A closed sign on Untouchable's front door was an inconvenient surprise to exactly one of the three people that arrived in front of it long after the sun had set. The white lights of the surrounding buildings did their best to make up for the lack of stars in the sky, but they never let Akira forget that he was somewhere he didn't belong. Nowadays they were eyes to be avoided, signals to the uncaring masses that he was indeed alive against their will. "What are we supposed to do now?" Kasumi questioned, snapping Akira out of his thoughts as she attempted to peer into the abandoned storefront. "Don't we only have until tomorrow to do something?"

There was no question that Kasumi was right, only that the thing they were doing was likely rather far from what she expected. "We'll wait for Ann and Ryuji to show up. Makoto said they're close. Once they meet you properly we'll have to take the problem to the source."

The nagging voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Morgana was telling him that he should have told the others about Kasumi sooner. Whether this was true or not, it was certainly an inconvenience now. Having to question his confidants in the first place wasn't how he wanted to deal with what would likely be his last heist, and souring the trust between his team over Kasumi's existence only made it worse. Kasumi tilted her head as she noticed Akira staring at her. "Something on my face, senpai?"

Akira shook his head with a reassuring smile. "No, I was just thinking about how this would be much easier if you didn't have a persona," he admitted freely.

"I'm sorry?" Kasumi apologized hesitantly. "I don't think I can turn it off. Or can you? I-"

"He was joking," Morgana chimed in, poking his head out from Akira's bag. "Say you were joking." The bat to the back of his head from Morgana's surprisingly strong paw was far more encouragement than he needed.

"I was joking, Morgana," Akira informed his cat as he shoved him back down into the bag forcefully. "We should have a bit of time to get something to eat if you want. There's a Big Bang Burger nearby. Kinda unhealthy though." Though the rest of his life often took a backseat to Phantom Thief work, he couldn't ignore the grumbling in his or Morgana's stomachs for much longer.

Kasumi's longing expression indicated her agreement with her senpai's sentiment. "I don't really mind that it's unhealthy, but I don't find it all that filling either, at least not for the price it takes to get full. Do you know another place?"

Akira was certain that you could get completely full at Big Bang Burger if you had the Guts, Knowledge, and Proficiency to do so with a minimal investment, but time wasn't on their side. "We could hit up the diner nearby instead. I'll pay. Dead people don't have many living expenses."

While Akira wouldn't normally risk hanging out in a public place so flagrantly, the current plan required that both he and Kasumi remain in close proximity until Ann and Ryuji arrived. Kasumi's voracious appetite and the rising moon were his biggest impediments to that goal. Between the two, only one was something he could ameliorate in the present moment. "Well, if it doesn't take too long, I'll take you up on that offer. I missed my normal dinner time. If my parents were home tonight, they'd definitely be wondering where I was." With one last look at Untouchable, Kasumi allowed herself to be led to a nearby diner.

The goal had been accomplished, yet the victory felt as hollow as Akira's insides as he ordered coffee for himself. Akira found himself wondering if Akechi had felt similarly in any of their interactions inside and outside Sae's palace. Had the traitor ever felt any sort of bond between them? The glove resting in Akira's room from the detective prince implied that this was the case, but it was hard to argue with the metal barrel said detective had pointed at his skull mere weeks ago. As Kasumi ordered and ate, Akira's appetite waned despite not eating anything. It didn't matter what Akechi had felt in that moment. Right now, Shido was the one holding a gun to their heads. Whether they took him down or not, someone would always be there to pick up the weapon in his place. In that way only Kasumi was right about her stance on the Phantom Thieves. "No matter what we do, fate is inevitable, huh?" he whispered under his breath.

If Kasumi noticed his mumblings, she didn't show it. Instead, she was concentrated on tearing apart the steak she'd ordered with Morgana's discreet assistance. Though he'd never pushed the limits, Akira was certain that Morgana and Kasumi could bankrupt a buffet if they tried. Akira focused himself enough to continue pleasantries with his friend until the text he'd been hoping for and dreading finally arrived. "They're here," Akira announced. "Let's do it." Leaving his semi-legitimately obtained money on the table, Akira led Kasumi back to their original destination where his team was waiting.

It would have been preferable to obtain everyone's help, but Yusuke and Haru were too far away, Futaba wouldn't be safe wandering around alone, and Makoto had her own problems to deal with keeping everyone informed. There was also an unavoidable sense of nostalgia to having the original four Phantom Thieves gathered together. Though Kasumi couldn't sense this, the bond between them was unique among even the other thieves, enough that Akira wasn't concerned when he noticed how irritated they looked. Ryuji was leaning against a wall, drumming his fingers impatiently while Ann paced back and forth down the alley. The eyes of the wardens of the Velvet Room bored into Akira's soul as he called out to the duo in tandem with Morgana's cry of Ann's name. "You better have a good reason for running us around past midnight," Ann snapped as she stalked over to her leader. "Pairing me up with him has taken years off my life. Do you know how many fights I had to diffuse?"

"More importantly, we didn't find anything," Ryuji informed the trio redundantly. "Almost got arrested trying to poke around though. Those bastard cops thought we were trying to break into the school for some shitty reason."

"Can you blame them with your reputation?" Ann half-teased.

Ryuji's response was to kick off the wall and stand between Akira and Ann facing Akira. Kasumi started at this sudden movement, far more surprised than Akira expected, but the freshman calmed down quickly. "Bite me. So what's the plan? Doesn't look like the gun shop owner is here." The delinquent's tone was a little too relieved about that acknowledgement.

"More importantly, I want to hear more about our persona-using friend here," Ann cut in, shoving past Ryuji. "That's just as important as the calling card in my opinion."

This was only partially true, but Akira didn't have the perspective of his friends seeing Kasumi in this light for the first time to really judge the situation accurately. For that he'd have to rely on his fellow thieves. Kasumi bowed to the two new arrivals. "My apologies. It was rude of me not to properly introduce myself. I'm the Yoshizawa I'm sure you've been informed about. I'm a freshman at Shujin academy, a transfer student like senpai. I've only had my persona for about a month or so."

"So do you know how all that persona stuff and the metaverse works?" Ryuji asked, shifting his weight from leg to leg. "I mean, it's kinda complicated and it took me a while to really wrap my head around it."

"As far as I can tell, people with distorted desires form these things called palaces, which are projections of their subconscious malintent," Kasumi explained. "By stealing those desires away from them, you can force the guilty party to lose their will to commit evil and confess their crimes as people with changed hearts, as you put it. I have to say the idea is a bit mind-boggling to me, still, but I think it overall makes sense if you get past the part that any of it is real in the first place."

Akira would have thought that Ryuji had learned his lesson after seeing how quickly all of their members since Yusuke had picked up on how the metaverse worked, but the junior was still dumbfounded, his jaw hanging open as Kasumi rattled off a perfectly good explanation for him. Scrambling for a way to sound intelligent, Ryuji crossed his arms and huffed importantly. "Not bad, but you forgot to mention all the cool perks you get with the metaverse. It makes you way stronger and faster, and you heal your wounds instantly, and-."

"Wait, really?" Kasumi interrupted. "I mean, I felt stronger, but not that much more than I ordinarily do."

Ryuji tutted obnoxiously and shook his head. "Trust the pros on this one, Yoshizawa. As long as we're willing to get back up, nothing keeps the Phantom Thieves down."

"Except yelling our name in public," Morgana pointed out sharply. "Keep it down, will you?"

"Boys," Ann scoffed as Ryuji and Morgana got into another argument with Akira caught in the middle. "What he's trying to say is that the metaverse makes you more powerful, but we still have to be careful. You follow me?"

"What if I go into the metaverse with an injury?" Kasumi questioned curiously.

"Not sure. We try not to do dangerous things like that," Ann confessed, looking to Morgana for assistance and finding none. "Would you two focus for a second?!"

"Huh? Yeah, I agree," Morgana responded instinctually to Ann, prompting a sigh of disappointment. "Oh, um, back on topic, we need to decide how we're going to handle the person who sent the card. Are we certain that it's Iwai?"

"There's nobody else it could be," Akira responded firmly. "And the fact that he's not here all but confirms it. We're going to have to set up an operation to steal his desires tonight."

"He doesn't have a palace, so we're going to have to try and find him in Mementos. He might have done us a favor by calling us out. It should make his shadow appear," Morgana explained. "If he's there, that should prove everything rather nicely."

Ryuji and Ann subtly shifted their posture at the prospect of entering Mementos. Though none of them would admit it outright, Akira knew they experienced the same rushes of adrenaline he did when he was on the front line, using his persona to run wild to his heart's content. Kasumi was the only one who didn't look excited. "But if he sent it, why did he send one to me?" she pointed out.

"Unless you know something we don't, our only choice is to follow this lead," Akira decided, shutting down any room for argument. "We just need to make Iwai's shadow confess."

"Won't that risk robbing him of his desires?"

"The alternative is letting Shido go. There's no choice," Akira repeated. "Do you want to come with us or not? I don't blame you if you want to go home, but we'll need to send you off with an escort."

Kasumi hesitated, clearly uncertain about how things were developing. The flashes between guilt and resolve were interesting to observe, but they didn't bring Akira any closer to his desired answer before the sun came up. While he didn't try to make a habit of visiting Mementos after dark, the few times he had he hadn't come out with any less than some nasty bumps and bruises to show for his efforts. "I can't not see this through to the end," Kasumi finally decided. "Please, take me with you." The choice of words wasn't lost on Akira, but he didn't make his thoughts known as he signaled for his team to disperse. He'd already received the answer he needed from Kasumi as soon as they met up with Ann and Ryuji anyways.

The group would look too suspicious if they tried to move to their normal entrance to Mementos as one unit, so Akira had them split up. After stopping by the Velvet Room to exchange some of his personas in case things got violent, Akira made his way to the entrance to Mementos. Thanks to his detour, he was the last to arrive, finding Morgana impatiently waltzing around in a circle while Ryuji and Ann bickered and Kasumi tried not to look completely out of place. Sometimes Akira wondered if the only reason he was the leader was because he wasn't actively arguing with someone else most of the day. Putting questions of his worth aside, Akira cleared his throat and everyone fell silent. "Our target is Munehisa Iwai, the owner of Untouchable," Akira announced. "The rest of the team will provide back up once they get here, but we don't have time to waste. He's somewhere on the Path of Aiyatsbus. We need to change his heart before he does whatever he's going to do. Morgana, you're on navigation. Kasumi, you stay behind us and only jump in if I ask for you. Does everyone understand?" Four nods met Akira's question.

The leader of the Phantom Thieves smirked. "Let's do this then." With that, the party entered Mementos once more.

As they stepped into the cognitive world, Panther focused on making sure everyone was ready while Joker planned out his route with Mona. If they wanted to reach Iwai's presumed location as fast as possible, they'd have to travel straight down for roughly half an hour. Even in the Mona car the trip was a bit of a boring one. More importantly, it reduced the already precious little time they had available to them before the presumed antagonistic party made good on their word. A short note to update the rest of the team was made and the party proceeded down to the level in the metaverse Morgana had identified Iwai's location at. Very few words were spoken. The gloomy atmosphere of Mementos was no less oppressive to Joker the second time he experienced it in one day, its effects just as pronounced on his party as they were on him. While Panther and Skull had been eager to stretch their legs out in the sudden freedom granted by having their normal 7 van occupants cut down to 4, they now sat silently in anticipation mixed with a bit of dread as their task loomed ever closer. Just as it seemed the tension would become unbearable, their destination was reached, a twisting of the railroad tracks up into a spiraling red vortex that indicated a pocket of Mementos where someone's shadow resided. Joker stopped the car so Mona could revert to his fighting form. If they were going to take on a shadow with resolve like Iwai's they would presumably need Mona. "No turning back? Anything anyone want to say?" Joker asked.

"We should be asking you that dude," Skull pointed out. "He's your bud, isn't he?"

Joker nodded. "I believe he is, yes." This sentiment sank in for a few moments as everyone came to terms with exactly what it was they were coming here to do. Before they were even friends, they had to be Phantom Thieves, a sentiment felt more strongly by Joker than anyone else.

"No time like the present," Mona announced to spur everyone forward into the pocket of Mementos that contained their friend. "Let's go!" the cat led the way into the breach.

Coming out on the other side, Akira was somewhat surprised to find Iwai actually standing there waiting for them as promised. The man looked exactly as he did in the real world down to his shady grey overcoat and military cap, albeit with yellow eyes instead of the normal grey. When he saw the Phantom Thieves approaching, he waved lazily. "Yo, it's my favorite part-timer. What brings you all the way out to this neck of the woods?" It was perhaps the least intimidating greeting they'd ever received from a shadow, but Joker wasn't caught completely off guard.

"You haven't sold us out, have you?" Joker asked, getting right to the point.

Iwai's nose crinkled in disgust. He rubbed the gecko tattoo on his neck as if it was irritating his skin. "Is that the kind of rat you take me for? Gotta say I'm disappointed, kid. A man like me's only as good as his word."

"That wasn't an answer," Panther pointed out, her submachine gun already pointed at their foe. "Are you siding with Shido or not?"

Joker tried to motion for Panther to calm down, but Iwai was already chuckling. "If you're gonna threaten me, do it with something I don't know is fake. You look good holding my work though, I'll give you that."

Now mildly curious, Joker tried firing his pistol into the air. To his surprise, the gun failed to fire. Iwai watched this display with only mild interest. "Not sure what you were expecting. You sure you're a Phantom Thief?"

"It… normally fires," Akira explained, forgetting their positions for a moment.

"Well, everyone has performance issues sometimes," Iwai waved off. "Not that that's my damn business. So spill it. Who's lighting a fire under that ass of yours that you had to track me all the way down here?" Iwai's hands found his pockets, whatever desire to fight he may have exhibited now completely gone.

Even if this was part of the plan, Joker still had to take a moment to summon his confidence before he motioned Kasumi forward. The freshman hesitated, but took the lead in the pack before removing her mask. "Seen her around?" Joker asked.

Iwai looked over the girl carefully. "Not dressed like that. Think I sold a gun to you at some point though. A Yellow Girl, based on that piece on your hip. Am I wrong? Don't answer that, I don't care." Iwai took a step back, releasing Kasumi from his gaze to focus on Joker. "Can't be of much more help than that, sorry. This whole spooky railroad thing clearly isn't my business anyways. If it's all the same to you, I'd like to hit the hay. You have what you need, right?"

Joker smirked. He couldn't credit himself with thinking far enough ahead to use Iwai for this operation, but he was very glad that such a brusque individual ended up being their target. "That's it. Thanks for understanding, Iwai."

Iwai waved and turned away, his shadow already fading as he returned to his unconscious body. Kasumi stepped forward in anger. "Wait a second! Hey!" Her cries fell on non-existent ears. "Senpai, what was that? I thought we needed him!"

Joker shook his head, turning to face the party. "Not quite. We needed a reason to come down here. Iwai just happened to be a good reason." Half-truths came out so much more easily when Akira had the mask on.

"Are you sure about this?" Panther asked. "I mean, it just feels wrong."

The personas behind Joker's mask stirred, the prospect of action finally spurring them to rattle the cage Joker held them back with. He touched his mask, calming his emotions for the moment. "I agree. That's why we decided to go somewhere we couldn't be interrupted, so nothing goes wrong."

"I'm afraid I'm confused too," Kasumi admitted. "I've never met this Iwai person in my life. I wasn't sure until we saw him just now, but now I'm definitely sure of it. He's unknown to me. This is the same gun I had when I got my persona."

Joker exchanged looks with the rest of his team. They were trusting him. If he was wrong, he'd have more than Makoto to deal with after this little excursion. "One question, Kasumi," Joker requested. "Which leg was Ryuji's injury in?"

"The right one," Kasumi answered without thinking. "Why?"

Sighing as his suspicions were confirmed, Joker pointed his pistol at his kouhai. Kasumi tensed up but didn't react as the other Phantom Thieves casually blocked the way out from the pocket of Mementos. "You sent those calling cards, didn't you?" Joker accused calmly. "You were surprised when Ryuji was able to move without injury earlier because he was hiding it. The thing about healing was a lie I told him to concoct when he met you. You wrote that calling card after you saw Ryuji show up to school in crutches, thinking we were about to wind up dead. So what was the endgame?"

There was a long pause as Kasumi considered her options. No matter how strong her persona possibly was, there was no way she could fight her way past all four of them. Morgana had been opposed to cornering Kasumi like this, but Joker's reminder of the last time they tried to get an answer out of Kasumi had silenced his complaints. "Skull, Panther, listen up. Don't do anything unless Joker says so. We're not thugs." Morgana ordered, standing the furthest back in the group.

At this command, both Skull and Panther tilted their heads in confusion. Ryuji went as far as to fold his arms in annoyance. "For real? You think we don't know that? Who do you take us for, dragging us out here past midnight just to boss us around like we're five?"

"We dragged you down here because someone has a habit of running away, and we're only agile enough to keep up down here," Joker clarified. "Kasumi, do you have anything to say about this?"

"I have to say that you're wasting your time," Kasumi finally defended indignantly. "Why would I send a card to myself if that was the case?"

"Why indeed? Perhaps you wanted an excuse to get closer to us. I was the one who told you that you couldn't help with Shido, after all."

Kasumi's stance grew more defensive. "Look, I know how important taking down Shido is to you. If you let me help you, then maybe whoever sent the card will-"

"Stop lying," Joker ordered, cutting his kouhai off. "All the evidence points to you. You wouldn't have left the calling card on Leblanc's door when you saw it if you didn't send it. Chihaya's fortune fit your profile perfectly. All I had to do was confirm it wasn't Iwai and test to see if you'd been following us or not, which you have. Unless you're suggesting Akechi somehow sent these cards instead of just trying to kill us outright, there's no alternative explanation."

Sensing that her opportunities for evasion had truly been exhausted, Kasumi decided to switch tactics. "If you know all that, why won't you just let me help you then?" She exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest. "I understand the risks! If it's for the sake of giving people the freedom to choose their own destiny, I'll fight Shido until my last breath!"

Joker was opening his mouth to tell Kasumi off for her boldness before someone else spoke up. "Why not give her a shot?" Skull asked, rolling his shoulders as he tried to find a comfortable standing position. "If we got help being offered, I think it'd be stupid of us not to take it. You should have told us about this the second that shit went down, man."

"You're changing the subject. We can talk about that later. As I was saying-"

"I want to know about that too," Ann interjected. "We didn't get a good explanation earlier, but you're at least right that this matter is more important. Why wouldn't we want to bring her along? You know how much trouble we've been having infiltrating Shido's palace. An extra set of able hands would do wonders."

"My sentiments exactly," Kasumi echoed. "I'm sorry that I put you through this, truly. All I wanted to do was give myself an opportunity to get into your group. I knew you wouldn't change your answer if I just asked. That's why I initially offered my assistance in the first place. The Phantom Thieves clearly needed some help, so I decided to insert myself into things. Once you let me in, I just had to say I was invested in taking down Shido in case whoever threatened us changed their mind when nothing happened tomorrow. Well, that was the plan anyways. When I saw how desperate you were getting and that Ryuji's leg had already healed I started having second thoughts."

"Which is why you're talking to us now about it instead of running away," Joker concluded. "All accounted for. And you weren't allowed to join us for the exact reason you highlighted when you sent yourself a calling card. Associating with us makes you a target, even more so given that you're more of an unknown to the enemy. Someone like that will be marked for disposal as soon as possible. It wouldn't be right of us to expose you to that."

"You keep saying that, but what's the point of being safe from danger if in doing so everything goes sideways and everyone ends up in danger?" Kasumi pointed out. "If I run now and you fail, then I'm going to end up being, um, screwed either way, senpai. Surely you can see that, can't you?"

Joker could see it all too well, the same choice he'd made what felt like a lifetime ago that had led him inevitably to the point he was standing at right now. All of his friends would have made the same choice he had in that moment to interfere with the drunk man trying to force himself on a woman. Every single one of them would have taken action with no questions asked. Only Joker would have been content to simply arrive at the scene and remain a passive observer, nothing more or less. Whatever had compelled Akira to act that night, made him think he was something special, it was locked behind a mask Joker had told himself nobody should have to wear. His gun didn't waver.

"Because the choice is mine to make as the leader," Joker spoke with finality. "If you have a reason that justifies putting her in harms way that doesn't have to do with our inability to infiltrate, now would be the time to speak up."

"I still think we should let her go for it," Skull immediately requested. "I know I don't know all the details and shit, but if she's raring to go after Shido with us, it'd be rude to shoot her down. No, it'd be unsafe because she'd just follow us again. Look at all the trouble you caused by telling her no once. I say we're better off having her watching our backs rather than aiming for them."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Ryuji," Ann continued for him before he could mess up the sentiment. "Why don't we consult the others on what to do? We're supposed to make these decisions as a team."

"Queen and Mona are on my side," Joker countered. "And I have no doubt that the others would be too. It's not about what we can and can't do. If stopping Shido means that we have to put the life of someone innocent in harm's way then we shouldn't do it. We're more than enough to take Shido down."

"Dude, I don't know where you're getting your confidence from, but that palace kicked our ass last time we tried to infiltrate it," Ryuji reminded the group. "It's not something we can afford to play honorably or whatever the hell you're getting at."

This wasn't what Joker was getting at at all, but Skull wasn't intent on budging. Sensing the hostile atmosphere building up, Kasumi stepped forward. "Listen, I didn't mean to cause this much conflict. To be honest, I've been watching you all try to infiltrate Shido's palace for a while now. When I saw Ryuji-senpai come back with that injury, I couldn't sit idly by and let you risk your lives any longer. I have these abilities, so it's my responsibility to use them in a way that lets me continue to walk my path with my head held high. I wouldn't be able to do that if something happened to one of you and I knew I could have prevented it."

"Even if something did happen, you wouldn't have been able to prevent it," Joker informed the girl coldly. "No matter how strong your persona is, when it comes to being a Phantom Thief, you're an amateur that would slow us down considerably. We can't afford that at this stage in the infiltration."

Joker's words were harsh, but nobody rushed to the defense of Kasumi, leaving her alone to battle for her place on the team herself. Mona turned away, inspecting their exit as if there was something there that merited his attention. "Then look me in the eye and tell me exactly why you're doing this," Kasumi responded, throwing her ultimatum down with a defiant step forward toward Joker's weapon. "Tell me your sense of justice is strong enough to see this through without my help to my face."

It took most of Joker's self-control to avoid bursting out laughing. If there was one thing he was completely self-assured in, it was this cause. "Shido was the reason I ended up here on probation in the first place. Shido's the reason Futaba's mom died. Shido's the damn reason Haru's dad died. Shido likely would have had Makoto's sister killed as well if we didn't intervene. The second he rises to power, we have no reason not to believe he'll have all of us hunted down and killed or imprisoned for being Phantom Thieves. You won't find a group of people more motivated to this cause than us."

"Revenge, then?" Kasumi questioned.

"Is that so wrong?" Joker asked rhetorically, spreading his arms out. "Look around you. Only here can we turn the tables on this shitty society and take a stand for what actually matters. It's fate that we do that to the bastard who put us in that position in the first place."

In response, Kasumi turned to Joker's allies. "Do you agree? Is this worth risking your life?"

Instantly, all three thieves nodded. Joker's relief was washed away almost instantly when Skull opened his mouth. "Of course. And saying it out loud has me thinking that we need to talk about what we're actually doing in that palace. Clearly something isn't working since we keep tripping every alarm known to man."

Joker sighed. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about that another time. For now, we should focus on bringing Kasumi home."

"One more thing," Kasumi insisted. "And if you can clear this up, I promise I'll stop making trouble for you. You promised you would return safely if you did this. Having followed you all day, I can see that that promise was foolish. You have no intention of returning safely, do you?"

This question caught Joker completely off guard. He had been prepared to answer a question about Shido, not justify another one of his decisions to everyone. "What do you mean by that?"

"If you change Shido's heart, it's over. There's nothing that comes after this, is there? You'd be happy for things to go on forever, but you know they can't, so you're throwing yourself at Shido's palace with reckless abandon in an attempt to make it last forever. Tell me I'm wrong, senpai. Tell me that you're doing this as some part of your master plan, because I don't want to believe that you would break your promise, be truly willing to die for something this dumb. Because if that's the case, then you need to call this operation off right now and seriously reconsider your options." Kasumi's mask had returned to her face, the freshman arrogantly staring down her senpai with the most defiant look Joker had ever seen on her.

Inconceivably, Kasumi's words were getting through to the rest of his team. When he turned to them for advice, all he saw were the same questioning stares echoed only by the whispering voices that echoed everywhere in Mementos. "What?" Joker asked, sweeping his gaze between his three oldest friends. "Speak up."

Mona was the first to take up Joker's challenge. "I've been saying for several days now that your attitude has been somewhat off," he pointed out. "I'm surprised Kasumi was able to pick up on it too, but the point she's making is valid. I want to change the world, not run a suicide mission."

"What he said," Panther echoed. "Joker, if something about this heist is really bothering you like that, you should talk to us about it instead of just charging headlong into everything like that's going to solve your problems. Believe me, I've tried, and it doesn't work."

"Personally, I think charging forward is fine, but maybe not in this case," Skull chimed in helpfully. "Again, why don't we gather the team and have a chat about Kasumi and everything else? There's clearly some shit we need to air out."

"There's no need," Joker denied. "We'll meet when we're ready to infiltrate the palace again. You all shouldn't be questioning my drive to do this of all people. Nobody wants to see that bastard suffer more than me, and if we all go up in flames in the process then that defeats the purpose."

"Maybe that's the problem," Mona muttered. "Listen, I don't think this place is gonna hold up much longer. We should get out of here before-"

"Why are you so desperate to leave?" Joker accused, pointing a finger at Mona. "Did you already gather the others outside Mementos or something? Are you waiting to ambush me and claim that I'm out of line for keeping you all alive this long? Is that it?"

Mona's expression contorted in confusion. "Joker, I don't know what you're talking about. You sound a bit paranoid right now. Are you feeling alright?"

It took some effort, but Joker managed to take a deep breath to calm himself. He wasn't on trial or in an interrogation room right now. He wasn't. His friends weren't doubting him, weren't going anywhere. They would stay here as long as he asked them to. "What's so funny?" Skull asked, making Joker realize he was smiling.

It was almost an instinct at this point. Compared to the real world, he was downright safe in the metaverse. The things adults used to lord their power over him couldn't reach down here, where he knew he was special and was supposed to have his friends at his back. "Sorry. I feel better than alright. Just trust me, okay? I'll make that bastard pay no matter the cost."

Skull's response to this was to put himself protectively between Kasumi and Joker. The move prompted a raised eyebrow from the team's leader. "You think I'd actually harm an innocent?" Joker scoffed.

"You haven't put the gun down since we started talking," Skull answered evenly. "All I'm asking is for you to give her a shot with the team. If you aren't gonna even consider that, I have to assume she's right. Unless there's a shadow somewhere messing with you or-"

"I'm more myself than I've ever been," Joker interrupted. "You're all the ones acting crazy. I just need a few more days and then we'll steal Shido's treasure than everything will go back to normal. We'll get the good ending and we can forget about all this crap. Why is it so hard for you all to trust me?"

"We do trust you," Panther insisted. "But your actions are proving that you don't trust us. We didn't even know Yoshizawa-san had a persona until today. Aren't we supposed to be your friends? We-"

"Enough," Joker commanded, silencing the room immediately. "You are my friends. That's why I have to take responsibility for keeping the team alive first. I can't go back to the person I was before I got this power. Nothing you say will convince me to give that up. The only person allowed to take those kinds of risks to achieve our goal will be me."

At this declaration, Kasumi stepped forward over Skull's protest. "Then your promise to me really meant nothing?" she accused. "Your pain isn't acceptable to us just as ours is unacceptable to you. You know that, right?"

"We're done talking," Joker responded. "Mona, get the-" before Joker could finish, a low rumbling shook the room.

Everyone's personas flickered behind them, spurred into activity by the potential presence of a threat. For a few seconds, nothing happened, the room holding its breath as everyone tried to get their bearings. Mona started backing away slowly toward the way they came, motioning for the others to do the same. This plan was successful for half a minute before Skull's leg caused him to stumble forward over a railway. A thunderous cracking noise filled the room, causing everyone to look down in time to see a large pitfall appearing at the ground beneath their feet. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence in Mementos, but to see one in a shadow's room meant that perhaps Mona's warning was timelier than Joker had given it credit for. "RUN!" Mona cried out too late as the party was caught in the gaping maw of Mementos itself.

Despite the group's best efforts, even their grappling hooks couldn't find a purchase strong enough to save them as they were pulled into the floor below. Joker's vision went dark as he fell into the blackness, his only thought of how he should have found a way to prove his point faster, how all he really needed was a little more time.


Author's Note: Another week, another upload. Today is Pocky Day, National Sundae Day, Veterans Day or Armistice Day depending on where you are, National Origami Day, and Azusa Nakano's birthday (Check out my K-ON! story if you haven't it's pretty good no bias but read this first thanks). What does that have to do with this story? Absolutely nothing, thank you for asking. Any feedback is always appreciated, even if it's just about the fact that I've decided to start doing author's notes now. See you next week!