulders to Ryuji.
"O-Oh yeah." said Ryuji in surprise to Morgana before he glance at Minato. "Can you lend me a hand, senpai?" asked Ryuji.
"Hold on, you two. I feel a little bad about forcing Takamaki-san out. Also, now that she's somehow been dragged into this world because of us, don't you two think that she at least deserves to know about it? She has just as much reason to hate Kamoshida as we do." Minato pointed out to them.
"You may be right and she do deserves to know about it but even so, we still can't, Arisato-san." said Akira as he shake his head at Minato. "Now please, you two better hurry up and get her out of here. Or else we won't be able to deal with Kamoshida." added Akira firmly to them both and they nodded to him before they glance at Ann.
"What're you-" Ann began saying to them.
"We're sorry, Takamaki-san." said Minato apologetically to Ann.
"We'll explain after everything's over, Takamaki!" said Ryuji, cutting off Ann's words before he and Minato approach and grabbed hold of her arms and they dragged her (which make her instantly protesting and struggling to free her arms from their grips to no avail) toward the other end of the drawbridge, pushed her out of the Metaverse world before they turned around and walked back to Akira and Morgana.
"We better be careful from now on when we use that app…" said Ryuji.
"You should have check the tools you used! Why do I-the one who was just watching- know more about it than you two!?" snapped Morgana as he jumped and glared at Akira, Ryuji and Minato.
"Sorry about that, Morgana. We'll be careful next time." said Minato apologetically to Morgana.
"Sh-Shuddup!" said Ryuji as he look away in embarrassment.
"All right, all of you. Calm down now." said Akira calmly as he raised his hands to placated them. "Now that Takamaki-san's gone, we can get back to focusing on the Palace."
"Yeah, we know. Geez, Takamaki found out right when we were startin' off… We gotta deal with this fast!" said Ryuji.
"That girl's name is Ann Takamaki, right?" asked Morgana as he crossed his arms.
"Yeah, that's right." replied Akira.
"Lady Ann… a very pretty girl…" muttered Morgana dreamily under his breath before he shake his head to snap out of it again and they turned to glance and staked out near the drawbridge of the castle.
"The Shadows have noticed us. You three better brace yourselves, got it?" warned Morgana firmly to them and they nodded to him before he glance at Akira. "We're counting on you, Joker!" added Morgana to Akira as he jumped a little.
"Joker? That a nickname?" asked Ryuji as he, Minato and Akira frowned in confusion at Morgana.
"Uh, I don't think what he called Kurusu-kun is a nickname, Sakamoto-kun." said Minato.
"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!? I'm not down for that!" complain Morgana as he shake his head in slight anger at Ryuji. "And there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace… It's just a precaution." added Morgana.
"I see. That does sound safe and you've made your point, Morgana." said Akira as he nodded in understanding and agreement to Morgana.
"Why, thank you, A… I mean, Joker." Morgana corrected himself as he smiled at him.
"So, why's he Joker?" asked Ryuji.
"Because he's our trump card when it comes to fighting strength." replied Morgana.
"Joker, huh? Not bad at all." said Akira with a confident smirk on his face.
"It's settled then!" said Morgana before he glance at Ryuji and Minato. "Next up is you then Minato, Ryuji. You'll be… Let's see… You'll be… "Thug"." suggested Morgana to Ryuji as he crossed his arms.
"Are you pickin' a fight with me!? I'll choose it myself!" snapped Ryuji as he scowled at Morgana. "I want my codename to follow the mask that I'm wearing on my face. I kinda like it so let's name me after my mask." suggested Ryuji as he glance at Joker and Minato.
"…Very well, then. You'll be "Skull"." sighed Morgana while both Joker and Minato nodded in silence.
"Ooh! That sounds awesome! I'm Skull!" said Skull excitedly to himself and to them before they glance at Minato.
"Now it's your turn. Your codename will be… uh… "White"." suggested Morgana.
"Nope, a little too simple. Next please." said Minato as he shake his head at Morgana's suggestion.
"How about "Emo" since he has the emo look down?" said Skull, which make Minato glared at him and he quickly look away.
"How about "Messiah" instead, Arisato-senpai?" suggested Joker.
"Oh, what a fitting codename for you, isn't it?" said Orpheus teasingly at Minato.
"No because that's my name, Orpheus." said Messiah in disapproval at Orpheus.
"Nope, not that one either. I'll think of one myself." sighed Minato before he started thinking of a codename that suits him.
"Minato, I just thought of one that might suit you since you don't like the codenames that they suggested to you." said Pharos.
"Really? Let's hear it then, Pharos." said Minato.
"Alright then. How does "Seraph" sound? Do you like it?" asked Pharos.
"Seraph", huh? It's better than the codenames that they suggested to me, I like it, Pharos." said Minato thankfully to Pharos.
"You're welcome, Minato. I mean, Seraph." said Pharos.
"Well, Arisato-senpai? Have you thought of one for yourself?" asked Joker slightly impatiently to Minato.
"Yes, I have, Joker. My codename shall be "Seraph"." replied Minato (now Seraph).
"Seraph, huh? Sounds good." said Joker as he, Skull and Morgana nodded to him.
"So now that he got his codename. What do we do about this one's codename?" asked Skull as he, Joker and Seraph glance at Morgana.
"I don't know. What do you think?" Joker asked back to Skull.
"Hm… How about "Mona"?" suggested Skull.
"Well, if Joker thinks it's easier to call me that, then I'll go with it." said Morgana (now Mona) firmly to Skull as he glance at Joker. "All right. From here on out, we're Joker, Skull, Seraph and Mona. We need to be absolutely thorough about using those codenames from now on!" added Mona firmly to them and they nodded in agreement to him before they turned and head up the drawbridge toward the opened ventilation shaft, got on and climbed through and into the castle and landed back into the room filled with bookshelves and tables.
As Joker, Skull, Seraph and Mona cautiously opened the door and quietly stepped out into a hallway, they suddenly heard several voices chanting out loud in unison to their right and they turned, quietly walked forward and hide behind doors and peek out at the large foyer room.
"Praise be to King Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!" chanted the voices of a group of knights standing at the bottom of the stairs to Shadow Kamoshida (who's standing on the steps of the staircase and staring down at them with not-Ann standing closely next to him).
"W-What the hell!?" sputtered Skull with a surprise look on his face.
"Be quiet, Skull! Looks like Kamoshida is about to say something to them." hissed Joker quietly at Skull.
"Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining. However, I can't allow those trash to barged into and ransack my castle! Strengthen the securities! Kill them on sight! I'll reward whoever bring me their heads back." Shadow Kamoshida told and commander them.
"Praise be to King Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!" yell the group of knights in unison again to Shadow Kamoshida.
"Hey, Mona. Can't we just charge forward, beat the crap out of those knights and him and call it a day?" said Skull quietly as he glance at Mona.
"Are you an idiot? That would be suicidal of you if you do so. And I'm sure you don't want a repeat of last time." snapped Mona quietly as he (and both Joker and Seraph) glared at Skull. "Besides, don't you want him to confess his sins?"
"Mona's right, Skull. We'll make him pay for what he did to us, Suzui-san, Takamaki-san, Mishima-kun and the members of the volleyball team right after we find where his Treasure is and steal it." said Joker coldly to Skull.
"They're both right, Skull. So calm down." said Seraph.
"Fiiiine. So, where is it?" said Skull as he rolled his eyes a little.
"It has to be somewhere within the depths of this castle. Let's infiltrate further in while he's out here!" Mona told them before they quietly stood up, turned and walked away from the opened doorway toward the other closed doorway opposite the one that they just came out from and as Joker opened it, they saw another knight standing in the room with his back to them and they quickly retreat and hide behind the hallway wall.
"Dammit, there's a guard over here too… Whaddya wanna do, Joker? Should we kick it's ass?" said Skull with a scowl look on his face before he asked Joker on what to do.
"Let's do it." said Joker as his two daggers manifest in his hands.
"Hold on…" interjected Mona to them before they could fight the knight. "Hmmm… this might be a good opportunity to teach you another new skill… All right, Joker! Are you ready to take it down?" added Mona firmly to Joker.
"Yeah, I'm ready, Mona!" said Joker as he stood up, charge toward and jumped onto the knight, grabbed and ripped off his helmet before he quickly jumped off as the knight burst into red and black liquid and turned into a small flying fairy.
"Pixie, one of the minor personas that I used to have." thought Minato as he saw the knight turned into Pixie.
After the knight change into a fairy, Mona then proceed to teach and explain to Joker, Skull and Seraph about another use for Hold Up skill other than defeating enemies which is able to communicate with the Shadows and told them to hand over money or items after they're knocked down. After Mona's done in explaining to them, Joker then pull out his handgun, aim and fire a bullet at the fairy and knocked her down before he, Skull and Mona rushed forward, surround and pointed their weapons and guns at the fairy while Seraph stay back and watched in silence (which confuses both Joker and Mona when they noticed).
"Seriously!? You guys are the intruders that King Kamoshida was talking about…?" said the fairy as she glance at them in surprise. "It can't get worse than this… What're you going to do to me!?"
"We won't do anything to you if you gave us some items." demanded Joker coldly to the fairy.
"Huh? So you'll let me live if I just give you something?" said the fairy hopefully to Joker.
"Well, something along those lines… Now let it be money or items. Just cough it up!" demanded Mona threateningly to the fairy.
"B-But, this happened so suddenly… I actually don't have anything on me… I-I usually do though, you know!?" stammered the fairy fearfully to them.
"W-Wait, what? Oh… This isn't how I was planning this to go." said Mona with a bewilder look on his face. "Uh… Anyway, it can't be help if that's the case. Time for you to go to hell then." added Mona to the fairy.
"W-Wait!" protested the fairy frantically to Mona.
"Sorry. But we're in a hurry." said Joker apologetically to the fairy as he raised his dagger at her.
"No, wait up! Can't we work something out? Don't kill me, please! Won't you let me go?" pleaded the fairy.
"Sorry, you choose the wrong enemy today." said Joker as he shake his head at the fairy.
"Wow… you sure sound and act confident. But I'm the same way. In any other situation, we'd get along really well. Whoa, I feel different! Something's happening!" said the fairy coolly then confusingly to Joker.
"What the…!? What's going on!?" exclaimed Mona as he, Joker, Skull and Seraph widened their eyes in surprise at the fairy.
"… Oh yeah, I remember now! I don't belong just to King Kamoshida… I'm an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity's soul… My real name… is "Pixie"!" proclaimed the fairy named Pixie as she flew up from the floor. "I'm Pixie! From now on, I'll live on inside your heart!" added Pixie before a bright blue light glowed out and enveloped her entire body before she transform into a perfect white copy of Joker's mask, flew toward Joker and let itself be absorbed into his mask.
"This feeling… It feels like I've just gained a new power of Persona." thought Joker in surprise then smugly to himself.
"Hm, not bad at all in accepting and gaining a new persona, Kurusu-kun." thought Seraph as he glance and smiled slightly proudly at Joker.
"What was that just now…? What happened…!?" asked Mona in surprise at Joker.
"Wh-What the hell was that about? The enemy glowed, change then got sucked into Joker's mask!" asked Skull as he turned to glance at Mona with a shock look on his face.
"I-I have no idea! I wasn't expecting it either…" replied Mona in surprise to Skull and Seraph and none of them noticed another knight coming down the hallway and saw them in the room.
"Intruders!? Halt!" said the knight threateningly to them as he run into the room toward them and they quickly turned to glance at the knight.
"Crap, another one noticed us!" said Skull in surprise to Joker, Seraph and Mona before the knight
"Gee, you think?" said Joker sarcastically to Skull (which make him scowled at Joker) as the knight shake.
As Joker, Skull and Mona got into their battle stances while Seraph stay back again, Joker felt something like a new possibility stemming up from within him after their previous short battle with Pixie. Joker then summoned forth Pixie, uses Zio skill on one of the horned horses and knocked it down to the floor.
"I-Is that the Shadow from earlier?" asked Mona as he glance in surprise to Joker. "Don't tell me… Did you take in the Shadow's appearance and powers as a Persona?"
"Yep. You got that right, Mona." said Seraph as he nodded at Mona.
"Looks like it, Mona." replied Joker as he uses Zio skill again on the other horned horse, knock it down as well before he and the others surround, raised and pointed their weapons and guns at the 2 horned horses.
"Ow, ow, ow… Whaddya think yer doin'!?" groaned one of the horned horses at Joker.
"Lend me your power." commanded Joker.
"So that's yer move? … Then I guess I'll talk first. I'll decide if I'm gonna help you after." said the horned horse as it tilted it's head at Joker. "So… Yer a student, right? Is it OK fer you ta just be hangin' around here like this? Hey. Why aren't you at school?" asked the horned horse.
"I actually finished school." replied Joker.
"Huh? Why is Joker talking to that persona?" thought Seraph in confusion in his mind.
"He's negotiating with it, Seraph. He's asking the persona to join and fight with us or we'll have to fight it if it doesn't want to." said Pharos.
"I see. If only that happen to me and my teammates back when we fought those Shadows in Tartarus tower." said Seraph.
"So does that mean yer a workin' adult? Wearin' a mask like that? What kinda freaky job do you do?" asked the horned horse.
"That's not for you to know." replied Joker slightly coldly to the horned horse.
"Ugh, that hurts. Hey, if you got any medicine, lend me some. They're supposed ta work miracles, right…?" said the horned horse pleadingly to Joker.
"Sorry, I don't have any and you're starting to get on my nerves." said Joker warningly to the horned horse.
"Heh, look at you, acting all commander and cold. Reminds me of when-Oh!" said the horned horse to Joker before it had a brief surprise look on it's face and it stood up from the floor. "I remember who I am now. I am Bicorn and from now on, my power is yours to use." added the shadow named Bicorn to Joker before it change into a mask and absorbed into Joker's mask like the previous one.
"Yet another one came and went into my mask. First it's Pixie, now it's Bicorn?" thought Joker to himself.
"Holy, another one… Does that mean you can wield multiple Personas?" asked Mona as he glance up at Joker with surprise and awed look on his face.
"H-Hey, Mona! What was that about!? What did Joker do?" demanded Skull as he glance in confusion at Mona.
"He sealed the enemy's appearance and power into his mask, and made them his new Personas… I've never seen anyone do that before… didn't even know it was possible!" replied Mona still in amazement at what Joker just did twice to the Shadows.
"Isn't that's because he's the unique Wild Card user and had an advantage in a way because he's able to wield multiple Personas other than his main one, Arsene. Right, Mona?" Seraph said to Mona (who nodded to him) as he glance at Joker with a proud look on his face too.
"Does this sound good for you guys?" asked Joker.
"Of course it is! Only one heart exists per person, so normally one person can only have one Persona! But what you did… is incredible! That ability of yours will give us a huge advantage in battle!" replied Mona as he smiled widely at Joker. "All right, try to do that even more if the opportunities arises! You two better help out too, Seraph, Skull! Especially you since you stay back and didn't help us out twice!" added Mona to them both before he scowled at Seraph.
"Very well, Mona." said Seraph.
"Hell yeah! We'll hold every last one of 'em up!" said Skull.
"Hehe, I like you even more now, Joker! I really do have someone special on my hands!" said Mona excitedly and a little dreamily at Joker.
"Yeah, sure, Mona. Thanks for the compliment." said Joker as he gave a small smile to him before they turned to their right to opened another door, went down a hallway and past another sealed hallway (that had a long red carpet, empty knight armors standing on both sides of the hallway and leading toward a door), went into an armoury room filled with weapons, fought more shadows and Joker gained 2 new Personas at the same time (Pyro Jack and Mandrake), saw and opened a treasure chest lying on the table and pull out two Topaz and Onyx jewels, opened another door, left the armoury and went down another hallway and they stopped in front of a door that looks different and wavered a little and Mona explain to Joker, Skull and Seraph that it's a safe room before they went into the room.
XXXX
Meanwhile, outside Shujin Academy…
After Kanakubo-sensei's done in packing up his stuffs, left the faculty room and as he stepped out of Shujin Academy, he saw with disbelief and shock looks on his face as Ann suddenly appear out of thin air inside the alleyway opposite Shujin Academy before she landed on her butt on the ground in front of him.
"Ow, that hurts…" groaned Ann as she stood up from the ground and rubbed her butt a little.
"What the? Are you alright and how and why did you suddenly showed up out of thin air in front of me, Takamaki-san?" asked Kanakubo-sensei concernly then surprisingly at Ann.
"Huh, Kanakubo-sensei? What are you…" said Ann as she glance in surprise at Kanakubo-sensei.
"That doesn't matter right now and answer my question, Takamaki-san." demanded Kanakubo-sensei firmly at Ann.
"How? It's because…" said Ann before a thought crossed her mind and she quickly take out her phone to check something and saw an unknown red and black app on it. "It's probably because of this weird app that I saw on Kurusu's phone and which is now on my phone somehow, sensei." said Ann as she showed him the app on her phone.
"Huh? That's some creepy-looking app and it looks like there's some words below it, "Kamoshida", "Pervert" and "Castle"?" said Kanakubo-sensei with a confused look on his face before he gasped and widened his eyes in dusbelief and shock as he saw the area around him and Ann warped, turned purple and transport him and Ann back into the castle.
"What the!? Where are we now!?" said Kanakubo-sensei as he swiftly handed the phone back to Ann before he look around the castle place with more disbelief and shock look on his face.
"This is… We're back in that place from earlier, sensei…!" said Ann to Kanakubo-sensei she walked away from him up to the castle and cautiously look around the place for her classmates and didn't any of them anywhere before she glance down at her phone with a confused look on her face. "…What's up with this app? Sensei just said the words Sakamoto said, and we ended up-" added Ann even more in confusion to herself.
"Princess!?" said the surprise voice of a knight suddenly to Ann.
"Huh!?" said Ann as she glance up in surprise and saw 3 knights standing a few feet in front of her and Kanakubo-sensei.
"What the? Who are you 3 and why are you 3 dressed up as knights?" asked Kanakubo-sensei in confusion at the 3 knights.
"Princess!" yell the knights as they run towards her while ignoring Kanakubo-sensei's question to them.
"Huh!?" gasped Ann with a freak out look on her face.
"Get behind me, Takamaki-san!" said Kanakubo-sensei as he quickly grab hold and pull Ann behind him in a protective manner.