With Sae knowing they could indeed access the courtroom, the Phantom Thieves were able to enter the High Limit Floor of the casino. The large gate that blocked them off no longer existed, allowing them free reign of the floor. "Sweet! That door that was blockin' our path's gone now!" Skull grinned.
The high limit floor flashed briefly, showing the courtroom. Crow stroked his chin. "So this is what cognitive control looks like…"
"You're gonna have a heart attack if you keep getting' surprised over every little thing." Skull said smugly.
Crow just let out a light laugh. "Haha…Honestly though, this is all somewhat hard to believe,"
"Is that so? You adjusted quite well, though." Dragon furrowed her brows at Crow's words.
"There's a counter up ahead. Shall we head there first?" Fox asked.
"I suppose there would be no harm in stopping by. Let us check it out." Crow nodded. With that, they went over to the counter. But when they got there, the one waiting for them behind the was Cognitive Makoto.
"Hello." Cognitive Makoto said with a coy smile.
"What the eff!?" Skull shouted.
"What is she doing up here?" Noir asked. "I thought she couldn't follow us up here?"
"As it turns out, I was just given access to this floor." Cognitive Makoto explained, her sweet smile betraying her intentions. "My sister thought it would be best, since she knew you would be coming soon. I was worried that my efforts to stop you would end soon."
"I don't get it…" Panther tilted her head.
"I didn't think about that…" Mona understood. "Because Niijima sees that we're allowed in the courtroom, that extended to this Makoto as well."
"So because I'm up here, she is too…" It made sense to Queen. That something they weren't prepared for.
"Are you going to get in our way?" Joker asked.
"Not at the moment. I think it's only fair you experience everything the High Limit Floor has to offer." Cognitive Makoto said. She wasn't hiding her intentions at all. "So first, here's a gift for you." It was 1,000 chips. Hardly anything in the grand scheme of things.
"That's a little cheap if you ask me…" Oracle rolled her eyes.
"Apologies, but that welcome gift can only be applied once per card." Cognitive Makoto said, before thrusting a map into Joker's chest. "And here is the map for the high limit floor. This is the final floor of the casino, just so you know."
Queen stepped forward. "Okay, show us your prizes now. We want to exchange our coins for a member's card."
Cognitive Makoto held a grin. "While we do have prizes…what you're looking for isn't on the list."
Queen's eyes widened. "What? Then how are we supposed to get to the manager's floor…!?"
"You don't." Cognitive Makoto said, before letting out a sigh. That was just her initial response before she pointed above her. "You don't need a card, I mean. Simply head up those stairs and you'll see what I mean.'
"This sounds suspicious." Oracle said.
"But we don't have any other options." Dragon tilted her head. "And as anti-us as she is, I do not believe she's lying to us." She had to use uncertain terms, since Crow was the only one unaware of her ability to pick out lies. Besides, ultimately, Cognitive Makoto had no reason to lie to them. That's not the kind of person Sae saw her sister as after all.
So they all started to head up the stairs, but Queen lingered behind. She turned to look over her shoulder, glancing back at the knowing smile on her cognitive self's face. Cognitive Makoto waved Queen off in response. "…" Queen said nothing. It was like looking at a mirror of the past…so condescending towards others, yet trying so hard to keep up with her sister and make her happy.
"Queen?" Noir called out to Queen.
"Oh, sorry. I'm coming." Queen flashed Noir a quick smile before following the others up the stairs, to the area that led to the Manager's floor. In front of them was a golden bridge of some kind.
"Um. What is that?" Skull scratched his head.
"A…scale shaped bridge?" Panther suggested. "There's an area on the other side too! It might lead to the manager's floor!"
"So we must lower the bridge first in order to cross." Crow said. It was simple enough.
"But how do we do that?" Noir asked.
"Good question." Crow was also curious. Their end goal was in front of them. The only thing left was to learn how to proceed. "Let us try investigating around here first."
"I found something." Dragon pointed to a small machine on the railing near the bridge. "Can I have the members card?" Joker nodded and handed Dragon the card, which she swiped into the machine.
"Authenticating Members card…the require number of coins to activate the Bridge of Judgement is 100,000 coins." The mechanical voice from the machine said. Everyone gasped at that absurd requirement.
"W-What!? We need 100,000 just to cross over there!?" Noir's jaw hung open.
"It's pretty clear she has no intention of letting us proceed onward." Mona said calmly.
"That explains the smug look on my cognitive versions' face." Queen surmised. "She knew about this.
"I don't think we need her permission to continue." Crow said.
"But that's twice what we needed to get! We could barely get our hands on 50.000!" Panther sighed.
"But we still managed to obtain them." Crow replied. "All we need to do is succeed once again, and double our total."
"This is the high limit floor, I can see how it's possible…" Queen said. "High risk, high reward games should exist, but I can't imagine we'll be able to do them so easily."
"That's a bridge we can cross when we get there." Crow said. "We should first see what short of games exist on this floor."
"Good idea." Joker nodded.
.
.
Violet found that the outside of the casino was easier to navigate than trying to find her way through the interior. She already found a way into the second floor and decided to use that as her own infiltration point. So she snuck inside with a mission of her own. "I can't do much on the High Limit Floor, but…"
"There's a high chance games on the High Limit Floor might be rigged. If possible, can you find some way to look around and see what they're planning? We don't know what sort of surprises they have waiting for us." Those were Oracle's words.
Violet was off the beaten path in the casino. There had to be something in this hidden area that she could make use of. She was careful to sneak around, making sure to avoid any necessary fights. The only thing that was troubling was how the back areas of the casino all looked so dreary and the same. "Ugh, it's so cold back here…I wonder if this is how Niijima-san really feels behind the flashy glamor…" Violet was whispering to herself to keep a low profile. Rounding a corner, she noticed a strange door at the end of the hallway. Curious, she approached the door and tried to open it. Locked, of course. "Ugh…" She didn't have the time to look around for a key, so she did the next best thing: look around before…
BAM!
She kicked the door down. Luckily there were no Shadows in the area that heard it. The door was forced open, nearly off the hinges from that single kick. "Oh…!" Violet knew her leg strength was far beyond average, but there was a sense of pride in this achievement. "I guess I'm coming along even more than I thought." With a grin, she stepped inside the strange room.
Violent glanced around. The room shifted a bit, the cognitive control revealing that Violet was likely somewhere within a lobby of some sort. "Is this…a waiting lobby? For the, erm, prosecution maybe…?" It was difficult to discern, she didn't really know the ins and outs of the courtroom. But that aside, there was a desk in front of her with a laptop on it. Curious, Violet circled around the desk, sitting down while working on the laptop. She was prepared for it to be locked and to enter a password, but for some reason there was no need. "Huh…easy access…?"
She wasn't going to complain. This beat having to disturb Oracle in trying to ask how to hack a computer….maybe she should ask how to do that sometime…thoughts for later. Violet noticed a single folder and clicked on it. There were a few image files and she decided to look through them, wondering what they contained. The first one was an image of Makoto, Sae, and their father. He was wearing police uniform, and his hat ended up covering his face. The main takeaway were the smiles on the younger Sae and Makoto's faces. They were so happy. Sae was even holding onto a notebook, clutching it to her chest. "Huh…? Is this…"
Violet clicked again. The next few pictures were similar images of Makoto, Sae, and their father being together. But soon after, it changed. Their father was absent from the pictures and the expressions of Sae and Makoto faltered. Sae's changed considerably…Violet remembered how Queen mentioned how her father was gone, and how Sae began to change because of it. "Mm…losing a family member really is hard, especially when you were close…" Violet's thoughts couldn't help but drift to her sister. As soon as they did, her body felt heavy and tired.
"Agh…now…?" This hadn't happened in quite some time. She thought she got over this with her awakening, but it didn't fade that easily. She so tired already…but she had to shake it off. She couldn't just stop now. At least she was already sitting…so she decided to keep looking through the computer to see if there was anything else of interest. That's when she found a map, but it was different than the others. "Hm…? What's this….?"
.
.
The main group arrived at the first of two games on this floor. Naturally, waiting for them was Cognitive Makoto. "Welcome to the House of Darkness, our puzzling labyrinth in the dark."
"Holy shit you move fast…!" Skull grunted. "If you're lookin' for a fight, we're not interested!"
"Fortunately for you, I don't have any instructions to engage with all of you." Cognitive Makoto replied. "Since you're on this floor, I have no choice but to view you all as valuable participants."
"Participants?" Mona asked.
A Shadow appeared next to Cognitive Makoto. "Most certainly. The original intent behind the high limit floor is different from that of others. On this floor VIPs are encouraged to send substitutes in their place. Consider it to be like the horses in horse racing. However, it seems you have no substitutes."
"Of course we don't. That should be obvious." Queen said. How were they supposed to know when they just got here?
"And that's why you will be participants in the game." Cognitive Makoto said with a smile.
"I see…" Dragon furrowed her brows. "Another ploy in the manager's scheme. We must be our own subsitutes…"
"Sounds perfect to me!" Mona grinned. "That's way better than spectating."
"I concur. I'd much rather do something ourselves than watch another attempt to fill our shoes." Crow said with a nod.
"You all sound very confident." Cognitive Makoto crossed her arms, before stepping off to the side. "The rules here are simple. Ahead lies a maze, but the lighting is very dimmed. The entry fee is 1,000 coins, but…if you manage to reach the goal, you'll win ten times that amount."
"…." Dragon furrowed her brows once more. She detected a lie. Not just one, but several.
Noir blinked, utterly stunned at the amount of coins being dangled in front of them, just for the completion of a maze. "10,000 coins just for clearing a maze!?"
"There's no way it's gonna be that easy…" Oracle mumbled. This already smelled like some sort of trap.
"It is no wonder they call this the high limit floor…" Crow stroked his chin.
"What's the call, Joker?" Panther and Fox looked to Joker.
"Let's get started." Joker nodded.
"Perfect. The door is right there." Cognitive Makoto pointed to the door. "Good luck."
As they approached the door, Dragon had a bad feeling in her stomach. Something about this just seemed off…it wasn't just the lies she picked up either. "Let us exercise caution…"
And the moment they stepped through the door, two things happened. First, the door locked behind them…secondly, the area was just about pitch black. "What the…!?" Fox gasped.
"Dim lighting my ass!" Skull yelled, turning around to try and open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "This is bullshit..! We can't go back!"
"I knew they were lying…" Dragon grit her teeth. "It all sounded too suspicious."
"It appears we've been tricked…" Queen let out a sigh.
"I'm sensing Shadows, too. Simple my ass." Oracle grunted. "They're scattered about in here…"
"This isn't good." Fox said. "If we do not ascertain the layout and the placement of the enemies, we will surely find ourselves in danger. I just hope there is a way to do so."
Dragon felt along the way. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, but it didn't do much since she could barely see in front of her to begin with. "It doesn't appear that we have a lot of space to maneuver, and there are a lot of us. If we get into a fight, we'll be pressed for space…"
"Great…" Panther sighed.
"Okay, just stay behind me. I think I can get us through this." Joker said with a nod. Once again, Third Eye was going to prove itself useful. This hidden skill of his didn't light up the path, but it did give him enough visibility to see at the very least.
"You can see in here?" Crow asked, a bit surprised at the confidence in Joker's movements.
"A little." Joker said. They thought it best to remain silent so Joker could focus.
That's when Panther felt a hand on her rear. She immediately scowled, thinking it to be one of the boy's pulling a fast one in the dark. "Hey! Just where do you think your hand is touching!?" She asked, only to stop and blink. Thank goodness it was so dark, because no one could see how embarrassed she was upon a realization. "Oh, sorry…that's my hand."
"I don't think I should ask how that happened." Noir said.
"Please don't." Panther pleaded.
"Wait!" Oracle said, causing everyone to stop. "There's a Shadow around that corner."
"It's a narrow hallway…" Joker said. If they all tried to fight, it would be a disaster in such a cramped space.
"Oh! Can I take this one?" Noir grinned. Nobody could see the sweet malice on her face, but they felt it. Nobody objected, so Noir carefully hid behind the corner, pulling out her rocket launcher. "You can see it, right Joker? Tell me how far away it is."
"In the middle of the hallway…it's not moving either." Joker explained.
"Clearly it's waiting for us…" Dragon grumbled.
"Okay, I understand!" Noir took aim with her RPG and fired. Nobody knew what her plan was aside from murder. There was an explosion, followed by a rumbling sound, capped off by some sort of crashing noise that drowned out anything.
"…Do I wish to ask what you just did, Noir?" Fox said with a sweat drop.
"I shot the ceiling." They could hear the smile on Noir's lips. "I figured I could probably miss if I shot the rocket directly at them…so I did the next best thing! The path is clear now!"
"Man, she scares me a lot…" Skull rubbed the back of his neck. But the path was clear and they avoided what would have been a troublesome fight.
"I suppose this was an alternative to fighting…" Crow shook his head. But at least they were able to proceed without too much worry. They came across a door and Crow tried to open it, however… "It's locked."
"What!?" Panther gasped. She reached for the door, trying to force it open with Skull, Unfortunately it wasn't budging. "If this door doesn't move, then…what about the people who've come in here before?"
"…That would mean they are subject to the Shadows that are in here." Dragon surmised.
"They have no intentions of less us, let alone anyone else, proceed further." Crow said.
Queen was silent. Even if the people weren't real, the fact that her sister was managing a game like this, a game where losing meant death…it hurt her. Sacrificing innocent lives just to win. That wasn't the type of person her sister was. "…"
"Queen? Are you okay?" Mona asked.
"I'm fine." Queen nodded. She was more determined than anything else.
Confronting a family member wasn't easy. Dragon knew that well…but she also felt a slight breeze. Blinking, she knelt down, making out a vent in the dimly lit area. "I found something…I think this is a secret path?"
"I doubt they'd want us to use this, but they started cheating first." Joker said.
"Yeah. Things are different now. We're just leveling the playing field." Queen was fine with this. The only way to win this fight was to play just as dirty as their opposition. She had no issues stooping to that level, if this was the game her sister wanted them to play. So they went through the vent…
They still had plenty of the maze ahead of them, but there was something that Noir was curious about. "Say…why do Queen and her cognitive version behave so differently?"
"She's kinda like how we first saw Queen…" Skull said.
"I'm not surprised." Queen said. "Back when my father died, my sister was doing everything she could to support the two of us. It wasn't an easy job for her, and I when I was younger, I wanted to do whatever I could help make her job easier. I still feel that way, actually. So I always did what Sis told me to do, to lessen her burden. Studying to get into a good college was part of that…she wanted me to succeed in the world as a woman, while she was struggling to do so in a male dominant society. That's why I know my cognitive version won't do anything my Sister's Shadow wouldn't like. But we've drifted apart a lot recently…she hasn't paid attention to how I've changed at all. I've seen throughout this Palace that the only thing she truly cares about is winning, no matter what it takes."
"You've come a long way, even if it's subtle." Joker said with a smile.
"I bet your sister would've freaked if she saw how you decked that dude yesterday in surprise." Oracle said with a snicker.
"Ogh…don't say that…" Queen still felt embarrassed about that incident. It was the guy's fault for deciding she was a good target to spook.
"But that's why we're here, right?" Crow asked Queen. "To save your Sister, so she can see the error of her ways."
"Yes. I'll open her eyes, one way or another…" Queen was determined to see this through to the end. Not too much longer and they managed to make their way out of the House of Darkness. Waiting for them at the end of it all was the same assistant Shadow from earlier.
"Inconceivable. How did you manage to make it this far!?" The Shadow asked. "You truly are pests. Every time you think you've crushed them, they just come crawling back in."
"What was that, you bastard?!" Skull shouted.
"I hope you're ready. We didn't appreciate that trap of yours." Mona said.
"He's right!" Panther added. "You had no intentions of letting us through that maze."
"And yet, your tricks failed to get the better of us." Dragon said with a smug grin. "You should know that cheaters are fated to lose once their tricks are found out."
The Shadow laughed. "Ah, you are indeed correct! That is how things are supposed to be. You're not worthy of victory. Now, won't you just lie down and lose for me? This isn't an easy job, you know."
Before Joker, the Shadow, or anyone else could even utter a word, it was already over. Queen lunged ahead, slamming her fist into the Shadow's skull, driving them into the ground. "As the manager's sister, I relieve you of your duty. You're fired."
"Holy…." Skull gulped.
Queen stood over the downed Shadow, cracking her knuckles. "That should be our 10,000, don't you think?" Her gaze suggested she was tired of these games and wanted to get moving. "Let's see where else we need to look for the rest."
"…Yeah. What she said." Joker nodded. Messing with Queen was not advised right now. Everyone had the same idea.
.
.
Violet was outside of the Casino, following the route on the hidden map she picked up. "Somewhere…around here…?" She saw a door around back and opened it using the members card left behind by Oracle, the third, unused one. She stepped inside what she thought was a tiny room, but it was actually an elevator. It went up the moment Violet stepped inside. "Huh…!?" It was going up for a while until it finally stopped a few minutes later. The door opened and Violet stepped out, looking around her surroundings. "Is this…a locker room…?" She even saw a few female shadows donning bunny outfits? What was this place!?
That's when a Shadow approached her. Violet was ready to fight, but the Shadow Assistant didn't show any signs of hostility. "Oh, you came from the hidden entrance! That must mean you're signing up to take part in the Battle Arena, is that right?"
"Huh?" Violet blinked. She kept her guard up and remained cautious. "What's the Battle Arena?"
"Oh, it's great. Here, we engage participants in the Battle Arena." The Shadow gestured to all the other Shadows prepared to fight. "It's our job to fight and make sure that any and all substitutes lose. It's not an easy job, some of them are more persistent than others."
"L-Lose? R-Right, I understand!" Instead of asking questions, Violet just nodded in agreement. Clearly this could pose a problem to Joker and the main group, seeing how they might have to come down this way. "So, um…where do we come out…? And won't the manager's sister be mad at you for letting me in?"
"Over there!" The Shadow pointed at the floor. It was a trap door that led to the arena. "We use that lever to send in the next wave. And don't worry about the assistant manager, she's too busy dealing with the Phantom Thieves, I don't see why she'd be concerned with you."
Okay, that worked. Nothing for Violet to worry about. "Er…next wave?" Violet tilted her head. This was…going to be an experience. She had no intentions of actually stepping into the ring…
.
.
The Battle Arena was the second and only other game on the High Limit Floor. A Shadow was prepared to greet them. "Welcome to the Battle Arena – oh, it's you guys. Our manager told us about you."
"Huh!? The hell have you heard about us!?" Skull asked.
"My, you're quick to anger. Wonderful. This would be quite boring if that wasn't the case." The Shadow was probably smiling under the mask. "Now, allow me to confirm something before I begin the explanation. Do you have 10,000 coins?"
"Don't bother asking." Cognitive Makoto appeared behind the Shadow. "I can confirm that they do. They managed to overcome the House of Darkness…somehow."
"Oh my, they've certainly been busy." The Shadow replied. "Very well then, allow me to explain this game to you. Here, you will prove your supremacy in a trio of one on one battles. Although, since this is the High Limit Floor…well, normally, our VIPs would prepare substitutes who fight to the death for their sake…then the attending guests place bets on who they think will win."
"That's awful…" Dragon grumbled.
"That must be the structure of this floor." Crow said. "Taking little risk for a high return is truly the optimal business strategy."
"But we don't have a substitute to use in this game, do we? Can we even participate?" Noir asked
"We didn't need one for the last one. So it must be true here too." Mona pointed out.
"As irritating as it may be, that is correct." The Shadow said.
"However…" Cognitive Makoto took a step forward. "Only one of you can take part in this game. So you must choose wisely. 10,000 coins is the entry fee, but your incentive to win is the prize of 100,000 coins."
"Wait, seriously!? That's enough for us to cross the bridge!" Panther gasped. "We need to do this!"
"I don't like this." Dragon spoke up. "That is a high reward…"
"But that amount almost certainly ensues great danger." Crow added. He and Dragon were on the same page.
"But if we cannot secure at route to the Treasure, it will be the end of us." Queen stared at her fist. "As much as I want to be the one to do this, I think it's best if Joker does."
"I agree. Joker can wield far more Personas than the rest of us. That level of adaptability will be crucial if he is fighting three foes at once." Crow said.
"Wait…" Dragon just picked up on that. "A series of one on one fights?"
"Is there a problem?" Cognitive Makoto asked with a tilt of her head.
"Are we sure it will be that simple? The last game put us in a pitch black corridor…" Dragon said. She made a good point. The High Limit floor was basically designed to prevent victory, at least for them.
"Do you want the coins or not?" Cognitive Makoto said. "You won't get them by trying to cast doubt on the game."
"It's fine." Joker gave Dragon a nod. "I can do this."
"You're going to be fighting alone…" Fox was worried and for good reason.
"But…that's why he's the one doing it, right?" Panther said. "Just don't do anything reckless, okay?"
"I got this." Joker said while paying the 10,000 coin entry fee. There was only one chance for this. So he stepped past the gate and it closed behind him. "…" Silently, he stepped forward.
"Come follow me." Cognitive Makoto told the rest of the Phantom Thieves. "I'll show you where you can watch."
.
.
"Erm…so those are the rules?" Violet tilted her head. "That sounds a little…" Unfair? Yeah. That's exactly what she wanted to say, but she had an in and couldn't really waste that.
"Oh! It seems like we're starting a challenge now. Excuse me." The Shadow gave Violet a quick nod before walking off. He was the Ring Announcer as well. "Now then! Our gripping battle is finally here! The idiot leader of the adult-defying themes has come!"
"What?!" Violet's eyes widened. She ended up getting so engrossed into the rules of the battle arena, she completely forgot to relay information to Oracle. She looked down, only to see Joker entering the ring solo. "Ah…!"
"Odds are 1.1 to the house, 23. 0 to the Phantom Thieves!" The Shadow Announcer continued. "Wow! Phantom Thieves are surprisingly popular! It's rare to see odds in the double digits! Now, let us begin our serious one on one battle!"
And then two Shadows appeared in front of Joker. "UHHHHH WHAT THE HELL!?" Skull yelled.
"This isn't one on one at all! They're just ignoring the rules right from the beginning!" Panther shouted.
"I knew it would turn out like this!" Dragon clenched a hand into a fist. "They were planning on cheating from the outset…!"
"Now then, it's time for this hellish trio of battles to begin! Ready, set, go!" The Announcer exclaimed.
"I figured things would end up like this." Joker was unfazed. The two Shadows were Auspicious Pachyderms. They had swords in hands and rushed towards Joker, and he was able to use his sleek figure and evasive maneuvers to avoid them.
Violet was watching from above, quickly moving to a corner to speak, while the other Shadows waited for their chance to jump in. "Oracle-senpai, where are you right now!?"
"Watching Joker fight alone sucks…!" Oracle responded. She spoke this way, to respond to Kasumi and to ensure Crow didn't catch on.
"I thought so. I'm actually right above all of you…I'm going to see if I can't find a way to make this easier on Joker-senpai. They have no intentions of playing fair at all." Violet reported, even if it was already obvious.
So far, Joker was fine. Once he had an opening, his mask burned away as he summoned a Persona. "Nebiros!" The Devil arcana appeared behind him, swinging its arms forward to create a psychedelic twister composed of psychic energy. The Mapsiodyne was extremely powerful, knocking his two opponents on their back from their weakness. Since they were stunned, Joker followed up with another one, finishing them off before they had the chance to act. "First round done."
"Wow! He really can't take a hint!" The announcer rolled his eyes. "The stupid Phantom Thief has won! You know, that's a little hard to say. I'm just going to call him the Phantom Dweeb from now on!"
"This feels like a conflict of interests." Joker said with a deadpan.
"Phantom Dweeb…?" Noir blinked slowly.
"All of you betting on the house, do not fret! The second round of contestants is coming right up!" The announcer said.
Violet watched three Dancing Witches jump down from the trap door, into the arena below. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from how fast they were to act. "T-That many…!?"
"What!? There are even more than before!" Fox remarked.
"How cowardly! There's nothing fair or honest about this!" Noir declared.
"Quiet down in the peanut gallery! Now, it's time to die in this blood curdling battle!" The announcer said. After he said that, the three shadows from above dropped down to attack Joker.
"Did they just call us the peanut gallery!?" Panther scowled.
"Be careful, Joker!" Noir exclaimed.
"Don't worry, I got this!" The trick was to ensure his opponents never attacked. He was outnumbered and if he gave an inch, it would be over for him. "Power!" He swapped Personas, leaping to the side to avoid a few attacks. Power then released numerous beams of light to strike down the three Dancing Witches. Though they tried to avoid it, the beams of light were too numerous and they were downed. Joker took advantage of this and finished them off with another flurry of rays, courtesy of Makogaun. "Go down!"
"It was a good idea to send Joker in here." Crow crossed his arms. "Even though the odds aren't in his favor, his vast array of Personas allow him to adapt to any situation and strike back accordingly…I'm a little jealous."
Odd, how Dragon realized that this was a truthful statement from Crow. "I wish we were able to join him…I fear it may never end."
"Never end?" Skull asked.
"There is a chance they release horde upon horde on Joker…and we can't intervene." Dragon said. "He is handling it well now, but he's going to get tired if this continues…"
"Bullshit! Why the hell aren't you dying, you goddamn Phantom Dweeb!? I have a bet on this too!" The announcer yelled out in fury. "Grr…There's no way in hell you're getting away with this! Time for our final contestant!"
Thor dropped down from above, landing with a mighty thud in front of Joker. "…What in the…-!?" Queen gasped.
"Yowza. That's a big one." Oracle gulped.
"Go! Grind his bones to dust! Let the extreme third battle begin!" The announcer yelled, rooting for Thor to crush Joker with his mighty hammer.
"HMPH!" Thor's hammer sparked and he swung it down on Joker. Joker was able to avoid this, but he was caught in the surprising, gigantic explosion of lightning that followed suit. "I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
"Gah!?" Joker was briefly surprised by this power, tumbling along the ground before sliding to a halt. He did sustain some damage, and quickly made note that taking a direct hit from that thing would be bad if he wasn't prepared.
"I BET I GOT MORE POWER THAN THAT GUY!" Skull shouted, grabbing onto the fence that separated the spectators from the arena. It was actually an electric fence, but Skull didn't feel it.
Violet looked around at the room she was in. They said it was the last one, but…she was told the rules. This was going to go until Joker dropped. So she quickly made her way to the irritated announcer. "Let me go next! I'm sure I can take down that, er…Phantom Dweeb."
"Yeah, sure, whatever! Just make sure that Dweeb eats shit! I got a lot of money riding on the outcome of this challenge, and there's no way I'm gonna lose it!" The announcer said, not even looking Violet's way.
"Of course." Violet nodded, quickly making her way to the trap door and…she pulled the lever to close it. The other shadows in the room realized it too late, and before they could try to change anything, she destroyed the lever with her rapier. "There!"
"What are you doing!?" A Shadow asked, snarling at Violet.
"She's trying to ruin our bets!" Another Shadow said. Violet quickly became public enemy number one. The Shadows lunged at her in a rage, but with her acrobatic ability, she was able to leap and flip over them with no problem. She did this all the way to the elevator, where she pulled out a spare smoke bomb. "I'm sorry to bother you, but this is just the way things have to be!" She threw the smoke bomb down, filling the space with smoke. The shadows coughed and had no means to follow Violet as she used the elevator to escape. "The rest is up to you, Joker-senpai!"
Joker dodged another hammer strike from Thor. The mighty thunder warrior wasn't taking it easy, and the challenge was admittedly kind of fun. But Joker wasn't here for fun, they had a mission to do. So Joker leapt high into the air, tearing his mask off as he summoned a different Persona. "Seth!" The black dragon manifested from azure flames, roaring loudly. It fired off a powerful laser beam from its mouth. One Shot Kill razed the arena, exploding violently as it consumed Thor in its wake. The mighty Thunder Warrior stood no chance against the power of Seth, defeated.
"W-what…no…this can't be…happening…" The announcer had no time to respond to Violet's actions, preventing more Shadows from ambushing Joker. It…was over.
"Once again, justice prevails." Crow said with a grin.
"T-The payout will be handed out after this…" The announcer was sulking.
Once Joker exited the arena, Cognitive Makoto stood in front of him…frowning. "Here is your prize…..100,000 coins." She groaned, putting the coins onto his card before making a hasty exit. So far the sting of seeing the Phantom Thieves prevail despite it all was too much to bear.
"Aaaaaw shit, that was freakin' amazing, Joker!" Skull grinned.
"You were incredible! They never even planned on giving you a fair fight in there." Panther was smiling.
"I figured that would be the case." Dragon said. "I am glad that it didn't get any worse than it already was."
"Our other trials have been rigged as well. So I suspected that Joker was our best option." Crow said.
"You sent him in, knowing full well the dangers?!" Queen asked.
"I simply had faith in his skill." "And envy…" "And if we're being honest it was our only option." Crow replied. "Now, let us go to the bridge, this shall be our moment to shine."
.
.
With 100,000 coins at their disposal, the group returned to the bridge that led to the manager's floor. They were prepared to lower the bridge once and for all. But then… "It seems you worked hard to gather that many coins…" Shadow Sae's voice spoke out to them from an intercom. "I never expected you would make it this far. I commend you on your vigorous efforts. However, you will never proceed to the manager's floor."
"Oh yeah? We played your game and won!" Skull said smugly.
"Hah. From this moment forward, the number of coins for the bridge will increase to 1,000,000 coins!" Shadow Sae laughed.
"WHAT!?" Panther stumbled back from hearing that.
"WHAT!? That's not even fair! You can't give us an impossible task like that!" Oracle said.
"You're just moving the goal post even further because you cannot stand to see us win by your rules!" Dragon objected.
Shadow Sae was loving this. "Ah, you finally understand? That is the point. Your task will forever be impossible! Hence I will emerge victorious!"
"How far are you willing to go win!?" Queen screamed out at her sister.
"I will do WHATEVER it takes to win! I am the only one who is allowed to win! I've made it this far and I will not lose to anyone!" Shadow Sae responded, infuriated by Queen's question.
Crow was calm and collected while the others were understandably worried. He stepped towards the machine. "So we only need 1,000,000 coins to proceed, yes?"
"Only?" Fox turned to Crow curiously.
"In that case, this should be quite simple." Crow said.
"You know how to make that many?!" Skull said, shocked.
"Not exactly. I already have the requisite coins right here." Crow's words shocked everyone.
"What…how could that be!?" Shadow Sae asked.
"Do you recall what we were told at the beginning? How we could borrow as many coins as we had on our card?" Crow began. The others nodded, but they still didn't understand where he was going with this. "For example, had we borrowed the max when we had 10,000 coins, we would have 20.000. And had we then bet on Joker at the colosseum as a guest, our total would have grown to 460.000.
"Yes, but you're speaking purely in hypotheticals. That's not what actually happened." Queen said.
"Besides, we would need a secondary card for that, wouldn't we?" Dragon asked.
"Correct." Crow began to smile. "On Joker's card, that is not what happened. However, that is not the only card we have in our possession."
"You have…another card…!?" Shadow Sae's voice began to lose confidence.
Crow pulled out the secondary card: the Taro Tanaka card. Oracle gasped. "That's the card I told you to throw away!"
"Exactly. Instead of disposing it, I secretly used it to gather coins and outsmart this system." Crow held that confidence in his tone.
"If put that card and Joker's together, we have about 500, 000!" Noir said excitedly.
"H-Hmph, so what? That's still clearly not close to the required total." Shadow Sae scoffed.
"You're right." Crow nodded in agreement. "Once my total reached 460,000, I borrowed the maximum amount a second time. After paying back the original 10,000, I was left with 910,000. Adding that to Joker's card, we have 1,010,000 coins.
Panther's head was swimming from all of this math. "I can't…keep up…"
"You jumped through a lot of hoops…" But Mona's tone told the story. He was very impressed. "It's actually a little frightening how sharp you are…"
"He is dangerous…" Dragon thought to herself. Crow's actions here reminded her why she needed to be careful about her powers. He was already close to figuring out something was up with her. Anymore prodding and he might figure it out…
"But wait…if we borrowed all them coins…" Skull stuttered in shock.
Shadow Sae had no rebuttal. They played her game and won, twice. "T-This is impossible…"
Crow smiled the whole time. "I'll take your words as a compliment, Mona. Also, don't tell me you actually considered paying back such a large sum? Now, let us lower the bridge before she changes her mind."
"On it." Queen activated the bridge. At the cost of 1 million coins, the scales tipped and allowed them passage. "We're almost there…"
"Let's go!" Joker exclaimed, rushing up the stairs to the manager's room. Once they entered it, the colorless mass in front of them was…the Treasure. At long last, they finally made it.
"It looks like this is our base of operations. Perhaps her Treasure will appear on that pedestal." Mona said. "A lot has happened, but we managed to get up there. The Manager's days are numbered."
"How uncouth of you to simply barge in here. Elegance is necessary for victory as well, you know." Shadow Sae's voice continued to speak to them. "I entertained you with my games, but it appears you're all far from satisfied. Very well, I've made preparations for that possibility. This will be a game of life and death! No matter who I face, I shall not lose!"
It pained Queen to hear her Sister say these things and mean them. Sae was this far gone…a game of life and death…? "….Our infiltration route is secure. We need to head back out and send the calling card." Queen's voice was resolute.
"And once the calling card is sent, Sae-san's Treasure will appear, correct?" Crow asked. "I wonder what her Treasure will look like…"
"That depends on the person." Panther responded. "For Kamoshida, it was a medal. Madarame's was a fake painting, and Kaneshiro's was fake money…"
"Father's was a plastic model…" Noir looked sad. She just remembered how she never had the chance to give it to him…
"I wonder what my mother's Treasure is…" Dragon thought to herself.
"In other words, the Treasure is what marked the beginning of the Palace ruler's aspirations." Crow nodded slowly.
"Or what caused their desires to swell." Fox added.
"…A police notebook. Our father's notebook, if I had to guess." Queen said, staring at the hazy shape before her. "My sister…she probably thinks Dad died because the police were using him. That's why she believes justice is meaningless, and that there's no point in living a subservient life. Dad's death is even the reason she aspired to become a prosecutor and grew so obsessed with winning. She really loved him…" Her gaze fell.
"Sae-san's heart must be exhausted from living in such a fiercely competitive world…" Crow glanced away, a pained expression on his face. "Honest beliefs alone are not enough to get you through. Even I understand that pain…But that is exactly why we need to change her heart."
"Crow…?" Dragon gave Crow a slightly concerned look. The truth in his voice and words drew her in.
"Yes…and I'll make sure we pull this off." Queen clenched her hand into a fist. "I'll make you see the light, Sis. I swear it."