Dragon full awakened to the power of her Persona, all because of reaching her absolute limit with her mother's attitude. It was an astounding sight to see Dragon with the entirety of her mask off, instead of it being only half off like it was in the past. Shadow Mitsuyo snarled at her daughter's defiance, fully believing this to be thanks to the Phantom Thieves. "If you're going to disobey me, then I have no choice but to whip you back into shape! Guards!" Shadow Mitsuyo demanded the knights surrounding the Phantom Thieves focus on Dragon due to her disobedience.

Dragon held her staff firmly in her hand, watching as she was about to be jumped from all angles. "If you think such an attack will work on me, you clearly don't understand the essence of the battlefield!" In a surprising turn of events, Dragon's staff extended, doubling in length. She twisted her wrist around and hopped up slightly throwing the staff to where it circled around here. "Can you take it!? Whirling Tempest!" The spinning staff knocked away many guards in one fell swoop, before Dragon caught it in her hand again, and it returned to normal size.

"Her staff grew in size?! That's effin' kickass!" Skull said excitedly.

"She must've unlocked her full potential with her awakening!" Mona said. "Now she's really at full power!"

"What a glorious display of resolve!" Fox said while capturing the moment with a landscape portrait of his hands. He was a little worried about how Dragon would confront the Shadow of her mother, but clearly he never needed to be.

"Come on, let's give her a hand!" Panther said.

"Panther's right, we're just getting started!" Queen nodded and her mask burned off, summoning Anat for the first time in front of everyone. "Anat!" Anat was much larger than Johanna, and while she briefly stood, she ended up turning into a bike that was noticeably bigger than the previous incarnation as well.

"Her bike got bigger?!" Skull's jaw dropped.

"It's my turn too! Hecate!" Panther summoned her new and improved Persona as well, much to the surprise of everyone else, especially Shadow Mistuyo.

"W-What…? New team members…and their abilities have improved..?!" Shadow Mitsuyo grunted.

"Did you think we would remain stagnant forever?" Joker scoffed. "Unlike you, we keep moving forward."

Hecate had a fireball prepared, and Panther launched it towards Dragon. "Hey Dragon, ready to breathe some fire?!"

Dragon jumped into the air, catching the fireball on the back end of her staff. "Ashes to ashes!" Spinning around, she slammed the blazing end of her staff into the ground, a fiery pillar erupting from the point of impact, incinerating multiple knights in the process, blowing others away from the point of impact.

Queen rode forward on Anat, putting the pedal to the metal as she drove full throttle. Violet quickly traced her rapier in the space in front of her, filling the space with holy light magic. "You're all clear!" Violet said before leaping back to stay out of Queen's way.

"Full throttle!" Queen drove through the holy magic placed by Violet, a white light began to surge through Queen's body. She leapt off of Anat, throwing her fist forward with all her might. Her holy magic imbued fist caused a brilliant flash of light to explode outwards, nearly blinding everyone from how powerful the shine was. But when the shine died down, the Phantom Thieves effectively cleared the foyer of any and all minion shadows, only leaving Shadow Mitsuyo remaining.

"Looks like she's the only one left." Noir said while holding her axe over her shoulder.

"Let's take her out!" Skull exclaimed.

"Carefully, Skull!" Mona warned. Joker, Mona, Skull, Noir, and Fox jumped forward to attack the shocked Shadow Mitsuyo.

While they did this, Oracle spent her time hacking the terminal in front of her, just to see if she could get anything more of use from it. But her radar picked up something fast approaching, and she quickly turned around. "Guys, wait!" It was too late. Cognitive Hifumi appeared in a flash, swinging her great sword at those who attempted to attack Shadow Mitsuyo. They were all able to block it, but the power behind her swing was more than enough to throw them back.

"Look who's late to the party." Joker said while narrowing his eyes.

Cognitive Hifumi glared towards the Phantom Thieves, yet her gaze looked so empty at the same time. "Step away from Her Majesty…"

"Can't you just give it a break already!?" Panther groaned.

"Silence, she with her chest exposed!" Cognitive Hifumi pointed at Panther accusingly. "This time…I shall slay all of you with Balmung…!"

"That's her Cognitive version…?" Noir tilted her head.

"Um. They…act the same, don't they…?" Violet said, she and Noir glancing back between Dragon and Cognitive Hifumi. In terms of the eccentric behavior, they were the same.

"What took you so long?" Shadow Mitsuyo huffed, but before Cognitive Hifumi could answer, she was immediately silenced. "I don't want to hear your excuses. You will finish that mission I gave you today, and you will destroy the Phantom Thieves, understand?"

"…Yes, Your Majesty." Cognitive Hifumi gave a nod.

"Watch out, guys. Something's different from before…" Oracle warned.

"We have the numbers, we can take her!" Skull said while giving a 'bring it on' motion. "It won't be like last time."

Dragon narrowed her eyes before stepping forward. "While I appreciate the sentiment…I think this is something I should be doing myself." Dragon said firmly, staring at her Cognitive self. She recognized that look; it was a look of quiet resignation. That was the look she used to wear all the time, prior to meeting Ann and the rest of the Phantom Thieves. As her Mother saw it, she was better without them, and she should resign herself to her whims once again. That loneliness was terrible… "I should shatter the cognition my mother has of me. That is the one thing I want to do above all else right now."

"Are you sure…!?" Panther asked.

"Yes." Dragon nodded, pointing her staff to her cognitive self. "I challenge you to single combat! Winner take all."

"A duel…?" Cognitive Hifumi was about to accept on her own terms, but remembered she wasn't allowed to make her own decisions. So she glanced back at Shadow Mitsuyo, who simply nodded.

"Teach that traitorous vision of you what happens when you turn your back on the Togo Kingdom. I'll make sure her friends don't interfere." Shadow Mitsuyo said.

"Then I accept your duel, faker." Cognitive Hifumi said while stepping forward, holding her great sword out. "You will learn what it's like to disobey Her Majesty's words."

Dragon walked forward, standing a few yards away from her cognitive counterpart so their weapons could have ample reach. "I've learned one important thing already: I've never felt more liberated." She had conviction in her voice, her mask reappearing as the two stared each other down. There was lingering silence between the two of them, before they both pushed off at the same time. Dragon swung her staff while Cognitive Hifumi swung her longsword, the two weapons clashing against one another. "And I won't let go of this new feeling, no matter what!"

"Then it's your funeral!" Cognitive Hifumi grunted, she and Dragon backing off at the same time. They rushed in against, swinging their weapons fiercely, attempting to gain the advantage on the other. Dragon was adept with her staff movements, by Cognitive Hifumi had the advantage in raw power. A single swing from that sword caused Dragon to lose her balance, leaving her open to a powerful slash that cut across her torso.

"Ngh…" Dragon grimaced, but thanks to her inherent resistance to physical attacks, she was able to take that hit in stride. She countered by extending her staff quickly, jabbing Cognitive Hifumi in the stomach, causing her to fold over. Dragon followed up with a spinning strike to her counterpart's cheek, causing her to stagger backwards from the impact. "Now! Belle Star, strike!" Belle Star appeared as Dragon's mask burned away, flying towards Cognitive Hifumi to slash at her with her sword.

Cognitive Hifumi was no slouch. She recovered from the impact rather fast, bringing her sword up to counter Belle Star's attack. The two clashed and it was a stalemate, until Belle Star fell back. This allowed Dragon to come in for an overhead attack, but this was also blocked, much to the Phantom Thief's chagrin. Cognitive Hifumi pushed Dragon back, then raised her sword up high. "Begone, foul clone!" She slammed her greatsword on the ground, a powerful shockwave uprooting the floor while making its way towards Dragon.

"Wha…!?" Dragon's eyes widened as the shockwave struck her, pushing her out the nearest window, where Cognitive Hifumi pursued outside quickly.

"Dragon!" Panther went to chase, but the path was immediately sealed by Shadow Mitsuyo's string.

"I don't think so. This was their duel, remember?" Shadow Mitsuyo said with a confident grin. "Nobody is leaving this room until it's over."

Dragon may have fallen out the window, but she was quickly able to gain her bearings and slide down along the brick wall of the castle exterior. She hardly had the time to relax, since her cognitive version was doing the same thing to strike her. The two of them were sliding down the building, passing each other while parrying the other's strikes. Cognitive Hifumi aimed a powerful thrust at Dragon, who realistically didn't have time to dodge or block. So she did the next best thing: stab her staff into the wall above her. It did very little to slow her momentum, but it did just enough to where the great sword struck just below her. "I've got you!" Dragon yelled, planting her feet firmly all the wall, yanking her staff from the wall to slam it onto her cognitive counterpart's head, thus sending her crashing into the courtyard below. "Now, Belle Star!" Belle Star was called once again, creating numerous blades of light as they fell, launching them towards her counterpart.

"…!" Cognitive Hifumi barely had time to recover from that initial hit. When she looked up, her eyes were wide to see the blades raining down on her. She tried to roll away, but the sheer number still caught her. An explosion occurred and with a cry of pain, the cognitive version of Hifumi tumbled along the ground before coming to a stop in a crouched position, panting heavily from the damage she sustained. "Ngh…"

Dragon landed in front of her cognitive self, pointing her staff at her head. "Concede." She demanded, panting softly.

"I…" Cognitive Hifumi stared up at Dragon, grimacing from her positon. It looked like that was the coup de grace, and now she was on the losing end of this battle. "I…"

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Shadow Mitsuyo shouted. "You only lose when I tell you to! Your orders are to win, right here and now! Do I make myself clear!?" Those orders caused a light to appear around Cognitive Hifumi, the Palace Ruler exerting her influence and authority to increase the Princess' strength.

"I…I shall not lose!" Cognitive Hifumi declared, shooting up, much to Dragon's surprise. In the next instant, Dragon received a fierce blow to her side that knocked her sideways, causing her to stagger.

"What…!? She's…" Dragon tried to strike back, but Cognitive Hifumi's massive buff allowed her to easily dodge this attack, and now she was running circles around Dragon, striking her from multiple angles.

"What the hell!?" Skull exclaimed.

"She's got a huge boost in power!" Oracle reported. "Shadow Mitsuyo's words must have been the trigger!"

"This happened before, the first time we came here!" Queen said.

"What the eff!? That's SO cheating!" Skull yelled at Shadow Mitsuyo, who scoffed at his childish observation.

"Did you forget where you are? This is MY kingdom. My rule is law." Shadow Mitsuyo laughed. At that moment, Dragon was knocked into a golden statue of herself, which shattered from the impact, leaving her completely dazed and open. "Now, finish her off!"

Just as Cognitive Hifumi was moving in for the finishing blow, Panther clenched her hand into a fist, then shouted at the very top of her lungs. "DRAGON!" She absolutely could not let Dragon go down like this, not after everything they promise to each other. She had to do whatever she could to keep Dragon in this fight, to prove that she could surpass the vision her Mother had for her.

Dragon felt like her consciousness was going to slip away from her at any moment, but that piercing cry of Panther's snapped her awake. She remembered where she was and what was happening, ducking at the last second to avoid a stab that absolutely would have ended the battle. She ducked low, slamming one end of her staff into Cognitive Hifumi's stomach, where a burst of Almighty magic erupted from it, sending her counterpart flying.

"Gaaaah!" Cognitive Hifumi cried out while tumbling along the ground.

"I will finish this in one decisive blow!" Dragon's mask burned away in blue flames as she held her opposing arm into the sky, summoning Belle Star. "Ultimate Excalibur Attack!" Belle Star gathered as much magic as she could, the blade in her hands growing twice in size, towering above the cognitive version of herself. There was a burning fire of determination within Dragon's green gaze, staring down her past self. "This is where we part ways. Checkmate." On her command, Belle Star brought the sword down, cleaving through a large section of the courtyard, leaving a deep gash within the ground, all while Cognitive Hifumi was caught in the wake of this destructive impact, collapsing to the ground on her back.

"I…I lost…? I'm…sorry…Mother…Father…" Cognitive Hifumi stared at Dragon, who was about to collapse herself from the battle. "I see…I lost fair and square…ahaha…you win, Dragon. Gae Bolg has claimed victory on this day." And with that, Cognitive Hifumi vanished. The only thing left behind was the great sword she used in combat.

"H-Hifumi…?" Shadow Mitsuyo was completely stunned at this turn of events. This shock at Cognitive Hifumi's defeat left her wide open.

"Hectatoncheries!" Joker was going to take the shot too, mostly to get her out of the way. The multi armed giant appeared, slugging Shadow Mitsuyo in the stomach to knock her into the furthest wall and out of their way. Noir used her axe to cut through the string barring the window, which let the others jump down to support Dragon.

"Are you okay!?" Panther asked frantically.

"You totally kicked ass!" Skull said excitedly.

"I…I'm fine." Dragon was a little dizzy. As much as she resisted physical damage, she still got knocked around a bit at the end there and it showed. Had it been anyone else, they may have been knocked out already. She slowly stumbled over to the great sword left behind and picked it up. "…."

"Hey, what should we do?" Mona asked the others.

"I think we should retreat for now. Dragon's hurt." Queen said. "We know what we have to do next time we come here."

"I agree…" Violet nodded.

"That's okay with me. I did what I wanted to do today." Dragon nodded, staring up at the broken window where Shadow Mitsuyo was looking down. But she wasn't looking at the Phantom Thieves, she was just fixated on where Cognitive Hifumi vanished. That look of shock…maybe her mother did care about her after all? It was hard to say, but Dragon called out to Shadow Mitsuyo regardless. "Mother! The next time you see us in here, just know…it's to take your heart. I promise that."

"….." Shadow Mitsuyo had nothing to say. She could only watch as the Phantom Thieves exited her Palace, having done considerably more damage this time than any other past visit….

.

.

The group reappeared outside of Hifumi's house. Hifumi was sore all over, but smiling despite it all. "That…was…amazing. I feel reborn…"

"You leveled up in there!" Futaba balled her hands in excitement.

"You were pretty cool out there." Haru said with a soft smile. "But how are you feeling?"

"Really tired." Hifumi admitted. But Haru's compliment did make her smile and blush slightly.

"Do you wanna go back in soon?" Ann asked.

"We can make arrangements if that is the case." Makoto added.

"I do, but…I think it's best to wait until we tie the ends with Okumura and the mental shutdowns first." Hifumi said. "I don't want to put too much on our plate…and I feel extremely content with what I managed to accomplish."

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Hifumi-senpai?" Kasumi was a bit worried. "You'll have to play shogi again soon, right? And won't the matches be rigged again…?"

"I appreciate your concern, Kasumi. But I'll be okay. I can say no to my mother now." Hifumi gave a firm nod.

"What do you plan to do now?" Yusuke asked.

"I'm going to take the rest of the day easy. That battle exhausted me." Hifumi smiled to the others. "But thank you all so much for helping me today. I know we've made a lot of trips into that one Palace, but I intend to fully steal my mother's heart soon. I cannot do it without you."

"That's what we're here for." Ren gave a smile. "We've got your back, always. Come on guys, let's let her rest."

"Text me if you need anything, Fumi!" Ann said while waving, walking off with the others.

"Whew…" Hifumi let out a heavy sigh before entering her home. The first thing she did was crash on her bed, but not before pulling her phone out. She went to text Mika of all people.

Hifumi: I know the truth. I just want to say that if you need anything at all, feel free to text me…

She was being honest. There was no point in hiding the truth, plus she wanted Mika to know that she would still be there. No more would she let her mother try and control her friendships with people. Hifumi stared at her phone for a moment, and then…she saw Mika's icon with a few dots beside it. It looked like Mika was about to reply…but ultimately nothing came. "I see…" Well, that wasn't so bad. At least this meant that Mika saw the message…although that was the extent of what Hifumi could do for Mika right now. The rest was up to Mika…

.

.

October 9th.

After a good day of rest, Hifumi felt energized. She was going to drop by the hospital later in the day, when she was sure her father would be awake. For now, there was one place she wanted to on her own: Kichijoji. The game corner was her destination, and the person she expected to be there was: Akechi. He was playing some billiards by himself. "Akechi-san."

"Hm?" Akechi looked up from his expert shot, surprised to see Hifumi there. "Togo-san? What brings you here again?" He asked with a pleasant tone as always. Ever so polite when he was dealing with people.

"I was looking for you, actually." Hifumi explained. "I wanted to play you in another game of darts…oh, and talk, too. I've been thinking a lot about our last conversation."

"I see. You must have gotten quite lucky to find me here today, but I accept your challenge all the same." Akechi said with a smile. The two got set up to play another round of darts.

"Lucky? No, I have an idea you would be here today. As busy as you say you are, I've noticed that you're quite fond of Kichijoji." Hifumi surmised. She didn't know why, but it was a strong guess that she felt was correct. "And I'm feeling rather good today as well. I think I may even beat you." Right after saying this, her first dart throw was a bullseye.

"I see. You've gained quite a bit of confidence since the last time we spoke. I wonder if it will be up to par." Akechi replied, tossing a dart for a bullseye as well, using his right hand. On the outside he was smiling, but on the inside… "You, beat me? Don't make me laugh. You don't even know the feeling of a hard fought victory. You're just some no talent idol who's had all of her victories handed to her on a silver platter! I could never lose to someone like that."

"Your words from the other day stuck with me." Hifumi said. "I realized there is some truth to what you said, how the truth is absolute and cannot be changed. However…that alone doesn't satisfy me." Hifumi took her aim carefully, managing a second bullseye in a row…or so she thought. Turns out she was just off, the dart landing on the outer edge of the bullseye.

"Is that so? And what is the answer you've come up with. There are some things you can't change you know. The truth is just that." Akechi replied, tossing another dart for a second bullseye. So far he had the lead, and he could only realistically lose this if his last shot was worse than Hifumi's, but that was unlikely in his mind.

"Well…even if the truth of some matters can't be changed at one point, you can still go beyond that." Hifumi said with a slight smile. Even though she messed up her second toss, her third and final throw was another bullseye, her aim improving considerably since the last time. "There's always a reason for something, isn't there?"

"Hm. I wonder…I suppose you have a point." Akechi left it at that, tossing his third and final dart for a bullseye. Three in a row, his victory. "I must say, you've improved from before."

"I told you, I was feeling good today. Although….I wish I claimed victory." Hifumi really did not like losing, especially not to Akechi. But she was a lot closer this time than before, and that in and of itself was improvement. She really did want to win, though.

"I'll have to stay on my toes, I see." Akechi said with a small laugh. "This has been fun, but I should be going now. Thank you for the game, Togo-san."

"I should be saying that to you. I hope we can play again sometime." Hifumi smiled a bit and waved as Akechi walked off. As nice as Akechi was during their conversations, she still couldn't shake the feeling of something being off when talking to him. Her powers were buzzing every single time they talked, but she just couldn't discern why. "This is a good time to go to the hospital too…I should get going myself."

While Akechi walked off, his smile shifted into a scowl of irritation. "How deplorable. Don't ever think you can beat me. I won't lose…not to you, not to him, not to anyone until I can make that man suffer at my hands. And thanks to you idiotic Phantom Thieves, things will all be over soon…"

.

.

Ren quietly sneezed into his arm. It felt like someone was talking about him…but that wasn't important here. He was at the maid café in Akihabara with Caroline and Justine, and the twins just ordered a Sincere Omlette…but the maid completely messed up the order, and Caroline was not happy about it. "How…DARE you!?" Caroline narrowed her eye, glaring at the maid. "Fix this right now! You can beg for forgiveness once I receive a perfectly sincere meal!"

The maid's lip started to quiver. "B-But…but I filled it with love...waaah…." And now she was crying.

"Don't even try that fake-cry act on me!" Caroline was not going to be moved by crocodile tears. "Fix it! Double time! I'm not letting you off until it's right!"

The maid shook her head. "N-No…I can't…I tried so, so hard…but I'm just so clumsy…I even practiced a ton a-and…!"

Ren and Justice said nothing, but they turned their judgmental gaze towards Caroline. Caroline was being seen as the bad guy here, and the stares made her nervous. "Uh…h-hey…"

"How could you make this poor slave cry like that…" Justine had disappointment in her voice.

"She was doing her best…" Ren added.

Caroline couldn't believe this. "Wha-!? Fine, fine! I'll say I'm sorry!" Caroline turned to the maid, folding under the pressure from her twin and Ren's stare. "Look slav – I mean, maid! I'm sorry! I'll eat it, I'll eat it! So just…stop crying…!"

Suddenly, the maid's expression lit up. "You will? Yay! Would you care for some Oo-hot Tea to go with it? I also recommend the Relaxing Coffee! I promise to pour alllll my heart into making them for yooooou!"

"Please don't give them coffee." Ren pleaded. That was the last thing he needed to deal with. He didn't care if it was called Relaxing Coffee, these twins did not need caffeine in their system at all.

"Fine…just bring whatever…" Caroline let out a tired, defeated sigh. The maid nodded and happily skipped off. This was a more exhausting endeavor than she signed up for. "This has been so tiresome…."