Today (April 23rd) is Makoto Niijima's birthday. Happy birthday to her! Pretty sure she'd be 23 today if she was an actual person... kinda weird to think that the main P5 cast is so close to my age. Also, I posted twice in a week. I don't think I've done that in like... almost a year lmfao.

"Also can I just say how stupid it is to send the calling card like that. Idk if its me but it is like that they are begging to be caught"

Yeeeaaaah I agree lmao. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't already a thing in the game, but y'know. Can't change everything.

June 26th, 20XX (Sunday)

Early Morning - Shibuya

"Hey, what… What is all this?"

"Are these… cards? Wait… is it… the Phantom Thieves!?"

"T-They're everywhere! Did this happen overnight!?"

"Wait, it's not the Phantom Thieves at all! Look!" Throughout the city, countless civilians who woke up early expecting a normal day were in absolute shock. As far as the eye could see, the city was painted purple and black, with a seemingly endless amount of calling cards that all had the same phrase written on them in bold letters: "YOU HAVE FAILED THIS COUNTRY".

It was like nothing they had ever seen before. Most people recognized the Phantom Thieves and their antics after what happened with Madarame not long ago, but this… This was entirely different. Nobody had ever seen anything on such a scale. Inevitably, some people started taking a few calling cards off of the walls that they were on, and reading them out loud.

"Sir Junya Kaneshiro, the money-devouring sinner of gluttony… You indulge in scamming others with horrendous methods that target minors exclusively. We cannot sit idly by and allow you to continue this egregious behavior any longer. Within 24 hours, you will confess to all of your crimes on your own, and then turn yourself in to the police of your own accord. From, The Royals."

"The Royals? Who're they?"

"This is just like the Phantom Thieves… Can they really do the same thing…!?"

"No way! There's no way anyone else can do something like this! This has to be like, a rebrand or something!" Everyone was getting riled up. Nobody was quite sure what to make of what was happening. All they knew for sure was that something big was going down.

Meanwhile, in an alley not very far away, 'The Royals' waited around patiently, taking peeks out at the rest of the city. "Looks like things are turning out great! Everyone's talking about it!" Mishima cheered, pulling his head back into the alley and looking over at Toya and Makoto. Makoto was visually nervous regarding this whole situation, while Toya was drinking an absurd amount of coffee, much more than he really should be.

"I can't believe how many calling cards there are… How did you plant this many? This must've taken all night…" Makoto asked, completely baffled at how this happened overnight.

"Me and my brother tried to see who could post more, but we both lost count at some point." He responded, taking a big sip of his coffee.

"That's a lie. You just don't want to tell them that he placed more than you."

"Shut it!"

"Still, the fact that you got all of this done in a night is shocking… How much did you sleep? I can't imagine you got much…" There was an audible amount of concern in her voice, which only intensified as she watched Toya practically chug from the cup he was holding.

"Sleep? Uh, yeah… I kinda… didn't…"

"You what!? D-Do you know how dangerous this is!? We're about to take Kaneshiro's Treasure, and you're running on no sleep at all!?"

"I'll be fine! Besides, I think I have enough caffeine in my body to last a week… So there's nothing to be afraid of!"

"We both know that you'll fall asleep within seconds of getting home once this is all over."

"I don't need your sass, damn it!" Trying to ignore the jabs Osiris was taking at him, Toya heard his phone ringing. He took it out of his pocket and answered it, having expected the call.

"I just saw Kaneshiro. He just got into his car, and he seemed like he was in a hurry. Not to mention, he's carrying briefcases that all seem pretty packed. Probably with cash…" He heard his brother speak over the phone. He was being pretty quiet, trying not to gather anyone's attention.

"You think he got the message?"

"I covered his car in calling cards. He definitely knows what's coming."

"Jeez! Talk about overkill…" He took a deep breath. "Alright. We're gonna head in now. See you when we're done." He hung up his phone and looked towards his friends. They heard everything. They all silently nodded at each other, taking out their phones and opening the Metaverse Navigator. It was time for one final trip to Kaneshiro's Palace, with only one goal in mind: changing his heart.

June 26th, 20XX (Sunday)

Daytime - Leblanc

"Oh, you're up already? I'd have thought you would sleep in for longer than this." Sojiro turned his gaze over to Ren, who had just come down from his room. Seeing as it was his off day, Sojiro fully expected Ren to sleep in for another few hours. "Well, you have good timing. I need to step out for a while to take care of something at home. Can you watch the shop for me?"

"Oh, sure. Wait, what do you need to do?"

"That's not your concern. Look, just stay here for a while, alright? You can go wherever you want when I'm back."

"Okay, okay." Having heard the frustration begin to build in Sojiro's voice, Ren decided he ought to not push him any further. Having already learned a thing or two about making coffee and curry from Sojiro already, Ren had no problem covering his shift for him.

"And now for breaking news!" The two of them instinctively looked over at the TV. "Early this morning, civilians of Shibuya were shocked to see the entire city showered in calling cards signed by an unknown group calling themselves 'The Royals'." Ren froze in place, as the words that came from the newscaster's mouth played in his head on repeat. "Many people are comparing this to the actions of the Phantom Thieves that have been taking place over the past 2 months. However, we've yet to see if this group is capable of causing the same 'change of heart' phenomenon we've seen in the Phantom Thieves cases."

"No way…" He reached into his pocket to get his phone, but he couldn't find it. It had to still be upstairs, along with Morgana. He wanted to run and grab it, but just as he tried, he heard the bell on top of the door jingle, as two people walked in. They were regulars at the shop, and Sojiro hadn't left yet. He knew that if he tried leaving to get his phone, Sojiro would chew him out for it. Not to mention, the regulars would more than likely bring it up to him. Ren didn't want to know how Sojiro would react if he was under the impression that Ren was slacking off. "I can't contact anyone… At a time like this!? Just my luck…"

"The calling card was directed to someone by the name of Junya Kaneshiro. And within it, these 'Royals' state that Kaneshiro will confess to all of his crimes and turn himself in to the police. This is, again, another similarity between this group and the Phantom Thieves. However, are these groups truly different, or are they perhaps one in the same? The police have not yet commented on this matter." It was such a weird feeling. Ren felt so… powerless. It felt like everything he had been building up over the past few months was being taken away right in front of him. He had to figure out a way to do something, but what? What could be done about this? He couldn't get his mind off of it. All he really could do for now was think, and hope that by the time he got out of Leblanc, that it wasn't too late.

June 26th, 20XX (Sunday)

Daytime - Kaneshiro's Bank (Treasure Room)

After having gone through the Palace already, the group of three had no problem sneaking their way through once more. They did their best not to get into any fights at all, trying to conserve all of their strength. This went double for Toya, who was running purely on caffeine and determination. The three of them eventually got to the final elevator, stepping inside and making their way to the very bottom floor, where the Treasure should be.

"I'll be honest with you, Jester. There's something that's been bothering me this entire time. I haven't really found a good time to say it, but..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"We've sent a calling card for everyone to see. It included the name of the person that we're going after."

"Yeah…? That was kind of the point."

"Right. But, by doing this… Doesn't that mean the Phantom Thieves know who we're going after?"

"Uh, well… yeah, I guess they do."

"Then isn't it likely that they find their way in here? They have the same app that you do."

"It's true that it's a bit of a concern, but… I don't think it's possible. I mean, they don't have his keywords, right? Sure, they have his name… But it's not like they know that it's a bank or anything, right?"

"I suppose so… Still, there's always a possibility. Be on your guard. If they do find their way here… then we'll be in a much, muchtougher spot." After Osiris's worries were eased, the elevator stopped. The doors opened, they walked out… and immediately, they knew something was wrong. In place of the ball of mist that they assumed was the Treasure last time they were there, they saw a massive safe. And, waiting in front of it was none other than Kaneshiro himself. He slowly walked forward, a nonchalant look on his face.

"Greetings. Welcome to my private city bank." As he spoke, a few guards moved in, standing by his side. "I'm surprised you made it here alive. It seems you are quite lucky."

"Pfft, yeah, and you're lucky you found a suit in your size…" Toya rolled his eyes and said the first thing that came to mind, not really thinking too hard about it.

"This is the end! We're gonna make you fess up to everything you've been doing!" Mishima yelled, standing behind Toya and Makoto while already inside of his Persona. "Then nobody will have to worry about getting their lives ruined so your pockets get filled!"

"Those in power work the ones below them to the bone for money. Such is the hierarchy of the world. Just accept your fate as a source of my wealth!"

"Hierarchy? Source of your wealth? Don't be ridiculous!" Makoto was beginning to get angry, hearing Kaneshiro talk like he was so far above them. "People are worth more than the number in your bank account! I refuse to live a life where we're forced into misery so you can get whatever you want!"

"All of that was forced on me too, you know! I went through shit until I crawled my way out of the dregs! Now it's my turn to profit on everyone else!" The facade of nonchalance was slowly fading away, his true colors beginning to show themselves. "It doesn't matter whether you're clean or dirty! Only the clever come out on top! The strong and the smart devour the weak! That is the natural order of things. You damn brats who think you know the world through the shit you read online will make perfect prey."

"Hmph. He is utterly hopeless." Makoto sounded more disappointed than anything else at this point, taking a deep sigh after hearing his speech.

"It's always the fools who get tricked! Fools who have to pay for their foolishness. And if those fools don't learn, well they have to suck it up and stay as plain, stupid fools!" He took a deep breath. "This is where my gracious lecture ends."

"No, this is where your schemes end! We won't let you have your way any longer! Everyone that you're just using for money, everyone that you're just treating like slaves to sate your greed… We're going to free every single one of them by taking you down!" Toya yelled, pulling out his bow. He had heard more than enough of what Kaneshiro had to say for himself. At this point, he wanted to get things over with. He knew it'd come down to a fight this entire time, and he was more than prepared to give Kaneshiro the beating that he deserved.

Something about Toya's words affected Kaneshiro. His arms suddenly fell limp at his sides, and his body began to violently twitch and contort. Black ooze dripped out of his mouth, and he began to rub his hands together, getting faster and faster with every second. Moments later, his entire body started turning dark, like the black and red liquid that Shadows would turn into as they were defeated-but Kaneshiro was still standing. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, two wings popped out of his back. The guards that were once covering him began to run away in fear as his body returned to the color it was previously. He raised his head to show that his eyes had completely changed all of a sudden. They were red, like an insect's. He pounded his chest with one fist, still managing to keep the same condescending atmosphere that he had, even with the ridiculous insect-eyes he now had.

"I can take care of this myself. Wassup yo!? Now come get some!" Somehow, he managed to sound even more ridiculous than he did before the transformation. Osiris specifically thought that was impossible.

"You filthy fly on dirty money… Get the hell out of my face!" At some point during the transformation, Makoto had gotten annoyed enough to summon her Persona and mount on top of it, as she was now revving it up while yelling at Kaneshiro.

"Gyahahaha! Aight, here we go, yeh pieces of shit!"

June 26th, 20XX (Sunday)

Daytime - Kaneshiro's Bank (Security Room)

"Cry all you want, but I ain't gonna forgive ya!" Kaneshiro's voice was more than audible enough to be heard on the security footage. The security room… one that was once highly guarded by some of Kaneshiro's strongest and most loyal Shadows. Those Shadows, however, were disposed while Kaneshiro was guarding his Treasure, and it wasn't by any of the Royals. It was by someone else-someone who was keeping a close eye on the situation. He paid close attention to the people who were confronting Kaneshiro specifically.

"So, there really is another vigilante group. The Royals…" He thought to himself, trying to get a profile of the three of them in his head. Some of them looked familiar. Especially one individual in particular, one wearing a black mask similar to his own. "...I know this person. Who…? I know it's someone I've seen before. Perhaps someone I've spoken to, even?" Try as he might, he couldn't place his finger on it. Yet, it was someone he knew. He was sure of that much. As for who it was specifically… He couldn't place a name on them. All he could do was observe, and then, maybe then… He could eventually figure out who this person was. He seemed to be the leader of the group, from what he could tell. He fought with a bow and arrow, and he would take these… pauses. There would be time periods where he would stop in place and be seemingly lost in thought, only he'd have constant facial reactions. It was... strange, to say the very least. While standing inside of a world made purely of cognition and watching people fight with demons that represent their inner selves… Something like that could be chalked up to being just a nervous habit, but he had a feeling it was something else. Still, there wasn't much else to deduce. If he could see more of this person's face, then maybe he would be able to place a name, but the purple bandana covering the area from the nose down made it rather difficult to do. "I've no choice but to continue watching… Perhaps he'll slip up and I'll get a more clear look at his face later."

June 26th, 20XX (Sunday)

Daytime - Kaneshiro's Bank (Treasure Room)

"Time to roll out…!" Kaneshiro began laughing to himself, extending his arms out to his sides. "Here he is… My guardian robot!" He turned around and raised one hand into the air, waving it around before the safe suddenly opened up. With the wings that grew out of his back, Kaneshiro flew directly inside of it. The safe door closed behind him, before all of a sudden, the back walls of the room that once made up the safe began moving. They shot towards the sides of the room, revealing… a giant, metallic pig on the other side, with a safe door where its nose was meant to be. "Gyahahahahaha! Ya ready to die!?"

"Holy bacon-IT'S A PIG!" Mishima blurted out in shock, flying back towards the other side of the room.

"It ain't a pig, yo! This is my Palace's swine-model defensive mechanoid, Piggytron! Goin' against me's a real bad crime, ya know! It's time for y'all to go to hell!"

"How the hell does he come up with stuff like this!?" Toya jumped back along with Makoto, landing where Mishima flew back to.

"Knight, what's it look like? Can you see any weaknesses?" Makoto asked, trying to situate herself and figure out any form of a strategy.

"No, nothing… But this thing is really strong! Anything you guys have fought up to this point is nothing in comparison to this thing!" Mishima was getting worked up trying to find some kind of weakness that they could exploit. "I'll do my best to keep this thing weakened, but you guys need to be careful! I won't be able to protect you guys from everything!" Mishima did his best to warn the two of them about the danger that they were in. Still, it's not like they could just do nothing. They had to find a way that they could get through and do some damage to this thing.

"Time to die, yeh punks!" Kaneshiro yelled, accompanied by a maniacal laughter.

"He's doing something…! Get ready to move!" Mishima warned Toya and Makoto, beginning to fly away. As he did, something about Piggytron's eyes began shifting. And then, all of a sudden, the robot's eyes slid back into the robot, and from its metallic eye sockets came machine guns, aimed directly at the pair.

"Oh son of a-RUN!"

"Jester! Get on, quick!" Makoto yelled, summoning her Persona and mounting on top of it. His body moved on his own, despite the fact that there was a noteworthy amount of hesitation in his mind.

"You're getting distracted by something."

"NOT THE TIME!" Toya did his best to dismiss the remarks Osiris was making as Makoto began driving around, doing her best to avoid the machine gun fire. Thankfully, she was able to drive fast enough to dodge anything that Kaneshiro fired at her.

"Gyahaha! We're just gettin' started!" Kaneshiro yelled out from inside Piggytron. Then, instead of firing from its machine guns, the group of three could see something coming out from the top of the robot. It took them a second to realize exactly what they were: missiles.

"This crazy sonuva… What can this thing NOT do!?" Toya yelled out while Makoto sped up, trying to get away from the area of explosions that the missiles would create. However, there was one glaring issue with that; that being the fact that they were heat-seeking. Try as she might, she couldn't just drive away from them.

"I can't do this on my own! You need to find a way to deal with those things, otherwise we'll never have a fighting chance!"

"But they're…! Ergh, fine, I'll try!" Toya materialized his bow in his hands, taking aim at one of the missiles and firing. However… simply using arrows proved entirely ineffective against literal missiles. He needed more firepower, much more firepower. For that, the only thing he had on him was his Persona. He quickly unmasked himself, the blue flame engulfing his face as his Persona, Yama, emerged from within him. Without the chance to really prepare for a more powerful attack, he fired off whatever blast he could. Thankfully, that was all he needed. Dark magic collided against the missiles, and it resulted in the missiles completely exploding on impact-or at least, some of them. There were more in the air, but seeing the explosion gave him a crazy idea, one that was worth trying. He used his Persona to get in close to a stray missile and grabbed on to it. To his surprise, it didn't explode as soon as he touched it-he didn't care if that made sense or not. The only thing that mattered to him was if the rest of his plan would work. With that in mind, he used Yama to throw the missile directly at Piggytron.

"What the hell-ARGH!" Kaneshiro yelled as the missile struck, doing more damage than Toya could have hoped for. He and Makoto jumped off of Johanna, moving in closer to get a scope of the situation. As they did, Kaneshiro flew out the same way he entered. He flew to the top of the robotic pig, angrily glaring down at them. "Yeh punks're really pissin' me off! Yeh called my Piggytron a pig earlier, right? Were yeh talkin' about me too when you said that? If you were… Imma tear yeh all to shreds!" He extended his arms out to his sides and held his hands up in the air. "Go, Piggytron! Super VIP Fooorm!" He floated above Piggytron for a second, before Piggytron suddenly began to morph. All of its limbs receded back into its body, until all that was left was a massive ball of steel. Kaneshiro planted his feet down firmly onto it, before crossing his arms and beginning to roll it in place, slowly gaining speed over time.

"Is he… Trying to run us over!?"

"Regardless of what he's trying, we can't just stand around here and let him do it!" As soon as Makoto was about to finish her sentence, Piggytron began charging toward them. It was moving too quickly for them, they barely had any time to react.

"Not so fast!" Mishima called out, descending from the sky with his Persona and extending his arms out. He had to put a lot of energy into debuffing such a massive robot, but ultimately, he was able to slow down Piggytron's assault, buying Toya and Makoto enough time for them to dodge out of the way.

"He's open! Let's get moving!" Makoto yelled out, summoning her Persona once more and getting on top of it with Toya right behind her, moving straight toward Piggytron.

"Damn punks…!" Kaneshiro was getting flustered, but he had an idea. They were able to dodge most of his attacks, but there was one thing left that he could do that would surely catch them off guard. He quickly got back inside of Piggytron, as its legs came back out of its body, but only for a mere moment. While Makoto was still charging in as fast as she could, Kaneshiro had Piggytron jump into the air, receding its legs back into its body as soon as they left the ground. It then slammed down onto the ground, creating a massive shockwave, one that was far too big for Makoto to get out of the way of. With a shocked expression on both her and Toya's faces, they were sent spiraling out of control, until crashing into a nearby wall. Makoto's Persona disappeared as it made contact with the wall, and the two of them fell to the ground.

"GUYS! Hang on!" Mishima started soaring towards his endangered friends, as Kaneshiro made his best attempt at finishing the fight right then and there. Machine guns came out from Piggytron's eye sockets once again. He opened fire right away, and began aiming as he was already shooting, bullets hitting the ground the entire time. But before Toya and Makoto could get hit, Mishima landed right in front of them.

"Knight…!? What are you-" Makoto said, trying to get back up on her feet. Mishima crossed his arms in front of him, gritting his teeth as the gunfire started closing in.

"You two saved me from that part of me that I didn't want to exist anymore… now it's my turn to return the favor!" Inevitably, Piggytron finished aiming, and began to unload directly onto Mishima. His armor was powerful, but now powerful enough to absorb all of the damage. He was still getting hurt, but he was able to tank the hits better than the other two ever could.

"You've grown…" Toya couldn't help but think back to the last time they were all in Mementos together. The old Mishima, before ever confronting his Shadow… He never would've had the courage to do this. He would always stand behind the front line, but he would never be the forerunner. He smiled, pressing his hands against the ground and beginning to push himself up.

"You damn punk… Fine! Then try defending them from THIS!" In a rage, Kaneshiro began firing missiles once again. Mishima began to falter, knowing he couldn't protect them from that. Kaneshiro started to laugh, thinking that his victory was a guarantee at this point.

"YAMA!" Toya yelled out, still kneeling down while trying to pick himself up. He fired off a concentrated blast of dark magic, one that was big enough to destroy multiple missiles. It caused a chain reaction, destroying the rest of the missiles in the air. The resulting explosion created a massive cloud of smoke, blinding the opposing forces from each other. "Jeez…" He started coughing, before finally standing up straight once again. "Way to steal the show, Knight. You saved our butts there."

"Hold still, you two…" Makoto said, putting one hand on both of them with her Persona summoned. Using her restorative magic, she successfully healed all of them back to full strength. They could breathe sigh of relief. The three of them were pretty worried for a while, but they had some time to focus again, and come up with some kind of strategy.

"Phew… Thanks, Queen. Now then… Let's put an end to this, once and for all!" Toya said, making a fist and punching his other palm, a cocky grin on his face.

"Jester, what can we possibly do? We don't have a reliable way of dealing with that robot, not without Kaneshiro hitting us back harder!" Makoto sounded distressed, but beyond her voice, Toya could hear something. It was the sound of something opening, and then closing-something heavy. That could only be one thing… the safe door that Kaneshiro uses to get in and out of Piggytron!

"Listen up! I know exactly how we can win this fight. But we're all gonna have to stick to the plan and work together, got it?" They nodded in response to him. Despite being the unofficial leader of the group this entire time, this was the first time he truly acted like one. They trusted him on this, one hundred percent.

"Are those punks really dead…?" Kaneshiro said to himself, standing atop Piggytron. "Tch… Let's find out!" He transformed Piggytron into its Super VIP Form. There was one easy way to make sure that they were gone… by completely trampling them. With a smug look on his face, he began to roll Piggytron around again. However, that smug look on his face soon disappears when he hears the sound of a motorcycle revving up. Out from the massive cloud of smoke came Makoto, on top of her Persona with a stern look on her face. "Hah! Yeh really think you can take my Piggytron alone!? I'll flatten you like a pa-AGH!" His speech was suddenly cut off by a sharp pain in one of his wings. He looked over to it, and saw an arrow sticking out of it. "Where the hell did- GRRGH…!" Once again, he felt something stab him, this time through the other wing. He looked up above him to see where it came from… only to see Toya, being held up in the air by Mishima. And the thing that stabbed him… was Toya's grappling hook, which was now lodged into his wing.

"Now!" Toya yelled, prompting Mishima to let go of him. As soon as he did, Toya started pulling himself towards Kaneshiro. He froze up in a panic, before Toya got in close, a determined look on his face, eyes blazing with ferocity. "Eat THIS!" He roared, before slamming into Kaneshiro with all of his strength, pushing him off of Piggytron entirely.

"Damn… punks…!" He yelled, falling down to the ground and smacking against it. He slowly picked himself back up, before hearing the sound of someone walking towards him. He looked to his side to see Makoto, slowly stepping closer while cracking her knuckles. Kaneshiro tried to find something to say, but after seeing the violent look of anger in Makoto's eyes, he was completely overwhelmed by fear.

From the place he was standing on top of Piggytron, all Toya could hear was the sound of someone getting completely beaten down, one painful strike at a time. "She's really letting him have it, isn't she?"

"She's lucky. Getting a chance to really lay into him like that sounds really satisfying." He looked over at Mishima, who was hovering in front of him, his gauntlets engulfed in a bright light. "Though, this is a pretty good alternative." He smirked and nodded at Mishima, before jumping off of the robot on the opposite side. As he was falling down, he tore his mask off, the blue flame engulfing almost his entire body.

"Yama!"

"Galahad!" The two of them yelled in sync, their Personas charging up their most powerful attack. They had to put all of their force into this one hit… To end things once and for all.

"FIRE!" They yelled as loud as they could while unleashing their attacks, perfectly in sync with each other. One blast was pure white, the other pitch black. They hit the robot at the exact same time, only on opposite sides. The combined force of the blasts proved far too much for the robot to handle. It caused two massive explosions on both sides of it, which began to spread to the rest of the robot's body, and before they knew it… it was done. The robot was completely destroyed. They won.

"Whoa... Up close and personal...!" -Kanji Tatsumi, Persona 4

Originally, I was gonna include a lot more in this chapter. However, I realized that I was already 5000 words deep as I was finishing up the Kaneshiro fight, and if I fit in everything that I originally wanted to fit in... this chapter probably would've been 10k words lmao. At that point, I think it's better to just split it up and post it as two separate chapters. That next chapter will be up... hopefully soon lmao.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you like the name "The Royals" for the group. Thought it was a pretty good fit, considering the name of the game + their codenames, but we'll get to that.