Persona 5: The Phantom Files

by sithlorde1988

Will cover the events of both Persona 5 Royal AND Persona 5 Scramble/Strikers. What happens when in addition to Ren being sentenced to go live in the care of Sojiro Sakura for a year after being sued for assualt, his younger brother is also ordered to go and oversee him? How will this extra character change things? Read to find out! More info in chapter 1! Read and review! Enjoy!

20. Palace 2 Resumed! Kitsune Artist part 8

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5: The Phantom Files! Hard to believe we're already up to chapter 20 on this story, but here we are! As I mentioned in the end-chapter A/N of chapter 19, this is now only the third time I've ever gotten a story to 20 chapters, the other two being a write-up I did of Total Drama Revenge Of The Island (which I forgot the name of honestly) and the recently-completed Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory- The Amasawa Files (the latter of which is up on my profile page for anyone who wants to read it), of which only the latter is still up since the former was removed with the intention of being re-written some time back and then I never got around to said re-write for various reasons.

So that might go on the long-term to-do list if I think of it. But back on the topic of this story, not sure what all will get in this chapter, but for sure I know there'll be more of Madarame's Palace in here, and more than likely some other various stuff, though if I can fit either of them in here, I'm hopeful we can at minimum get far enough through the second Palace that the second calling card is in here, if not that plus the fight with Madarame's Shadow AND the clean-up that's been being hyped up for the last couple chapters which will have quite a bit of character interactions in it. So we'll see how much gets put in here. That said, time for the disclaimer per the usual need for one for formality's sake.

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does not own the Persona series in any way shape or form (barring the OC Kusa/Draconis, which he made and therefore does own), and the credit for owning the Persona series belongs to Atlus, Sega and Koei Tecmo so all credit to them!

That said, without further ado, on with chapter 20!

Chapter 20: Of Foxes, Infiltrations, and Shenanigans! The Kitsune Artist part 8

(In Leblanc, with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

Ren looked around Leblanc with Morgana after putting his phone away, seeing a crossword on the table and immediately jumping on doing it, getting it right and as a result, getting a sufficient Knowledge boost to rank his Knowledge up from Rank 2 which was 'Learned' to Rank 3 which was 'Scholarly'. Morgana laughed as he spoke up so only Ren could hear.

"How's that for irony, Ren? The last stat you got up to Rank 2 ended up being the FIRST stat you got to rank 3! Does that mean that whatever stat hit rank 2 first will hit rank 3 last?" Morgana said as Ren shrugged uncertainly. After a bit, Ren decided to brew more coffee. As he sipped his finished product, he pumped a fist happily as he tested it.

"Yes! All right!" Ren said happily, clearly pleased with his handiwork as Morgana made the usual mention of how Ren's drinking makes his handiwork look delicious. Ren then obtained 2 Leblanc Coffees. After Ren's usual Charm boost from brewing, Sojiro walked in and spoke up with a smirk.

"Ah, still practicing your brewing, are you? How's it going? Here, I'll have a sip." Sojiro said, making Ren nod as he offered the cup to Sojiro who took a sip and spoke up.

"Mmm...This flavor...It's Cuban Crystal Mountain, right? Let me explain! Cuba is the biggest island in the Caribbean. Their coffee is known for its full-bodied aroma and taste. Crystal Mountain coffee is made from only the largest beans of the harvest. It has a sweet, nutty flavor with low acidity. As usual, the flavor profile is bland. But if you keep practicing, you should eventually figure out how to bring out the roast's full potential.

I will acknowledge the hard work you're putting into bettering yourself as a coffee brewer, however. That impresses me and shows you're taking our deal seriously, which is good. You keep that up, and I'll keep mentoring you, per my end of our deal. I know I've said this before, but there'll come a day that you find a flavor of coffee that only you can produce. You have a lot of potential as a brewer Ren, so keep up your training and don't give up." Sojiro said encouragingly as Ren nodded understandingly as he spoke up.

"I will make it a point to keep my training up where I can, Sakura-san." Ren said respectfully. Sojiro gave Ren a nod of respect before he left and Morgana spoke up.

"Well, it seems the chief might be very slightly starting to warm to you a tiny bit. That said, we should get some sleep now, as we have a big day on the morrow. Hopefully Kusa's doing the same as well." Morgana said as Ren nodded, changing out of the apron and heading upstairs with Morgana, smiling slightly at the sight of Kusa sprawled out on the sofa, the blanket curled against his chest as he dozed peacefully, his phone lying closed on the table nearby. Ren got into his pajamas and laid down, eventually dozing off as he, Morgana and Kusa all slept through Kusa's phone vibrating on and off throughout the night...

(The next morning, on the way to change lines for the second train to school, with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

As Ren and Kusa were walking to get to the Ginza Line and change lines to get to school, they heard their names called and stopped, blinking as they saw Yusuke walk up to them and speak up.

"Ah, it's you...By the way, I saw a big sign for the Madarame exhibit on the way here...I couldn't help but remember that repugnant art museum. We must make haste to destroy such a world...Why don't we go to the Palace today?" Yusuke asked Ren and Kusa, both of whom spoke up.

"I agree. Let's go. The sooner we deal with Madarame's Palace, and by extension changing his heart, the better." Ren said as Kusa spoke up with a smile.

"I concur with Ren. We need to fix that dirty, rotten, no-good, dishonorable scumbag that has the audacity to call himself an artist, much less allow others to call him 'Sensei' when he is VERY clearly not worthy of such an honorific. If nothing else, this is something we need to do for the sake of helping Yusuke restore his honor after Madarame so callously besmirched it with his actions and words the other day. Sorry for bringing that up, but it is true that what he did was callous and beyond dishonorable.

I don't blame you for being upset at him, Yusuke." Kusa said, crossing his arms and trying to keep a straight face as he thought about what Madarame's Shadow had said to Yusuke, and how much he'd had to reign in his initial impulse to haul off and smash his fist into Madarame's face. However, Kusa felt Yusuke did an exemplary job of dispatching the Shadows and helping the group stop Madarame from defeating them. Yusuke nodded appreciatively to both Ren and Kusa's words before speaking up.

"Indeed. We'll have to find that Treasure or whatever soon. And Kusa, I can tell by your reactions that you're a man who deeply values honor and decency, and for that reason you have my respect, to say nothing of the consideration you showed me while I was being...let's go with 'snobbish' to you and your friends, even though I feel that's an understatement." Yusuke said as Kusa nodded before speaking up.

"Naturally. One thing you'll probably figure out about me if you have plans on being one of us long-term is that while I am very much a patient man, I tend to be protective of those I care about and/or have a great deal of respect for, and I take it as a great personal insult when scum like Madarame go around disgracing such esteemed honorifics as 'Sensei' with their deplorable actions. However, I'm usually quite good about keeping my temper in check, but ask Ren how scary it can be on the rare instances I do lose control of said temper. He'll tell you that's not a pretty sight to behold, Yusuke. But thankfully I'm usually good about keeping my cool, USUALLY being the key word there." Kusa said as Yusuke nodded before speaking up once more.

"I see. I'll keep that in mind. That said, Let's assemble after school then. I'm counting on you." Yusuke said as Ren and Kusa nodded, making notes to keep their after-school schedule clear for the next couple days so they could finish off the Palace with all due haste. After that, the group headed to their respective schools...

(Later that day, after school with Ren and Morgana)

"Well then...We need to start inviting Yusuke to the hideout meetings now. Our fight's not over until the exhibit ends. Keep your head in the game." Morgana said as Ren nodded before Morgana kept speaking.

"Oh yeah, we said we'd meet at the hideout...Okay, let's head there now!" Morgana said as Ren nodded, sending a quick group chat to Ryuji, Ann and Kusa telling them to meet at the hideout so they could continue the infiltration and properly induct Yusuke into the ranks of the Phantom Thieves before he and Morgana headed to the hideout...

(At the hideout with Ren, Kusa, Morgana, Ann, Ryuji and Yusuke)

"Yusuke, we still need to explain the basics to you, don't we?" Morgana said to Yusuke as Ann spoke up after blinking at Morgana's question.

"Oh, you mean about the Metaverse and the Nav. Yeah, I guess that stuff is pretty important." Ann said as Yusuke nodded before speaking up.

"Indeed, that would be useful knowledge to have, so please elaborate." Yusuke said. Morgana nodded as he spoke up.

"Okay, let's start from the beginning." Morgana said as he kept speaking, ignoring Kusa giving Ryuji a warning glare after he noticed him about to groan at Morgana filling Yusuke in.

"First, the Metaverse spots where we act as the Phantom Thieves are called Palaces. Palaces are world that take form from someone's cognition... A materialization of their reality." Morgana said as Yusuke nodded before speaking up.

"I see...So do we each hold Palaces within ourselves as well?" Yusuke asked as Kusa and Ren exchanged surprised glances at Yusuke's question, both having realized they'd not thought of that themselves, but Morgana kept speaking before either of them could speak up to add their thoughts to Yusuke's question.

"No, not just anyone will have one. It's primarily those with strong distorted desires..." Morgana said as Ryuji grinned as he spoke up to add more clarification to Morgana's point, ignoring the frowns on both Kusa and Morgana's faces at his interruption as he spoke.

"They basically gotta be criminals. Real bastards like Kamoshida or Madarame." Ryuji said as Morgana nodded approvingly to Ryuji's clarification as he kept speaking.

"On the other hand, Palaces can't exist within Persona-users. It's just impossible for them to form. Basically, your Persona is the true feelings of your heart, which arise from accepting your inner Shadow. Then since you have full control over your emotions, there's no way your desires can get distorted." Morgana said as Ann blinked and spoke up.

"S-So that's how it works..." Ann said as Ryuji spoke up at that point.

"O-Obviously I knew that...! Oh yeah, and we use the Metaverse Nav app on our phones to get into that world!" Ryuji said as Ann spoke up.

"It's actually pretty simple. Just say a person's name, location and distortion, and then you're in." Ann said as Yusuke blinked before speaking up.

"Location..?" Yusuke asked as Ann spoke up, trying to make it easier for Yusuke to understand.

"Uhhh, so like Madarame's would be 'shack', then his distortion is that he thinks it's a 'museum'." Ann said as Yusuke frowned as he spoke up.

"How do you know what their Palace is going to look like if you have never set foot in it before...?" Yusuke asked as Kusa smirked and spoke up.

"I can see how that would be confusing, and honestly we don't know in advance what it'll look like, but in most cases we just use trial and error to figure it out, or in the case of Madarame's Palace, Ren and I both literally stumbled into the answer simultaneously, which looking back in hindsight was actually pretty funny. Does that answer your question?" Kusa said to Yusuke who nodded as Ryuji spoke up.

"Basically what Kusa said. That part's kinda like a quiz or something. It'll prolly get pretty tricky from here on out too." Ryuji said with a frown, not eager for the difficulty to go up. Yusuke nodded as he spoke up.

"Hm, I feel as though I have a good grasp on the basic concepts. If anything arises which I fail to understand, I'll rely on those more experienced than myself." Yusuke said as Ryuji spoke up with a grin.

"Yeah! I gotcha covered, newbie!" Ryuji said as both Kusa and Morgana groaned before the former looked at Yusuke and spoke up.

"Okay, before you make that mistake, let's go ahead and say right now? Unless it's something he's actually knowledgeable about, don't go to Ryuji for help. If you need guidance on things, odds are either Morgana-sensei, or possibly myself and Ren would be your best bet for advice and/or guidance. With all apologies to Ryuji, he's probably the least knowledgeable of our group but he makes up for it by having really incredible offensive capabilities as well as surprisingly honed street smarts, so I'd say what he lacks in book smarts he makes up for in street smarts and heart.

I'd say you could go to Ann, but like Ryuji, she has a limited field of expertise to draw on, not to mention she's basically the next newest member of the group after yourself. So yeah, I'd advise either consulting myself, Ren or Morgana if you have questions as odds are that'll get you sorted out right. Understand?" Kusa said politely to Yusuke who nodded as Ann spoke up.

"Uh...yeah, I agree with Kusa. You should probably ask Morgana if you need anything." Ann said. Morgana nodded as he spoke up.

"Exactly. Anyways, thinking back to Madarame though...I can't believe he'd consider pressing charges." Morgana said as Kusa huffed and spoke up.

"I can. That guy practically screams 'salty desperate con-man'! No offense to you Yusuke since he is still somewhat your Sensei, but if he's so scummy he'd use kids to line his pockets AND get new ideas with no effort of his own, then I could see him resorting to pressing charges to eliminate us as potential threats. Too bad for him, we're gonna change that scummy distorted heart of his long before he can even think about doing so." Kusa said huffily. Yusuke nodded in agreement to Kusa and Morgana's words and spoke up.

"Yes, I've never seen him show such anger before. And no Kusa, after what he said the other day, he's no longer any Sensei of mine. However, I hope you and Morgana will forgive me if I don't immediately move to confer that honorific onto Morgana the way you have. That said, he is most likely quite serious about that." Yusuke said as Ann sighed and spoke up.

"What should we do? There's no way we'll be able to win if that happens." Ann said. Yusuke stroked his chin in thought before he spoke up.

"He likely won't act on that threat until the final day of the exhibit: June 5th. Simply put, I doubt he would be so foolish as to taint his name with a trial during his exhibition." Yusuke said. Ryuji nodded as he spoke up.

"All right, so we just gotta steal Madrame's heart by then. There's no way we're gonna let him press charges...We''ll show people who he really is!" Ryuji said as Kusa nodded his agreement. After that, the group then looked at each other and nodded as Ren spoke up in a commanding tone.

"Well, sounds like we're all in agreement on needing to deal with this, so let's just dive back into the Palace and pick up where we left off. We can help Yusuke adapt along the way as needed. Agreed?" Ren said as the others nodded. Yusuke then spoke up with a nod.

"Yes, let us go!" Yusuke said as the group headed into the Metaverse once more...

(In the Metaverse with Yusuke, Joker, Draconis, Mona, Skull and Panther, at the entrance of Madarame's Palace)

"Oh yeah. We haven't decided on the new recruit's code name yet." Mona said as Panther spoke up.

"It has to be 'Kitsune'. You know, with the kitsune mask and everything." Panther said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Hell yeah. That really leaves an impression." Skull said as Panther nodded her agreement of Skull's words as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"As much as I agree with that idea, I don't think Kitsune quite suits Yusuke as a code name, even if I do think having a Kitsune on the team could be rather cool." Draconis said. Yusuke blinked as he spoke up, looking at Skull, Panther and Draconis as he spoke.

"Are you talking about me?" Yusuke asked as Draconis nodded and spoke up once more.

"Precisely, we are talking about you. More specifically, we're figuring out what your Phantom Thief alias, or 'code name' as we've taken to calling it will be. As you probably surmised, Panther's suggestion was 'Kitsune' which Skull agreed with but I'm reluctantly vetoing." Draconis explained to Yusuke who nodded as Panther spoke up.

"What do you want your name over here to be?" Panther asked Yusuke. Yusuke thought about it before speaking up.

"I'd say 'Da Vinci'." Yusuke said as Draconis shook his head.

"As much as that's also kinda cool, that's a bit too obvious and also something I feel like MIGHT have just a bit of copyright hell attached to it, and yeah I don't think Phantom Thieves should be associated with such things so I'll have to say no on that." Draconis said. Skull nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Nope! I agree with Kusa, too flashy and likely to get us sued." Skull said getting an approving nod from Joker as Draconis spoke up.

"Dammit Skull, we're in the Metaverse! What part of 'code names ONLY while in the Metaverse' don't you comprehend?" Draconis huffed, making Yusuke blink at the slightly huffy reaction from the usually level-headed male. Skull winced and spoke up.

"Oops, my bad Draconis, I forgot again!" Skull said as Panther and Draconis huiffed.

"Of course you did..." Panther said as Draconis sighed and spoke up.

"It's fine Skull, but for real, you need to try and put more effort into remembering that." Draconis lightly rebuked Skull. Skull nodded as he kept speaking.

"Well, you've got that mask like Ann said...and there's that weird tail...All right! You're Abura-age!" Skull said as both Panther AND Draconis facefaulted with Mona as the latter two glared at Skull, Mona speaking up.

"SKULL! Code names! How many times are you going to forget that!?" Mona asked Skull with a huff as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"What Mona-sensei said. Also, maybe I'm just ignorant since I've never heard of it, but what the hell is an Abura-age!?" Draconis said uncertainly as Joker spoke up.

"I've not heard of that either so you're not alone in that Draconis." Joker said as Draconis nodded approvingly. Mona then laughed at Skull's suggestion, to Draconis' surprise. Yusuke then spoke up.

"Very well." Yusuke said. Mona's eyes went wide as he spoke up.

"He's agreed to it!?" Mona said as Draconis spoke up.

"Even if he has, I'm giving that suggestion a very hard veto. No way am I letting Yusuke go by such a terrible code name." Draconis said as he crossed his arms. Skull spoke up.

"It's decided then! Abura-age! And oops, my bad." Skull said. Panther spoke up with a frown.

"Nuh-uh! I agree with Draconis, NOT happening!" Panther said firmly as she crossed her arms, getting approving nods from Joker and Draconis as she kept speaking, clearly trying not to laugh at Skull's suggestion, making Joker and Draconis exchange confused looks at her reaction, both making notes to look up 'Abura-age' later so they could understand the joke.

"Do you have any ideas, Joker?" Panther said to Joker. Joker crossed his arms as he stroked his chin in thought before eventually speaking up.

"Well, since Kitsune was a hard NO from most of the group, but some of them did so reluctantly, maybe we can go with a name that's synonymous with it, but simpler to say, like, oh I don't know, 'Fox'?" Joker suggested as Draconis and Mona both blinked at this, clearly impressed with the idea if a bit surprised that Joker would suggest something so simple yet appropriate. Skull smirked and nodded as he spoke up.

"Ohhh, just keep it literal, huh? Sounds good to me." Skull said as Mona spoke up, looking at Yusuke as he spoke.

"What do you think, 'Fox'?" Mona asked Yusuke/Fox. Yusuke thought about it briefly before nodding.

"It's acceptable." Yusuke said as Draconis spoke up at that point.

"Acceptable, but also very meme-esque. I'll just have try not to half-expect to hear 'Do a Barrel Roll!' everytime someone calls you by your code name, Fox." Draconis said jokingly as Skull chuckled, knowing the memes Draconis was referring to and agreeing with his assessment as he spoke up.

"It's set then! Let's go." Skull said as the others nodded and the group kept moving. Mona then spoke up after a second.

"By the way, we should have Joker decide who our starting lineup is from here on out." Mona said as Panther blinked and spoke up.

"Starting lineup? You mean the ones who'll be going in first?" Panther asked Mona as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah. It was already a slight problem once you joined Panther, but now that Fox has joined us, it'll be even tougher to move around as a group. We'll stand out more too." Mona said. Considering how we've operated to this point, we should have four starters. Everyone else can be backup." Mona said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"And I guess we always gotta have our leader with us, right?" Skull asked as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly. That's why we'll have Joker choose the remaining three." Mona said as Fox spoke up at that point.

"And what should the backups do? Would it be best for them to stay outside of the Palace?" Fox said as Draconis shook his head and spoke up.

"No, more likely the backups will follow at a distance behind the starters so they can easily tag in as needed. Also they can scout the area behind the starters to try and cut down on the chances of being jumped from behind." Draconis said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly, Draconis. As you said, the backups should come along as well, but maintain a reasonable distance from the main group, or the starters as you called them. In other words, the starting lineup is the first wave of our infiltration force. Well, we'll leave the team composition to you, Joker." Mona said as Joker nodded before speaking up.

"Thinking about it, and with all apologies to the two I chose to be backups but considering how little you've been on backup compared to the others, and considering Fox is a no-go as a backup since I want to see the full extent of what he can do since this is his first Palace as a Phantom Thief, I think in the end the best move is for both Panther and Draconis to be on backups for the time being. But I reserve the right to tag either of them back in at a later point if needed." Joker said as Panther and Draconis just nodded understandingly and didn't argue his decision as Skull, Mona and Fox joined Joker in the starting lineup. Before much else could be done, Joker took a quick detour to the Velvet Room where Igor was waiting.

"It seems you've gotten used to coming here. You must be surely accustomed to infiltrating Palaces by now?" Igor asked Joker who nodded as he spoke up.

"Well, it's still only the second Palace I've infiltrated so yeah somewhat." Joker said. Igor nodded as he kept speaking.

"Regardless, you have yet to obtain a truly acceptable number of Personas. This is not the full potential of the power of the wild card. Hm, I suppose this is a prime opportunity to help further your rehabilitation along. Don't worry...This assignment is not mandatory. Think of it almost as a test of strength." Igor said as Joker arched an eyebrow in curiosity as he spoke up.

"Oh? And what's this assignment you speak of, Igor?" Joker asked. Justine then spoke up to explain the assignment to Joker.

"We will have you bring us the mask we specify." Justine said as Caroline huffed and spoke up.

"You just gotta show us the Persona we ask for!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"First off...we would like for you to bring us a Jack Frost." Justine said as Caroline huffed and spoke up.

"That's too easy, Justine! It should be a challenge. Hmmm... I want it to have Mabufu too! You got that? Listen up, Inmate! Bring us a Jack Frost with Mabufu." Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Farewell! Very well. We ask for Jack Frost with Mabufu. Please speak to us again when you have it." Justine said. Igor spoke up.

"This will not be mandatory for your rehabilitation, but you will be handsomely rewarded for it. I encourage you to at least try your hand at this." Igor said as Ren nodded. After doing a bit of Persona management which he'd not done in a bit, Joker spoke up to the Wardens, making Caroline huff as she spoke up.

"What?" Caroline asked Joker as he spoke up.

"I was going to check on the status of the 'penal labor' you set me, as it's apparently being considered?" Joker said as Caroline nodded and spoke up.

"What is it, Inmate? Need to check on your penal labor?" Caroline asked as Justine spoke up.

"We are looking for a Jack Frost that has the skill Mabufu..." Justine said as Caroline blinked before speaking up.

"That Persona...Hey, sit right there!" Caroline said as Joker nodded and took a seat as Justine spoke up.

"It seems you brought the specified Persona." Justine said as Caroline huffed and spoke up.

"Hmph...Fine, I'll take it. By the way, your Personas are super-weak. Not that I'm surprised, Inmate. Though I suppose you deserve at least some praise for finishing your penal labor. You might actually complete your rehabilitation..." Caroline said, traling off as Justine spoke up.

"In order to promote that process, we would like to offer you the use of a new facility." Justine said with a smile, making Caroline huff.

"Hmph. It's rare to see you smile, Justine." Caroline said as Justine smirked and spoke up.

"You are the smiling one, Caroline. Did something happen to make you so joyful?" Justine said to Caroline, both of them not seeing Joker smirking as he watched the two interact, oddly reminded in some ways of the dynamic between himself and Draconis. Caroline blinked and spoke up.

"Me?" Caroline huffed before blinking as she saw the smirk on Joker's face and huffed as she spoke up.

"Hey, are you laughing at us!?" Caroline asked Joker who paused before speaking up.

"Maybe, but in my defense the way you and Justine get along is rather cute to watch. It almost reminds me of how my brother and I tend to interact with one another." Joker said with a polite nod to Caroline. Caroline huffed as she spoke up.

"Know your place, Inmate!" Caroline huffed as Justine spoke up.

"As wardens, we simply feel satisfaction in seeing your rehabilitation progress. That is the extent of it. I find it upsetting that you would see such a matter as a source of amusement." Justine said in a disappointed tone as Caroline frowned and spoke up.

"It's like you forget where you are, Inmate. You've got some real guts though! With that spirit, you should have no trouble making progress!" Caroline said as Justine nodded and spoke up.

"Very well then...if you have the will to continue your penal labor, we can grant you greater freedom within this prison. It is a deal between us, the wardens, and you, the inmate." Justine said as Caroline huffed and spoke up.

"Not like you have the right to turn it down though! Hard work is what you're meant to do, Inmate!" Caroline said as Joker nodded, noting he'd made a deal with Caroline and Justine, and on cue, the voice he'd expected to hear in his head spoke up.

"I am thou, thou art I...Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity. With the birth of the Strength Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power..." Joker heard as a new card appeared in his mind's eyes, this one reading 'Strength' and having an 'I' on it to signify that his newly-forged Strength Confidant link was at Rank 1. With it, Joker got the usage of the Group Guillotine for executions. After that, Caroline spoke up.

"Now, it's time for your next task!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"We request an Ame-no-Uzume with the skill Frei. Please come talk to us again once you have it. Until then, farewell." Justine said as Caroline spoke up.

"You get how to do it now? Then stop wasting time! Just hurry up and finish the task at hand, Inmate!" Caroline said as Joker nodded. After a bit more Persona management, he returned to the others and the group proceeded with the infiltration. After fast-travelling to the 'Central Garden' safe room, or the one they'd left off at, Panther spoke up.

"We've arrived! So...now what?" Panther said as Draconis spoke up.

"Clearly, we continue infiltrating the Palace. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can secure our route and the sooner we can change Madarame's scummy heart." Draconis said sagely as Fox nodded his agreement. Joker then saw Fox standing alone in the corner and approached him as he spoke up.

"You okay, Fox? You seem bothered somewhat." Joker said to Fox who sighed before speaking up.

"I'm fine, even though I still cannot think straight...But I know what must be done. Let's press onward, Joker." Fox said as Joker nodded before walking over to Skull.

"What's up, Skull?" Joker asked Skull who chuckled as he spoke up.

"Heh, I got no idea how, but it looks like Mona figured out how to get that door open. Heh, he sure did come through for us!" Skull said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"You say that like it was ever in doubt, Skull. But I had faith in Mona the whole time." Draconis deadpanned with a smirk. Mona nodded approvingly to Draconis as Joker walked over to Mona. Joker then spoke up.

"You all right, Mona? You look like you're pleased with yourself." Joker said to Mona who spoke up.

"YES! I told you that you could leave it to me! Feel free to praise me all you like!" Mona said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"Maybe once we're sure it won't over-inflate your ego too much, Mona-sensei. After all, we don't need your ego getting too big, lest we have a repeat of what you did to Kamoshida's Treasure when we first saw it." Draconis said with a smirk as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Draconis. That said, let's keep moving." Joker said as he walked over to the door of the Safe Room. At that point, Mona spoke up.

"Come on! The Treasure awaits!" Mona said as Joker, Skull and Fox nodded as they left the room, Draconis and Panther following fairly close behind. After exiting the room, they proceeded to the previously-locked area that Skull and Joker had had to wait to go into. Skull smirked as he spoke up.

"Sweet, the security's still down!" Skull said as Panther sighed and spoke up with a sigh.

"Thanks to all my hard work." Panther said as Mona and Draconis huffed as the latter spoke up.

"OUR hard work, you mean. After all, had Mona and I not gotten that door open and then gotten you and Fox into that room, we'd never have gotten Madarame to out himself to Fox. So yeah OUR hard work. Kindly don't act like you did all the work, Panther." Draconis said dryly with an unimpressed glare as Mona nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Yeah, what Draconis said, though to be fair, Fox gets some credit too since it was his questioning that really allowed us to figure out that Madarame had the real Sayuri." Mona said sagely. Fox blinked as he spoke up.

"What do you mean by that, Panther? I quite agree with Mona and Draconis." Fox said as Skull sighed and spoke up.

"Don't worry about it, Fox. C'mon, let's keep going!" Skull said as the others nodded and kept moving. After jumping a strong Shadow, Panther leveled up along with Joker's Angel persona, the former hitting level 15 and the latter hitting level 11. As a result, Angel gained the passive skill Dodge Curse. As the group kept moving, Joker spotted another brochure kiosk out of the corner of his eye and spoke up.

"Hey, isn't that like the brochures we saw at the start of this Palace?" Joker asked Skull and Mona, the latter of which spoke up.

"Ooh, do you think that could be another pamphlet? Let's take it with us, Joker!" Mona said as Joker seized the brochure which revealed another map. Skull spoke up at this.

"Hey, ain't this pamphlet different from the one we got before?" Skull asked as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"You're right. It says it's the second out of two." Mona said as Panther spoke up, having walked up at that point with Draconis.

"YES! Oh, and it has the rest of the map! Now we can use it to figure out where the Treasure is, right?" Panther asked as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"That's the theory at least. But I'll let Mona confirm that in case I'm wrong." Draconis said. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Precisely, Draconis. I suspect it's in the innermost point of this place. If that's the case...The most suspicious spot seems like this main hall here." Mona said as he pointed to a section of the map marked 'Main Treasure Hall'. Fox nodded as he spoke up.

"It looks like...Hm, we will need to pass through the lounge and the gallery in order to reach it..." Fox said trailing off as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Correct! However, the deeper in we go, the tighter security's going to be. We need to advance carefully, okay?" Mona said as the others nodded and kept moving. As they kept moving, the group noticed a room with lots of metal objects rammed into the floor making Panther blink as she spoke up.

"Joker! It feels like I might touch them accidentally... Let's be careful as we go through here, okay?" Panther said as Joker nodded and the group kept moving. Skull then spoke up.

"A treasure chest! Joker, it's a treasure chest!" Skull said as Draconis laughed before speaking up.

"We see that, Skull. What we might want to see though, is maybe that Shadow charging RIGHT AT US!" Draconis said, but his call came too late as the Shadow jumped the group, but luckily, Joker and Mona were able to fight off the horde that surrounded the group. After that, the group jumped another Shadow, and after knocking them down, Joker and Mona nodded as the former spoke up.

"Everyone! Time for an All-Out Attack!" Joker said as they got into formation, the attack eventually culminating in Fox doing a lithe sort of shimmy move as he crossed his arms and spoke up.

"The curtain falls!" Fox said as he posed behind a white screen with kanji in the lower left corner and the caption 'It was fun while it lasted, Goodbye.' in the upper-left corner and a shot of a dragon of sorts appearing to hover in place over Fox's shoulder as he posed, making Draconis wince at the similarity between his and Fox's All-Out Attack screens as the battle ended. As a result of the battle, Skull hit level 15. Fox then smirked as he spoke up.

"Easier than cleaning my brushes." Fox said as Draconis laughed as he spoke up.

"I'm no painter so I wouldn't know this, but I'd imagine that's fairly easy the way you tell it, Fox. However, that All-Out Attack of yours was pretty sleek, even if I saw similarities between your All-Out Attack screen and my own. That's not a bad thing, mind you. Just something that annoys me since I thought mine was a tad more original, but it is what it is." Draconis said as the group kept moving. After a bit, Mona smiled as he spoke up.

"Ohh, a treasure chest! Why don't we crack it open!" Mona said as Joker shrugged and did just that. As a result, he got a 'Kongou Ofuda'. After that, the group kept moving until Skull suddenly spoke up as he and Joker saw a tough-looking Shadow.

"H-Hey, there's a strong-lookin' one over there! We've seen that kind before..." Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"His stance conveys the notion that he is no ordinary foe." Fox said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"I think the control room's behind him. He's probably guarding it to make sure nobody gets too close. However, we'll need to disarm the security if we want to ensure we have a safe infiltration route." Mona said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, that would help out at least a bit. I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather not keep brute-forcing stuff if it can be avoided." Draconis said as Mona nodded and kept speaking.

"Agreed. Forcing our way through seems to be our only option..." Mona said as the group kept moving. As they approached the Shadow, Mona looked at Joker and spoke up.

"Hey, are you ready to do this?" Mona asked Joker. Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Yep, let's go." Joker said. The Shadow then noticed the group and spoke up.

"Hm!? Who are you!? How did you get in here!?" the Security Shadow said as Skull spoke up.

"We're your worst nightmare, and that's all you need to know." Skull said as Draconis nodded approvingly as Joker spoke up.

"What he said, plus it wasn't that tough to get here. That said, step aside!" Joker said to the Security Shadow who huffed and spoke up.

"You expect me to move just because you tell me to!? I'm afraid you're sorely mistaken!" Security Shadow said as he shifted into his other form and the fight started. After the fight ended with another All-Out Attack by Fox, the ensuing EXP gain allowed Joker, Fox and Draconis to hit level 16, Mona to hit level 15 and Joker's Saki Mitama Persona to hit level 9, and as a result of all the levels, Smaug gained the skill of Rakukaja, which was another buff skill. Draconis smirked as Smaug gained the move.

"Nice, gettin' stronger with every fight! As it should be." Draconis said happily as Joker saw that the Security Shadow had dropped a card when he was beaten, and Joker picked up, seeing it was a card with 'Media' written on it, making him blink as he kept ahold of it while Skull spoke up.

"Phew, that guy was tough...I guess that's just par for the course in a Palace..." Skull said as Panther spoke up.

"It really was on a totally different level from the other enemies though..." Panther said as Fox spoke up, seeing the card Joker was holding.

"Hm, he dropped some sort of card." Fox said as Mona looked at the card in Joker's hand and spoke up.

"What's this for? I've never seen anything like it...Oh wait, now I remember. Ah, that's a Skill Card. Skill Cards, as the name suggests, allow you to teach a skill to one of your Personas when used. However, since he's the only one here that can use more than one Persona, only Joker can make use of these cards. However, once the card has been used, it will be consumed by the Persona using it so use Skill Cards wisely." Mona said as Joker nodded his understanding, tucking away the Media card for later use. Skull then spoke up.

"Ain't it just some kinda loot? C'mon, let's get back to explorin'." Skull said as the others nodded and kept moving. After a bit, Joker found a locked treasure chest, which he used a Lockpick to open, revealing that the chest had the 'Yuibitachi' inside, which appeared to be a weapon, and one for Fox if the fact he then spoke up was any indication.

"We got our hands on quite the weapon...I'd love to get a feel for it..." Fox said as Joker smiled and handed Fox the Yuibitachi.

"Here you go, Fox. Go for it." Joker said agreeably as Fox accepted the Yuibitachi and equipped it.

"Okay! ...Hm, this fits me perfectly! What an excellent find." Fox said as he nodded and the group kept moving. After a brief move, Fox spoke up.

"Indeed...It appears this is the control room for the security..." Fox said as Skull smirked as he spoke up.

"Sweet! Let's turn that shit off already!" Skull said as Joker nodded and the group kept moving. However, when they got the glowing terminal, they found it wasn't that easy when they were prompted to input a password. Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Ugh, another one...?" Skull said as Mona spoke up.

"We'll just have to look for someone else who might know it..." Mona said as the group kept moving. After a bit, Joker signaled for the group to hide which they did as they heard two Shadows speaking.

"I hear the intruders already got past the central garden security..." One of the Shadows said as the other spoke up.

"Yeah. I just got a call earlier to change the password here too..." The second Shadow said as the first spoke up.

"What to? It better not be simple." The first Shadow said as the second Shadow spoke up.

"Well, I was having some trouble coming up with a good one...For now, I set it to the numbers for Lord Madarame's feet." The second Shadow said as the first Shadow frowned and spoke up.

"Lord Madarame's feet? What are talking about?" The first Shadow said as the second Shadow shook his head and spoke up.

"Let's get back on duty. There's a chance the intruders are nearby." The second Shadow said. The two Shadows then moved out of earshot as Skull spoke up.

"Madarame's feet? The hell is that supposed to mean!?" Skull asked as Panther shrugged as she spoke up.

"Maybe...his shoe size?" Panther suggested as Skull looked towards Fox and spoke up.

"Yo, Fox. You know that bastard's shoe size?" Skull asked Fox who sadly shook his head as he spoke up.

"Unfortunately, I have never heard him mention it. Are we sure that is the proper password...?" Fox said as Draconis blinked before just nodding in satisfaction, surprised and impressed by Fox not even reacting to Skull calling Madarame a bastard. Mona then spoke up.

"Madarame's feet... What do you think that could mean?" Mona said as the group kept moving. After a bit of backtracking, they found a statue of Madarame, and Joker blinked as he looked at the feet and spoke up.

"There's something written here...'Here we praise our most holy lord Ichiryusai Madarame, the one ray of hope in this depraved world. He stands alone as his two adept hands paint into the future. None shall ever match his excellence.' Wait, what the...?" Joker said as Skull spoke up.

"Hmph! Pfft! He's really puffin' his chest out here, ain't he...?" Skull said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Yet at the same time, I don't even think I could begin to find the words for how much horse shit that little blurb is full of. Frankly, I think I think less of Madarame now than I did of Kamoshida, if that's possible." Draconis said huffily as Skull and Mona nodded their agreement before Fox spoke up.

"Hold on to that thought for a moment, Draconis...Could this be the spot of 'Madarame's feet' that the security guard mentioned?" Fox asked as Panther blinked and spoke up.

"It's at his feet...Oh, right! But isn't the password supposed to be a number of some kind?" Panther said as Fox spoke up.

"True...but hm, I do believe there are numbers here though...Yes. 'One' ray of hope stands 'alone' with 'two' adept hands. 'None' shall match him. That means..." Fox trailed off as Joker and Draconis both blinked, having worked it out at the same time as the former spoke up.

"That means, if Draconis and I did the numbers right, the code should be 1120." Joker said. Draconis and Mona nodded their agreement as the latter spoke up.

"Nice! Yeah, that must be it!" Mona said as Skull smirked and spoke up.

"Sweet! Let's head back and shut down the security!" Skull said as the others nodded and the group kept moving. After some careful backtracking, along with the occasional stop to beat up some Shadows, the group eventually got back to the control room where Mona spoke up.

"YES! All right, let's try that password we found!" Mona said as Joker nodded and input 1120 into the password input and the computer spoke up.

"Password accepted...Disengaging security protocol..." The computer said as the sounds of shutters opening could be heard, and Skull spoke up.

"Whoa... That opened all sorts of stuff..." Skull said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Yes, but did it disable the lasers? That's the more important question in my opinion." Draconis said as Panther nodded her agreement as Mona spoke up.

"Not sure, but what I do know for sure is that we'll definitely be able to go to more places now! Come on, let's get moving!" Mona said as the others nodded and kept moving. After backtracking to get the now-accessible chests which rewarded the group with some Dizzy Vial S's and a Bead Chain, the group made their way back to the control room, this time heading east from it only for Panther to stop short and speak up at the sight of a huge painting.

"What a giant painting..." Panther said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. It bears such a bizarre texture as well. It's as though I could simply slip inside..." Fox said as he touched the painting and the area around the group seemed to distort for a moment before returning to normal as Fox spoke up.

"Wh-What the-!?" Fox said as Draconis and Joker spoke up.

"What the hell was that!?" Draconis said in surprise as Joker spoke, looking at Fox as he spoke.

"What happened? And more importantly, are you okay?" Joker asked Fox who blanched but then spoke up.

"U-Um...M-My hand... It actually entered the painting..." Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"So we can go inside of it...?" Mona said as Draconis spoke up.

"Mona, if the rest of us, not counting Fox who wasn't there for it and as such might be confused by this analogy, saw you turn into a tour bus, I think it's not that much of a stretch by comparison to say we can enter paintings. Heh, if anything that feels like something out of a video game!" Draconis said jokingly as Mona huffed and spoke up.

"That's not the same at all! But fair point." Mona said as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"Mona can turn into a tour bus?" Fox asked in surprise as Draconis chuckled and patted Fox on the shoulder as he spoke up.

"I'll explain that later, Fox. Suffice it to say, you'd have to have been there to believe it. But with any luck, you'll see it for yourself when we make our next trip to Mementos, which again I'll explain that later." Draconis said to Fox who nodded as Mona spoke up.

"Anyways, as I was saying before Draconis cut in...Well, I don't see any path for us to take. Let's give it a try!" Mona said as the group nodded and kept moving. After a bit, Joker found a spot and the group managed to leap into the painting right as they heard Madarame's voice echo through the painting.

"I won't forgive you! How dare you trample on my tranquil bamboo garden with those grimy feet! You shall not leave alive!" The group heard as Skull spoke up.

"What the heck was that..!?" Skull asked as Mona spoke up.

"We're probably just hearing Madarame's thoughts. There's no need to panic." Mona said as Fox gritted his teeth and spoke up.

"Madarame..." Fox said as the group kept moving. Joker found another spot and the group leapt into another painting as Panther spoke up.

"Oh...We're in another painting..." Panther said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Hm...So this space is not merely one, but a multitude of paintings." Fox said as Skull spoke up.

"You're tellin' me they're all connected? Which one goes where?" Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"I'd think Joker could probably figure that out easily enough if he applied himself." Draconis said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"True, Draconis. And Skull? That, we will have to continue walking to find out..." Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"Hey Joker, Draconis has a point. Can't you spot the connections with your skills?" Mona asked Joker who spoke up.

"Should be easy enough. Let's give it a go." Joker said as the group kept moving. After a bit of walking, Joker found another point where the group jumped out of the painting as Fox spoke up.

"How foolish...So he dares call us thieves who dirty his heart...The one who has sullied the very nature of art itself has no right to accuse us of such a thing...!" Fox said as Draconis nodded his agreement, ready to add in his two cents when Mona spoke up to cut him off.

"Save your emotions for later. We have to keep moving!" Mona said as the group kept moving. Eventually the group found a vent and started crawling through it as Skull spoke up.

"Hey, don't go lookin' at my butt." Skull said to Fox who happened to be closest and huffed as he spoke up.

"I should've known...Why would I do such a thing...?" Fox said as Draconis spoke up from in front of Skull.

"Skull, why would Fox stare at another guy's ass? I know I might've suggested he liked guys when we first met him, but that was an erroneous assumption on my part which I already apologized to him for so you can stop being paranoid about that. Besides, I think Fox would be likelier to stab you than ogle you." Draconis joked as Fox chuckled and the group kept crawling even as Skull huffed. Eventually the group emerged from the vent and found a new safe room.

"All right, we can use this place." Skull said as the 'Treasure Hall' was added to the quick travel list. After a moment Joker walked over to pat Fox on the shoulder.

"You okay, Fox?" Joker asked Fox who spoke up.

"How could this be...? So many apprentices were caught up in this travesty...But I will be the one to end it." Fox said as Draconis nodded approvingly.

"Good, Fox. Use that anger to give you focus and keep you on task. Madarame will be brought to justice, have no fear of that." Draconis said as Fox nodded appreciatively to Draconis' words. Joker nodded before walking over to Skull.

"What's up, Skull?" Joker asked Skull who smiled and chuckled as he spoke up.

"Yeah! I wonder how much further we hafta go until the Treasure... Don't overdo it though, Joker." Skull said as Joker nodded. Joker then noticed Draconis standing in the corner near Mona, his arms crossed and spoke up to him.

"You all right, Draconis? You seem a bit tense?" Joker said to Draconis who blinked but spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, nah, it's nothing Joker. I'm fine. More importantly, aren't we close to the Treasure?" Draconis said as Joker nodded. He then gathered the team for a meeting.

"Before we continue, how's our progress?" Joker asked as Skull looked at Mona.

"Mona, where we at now?" Skull asked Mona. Mona spoke up.

"I think we've reached the halfway point at least. There's no knowing what lies ahead of us though..." Mona said as Panther spoke up with a smile.

"This is the prefect chance for Fox to show us his skills!" Panther said as Fox blinked on hearing his name but nodded as he spoke up.

"Yes, indeed. My resolve has not wavered, so I will certainly give this my all." Fox said as Mona spoke to Joker.

"What're your thoughts, Joker? Is there anything else you want to discuss?" Mona said to Joker. Joker nodded.

"Now that we know where we are progress-wise, how's everyone holding up? We good to keep going?" Joker asked as Fox, Skull and Mona nodded along with Panther and Draconis.

"I may be somewhat tired at the moment, but there are few issues. I can continue fighting if need be." Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"Everyone still seems to have energy, but make sure you pace yourselves, okay?" Mona said as the group nodded. Joker then spoke up.

"I think on that note, that's everything I wanted to discuss." Joker said as Panther spoke up.

"Let's keep going! Well, I think we're done here." Panther said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"I agree. Besides, we have to keep going so we can secure our infiltration route." Draconis said sagely as the group nodded and kept going. After a bit, they found themselves in a new area as Skull spoke up.

"Huh. More big paintings just like the ones we saw before..." Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"There is something off about these though...Look. There are even two frames with no paintings at all." Fox said as he pointed out two frames on a higher wall that were indeed blank as he'd said. Panther then spoke up.

"Why don't we go take a closer look?" Panther said as the group kept moving. After some maneuvering, the group ended up in front of another painting, this one a desert-themed painting with camels in it. Skull frowned as he spoke up.

"Ain't this just like last time? Y'know, with the secret passage inside and everything." Skull said as Panther spoke up.

"Hm...It looks like these ones are all completely different." Panther said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"True, plus there's more paintings this time than there were before. Plus, it's been some time since we found the first of this Palace's three Will Seeds so we might be due for one of those to pop up." Draconis said as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"Will...Seeds?" Fox asked as Draconis nodded and replied to Fox's question.

"Yeah, basically a trio of seeds that are in every Palace, that when collected become a crystal, or at least that's what the three we grabbed in Kamoshida's Palace did, so I'm guessing that's what the three here will do, of which we have one already gathered." Draconis explained as Fox nodded his understanding as he spoke up.

"I...see. That sounds like it'd be hard to do...But back on topic, there are even frames with no paintings at all..." Fox said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"That is strange...but we don't have a choice. Let's go, Joker." Mona said as Joker nodded and the group kept moving. As they leapt into the painting, Madarame's voice spoke up.

"Alas, this world is a desert filled with laymen who cannot understand true beauty...! The slow drain of my skill is inevitable when I am surrounded by such mediocrity..." Madarame's voice said as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"...So he's gonna blame the world for his declinin' skill? Heh, that bastard never had any real talent to begin with!" Skull said with a huff as Draconis nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"I agree with you, Skull. If anyone here has real artistic talent, it's Fox here. I might not have seen his work yet, but I get the sense he's easily twice the artist Madarame could ever hope to be." Draconis said sagely as Fox smiled and nodded in agreement with Draconis as the group kept moving. After jumping to the next painting, the group heard Madarame's voice once more.

"The gods, even in their dormancy, are worshipped constantly. People gather under shrine gates, offer their money, and return home fully satisfied. Art is practically the same. In the end, it is all just a matter of imagination..!" Madarame's voice said as Panther frowned before speaking up.

"Huh!? Even if that's true, that doesn't give you the right to be deceiving people!" Panther said as Draconis nodded before speaking up.

"Agreed, Panther. However, I think we're wasting our breath arguing here, since I doubt he can hear us from here. Let's keep moving." Draconis said as the others nodded and kept moving. After moving up through the archway in the picture they were in, they were in a jungle-based painting where they heard Madarame's voice yet again.

"How dare they...!? Hard work is not what makes a sapling grow thick with green leaves. Too many young people do not see the true value in youth these days. What fools...Is it truly wrong for an expert such as myself to capitalize on that youth before it wastes away?" Madarame's voice could be heard as Mona spoke up.

"What the heck? He's basically saying he's jealous of young talent...Look at me! I was turned into a cat, but I'm still fighting. Age isn't a valid excuse." Mona said as Draconis blinked before speaking up.

"I thought you keep saying you're NOT a cat, though, Mona-sensei?" Draconis asked as Mona blinked and spoke up.

"I'm not! But that doesn't mean I can't acknowledge what I've been turned into, does it!?" Mona said as Draconis nodded.

"Fair point." Draconis said as the group kept moving. After climbing up to the top of the cliff in the jungle picture and using the portal they found themselves back at the camel painting as Skull spoke up.

"Wait, this camel... We're back at the first freakin' one!" Skull said as Mona spoke up.

"So they're not connected exactly as they seem... We'll have to keep trying until we find the right way." Mona said as the group kept moving. After getting back where they were, they went straight to the right and found an area with a button, which Joker hit to make one of the blank paintings be filled with a painting of a ship on the ocean causing Skull to speak up.

"Look! Another painting!" Skull said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"So passing through one hidden route leads to the formation of another...What an elaborate ruse. It's highly likely there is a new path through the paintings. We should investigate, Joker." Fox said as the group nodded and kept moving, eventually heading right instead of through the archway in the winter painting and finding the newly-opened boat painting at which point they heard Madarame's voice once more.

"Well, well...Could a ship skirt across the ocean if it's crew had to constantly worry about what sea life may lie below? Art, life, water... They are all identical. The one who ascends to the summit is the victor!" Madarame said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"So he's usin' all those pretty words, but he's basically sayin' people are like steppin' stones. That's just like what he did to all those kids-crushed 'em for his 'art'! What a piece of shit!" Skull said as Draconis and Fox nodded their agreement and the group kept moving. After jumping down from the net on the ship and hopping through the portal, the group found an alcove with another button which Joker hit to turn on the last painting, at which point Panther spoke up.

"Oh...Another painting..." Panther said as Draconis spoke up.

"Indeed, but from what I can see, I think it's the last one." Draconis said as Fox nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Agreed. Ah, there are no longer any empty frames at this point." Fox said as Skull spoke up.

"I bet there's a new path again too. Let's get in there and check it out." Skull said as the group nodded and kept going. After a bit, the group got back to the ship painting, and Mona spoke up as they made to approach the other path which was guarded by a huge octopus.

"Is that...an octopus? It's pretty damn big. Do you think it's safe for us to approach it?" Mona asked Joker who shrugged.

"Not sure. It should be fine though. Worst case, we get tossed out of the painting and have to start over again. Best case we can get rid of it and proceed." Joker said. Mona and Draconis nodded as the former spoke up.

"Well...I guess it is just a painting, after all. I'm sure we'll be okay..." Mona said as the octopus smashed the ship and launched the Thieves out of the painting, at which point Fox spoke up.

"Hm, that was a valiant effort." Fox said as Shadows spawned in making Skull speak up.

"For real!? Oh crap! Joker, enemies!" Skull said. After the battle, Joker's Saki Mitama Persona reached level 10 and learned Resist Dizzy. After a bit of wandering plus some trial and error, the group finally found the path they needed for the last painting, in which they heard Madarame's voice once more.

"Hmph! Beauty is merely a mirage... Transforming that into money is what brings about true happiness. My fine mansion, my lifestyle among the chosen few...Those things are the true 'art'!" Madarame's voice said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"How dare he!? That stodgy old bastard has no room to make comments like that! What Fox does is TRUE art! Granted he hasn't made many pieces yet, but I'll bet they're much MUCH finer examples of art than ANYTHING that crazy old fucker produces. Thankfully this is the last painting so we don't have to listen to more of his prattle." Draconis huffed as Fox nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"I concur, Draconis. And Madarame...So running your atelier out of a shabby, run-down shack was simply an act after all..How foolish I was to have been deceived for so long..." Fox said as Panther sighed and spoke up.

"Fox..." Panther said as Draconis simply gave Fox a reassuring pat on the shoulder as the group kept moving. After a bit of a run, they hopped out of the painting as Skull spoke up.

"Sweet, this has gotta be the end!" Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"How despicable...We have encountered so many of his paintings, yet not once did he mention a love for art. These are no 'paintings'...They are just meaningless self-assertions placed into picture frames...!" Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"I'm excited to see how the change of heart alters him. Now, let's hurry!" Mona said as the others nodded and kept moving, though not before a large string of level-ups and battles ensued.

After fighitng through the next hall and taking out a strong Shadow, Skull hit level 16. After proceeding and defeating another strong Shadow, Joker and Draconis hit level 17 while Mona hit level 16, Zorro gaining the Magaru skill as a result of Mona's level up. As the group kept moving, Joker ambushed a mid-tier Shadow, and as a result of the ensuing EXP gain, Panther hit level 16 and learned the skill Dekaja. As the group kept moving around and defeated another strong Shadow, Fox hit level 17. After beating more strong Shadows, Joker's Agathion Persona hit level 7 and learned the skill Zio. As the group kept navigating through the palace, they defeated more Shadows, and as a result Skull hit level 17 and Captain Kidd learned Rampage.

After some navigating, and hitting an out of the way switch while opening a treasure chest for a Bead, the group finally got the Green Vanity Seed from its resting place, at which point Draconis spoke up.

"About damn time we get the second Will Seed for this place! That means we're officially at the 2/3rds mark for this Palace! Not much further now and we're done! Finally!" Draconis said happily as Fox nodded and the group kept moving. After going through another door, the group ended up in an odd room as Skull spoke up.

"Dammit! Shit... What the hell is up with this place!?" Skull said, wincing at how brightly the gold shone all around the group as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"There's so much gold...! It's hurting my eyes..." Panther said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"For real! I know Smaug is based off a treasure-guarding dragon, but even I think this is a lot of gold! Where even IS this on the map!?" Draconis said as Mona spoke up.

"That's the problem, Draconis. It's NOT on the map! Wait...it's not on the map!? For real!? The distortion is especially bad here...It's barely holding up. Plus, it's not even on our map..." Mona said as Fox spoke up with a determined frown.

"So we must ascertain the truth through our eyes alone..." Fox said as the group kept moving with a nod. After a bit of navigating, the group hit what appeared to be a dead end as Fox spoke up.

"How could this be...? I thought I'd seen everything there was to see of this distorted world. But to think it would conjure up such a bizarre place..." Fox said as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"So, like, which way are we supposed to go? I didn't see any other ways forward, did you?" Panther said as the others shrugged until Skull turned around and blinked as he spoke up, seeing an odd yellow lining on the wall.

"Hm? What's this?" Skull asked the group. He then walked forward and pulled at the wall, gaping and blinking as the wall literally peeled away to the group's shock, revealing a new path as Skull spoke up in shock.

"Gah! Whoa, part of the wall was peeling so I pulled it off! That wasn't an actual wall!?" Skull said as Fox smiled and spoke up after having a realization.

"I see. So it was camouflaged. We may have been trapped here for eternity had you not noticed that." Fox said as Mona smiled at Skull and spoke up.

"Nice going! Ooh! Nice work, Skull! You did it!" Mona said as even Draconis joined in the praising.

"I gotta admit man, that was pretty sick. I didn't even realize that wall peeled away. Well played, man." Draconis said as he held out a fist to Skull which Skull smirked and bumped as the two did a fist-bump before Skull spoke up.

"Truth, Draconis! Even I can be observant at times!" Skull said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"I guess there's a first time for everything after all. Actually...make that first time for ALMOST everything. There are somethings that won't have a first time, as poor Mona knows too well." Draconis joked as he gave Mona a teasing wink as the not-cat huffed and spoke up.

"Not funny, Draconis! And you said yourself it's not my fault that I decided to get feelings for a girl who likes girls! So you can't then tease me for that!" Mona huffed as Draconis nodded with a laugh.

"You're right. Sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood a tad." Draconis said as Skull spoke up.

"Truth, Draconis! And Mona, uh, sure...You know I just got lucky, right?" Skull said as Joker smirked as he was unable to resist speaking up.

"Probably the first time in his life he's done that outside of his exams." Joker said, as he lived up to his code name, even as most of the others facefaulted at the bad joke while Skull and Draconis booed Joker's terrible wit and the latter spoke up.

"Not funny, Joker! And if we're being honest, I'd be likelier to put money on him getting to base than I would you the way you move." Draconis said as Mona spoke up.

"LISTEN UP! There might be more walls like this up ahead. Let's keep moving and keep an eye out." Mona said as the others nodded and kept going. As they ran forward, they moved elsewhere, and Skull spoke up.

"Whoa! Did we just warp!?" Skull asked in surprise as Fox spoke up.

"It seems even the paths beyond these apertures are distorted in the same way as this room..." Fox said as Draconis nodded.

"Indeed...so we should move with caution then." Draconis said as the others nodded and the group proceeded onward. After warping once more, the group stopped at the sight of two paintings. Panther then spoke up.

"Hey! Look at this! Huh...? Why is this painting here...?" Panther asked as Mona spoke up.

"It's probably some kind of illusion. We're in a Palace, after all. Well, I guess the painting itself might be correct, though." Mona said as Panther spoke up.

"B-But...You say 'correct', but aren't they all counterfeit? Although maybe the real one's here too..." Panther said as Mona spoke up.

"I wonder...Either way, the fact that this is here might mean it's connected to this space in some way." Mona said as the group nodded and kept going, though Draconis' eyes narrowed slightly as a thought occurred to him but he kept it to himself for the time being. The group then approached the paintings and looked at them as Joker spoke up.

"This painting...isn't this the 'Sayuri'?" Joker said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"No, I don't think so. As far as I know, the dress wasn't blue. That alone makes me think this is a fake." Draconis said. Fox nodded in approval of Draconis' observation and spoke up.

"Exactly, Draconis. There is an obvious difference if you look closely. It shouldn't be too difficult to tell them apart." Fox said as Skull looked at Joker and spoke up.

"Yeah, maybe it's obvious for you...What do you think Joker?" Skull asked Joker who exchanged a look with Draconis before Joker spoke up.

"This one is likely a fake, since as Draconis pointed out, the bottom is the wrong color." Joker said as Fox and Draconis nodded approvingly as the former spoke up.

"Indeed, this is a fake. The real 'Sayuri' is cloaked in vibrant crimson garments." Fox pointed out as Draconis smiled, pleased that his instincts were still spot-on. Skull blinked as he spoke up.

"O-Oh, right, now that you mention it..." Skull said as Fox gave Draconis and Joker an impressed look as he spoke up.

"Some fools would pay a fortune and never know it was a fake... but you are both quite impressive, Draconis and Joker. Probably Draconis more so since he spotted the difference right away. If nothing else, he has a keen eye for detail." Fox said as Draconis nodded smugly and spoke up.

"This is true. I have been known for spotting details from time to time." Draconis said happily as Skull sighed and spoke up.

"I'm thinkin' I might be one of those fools..." Skull said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"At least you said it and not any of us." Draconis said as the group kept moving. Joker then looked at the other painting as Skull spoke up.

"What do you think of this paintin'? Is it real?" Skull asked Joker who spoke up, hesitating as he looked the painting over carefully as he spoke.

"At a glance, I can't tell. It looks like it could be real, yet I hesitate on saying it is in fact real. I'm gonna guess here, but I think it's real?" Joker said. Fox smiled and nodded.

"That is correct. It seems you have quite the eye for detail, Joker. And you didn't even have to have Draconis point it out this time. You both are impressive." Fox said as Draconis spoke up.

"Be fair here, Fox. Joker's a capable guy. It was just happenstance I beat him to spotting the error in that fake a moment ago." Draconis said as Joker nodded gratefully to Fox and Draconis as Skull spoke up.

"For real...? That's amazin'..." Skull said as Fox spoke up, his tone one of reverence as he spoke.

"It's beautiful! The vibrant crimson clothes, her beautiful hair, the sublime balance between subject and background...This may only be an illusion, but it is without a doubt a spitting image of the true 'Sayuri' and not an imitation." Fox said as the painting flew off and opened up a new path, to Skull's surprise as he spoke up.

"What the...?! It flew away!" Skull said as the group kept moving. After making their way through the opened path, Panther spoke up.

"YES! Oh, isn't this somewhere new!?" Panther asked as Fox spoke up with a nod.

"Seeing past the false image has opened a path to the truth...Hm, this golden place filled with counterfeit work is a prime example of the alchemy of Madarame's brain. And here, just as in reality, he entraps those who cannot see through his lying facade..." Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"You might be right... No wonder the distortion is so strong here." Mona said. Skull sighed as he spoke up.

"Hey, so... what does that mean?" Skull said as Panther spoke up.

"I think it means finding the real 'Sayuri' should break through the distortion and open a path." Panther said as Skull spoke up.

"So do we just gotta check all of 'em?" Skull asked as Panther spoke up.

"Why would we do that...? Let's just look for the real one...assuming we can differentiate it." Panther said as Joker spoke up.

"Which between Draconis and Fox, shouldn't be too too difficult." Joker said. After hopping some gaps, peeling a wall and opening the chest inside, Joker identified the third painting of the four shown as the real Sayuri. Fox nodded as Joker stated this aloud and he spoke up.

"Yes, this is the true 'Sayuri.' It may be an illusion, but there can be no mistaking its allure. Nicely done, Joker." Fox said as like before, the Sayuri flew off to open the way forward and the group followed it. In the next area, Joker found the real 'Sayuri hidden behind a fake wall with a chest, making Panther speak up.

"All the versions on display were fakes while the real one was hidden the whole time..." Panther said as the Sayuri flew downward, presumably opening the treasure route. Skull spoke up.

"Huh? Where the shit did it fly off to!?" Skull asked as Draconis spoke up.

"Given how far down it went, odds are it might be the way to the Treasure and we've possibly found our route. Meaning we should try to get the last Will Seed first if we can." Draconis said as the others nodded and kept going. After following the path, the group found themselves backed up a bit as Skull spoke up.

"Arghhh, goddamit! What the hell's goin' on here!?" Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"Clearly we had to come back here to find where the Sayuri went this time. Also, let's keep going." Draconis said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. We have seen all of the false images. Something must have changed somewhere..." Fox said as the group spotted immediately that the area to the right of one of the fakes now had a yellow portal instead of a blue one, and they went through it and Panther spoke up as the group moved forward.

"Ooh, isn't this actually somewhere we haven't been yet!?" Panther asked as Mona spoke up.

"Just be careful, okay? The distortion is growing much stronger the deeper we go..." Mona said as Draconis stroked his chin before speaking up.

"Could that be because we're near the Treasure? Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the sense that some Treasures have stronger natural defenses than others, and given whose Treasure we're hunting, it would track that this treasure can use distortion to throw off anyone looking to steal it." Draconis said. Mona nodded as the group kept going. After finding a door at the end of the hall, Fox gasped as he spoke up.

"A-Ah, that is..!" Fox said as the group moved closer to see and Fox spoke up once more.

"Just as I expected...Madarame!" Fox said as Panther spoke up.

"Then that means...Then is the Treasure behind him?" Panther asked as Skull spoke up.

"It's kinda hard to tell from here. Let's get a closer look!" Skull said. The group moved forward, and even though there were quite a few Shadows in the room ahead, something else was there that made Mona smile as he spoke up.

"There it is..." Mona said as Panther spoke up.

"Doesn't it look a bit hazy?" Panther said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"That's because it's not materialized, Panther." Draconis pointed out. Mona nodded approvingly to Draconis' response as he spoke up.

"Draconis is correct. The Treasure is meant to look like that...for the time being. Once we send the card and make Madarame aware it'll be stolen, it'll materalize like 'Yoohoo'!" Mona said as Draconis' eyes went wide at how loudly Mona said 'Yoohoo!' in his previous statement. Fox spoke up before Draconis could correct Mona, though.

"I wonder what form it will take..." Fox said as Draconis spoke up.

"To be honest, I have a theory, but until we actually see it, I don't want to say it in case I'm wrong." Draconis said as Skull spoke up before Fox could answer Draconis.

"Who knows? Bet it's something like a self-portrait." Skull said as Fox spoke.

"The source of what distorted Madarame's reality this much..." Fox said as Skull spoke up after the group moved out of the guards' line of sight.

"So, what now? Think it's safe to say we've got our route set?" Skull said as Mona spoke up with a frown.

"Hmm... We know where the Treasure is, but I'm not sure that we've necessarily secured the route..." Mona said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Huh? Why's that?" Skull asked as Draconis spoke up.

"Probably because of the small army of Shadows surrounding the effin' Treasure, for one. Also, we're missing a Will Seed from this Palace's trio. So on both those counts I don't think our route is fully secured." Draconis said as Mona nodded approvingly to Draconis' logic as Fox spoke up.

"Oh, you must be talking about the infrared lasers surrounding it." Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"Yes, that, and as Draconis said, the outer perimeter is swarming with guards. Forcing our way through will be difficult." Mona said as Panther spoke up.

"So we'll need to find a way to steal it too... This is tougher than it was with Kamoshida..." Panther said as Mona spoke up with a determined tone.

"We just need to make one final push. Let's check this floor...!" Mona said as the group nodded and kept moving. After a bit, the group found another safe room, which they eagerly went into as Skull spoke up.

"Hey, we can use this place!" Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"I expect this would be a great place from which to resume our infiltration." Fox said as the group nodded and took a moment to catch their breath. Joker then spoke up to Fox.

"How're you holding up, Fox?" Joker asked Fox who smiled and spoke up.

"I'm okay. I have to say though, discerning a counterfeit 'Sayuri' would be child's play for myself, but for you...You have quite the eye for art, Joker." Fox said, clearly impressed and awed by Joker's eye for art. Joker nodded and walked over to Skull as he spoke.

"How's it going, Skull?" Joker asked Skull who spoke up.

"Dude, how'd you spot what was different in those paintings? They all looked the same to me..." Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"That's because you don't have an eye for detail like Joker, Fox and I do. The jury's still out on if Panther or Mona have that same eye for detail or not however." Draconis said dryly as Joker nodded and walked over to talk to Mona.

"How're you feeling, Mona?" Joker asked Mona who smiled and spoke up.

"I'm fine. I must say though, good job spotting the real 'Sayuri'. Looks like your eye for beauty is pretty keen." Mona said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"I could've told you that, Mona-sensei. After all, Joker here was able to spot a pretty redhead in a crowd and almost hone in on her even while he and I stepped in to help her out." Draconis said with a wry smirk as Joker frowned at Draconis.

"I don't think you have room to talk given how much you've been texting a certain orange-haired girl yourself, Draconis. Or do I need to point out just how many times I've walked upstairs at night to YOU asleep on the sofa with a shit-eating smirk on your face?" Joker pointed out as Fox, Panther and Skull chuckled while Mona frowned at Joker taking a shot at Draconis, while Draconis huffed and spoke up with a frown.

"First of all Joker, I've already explained numerous times how Yoshizawa and Futaba are different, both to you AND to Mona-sensei. Second of all, Yoshizawa isn't a self-imposed shut-in who might be nervous about letting new people into her life. I got lucky that she was open to letting me get close to her. But I'm not rushing into anything since I'd rather take things at her pace so she's comfortable. After all, no sense in hitting on a girl who's uncomfortable with you, or am I wrong?" Draconis said as Skull smirked and high-fived Draconis as he spoke up, nodding his agreement to Draconis' assessment as he spoke.

"Truth, Draconis!" Skull said as Joker spoke up, glaring at both Skull and Draconis as he spoke, annoyed at them both for seemingly teaming up to tease him as he spoke.

"Shuddup, Skull! And Draconis, how do you know Yoshizawa isn't also flawed? Just because she looks beautiful and has an amazing personality does NOT make her perfect. That said, let's get back on task, which is securing the Treasure route!" Joker said huffily as he walked off towards the room exit, not seeing Skull and Draconis exchange a wince with a confused Fox at Joker's tone as Joker walked over to Panther.

"You all right, Panther?" Joker asked Panther who nodded with a smile as she spoke up, seeing Joker's annoyance and deciding to try and calm/reassure him as she spoke.

"First of all? Ignore Skull and Draconis. They're just trying to lighten the mood by teasing you. That said, I can't believe you could notice such tiny differences in those paintings! Are you actually really into art?" Ann asked as Joker shrugged and walked to the exit as Draconis spoke up.

"All right folks, let's keep it movin'! Joker's probably already plenty pissed at me and Skull, no sense in riling him up further." Draconis said as the group kept moving, eventually finding another control room as Skull spoke up.

"Oooh, a control room! Think we can turn them lasers off here!?" Skull asked as Joker shrugged and walked over to the panel and Skull spoke up again.

"Hey, we don't need a password for this one! Whaddya wanna do?" Skull asked as Joker hit the button for the shutters, opening them up with an audible sound as Skull cheered and spoke up again.

"All right!" Skull said as Mona spoke up, grinning at how far the group had gotten in the current Palace as he spoke.

"Now there are more places we can explore..." Mona said as Panther spoke up, nodding in agreement with Mona's remark as she spoke.

"Let's try the other ones too." Panther said as Joker hit the button to kill the lasers only for an error message to pop-up on screen as Skull spoke up.

"Huh? Nothing happened..." Skull said as Draconis huffed and spoke up, frowning at the monitor as he spoke.

"Maybe it's because of THAT?" Draconis said dryly, pointing at the error message on the monitor which read as thus:

'Error! Only Lord Madarame can access this terminal due to maximum security protocol!' The message read. Skull frowned and spoke up.

"The heck? There was no point in even comin' here then...!" Skull said as Fox spoke up. a contemplative look on his face behind his mask as he spoke.

"Hm, it seems disabling the infrared lasers is not within the realm of possibility for us..." Fox said as Panther suggested trying the last option which Joker did as he hit the power button, making the lights go around as Madarame's Shadow looked around in panic as he spoke up.

"Who are you!? Wh-What is the meaning of this!?" Shadow Madarame said as one of the guards spoke up.

"I-I am not sure! It seems we have lost power...The backup generators should bring it up again in no time!" the Shadow said as the lights came on as he finished speaking, as Madarame's Shadow spoke up.

"What a nasty surprise...Hm...Could this also be...? Hey, someone!" Madarame's Shadow said as Skull spoke up at that point.

"Hmph. Tch, it came back on pretty damn fast..." Skull said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, and the infrared lasers remained active even during the power outage." Fox said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Hmm, so we'll only be able to turn the power off in there for a few seconds..." Mona said as Panther spoke up.

"Wait a second...Aren't those guards that just ran out headed this way!?" Panther said as a Shadow ran into the room as she finished speaking and spoke up.

"Hm!? So you're the ones who tampered with the electricity!" the Security Guard Shadow said. Skull spoke up with a huff.

"Crap, we got company!" Skull said as Mona spoke up.

"Let's silence him, fast!" Mona said. After the group defeated the Shadows, Joker and Draconis hit level 18, while Mona hit level 17. Once that was done, Panther spoke up.

"Phew...That was a surprise..." Panther said as Skull spoke up.

"All we really managed to do was open the shutters..." Skull said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. And on top of that, we can only turn the lights off briefly, while the lasers remain unaffected." Fox said as Skull sighed and spoke up.

"Oh well... Guess we just gotta go see what's past those shutters." Skull said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"That we do, but what neither you or Fox realize is that even if we didn't seem to accomplish much, we still got useful info that could be helpful when it comes time to plan out our plan to actually take the Treasure once we finish securing the route. Not to mention, I'd bet the last Will Seed is past those shutters since we've checked most everywhere else." Draconis said as the group kept moving. As they did so, they found another Safe Room, cracked a few chests, beat some Shadows, getting Fox to level 18 and Panther to level 17 as a result, after which they entered another security room as Skull spoke up.

"Huh? Is this some kinda security room too?" Skull asked as Yusuke shook his head and spoke up.

"No, it is most likely where all the mechanisms in the exhibition hall are controlled from. Given the number of hanging works, it would make sense to have a room dedicated to controlling them." Fox said as Panther spoke up.

"The observation skills of an artist are out of this world..." Panther said. The group then kept moving. Eventually they spotted an out-of-the-way vent that led to a grapple point that when followed led to a second vent, that once crawled through, led to a drop point that led to an area with a strong Shadow in it, causing Skull to speak up.

"What the- They got Shadows here too!?" Skull said as Draconis said, shaking his head in disbelief at the basic question Skull had just asked as he spoke.

"Not without good reason, they don't. Odds are we finally found the last Will Seed of this Palace, but it's probably being guarded by that putz over there." Draconis said as Mona nodded and spoke up, both agreeing with Draconis' remark and also feeling the Will Seed's presence nearby as he spoke.

"Draconis is right! I can feel a Seed past this door... It might be a pain to get our hands on it, though." Mona said as the group nodded, and prepared to fight for the last Will Seed of Madarame's Palace. As they approached, Fox spoke up, his next words basically summing up the thoughts of the group as he spoke.

"Madarame...your Will Seed is ours!" Fox said as Draconis nodded approvingly as the group prepared to fight the strong Shadow. Joker looked at Fox and spoke up.

"Apologies Fox, but for this one fight, I need you to tag out with Panther since she has the most SP left of all of us, barring Draconis, but I want him kept in reserve as a last-ditch desperation play just in case." Joker said as Panther and Fox nodded before swapping out so that Panther was on the front lines and Fox was on backup. Once the group charged it, the Shadow spoke up.

"How did you all-! Know what? It doesn't even matter-now that you've seen this place, you won't be leaving alive!" The Shadow said as it assumed its' true form as Fox spoke up.

"Hmph, this room will only be your end. We'll be passing through!" Fox said as the battle began! Near the end of it, Joker saw how dire it was looking and called for an All-Out Attack on Mona's turn, which proved to be the right call as Mona managed to destroy the Shadow while finishing the All-Out Attack by flicking a cigar at it, making Draconis question where Mona even was keeping the cigar in question, but he shrugged it off as the battle ended.

Afterwards, Joker slashed through the vines, and the group obtained the 'Blue Vanity Seed', making it so at long last they had all three of the Will Seeds for Madarame's Palace. To Draconis' surprise, the three seeds then fused into a crystal, like the three in Kamoshida's Palace did. Draconis then spoke up after Joker obtained the created 'Crystal of Vanity', both amused at the apt naming for the Seeds and irritated that his theory from before about all Palaces being inspired by the seven deadly sins had been debunked seemingly as he spoke.

"Huh, looks like all the Palaces' Will Seeds turn into Crystals once the full trio is obtained. Good to know." Draconis said as Mona nodded as he spoke up.

"Another Will Seed! And this looks like it's the last one, too." Mona said as Draconis nodded, smirking as he spoke up, giving Mona an approving smirk as he spoke.

"Now that that's done, on to securing the Treasure route!" Draconis said excitedly as Mona nodded and the group kept moving. Once back in the control room, Mona spoke up as the group examined a lever on the wall.

"Hm? Do you think this moves the wires for all the hanging art...?" Mona asked as Panther spoke up.

"It looks like Fox's deduction was on-point!" Panther said as the group kept moving. After moving forward a bit more, Skull spoke up.

"Hey, look! Ain't this right above the Treasure?" Skull said as the others nodded before Panther smiled and spoke up.

"Oh, look! There aren't any lasers above it!" Panther said as Draconis and Fox looked at each other, both frowning as the latter spoke up.

"This is quite a large hole in their security... but what do we do!? Jump down to retrieve it?" Fox said as Mona shook his head and spoke up.

"We wouldn't be able to get out if we did that though. Look up." Mona said as the group looked up and saw a hook stuck to the ceiling, making Joker, Skull and Panther blanch while Fox and Draconis exchanged wide-eyed looks, the latter stroking his chin in thought as the beginnings of an idea were occurring to him with that hook as the former spoke up, opting to state what the group was looking at as he spoke.

"A crane with a hook..." Fox said as Mona nodded before continuing to speak.

"Didn't we see something earlier that looked like it could be a set of controls for that crane? Let's go back and check it out!" Mona said as the group nodded and headed back towards the crane controls they'd seen before. Luckily, it wasn't far away and they got there fast. Once they were there, Mona spoke up again.

"It looks like this is it...Joker, give it a try." Mona said as Joker nodded and pulled the lever, lowering the crane, but Panther stopped it by speaking up before it lowered too far.

"Stop! Stooop! They'll notice if you keep that up! Get back up there! Go, go, go!" Panther said as Joker nodded, retracting the crane while Mona spoke up.

"Hmm, this could be useful..." Mona said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"Do you plan on descending on that hook? Would they not spot you the moment you were lowered down?" Fox asked as Mona shook his head and spoke up.

"No...Not necessarily. There's something I can do to make sure that doesn't happen." Mona said as Joker frowned before blinking in realization as he spoke up.

"You mean, use the brief darkness that we can induce with that control panel that we found previously that didn't need a password?" Joker said. Mona nodded approvingly as he spoke up, pleased by Joker's observation and wanting to make sure Joker knew it as he spoke.

"NICE! Exactly! That's our Joker!" Mona said as Draconis spoke up, agreeing with Mona's remark but also seeing some flaws in the idea that he pointed out as he spoke.

"Even then, you'd also have to make sure the guards weren't able to rush the control room while the blackout was being executed, WHILE also having someone lower you. You do realize this requires us to split up, right Mona-sensei?" Draconis said, having thought of more or less the same thing with the plan he'd gotten from the hook. Panther nodded as she spoke up.

"Oh right...We were able to turn the lights off over in that other control room!" Panther said as Fox frowned and spoke up, seeing a flaw in that idea as he spoke.

"Hold for a moment...we'd only be able to shut the power off for a few seconds though. There would not be enough time to make it all the way here." Fox said. Mona then spoke up with an approving nod in Draconis' direction, agreeing with Draconis as he spoke.

"That's where Draconis' suggestion comes into play. We'd split up the tasks and work together to pull this heist off like true phantom thieves! One person will shut the power off here, one person will lower the crane, and I'll grab the Treasure!" Mona said as Skull spoke up with a frown, confused by the idea as he spoke.

"You sure that's gonna work? Seems like they'd realize what's goin' on at some point." Skull said as Mona did his meowing laugh as he spoke up.

"Sometimes bold moves have the greatest payout. Unless someone has a better idea?" Mona said as Joker and Draconis spoke up.

"That plan sounds good to me." Joker said as Draconis spoke up, nodding his agreement even though he did see a problem with it as he spoke.

"I concur, though I do see ONE flaw in it. How are we going to pull all this off AND ensure we keep any Shadow interference to a minimum so as to optimize our chances of success?" Draconis said warily. Mona smiled and spoke up, pleased with Joker's response as he spoke, though he did hear Draconis' objection as well as he spoke.

"Well said, Joker! You understand what being a phantom thief really means! And Draconis, I thought of that. Or maybe you didn't realize that the tasks I listed only need THREE of us, which leaves three more extra who can then play the decoys to draw most of the Shadows away. I thought ahead, don't worry." Mona said as Draconis nodded approvingly, giving Mona an apologetic look as he spoke up, suitably chastised as he spoke.

"Very good. Apologies for seeming to doubt you there, but I had to be sure all angles were covered, for the sake of the mission." Draconis said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"I understand. That said...All right, it's settled. Our infiltration route is secured!" Mona said as Skull spoke up.

"You gotta be kiddin' me..." Skull said as Mona kept speaking up and ignored Skull.

"Now then, it's time for the calling card!" Mona said as the group nodded, and began the trek back to the entrance. After fast-travelling to the entrance, Skull and Mona began predictably arguing over the logistics of Mona's plan while Draconis tried to play mediator as Panther and Fox just sighed and watched in a corner as Joker felt his name being called as he turned to see Justine beckoning him.

"You seem to be doing well, Inmate. Come inside, we have much to discuss. We have an important matter to discuss regarding your rehabilitation." Justine said as Joker went into the Velvet Room...

(In the Velvet Room with Ren, Caroline, Justine and Igor)

"There you are, Inmate!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Our master admires the progress of your rehabilitation, and hence has given you use of a special ritual." Justine said as Caroline smirked and spoke up.

"It's the Electric Chair, used to sacrifice Personas and transmutate them into high-level items!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Any further questions regarding this ritual can be directed toward our master himself." Justine said as Caroline spoke up.

"He's apparently gonna consider making even more rituals if your rehabilitation goes as planned. Work hard for it, Inmate!" Caroline said as Ren nodded. He eventually went back out of the Velvet Room after a bit more Persona shuffling...

(Back in the Palace with Joker, Fox, Mona, Skull, Panther and Draconis)

Fox walked up to Joker as he saw him moving again and spoke up.

"Is something wrong? You appeared to be lost in thought." Fox said as Joker shook his head and Draconis, who had seen Fox turn around and followed him spoke up at that point, smirking at Fox's confusion and deciding to explain things to him as he spoke.

"Nah, that's just how Joker is from time to time, Fox. You see, Joker's different from the rest of us Phantom Thieves. He has what Mona-sensei's taken to calling 'the power of the Wild Card', or the ability to wield more than one Persona. So when he spaces out like this, he's really sorting through his mind and organizing his Personas and such. It's not that big of a deal, really. But it will probably take you some getting used to if you've not seen it before. Does that answer your question, Fox?" Draconis said to Fox who nodded and spoke up, pleased with Draconis' explanation as he spoke.

"Indeed it does. And excellent-no problems all around. Shall we get going?" Fox said as Joker and Draconis nodded and the three went to catch up with Mona, Skull and Panther who were waiting by the exit. Once the group was reunited, Mona looked at Joker and spoke up.

"What do you wanna do? We've secured our route to the Treasure...Do you want to get out of here?" Mona asked Joker who nodded as he spoke up.

"Definitely. I lose track of how many hours we've been in here securing our route. So I'm ready to go home and rest a bit before we work out the logistics of the calling card. And yes we should be able to get it sent out and beat Madarame by the 30th at the pace we're going IF we send the calling card tomorrow. So we should go back to the real world and rest fast so we're ready to give it our all tomorrow when brainstorming the calling card." Joker said as Mona nodded approvingly before Skull spoke up.

"All right, that settles it! Well, I'm still kinda worried...but we gotta do this." Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"Skull, stop worrying. It'll be fine." Draconis reassured Skull as Fox spoke up, agreeing with Draconis but also having a thought of his own that he voiced as he spoke.

"Fascinating...I cannot even begin to fathom what Madarame's Treasure may be..." Fox said as Draconis winced before speaking up, an idea in mind of what it could be but not sure he wanted to voice his thought in case he was wrong as he spoke.

"Given that last room we went through before we found the Treasure's location, I think I have a good guess. But I won't say until we see the Treasure for sure with our own eyes if my guess was right or not, but if you think about it, I think you know in your heart exactly what Madarame's Treasure is." Draconis said ominously to Fox who blinked before his eyes went wide behind his mask as an idea occurred to him as to what Draconis thought it could be. Panther spoke up before Fox could speak though.

"Either way, we'll steal it for sure. Oh, and you all did great today!" Panther said as the group began exiting the Metaverse, while the progress was updated. After it all finished updating, Mona spoke up with a grin, pleased with the group's progress as he spoke.

"YES! We finally secured our route to the Treasure! All we need to do now is send the calling card." Mona said as Skull cheered and spoke up.

"Mkay, I've been waitin' for this! Anyways, when're we gonna send it? I guess that part's up to you, Joker my dude. Let us know when you need us!" Skull said as the group left the Metaverse and went their separate ways for the evening, with Ren, Kusa and Morgana returning to Leblanc...

(That evening, at Leblanc with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

Morgana looked at Ren as he, Kusa and Ren walked into Leblanc and spoke up.

"You both did great today. You tired?" Morgana asked Ren and Kusa. At that point, Ren and Kusa's phones went off to signal a group chat with Ryuji and Ann, and Kusa frowned at Yusuke once again being excluded.

"All we need to do now is send the calling card." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"All right, it's finally time! Now all we gotta do is decide when we're gonna do it." Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"Shouldn't we talk to Yusuke about that first?" Ann sent as Kusa chose then to send a response.

"How are we supposed to do that when someone keeps forgetting to add him to our group chats?" Kusa sent as Ryuji sent a response that made him both groan and facefault.

"Uhhh, why?" Ryuji sent as both Ann and Kusa sent responses, Ann's coming in first.

"I mean, Madarame WAS his teacher. It's not our place to be deciding something like this." Ann sent as Kusa's response came in.

"Precisely, Ann! Also Ryuji, I don't know if you remember, but there's also that little matter of Yusuke, oh I don't know, BEING ONE OF US! Or did you forget about that oh ever so slight but potentially oh-so-significant little detail!?" Kusa sent huffily, making Ren wince at the easiiy detectable annoyance in Kusa's tone. Ryuji then sent a response.

"Oh yeah. And crap, that's true Kusa, I did forget about that! My bad man!" Ryuji sent apologetically as Ren sent a response.

"Let's talk to Yusuke, and Ann or Ryuji, I don't care which, one of you add Yusuke to this chat before Kusa ends up making that his next ammo for a roast." Ren sent. Kusa huffed and sent a response.

"Ren, count yourself lucky you have a good point or I'd be livid with you for that remark. Sadly, you're not wrong though. And yes, one of you add him! He really is one of us so it makes me wince every time I get one of these group chats and he's not included in it." Kusa sent. Ryuji sent a response.

"Yeah, this problem's bigger than just the three of us. And relax Kusa, we'll get that sorted out sooner rather than later." Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"Anyway, how about we all meet up at the hideout?" Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Yup, sounds good." Ryuji sent as Ren and Kusa both sent responses.

"We'll have to meet up at the hideout soon enough anyways to iron out the particulars of sending the calling card, plus I ideally want to be able to send it out tomorrow or the next day, otherwise we'll have to wait until May 31st to send it since I get the feeling Kusa and probably Yoshizawa would both roast me if I had us skip out on the school clean-up to fight Madarame." Ren sent as Kusa sent a response, voicing his feelings on Ren's response with his response.

"Damn fucking straight we would! Or probably more accurately put, I'd roast you on her behalf since she likely wouldn't want to roast you herself! Yoshizawa's been waiting ever so patiently for weeks for you to finally find time to hang out with her Ren! Granted, she has training to keep her busy, but she's been curious to get to know you better.

Not gonna lie, I'd definitely have to consider kicking your ass if you did try to send the calling card on the 29th so we had to fight Madarame the day of the cleanup. If we can't figure out the calling card tomorrow, let's agree that we send it on the 31st of May and fight Madarame on the 1st of June which would then give us 3 to 4 days of time to relax while we wait on his change of heart. Agreed?" Kusa sent as everyone quickly sent back an 'Agreed!' as a response. Ann then sent a response.

"OK. Lemme know when you want to meet and I'll tell Yusuke." Ann sent. Kusa then sent a response after a moment.

"When you contact him next, make sure you ask him if he wants to be included on these group chats in case that's why he hasn't been added yet. But I really do feel he should be a part of these seeing as he's basically a full-fledged Phantom Thief now." Kusa sent as Ren put his phone away, anticipating a probable text-fest between Kusa and Ann and not wanting to be part of that, even turning his phone to silent so he wouldn't have to hear it, before sitting with Morgana at a table to plan out the rest of his night...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! And yeah, I didn't barely get as much as I thought I would done. I blame a combo of the Palace being longer than I remembered AND stuff happening a lot. But at least the stage is set for the second calling card to be sent. So that, and hopefully the boss fight with Madarame's Shadow, will be in the next chapter!

Maybe, MAYBE, if I can get both done in few enough words, I can even squeeze in some post-fight shenanigans! But I make no promises in case it turns out like this chapter. Either way, hopefully you're enjoying the story so far! If so, feel free to leave a review with your thoughts/opinions/feedback on the story so far, or if you'd rather PM them to me, you can do that too, but I do like seeing reviews so I take both. Regardless, I appreciate the support either way. And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!