A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Amamiya Files! As per usual, I do not own the Persona series in any way shape or form (aside from the OC Kusa who I created, so I do more or less own him), and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus, Sega of America and to some extent Koei Tecmo (as well as probably the credit for making at least the Persona 5 games) so yeah all credit to them.
With that disclaimer out of the way, let's go ahead and get chapter 8 going! I'm sure you're just as excited to read about the next part of the first Palace's infiltration as I likely am to get it typed out! Hopefully we'll have said Palace wrapped up in another two to three chapters (four at the absolute max!) otherwise it might start to drag on somewhat. And stories aren't as fun when they drag on in my opinion. But anyways, on with chapter 8!
Chapter 8: More Codenames! Start of Kamoshida's Downfall! Phantoms Awaken part 8
(In Ren's classroom with Ren and Morgana, neutral POV)
After looking around a bit, Ren shrugged before looking over at Ann who he noticed seemed slightly down and spoke gently to her.
"Probably a dumb question, but how are you holding up?" Ren asked Ann who looked at Ren in surprise before smiling at him as she spoke up.
"Oh, hey Ren. I'm holding up pretty well all things considered. Sorry if I seem down, I'm just mad at myself. I never thought it would end up like this... I'll never forgive myself for obeying him...Hey, we're heading in today, right?" Ann asked Ren who briefly paused to ponder his options before nodding as he spoke up again.
"Yeah, I don't see why not. Let's do it." Ren said to Ann who smiled as she nodded approvingly.
"Okay. See you at the roof." Ann said as she headed off towards the rooftop ahead of Ren, who smiled before following after Ann...
(At the rooftop with Ren, Morgana, Ryuji, Ann and Kusa, neutral POV)
"I hope you all understand that our time limit is May 2nd." Morgana said as Ann, Ryuji, Ren and Kusa all nodded before Ann spoke up.
"We basically just have to go tot that castle and steal the Treasure from Kamoshida, right?" Ann asked as Ryuji spoke up at that point, having a question of his own.
"But wait, what even IS a Treasure? I wanna know that before we do anything." Ryuji asked as Kusa reluctantly nodded his agreement with Ryuji's question.
"That...is actually a very good question, Ryuji. And I admit I don't know the answer to that myself. But maybe Morgana-sensei can enlighten us on what a Treasure is?" Kusa said as he turned to face Morgana as he spoke. Morgana nodded as he spoke up in response to Kusa's question.
"But of course I can, Kusa! I AM the only one here with much knowledge of the Metaverse! A Treasure is the physical form of the Palace ruler's distorted desires. In other words, it's the core of the Palace. Once we steal it, the Palace will crumble... I think." Morgana said as Ren and Ryuji exchanged skeptical frowns while Ann and Kusa nodded appreciatively to Morgana's explanation as Ren spoke up.
"Makes sense. But you sound a bit unsure of your theory about the Treasure, hence the 'I think' at the end of your statement, Morgana? Are you just theorizing right now?" Ren asked as Kusa rolled his eyes before speaking up and beating Morgana to answering Ren's question.
"Most likely. After all, this Metaverse is still a very unknown place, so probably not even Morgana-sensei knows everything about it. So we have to give him some flack and understanding if he sounds unsure on some things." Kusa said dryly as he answered Ren, getting an approving nod from Morgana who spoke up at that point again.
"Thank you, Kusa. At least one of you understands that. But I'm sure we'll get a much deeper understanding of the Metaverse in time if we keep up the Phantom Thieves long enough. Or that's the understanding I'm going to work off of for the foreseeable future anyways. Now, having said all that, even I don't know what Kamoshida's Treasure is going to be." Morgana replied as Ann nodded before speaking up once more with another question.
"And where can we find it?" Ann asked Morgana who frowned as he spoke up.
"Good question. Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing that until we go in and find out. But if I had to guess, I'd say he has it locked up somewhere in the depths of the Palace." Morgana said as Ann and Kusa nodded approvingly to Morgana's response as Ryuji also nodded before speaking up.
"Eh, I think I get it now. We just gotta find the Treasure, yeah?" Ryuji asked as Morgana nodded before speaking up.
"Pretty much. There's just a lot we won't know until we go in...In any case, our objective is to find the Treasure's location somewhere within the palace. Make sure we go about this with time to spare so we can avoid any unforeseen circumstances. I expect great things from you guys." Morgana said. He then looked at Ryuji, Kusa and Ren as he kept speaking after Ren decided to extend their meeting a bit more.
"Now then, you three are going to get expelled if we don't steal Kamoshida's heart." Morgana said as Ann nodded approvingly as she spoke up.
"We can't afford to waste time. I'm going to avenge Shiho, no matter what." Ann said as Ryuji spoke up.
"Okay, time for the meeting. Welp, what now?" Ryuji said as Ann spoke up once more.
"I know we want to steal his heart, but we have no idea where it actually is. I guess we'll just have to explore some more until we manage to find it." Ann said as Morgana nodded before speaking up at that point with a smile on his face as he spoke.
"Be extra careful around the guard Shadows. Getting beaten to a pulp is the last thing we need right now." Morgana said as Ann nodded before speaking up.
"We're not having much trouble fighting, so you probably don't even need to worry about that." Ann said as Kusa frowned before speaking up.
"That might be true, but who's to say things won't get more difficult as we move forward? I for one think Morgana-sensei is wise to be at least slightly cautious of things early on. But that's just my opinion, after all." Kusa said as Morgana spoke up at that point.
"Good point, Kusa. Anyways, that said, that should sum things up for the time being." Morgana said as Ren stroked his chin in thought at that point, presumably weighing the group's options carefully before he spoke up at that point.
"Well, there's no time like the present, right? Let's get back to infiltrating the Palace, but be ready to bail out at a moment's notice if we end up in over our heads." Ren said as Kusa, Morgana and Ann nodded while Ryuji spoke up.
"All right, I'm gonna bust loose!" Ryuji said as the group went into the Metaverse...
(In the Metaverse with Ann, Mona, Joker, Skull and Draconis, neutral POV)
"But, daaamn..." Skull said appreciatively, making Draconis and Joker frown as they saw him looking at Ann as he spoke, making Ann frown a bit before speaking up herself.
"Hm? What's up?" Ann asked Skull who blinked at the question before quickly speaking up.
"N-Nothing. I-I was just thinkin' we should choose a code name for you too." Skull said to Ann who blinked at this before speaking up.
"A code name?" Ann said in confusion as Skull nodded before explaining to Ann about code names.
"Yeah, basically something we call ourselves while in the Metaverse as a precaution, at Mona's suggestion. I'm Skull, he's Joker, the cat is Mona, and next to Mona is Draconis." Skull said as Mona and Draconis glared at Skull calling Mona a cat again, causing Draconis to frown at Skull before he huffed and opted to just speak up in a slightly dry tone of voice.
"Skull, your ears do work correctly, right? Because I'm pretty sure Mona and I have already told you several times now, he's NOT a cat! So get that through that thick head of yours, Skull." Draconis said huffily to Skull. Mona nodded as he spoke up.
"Exactly, Draconis. You get it. But back to Ann's code name...Judging by your costume..." Mona said, trailing off as Skull spoke up.
"I mean, she's got that tail and stuff, so...Whaddya you think, Ren?" Skull said to Joker who frowned.
"First of all Skull, code names! Or did you forget we have to be thorough on using them in here? That said, I dunno, maybe Catgirl?" Joker suggested as Draconis huffed.
"Really? That's the best you can come up with, Joker? While I can see what you were going for there, I don't think Ann has either heard of or seen any sort of Batman media so I doubt she'd get that reference. That said, just because she has a cat-like costume doesn't mean Catgirl is a good code name. That'd be like if Skull had suggested Cat for Mona's code name, which I would have slugged him for suggesting since he should know full well by now that Mona only LOOKS like a cat because he lost his true form and memories." Draconis said bluntly. Mona nodded approvingly to Draconis' response as Ann blanched before speaking up.
"Wait! Is that what you're going to call me from now on!? I am SO not down with this!" Ann said as Skull huffed as he spoke up.
"What do you wanna be called, then?" Ryuji said to Ann who frowned as she stroked her chin before speaking back up.
"Um, something better than just a little cat..." Ann said uncertainly before speaking up as she had a thought.
"Maybe...'Panther'? That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?" Ann asked as Draconis nodded before speaking up.
"I agree, Panther does sound cool. Not to mention, it does have a certain ring to it that sounds good and probably rolls off the tongue rather nicely." Draconis said. Skull blinked and spoke up.
"Huh? Why?" Skull asked Ann who shrugged as she spoke up once more.
"'Cause it sounds more... ferocious?" Ann said uncertainly as Mona spoke up at that point, his next words making Joker, Draconis AND Ann's eyes all go wide.
"She's a cougar..." Mona said happily as Joker and Ann blanched while Draconis spoke up, his eyes wide at Mona's word choice as he spoke.
"Whoa, whoa...I know you thought that was a compliment probably Mona, but you can't just call girls cougars! I don't know if you realize this, but in the real world, that statement has slightly dirty connotations where it comes to females, or at least to certain types of females, namely those attracted to younger guys. So I'm going to immediately veto that as a code name choice on principle." Draconis said with a frown, with Ann smiling as she nodded her agreement.
"Exactly, what Draconis said. Don't call me that! More importantly: Kamoshida!" Ann said. Skull nodded as he spoke up.
"Oh, right. Let's go!" Skull said as Joker and Mona nodded while Draconis spoke up once more.
"I guess for now, until we decide on a better code name, which I doubt we will, let's just go with Panther as Ann's code name for the time being, unless one of you has a better idea?" Draconis said. Mona, Skull and Joker just shrugged as they nodded agreement as did Ann.
"I guess that settles it then. I'm Panther from now on!" The now-code named Panther said with a smile as Skull nodded before speaking up.
"All right, let's start fresh and get goin'!" Skull said as Mona nodded agreement and spoke up.
"It's game time from this point forward. I'll teach you guys the basics of infiltrating a Palace as we go." Mona said as Joker, Skull, Draconis and Panther nodded agreement and started following Morgana towards the Palace, up until a flash of blue entered Joker's field of vision as a blue cell door appeared, and out from it stepped Justine who spoke up to Joker at that point, an unreadable expression on her face as she spoke.
"My master would like a word with you." Justine said to Joker, who nodded and stepped through the door...
(A/N: When Ren/Joker is invited into the Velvet Room while in the Metaverse, if he's not in Phantom Thief uniform, he'll go by Ren, but otherwise he goes by Joker like the usual rule of thumb with the Metaverse)
(In the Velvet Room, with Igor, Caroline, Ren and Justine, neutral POV)
"The prisoner Ren Amamiya has returned." Caroline said to Igor who nodded and looked at Ren, who was presently clad in prisoner attire for whatever reason, as he spoke up.
"Well done, it seems you have remembered my words...You truly make it worth rehabilitating you." Igor said to Ren who nodded before speaking up.
"I never asked for that, but I think you know that. But more importantly, what's that mean?" Ren asked getting a chuckle from Igor as he spoke up once more.
"I am not attempting to withhold information from you...The essence of the rehabilitation that you must complete will be explained in due time. Once you encounter allies who share your ideals and discover your place in reality...Only then, will I explain it all. Such a day should not be far off. This time, I wish to introduce you to the aid we are providing." Igor said as Ren blinked at this before speaking up with an intrigued look on his face as he spoke.
"Oh? Aid, you say? And precisely what is this 'aid'? Do tell, you have me curious now." Ren said. Igor nodded as he spoke up.
"Due to your potential in wielding the power of the wild card, you can handle more than one Persona. That power holds infinite possibilities. We will assist you in nurturing that potential. To that end, we must execute your Persona." Igor said to Ren, chuckling at the panicked look on Ren's face at the mention of execution as he kept speaking.
"Do not be alarmed. Personas are personalities that exist within you...Thus, you will only be discarding old personalities to have them be reborn as new ones." Igor said to Ren as he kept explaining, pulling up a screen behind him that he moved aside from so Ren could see it as he kept speaking.
"By discarding your old identity, you give way to a new one. Hence, we call that process 'execution.' Think of it as the fusion of your Personas. To start, select the first Persona you wish to fuse." Igor said as Ren nodded, eventually selecting Bicorn as the first Persona, at which point Igor spoke up again.
"Now before you select the second Persona, allow me to tell you something greatly important. Do you remember how I mentioned forming bonds with Confidants? Personas are the power of the heart... The stronger those bonds, the stronger your Personas will be. In other words, the effects of your bonds on execution...or fusion, if you will, are quite substantial. When you fuse a Persona that shares its arcana with one of your bonds, it will gain great power.
This will be a guiding principle for your forays into fusion...Try not to forget it. Moreover, there is one thing I must warn you about. You cannot create a Persona that surpasses your current level. This is because the resulting Persona would be too powerful for you to handle effectively. Now then, check the fusion results and choose a Persona that suits your stature." Igor said. After hearing Igor's words, Ren changed his mind and opted to fuse Arsene with Pixie, reluctant as he was to do so. Igor spoke up as he showed a screen with a new Persona on it as he spoke.
"This is the form your Persona is expected to take after fusion. It's possible for them to inherit skills they normally wouldn't gain. These skills and specialties are distinct from one another. Skills are traits that can be passed along through fusion." Igor explained. Ren then confirmed his choices as Justine spoke up at that point.
"Select the skills you'd like to inherit." Justine said as Ren blinked, seeing he had only one slot to add a skill. After some thought, he opted to have the new Persona, Agathion as the screen called it, inherit the Eiha skill. After he chose Eiha, Igor's voice spoke up once more.
"Your respective Confidant relationship is at Rank 1. Will it receive new power? Are you certain this Persona is acceptable?" Igor asked Ren. Ren nodded his confirmation. Igor nodded.
"Girls, let us begin." Igor said to Justine and Caroline who nodded. As they prepared the equipment, Arsene appeared before Ren, to his surprise, and spoke up.
"I am Arsene-the other you who exists within...Though I may disappear at this moment, I shall always be at your side. We shall meet again...when your fate reaches its conclusion." Arsene said, before disappearing from Ren's sight, laughing maniacally as he vanished. After that, Igor, Caroline and Justine appeared with the equipment and performed the fusion/execution, causing Arsene and Pixie to vanish as they became one, and in their place was a being that resembled an imp in a jar. The being spoke up.
"Me Agathion. I'm gonna be your new mask now! Use me, use me, use me!" Agathion said, his English slightly broken as he spoke. Agathion then became a mask as he went into Ren's heart as Igor spoke up.
"Behold: the Chariot Confidant is awakening your Persona's hidden power..." Igor said as Agathion leveled up from the Chariot arcana it shared with one of Ren's confidants, in this case Ryuji. From the level up, Agathion gained the skill Lunge. After the fusion, Igor spoke up once more as he looked at Ren.
"Ah, how impressive...A stronger Persona has been born from the body and blood of the old. It shall be your new strength." Igor said as Ren blinked before speaking up.
"This makes no sense at all, to be honest. But I think the better question here is what do you mean?" Ren said after a ponder his words. Justine smiled as she spoke up before Igor could answer Ren.
"It's worth will be made clearer when you return to the field of battle." Justine said as Igor nodded and spoke up at that point.
"Gather Personas, and bring them here. Gather a great many, execute them, and continue to give birth to even stronger Personas. Developing your powers as such will play an integral role in the struggle against ruin." Igor said as Justine spoke up once more.
"So that your rehabilitation goes well, we have a variety of rituals to choose in regard to executions." Justine said as Caroline spoke up at that point for the first time in a bit.
"And depending on the effort you put in, our master might consider further development of new rituals. Cry your tears of joy, Inmate!" Caroline said as Ren frowned but Igor spoke up before he could say anything to Caroline.
"Your heart is steadily gaining the strength of rebellion. It seems your rehabilitation is proceeding smoothly- a joyous fact, indeed...In anticipation of this, I have prepared a gift for you. I hope that you shall accept it." Igor said as Ren nodded, feeling a deepened connection with Igor. At that point, the 'Fool' card appeared in Ren's mind's eye, the I on it becoming a II to signify that it had increased to rank 2. As such, Ren also found he'd gained the power of the 'Third Eye', an ability that allowed him the power to see things otherwise invisible to the naked eye. After this, Igor spoke up once more.
"That is a thief's skill, allowing one to tap into their sixth sense and see what is hidden in the dark. I believe you can handle it now. May you continue devoting yourself to further rehabilitation." Igor said as Justine chose that point to speak up once more.
"Now then, if you have any requests, we will heed them." Justine said as Ren nodded before looking at Igor who then spoke up.
"Ah, do you have business with me? Welcome to my Velvet Room...What do you need today?" Igor asked Ren. Ren looked over the options and spoke up.
"I was going to see about registering my current Personas if that's possible. You didn't mention it, so I'm not sure if it is in fact possible, but if it is, that could be useful for the event I ever have to get rid of a Persona but need to re-summon it easily later." Ren said after a moment. Justine nodded as she spoke up.
"You'd like to read the Compendium, then?" Justine said as Ren nodded. After a bit, he registered Bicorn before looking to the other option, labeled 'View/Summon Personas' as he spoke to Justine.
"So does the 'View/Summon Personas' option work like the label suggests, in that I can view already-registered Personas and potentially summon them?" Ren asked Justine who nodded as she spoke up once more.
"That is correct, however it does come with a nominal fee for the services. Unfortunately, nothing in life is free." Justine replied to which Ren nodded.
"I understand." Ren said as he opted to view the registry, but frowned as he saw he only had the money to summon one of his Personas back. After a bit he spoke up.
"I'd like to summon back Pixie, please." Ren said as Justine nodded.
"Certainly, that will be 2,160 yen." Justine said as Ren nodded, handing over the required yen willingly. After he summoned back Pixie, he spoke up.
"I think that'll do it for now, ladies. But thanks for your assistance." Ren said as Caroline and Justine nodded.
"Are you done, Inmate?" Caroline asked and Ren nodded as Justine spoke up.
"It is time, Inmate. Return to your fleeting time of rest..." Justine said as Ren left the Velvet Room...
(Back in the Metaverse with Joker, Mona, Draconis, Skull and Panther, neutral POV)
Mona looked at Joker as he exited the cell door, frowning as he spoke up.
"Something wrong? You were just standing around all of a sudden." Mona said as Draconis chuckled and spoke up before Joker could answer Mona.
"He spaces out like that at times. I've seen him do that at least once before in his sleep when I'd wake up early in the morning so I'm guessing he was lost in thought, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, in moderation of course. But still, that'd be my guess." Draconis said as Joker nodded and spoke up.
"Exactly. I was off in my own mind for a second, basically sifting through my Personas for no real reason." Joker said, blinking as it occurred to him that to his teammates, it probably appeared as though he wasn't moving when he went into the Velvet Room. Skull frowned as he spoke up.
"Why're you spacin' out like that? It's kinda hard to tell what you're thinkin' sometimes." Skull said as Mona nodded to Joker and Draconis' explanation before speaking up.
"Let's just say he's a man of high caliber. We're counting on you, Joker!" Mona said as Skull then spoke up at that point.
"So, where do we start?" Skull asked excitedly. Mona stroked his chin contemplatively before he spoke up to answer Skull's question.
"Let's head to the safe room we found last time. It's in the first floor of the west building. That's pretty close to our usual entrance. It should be a pretty decent starting point." Mona said as Panther frowned at the unfamiliar term before speaking up in confusion.
"Safe room...?" Panther asked uncertainly. Skull answered Panther before Mona or Draconis could explain it.
"It'll make sense once you see it. Welp, let's head out!" Skull said. Joker nodded as he figured out how to 'Quick Travel' and used that to get the group to the indicated Safe Room rather quickly. Once there, Panther blinked at how the the room flickered briefly to show a classroom before turning back to its usual appearance making her speak up.
"Huh? What's up with this place?" Panther asked as Mona smiled before answering her question.
"It's a gap in the cognition. A safe room, if you will." Mona said as Panther frowned as she spoke up.
"Yeah, still not getting it." Panther said. Skull nodded his approval of Panther's confusion.
"Right? Uhh, I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think it's some kinda spot where Shadows can't find us." Skull said as Panther nodded before speaking up.
"Huh...I didn't think a place like that existed in here. So, what do we do in this 'safe room'?" Panther asked. Skull scoffed as he replied.
"Take a break, duh. Oh, and we talk about stuff too." Skull said bluntly as Panther nodded.
"So, the place is for resting up and plotting...Got it." Panther said as Joker and Draconis nodded their approval of her summary as the latter spoke up.
"That's a good way to put it, Panther. Very concise and to the point." Draconis said approvingly as Joker smirked before speaking up.
"And there goes Draconis being a kiss-up again. Some things never change." Joker joked as Skull chuckled approvingly while Draconis, Panther and Mona frowned, the former speaking up in annoyance.
"Oh shut up, Joker. Just because I like to try and make nice with my teammates a lot doesn't make me a suck-up. Besides, I'd rather be a suck-up than a marked man like you or a buffoon like Skull is at times." Draconis said dryly as he rolled his eyes at Joker's teasing remark. Skull and Joker both huffed at Draconis' remarks before they both spoke up at the same time.
"I'M NOT A MARKED MAN/BUFFOON!" Joker and Skull simultaneously protested, blinking at their unintended synchronicity, making Draconis and Panther laugh at the looks on Joker and Skull's faces. Mona just huffed as he spoke up in irritation.
"As much as I agree with you Draconis, is now REALLY the time to be roasting them? We DO have a mission to focus on you know." Mona pointed out as Draconis looked suitably contrite as he turned to Mona before speaking up.
"Ah, that's true. My apologies, Mona-sensei. You are of course correct." Draconis said apologetically making Panther smile as she spoke up.
"That's so cute how you and Mona get along, Draconis. That said, I guess I'll rest for a bit too then. Let me know when we're ready to head out, Joker." Panther said to Joker, who nodded as Mona blinked before speaking up, looking at Joker in particular as he spoke up.
"Oh! Ah, right-the safe room discussion reminds me...This is for you!" Mona said as he handed Joker a Stamina Kit S, speaking up once more once he'd done so.
"You can only use it in safe places, but when you do, it'll take care of all the exhaustion from our past fights! We'll let you decide when to use it-just make sure the time's right." Mona said to Joker who nodded as he pocketed the Stamina Kit. After that, the group sat at a table, Mona sitting atop the table while Joker and Panther sat on one side together, with Ryuji in the seat next to Panther on her left, Draconis taking the lone open seat on the area across from Joker as he folded his arms casually while Mona spoke up, looking at Joker as he spoke.
"What are you gonna do, Joker?" Mona asked Joker. Joker stroked his chin before speaking up.
"Let's have a team chat." Joker said as Mona nodded and spoke up.
"Very well, and what do you want to talk about?" Mona asked Joker who spoke up quickly.
"First of all, how is everyone?" Joker asked. Skull and Draconis just nodded while Panther smiled and spoke up.
"I'm okay! I can still keep going! I think everyone else is okay too." Panther said as Draconis then spoke up in his usual slightly dry tone.
"Indeed, I'm sure we're all just fine, aside from maybe you since you were spacing out before, Joker. That aside, we just got here so we should still be relatively fresh and at full strength." Draconis said sagely, his dry tone a stark contrast to the easygoing look on what was visible of his face beneath the dragon mask that covered most of it, leaving only his chin and mouth visible. Mona nodded and spoke up.
"Everyone seems energetic. I think we can keep exploring if you're feeling up to it. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?" Mona said. Joker nodded.
"In addition to checking on how we're all doing, even though I think I know the answer to this, how's our progress?" Joker asked. Skull shrugged as he looked at Mona before speaking up with his usual confused tone.
"Hey, you think the Treasure's far?" Skull asked as Mona and Draconis rolled their eyes and both spoke up.
"Didn't I literally just say that we just got in here not that long ago?" Draconis asked dryly as Mona nodded.
"That you did, Draconis. That said, based on how the castle looks, we still have a long way to go." Mona said as Panther spoke up.
"I still can't believe a phone app took us somewhere like this." Panther said as Skull smirked before also speaking up.
"Well, not all of us need that app, y'know...The cat can just come in on his own." Skull said as Draconis' eyes narrowed behind his mask as he spoke up.
"Skull, are you deaf!? He's not a cat!" Draconis rebuked Skull at the same time that Mona spoke up to do the same.
"What!? I am NOT a cat! Oh wait, Draconis already said that for me. Oh well, maybe the extra repetition will make it finally sink in for you, Skull." Mona said huffily as Panther spoke up again, another question occurring to her.
"So wait, what's the deal with those soldier things that are serving Kamoshida? They transform into weird monsters whenever we fight them..." Panther said as Mona blinked before speaking up again.
"Huh? Oh, you must be talking about the Shadows." Mona said as Panther nodded before speaking up, confusion in her eyes as she spoke.
"What are Shadows?" Panther asked. Skull nodded his agreement before also speaking up.
"Yeah, I've been wonderin' about those guard dudes too. What's their deal?" Skull asked as Mona sighed before looking at Skull and Panther along with Joker and Draconis as he spoke up once more.
"I can explain it...but it'll be complicated. Do you want to hear?" Mona asked the others who exchanged looks before Joker and Draconis both spoke up.
"I don't know about Panther and Skull, but Draconis and I agree that that info would be good to know, for reference purposes if nothing else." Joker said as Draconis nodded.
"Exactly, what Joker said. Plus maybe if you explain it, maybe then Skull will be able to better appreciate things." Draconis said with a smirk. Joker chuckled as Mona nodded and spoke up before Skull could sputter or respond to Draconis' remark.
"Listen up! Deep in the inner most depths of every human's heart lies their true personality-their Shadow. So it's not that the guards are transforming into those things...Those are their actual forms. The reason they look like gods and other mythological beings is they spawn from the human psyche." Mona said as Panther spoke up in surprise.
"Wh-Whoa...But wait, what are they doing in Kamoshida's castle to begin with?" Panther asked. Draconis nodded his approval of the question as he spoke up.
"Good question, Panther. I was curious about that myself. Care to enlighten us on what you know about that, Mona?" Draconis said as Mona nodded and spoke up.
"From my understanding, it seems like the distortion of the Palace draws them in. Once they're here, their forms change and they become underlings for the Palace ruler. When you think about it, the Palace ruler is just the Shadow of whoever owns the Palace...Maybe those places have something to do with the worlds in our minds, or the collective unconscious..." Mona said, trailing off as Skull spoke up in what appeared to be awe and understanding though his words made it quickly clear that wasn't the case.
"Whoa...Oh, okay. Wait, that don't make any sense!" Skull said as both Mona and Draconis facefaulted at this, the former speaking up with a huff as the latter got back on his feet and glared at Skull for not understanding Mona's explanation..
"I had a feeling you'd say that...Well, you don't need to think too hard about it. They're enemies, so don't let your guard down, okay?" Mona said as Skull, Joker, Panther and Draconis nodded. Mona then looked at Joker.
"Was their anything else you wanted to discuss?" Mona asked Joker who thought about it then shook his head.
"No, I think that's plenty for now. We should keep exploring for now since we're apparently still a ways from our goal." Joker said as the others nodded and Skull spoke up.
"Right, let's go." Skull said. Joker walked over to the door and nodded to the others who got the message as Panther spoke up.
"Okay, let's get back to exploring." Panther said as the group left the Safe Room to resume their infiltration. Joker then went to the left, where he saw a door that the group hadn't gone through, pushing it open as Mona spoke up.
"We have no idea what awaits us ahead...Here, you'd better take these. These fine tools have my seal of approval! Use them wisely, all right?" Mona said as Joker got some tools which he then put away before the group kept moving. After navigating through a couple of rooms, they entered another room at which point Mona spoke up.
"Whoa-there's another one here too. Okay, now that we've expanded our roster, let's try that thing!" Mona said as Joker and Skull fixed Mona with matching confused looks.
"That thing?" Joker asked Mona. Mona nodded.
"Yes, that thing. A way for us to get an advantage during a battle. It's called a 'Baton Pass'! Also, before I forget, there can only be four of us in a battle at a time so from here on one of us will have to be on reserve while the other four go into battle." Mona said as everyone nodded.
"However, since I'm teaching you all the ways of phantom thieves, I will be our reserve for this Palace while you four are out on the front lines." Mona said, getting nods of acceptance from Draconis, Skull, Panther and Joker before Draconis looked at Mona as he spoke up.
"Got it. So you said this thing is called a 'Baton Pass'?" Draconis asked Mona who nodded.
"Correct. Actually, I'll show you what I mean while we deal with this Shadow." Mona said as the others nodded before charging into battle with a nearby Shadow. Once the battle started, Mona spoke up.
"Okay, I'll show you an example first. You better watch closely!" Mona said as the others nodded while he swapped out with Skull to hit the closest Shadow with Garu from Zorro, before swapping back out with Skull as he spoke.
"Use this opportunity to Baton Pass and swap your turn with someone else!" Mona said as Skull nodded and high-fived Joker to Baton Pass to him. Mona spoke up once more.
"Now, strike the enemy's weakness and give the Baton Pass a try!" Mona said. Joker nodded before knocking down the nearby Bicorn with a Zio from Pixie before Baton Passing to Ann who knocked down the Shadow with a flower on its head with Agi, then she tagged out with Draconis who nodded as he hefted his throwing knives as he was Baton Passed into. Mona then spoke up from nearby.
"That's everyone! Excellent use of strategy! Now let 'em have it!" Mona said as Draconis nodded, knocking down the nearby Pixie with a well-placed knife as it was the last Shadow not knocked down or defeated (since Panther accidentally defeated the flower-wearing Shadow with Agi), causing a Hold Up to happen. Joker nodded as he spoke up.
"All-Out Attack, everyone!" Joker called out as the others nodded, all attacking in unison as the screen cut to a shot of Draconis glaring at the downed Shadows before he delivered his All-Out Attack by pelting them all with well-placed throwing knives and turning to flex in place as the remaining Shadows started bleeding out from huge wounds and turning back into black mist.
"And that's all she wrote, as they say! Score one for the Phantom Thieves!" Draconis said as the screen popped up an image of a dragon curling up over Draconis' head with the caption 'The dragon has judged you, and you were found unworthy. Farewell!" while Draconis did a dab as he posed in front of the image with a smirk on his face as the battle ended, Joker rolling his eyes at how flashy of an All-Out Attack Draconis had, but also slightly surprised it didn't involve dragon fire. During the post-battle results, Joker leveled up to level 6, making him smirk.
"With this power..." Joker said as he felt his stats increase with the level up. After the battle, Mona gave the group an approving look.
"Nice going! Great teamwork! I knew you guys would nail it. Improving yourselves is important, but learning to fight as a team is just as vital to our survival. Also, cool All-Out Attack, Draconis. I should've suspected yours would be flashier than most." Mona said as Draconis smirked.
"Naturally. I might not be a man of many words sometimes, but I do take pride in what I do, so it stands to reason I'd want a polished, aesthetically pleasing All-Out Attack." Draconis said confidently, either not seeing or ignoring Joker and Skull rolling their eyes at Draconis basically preening his ego from Mona's praise. Mona nodded and spoke up.
"Fair enough. In any case, by coordinating our efforts, we can take control of the battle as often as possible. Baton Passes will help a lot with that!" Mona said as everyone else nodded and the group kept moving. After a bit, the group reached a staircase which they ascended only to find their way blocked by a broken section of the staircase partway up, leaving them to have to duck down a nearby hallway as Skull swore while looking around.
"Damn...There's one here too...Oh well...Guess we just gotta ambush it from behind again..." Skull said as Mona huffed and spoke up.
"Well sure, if you want to go about it the orthodox way. But there's a more stylish route! Listen up! See those sofas on the sides of the hallway? Hide behind those so you can get closer to the enemy. Once it's in range, jump on it and rip its mask off!" Mona said as Skull whistled appreciatively before speaking up.
"Whoa...That does sound pretty damn cool..." Skull said as Draconis rolled his eyes before speaking up.
"Naturally. It was Mona's idea after all, and more often than not his ideas usually are good ones." Draconis said. Joker and Skull shrugged but nodded while Panther spoke up.
"But still...Hey! This isn't a movie!" Panther protested as Draconis spoke up.
"So what, Panther? The Metaverse isn't exactly the real world either, if you haven't noticed. So it's not impossible for Mona's idea to work here." Draconis said in a deadpan tone as Mona blinked before speaking up.
"Yes, well, anyways...Joker, with your poise, you should be able to pull it off. Give it a try!" Mona said, sensing a possible fight between Panther and Draconis and wanting to stop it before it could start and so changed the subject, getting an approving nod from Joker. Joker then led the group from cover to cover until they manage to successfully ambush and defeat the nearby Shadow in combat. After the battle, Skull nodded approvingly as he spoke up.
"Whoa, damn! Sweet! That totally works!" Skull said as Panther nodded, looking sheepish as she spoke up.
"That was so cool! They totally can't spot us while we're hiding! Also, sorry for doubting the plan before, Draconis. I was just being skeptical for no reason it seems." Panther said apologetically to Draconis who waved off the apology with a smile as he spoke up.
"No worries, Panther. I can see how Mona's idea could be a tad far-fetched in theory, but I knew it was sound in execution the whole time. So I understand your concern." Draconis said agreeably getting a relieved nod from Panther. Mona nodded as he spoke up.
"Exactly, Draconis. I like that you have such faith in me. But I can understand Panther's concerns too. That being said, that's right-so long as we lay low like that, enemies won't even notice us. Whenever we hide, we can take our time preparing for the next ambush." Mona said as the others nodded, and Joker saw a door nearby, going to open it only for it to not open, even when he shoulder-barged it. Panther frowned as she spoke up.
"Looks like we can't go that way." Panther said as the others nodded before Joker spotted another Shadow, quickly moving to deftly ambush said Shadow. In the ensuing battle, Joker was able to recruit a Mandrake, or the flower-wearing Shadow, to his side as a Persona. Mona spoke up after that.
"You're incredible, Joker! Looks like you've got a new mask!" Mona said as Joker nodded. After the battle, the group followed the hall to another door, which opened this time. In the next room, they saw bars around parts of the room, and iron chains attached to hoops hanging from the mouth of horse statues making Skull speak up.
"Joker! Look! There's something in there. But the bars're blockin' our way in..." Skull said as Mona and Draconis frowned and the former spoke up.
"How suspicious...If he's protecting it this securely it has to be important. That means there should be a way in and out of there." Mona said before looking at Joker as he spoke.
"Joker, do you think you can solve the mystery of this room? I'm sure your observation skills will help you get through!" Mona said as Joker nodded. After a bit of looking around, Joker nodded to himself as he pulled on two of the chains, after which a chime played as the bars raised themselves up and Skull gasped while speaking up.
"Whoa..." Skull said in surprise as Mona smirked while speaking up.
"As expected from you, Joker!" Mona said approvingly as the group kept moving. After a second they walked into the now open part of the room, finding a piece of paper sitting on the center of the tables in the middle of the room. Joker picked it up as Skull frowned and spoke up.
"What the hell? He had it all locked up and shit, but it was just some old map...?" Skull asked with a frown as Draconis and Mona huffed and the latter spoke up.
"You're hopeless, Skull...Don't you realize how vital a map is?" Mona asked as Draconis chuckled dryly before speaking up.
"Given that he was frustrated by it, I'd say not, Mona. But maybe that was just for hard the map ended up being to get to. I guess I do have to give him the benefit of the doubt from time to time, after all." Draconis said with a smirk as Skull huffed while Mona laid the map out so the group could look it over before speaking up.
"Having this will give us a better grasp of the topography of the Palace. It's a true necessity for a phantom thief. This should make securing a route much easier." Mona said as Panther blinked before speaking up with a frown.
"Wait, does it say where the treasure is on there?" Panther asked. Mona looked at Panther before looking at the map then back at Panther before sighing as he shook his head in the negative and spoke up.
"Oh...Actually, it seems like this map is incomplete...There might be more of them lying around." Mona said as Skull nodded before speaking up.
"Wanna get going? Mkay, let's start checkin' what we can. We'll prolly find another map along the way somewhere." Skull said as the others nodded before they kept moving. After a bit, they came to another area where they could just see a similar handle to the ones Joker had previously pulled, but it was blocked off by iron bars making Mona, Draconis and Skull frown as the latter spoke up.
"Dammit, I can see the handle we need to pull, but these bars're in the way! Now what do we do?" Skull asked as Mona rolled his eyes before speaking up, Draconis also huffing at Skull's question as Mona spoke.
"Skull, you're so clueless sometimes. Clearly, we have to look around more. It's a safe bet there's a ledge or something somewhere we can use to get around that blockade." Mona said as Draconis nodded before also speaking up, pointing towards a nearby shelf as he spoke.
"I agree, both with your assessment of Skull and your guess about the workaround, Mona. Maybe that shelf that was behind us when we walked into this room can be jumped on to find a way around?" Draconis suggested as Joker and Mona blinked before looking where Draconis had pointed, and seeing that sure enough there was a bookcase in that direction, making Joker groan at not seeing it while Mona smiled and spoke up.
"Ah, well spotted Draconis. That could serve our purposes rather nicely." Mona said as the group hopped up onto the bookcase in question, eventually finding their way onto a walkway, and then some chandeliers which the group quickly hopped across. After hopping down onto another part of the room, Mona and Draconis smirked as they saw an open side passage to duck down, which the group quickly did before Mona's nose twitched as he spoke up.
"Hmm...I'm sensing a gap in the cognition. Might be another Safe Room nearby." Mona said as Joker walked in the indicated direction and sure enough there was a safe room. Once inside, Panther smiled as she spoke up for the first time in a bit.
"Oh, a Safe Room! Thank goodness!" Panther said as the group used the opportunity to catch their breath a bit. After a short break, Joker walked towards the door, subtly nodding his head to signify break time was over, to which Panther nodded as she spoke up.
"Okay, let's move on!" Panther said, getting nods of agreement from Skull, Joker, Mona and Draconis. After a bit of walking, they entered another unexplored part of the Palace, at which point Skull spoke up with a slight sigh.
"If the map's right, we still got a long way to go..." Skull said, trailing off with a frown as Mona spoke up.
"That's not all-there are an awful lot of patrolling Shadows, too. Now, you can't just blindly rush into a fight. First you need to ascertain how strong they are." Mona said, getting nods from Draconis and Joker, a smile and nod from Panther, and a confused look from Skull who spoke up once more.
"How're we supposed to do that?" Skull said, as Draconis just rolled his eyes at how little Skull was understanding, but Mona spoke up before he could voice his thoughts.
"Well, we'll need to observe the enemy's actions and get some insight into their skills." Mona said as he turned to Joker while he kept speaking.
"You should be capable of that, Joker." Mona said as Joker nodded before Draconis spoke up.
"Makes sense to me, Mona. Too bad Skull seems to be unbelievably slow on the uptake most of the time, since he has quite a bit of potential as a battler." Draconis said, as Joker and Mona nodded their agreement while Panther frowned a bit as she spoke up.
"While that is probably true, isn't that a bit unfair to call Skull slow on the uptake, when you and I both have also had moments of not understanding stuff as well?" Panther pointed out to Draconis who blinked before stroking his chin in thought before speaking up with a slight smile.
"Ah, fair point there, Panther. Regardless, Skull has had way more moments like that then probably myself, you AND Joker COMBINED, so I don't think my statement is either inaccurate or unfair that much. However I will apologize for offending Skull with it since I do respect him as both a comrade and a person even if I criticize him a lot." Draconis said honestly making Skull initially huff before hearing the rest of Draconis' reply and smiling as he nodded before speaking up.
"Ohh, okay I getcha Draconis. You're only hard on me like this because you believe I have lots of potential, hence why you crack down so hard on my miscues. Very interesting way to put it. But I forgive you since you do make fair points, even if I don't like hearing them." Skull said honestly as Draconis and Joker exchanged wry smirks as the group kept moving. After a bit, the group encountered a new type of Shadow which Joker identified while recruiting it as Cait Sith (Despite Skull and Draconis both jokingly calling it Black Puss In Boots, to the disapproving frowns of Panther and Mona) as it became another mask for him as Mona spoke up.
"That's a new one, isn't it?" Mona asked Joker who nodded approvingly as he spoke up.
"Indeed it is, Mona. I'm starting to get quite the small variety of Personas gathered, though I'm sure I'm far from having every Persona there is." Joker said as Draconis huffed before speaking up.
"Oh, without doubt you've a ways to go on that front, Joker. Besides, I don't know that you could handle all the Personas there is at one time. You should just take on what you feel you can handle." Draconis said sagely as Mona nodded approvingly to Draconis' advice as he spoke up.
"I agree with Draconis, Joker. Don't over-exert yourself trying to collect every Persona there is too soon. In time, you'll no doubt accomplish that goal, but don't try to go for it too early in case you burn yourself out. After all, we need you here with us, Joker." Mona said as Skull and Panther nodded their agreement as did Draconis. As the battle ended, Panther saw she'd leveled up. After some more battles (which also involved two new types of Shadows appearing, one of which that got killed before Joker could recruit it and the other one he'd already fused in Agathion) the group eventually reached more unexplored sections of the castle at which point Skull frowned at another set of bars blocking the group's way and spoke up.
"It's, uh...Seriously...More bars?" Skull asked in annoyance as Panther nodded and spoke up.
"But there's a way to open it, right? Let's start looking, Joker." Panther said to Joker who nodded. After a bit, Joker looked around and after running around a corner to an out of the way chain, Mona spoke up with a blink and a smile.
"Oh! Now there's something we recognize! Do you think...?" Mona said, trailing off as Joker looked at him before speaking up.
"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it is what we think. But let's get this done and then think." Joker said as he pulled the chain, to nods from everyone else. Joker then walked back to the other chains, pulling the one next to the iron bars, and as before, a jingle played as the bars raised up, making Mona smile approvingly as he spoke up once more.
"Piece of cake! Yep, that was it! Let's go!" Mona said as Draconis chuckled before speaking up at that point.
"Yep, we can always count on Joker to be good at puzzle-solving in a pinch. Good job, Joker." Draconis said as Joker nodded.
"Exactly. Let's get going, guys!" Joker said, as the others nodded approvingly and the group kept moving. The group then entered off the previously gated-off area, only to look around and blink as Panther spoke up in confusion.
"Is this...? Boy there are an awful lot of bars in here for being... what looks like a dining room?" Panther said as Mona nodded his agreement and spoke up.
"Yep, sure looks like to me. Now, according to the map..." Mona said, trailing off as the camera panned a ways to the east to show more bars blocking the way forward before panning back as Mona kept speaking.
"Ah, I see. There's a path beyond those bars there." Mona said as Draconis and Skull both shrugged, Joker just nodded and Panther frowned as she spoke up.
"Looks like they're making things tougher for us yet again..." Panther said as Skull spoke up at that point.
"Well...Eh, it shouldn't be too bad. Let's just get it done." Skull said as Draconis nodded before speaking up.
"Well said, Skull. Looks like Joker might be up once more to solve the puzzle." Draconis said with a smirk, as Joker nodded while returning the smirk.
"Exactly. Let's keep going though in the meantime." Joker said as the group nodded and kept moving. After some navigating, the group managed to open the path to a treasure chest which when opened, revealed an item called the 'Sooty Ghastly Gear', making Mona visibly cringe as he spoke up.
"Hey, wait! Hey...That stuff is disgusting. You should get it cleaned up somewhere." Mona said as Panther and Draconis nodded before Skull spoke up.
"Possibly, though maybe keeping it as is is a viable option as well? Who knows when having sooty items could come in handy?" Skull said with a shrug, making Mona and Draconis exchange stunned looks at how sound Skull's logic actually once. Draconis then spoke up.
"Wow, I'm impressed Skull. That was a well-made point. Good job. But it's unlikely we'll run into said situation right away if at all, but I guess for now it's moot since we're not in a position to be able to do anything with that sooty item anyways so we can probably table that debate for now, right Mona?" Draconis said as Mona nodded as he spoke up, still cringing at the sight of the sooty gear in Joker's hands as he spoke.
"That's true, Draconis. Although, come to think of it, I remember seeing a Shadow with one...Maybe if we negotiate properly, we can get one." Mona said before blinking as he remembered an important detail as he kept speaking.
"Wait a second, wasn't there a coin laundry near Leblanc?" Morgana asked Joker and Draconis, both of whom blinked then nodded as the latter spoke up in surprise.
"That's...actually something neither Joker or I had thought about until you pointed it out, Mona-sensei. That's true. Although, when are we going to have the time to visit a laundromat given our current schedule? Besides, last I checked, our only real free time is at night, and as you might recall, Joker and I aren't able to go out at night for the time being due to...I guess for the sake of staying on theme, we'll call him Coffee Daddy, as much as I feel like that's a vastly insufficient choice of potential code name/alias, it's the best I can come up with unfortunately.
Anyways, last I checked, Coffee Daddy locks us in the cafe at night and advised us not to go out for the time being, so until he lets us go out at night, it's unlikely we'll have time to do any laundry. But that's good to commit to memory for when that time comes at least, Mona." Draconis said as both Mona and Joker winced at Draconis referring to the owner of Leblanc as 'Coffee Daddy', but agreeing there wasn't a better code name for him for the time being. At that point Joker spoke up with a shrug.
"Fair enough. Now what say we keep moving? Joker said as the others nodded their agreement before the group kept moving. Joker then blinked as he spotted another chain which he pulled, hearing a jingle and a lot of bars raising and lowering, after which Mona smirked and spoke up.
"And...finished! And that's that! Time to move!" Mona said as the group kept moving with a smattering of approving nods. As the group kept moving, Joker managed to recruit the Shadow that the group had previously defeated before he could recruit it the last time they ran into it, which he found out was named Silky as it became his mask. Mona spoke up at that point to signify the end of the battle, not seeing Draconis shrug at the reused dialogue.
"That's a new one, isn't it?" Mona asked Joker who nodded as Draconis spoke up.
"Pretty much, If Joker keeps this up, he might end up recruiting every recruitable Shadow in this palace that he CAN recruit. I'm sure there's going to be at least some he's too low-level to recruit eventually though." Draconis said as both Mona and Joker winced before nodding agreeably to Draconis' sound use of logic as the battle ended. As the battle ended, Draconis finally hit level 6, at which point Smaug gained the ability Garu, surprising Mona who had previously thought he was the group's only Wind user, but this gain proved him wrong. Draconis then smirked as the skill was added while he spoke up.
"Heh, not bad, another new ability to add to my arsenal. Ah progress, thy name is Draconis." Draconis said with a smug smirk as Skull and Joker both rolled their eyes at the slight display of ego by Draconis but said nothing to it as the group kept moving. As the group started crawling into a vent to try and explore more of the Palace, Panther frowned as Skull ended up crawling behind her by chance, making her scowl as she spoke up.
"Skull, if you even think about looking up, I'll kick you into next week!" Panther snapped as Draconis and Mona winced at both her tone and her remark while Skull huffed.
"Wasn't planning on it, Panther. Relax. Let's just keep going." Skull said as Joker nodded approvingly from the front of the group as everyone kept moving. As the group emerged from the vent, they realized they were in an enclosed room, but Mona smirked as he saw the treasure chest being guarded by a shadow and spoke up.
"Heh, nice! Look, a treasure chest! Let's take whatever is in there too!" Mona said as both Panther and Draconis frowned.
"You say that Mona, but is it really as easy as all that?" Draconis said uncertainly as Panther nodded before speaking up in Draconis' defense.
"Exactly. Oh, but wait...Uh, there's a guard there..." Panther said, trailing off as Mona shrugged and spoke up.
"That's okay." Mona said as he turned to Joker and kept speaking, ignoring the uncertain looks Draconis and Panther exchanged nearby with Skull as he spoke.
"Hey, Joker, do you think we can ambush it from here?" Mona asked Joker who stroked his chin contemplatively for a moment as he sized up the area and eventually nodded.
"I do believe so, but we can't afford to mess up the ambush lest we end up ambushed instead." Joker said, seemingly looking at Skull as he said this, making Draconis chuckle in amusement at Joker apparently singling out Skull at that moment. Skull huffed, and made to object to Joker's remark but Mona spoke up before Skull had the chance to object.
"He has a point, Skull. But that said, it ought to go the same as when you hide and jump on an enemy. Give it a shot." Mona said as Joker nodded, and the group easily ambushed the Shadow. After the group dog-piled on the damage onto the Shadow, leaving it on just very little health, the 'Crypt-Dwelling Pyromaniac' as the Shadow was identified as frowned as it spoke up, looking mainly at Joker as it spoke.
"Hee-ho...I surrender! Please have mercy, ho!" Crypt-dwelling Pyromaniac said, ignoring the annoyed huff from Panther at their use of the word 'ho!' as Joker spoke up.
"I understand. Lend me your power." Joker said to Crypt-dwelling Pyromaniac who nodded as they spoke up in delight.
"Thank you, ho! My heart was on fire for a momen- H-Hee!? I remember now, ho! I am thou, thou art I! I'm not a Shadow here, ho! I live in the sea of the hee-human heart! I'm Jack-O-Lantern, ho! I'm you, and you're me!" The now-renamed Jack-O-Lantern said as it became Joker's mask, prompting him to have to get rid of a Persona as his stock limit was exceeded with Jack-O-Lantern's joining, prompting Joker to have to ponder a bit before eventually releasing Pixie reluctantly for Jack-O-Lantern, making Draconis and Panther to both frown at Joker keeping Jack-O-Lantern as Draconis spoke up with a huff.
"Well done, Joker. You have yet another new Persona. But really man, did you have to keep the one that says 'ho' every other sentence!? I feel like Panther was practically giving you a death glare by the end of Jack-O-Lantern's speech as it joined up! I get you had to collect it, but surely you could've just waited until you had an open spot to get it. But that's just my opinion. I'll let Panther voice hers as well since she clearly looks like she wants to." Draconis said as Panther nodded before speaking up.
"Exactly Draconis, you get it. Also, if you start saying 'ho' as often as your new Persona does, don't be surprised if I end up slapping you for being rude, Joker. I didn't think you'd keep such an offensive Persona." Panther said huffily as Mona spoke up to avoid a fight breaking out as he saw the look on Joker's face.
"Hey hey, let's take it down a notch before someone says or does something they'll regret here. I agree with Panther that Jack-O-Lantern's word choice is less than ideal, but at the same time, I'm pretty sure she's thinking of the other spelling of 'ho' that is offensive, but I'm not going to tell her not to be offended either since I wouldn't dare to correct a lady, being the gentleman that I am and all." Mona said as Skull and Joker huffed before the former spoke up with a smirk.
"Uh-huh, right, Mona's such a gentleman. Personally, I think Draconis is much more of a gentleman than Mona could ever be in my opinion, mostly since he actually looks human unlike Mona." Skull said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.
"Easy there, Skull. Let's not bring up Mona-sensei looking like a cat again, yeah? Let's just leave it at Panther being rightly offended by Jack-O-Lantern's crass word choices. But in the spirit of everyone getting along, Joker, can you just not use that Persona unless you absolutely have to, which I don't think you will?" Draconis suggested as a compromise to try and keep the peace, which Joker easily nodded his agreement to as he spoke up, giving Panther his best contrite look as he spoke.
"But of course. I apologize to Lady Panther for offending her with my decision to keep Jack-O-Lantern. I'll definitely not use that Persona unless I have no other choice. Is that acceptable, Panther?" Joker said to Panther who frowned but nodded.
"That'll work. I accept your apology, Joker." Panther said as Mona decided it was his turn to huff and speak up.
"I'm glad that's settled, but Joker? Don't steal my lines! Only I get to call her 'Lady Panther'!" Mona said with a pout, making Panther and Draconis chuckle at the look on Mona's face as the latter spoke up while the former kept giggling.
"Aw, don't be jealous of Joker, Mona-sensei. I know you're the original gentleman thief in our group despite Skull's flattering claim that I'm the most gentlemanly here, which I respectfully disagree with. I'd never want to be better than Mona-sensei at anything this soon since he's our, or at least my, sensei and all." Draconis said appeasingly to Mona who sighed but smiled and nodded to Draconis' words.
"Eh, I guess it is what it is. Let's keep moving team!" Mona said as Joker just nodded at Mona beating him to getting things moving. The others nodded as Panther spoke up.
"Oh, wow. I didn't realize even Shadows beg for their lives...That's actually kind of surprising..." Panther said, trailing off as Mona nodded, smiling at Panther as he spoke up.
"Shadows have emotions too, you know. Of course they'll be afraid if you corner them like that. It might be worth purposely creating such situations to get them begging for their lives. The Shadows seem to have different attitudes, too. If we take advantage of that, negotiations may go more smoothly. I'll try to let you know what kind of answers the Shadows want to hear, depending on their personalities." Mona said as Draconis smirked and nodded as he spoke up with a wry grin on what was visible of his face as he spoke, ignoring the grins on Joker and Skull's faces at Draconis once more praising Mona as he focused on Mona while speaking.
"And there's the Mona-sensei we know and respect. Not surprised you'd be able to pick up on such things at all. But anyways, let's keep it moving, yeah?" Draconis said as the others nodded before Joker moved to open the chest which had an accessory called the Breeze Ring in it. Mona spoke up after Joker pocketed the accessory.
"This accessory seems to have some special power...I bet it'll be useful somehow!" Mona said as the others nodded and kept moving. After a bit, the group reached the end of the hall and went in the door nearby, only for Mona to sigh as he saw it led to another broken staircase, this break being practically at the start of the stairs, and spoke up.
"Man...Looks like it's in pretty bad shape..." Mona said as Skull spoke up after blinking.
"Uhhh, I don't think we're goin' any further this way..." Skull said, trailing off as Panther spoke up.
"Should we check somewhere else?" Panther asked as Draconis and Joker stroked their chins contemplatively before Mona spoke up after shaking his head to Panther's question.
"Wait-look up there." Mona said as the group saw a sparkling goat head handle on the area above, making Skull blink as he spoke up.
"What about it? Are we throwin' a rope over that and climbin' it?" Skull asked, his comment making Draconis frown, before his eyes slowly widened as he had an idea, making him look at Mona before he spoke up.
"Actually, Skull...that's not a bad idea, if a bit inelegant for our needs. That said, Mona, did you happen to mention if any of our 'tools' happened to include anything along the lines of a grappling hook that one of us can use to swing the others up, by any chance? If so, that could be our ticket to the next floor." Draconis said as Joker and Mona's eyes went wide at Draconis' suggestion, the latter frowning at Skull's suggestion as he spoke up.
"First of all...Skull, Phantom thieves do things a bit more stylishly than that, as Draconis mentioned...and Draconis, you're a genius! I know just what'll do the trick." Mona said as he produced a grappling hook from nowhere, before handing it over to Joker who nodded as he attempted to fit it to his right wrist, flexing it to be sure it fit securely which it did, making Mona grin happily as he spoke up, pleased with the solution Draconis helped him to devise.
"And there we go. Also, leave it to Draconis to think outside of the box and hit upon the solution we need. And Joker? Good-seems like it fits properly." Mona said as Joker nodded before frowning as he spoke up in confusion.
"I'm glad it fits, but Mona? What'd you strap onto me exactly?" Joker asked, making both Skull and Draconis, in a rare moment of synchronicity, simultaneously facefault at Joker's question, getting amused giggles from Panther at Skull and Draconis' unintended synchronicity as well as the indignant huff on Mona's face as he spoke up with a grin.
"That's just a little something I've been working on in secret." Mona said with a grin as Draconis rolled his eyes and spoke up, ignoring the facefault his next comment got from Mona as he spoke, having had a realization as Mona spoke up.
"Oh, so THAT's what you were up until all hours of the morning working on the last couple nights. I'm honestly surprised Joker slept through all the clanging and banging you were making, but more surprised I didn't since I'm usually the deeper sleeper of me and Joker. I should've guessed it was you cooking up a surprise for us, Mona-sensei. Thank you as always for being so practical, even if your ability to work undetected probably needs a bit of work." Draconis said as both Joker and Panther laughed at the annoyed look on Mona's face at Draconis' words, while Skull just smirked and crossed his arms as he spoke up.
"Nice to know Draconis is at least an equal-opportunity roaster if nothing else." Skull pointed out as Draconis chuckled.
"Skull, that's an understatement if I've ever heard one. Just ask Joker here, no one gets away from being roasted by me when it's required, except for Coffee Daddy that is. I respect him too much to roast him. Plus I believe I recall hearing a saying once that goes to the effect of 'never bite the hand that feeds you' or something like that." Draconis replied as Joker chuckled before speaking up.
"I still can't believe we decided on Coffee Daddy as his unofficial code name without his knowledge or input. Imagine how easily we could probably internet meme the crap out of that code name if we wanted to." Joker said with a grin as Draconis frowned and spoke up once more.
"But we're not gonna do that, are we Joker? They're called code names for a reason, after all. Wouldn't be much of a code name if the whole world knew about them would they?" Draconis pouted out dryly as Mona and Panther laughed at the frown on Joker's face as he nodded reluctantly.
"Fair enough, Draconis. I stand corrected." Joker said with a huff as Mona stopped laughing long enough to speak up.
"Anyways, the grappling hook lets you zip to hard-to-reach locations in a flash. You'll see what I'm talking about when you test it out. Go ahead, give it a try." Mona said as Joker got the Grappling Hook. Joker nodded as he looked at Mona before speaking up.
"I guess I can give it a go. I mean if nothing else, you're trusting in me to do this, so I owe it to you to at least try." Joker said uncertainly as Mona nodded.
"I understand your apprehension and unease. But I bet you'll be fine if you're smart about it, Joker. Let's give it a try!" Mona said as Joker nodded, flicking his left wrist as the grappling hook extended out towards the indicated spot, easily grappling the group up past the broken section of the stairs. Once they'd all landed, Skull spoke up.
"Whoa, that was amazing! The way you grappled us through the air was all like, KA-SWOOSH! Freakin' amazing, Joker! Though I think Draconis was too busy holding onto Panther as we grappled to really enjoy the ride." Skull said teasingly as Draconis and Panther huffed at Skull before the former spoke up.
"Skull? Do us all a favor and shut it with your teasing right now. I was only carrying Panther like I was since Joker only has so many hands for grappling, and one of them was holding the hook, while the other was carrying Mona-sensei while you were holding onto Joker's waist as I recall. Ergo, I was the only one who could lift up Panther while we rode the grappling cord up the tower behind you guys. You only saw us because you looked down.
Besides, if Panther had told me not to carry her, I'd have respected that since I'm not going to make a lady do anything she doesn't want to. But anyways, that was so unreal, Joker! Best. Ride. EVER! Next time, hopefully Mona-sensei will make enough of those for us all to use, as well as extras to be on the safe side since who knows if we'll manage to get any additional teammates in future." Draconis said as Panther nodded before speaking up with a smile on her face as she spoke.
"I agree with Draconis. Grappling like that was so much fun! Also, Draconis, I don't mind you carrying me when we grapple, but let's not make a habit of it. I don't know about Joker or Skull yet, but I kind of am starting to see you as the younger brother I never had to some degree since I was an only child." Panther said as Draconis nodded as he spoke up once more.
"Fair enough, Panther. As I said before, hopefully we'll all have our own grappling hooks before long so we don't have to carry each other more than necessary anyways since it's kind of impractical from a stealth-based standpoint in my opinion. But I am flattered you see me as a younger brother." Draconis said as Mona spoke up.
"Oh-ho, looking cool, Joker! I knew you could do it! From now on, use that grappling hook to get to any out-of-reach places you can grapple to." Mona said as Joker nodded while the group kept moving. Shortly afterwards, Mona spoke up again.
"Treasure chest spotted! Must be something good inside." Mona said as Joker nodded, opening up the chest to find more Sooty Ghastly Gear. After that, the group backtracked since the path forward was barred off by more iron bars, eventually finding an open passageway a bit further down which they started to walk through before Draconis and Mona blinked, pulling Skull and Joker back respectively as Panther hopped back on her own as Skull spoke up, seeing what Mona and Draconis had seen which was a tough-looking Shadow, making everyone wince as Skull spoke up to voice the group's thoughts.
"Yo, that guy looks like bad news." Skull said as Draconis, Panther and Joker nodded agreement while Mona nodded and spoke up.
"Yeah, he does look pretty tough...Not only that, but it seems like he's more aware of his environment than the others. We'd better proceed with caution." Mona said as the others nodded and kept moving. After a bit, the group successfully ambushed the Shadow, who put up quite the fight but fell to the coordinated efforts of the group, especially when Kusa managed to score a critical hit with Smaug's Headbutt.
The attack, which wound up with the achievement that it impressed Joker and Panther to see the giant dragon charging forward at the Shadow, also had the result of the light letting the group get a good view of Smaug's rust-brown upper layers, striking green eyes, silvery-grew claw tips, solid brown claws, silvery underside, and impressive legs as it smashed into the Shadow with good force, knocking it out. After the fight, Joker hit level 7, smirking as he felt his stats increase. He then spoke up with a grin.
"Heh, power courses through me!" Joker said as he leveled up. At that point, the battle ended. After the battle, the group saw another handle, making Skull speak up.
"Hey look, another handle! If I remember right, we just gotta pull it?" Skull said as Mona shook his head and spoke up.
"Not quite, Skull. Wait, there's a round indentation underneath...It looks like it won't move unless we fill that." Mona said as Panther huffed before speaking up.
"So we need a key...I wonder where it could be." Panther said as Draconis chuckled before speaking up in his usual dry but amused tone.
"Isn't it obvious, Panther? It's probably hidden away somewhere on this floor. Meaning we get to do more room combing." Draconis deadpanned as Mona spoke up.
"That's true." Mona said as he looked at Joker while he kept speaking.
"Let's go look for it, Joker!" Mona said as Joker nodded and the group kept moving. After going back the way we came, Mona's ears suddenly perked up as he looked towards the nearby door and spoke up in surprise.
"Oh, this feeling...looks like there's a safe room." Mona said as the others smiled before Joker reached the indicated door, and opened it, revealing that it was in fact a safe room, which Mona smiled at as he spoke up.
"Ooh, a new safe room." Mona said as the 'East Building 3F' as the room was marked was added to the quick-travel list for Joker. Skull then spoke up.
"Sweet, I think we're gonna be able to come right back here if we wanna." Skull said as the others nodded. Joker then approached the table where the others were already sat.
"Before we discuss things, let's quickly use some healing stuff." Joker said as he applied the Stamina Kit S that he'd gotten from Mona, feeling this was probably a good spot to use it, as reluctant as he was to do so. After the Stamina Kit took effect, Mona smiled and spoke up.
"Phew...That definitely helped. Is there anything else you want to discuss?" Mona asked Joker who nodded.
"Of course. First and foremost, how's everyone holding up?" Joker asked the others, getting shrugs from everyone while Draconis spoke up.
"I think most of us are good, but I got the impression that both Skull and Panther's stamina is a tad low, though not as much as it probably was before that Stamina Kit. Clearly, we, and by we I mean you Joker, need to get that doctor to stock stamina-recovery items ASAP so we have plenty of them for future use." Draconis said as Skull nodded before taking his turn to speak up.
"I agree, Draconis. Damn, I let myself get worn out..." Skull said with a frown as he realized his stamina was low. Mona nodded as he spoke up while looking at Joker.
"Some party members are getting tired. Be sure to take them into consideration, Joker." Mona said as Joker nodded before speaking up again.
"Understood. Hopefully we'll reach the Treasure sooner rather than later so we can leave and let the tired party members get rest. That said, how's our progress?" Joker said as Skull spoke up once more with a shrug.
"Phew...There're seriously tons of enemies 'round here..." Skull said before looking at Mona as he kept speaking.
"Hey Mona, how far in are we?" Skull asked Mona who frowned as he spoke up.
"I think this is still the beginning stages. I don't sense the Treasure anywhere near here." Mona said as Panther and Draconis exchanged stunned glances as the former spoke up.
"I guess we have a long way to go..." Panther said as Draconis nodded before speaking up.
"Agreed. I suppose we should start pacing ourselves so the ones who are low on stamina don't wind up fatiguing themselves too quickly." Draconis said as Mona nodded.
"Exactly. Was that all, Joker?" Mona asked Joker. Joker nodded.
"Yep, mostly just wanted to check how everyone was feeling and how our progress was. With both of those done, let's keep going and hopefully make a lot more progress before we find our next safe room." Joker said as Mona and Skull nodded agreement and the latter spoke up with a grin.
"All right, let's go." Skull said. Joker nodded as he stood up to leave. He then walked to the exit door and nodded to the others as Panther spoke up.
"All right, let's go. We still have work to do!" Panther said as the group went back out to resume their infiltration. After taking out a few more Shadows, the group found another small room behind a doorway, but this one was just a small room with a bookcase, though Joker frowned at one of the books that caught his eyes, walking up to it.
"What is this...?" Joker said seemingly to himself but thought out loud. Mona looked at Joker and spoke up.
"Are you curious about that book, Joker? Hm...Let's take it with us, just in case!" Mona said and Joker nodded as he grabbed the book, though he along with Skull, Draconis and Panther frowned as they saw the title of the book was 'The Slave Book'. Mona spoke up once more.
"It's called 'The Slave Book', huh? That sounds kind of important..." Mona said as Draconis huffed.
"True, but it also sounds like a further reminder of how much of a douche Kamoshida is. Or am I wrong on that?" Draconis said with a frown as Skull spoke up quickly.
"Hell no you're not wrong, Draconis! But let's keep going rather than be angry at Kamoshida for now." Skull said as the group nodded and kept moving. As they reached the next room, they ambushed the Shadow inside, Joker yelling out 'I'll reveal your true form!' as he yanked the Shadow's mask off mid-ambush to start the battle. The group then knocked down the Silky but accidentally killed the new Shadows that accompanied Silky prompting the group to shrug but nod as Mona, who'd tagged in for a near-depleted Panther nodded as he glared at the downed Silky before speaking up.
"Too late for apologies! All-Out Attack!" Mona said as the group beat up Silky before the screen cut to a still of Mona leaping onto a conveniently placed chair, a cigar appearing in one hand as he flicked it at Silky before saying in a smug voice, 'GAME OVER!' as a giant circle with a cat's pawprint appeared in the background, the words 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!' being visible in the middle of the pawprint as Mona smirked, ending the battle. As a result of the battle, both Mona, along with Joker's Agathion Persona, leveled up, Mona getting to level 7 and Agathion to level 5. After the battle, Joker found another bookcase with a suspicious book in it. Mona spoke up again.
"How suspicious...Did that catch your attention, Joker? We should take it with us!" Mona said as Joker grabbed the book, frowning as he saw it was titled 'The Beefcake Book', and pocketed it for later. Panther frowned and spoke up, having also seen the title of the book.
"Umm...The Beefcake Book? Hmm...Looks like it's some weird book on bodybuilding techniques." Panther said as Draconis shrugged at that before speaking up.
"Probably it's something Kamoshida's convinced himself will make him even more appealing to the ladies. Ugh, disgusting bastard." Draconis huffed, Skull and Joker nodding their approval of Draconis' reaction even as Panther frowned at the language from Draconis but just went with it as the group kept moving. After returning to the main hallway, Joker frowned as he found a bookcase with a hole in it. Skull frowned as he looked at the bookcase before speaking up in disgust.
"Huh? You find somethin'?" Skull asked as he looked over the book titles before visibly flinching as he cringed at the titles, speaking up again.
"Ugh, really? He has books like 'Muscle Glory' and 'Macho Muscles'? ...God, everything here's all about being ripped. That guy's totally in love with his muscles." Skull said as both Panther and Draconis also cringed while the former spoke up.
"Gross." Panther said simply as Draconis nodded, adding his opinion on top of Panther's as he spoke up.
"Gross indeed. Narcissus, look out. You might have some competition in the form of Kamoshida." Draconis joked as Skull and Panther blinked, not getting the joke while Joker and Mona both chuckled at the well-timed quip from Draconis.
"Pretty much." Mona said as the group kept moving. In the next room, the group ambushed another Shadow, Joker managing to re-recruit Pixie in place of Jack-O-Lantern in the process as the battle ended quickly. After the battle, Joker found another bookcase with a suspicious book in it. Mona nodded as he spoke up.
"Let's take this book with us too, Joker. It could be useful." Mona said as Joker nodded, pocketing the book which he and Panther both frowned at seeing was called 'The Queen Book' as Joker pocketed it. Skull frowned as he too saw the title before speaking up.
"Um... 'The Queen Book'? Is this some kinda special book?" Skull asked as Draconis shrugged as he spoke up once more.
"Seems like it. Though I don't think I want to know exactly what sort of queens are in that book." Draconis said with a shudder as the group nodded and kept moving. After that, the group found the Safe Room once more, and went inside to rest, regroup and plan out their next move, knowing there was still a long ways to go in the Palace...
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: And boom, another chapter down! I cut it a bit short compared to previous chapters, but at almost 15k words in length (before the A/N of course), it's still a decent-length chapter. Next chapter will obviously be more Palace infiltration, probably lots more dialogue, and maybe the Treasure route being secured as well as a certain something ELSE coming up that as far as I'm aware is unique to Persona 5 Royal since I don't think they had it in the original Persona 5.
However, anyone who's reading this and has played through the original Persona 5 can correct me in the reviews if I'm wrong. And with that, I'll leave it at that for now for the sake of leaving you all curious, and giving you something to be excited about for next chapter! So yeah, until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!
