The trip to the SIU headquarters was short, due in no small part to the lack of traffic. Once inside, they had to figure out where exactly to meet her, and it didn't take long to realize the best place was the roof. Once up there, Yu let Izanagi loose.
"OOAAAAHHHH! OI! Ten thousand yeeeeaaaars will give you such a crick in the neck!"
The others let out a hearty chuckle at Izanagi's antics, but Hifumi looked on in surprise.
"Hey, wait a moment. Our Personas have always been silent except for when we awakened. How come Izanagi's able to talk?"
"It's because I'm special." Izanagi replied confidently.
"Hmmmm, actually, we never tried to see if we could talk with our Personas. Let's try it. COME ROBIN!" Akechi ordered.
The white Persona heeded his master's command, appearing behind Yu's brother-in-arms. But that was about all it did, standing proudly as it awaited a command on what to do next. Akechi spoke to his other self.
"Robin, can you hear me? Can you talk?"
"But of course! I didn't forge a contract through sign language, after all!" The Persona replied, striking a dramatic pose and causing Akechi's cheeks to turn red with embarrassment and the others to giggle at the thief's theatrics.
"I wonder what the others have to say." Yu pondered loud enough for the others to hear.
"BOUDICCA!"
"LADY TRIEU!"
"FU HAO!"
One by one, the inner selves of the Phantom Team appeared behind their respective mistresses. Boudicca looked around, no doubt searching for enemies, while Fu Hao observed the actual persona users, and Lady Trieu simply stood still. Just like with Robin Hood, they did nothing but stand there until Izanagi cleared his throat.
"Hello ladies. I'm so glad you could join us. Especially you Boudicca."
"It feels good to be summoned outside of combat. You look as great as ever Izanagi." Boudicca replied, looking around.
"I don't detect any foes. I'll let you all know if I see anything." Fu Hao informed, looking at her board.
"Lighten up Fu! It's not everyday we're summoned and given a chance to relax!" Lady Trieu reminded.
"Alright! Looks like we can all talk to Sae using our Personas!" Shiho cheered.
"Step one of our plan is complete. Now we must discover how to lure our opponent here." Fu Hao observed.
"The noble Sae-san is not our opponent! If all goes well, she will become an incredible allay in the battle against the wicked villains that plague our society!" Robin Hood reminded, pointing to the sky in a dramatic fashion.
"Wow. Your Persona really goes all out, doesn't it Akechi?" Shiho asked with a small smirk on her lips. But before the teenage detective could respond, Fu Hao gave a reply.
"You foolish fool! There is no guarantee Sae Niijima will be our ally! Everything she's said has not only inspired opposition to my queen's forces, but she has also become its champion! Should we clash, she will make a worthy opponent indeed!"
"Did your Persona seriously call Robin Hood a foolish fool?" Morgana asked, but was ignored by the inner selves.
"HA! Spoken like a queen that doesn't know who she faces! You know nothing of who Sae-san is! And when she joins her considerable might to our own, I will laugh in your face!" Robin Hood declared pointing two fingers at Fu Hao.
"Ok guys, settle down. I don't want you to fight." Boudicca tried to say, only to get drowned out by Hifumi's Persona.
"You dare accuse me of not knowing our enemy?! You will pay for such an insulting insult!" Fu Hao roared, completely forgetting she was a support Persona.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" Lady Trieu cheered as the two prepared to brawl.
"Enough." Yu commanded in a calm voice. The two Personas looked at the human for a moment. He crossed his arms, and gave them a look that made it clear there would be consequences for not complying. So the two gradually relaxed, subdued by a man that didn't even need to raise his voice to show he meant business. Once that was done, Morgana spoke up.
"So, back to where we were before we got horribly derailed, we need to figure out how to get Sae into the Metaverse without us."
"Think we could steal her phone? The Meta-Nav seems to go to whichever phone any of us own. If we manage to get hers and it showed up, would that be enough?" Shiho suggested.
"Ahhhh, but you see, there are many problems with that! To begin with-"
"Robin, I'm going to ask you to keep quiet unless you're spoken to." Akechi replied, thoroughly embarrassed by how his true self was behaving.
"I… I've been betrayed!" The Persona declared as he clutched his chest with both hands before falling over slowly and dramatically.
"But he's right, there are more than a few issues. For starters, we want to be in control of when we meet her. If she gets the Nav, it will be only a matter of time before she discovers how it works. And if we haven't won her over by then, then all we've done is signed our arrest warrant. Second, there's the matter of actually stealing the phone; Sae-san keeps it on her person at all times. There's no way we'd be able to get it unless she knew us. Finally, there's the fact that you could be wrong about the Nav appearing on her phone simply because it's in our possession."
Shiho's shoulders sagged as Akechi's words sunk in. But then Morgana spoke up.
"The way I see it, the biggest hurdle is getting Sae here without any of us being present. Any ideas on how to do it?"
"Without any of us being present…" Yu mumbled.
"What if we were to activate the app remotely?" Izanagi asked what his master was thinking.
"Remotely? Is that even possible?" Shiho asked.
"For us? No. But Futaba-san should be more than capable of pulling it off." Akechi reminded, his eyes darting around as his brain began to create a plan.
"Ok, but the range of the Nav's not that much. The phone would have to be close by, and if we're far away, it would take our Personas time to get to her. Time she could use to easily find it, landing us back to square one." Hifumi pointed out.
Yu's eyes widened, as if he had a sudden realization.
"Wait. Is it possible to have our Personas already summoned when we enter the Metaverse?" The Wild Card asked.
"Pffft. Of course not." Morgana scoffed.
"Oh really? Let's see if that's true." Yu replied, his lips forming a smug grin as he activated the Meta-Nav. Before long, the group was standing on top of the SIU Headquarters in the real world.
Alright Izanagi, let's see if you can get in. Put some distance between us and you.
The god did as he was told, heading over to another building, with the other Team members none the wiser. Shortly after, Yu transported them back into the Metaverse. When they did, their own Personas were gone, but Izanagi was exactly where he was back in the real world, still a fair distance away.
"INCOMING!" Izanagi hollered as he rocketed towards Yu's friends.
"WHAT THE-?!" Akechi exclaimed.
"WHERE'D HE-!" Shiho screamed.
""BUT HOW-?!" Hifumi yelled.
"THAT SHOULDN'T-?!" Morgan cried.
"Looks like my hypothesis was correct." Yu replied.
The others looked at their leader as if he grew three new heads, and he took it as his cue to begin his explanation.
"Since I'm able to summon Izanagi in the real world, I can see and hear things I normally wouldn't be able to. He can't directly affect the world, and I can't summon any other Personas, but it does provide a unique advantage And now I know that if I come into the Metaverse with him already out, he comes into the Metaverse with me, no matter the range." The Wild Card explained to his confused comrades.
"Why don't we have that talent?" Hifumi pondered.
"I'm sure it's the same reason why he's able to call Izanagi in the real world and summon multiple Personas; the power of the Wild Card continues to surprise." Akechi answered.
"Ok, so does this mean we can actually meet with Sae?" Shiho asked, a tinge of excitement in her voice.
"There's only one obstacle: the only phones with the Meta-Nav are ours. We'd have to retrieve it once the meeting is over, and if they become a regular thing, whoever would go to get it would appear suspicious."
"Hmmmm. Shiho said that if we stole Sae's phone, the Nav would appear on it. What if we were to instead get a new phone and have the Nav arrive on that?" Hifumi suggested.
"That… could work." Yu replied, a smile forming on his face.
Oh yea. It's all coming together.
"So the plan is to get a new phone, have the Meta-Nav transfer to it, hide it somewhere up here, get Futaba-chan to activate it remotely, and then have Seeker enter with Izanagi out, and the two meet. Anything I'm forgetting?" Shiho asked.
"Nothing that I can think of." Morgana replied
Akechi rubbed his hands together with vigorous enthusiasm.
"I'm so excited!"
"Well, keep that attitude. We'll see if we can actually pull it off when we get to the real world, but for now, we need to get to Mementos." Yu reminded them.
"Right. Onwards! To victory!" Akechi cried as they began to descend back down to ground level.
The Phantom Team had arrived at their destination, entering the same eerie subway station that was the entrance to humanity's Palace. Hifumi looked with horror on her face as she observed the first level of the colossal place.
"This… is something born from the desires of the masses?"
"Disturbing, isn't it?" Morgana replied.
"It's not so much the visual itself, but the fact that such a visual came from regular people. Makes you wonder what other horrors they can create."
"Everyone who made history started out normal, and Kobayakawa and Mitsuyo didn't develop a Palace overnight. It's probably going to get worse the further down we go." Akechi reminded.
"Speaking of going further down, check out the Nav." Yu declared, showing them his phone.
"A new area has been confirmed in Mementos."
The map of the Palace consisted of two simple white blocks that looked like a poor mishmash of different buildings, but those blocks took up the whole image the Nav gave for Mementos, meaning that they had only scratched the surface. But after the app spoke its piece, there was a PING and red waves began to concentrate on the area below the previous block, like a radar pinpointing the spot that disturbed it.
"A new area?" Akechi asked, looking over the new ugly drawing that graced the map.
"Looks like it's called… Chemda. At least this one's pronounceable." Shiho replied, wincing just thinking about how to say the last block's name.
"You mean Aiyatsbus?" Morgana asked with perfect pronunciation and a smug grin.
"Show off." Shiho growled.
"Alright, let's get what we came for. We have three main targets. Ozai Sugimua. Hikari Shimizu. Daisuke Takanashi."
As Yu put in their names, the Nav responded with a "Candidate found in Mementos", accompanied by a red "!" next to some blocks. But…
"Hold on. Sugimura's Shadow is on an unexplored part of the map." Yu pointed out, seeing the third "!" on a black piece of the map.
"Then I guess we'll just have to explore it then." Shiho replied coyly as Morgana summoned the Mona-mobile. Yu let out a sigh. Nothing was ever that simple.
The Shadows that inhabited Aiyatsbus were not that powerful, much to their surprise. Sure, they were similar to the ones they fought in Kobayakawa's Palace, but the Tricksters had grown considerably since then, so much so that they were able to charge through without even summoning their Personas. Because of that, the group had managed to get to the end of Aiyatsbus with almost no mental fatigue. Good thing too, because the Shadow of Hikari Shimizu was waiting for them, the only thing between them and the wall with crimson markings. The girl looked at them with a slimy grin.
"Oh my. Are you new toys for me to play with?" Shimizu asked, locking eyes with Yu, who gulped as his pulse climbed.
"You're forcing a guy to be your slave! Don't you think that's wrong?" Shiho asked, fury beginning to surface.
"As if! He loves me and worships me like I'm the only girl in the world!"
"I've heard of the way you treat him at school, and how he's asked you to stop!" Hifumi shot back.
"Oh please! I may hurt and humiliate him, but I know he loves it, I know he sees it as a sign of our love!"
"Delusional. That's the only word I can think of that describes you." Morgana muttered.
"Really? There are a few other unflattering words I know that describe her perfectly." Shiho hissed.
"You know what? Screw all of you! I'm gonna make you by playthings, starting with that handsome hunk! I think he'll be my favorite." Shimizu yelled, pointing right at Yu, who felt a sudden rush of excitement swell in his body.
Shimizu's Shadow dissolved into a puddle of tar, quickly reforming into a woman with purple skin and two horns. She wore nothing but a very, very short skirt and her long black hair covered her bare breasts, with a mask on her head and a katana in each hand.
"There's no way in hell I'd ever let you lay a finger on my boyfriend, you BITCH!"
With Shiho's cry, the battle began in earnest. It was Shiho who naturally made the first move, summoning Boudicca to unleash a torrent of flames upon the dominatrix girl. Apparently she couldn't take what she gave, because Shimizu went to the floor the moment the fire hit her.
"She's down already? Pariah must be pissed." Hifumi observed as the Team performed an All-Out Attack. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to kill her. The woman picked herself up, and stared at Shiho with unbridled rage. Before the teenager could react, Shimizu grabbed hold of her and quickly sank her fangs into Shiho's neck, the twin fangs tearing through her flesh like it was paper. Before Shimizu could finish off the volleyball player, she was suddenly pushed away by a blast of nuclear energy. Shiho looked to her savior, and saw Yu with some kind of dragon/dog hybrid.
"Shiisaa! Dia!" Yu cried out.
Like with all healing magic, Shiho felt relief for the pain, but not a renewal of her strength. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long, as Hifumi took it upon herself to boost Shiho's attack power. Shimizu wasn't blasted away far, and as the girl tried to get up, Shiho grabbed her flail and charged, smashing Shimizu in the face. The girl staggered backwards, trying to get her bearings.
"Everyone, form up on me!" Yu ordered, pulling out his pistol. Their opponent regained her senses, and saw that the Team had pulled out all of their ranged weapons. In a desperate gamble, she prepared to charge, but she didn't take a single step before the Tricksters loaded dozens of bullets into her. Shimizu fell to her knees and dissolved, leaving only her Shadow.
"I-I lost? No. No no no! I don't want to lose Moto! He's mine!... right?"
"I hate to break it to you. Actually, no I don't, but if you keep this up, he'll hate you." Shiho informed.
"I… I don't want that."
"Why'd you start treating him like that to begin with?" Akechi asked.
"He was going along with it so I thought he was cool with it. I… actually wanted to be more than friends with him."
"Then tell him the truth; that you're sorry, and you want to be with him." Yu ordered.
"Yea. I think I'll do that."
Hikari Shimizu's Shadow faded into nothing, leaving behind only a glowing orb, which Yu snatched.
"That's one finished. The other two are further down." Hifumi informed, and the Team trudged along, descending further into Mementos.
The path of Chimda was different. Not just in the way that the Shadows were about as strong as the ones in Mitsuyo's Palace, but it was wider, far more areas to explore. There was a yellow tint in the air, as opposed to the regular red. The treasure here was more valuable as well, with Yu finding different accessories that did a variety of things from boosting their defense, increasing their perception so they could evade more easily, as well as all the usual stuff he could sell to Kaneshiro. Before long, they had arrived at a rest area, another station of people boarding trains to head to an unknown destination.
"Alright, let's take five." Yu ordered, prompting everyone to plop themselves down on a chair.
"Hey, I've got a question." Hifumi stated.
"Shoot." Yu replied.
"Considering that we know the trains are functional, are we sure that riding on the tracks is safe?"
"Well, we've only seen them working in these rest areas, and there are a few tracks that lead to nowhere. If the trains did work, we would've seen evidence of that. Besides, even if they did work, we have this." Morgana explained.
Morgana reached into her utility belt and pulled out a grenade with an "!" on it.
"We picked this up earlier among the other treasure here. It's called a Goho-M. It teleports everyone and everything back to the last Safe Room we were in, or in Mementos' case, rest area. If we ever find ourselves needing a quick emergency exit, we'll just use this. But this is the only one I have, so we need to use it when all else fails." The guide explained, putting the Goho-M back in her pouch
"Oh I remember that. Seeker used one back at Mitsuyo's Palace." Akechi reminded.
"Yup. Now, is everyone ready to keep moving?" Yu asked, earning nods of affirmation in response.
"Just be sure not to run us too ragged, alright? We still need plenty of energy if we want to get down to wherever Sugimura is hiding." Shiho reminded her leader.
Turns out they didn't need to go far. At the very next level, Hifumi declared that Fu Hao discovered the location of Daisuke Takanashi, and he was at the very end of the hall. It didn't take long to battle with any Shadows they encountered and claim any treasures they found. After a few minutes of exploration, they found the portal that would take them straight to Daisuke, hopping through it, to where their quarry waited for them. When he spotted the group, he gave a scoff of disgust, and his face grimaced as they approached.
"So, you're the infamous bully Daisuke. Thought you'd be taller." Yu remarked.
"And you're just a punk that's asking for a bruising. The hell you want?"
"We want you to stop picking on people!" Shiho answered.
"It's not my fault they can't fight back!"
"And that's supposed to be justification for making their lives miserable?" Akechi asked.
"Go to hell you little shits! I can do whatever I want if I have the power to get it!"
"Oh really? Then I guess that logic applies to us too, which means we're allowed to make you change your ways!" Morgana replied.
"Come at me bro!" Shadow Daisuke challenged right before he convulsed, and transformed into a Jack Frost.
"A Jack Frost? This should be easy. Fu Hao!" Yu cried, summoning a woman with orange skin who pelted Shadow Daisuke with flames. Yu expected that to give the Team an opening for an All-Out Attack, but much to his surprise, Daisuke actually managed to reflect the attack. Not only that, but when the flames smashed into the one that summoned them, Yu felt them cling to his clothes, effectively making him on fire. Shiho, upon seeing what happened to her boyfriend, decided on a different approach.
"Dormina!" She cried out, but Shadow Daisuke proved to be too fast, causing Shiho to miss. Akechi picked up the slack, having Robin Hood unleash a blast of holy magic. Shadow Daisuke let out a yelp of pain and turned to the Detective Prince. He squealed a 'He-Ho!' before unleashing an Evil Touch. Suddenly, Akechi felt a cold fear curl around his heart.
"I'm not… afraid… of you." He shuttered, shaken to the core and powerless to even defend himself as Shadow Daisuke launched a punch that sent the Trickster flying.
Yu had to act fast and he knew it. Fire was a complete no-go, so he summoned a different Persona, one that looked like a silver noodle with a strange wolf head.
"Makami! Energy Drop!"
Akechi felt the fear that paralyzed him suddenly vanish as Yu's Persona worked its magic on him. Shadow Daisuke prepared to attack again, but was cut off when Morgana hit him with a gust of wind magic, forcing him back.
"Everyone regroup on me!" Yu ordered, the fires beginning to singe his flesh.
The Phantom Team rallied to its leader, their opponent already recovering from Morgana's attack.
"Pariah, what was that attack you were trying to do earlier?"
"Dormina? It's a spell that's supposed to put him to sleep."
"Try it again. If it works, we can do an All-Out Attack. If it fails, Ace and I will focus on dealing damage. Carmen, lend support wherever you can."
"You got it!" Morgana confirmed.
"Here he comes! Dormina!"
This time, the magic worked, and the Jack Frost stopped dead in its tracks, tumbling to the floor, and only the snores from it were the only indication that he was even still alive. Just like Yu said, the four unleashed an All-Out Attack, inflicting more damage due to the rest he had. But when all was said and done, the little bastard was still alive.
"Oh for the love of-! At this rate beating him up in the real world would be faster and easier!" Shiho pointed out.
"Hee-ho!" Shadow Daisuke cried, preparing to attack yet again.
"That's it! Lady Trieu! Lucky Punch!"
Morgana's Persona stretched out her free hand and it morphed into a boxing glove that was attached to some kind of spring. Shortly, the spring propelled the glove forward, smashing right into the bully's face and stopping him right in his tracks. The Tricksters saw their chance and took it, hitting him with another All-Out Attack. This time, it was enough, and the Jack Frost faded to reveal the true Shadow.
"About time. Hold on to that trick Carmen. I doubt that will be the last time we'll need it." Yu told his teammate as the bully began to speak with remorse.
"I-I can't lose! I don't wanna be the one picked on!" He pleaded.
"Aw, that's too bad. It's your fault since you couldn't defend yourself." Shiho repeated.
"No! If I don't prove myself, I'll be the one that gets picked on! I can't take that! I can't!"
"Wait… that means there's someone else behind this." Akechi deduced.
"Please… help me."
"We will. But that doesn't excuse what you did. Go and apologize to the ones you picked on." Yu ordered.
"I will! Thank you so much Phantom Team!"
With that, he vanished, leaving behind the Treasure, which Yu swiped. The team let out a collective sigh.
"That was one resilent pest, wasn't he?" Hifumi asked.
"He wasn't even all that tough. We just kept getting unlucky." Yu countered.
"Well regardless, we did what we came to do. Now all that's left is Sugimura." Shiho reminded as Morgana summoned the Mona-mobile.
"That's assuming we're able to even reach him. That battle took more out of us than it should- wait, what the?"
Morgana tried to start up the Mona-mobile, but every attempt was met with sputters from the engine.
"Hold on, I can fix this." Morgana assured, getting out and popping the hood of their bus.
"Today is just not our day, is it?" Akechi teased.
"Can't you just summon a new one Carmen?" Yu asked.
"And leave behind something that can be fixed?! Hell no! I'm not leaving behind any of my babies unless I have no choice!" Morgana barked back.
"Fine. Guess we'll wait." Yu whined.
"Oh spare me Seeker. I know the problem, and fixing it won't take long."
"Ok, jeez."
"Note to self, do not insult the Mona-mobile." Akechi muttered.
"Hey, I just had a thought. Once the meeting with Sae is over with, who will our next target be?" Shiho asked.
"Well, I imagine that depends on how the meeting goes. If everything goes well, our next target may come from Sae-san herself." Akechi replied.
"No. We didn't become the Phantom Team to become servants of the law." Yu replied, bitterness prevalent in his words.
"I know that recent brushes with the law have left you jaded Seeker. But we'll be taking orders from Sae-san, not the SIU."
"Ace, Sae is a part of the SIU, and even if she wasn't, she isn't much different."
"That's not true."
"Oh really? She constantly abuses people who question her with the excuse of 'CQC training', she's been suspicious of me since I got here, and she's constantly trying to put restrictions on my freedom." Yu argued.
"Ok, fine, but she's also had plenty of opportunities to fall into the pit of corruption that's claimed so many other once great officers. Bribery, death threats, she brushed aside any and all attempts to stop her from enacting justice. Besides, you mean to tell me she has never once done something for you?"
Yu took a pause to collect himself.
She did take me in, even if it was to repay the debt of my father keeping her and Makoto safe the night theirs died. And she apologized when she jumped to conclusions, and dropped my curfew when I got a job.
"Ok, ok. But what I'm saying is that we shouldn't run into a meeting with Sae blindly just because we personally know her. That could only end poorly for us."
"You know you two, there's actually a way for us to know if Sae's the kind of person we want on our side." Shiho pointed out, holstering her phone and showing them the opened Meta-Nav.
"Sae Niijima." She spoke.
"Candidate found."
Akechi let out a gasp of alarm.
"In Mementos."
And then released a sigh of relief.
"Well, it's good to know that she doesn't have a Palace at least." Yu stated, Morgana poking her head out to offer her own two cents.
"I still don't think we should meet with her after she trash-talked us like that. Plus, it's far more likely to be a trap."
"I will admit, while she did compare us to the Mental Shutdowns-" Akechi started, though it was a very poor choice of words he started out with.
"She did WHAT?!" Shiho yelled.
"Ummm, what are the Mental Shutdowns?" Morgana asked, temporarily stopping the repairs.
"The Mental Shutdowns are a strange phenomenon that's been striking Japan and sometimes even overseas. There's no warning, no symptoms, people just suddenly have their brains fried. Most lead to death, and those that survive become vegetables. I heard about them even in my rural hometown." Yu explained.
"There are some threads that connect certain victims, leading some, such as myself, to believe that they are not some kind of accident or illness, but murder. But no one could prove it. At least, not until now." Akechi added.
"Mitsuyo said that she served a puppet master. I'd say that's more than enough to support the idea." Shiho finished.
"Exactly. I'll be investigating in my free time to see who the most probable culprit is. After that, we'll take their heart."
Morgana slammed the hood of the Mona-mobile and entering her bus
"Alright. Come on baby, I know you can do it." The guide encouraged as she turned the engine, and was rewarded with a purr as the vehicle came to life.
"HAHA! SHE LIVES!"
"Alright, let's keep going down. Hopefully we can reach-" Yu started before he got interrupted by Hifumi.
"GUYS! YOU HAVE TO LEAVE NOW! SOMETHING REALLY POWERFUL JUST ENTERED THAT LEVEL!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down Venus. What is it?" Ace asked.
Their answer came in the sound of rattling chains. Morgana's eyes widened in fear as she slammed her foot on the gas brake. The other three Tricksters were caught off guard and their bodies rammed into the seats.
"OW! What the hell Carmen?" Yu asked.
"THOSE CHAINS BELONG TO THE REAPER!"
Whatever Yu was going to say in response died in his throat as the Mona-mobile turned the corner. Standing there was a hovering giant without feet, wrapped in a tattered black cloth coat. Dried blood decorated the head, where only a single eye poked out, searching for anything to kill. In his two bloodied and gloved hands were revolvers with barrels as long as the Mona-mobile. When Shiho, Morgana, Akechi, and Yu looked upon this Shadow, it felt that they were seeing the face of death. And that face gave them its full, undivided attention.