Joker and Dragon were the main distraction force in the Shibuya Jail. The others had their jobs to do as well, but it only worked for as long as they could hold the enemy's attention. But considering the pair that took to the front lines, it would be easy. "Don't fall behind, Joker!" Dragon said with a friendly smile.
"I wouldn't be a very good leader if I let you show me up." Joker responded with a grin of his own. Friendly banter even when surrounded always kept his spirits high. But the time for talk was over and it was now the time for action. They were surrounded by plenty of enemies and had their work cut out for them.
"Indeed!" Dragon said while launching towards the nearest street lamp. She used one hand to spin around, while the other had her staff extended. Any Shadows that attempted to attack her or were within her range were immediately knocked into cars of nearby buildings. She leapt from the street lamp with a flip, her mask burning off as Bella appeared above her. "Strike!" Bella dove down with her sword, stabbing the ground violently. This prompted an explosion of Almighty magic to erupt outward, completely blowing away any foes within a few meter radius. "Hmph! Is that the best you can offer?!"
Just as Dragon said this, even more enemies began to appear from thin air. The likes of Pixie, Pyro Jack, and Bicorns were surrounding them; on top of generic humanoid cop Shadows. Joker was up next, sprinting forward as his own mask burned away. "Bicorn!" Joker summoned his own Bicorn, thrusting his arm forward. On that command, Bicorn charged through the crowd, plowing through enemy forces with relative ease. Joker followed through the path Bicorn created, focusing his attention on an empty police car. He jumped atop it, then leapt into the air, pointing his gun down on it. "There!" He clicked the trigger, that single shot causing a massive fiery explosion that incinerated dozens of Shadows nearby.
Joker landed and a Pixie sought to take advantage of his opening. So she fired a powerful bolt of lightning in his direction to catch him by surprise. But imagine her surprise when a shield appeared in front of Joker. "Huh!?"
"I do not think so!" Dragon said with a grin. Even though she was able to block that hit, she could note that a simple Pixie held a bunch of power within it. The Shadows within the Metaverse, or at least the Jail, were much stronger than that of Mementos or Palaces. "Joker!"
Joker turned around on a dime, his grappling hook extending out to grab the enemy Pixie and swing her around, tossing her into a crowd of Shadows. Joker then snapped his fingers forward, Raoul appearing behind him. "Eigeon!" A quick burst of Curse magic moved from Joker's hand, exploding the small group in an instant.
"Begone!" Dragon extended her staff and lunged forward while spinning it around, deflecting any attacks that came her way while mowing down the enemies that came her way. When she came to a stop, she slammed said staff onto the ground, the sheer strength behind this creating a shockwave that knocked multiple Shadows down. She then jumped back, despite the clear opening she had. She and Joker were doing a great job being a distraction, but they couldn't afford to use up all their energy for that. Plus, the more enemies they took down, the more spawned in their place, predictably so. "There sure are a lot of them."
"Yeah, they really don't know when to quit." Joker said, standing back to back with Dragon. More police cars drove onto the scene, nearly running Joker and Dragon over. They managed to leap over them, but the cars had them completely surrounded and more Shadows crawled their way out. "They really prefer quantity over quality…"
"We made it! Let's rock you guys!" Oracle exclaimed. On that cue, there was an explosion on the building nearby. A searchlight crashed down from above, exploding when it landed on a few police cars. From the explosion, Mona, Skull, and Panther leapt out to join them.
"Thank goodness we made it in time!" Panther said with a grin.
"Now it's our turn!" Skull jumped high into the air while raising his pipe. He landed on the ground, crushing his pipe into it. A shockwave boomed out, knocking over multiple Shadows in the process.
Panther ran forward, coming to a halt in the middle of a crowd of Shadows. Her whip ignited and she spun around, cracking her weapon in every direction. "HAAAAH!" The shadows that had her surrounded were just at her mercy, flung in every direction from the ferocity of Panther's attack.
As for Mona, he was easily leaping through attacks aimed at him. He spun around and his saber cut through the enemies that couldn't reach him. "Hah!"
More Shadows tried to attack the group, but that's when Violet and Sophie appeared. Violet appeared from the left, while Sophie attacked from the right. Violet's elegant movements with her rapier allowed her to strike before the enemies knew what was coming! As for Sophie, her Yo-yos struck them down one after the other with every rebound. "We're back!" Violet stated.
"The diversion was a success!" Sophie reported.
"And…how do you like that?!" Oracle just finished hacking the main gate itself. The sole thing blocking their progress was now lowering. The Shadows realized this and turned around, only to see Queen on Agnes waiting for them.
Queen just wore a slight smirk while revving the engine of her bike. With a battle cry she suddenly rode forward, completely running over the unsuspecting Shadows that were in her way. "Out of the way!" They were getting out of the way, one way or another. They were on the highway to hell and there were no brakes on this ride.
Fox jumped high into the air, drawing his blade while passing a number of airborne Shadows. While it only looked like he slashed once, the moment he touched down on the ground, all of those Shadows were torn to shreds. "You are no match for my sword."
Meanwhile, Noir took the grounded approach. She just ran up to any Shadow within sight, cutting them in half with her axe. She even spun around, covering distance that much faster while taking out many Shadows in the process. This ended with a mighty slam of her axe that caused the ground to cave in, sending many Shadows flying against their will. "Hehe!"
Joker was the one to finish this off, rising into the sky with Raoul behind him. "Raoul!" Joker then landed on the ground, while Raoul preformed an axe kick. The moment the touched the ground, an explosion of curse magic exploded outward in a dome, completely obliterating the enemies that stood in their way. Just like that, the massive horde of enemies were taken down by the Phantom Thieves easily.
"Nice work, everyone!" Noir said while clasping her hands together.
"We managed to clear out the enemy at the gate. But that was only the first step." Queen was far from relaxed at this stage. This was literally only the beginning.
"We took out the problematic searchlights." Panther pointed to the building in question. "So we should be able to get in through that opening now, right?"
"That's right." Joker nodded. "We've been raising hell in here, so no doubt they'll be waiting for us. Just like old times, right?"
"It is time to get moving, isn't it?" Sophie asked. The others nodded and wasted no time making their way to the opening they created.
While the Phantom Thieves were making their way to Alice's castle, there was another figure watching them from a distance. They themselves had no means of getting through the massive security wall Alice's forces setup…but it came to them as no surprise that the Phantom Thieves could. "…"
.
.
Infiltration into Alice's castle was successful. It was so…pink, gaudy and silly, that Violet couldn't help the way she looked at first. She was definitely judging. "It's a little…too colorful." She said, staring at the surroundings walls. There was a lot of pink, but it also felt like they were in some sort of amusement part.
"I'm detecting that Treasure-like smell directly above us. That has to be the Throne Room." Mona said.
"I wonder if this will lead to the same route that we were taken when we were captured." Violet thought aloud. "We were briefly unconscious, so…"
"I think it's going to come to blows if we run into Alice here." Dragon said. "But before we think that far ahead, we must first discover how to ascend to the higher floors."
"I think we just use the elevator." Fox was standing in front of the elevator, but despite his efforts, he couldn't find a way to activate it. "However, it appears unresponsive…"
"There must be a way to get the elevator started." Sophie stated firmly. "Perhaps the mechanism is in this room?"
"But where do we start lookin'?" Skull rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't see anything that resembled a switch.
"Hm…" Joker approached one of the statues. It was a mannequin wearing an outfit very similar to Shadow Alice's.
"…I hope you're not imagining one of us in that outfit." Panther placed her hands on her hips. She trusted Joker, but she just had to make sure…
"N-No!" Joker waved his hands. It was his fault for staring at it for too long with that kinda face. No wonder Panther was getting suspicious about what was going on in his mind. "This panel is some kind of switch."
"Oh, it's probably for the elevator! Press it!" Skull was going to rush over to press it for Joker, but Queen tugged him back by his scarf. "Ack!"
"Bzzt! Bad idea!" Oracle held her arms in an X. "Remember where we are, Skull; this is right in the heart of enemy territory. We press one wrong button and we could be swarmed instantly! That's the last thing we need right now!"
"Agh, good point…" Skull slumped his shoulders.
"I wasn't done." Joker pointed to the ground in front of him. He was able to see tracks with his Third Eye. With this ability, he could see things that the naked eye was unable to. "I can see some footprints going along the room in a clockwise motion, starting from here…and ending with that statue over there. "He pointed."
"I see…" Queen was starting to figure out what this all meant. "This must be a security system. We must press the switches in order to activate the elevator."
"That sounds simple." Noir was already getting into position, as were the others. "Just say when!"
"Right. Just follow my lead." Joker said, waiting until the others were prepared. "Now." He pressed the first switch, followed by Skull, Dragon, Noir, Fox, and finally Queen. Having pressed the switches in the correct order, the elevator began to whirr and the doors opened.
"Hey, it worked!" Violet grinned. "Now we can proceed onward."
"Be careful. Who knows it they'll try to jump us in the elevator or not…" Oracle warned. There was no way to tell if that could happen or not, but it was still better to be safe than sorry. With that thought in mind, the Phantom Thieves climbed onto the elevator…
.
.
"I can't believe they tried to jump us in the elevator!" Skull groaned loudly. Sure, they were able to win, but it was only a 90 second elevator ride that felt like it went on for hours!
"I told you to prepare for that!" Oracle said. "But man, that was a lot of dudes…"
"At least we're outside now…" Dragon let out a quiet sigh. Jails and Palaces were fairly similar, but it felt like Jails had more enemies to throw at them than Palaces ever did.
"That Treasure-like smell isn't far now!" Mona said, giving them some good news. "Let's get to the roof!" He led the way, everyone following him to the top of Alice's castle. But when they arrived, they didn't see anything.
"…Is it here?" Violet looked around.
"Are we in a giant birdcage…?" Queen also looked around, but took note of their surroundings. It wasn't too dissimilar to the Prison Keeps…
"Alice isn't here…" Noir delivered the most disappointing news of all. They came all this way here but Alice wasn't present.
Panther's gaze just happened to tilt upwards. That's when she saw something unbelievable… "Hey, hey! Look!" She gestured above them, where a gigantic pink light hovered over them.
"What is that?!" Dragon couldn't help but gasp.
"That…isn't a Treasure." Mona shook his head. It was very similar to a Treasure, but it just wasn't the same thing.
"If it ain't a Treasure, what the hell is it?" Skull asked a very good question.
Before it could be answered, Sophie noticed two Shadows up ahead and warned the others. "Warning! Shadows ahead!" So they all went to hide, watching as the two security Shadows were gathering pink gems.
"Um…what are they doing…?" Joker asked.
"Have you brought all the Desires?" One of the Shadows asked.
"Yes. This is all of them so far." The other responded.
"More are coming soon. Capture every last one of them and bring them here."
"Understood, sir."
"…Wait…" Joker took a glance at those pink gems. He knew what those were now. "Those are Desires. We've seen them before…" Mona, Skull, and Violet recalled this. It was very brief, but it was during those moments when they stumbled into Alice's Jail.
"Are those the Desires…!?" Violet was speaking in a shocked whisper. Shocking still, the Desires that the Shadows gathered turned into pink light and faded away into the larger mass above. The Shadows left their post and the Thieves came out of hiding.
"W-What was that all about? Where'd they go..?" Panther was staring up at the sphere of light. "Those jewels were the Desires? They got sucked up into the bright light."
"There's no question." Mona looked upwards. "That glowing mass right there is the Treasure…ah, the Desires, I mean."
"That is?" Fox's tone held disbelief. "But how…?"
"But it's just a pile of gems. How could it turn into that shimmery thing?" Skull shook his head. It was hard to believe, even by Metaverse standards.
"It's just speculation, but maybe that's the original form of a Desire?" Mona was just taking a shot in the dark. "Desires don't usually have a concrete form. We all consider our own Desires precious, so when the people actively felt them being taken, it must've taken form."
"And I assume that if this is the original form of a Desire, Alice must be considered their new owner." Dragon surmised. "I suppose she has no intention of releasing them either."
"They're still stolen Desires." Violet clenched her hand into a fist. Panther just let out a quiet sigh.
"That seems to follow logically…" Queen nodded.
"At any rate, if we reclaim the Desires and release them from this cage, the people may well return to normal." Fox suggested.
"It's worth a try." Oracle was in agreement.
"Question." Sophie interjected innocently. "How does one steal light?"
"With our signature action." Joker said. "The calling card. If we threaten the target and make them aware that we're after their Treasure, it takes form. Based on everything we know about Desires so far, it should work the same way. We send a calling card claiming we're going to steal whatever is important to them. That's the reaction we need."
"I got it. I think." Sophie was a little skeptical in the idea.
"It works, trust us." Violet smiled.
"Are we sure this will work?" Panther was also skeptical, if only because this experience was still notably different than Palace infiltrations.
"Nothing is gained without action!" Fox did utter some wise words. They wouldn't know until they tried.
"Let us finish our route first and foremost." Dragon said. They were at the very end.
"I'm gonna be the first one there!" Skull excitedly ran forward, only to slam into a door that was previously invisible until the very moment he hit it. This also sent a strong shock of pain throughout his body. "OOOOOOOOOW!" He howled in pain before staggering back. The others were startled at this turn of events.
"A-Are you okay?!" Noir was concerned for Skull.
"What WAS that…!?" Queen gasped. If not for Skull's impatience, they all would've run straight into that!
"An invisible door? Is there another barrier? I swore I saw him run into something…" Oracle rubbed her eyes, just to ensure she wasn't seeing anything.
"Agh…shit…" Skull grimaced.
"Am I…hearing voices?" Drawn to the noise she heard, Sophie began to walk forward. But she was quickly pulled back by Violet.
"W-Wait, Sophie." Violet was curious as well. "Let me do it…"
"If this is related to Alice, I'm doing it too." Panther said. They weren't really sure what they were in for, but together, they pressed their palms against the door, grunting from the shock of pain that surged through their bodies.
"Ugh, would you just go away!?"
"What do you think you're doing, looking at the guys like that!?"
"She is like, such a waste of space, you know."
"Totally! She's such a loser, it hurts to look at her, ahahahaha!"
There were disgusting laughs of women mocking someone. A weak voice cried out, trying desperately to defend herself. "N-No…I was just…" Even if it was a little younger, it was undoubtedly Alice's voice. Panther and Violet could not withstand the pain for much longer and quickly pulled their hands back.
"Did you all hear that?" Dragon looked to the others. "Are you two okay!?"
"Just fine." Panther shook her head, as if it would help relief her of the strong stinging sensation.
"No issues. Just a little sore." Violet replied.
"A memory…hidden by the Monarch…" Sophie said. "I think I understand. That memory is the key to this barrier. This cage is current locked."
Now that Sophie mentioned it, there was indeed a gigantic lock sitting upon the top of this cage. "You're right…" Noir said, feeling silly for not noticing something so obvious right above them.
"It still requires a key, which we will find in the room those voices came from." Sophie explained. "It will be some sort of secret room. But we can't find this room here. We nee dto return to reality to do that."
"Eh? Why's that?" Skull asked her.
"The room's entrance only exist in reality. It has been completely isolated." Sophie replied.
"How'dja know all that? One of your programs or something?" Skull said.
"I…do not know." Sophie didn't have an answer.
"Maybe the lock on this cage is related to a lock on Alice's heart?" Mona was just voicing his opinion. "If Sophie's right, this means we just heard a memory of the Monarch. I have a feeling that memory is the lock on the key, keeping us from getting through to that door. It's only natural that the key to this place is in a place no one can find."
"But it's in the real world?" Oracle said. "How are we going to find out where this was? It could be anything?"
No, it couldn't just be anything. Panther recalled what she heard, she knew those mocking voices. She knew those scolding words. That was without a doubt, bullying. And there was only one place she could think of where bullying like that was common place. "…Looking at guys like that School age, maybe?"
"Ah, brilliant deduction, Panther!" Oracle beamed.
"I'm just…no stranger to hearing that kinda stuff is all." Panther said with a sad smile, but it turned softer when Dragon took a hold of her hand. "Thanks…"
"If she's right, does that mean the key we need is somewhere in Alice's old school?" Queen already felt like finding that was going to be a task.
"And we have to send a calling card too. We've got our work cut out for us…" Mona said. But there was nothing more they could do right now. So they had to return to reality.
.
.
It was becoming annoying how consistently they were getting stonewalled in Alice's Jail. First it was the wall and searchlights, and now it was this mysterious lock related to her past. They gathered in their old hideout of the Acessway to try and figure out anything about Alice, but… "What the what!? How are there no results!?"
"Really…?" Ann blinked. That sounded wrong. "But isn't stuff like 'where celebs went to high school' super easy to find online?"
"Usually, yeah." Futaba said. "But this time there's no info, not even on underground sites. Just rumors from deluded fans. Even if she changed her name, there'd still be traces of that somewhere, usually."
"There's shit even YOU can't find, Futaba!?" Of course Ryuji was going to be surprised by this. This was the same girl that one clicked the fake Medjed, on top of everything else.
"This reeks of a serious scrub job." Futaba stated. "Someone – probably Alice – intentionally hid her past."
"This is quite the setback." Yusuke sighed. "If we don't discover Alice's alma mater, we'll never find a way into that secret room."
"But what do we do?" Hifumi tilted her head. "It should be impossible to erase something from the internet entirely…"
"What about Mako-chan's sister?" Haru suggested. "Couldn't she get us that information?"
"Is that allowed?" Sumire asked. They've had enough brushes with borderline illegal activity just within the past few days.
"I don't mind asking, but how exactly should I go about it?" Makoto said. "Personal information like that is legally protected, and I doubt she would just readily hand it over."
"Yeah…and I really don't wanna be on the other side of the table with her going 'answer me'!" Futaba said.
"I wouldn't mind…" Ann mumbled. Hifumi just nudged her with her elbow. "Sorry…!"
"It seems like we're stuck." Ren crossed his arms. How were they going to proceed…?"
"Ah, okay. Alice's Hiiragi's school." Zenkichi's voice caught everyone by surprise. He approached the group, overhearing their conversation.
"Ah! It's…!" Futaba gasped.
"The shady detective." Yusuke had his arms crossed. Once again, they were all giving Zenkichi stares that said he was not welcomed here.
"I'm PubSec, not just some cop detec – wait, I'm not shady! …Am I?" Suddenly he was worried about his appearance. Zenkichi was not prepared for that remark.
"Yes, quite." Haru said with a smile.
"These kids are somethin' else…" Zenkichi muttered to himself. "Can you please stop saying those kinda things with that smile on your face?" Seriously, it worried him when Haru did that!
"So, what do you want this time?" Hifumi asked.
"C'mon, enough with the cold shoulder." Zenkichi said casually. He was trying to prove that he was on their side. "You know I'm trying to help you out."
"You, help us?" Ann said with venom in her tone.
Zenkichi ignored that. "You wanna know where Alice Hiiragi went to school, right?"
"How'd you know that..?" Ren asked.
"Do you know how easy it was to eavesdrop on you here?" Zenkichi's voice dropped to a deadpan. The Phantom Thieves were this careless?
"…You know, I never liked this place as a hideout." Hifumi made her opinion on this clear. She always knew it felt too exposed and that anyone could overhear their conversation if they actually bothered to pay attention.
"For some reason, there's almost no personal info available on Alice Hiiragi." Zenkichi went on. "Especially prior to her debut – that is just one big ol' blank. So, since is giving you all a hard time, I've swooped in to lend a hand."
"…Like a knight in shining armor?" Sumire's expression was flat.
"Exactly!" Zenkichi was just rolling with it too, much to her dismay. "Intel on Alice would be no sweat to me over in PubSec HQ. So, how about it? Want some help?"
"Nah, we're good. We'll handle it on our own." Ryuji replied.
"Just a little more time and I'll find it on my own." Futaba shot that down as well.
"Great! I'll just…" Zenkichi was replying under the assumption they agreed to his helping hand, but he realized this was not the case. They shot down intel. "What!? Oh, come on! This is a good deal here, just take the info!"
"We just don't trust the police." Haru said, once again, with a smile.
"I told you to stop smilin' when you say that…!" Zenkichi groaned. These kids were tough nuts to crack. They clearly had no intentions of accepting his help willingly. "Okay, fine, I get it. I have to earn your trust. So I'll hand you this one for free. Alice Hiiragi is your senpai."
He was looking at the Shujin kids when he said and it clicked for them instantly. "She attended Kosei High!?" Yusuke suddenly gasped out.
"N-No…I don't think he was referring to us…" Hifumi said with a sweat drop.
"What? Yeah, no. Not you guys." Zenkichi shook his head.
"Alice went to Shujin…!?" Ann was shocked by this.
"Huh…" Sumire felt like this didn't surprise her for some reason. She did recall seeing Alice's name somewhere in Shujin before, she just couldn't remember where exactly.
"And don't forget it – cause you owe me ne now, got it?" Spoken with a smile, Zenkichi made his exit.
"…There he goes." Ryuji watched Zenkichi leave. "How'd he know where Alice went to school..?"
"Could the police already have their eyes on her as well?" Makoto surmised.
"It's hard to gauge whether he's friend or foe…" Yusuke admitted.
"It didn't seem like he was lying with his information. I suppose he would have to tell us the truth often if he wanted us to work with him." Hifumi said. "For now, I believe it's best to go along with it. It was free information after all."
"It didn't exactly sound like it was free, Hifumi-senpai." Sumire didn't really enjoy the prospect of 'owing' Zenkichi a favor down the line, but they just had to roll with it.
"So we can get to that secret room now, right?" Ren asked.
"Correct." Sophia responded from Sumire's phone. "Everything should go all SHWOWOWOWOW, and then we'll be there."
"WOWOWOW, huh? Heh, alright." Ryuji nodded.
.
.
The front gate of Shujin. Ren felt like it had been an eternity ago since he attended this school. It made him wonder how Mishima and Kawakami were holding up these days. Even Maruki, too. "…Didn't think I'd be back here again so soon."
"Yeah…" Ann nodded in slow agreement. She still attended Shujin, but she would be lying if she said this school didn't bring unpleasant memories as well. The Shujin environment did get a little better, but….
"Are we sure this is right?" Ryuji asked. "I'm not seein' anything weird here."
"I have no doubt." Sophia responded. "This place gives the same sensation as the birdcage."
"To think this is what would bring me back here…" Makoto stared at Shujin with a bit of nostalgia.
"It hasn't changed a bit." Ren said. "Let's pop in and see what's up."
"I may have graduated from here, but it still feels wrong to go in without permission…" Makoto wasn't in the mood to trespass.
"Permission granted! Most of us here are still students here after all!" Futaba beamed.
"A-Anyway…" Haru was moving on. "I didn't know Alice went here…"
"Neither did I." Makoto said. "And I figured a student council president would know about celebrity graduates."
"Perhaps she had a secret past here that she wished to hide." Yusuke suggested. "Those cutting words we heard and that painful cry. I don't know if she was an instigator or a victim of such bullying. Either way, it has left a gaping wound in her heart that she refuses to even acknowledge."
"…." Ann and Sumire fell silent.
"We'll have to make her see that truth." Hifumi said.
"We may not be in Shibuya, but this is still connected to the Jail." Sophia said. "We will enter the secret room if we enter the keyword. Is everyone prepared?"
"Yeah!" Ann said. "Keyword: Wonderland!"
And EMMA responded to the keyword being spoken. "Keyword accepted! Beginning Navigation."
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.
The Phantom Thieves arrived in the secret room. A room that resembled a classroom more than anything else, but the ambiance was all off. "Is this what the inside of a school looks like? It looks different than on the internet." That was Sophia's first remark.
"Careful. The distortion is really strong here." Mona warned.
"Hey, look!" Panther pointed in front of them. There was a school girl sitting atop some stacked desk.
"Ah-! A ghost…!" Queen instinctively flinched, but she recovered when she realized it was just a cognitive being.
"Are you seriously crying!?" The arrogant student scoffed in disgust. She wasn't speaking to the Phantom Thieves, but this was a memory of Alice, so it was strongly implied she was speaking to her. "How pathetic, trying to get us to go easy on you. You tricked HIM the same way too, didn't you?"
"No, I'd…I'd never do that…" Alice's weak voice echoed throughout the classroom.
"Ugh, DISGUSTING!" The student scoffed. "Seriously? WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE! Do us a favor…and DIE ALREADY!" The cognitive girl moved from her seat on the desk, slowly sauntering towards the Phantom Thieves. She dropped her phone, her body twitching violently as she approached. The group could only watch in shocked awe as the cognitive student turned into a massive guardian with four arms, each one holding an axe.
"What the hell!?" Skull staggered back from surprise. What in the world was he looking at!?
"Be careful!" Dragon exclaimed. This was no time to be shocked, because the Lock Keeper was coming their way. "Prepare for battle…!"