Persona: The Trickster's Trials

by Black Fuego Rio

A world in ruin. A rigged game. An unjust society. For as long as humanity has existed, the world has been on the cusp between peace and discord, and now that balance is being threatened, toppling towards the side of despair. During such times, rebels will rise up to fight against the oppressive world and free it from the chains of oppression. Will they succeed? Or fall to ruin?

11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction in dedication to a much grander work. As such, the author does not own the rights to any characters within this story, and any correlation between any original characters that may appear and people in the real world are merely coincidental.

Chapter 11: Flames of the Scorned; The Lover's Burning Will

4/15/Overcast/After School

-Shujin Academy Entrance-

"Ugh, the nerve of those guys! What were they thinking tossing me out like that? And why the hell is Niijima-senpai with them. And dressed like a gangster of all things!?" Ann growled as she skulked back and forth from the alleyway and the nearby school entrance, unaware or ignoring the odd stares she was getting from the other students as they passed.

All she wanted was to get some answers. Justice against that bastard Kamoshida for what he's done, but the only people she knew who were willing to go against the 'model teacher' turned her away. What's more, when she tried to follow them, she ended up in front of some kind of castle, the others dressed up like a bunch of cosplayers, and even had some sort of weird cat thing accompanying them. She was really confused and angry, especially after they had forced her out of that odd area. Now, though, she wanted to go back and give them a piece of her mind. She didn't care if they were a criminal, a delinquent, and the freaking student council president, she was going to find them and get the answers she was looking for if it was the last thing she did.

"Oh, this isn't over. If they think they can get away with this, they got another thing coming. And what was up with that freaky cat thing too?" She hissed before turning back to the alleyway once more before entering it fully, unaware of a small blue butterfly lightly brushing past her before floating away towards the school. "Alright now. How the hell did they get to that freaky place. I think they used their phone to get there, but there has to be another way."

*bzzz bzzz*

"My phone?" Ann said curiously as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket before scowling as she reached for it. "I swear, if it's Kamoshida, I'm going to…

"…Huh? What's this weird app? And why does it look like a freaky red eyeball?"

---

-Kamoshida's Palace. Central Hall-

"Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining. However, I can't allow that trash to ransack my castle! Strengthen the security! Kill them on sight! I'll reward whoever brings me their heads."

"Praise be to King Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!"

"…Wow, we must've really pissed him off if he has all those guards with him. Either that or he's compensating for something," Joker muttered as he and Queen stared at the other side of the doorway, hidden from the sight of the large amount of guards and Shadow Kamoshida himself while Skull and Mona occupied the other side of the doorway.

"I don't think this is an appropriate time to make such comments, Joker," Queen muttered from her position on the floor.

"Hey Mona. Can't we just beat the crap outta him and call it a day?" Skull suggested to the cat laying by his feet, who turned to him in an irritated manner.

"Look at all those soldiers, idiot! It'd be suicide. And I'm sure you don't want a repeat of last time." Mona argued, causing Skull to back down before continuing. "Besides, don't you want him to confess his sins?"

"Of course, we do," Queen said in a steely tone as she picked herself up from the ground with Joker standing beside her with his arms crossed.

"Then there's no point in beating him up. We need to steal his materialized desires. The Treasure," Mona pressed while giving Skull a poignant stare, who managed to take the hint and let off a reluctant sigh.

"Fiiine… So, where is it?" He muttered as he stood up as well while scratching the back of his head.

"It has to be somewhere in the depths of this castle. Let's infiltrate further in while he's out here!" Mona suggested, prompting the others to leave the doorway and head to the only other area that they had yet to explore.

"It's a good thing that Kamoshida has all those guards with him in the lobby," Queen spoke up as Joker placed a hand on the door, "With them busy tending to his speech, there should be less security roaming about, allowing us to infiltrate the castle without too much of an issue for now."

"Here's hoping you didn't jinx us by saying that," Joker muttered, ignoring Queen's indignant stare as he opened the door, only to see a room occupied by a lone guard observing an ornate picture of Kamoshida on the far wall. "…Yeah, that figures."

"Quick, hide!" Mona hissed, the group diving into a corner near the door just as the guard turned around with a confused hum.

"Dammit, there's a guard over here too…" Skull grumbled before turning to Queen with a glare. "You just had to say somethin', didn't you?"

"How was I supposed to know this would happen!?" She whispered harshly in return.

"Murphy's Law at its finest, right here," Joker muttered before turning to Mona, who had an intrigued look in his eye. "Got a plan there, Mona?"

"Yeah, actually. This might be a good opportunity to teach you something…" Mona nodded before looking up at the white masked teen. "Alright, Joker! Are you ready to take it down?"

"Ready when you are." He nodded, an excited spark entering his eyes at the thought of getting into a battle so quickly.

"Ok then. Go for it!"

With a nod, Joker jumped out of his hiding spot, startling the guard, and proceeded to rush at it with his knife in hand. Stumbling a bit, the guard tried to pull up its shield in an attempt to block the assault, but a quick pellet to its hand courtesy of Mona and his slingshot caused it to drop the only means of defense it had, leaving it at Joker's mercy as he slashed at its face. Helmet destroyed, the burst into the familiar sight of black goo that quickly morphed into a familiar looking, if quite frightened, fairy-like creature.

"Aright, Joker, nice job! Now shoot it!" Mona ordered in an eager tone.

With a nod, Joker pulled out his pistol from his coat and quickly fired at the fairy's wings, causing it to drop to the floor with a hard thud, causing Mona to let off a mischievous cackle.

"It's down. Alright, everyone, surround her!"

The moment those words were said, Queen and Skull rushed into the room, their respective firearms in hand and surrounding the Beguiling Girl on all sides, with Mona also assisting with his trusty slingshot. The fairy let off an annoyed growl while Mona grinned at a job well done.

"Very nice, everyone! A textbook Hold Up, if I do say so myself," He gloated, proud of his teammates and their actions.

"So, this is a Hold Up, huh? Never in my life did I ever imagine actually doing something like this. It's almost surreal in a way…" Queen couldn't help but mutter, her eyes never leaving the Shadow and aiming her revolver right at its head.

"Seriously!? You guys are the intruders that King Kamoshida was talking about…?" The fairy complained as she stared at the group in contempt, "It can't get worse than this… What're you going to do with me?!"

"…Oh right, I forgot these things can talk and act like they're human," Joker muttered while Skull and Queen stared at the fairy oddly.

"That's right. Shadows are being born from people's hearts, so naturally they're sentient, often times quite intelligent too. Because of that, we can communicate with them and get them to give us things like money and items since they don't want to die," Mona explained with a grin, one that was mirrored by Skull as he began to understand the situation.

"I get it. So, if we can corner these guys like this whenever we can instead of just takin' them out, we can score a bunch of cool stuff and cash and maybe even something that'll help us stomp Kamoshida," He summarized, looking quite excited at the prospect as he held his shotgun to the Shadow with a single hand.

"Exactly. Looks like that head of yours is good for something after all, Skull," Mona taunted, ignoring Skulls annoyed shout before turning his attention back to the Shadow, who was staring back at them in surprise.

"Wait… Am I hearing this right? You're willing to let me live if I just give you something?" The fairy asked, wanting to know if she heard everything right.

"Well, something along those lines… Now cough up what you have. It can be items or cash, we don't care, just give us something useful." Mona stated his terms, the steel pellet gleaming from within his slingshot, as if begging to be released into the fallen Shadow.

"But this happened so suddenly… I actually don't have anything on me… I-I usually do you, you know. Just… Not at this moment…" The Shadow admitted sheepishly, causing the teens to stare at the creature blankly before turning their heads slowly towards Mona, who was looking quite nervous now.

"W-Wait, what? Oh… This isn't how I was planning this to go," He complained before regaining his composure. "Uh… Anyway, it can't be helped if that's the case. Time for you to go to hell."

"So, we're resorting to finishing her off in the end. That's kind of sad, if you think about it, but if it's to prevent her from warning Kamoshida, then it can't be helped," Queen said while shaking her head.

"I'm ok with this. Nothing like a little beatdown to warm me up," Skull grinned, looking quite manic thanks to his skull mask.

"Eh, Arsène's been wanting to sink his claws into something ever since this morning. Might as well let him have his fun," Joker shrugged as he placed a hand over his face, summoning his Persona in all its dark glory and causing the Shadow to actually quiver in fear at the sight of it.

"W-Wait! You can't do this to me!" It begged, wanting desperately to not be killed by the thieves around it.

"Sorry, but we're in a hurry. Don't worry though. Arsène's gonna take of you nice and quickly," Mona assured casually, his tone almost sadistic as he spoke, which caused the dark Persona to chuckle a little at his words.

'Indeed, young Pixie. Now hold still, please. I assure you that this will only sting for a moment,' Arsène assured in its usual dark tone while raising its razor-sharp nails, causing the Shadow to become even more frightened.

"No, wait up! Can't we work something out? Don't kill me, please! Won't you let me go?" The Shadow pleaded, staring at Joker desperately in hopes that the apparent leader will spare it.

"…Sorry, but you've chose the wrong enemy. Now it's time to pay the price," He shook his head while giving the creature a cocky grin, only for it to falter when he saw the Shadow actually laughing a little in response.

"Wow… You're really confident. I'm the same way too, you know. In any other situation, we'd get along really well," The Shadow stated, looking quite impressed at Joker before flinching suddenly. "Whoa, I feel different! Something's happening!"

'I feel something as well… A sort of resonance emanating between the Shadow. myself, and my Summoner… This is unexpected…' Arsène spoke up in surprise, getting the other's attention while Joker stared at the fairy oddly.

"What the…?! What's going on?!" Mona exclaimed as the fairy began flying once more, looking better now and even sporting a blue aura around both it and Joker, much to the teen's stunned surprise.

"Re-Joker! Are you ok? What's going on?" Queen called out, lowering her gun as she stared at her friend in concern, growing even more worried when he didn't respond.

"…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 souls…" The Shadow stated while looking at Joker intently, with him staring right back at it and even Arsène behaving oddly.

'Heh, to think that my summoner is in possession of the Wild Card. No wonder his soul is so spacious. It seems that things will become quite interesting from here on out…' The Persona stated before it dispersed in a burst of flames, its words confusing the others greatly until they heard the Shadow speak once more in much peppier tone of voice.

'My real name… is Pixie!' The newly dubbed Pixie announced, its voice and mannerism now much friendlier than earlier before turning to the remasked Joker with a massive smile on its face. 'Thou art I, and I am thou! From now on, I'll live on inside your heart! Here's hoping we make an excellent team!'

As soon as those words were said, Pixie was suddenly engulfed in its blue aura, it's form shifting into a floating replica of Joker's mask for a few moments before bursting into blue flames and attaching itself to Joker's own mask. The force of the sudden act caused him to stumble a bit and instinctively grab his mask while a surge of power began welling within him. The flames on his mask quickly dispersed, showing that they didn't harm him in the slightest, and all he could do was blink a couple times in confusion as he tried to process what happened just now.

"…The hell did that Shadow do to me?" He asked slowly, turning to Mona for answers, only for the cat to shake his head rapidly with his pupils shrunk in alarm.

"I-I don't know! I've never seen something like that happen before!" Mona exclaimed, looking quite freaked out and causing the others to rush over to their friend in concern.

"Dude! Did that thing get sucked into your mask!? What the hell was that about!" Skull exclaimed.

"I don't know, but it sure as hell felt weird when it happened…" Joker admitted while shaking his head.

"Joker, are you alright? That Shadow's not doing anything to you, is it?" Queen asked in concern, hoping her friend wasn't hurt in any way, when the sounds of clanging metal suddenly hit their ears, and all turned to see another guard passing though, turning its head just in time to notice the group and rush to them.

"Intruders!? Halt!"

"Ah crap, they noticed us!" Ryuji exclaimed as he watched the guard burst into black goo and reform into the green, two horned horse monsters that they dealt with in the past, along with the flying pumpkin creature that the group first encountered.

"There's a lot of them, too. It's best that we be careful." Queen warned as everyone brought out their respective melee weapons when Joker suddenly heard a familiar feminine giggle from within his head, causing him to stiffen up in surprise.

Teehee… Looks like there's quite the party going on here. Mind if I join in? I promise I'll be useful. Pixie's voice echoed in his mind, making him blink a couple times and wonder if he was hearing things right when Arsène's quiet chuckles began echoing within him as well.

Allow the fae to assist us, Summoner. She seems to hold quite the potential from what I'm sensing. Plus… I'm interested in seeing how she'll fare against these Shadows.

…Alright, if you say so. Joker relented as he placed his hand over his mask once more, feeling something shifting from within in, and called out the name of the one who will help him and the others in their fight.

"Pixie, let's go!"

With those words said, Joker's mask disappeared once more, the flames of his mask taking shape behind him in the form of the Shadow the group had just dealt with earlier, this one now sporting a blue aura and black chains around its lower body similar to that of the group's Personas, much to the shock of the others. Acting on instinct, the pair turned their attention to one of the green beasts, and with surprising speed, Pixie flew right over it with azure streams of electricity suddenly emanating from its body. One it was above it, it turned to Joker with a smug grin on its face, which was returned as he spoke to it.

"Fry them, Pixie!"

'You got it, Master!'

No sooner after those words were spoken, a burst of electricity was shot out of the fairy and struck the unsuspecting beast, making it cry out in pain before stumbling to the ground with sparks of paralysis covering its body. The act caused the remaining Shadows to become even more wary of the dark-haired thief while the rest of the thieves stared at their comrade in surprise.

"Did… Did you just summon the Shadow we just dealt with a moment ago?" Queen questioned softly as she eyed the flying fairy that was making her way back to Joker.

"Don't tell me… Did you take in the Shadow's appearance and powers as a Persona!" Mona asked in awe.

"Holy crap, that is so awesome! Hey, think you can do the same with these guys too?" Skull questioned as he pointed at the remaining Shadows.

"Only one way to find out," Joker muttered as Pixie dispersed in blue flames before raising a hand up to Skull with a smirk on his face. "Want to join in? I can't have all the fun, you know."

"You bet! There's no way I'm lettin' you hog all the action!" Skull cheered before slapping Joker's hand with his own, a wide grin on his face as he turned to the other horse. "Now it's your turn to get shocked, man. Captain Kidd, you're up!"

Heading the call of his other self, the spectral pirate appeared from within Skull's mask and wasted no time in firing a golden bolt of lightning right into the other beast, this one looking significantly stronger than the one Pixie fired, causing it to cry even louder in pain before it vanished in a burst of black smoke.

"Huh, accidently took one out. Oh well, still got the other," Skull shrugged as Captain Kidd let off an amused chuckle before the teen turned to the lone female of the group with a hand in the air. "Wanna deal with Pumpkin-Face over here, Queen? I know you've been itchin' to cave someone's face in for a while and this thing's got a massive target on him."

"…Quite the tempting offer, Skull. I might as well indulge. It should make for good stress relief," Queen smirked, accepting the offer and giving Skull a high-five in the process before turning to the remaining Shadow with a fierce expression, feeling even more powerful than she had before. "Alright you monster, time to say your prayers!"

Without warning, Queen rushed to the pyromaniac at breakneck speeds, surprising the Shadow to the point where it only had time to blink when it felt the stinging pain of a spiked tekko uppercutting it in the face, launching it to the air. She wasn't done, though, and with amazing show of acrobatic ability, jumped high into the air in a summersault, somehow managing to get above the Shadow in the process. Not a moment later, she uncurled herself and struck the enemy hard with a well-placed drop kick to the back of its head, causing it to fall to the ground so hard that it made a crater, yet somehow still surviving the fall. Landing on the ground gracefully with a satisfied smirk on her face, the girl walked up to the beaten Shadow with her revolver drawn, prompting the others to pull out their own firearms and circle in on the it and the still paralyzed green beast.

"Freeze, dirtbags. One false move and you're done," She growled, a menacing expression on her masked face, which seemed to make her crimson eyes glow sinisterly as she glared at the Shadows, causing them to shiver in fright.

"Heeho! D-Don't hurt me anymore, scary lady! I don't wanna die!" The pyromaniac whimpered in a childish tone.

"If you don't want to end up like the guy I just fired, then I suggest you listen to what my buddy here has to say. He's calling the shots here," Skull stated as he gave his shotgun a friendly pat before pointing it at the two-horned beast's head.

"Alright. I guess we have no choice. What d' ya want, sonny?" The beast question in a defeated tone, his voice akin to an old man when he spoke.

"Join our cause. We're here to take Kamoshida's desires away and ensure that no one will be hurt by his tyranny anymore. If you're willing to abandon him and aid us, no harm will come to you. One of your own made the right decision, and I'm sure you'll do the same," Joker ordered with a smirk, his mask suddenly bursting into flames as Pixie sprung back into existence and made itself comfortable on his head, causing the two Shadows to stare at her in shock.

"P-Pixie! What are you doing with them, heeho!?" The pumpkin questioned.

'He accepted my offer! At first, he wanted me to give him something, but I didn't have anything, so he and his friends were about to kill me. Then he said something to me in a really confidant tone and I felt something resonating within me, like he and I were the same! After that, I decided to join him! He's not all that bad, really, and his soul has a lot of free space. Sure, there's this creepy guy in a top hat hanging around here, but he's not so bad once you get past the menacing face and pointy claws.' Pixie chirped in a happy tone, her words catching the Shadows off guard and causing Joker to look up at her in slight amusement.

"Oh? So, this youngin's got quite the power within him, eh? That's mighty impressive for a human… Kinda sounds like me when I was a lad." The beast admitted, staring at Joker with an impressed look in its eyes.

"I know, ho! He looks like the kind of person that knows when to let loose and have a blast! Just like me when I get excited! Hehe!" The pyromaniac said in agreement, and the moment those words were said, they began to stiffen, their eyes suddenly filled with understanding as their wounds started to miraculously heal.

"It's happening again. Does this mean that they're…?" Mona muttered with wide eyes as he saw the same blue aura that surrounded Pixie earlier before her conversion now appear around the beast and pyromaniac.

"Hey now, I'm startin' to remember something! Something that I can't believe that I've forgotten!" The beast exclaimed as it picked itself up.

"Yeah, me too! We're not Kam-ho-shida's minions! We're beings from the Sea-hee of Souls! We don't have to stay here! We can do whatever we want!" The pyromaniac exclaimed before the pair turned to Joker, who was staring at the duo curiously while Pixie let off a small, satisfied smirk before vanishing in a puff of blue fire.

'That's right, and what we wanna do is to join you, sonny!' The beast stated in a friendly tone, similar to that of a kind, yet gruff grandfather. 'I am thou, thou art I. The name's Bicorn, sonny! No need for honorifics! You treat me well, and I promise we'll get along!'

'Heeho! Same with me! I like you, boss, and there's no way I'm letting you out of my sights for a good while, hee!' The pyromaniac exclaimed excitedly, looking like he wanted to play more than anything. 'I am thou, thou art I. I'm Jack-O'-Lantern, ho! Let's have lots of fun together from here on in, heeho!'

The moment those words were said, the two Shadows were engulfed in their blue auras just like their old companion was, their bodies shaping into Joker's mask as well before they rushed into his face in a burst of blue flames. Joker himself flinched at the sudden impact and rush of power, but after a moment, he managed to orient himself and touch his mask lightly, feeling the presence of his new allies within him and an excited smirk entering his face.

"This was not something that I was expecting, but I am not complaining one bit…" He muttered as the others grouped up around him, staring at him in surprise now that the danger of battle was over.

"Dude, that was awesome! I can't believe you can actually use more than one Persona!" Skull exclaimed in excitement while patting Joker on the back. "So, how'd you do it? Do you think the rest of us can do it too?"

"Somehow, I don't think the rest of us can do what Joker did, Skull." Mona spoke up as he stared at Joker curiously. "From what I saw, he sealed the enemies' appearance and powers into his mask, and made them his new Personas… To be honest, I never seen anyone do that before. I didn't even know it was possible."

"What do you mean by that, Mona?" Queen questioned.

"Only one heart exists per person, so normally a person can only have one Persona!" He stated before turning to Joker once more with pride. "But this… This is incredible! That ability of yours will give us a huge advantage in battle! Let's try to do that even more if the opportunity arises!"

Oh yes, please do that, Master! I wanna have Silky accompany us as well! It's been a while since we've spent time together! Pixie begged from within Joker's head, causing him to blink a couple times at the request.

I'm lookin' forward to meetin' up with ol' Kelpie myself. Hopefully he'll accept an invitation to join us if you offer it, sonny! Bicorn requested, causing Joker's eye to start twitching from behind his mask.

Forget them, hee! I wanna know if we can get my bro Jack Frost in here! I haven't seen him since I came to this hee-here dump and I really wanna meet up with him, heeho! I got a buncha awesome jokes in my head and I wanna see if he's come up with new material so we can compare no-hotes! Jack-O'-Lantern suddenly announced, causing Joker to wince slightly and hold his head, making the others turn to him in alarm.

"Joker, are you ok?" Queen asked first while gently holding his arm.

"I'm fine. Just feels like a party's going on in my head with all the yelling that's going on in it…" He admitted before giving the others a reassuring grin. "It's nothing that I can't handle, though. No need to worry about me."

"Oh yeah, now that you have those things joining you, you essentially got a bunch of mouthy Persona's livin' in your brain like it's an apartment or somethin'," Skull stated before wincing a little himself. "That's going to be rough, isn't it? I can't even imagine how I'd act if I started hearing a bunch of voices goin' off in my head. I'm still kinda realin' from Kidd occasionally speakin' up."

"It's fine, you guys. There's nothing to worry about. Besides, Arsène's working on crowd control right now, so everything's all good," Joker assured as he felt his initial Persona let off a menacing aura of irritation within his mind, which quelled the rest into stunned submission for the time being.

"Ok then. Let's head further into the castle! With our new wild card, we'll be even more prepared for battle than ever before! This will be a cakewalk now!" Mona chirped happily before heading towards the a nearby closed door, the teens following closely and giving each other wry grins.

"It seems that Mona has taken a stronger liking to you know than before. Don't you agree?" Queen asked.

"Hard not to notice. I'm not complaining, though. If he's happy, that just means he's more willing to help us if things go nuts." Joker nodded while Skull let loose a wide grin.

"I'm more excited about getting these Shadows to join us or give us stuff for letting them live! If this plan of ours is gonna get us cool loot, then I'm gonna Hold Up every damn Shadow I see!" He cheered, causing the others to laugh a little in response before rushing towards the door and head deeper into the castle, feeling more than ready to take on whatever challenge they may face.

Unaware that an unexpected visitor had just made her way to the castle…

---

-Kamoshida's Palace Entrance-

"This is the place form earlier…!" Ann muttered in surprise as she crossed the drawbridge and made her way towards the castle before her before pulling out her phone, staring at the strange crimson icon that suddenly appeared on it not too long before she entered the other realm.

"…What's up with this app? I just said the words Sakamoto said and I ended up—"

"Princess?!"

"Huh?" Ann jumped, surprised to hear an unfamiliar voice call out to her and looked ahead in shock and fear as she saw a small group of armored knights suddenly rushing towards her with their swords drawn, causing her to fear the worst.

"Princess!"

"Aaaaaaaah!"

---

-Palace interior, Safe Room-

"...Is everyone here…?" Joker panted, mentally praying to whatever god that could hear him in thanks for finding a Safe room so soon after beginning their trek.

"We are, but holy hell that was close…" Skull muttered, looking the least worn out out of everyone in the room, who were panting in various degrees with Mona even kneeling on the floor.

Their exploration of the castle was going much worse than they were expecting. Shortly after finding a corridor that was sealed behind a slew of metal poles, an ominous sight to the group, they entered what appeared to be a breakroom that was practically filled to the brim with Shadows. The four of them managed to hold their own, though were unsuccessful in recruiting more Shadows, much to the disappointment of Joker's new mental entourage, but the sudden encounter left them so exhausted that they barely had time to catch their breath when they heard the sounds of footprints approaching them from the path they were in previously. Panicking and not wanting to get into any more fights, the group rushed out of the room and into a corridor, where Skull noticed a distorted looking door that indicated a safe room. Relieved beyond belief, the quartet rushed into the room and slammed the door shut, where they proceeded to relax and try to figure out what to do next.

"That…was…completely unexpected," Queen managed to get out from her deep breaths as she pulled herself together.

"No kidding. Doesn't it feel like there even more Shadows here than before? Just gettin' this far has been a real pain the ass…" Skull pointed out, getting everyone's attention.

"I swear, if you tell me that it was because of me jinxing it like before, I'm going to punch you in the face," Queen growled, her irritation a little high at the moment due to all the fighting she and the others had to do.

"It's not just your fault, Queen. It's everyone's fault. You're the ones who provoked Kamoshida, you know," Mona pointed out, causing everyone to flinch at the, admittedly true, accusation, before he turned away with a pondering expression. "Still… He seems to be awfully on guard…"

"Do you think he's hiding something?" Queen suggested with a hand under her chin.

"It's possible. Knowing how much of a sleeze he is, the guy's gotta have a few more skeletons in his closet that we're still not aware of," Joker said with his hands in his pockets, his expression dark beneath his mask as he began wondering what else Kamoshida had done.

"Anyways, how're we supposed to steal that Treasure thing? You never told us how to do it, remember?" Skull questioned Mona, getting everyone back on topic to their main objective.

"Don't be so hasty. First, we'll need to secure an infiltration route." Mona stated.

"An infiltration route?" Queen repeated curiously.

"That's right. It's a path to the Treasure's location," He said before looking away unsurely. "But honestly, I think we'll need a little more manpower in order to accomplish this. I thought having four of us would be enough, but looks like I underestimated how tenacious the guards are. If only we have one more member…"

"Finding another member sounds like a good idea, but how are we going to do that? It's not like we can just walk up to someone and ask if they want take a journey inside a crazy gym coach's heart…" Joker muttered before turning to Skull, noticing that he was staring at Mona oddly. "Something wrong, Skull? Why are you looking at Mona like that?"

"Just curious about somethin'…" He answered, his eyes never leaving the cat creature as he spoke. "Hey Mona. You said you don't have your memories and all, but somehow you still know about this kind of stuff? Makes me wonder if you really got amnesia. What do you two think?"

"Hmm… Now that you mention it, it does seem odd for Mona to have such knowledge of the world, yet is unaware of his own past or how he has become like this in the first place…" Queen admitted after a bit of thought.

"…Hate to admit it, but it is kinda suspicious," Joker said softly, wincing at the sight of Mona staring at the group with a hurt expression.

"That's what you think of me?!" He exclaimed.

"You sure talk big, but what if it turns out you're just some stray cat in the end?" Skull pointed out, causing Mona's eyes to shrink in shock at the accusation before shaking his head in denial.

"It can't be…"

"Still, why was the princess in such an odd place…?" A deep voice spoke from behind the door, the group easily recognizing it as a Shadow and causing them to stiffen at the sound of it.

"Princess…?" Skull whispered, he and the others wondering what the guard was talking about as Mona quietly trotted to the door and pressed his ear on it to better eavesdrop on the conversation.

"I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…"

"It doesn't matter now. We must take her back to King Kamoshida!"

"…Who's this princess they're talking about?" Skull asked as soon as they heard the sounds of footsteps departing, allowing the group to relax.

"I should probably look into this!" Mona spoke up as he left the Safe Room to investigate before anyone could say anything, which seemed to annoy Skull a bit.

"And yet another question goes unanswered…" He sighed while kicking the ground a little.

"I'm sure we'll get an explanation on what Mona is eventually, Skull. We just need to be patient." Queen assured.

"Prolly, but you gotta admit that he's the freakiest thing we've come across so far. Stuff like the castle and the navigation app are mysterious, yeah, but Morgana's got 'em both beat," Skull stated, looking quite sure of himself.

"Dude. Codenames," Joker spoke up suddenly, causing Skull to look at him oddly before realizing what he meant and immediately began to look sheepish as a result.

"Crap, sorry! What was I again? …Oh yeah! Skull! And Prez was Raider, right?"

"It's Queen, Skull! And for crying out loud, can you please stop with the apocalyptic raider nonsense," Queen groaned in irritation when Mona entered back into the room with a panicked expression.

"This is bad! Your friend, Lady Ann! She was taken by Shadows!" He exclaimed, causing the teens to look at him in shock.

"Wait, what? We sent her home just before we came here! How the hell'd she get back?!" Skull stated with a perplexed expression.

"I dunno, but if Lady Ann does indeed have the app, it could be possible." Mona said, causing the others to grow increasingly worried at the prospect.

"Oh no… Did she seriously get the thing on her phone like we did?!" Skull exclaimed in panic.

"Does this mean she also possesses a Persona? Skull and I didn't obtain the app ourselves until we Awakened to ours," Queen asked.

"I doubt it. I got the app before I Awakened, so it could be possible that she managed to get the app the same way I did," Joker explained with a frown on his face.

"Dammit! We let her out for her own safety and she just came back in by herself…!" Skull growled with his fists clenched before heading towards the doors and slammed them open, with the rest of the group following behind with determined expressions. The teens turned to Mona, about to ask where he located the captured girl, when they heard a familiar voice cry out not too far from them.

"Is this some kind of filming?! Who's in charge here!?"

"That voice… It's Takamaki!" Skull exclaimed as soon as he recognized the voice.

"She's just past the dining-hall looking place! C'mon, lets go!" Mona ordered, prompting the group to rush towards the direction they came from, reaching the hall and were greeted by a lone guard as a result, who instantly noticed them when they came into the room running.

"Halt! Where do you think you're going!?" It exclaimed before bursting into ooze and forming a flower-like girl and a familiar looking winged devil man and began running towards the group.

"Arg, we don't have time for this!" Queen growled before grabbing her mask, calling upon Johanna and mounting her before charging right at the incoming Shadows and drifting right in front of them, firing a wave of Nuclear energy at them both and causing them to cry in pain.

"Jack, roast them! No time to make new friends!" Joker ordered as he called upon the fire-type Persona he obtained.

'No worries, ho! I never liked Mandrake anyways. Always a bi-heetch and never laughed at my jokes! And Incubus owes me three hundred yen!' The floating pumpkin said before launching a large burst of fire right at the two fallen Shadows, causing them to scream in pain until they were reduced to a puff of black smoke.

"Well that was annoyin'. And a total waste of time! Let's hurry up and go!" Skull exclaimed, his sentiment mirrored by the others as they proceeded to leave the hall once more and made their way to the corridor that lead them to the outside, pausing when they heard the sounds of someone gasping in pain.

"This way!" Mona exclaimed, pointing at the corridor to the right of them, one that was preciously sealed when they passed by it the first time, when they heard Ann's voice cry out again.

"Look, I'll apologize for touching the armor without permission!" They overheard, causing them to take a closer look at the armor-filled hall to see that one of the suits was indeed busted down.

"She totally doesn't get what's goin' on!" Skull sighed in exasperation, annoyed at Ann and her apparent obliviousness to her situation.

"Well this doesn't look ominous at all…" Joker muttered sarcastically towards the foreboding hall before turning to the others with a hard look. "Look alive, guys. Something tells me we're gonna deal with something big here. You all ready?"

"Good to go!" Mona exclaimed while waving his slingshot.

"Always ready, Joker," Queen assured while slamming a fist in her palm.

"You bet I am. I'll beat down anyone who's tryin' to hurt Takamaki!" Skull stated while grabbing his pipe, looking ready for a fight.

"Very good. Let's go!" Joker announced, prompting the group to rush down the hall and bust down the door before them.

What they saw, however, wasn't something that they were expecting…

Right when they entered, they were greeted by the sights of what appeared to be silhouettes of teenage girls wearing nothing but gym shorts, all of them laying around in a provocative manner and essentially screaming in ecstasy in one way or another. However, there was also a hint of pain and fear in their voices as well, which did not bode well for the group at all.

"This is effed up…" Skull muttered what was essentially on everyone's minds. "So, this is what he thinks of the girls on volleyball team?"

"Kamoshida…" Queen hissed, her fury growing more and more at the sight before her, to the point where her eyes were practically radiating with rage behind her mask at the implications that were laid out before her, especially as one final puzzle piece seemed to fit in her mind, which only serve to fuel her ever-growing anger.

"…That's it. I'm gutting him the moment I see him," Joker stated in an even tone, his expression blank while his mind was of flurry of outrage and anger while his Personas were begging him to give in to his violent tendencies.

A temptation that he desperately wanted to give into, at the moment, but was snapped out of it when he heard Mona speak up.

"Hey that's…!" The cat creature started, prompting the others to turn to his direction to find exactly who they were looking for.

Along with a few additions as well.

"Takamaki!"

---

Moments Prior…

-Kamoshida's Castle, Candlelit Chamber-

"What's this all about!? Seriously, I'm gonna call the cops!" Ann screamed at the two guards before her, she herself bound to an X shaped cross by her arms and legs and surrounded by a load of burning candles.

She was having a very bad and confusing time the moment she returned to the castle area. Mere seconds after arriving, she was captured by the guards that were right in front of her, calling her princess of all things, much to her confusion. She was struggling the entire time they were holding her, trying desperately to escape. Unfortunately for her, they were too strong, and only managed to tear down a suit of armor that was on the hall she was just in before entering the room, which resulted her to be chained up on the cross she was on now. At first, she thought that she was on some sort of low-budget movie set, but now she wasn't so sure, and it was both filling her with fear and anger simultaneously. Especially when a 'familiar' face decided to make his appearance.

"So this is the intruder." A calm voice stated, prompting Ann to turn her head to see what looked like Kamoshida approaching her… If Kamoshida was wearing nothing but a bathrobe, pink underwear and a gold crown on his head.

"Kamoshida!" She exclaimed, not expecting to see the man in here of all places, let alone in such a getup. She grew even more surprised though when she saw what looked like an exact copy of herself accompanying him, wearing nothing more than a purple bikini with matching heels and a pair of fake cat ears. "Who's that…? More importantly. What' is this place?! Why's the school turned into something like this?!"

"I can't believe you mistook my Ann for someone like her," 'Kamoshida' said to his guards, ignoring Ann's questions before he focused on her and chuckled darkly when he saw her eyes. "Are you afraid?"

"What is that outfit…? Have you lost your mind?" Ann demanded, desperately wanting to know what was happening.

"I do as I please here. After all, this is my castle… The world of my desires," 'Kamoshida' explained, his smug expression irritating Ann as she tried to move in her binds.

"What the…?! Wait… Is this some red-light district!?" She demanded.

"Haha… What a lively slave," 'Kamoshida' praised sarcastically, which only served to further fuel Ann's ire and making her struggle harder to escape.

"This isn't funny! Enough of the bullshit, Kamoshida!" She exclaimed furiously, yet the gold-eyed man was not concerned in the least. With a scoff, he turned to his own version of Ann, a smug grin on his face as he spoke to it.

"That girl's decided to tell me off. What do you think of that…?" He asked, knowing exactly what it was gonna say, but wanted to hear the answer in a voice he was always happy to hear.

"Talking back is, like…totally unforgivable…" The fake Ann said, sounding nothing more than a completely airheaded bimbo, which served to further please the odd man before turning to the real Ann.

"In that case, she should be executed," He ordered, prompting a gasp from the captured girl while a gold-armored knight began walking towards her, instilling more fear into her as 'Kamoshida' continued. "Now then, how should I play with you? Shall I tear you into little pieces?"

"Are you kidding me…?" Ann muttered, horrified as to what was about to happen to her, when a familiar and unexpected voice entered her ears.

"Takamaki!"

"Sakamoto?" She whispered, craning her head to see the skull masked teen approach her and the others with the rest of the masked group accompanying the dyed-blond teen.

"Just when I was about to start enjoying myself…" 'Kamoshida' complained as he turned his attention to the newly arrived group.

"Well sorry to walk in on you before you finished," Amamiya growled as he tightened his gloves.

"What's the deal with this guy…?!" Ann questioned, wanting to get some answers from the teens as she tried once more to struggle out of her bindings.

"You little…!" Sakamoto began, looking ready to use his pipe to snap Shadow Kamoshida's neck in two.

"…How many times are you gonna come back?" 'Kamoshida' asked in annoyance.

"As many times as it takes to bring you to justice, Kamoshida. We're stubborn that way," Niijima stated as she reached behind her back and pulled out what looked like a pair of spiked brass knuckles to Ann, much to her surprise, before hearing a dismissive scoff from the monster who captured her.

"I bet you're just like those thieves. You came because you're pissed at me, huh?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow before adopting a taunting expression on his face. "But, ah… I forget that chick's name, but it's your fault she jumped, you know."

"Huh…?" Ann gasped, her eyes wide at the new information while the masked teens and cat creature were also stunned by the news, before her blood ran cold as she put the pieces together in a horrifying thought.

Oh shit… Don't tell me… Because I didn't go to him… Did Kamoshida seriously…?

"You were so reluctant to throw yourself onto me that I had her to take your place," 'Kamoshida' explained, confirming Ann's fears, looking quite pleased with himself while she suddenly exploded with rage.

"You Bastard!" She shouted hysterically, wanting nothing more to rip the Shadow to shreds as the gold knight slowly approached her.

"No!" She heard Sakamoto exclaimed, looking ready to rush in and stop the knight when the other guards suddenly had their blades around Ann's neck, prompting him to stop. "Dammit…!"

"Take one more step and I'll kill her on the spot!" 'Kamoshida' growled as he glared at the group, only to step back slightly at the sight of the masked form of Niijima glaring at him with eyes so intense they were practically glowing red with the rage unlike any other.

A sight that scared Ann quite a bit if she could be honest with herself.

"You monster… Not only were you physically abusing your students, but you also sexually assaulted the girls on the team! You even went so far as to rape Suzui-san simply because Takamaki-san did the right thing and refused your advances! You have crossed the line, Kamoshida! I will never forgive you for your transgressions! Not now, not ever! You will pay for your crimes for the rest of your miserable existence if it's the last thing I do!" Niijima yelled in righteous fury, breathing heavily after she was finished as she continued to stare down darkly at 'Kamoshida', who simply looked back with a cocky expression.

"Oh, I doubt that's going to happen… After all, I got a hostage right here. I'm holding all the cards right now, and there's nothing you can do about it," 'Kamoshida' said smugly, causing the girl to grit her teeth at the taunt as he continued. "Just sit back and enjoy the dismantlement show. It'll be your turn soon enough."

"No! Don't!" Ann begged, her fear rising as she felt the sharp swords touching her neck, which caused the monster to turn to her, now sporting a lustful expression on his face.

"Maybe I'll start with her clothes…" The 'man' mused out loud with a perverse tone, prompting the other Ann to giggle at his words.

"You're such a perv!" She said in a teasing tone that sent shivers down the spines of the teens hearing her, not liking the way she was speaking to the weird old man.

"H-Hey, what're we gonna do?!" Sakamoto questioned, prompting Ann to turn to the group to see him panicking a little at their predicament and he turn his head to the others, only to grow increasingly worried when the monster cat shook its head unsurely. It was then the blonde realized that they really couldn't do anything, and could only watch helplessly as a golden knight slowly approach her.

"Is this…my punishment for what happened to Shiho…?" Ann said in a defeated tone, ignoring Sakamoto calling out to her as the guards beside her to lower their blades in satisfaction while the teens and cat looked at her in horror.

"That's more like it. You should've looked like this from the start." 'Kamoshida' praised, looking quite pleased with himself that it only served to drive Ann further into despair and frustration.

"Shiho… I'm so sorry…" She whimpered, tears falling from her face as she accepted her fate. There was nothing left for her anyways. Kamoshida won. Shiho was in the hospital with little chance of survival. She was all alone now. There was nothing she could do. Nothing at all…

"Don't give in…"

"Huh?" Ann looked up, turning her attention to the source of the voice, which turned out to be Amamiya, who she realized was mostly silent for most of the exchange.

"Don't give in to this, Takamaki-san. You're much stronger than this. You know that. Don't let this pathetic waste of space get to you…" Amamiya stated, his gaze boring a hole into Ann as if he was staring at her very soul as he spoke to her. "You've dealt with a lot from the beginning from what I've heard, but you manage to endure every moment of it and come out on top. This is no different! Not only that, you're not alone either! You have me, and the rest of us, here to help you out, but that will only happen if you help yourself first! So please, don't give in. Fight until your last breath! Do it for you, and do it for Suzui-san…"

"Amamiya-kun…" Ann whispered, stunned silent by the speech that the transfer student made. It shocked her that the normally quiet teen that sat behind her during class and was labeled a delinquent would say such things to her. Despite that though, she couldn't help but feel better after hearing his words. Not only that, she also began to feel something welling up within her. Something that she thought she lost for the longest time. Confidence. Determination. And most importantly…

Willpower.

"…You're right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me…? What was I thinking…?!" She nodded, a fierce look in her eyes as she began to struggle once more, this time fighting even harder than before and prompting Shadow Kamoshida to turn to her with an annoyed expression on his face.

"It's like I always say. Slaves should just behave and—"

"Shut! Up!" Ann interrupted, glaring at Shadow Kamoshida with a fire in her eyes that he had never seen in her before. "I've had enough of this… All of this…! If you think I'm going to let you go after everything you've done, you got another thing coming!

"YOU PISSED ME OFF, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

The words echoed from within the room, radiating a kind of force that caused the guards to step back instinctively. Kamoshida growled in annoyance at the defiant girl while the doppelgänger started to look a little afraid. The teens and cat, however, began to smile widely. They knew what was about to occur. It happened to all of them already, and they knew it was only a matter of time until Kamoshida suffers a payback like he never experienced.

*babum*

"Aaaha!"

My… It's taken far too long. Tell me… who is going to avenge her if you don't? A smooth, sultry voice stated from within Ann, the tone eager as the girl began to writhe in pain; new golden eyes wide as she felt her head, her whole body, feel like it was on fire.

Forgiving him was never the option…
Such is the screams of the other you that dwells within…
I am thou, thou art I…
We can finally forge a contract…

"I hear you… Carmen," Ann muttered, the name of her other self rolling of her tongue as if it was nothing as she snapped her head up, a crimson cat-like mask appearing on her face in a flash of blue flames as the will of rebellion shone brightly in her golden eyes. "You're right No more holding back…!"

There you go… Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? The sultry voice praised as strength suddenly began powering through Ann's body, allowing her to rip herself out of her binds with ease

I understand! Now help me take this monster out of my life once and for all! Ann screamed in her head as she grabbed her mask pulling it as hard as she could on instinct as her other self let off an amused chuckle.

Very well. I will gladly lend you my strength. Show this lowly excuse of a man what the phrase 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' truly means, and burn everything he holds dear to the ground!

Bright light filled the room, a pillar of blue flames and black chains engulfing Ann where she stood as she let out a scream. Pain filled her at first, but immediately after, a rush of heat and power began filling her. It was a feeling that she had never experienced before, but one that felt…right, somehow. Soon, the flames dispersed, and what was once a lone highs chool girl on the brink of death was now replaced by a powerful rebel with aid in the form of her inner self, her Persona, floating proudly behind her.

The Persona itself was something straight out of an old English movie; appearing as a flamenco dancer with the top revealing quite a lot of cleavage and wearing a cat-like mask as well, sporting a pair of black pigtails and a cigar in her mouth. She was also carrying what looked like men in tuxedos and pink, heart-shaped steel heads on either side of her being held by vines: One of them dangling in the air by her hand while the other being held onto the ground by her high-heel.

Before the Persona was Ann, looking much different compared to how the others looked when they awakened. Instead of sporting dark clothes like the others, she was wearing a blood red latex bodysuit that looked akin to a dominatrix outfit with a pair of hot pink gloves and even a clip-on tail to accompany the look. There were zippers all around it, with parts of it open to show a bit of cleavage on her as well, making her look both alluring and dangerous when accompanied by the fierce expression that was currently sporting her face.

Barely even a moment after the light died down, Ann rushed towards one of the guards and kicked its sword out of its hands, causing it to spin in the air wildly. Not hesitating for even a moment, the girl jumped into the air and fiercely grabbed the sword by the hilt, before coming down straight to the ground and cutting down the first enemy she saw, which so happened to be the bikini-clad clone of herself. It barely had time to react when the attack hit, and it didn't even have a chance to fall to the ground before it dispersed in a puff of smoke, which served to instill a lot of fear into Shadow Kamoshida if his whimpering and sweating face was anything to go by.

"You know what? I'm not some cheap girl you can toy with… You scumbag," Ann said darkly as she glared at 'Kamoshida', who was hiding behind his golden knight in fear of being cut down, yet still had the nerve to glare back at her.

"Bitch…!" He simply said, having nothing else to say as Ann stomped towards him, heated eyes staring down at the pitiful Shadow as the others flanked her side.

"You stole everything from Shiho… You destroyed her… Now it's your turn!" She announced, gripping the sword she had stolen until it suddenly burst into crimson flames, encompassing the entire weapon to the hilt, but not burning her in the slightest. The flames began to compress itself into a small ball covering her hand, and after a moment it dispersed, leaving behind a crimson whip in her grasp and holding it like it was natural before pointing at her target with rage fueled eyes.

"I will rob you of everything…!" She exclaimed, her fury reaching her peak as the remaining guards began surrounding Shadow Kamoshida in order to protect him, the golden one leading the group as it growled angrily at the girl.

"How dare you! Enough of your insolence!" The golden guard exclaimed before it and the others turned to goo and suddenly combined, their forms coming together before revealing what appeared to be a horned devil with a spiked tail and a fierce expression on his face, all while sitting on what looked like a black toilet.

"No… I've had enough of you!" Ann countered defiantly, not looking afraid at all at the demon before her. "No one's gonna stop me now! Let's go, Carmen!"

'Of course, my little Temptress! It's time to bathe this demon in a sea of hellfire!' Carmen announced as she pulled out one of her 'toys' and proceeded to stomp on it, causing it to release a blast of fire that was aimed right at the demon, who barely managed to block it by releasing a large gust of wind from its mouth.

"How dare you deny King Kamoshida's love, you selfish lass? Pay for this insolence with your life!" It howled angrily.

"That dirtbag just sees women as sexual outlets! Don't make me laugh with that 'love' bullshit!" Ann fired back as the embers of the assault began forming around her other hand. "C'mon, Carmen! Let's give 'em hell!"

'Right away, but first, a gift for awakening to your potential. May it serve you well in mowing down whoever stands in your path…' Carmen smirked before snapping her fingers, causing the flames that were around Ann's hand to compress and take form. A few moments later, the flames receded, revealing a small firearm, an SMG, to appear in her hand. The girl stared at the weapon for a moment in surprise before a sinister grin formed on her face as she aimed her new weapon at the Shadow.

"Get ready, you freak. I'm packing heat in more ways than one, now!" She shouted before pulling the trigger just as Carmen brought up her two 'toys' and together launched a flurry of bullets and fireballs at the demon, who brought its arms up to try and defend itself. The action was for naught, though, as even with its makeshift defense, the mix of painful bullets and scorching fire proved too much for it, and ended up crying in pain before stumbling to the ground.

"It's down! Now's our chance!" The monster cat exclaimed happily as he began to hop around in excitement, causing Ann to mentally giggle at the sight of it before turning to the teens, who were looking at the freaky toilet demon harshly.

When I thought Sakamoto, Amamiya-kun and Niijima-senpai were planning something to take down Kamoshida, this was the last thing I expected. Ann thought wryly as she watched the student council president mutter something to the supposed criminal before shaking her head. I'll grill them about all this later. Dealing with this sicko is top priority! Ready to burn this place to the ground, Carmen?

Of course, my little temptress. It is time to show thus cur that roses like us are riddled with thorns. Carmen said smoothly, her voice echoing in Ann's mind as more fire appeared around the pair, ready to fry the one who caused her and Shiho so much torment.

She could get used to having this much power…

---

The teens and cat all sported matching smiles on their faces when they saw Takamaki Awaken to her Persona. Her resolve and strength were quite a sight to behold, especially after witnessing her breaking free from her shackles and cleaving her scandalous doppelganger in half with a sword that soon melted and morph into a whip thanks to her Persona. Joker especially looked pleased, proud that the girl who was begging him to help just yesterday had finally found the power to rebel against the man responsible for all her and Suzui's hardships. And judging from both Arsène and, oddly enough, Pixie buzzing around in his head excitedly, he wasn't the only one looking forward to see what else their new ally had in stored.

This brings about a whole new meaning to the phrase Flames of Rebellion, Summoner. The Lovers' scorn is strong, and will do doubt be a welcome addition to the group if she is willing to aid us… Arsène stated.

Yeah, yeah! I can feel her power even from here! And she is definably a firebrand that is not to be messed with! My old boss's days are numbered, Master, and I can't wait to see it happening! Pixie cheered as Joker smirked wickedly at the sight of the burned toilet demon while Mona cheered excitedly nearby.

"Joker, what's the plan? Should we strike or do you want to recruit it?" Queen questioned softly, her firm stare not leaving the large demon in case it tried something against everyone.

I'd suggest not trying to get Belphegor to join you in your cause, sonny. The punk's too loyal to Kamoshida to even think about switching sides. Attempting to get him to aid us is as useless as getting Jack-O'-Lantern to tell a good joke. Bicorn suddenly stated from within Joker, causing the teen to grimace at the missed opportunity to get such a strong looking Shadow as a Persona, before wincing slightly at the fire Persona's indignant cry.

"Recruiting it is a no go. Thing's too loyal to Kamoshida for it to work. The only thing we can do is end its misery," He stated after the noise in his head quieted down, smirking a little at the eager expressions on his comrade's faces.

"Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about! Time to get rekt, you bastard!" Skull cheered before rushing towards the fallen Shadow, the others following close by, and proceeded to assault it to what can only be described as an All-Out Attack.

Knife and sword slashes, tekko blows, pipe swings, whip strikes, even gunshots. The demon was being struck by all manner of assaults and it was damaging it greatly. The more it was struck, though, the angrier it became, and the moment it felt something strike its face, it let out a loud, desperate roar, causing the group to be launched back by the forceful move.

"Do you think you can make a mockery of me! I'll show you what it means to trifle with me!" It howled before taking in a deep breath, its eyes glowing in both power and rage before releasing it, creating a powerful gust that struck everyone. Queen and Takamaki where forced into the ground by the assault, a little battered, but not too bad off. Mona gritted his teeth as he endured the wind, but managed to appear only slightly ruffled by the assault.

Skull and Joker, however, were not as lucky as the girls or cat. The moment the wind struck them, the pair began crying in pain, and only a short while later, the force of the wind sent them flying right into the cross where Takamaki was previously trapped in, causing it to break as the boys moaned in pain.

"Sakamoto! Amamiya-kun!" Takamaki cried out as soon as the wind died out

"We're ok! Seriously banged up, but we're ok! But we could use a bit of healin' here!" Skull cried out reassuringly as he and Joker managed to pick themselves up from the rubble.

Woops… That's my bad, boss, heeho… Jack-O'-Lantern suddenly spoke up from within Joker in a sheepish tone. You're using me as your active Persona right now, meaning you currently have the same strengths and weakness that I do right now, hee. And unfortunately, wind and me-hee do-hon't mix all that well.

Thanks for the warning… Joker grumbled mentally as he felt Pixie made her way to the forefront of his mind to administer some healing, the only indication of it in the outside world being his mask shimmering blue briefly before returning to its original white color, when he felt a hand touching his shoulder.

"I got you two. Let me patch you up. It seems Johanna learned a few new tricks when we were fighting those Shadows before making it to the Safe Room." Queen said, a hand on both Skull and Joker before she closed her eyes, her mask vanishing and Johanna appearing behind her like she was parked before an emerald colored aura began to form around them, which soon encompassed the boys. Immediately after that, the two began to feel their wounds going away. After a few brief moments, she let go of the boys, the aura dispersing as her mask returned to her face, while the boys turned to each other with matching grins on their faces before turning to their healer in gratitude.

"Thanks, Queen. Really appreciate it." Joker nodded with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, thanks. Awesome work right there!" Skull agreed cheerfully, causing the serious girl to smile back at the pair, happy to have done a good job.

"H-Hey guys! Something's happening to this thing and I don't think it means something good for us!" Takamaki's startled cry snapped the trio out of their good mood, and all turned to see the demon with its eyes closed in concentration, an emerald aura similar to what Queen had when she fixed the boys, and immediately did they knew what was happening.

"Aw man, he's healin' itself! That's just effin' cheap right there!" Skull complained while grabbing his hair in frustration.

"It doesn't seem to be healing all of its wounds, though. At least not in a fast rate. Looks like we did too much damage for it to make a full recovery." Queen pointed out as she noticed that while multiple bruises and slashes on the demon's body were slowly receding, not all the wounds seemed to be getting healed.

"Well there's that, at least…" Joker muttered before his eyebrows shot up in a burst of inspiration. "I have a plan. Hey Mona!"

"What's up?!" The cat trotted up to Joker, Takamaki following close by with her cat mask back on her face.

"You remember that black twister we made when we combined Arsène's and Zorro's skills?" He asked, getting a nod in response. "Do you think it's possible that we can pull something like that off with other elements?"

"It should… Why do you ask?" Mona questioned.

"I think I have a way to take this guy out quickly, but we need to act fast," He stated with a firm tone before telling his idea to the others. They all blinked a couple time and turned to each other as they processed the plan, but after a moment, everyone smiled and nodded their heads. With a nod as well, Joker turned to the still healing demon, a fierce expression on his face as he reached to his mask and removed it, calling upon Bicorn and having it lunge right into the demon, causing it to ruin its concentration and get rid of its healing.

Angry at being interrupted, the demon let lose a strong wind breath from its mouth to strike the honed horse. Knowing to avoid it, the horse-like Persona made a high leap into the air and stared at the infuriated demon harshly before ramming itself into it once more then dispersing in a burst of flames. Smirking at his successful gambit, Joker decided to rush in at the monster and hopped right into his face, pulling out his knife and successfully slashed it across the nose, causing it to cry in pain before grabbing Joker, enticing a surprised gasp from him, and threw him at a nearby wall, causing him to slump a little after the impact.

Patching you up now, Master! He heard Pixie call out in his mind before he felt his mask disperse and the wounds of his fight slowly healing up, an emerald colored aura surrounding his body with Pixie hovering over him.

The same aura that was on the massive Shadow right now, and the exact moment he was looking for.

"NOW!"

"Right! Carmen, you're on!"

"Take it down, Captain!"

Takamaki and Skull both had their hands on their faces as they called upon their respective Personas, with Carmen bring up one of its 'toys close to her face while Kidd raised his arm cannon and aimed it straight at the healing Shadow. With a shout from the pair, the two fired off their respective elements simultaneously, allowing the two elements to combine into a crimson colored bolt that stuck the demon hard, causing it to cry in pain once more before looking back at the pair menacingly. It tried to float towards them, but the moment it moved, static and burn spots started appearing from its body causing it to stop right in the middle of its pursuit.

"It's shocked and burned. Time for phase 2!" Mona cheered as he summoned Zorro while Queen mounted herself on Johanna. Making brief eye contact with each other, the pair called to their Personas and had them fire a burst of wind and a sphere of nuclear energy right at the fallen Shadow, the two attacks meeting in the middle of what could only be described as a horizontal vortex of radioactive destruction. The violent combination of elements struck the demon true and ended up ensnaring it in a pillar of wind and nuclear power. The combination of the attack, along with the lingering shock and burns of the previous assault. caused the Shadow to scream loudly as the pain began to feel too much for it.

Sadly for the monster, the attack was not done just yet.

"Arsène, end it!" Joker announced with a cocky grin from behind the crying demon and summoned forth his original Persona.

With a dark cackle and quick flourish, the winged thief flew to the top of the pillar with an orb of dark energy in its hands. Once reaching it, it allowed its energy to build up more and more before it was about the size of a basketball and, with immense glee obvious in its laughter, fired the energy right down the pillar, causing it to mix with the other elements and turning the twister into a darker, more chaotic tornado of elemental fury. The cries from the large Shadow could barely be heard behind the collaborative attack, and it was only a few moments later that the twister suddenly exploded, causing everyone to shield their eyes as a wave of what could only be described as a dark heat washed over them, accompanied by a black cloud of smoke.

As the smoke cleared, Joker turned to the others to see if they were injured by the shockwave, and let out a relieved sigh when he saw them being no worse for wear. Nodding at them, the group slowly made their way to the epicenter of their combined assault to assess the damage they made on the Shadow. They were not disappointed at their discovery, thankfully, because as soon as the smoke was completely gone, the toilet sitting demon was revealed to the group, looking like it was about to keel over at any second due to how scared and beaten it was. Even the toilet it was sitting on was riddled with cracks and chips, as if it would break at the slightest touch.

"To think…there would be a woman…who could stand up to King Kamoshida." The Shadow gasped in pain as it stared at Takamaki in contempt, who simply glared back at it in response.

"Pff. Outside of school, that guy's nothing but a pathetic loser!" Takamaki scoffed before calling upon Carmen once more, the Persona possessing a devilish smirk on its face as it was summoned. "I think it's time for you to disappear. Carmen, turn him to ash!"

'Mmhmhm… With pleasure, little Temptress.' The Persona chuckled darkly before firing one last burst of flames from her 'toys', engulfing the Shadow once more in flames before it dispersed in a puff of black smoke, leaving no trace of it behind and Shadow Kamoshida absolutely defenseless.

"Oh shit…" The Shadow cursed, looking absolutely terrified by the fact that the group of teens had so much power to them that they managed to take out one of his best guards. With no other options, the cowardly Shadow began running away from the group, much to the ire of Takamaki, who was now on her knees and panting heavily after working so hard in the fight

"Wait…!" She cried out as Carmen suddenly dispersed, causing her cat-like mask to reappear once more, while Queen rushed over to her in concern.

"Takamaki-san!" Queen cried as she looked over Takamaki to see if she sustained any injuries during her captivity.

"She's fine. She's prolly just tired after usin' her Persona for the first time like we were," Skull dismissed with an annoyed tone before tossing a glare down at the latex-clad girl on the floor. "Forget that, though. Why'd you come here, man!? And more importantly, how!?"

"Hey, is that how you speak to a woman?!" Mona chided, a little bothered at Skull's attitude towards Takamaki before turning back to her with concern matching that of Queen. "Are you alright, Lady Ann!?"

"Lady Ann…?" The natural blonde repeated, looking at Mona oddly before beginning to freak out a little. "Wait, what is this thing? Is it alive…? How can it talk? And where in the world are we…?!"

"J-Just calm down. Everything's going to be ok. Don't worry," Mona tried to assure the tired girl, masking the hint of pain he felt by being called a thing before he felt the girl grab his head like a stand and used him to pick herself up.

"How am I supposed to calm down!?" She demanded as she righted herself until she took notice of the outfit she was wearing and immediately attempted to cover herself. "Why am I dressed like this!? When did I—Ugh, what's with this!?"

"Takamaki-san, take it easy, alright? I know everything is kinda weird to you right now, but you need to calm down…" Joker stated while shaking his head. He didn't recall Queen or Skull freaking out when they Awakened to their power and noticing their outfits. Then again, the two of them were already familiar with the other world to an extent and had a much easier time simply going along with what happened as a result.

Takamaki, however… Not so much.

"How can you expect me to be calm!?" Takamaki exclaimed hysterically in response, causing Joker to sigh exasperatedly at her attitude.

"Well, I'm stumped…" Mona admitted defeat while shaking his head. "A search party will be coming for us soon. There's no time to explain."

"Good point. It's best that we retreat for now and figure out our next course of action back in the real world," Queen ordered, looking a little reluctant as she made the call while Skull let out a frustrated growl as he glared at Takamaki again.

"We were just gettin' fired up and you had to go and get in the way…" He complained before shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of his anxiety. "Rgh, fine… Gimme your arm. Joker, you take the other side."

"Got it," Joker nodded as he kneeled down to Takamaki and picked her up off the ground alongside Skull. With that, the group proceeded to make their way to the exit, hoping that they didn't run into any more guards as they made their escape.

---

-Ayoama Itchome Subway Station-

"Here you go, Ren-kun. I hope you don't mind Dr. Salt Neo." Makoto said as she offered the soda bottle to Ren, who accepted it gratefully as she held her own orange-colored drink.

The group had managed to successfully escape the castle without alerting any guards, even with having to drag Takamaki's tired body a little. After making it back to the real world, the teens decided to head over to the train station in order to take a breather, with Ryuji and Makoto gone to get drinks for everyone in order to refresh themselves after the hard fights they had. They also used the opportunity to inform Takamaki of the situation, who thankfully managed to understand at least most of what was said to her. It was an admittedly difficult subject to explain, but she understood it well enough.

"Which one you want?" Ryuji ask Takamaki as he held a couple bottles of soda on each hand, one a cola and one a lemon-lime.

"Whichever's not carbonated…" She requested, causing Ryuji to stare at the bottles in his hands for a bit before turning back to her with a sheepish expression.

"Uh, they're both, actually," Ryuji admitted with a wince, causing Takamaki to stare at him in annoyance.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Takamaki-san. I didn't know you disliked carbonated drinks. I'll go and get you one really quick," Makoto offered as she was about to give Ren her soda to hold before Takamaki stopped her.

"No, it's fine, Senpai. You don't need to do that. And I told you, you can call me Ann. I think we've been through too much to be formal at this point," The blonde insisted before grabbing the cola in Ryuji's right hand.

"What about me!" Morgana chimed in, having hid himself in Ren's bag since returning to the real world and now propping himself on Ren's shoulder to look at Ryuji pleadingly while Ann stared at him bewildered.

"Huh? But you're a cat." Ryuji stated bluntly.

"Sorry, Morgana, but the vending machines here don't really have any drinks that we can offer you while in that body. We don't really know if you truly have a cat's body or not while here in the real world, so it's best to keep it safe and prevent you from eating anything that will make a typical cat sick. Understand?" Makoto explained in her usual know-it-all tone that only served to further depress Morgana.

"Aww, c'mon! Really?!" He cried, causing Ren to snicker a bit at his response.

"Looks like you're out of luck for now. No worries. We'll find a vending machine that serves milk for you when we have a chance," He offered, smiling a bit as he saw Morgana perk up, when he heard the sound of giggling, and turned to see Ann holding a hand behind her mouth with her eyes full of mirth due to the discussion the quartet was having.

"…Have you calmed down, Lady Ann?" Morgana asked tentatively, causing the girl to turn her head towards him and look at him oddly.

"Um… Morgana, right?" She asked for clarification before shaking her head at her own actions. "I'm really am talking to a cat… This feels so strange. Wait, no. You're not a cat, right? Sorry…"

"Eh, you'll get used to it. At least he hasn't popped out of your desk like he did with me this morning." Ren chimed in with a small grin, hoping to bring the girls mood up while Morgana began to speak up as well.

"It's only natural that you're feeling confused. The others were like that too in the beginning. Demanding that you understand all of this right after what you went though is asking too much," Morgana said kindly in hopes of soothing the girl's worries.

"Honestly, I still can't believe what happened," Ann admitted, looking down as the events of the day played though her mind. "And that power… My Persona…"

"Morgana explained it to us when we first Awakened, Taka—er, I mean, Ann-san. He says that our Personas are essentially our will of rebellion given shape. With it, you are able to fight alongside us in Kamoshida's Palace, if you so wish." Makoto explained as best as she could, much to Ren's gratitude as he doubt he'd be able to explain it as eloquently as she or Morgana could.

"I see. And if what you guys told me is true, we can make Kamoshida have a change of heart, right?" Ann asked, hoping that she got the gist of the situation so far. "Is it really possible…? Can we actually force him to confess his crimes?"

"We won't know unless we try. We're taking a big risk trying to change Kamoshida's heart, but it's a risk we're willing to take if it means keeping everyone safe from that man…" Ren said with a dark look behind his eyes as Ryuji began speaking as well.

"The volleyball team's keepin' quiet about this while teachers and parents turn a blind eye. If guys like us try and complain, they're just gonna shoot us down. Even Prez isn't able to get the grownups to listen, and she's pretty much the number one student in Shujin. Goin' all in on this plan is the only choice we got," Ryuji explained, his eyes filled with determination as he spoke.

"Then let me help too. I want to make him pay for what happened to Shiho," Ann requested, a fiery look in her eyes as she asked to join the group. "He just keeps going like nothing happened, even after what he did to her… I'll never forgive him."

"Wait… Did you just say, 'let me help'? You mean you want us to take you along?" Ryuji questioned in surprise.

"Don't act like I'm going to drag you down. Weren't you watching? I can fight too. Besides, Makoto-senpai even offered me a chance to join. Weren't you paying attention?" Ann stated with a glare.

"That I did, and we will be more than happy to let you accompany us in our quest. Having another team member will boost the odds of our plan succeeding exponentially, and we will be at your side as well should you ever be in trouble." Makoto said with a nod, a tone of approval in her voice as she stared at Ann.

"Eh… Still don't know about this…" Ryuji confessed before turning to Ren. "Hey, what do you think? Is it a good idea to let Takamaki join us or what?"

"Honestly, I'm more than ok with it," Ren admitted, much to the girls' and Morgana's relief while Ryuji remained skeptical. "You've seen her in action already, Ryuji. She can fight and can fight pretty well too. She also has a lot of literal firepower at her disposal thanks to Carmen, and she has the longest reach among us because she uses a whip. With her being able to get our enemies from a distance without resorting to firearms along with the other stuff I said, she'll became a great member of the team. Don't you agree?"

"I know I agree. Lady Ann will definitely be a useful asset to our team! I will do my best to protect her, too, should we face any trouble!" Morgana said as a fierce, protective look crossed his cat-like features.

"Besides, even if you guys said no, I'd just go in alone," Ann added in, causing Ryuji to turn to her in shock before realizing that she was right.

"Oh right, she can go by herself… I guess it'd be more dangerous turnin' her down…"

"You're the only one thinking of turning her down, Ryuji. The rest of us are on board with letting her in," Ren stated with Makoto and Morgana nodding along in agreement, causing the punk to let off a reluctant sigh.

"Rgh, fine…"

"Then it's decided. Well, I hope we get along!" Ann said cheerfully, happy that everyone was willing to accept her into the group before turning to Akira with a serious look on her face. "I'm going to make Kamoshida atone for what he did. Not just for Shiho's sake, but for everything he's done. I won't let any more people suffer because of him. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Understood, Ann-san. I'm looking forward to working with you to bring Kamoshida down. Here's to a great partnership and hopefully a wonderful friendship between us," Ren said as he raised his soda bottle up, prompting the others to do the same and tap the lids together, smiling at one another as a sense of comradery began filling within them. Ren himself was beginning to sense a faint bond between himself and Ann; a bond that was accompanying with her strong fighting resolve. He wasn't simply saying things when he said he hoped for a wonderful friendship. He was enjoying his time more and more now that he has befriending the people around him, and couldn't hold back the smile as he began drinking his soda.

"Just let me know when you're heading back in…" Ann requested before realizing she had forgotten something important. "Oh wait! We don't have each other's info."

"Then lets fix that right now. Send us your number and chat ID, and we'll get everything set up," Makoto offered with a kind smile, causing Ann to look back at her gratefully as the group collectively added each other to their respective contacts.

"I'll be counting on you all. Even you Morgana," Ann said cheerfully, causing the cat to stare at her with a star struck look on his face as she prepared to leave. "I have to go. I wanna check in on Shiho right now and see how she's doing before heading home. I'll see you all at school tomorrow."

"Take care, Ann-san. Get to your location safe." Makoto said with a wave, getting a wave back in response before the natural blonde before she walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

"What a kind girl… Such admirable consideration for others…" Morgana suddenly spoke up, getting the others' attention. "And the innocence to cast herself into the jaws of death to achieve her goal… She cares about her friends and she's beautiful to boot… What a girl! She's captured my heart…"

"Dude…" Ryuji muttered in a deadpanned tone, unimpressed by Morgana's words for the newest member of the group.

"Wow… I wasn't expecting such a development to occur. I'm…not so sure how to feel about that, honestly," Makoto admitted while looking at Morgana with a weirded-out expression.

"Eh, as long as he's not letting his attraction get in the way of the plan, it shouldn't be an issue," Ren shrugged in a nonchalant manner.

"Speaking about the plan, I was thinking it'd be better if this group could get together quick for now on…" Ryuji spoke up, getting everyone's attention and making them ponder on his words.

"True. Our best option would be to make a secret hideout where we could discuss these things." Morgana stated with Ren nodding in agreement.

"A hideout… I like the sound of that," Ryuji grinned, excited about the prospect of having such a thing for their plan to change Kamoshida's heart.

"…It might be odd for me to suggest this, but I believe the school roof will be the best place for us to hold our strategy meetings regarding the Palace," Makoto suggested, unaware of Ryuji deflating a little at the thought.

"I agree. It seems like nobody goes up there. For the time being, that will make the perfect hideout." Morgana praised, happy to have gotten that sorted out before smiling at the group, causing them to stare at the cat suspiciously. "I can't contact you from inside a Palace, so I'll stay in this world. That being said, I'll need someone to take care of me."

…Uh oh. I got a bad feeling about this. Ren thought with a wince, his Personas all making noises of agreement as they began fearing the worse.

"I'm personally nominating you, Ren. You should feel honored," Morgana announced, unaware of Ren's eyebrow twitching in annoyance from behind his glasses.

"…This is all you. There's no way I can at my place." Ryuji said almost immediately, putting the bespectacled teen further into depression.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to care for Morgana as well. At least for the long term. My home allows pets, but I doubt Sis will be willing to put up with a cat for a long period of time," Makoto explained with an apologetic tone in her voice.

"Yeah, that figures…" Ren grumbled while dropping his head in defeat, not even reacting when he felt Makoto patting his shoulder in sympathy as the call for the subway began.

"Well, we now have our hideout, so let's meet there tomorrow! I might be a little bit late showin' up so don't start up without me, k?" Ryuji said with a grin before booking it to the subway, leaving Ren, Makoto and Morgana alone.

"Ok! Let's go look at my new residence for this world," Morgana cheered in his own way before diving into the bag, looking quite excited to have a home in the real world while Ren let off a tired sigh.

"Don't expect much of my place, Morgana. It's not exactly five-star living, you know…" Ren stated in an even tone before turning to Makoto curiously. "You heading home, Makoto-senpai? I can drop you off at the station at the next stop if you want."

"Actually, I would like to accompany you back to your home, if you don't mind," Makoto suggested, getting a surprised look from Ren in response. "It's been a while since I've visited the café and I have a feeling you might need a bit of help convincing your guardian to keep Morgana, considering where you live. Plus, this will serve as good practice for when you come to my home during Golden Week and we try and convince Sis to let you keep Morgana."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold the phone! What's this about staying in Makoto's place and trying to convince her sister to let Ren keep me? Is there something I need to know about?" Morgana questioned as he popped his head out of the bag, looking between the two teens with a very confused look on his catty face.

"It's a long story, Morgana. We'll explain on the way to my place," Ren assured as the trio began walking to the subway train themselves, making small talk along the way.

It has been a long and busy week for the group of teens, but even after everything that has happened, the group manage to come out on top both growing in strength and in numbers. They now possess the means to change Kamoshida's heart and the power to overcome any challenges they may face during their excursion. They held no false thoughts that they will pull of the plan without issues; how today went was a testimony of that, but so long as everyone kept their heads straight, then they will sure to accomplish their goal. For now, though, it was time for them all to rest. They will need all the strength they could get to overcome their upcoming trial. No matter the difficulty, though, they will succeed in their heist.

They had to, even if it meant risking their lives…

---

I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast established a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Lovers Persona…
I have obtained the wings of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power.

---

Author's note:

Hello, Tricksters. Hope you all enjoyed the second half of the original chapter 10. Or the remaining 2/3 of it. I forgot how long this chapter was, honestly, but it didn't take me as long as I feared to fix this chapter up. Main thing changed here is better implementation of PoVs here and an extra bit added to Ann's awakening. Speaking of which, I am thinking of going back to the previous chapters and touch them up a bit more and implement the PoV changes that I did in the later revisions to them, along with a few corrections that have been given to me recently. Hopefully the little changes that I made will make the story here more enjoyable for you all to read.

Also...I believe that this chapter will be the last of the 'revised' chapters. This was something that I have been thinking o ever since I remade chapter 9 and I have made the conclusion to start writing up the remainder of the chapters from here to the Kamoshida fight from scratch. The original chapters are still in my possession, unlike the original chapter 9, but it would probably be best for me to just start fresh from here on and write out the remaining chapters. I do have a bit of an idea regarding the castle trek that I want to try and implement anyways, so this will give me a good opportunity for it. Doing this, along with working of my BNHA stuff, is actually starting to get my writing groove back. Here's hoping that I can keep that momentum going.

With all that said, thank you all so much for reading my works, everyone. Again, let me know if there are any mistakes that I miss so that I can correct them. I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will see you in the next update. Until next time, my fellow Tricksters...

---

Evening

-General Hospital-

"Shiho…" Ann muttered, staring at the unconscious form of her best friend from the other side of the window, the patient's mouth covered in an oxygen mask while the steady rhythm of the heartbeat monitor showing that she was still alive. The blonde girl let off a tired sigh as she watched her friend, the events of today constantly replaying in her head.

Shiho's suicide, discovering another dimension and finding Ryuji and the others in weird get ups, to getting captured by a bunch of guards, even Awakening to a Persona and roasting what was essentially a toilet demon to ashes in her first major fight with Carmen. So much stuff has happened to her, and she desperately wanted to tell her friend everything. Sadly, with Shiho being in her current state, there was no way she'd be able to hear her physically.

Even so, she felt like she had to tell her something, so after a moment, the girl began to speak softly, hoping Shiho's spirit will be able to hear it.

"Shiho… A lot of stuff has happened today. And I don't mean you jumping off the roof like an idiot. Heh… I guess I'm just as big an idiot for not noticing how much pain you were in until it was too late. In any case, I found out a way to get back at Kamoshida and make him confess his crimes. It's incredibly dangerous. I'm not even sure if I'm gonna make it out of this plan alive, but I have to do it. I have to make sure that Kamoshida pays for what he's done. I have to ensure that no one else will suffer the way we did. Even if it costs me my life, I will do whatever it takes to bring him down. It's something that I know for a fact that you'll do if you were in my shoes. So please, hang in there… I want you to be here when I tell you the good news. Don't you dare die on me yet, ok? Promise me that, and I promise to come back from the plan alive and tell you everything that's happened while changing Kamoshida's heart.

"…Well, maybe not everything. I doubt you'd believe me if I tell you I met a talking cat in another dimension. In any case, get better quick, Shiho. I'll come and visit whenever I can. Until next time, I guess…"

Satisfied with her words, Ann turned to the unconscious girl and gave her a small smile and a wave before getting ready to leave. Just as she was about to leave, she ran into someone while not paying attention, and ended up pushing them into the ground.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! You see, I was just visiting my friend and I wasn't paying attention and—"

"It's fine, don't worry about it. You'd be surprise how often this happens to me in my profession." A calm, melodic voice reached Ann's ears and looked to see the person she was conversing, who appeared much shorter than herself by a good few centimeters, sporting long dark hair and a suit ensemble, complete with a grey jacket with matching pants, a white shirt and a blue tie with matching colored glasses. All in all, Ann had to admit that the woman before looked quite amazing, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

The girl before her looked familiar, but why…?

"Miss, are you ok? Should I go get a nurse or someone to—"

"Oh no, it's fine. Just…um…" Ann stated nervously, looking away from the curious woman and ended looking at Shiho through the window again, causing her mood to drop.

"…I take it that's your friend in the room there?" The woman asked gently, her words forcing a nod out of Ann.

"Yeah… She's…been though a lot. We both have. She just…couldn't take it anymore and she…"

"Say no more. I understand exactly what you're saying. You have my condolences, along with my wishes that your friend will pull through," The dark-haired woman said with a kind smile, interrupting Ann and causing the blonde to stare at her briefly before a small smile formed on her face.

"Yeah… Thanks. I should get going. I'm meeting up with a couple of my friends early in Shujin tomorrow and I need to get to bed early for that," Ann said as she excused herself when the woman called out to her again.

"Excuse me. Did you say Shujin? As in Shujin Academy? Are you a student there?" She asked in a curious tone, causing Ann to look at her oddly.

"…Yeah, I am." She responded slowly, wondering why she was asking such a question.

"And your friend in the room. Is she also a student of Shujin?" The woman questioned, getting another confused nod from Ann before she asked one more question, this time in a softer tone. "I see… Then…if I may ask, did your friend…while at school…"

"…Yeah, it's pretty much what you're thinking of. Why do you ask…?" Ann questioned cautiously as she stepped back slightly, with the woman blinking a couple times before shaking her head.

"Oh, pardon my rudeness. It's just that I know someone who is currently attending Shujin at the moment. He just started attending there, as a matter of fact," The woman explained, causing Ann's eyes to go wide in shock before the dark-haired woman began to develop a darker look on her face. "I was told that Shujin Academy was an upstanding school with a well knowledgeable staff and a good collection of students… But after seeing your friend here, along with your own words, I'm starting to see a different picture here, and I am not liking it one bit."

"Wha…what do you mean by that…?" Ann asked softly, looking quite frightened by the woman's darker tone. It actually reminded her a bit of Ren's mannerism, in a more controlled manner anyways.

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself about. I shouldn't keep you waiting either. I'm sorry to have taken your time," The woman apologized as she bowed, making the girl flustered a little.

"Oh nononono, you don't need to be formal with me! I get enough of that with my student council president, even though I'm in the process of fixing it…" Ann stuttered an apology before the sounds of laughter caused her to stop. "Um… Did I say something wrong?"

"It's nothing. Your nervousness simply reminded me of my boyfriend's attitude when he was around your age. Always so polite and apologetic despite his appearance," The woman giggled before stopping herself and began to turn away from Ann. "In any case, I must get going as well. I was only here to for a case I was working on before we accidentally bumped into each other. Once again, I wish your friend the best of luck on her recovery… Take care."

"Um, ok. Thanks. You take care, too," Ann said with a weak wave as she watched the woman depart towards a restricted section of the hospital, which only served to confuse the girl even more.

"Who was that woman? And why does she remind me of Ren-kun a little?"

---

...Farewell.