A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5: The Phantom Files! And not only another chapter, but another arc as well since last chapter finally brought an end to the Phantoms Awaken arc of the story after 12 chapters. So now we begin arc 2 of the story! And on that note, let's deal with the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form, aside from the OC Kusa/Draconis which he does own, and the credit for actually owning the Persona series belongs to Atlus, Sega and Koei Tecmo! So credit to them!

That said, time for chapter 13, which hopefully won't be nearly as long as chapter 12 was! I literally had to take the past two days (as of the day I type this start-of-chapter A/N) to chill and rest from how long I spent working on that chapter! That said, on with chapter 13!

Chapter 13- More Phantom Shenaniganry! The Kitsune Artist part 1

(Leblanc, Ren and Kusa's room, with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

"well, now that we've gotten the group formed up officially, now what?" Ren said to Kusa, who shrugged as he spoke up.

"I'd say let's chill for the night and relax, except we did tell Sakura-san we'd help out more around here." Kusa said with a shrug as Ren nodded.

"Good point. I suppose you can do dishes or something and I'll clean up the floors?" Ren suggested. Kusa nodded as he spoke up.

"I like that idea. Besides, you're the one who needs the stat boosts worse than I do, oh unlucky and marked brother of mine." Kusa said teasingly as Ren rolled his eyes and spoke up.

"Very funny, Kusa. But yeah let's clean up." Ren said and the two went downstairs to do just that. As Ren approached the bathroom, Morgana spoke up.

"Why are you looking at Leblanc's bathroom? Time to do a stat check again?" Morgana asked Ren who shook his head.

"Nah, this time I'm gonna clean Leblanc up a bit since Kusa made a good point that he and I need to help, as you call him, 'the chief' more." Ren said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"All right, time to do some work for the chief. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Do you want to start cleaning now? Your Kindness may improve a little bit." Morgana said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Let's begin." Ren said simply. As he grabbed the cleaning supplies to start cleaning, Sojiro smiled as he saw Ren moving to clean up and spoke up.

"Are you actually going to clean up the place? Kusa's already doing dishes in the back surprisingly." Sojiro said as Kusa's voice could be heard calling out from the kitchen.

"That's because I did tell you we'd help out more when the chance presented itself, and while I can't speak for Ren on this, I for one am a man of my word." Kusa called from the kitchen, making Sojiro nod approvingly as Ren spoke up.

"Yeah, what Kusa said. You were nice enough to take us in, so I figure I can help out more around here since fair is fair." Ren said simply as Sojiro smiled more as he spoke up.

"Oh? ...Well, I'd certainly appreciate that. I'm going home now. Don't break anything in the store, got it?" Sojiro said to Ren who nodded as he started sweeping and cleaning the floors as Morgana watched while speaking up.

"Oh, sorry...If only I wasn't stuck like this, I'd help you out..." Morgana said regretfully as Ren just nodded and spoke up.

"Don't worry about it, Morgana. You help out enough by teaching us what we need to know for the team. Not to mention, for whatever reason your presence here keeps Kusa happy, which is nice since usually he's just a relatively withdrawn, cynical person who doesn't often socialize with others." Ren said to Morgana as both of them clearly could hear Kusa huff from in the kitchen at Ren's comment as Morgana spoke up.

"Well, at least I can help out in that capacity. ...Hey! I'm serious, Ren. If I was in my human form I'd be helping you out." Morgana said. Ren nodded. A few minutes later, Kusa walked out of the kitchen as Ren and Morgana looked at a spotless floor which Morgana smiled at as he spoke up.

"That should do it! All right, all clean! I bet the chief is gonna be happy with this." Morgana said as Ren and Kusa nodded and the latter spoke up.

"I agree, Morgana-sensei. And Ren? I am not cynical! At least not like I used to be! So quit nitpicking me!' Kusa said to Ren with a huff as Morgana spoke up.

"I'm sure Ren meant well with that comment even if it wasn't received as positively as he was hoping for. That said, thinking about the customers and cleaning the store probably helped to improve your Kindness, no?" Morgana said as Ren nodded, feeling his Kindness improve a bit. Morgana then kept speaking up.

"Hey! That took longer than I expected. We should go to bed once we clean up the rest." Morgana said as Kusa and Ren both blanched at this, not having signed up to clean up the entire restaurant. Nevertheless, they did as asked and went to bed...

(Some time later, in the Velvet Room with Ren, Igor, Justine and Caroline)

Ren blinked as he woke up and found himself in the familiar setting of his Velvet Room cell. He then stood up and walked over to the bars as Igor spoke up.

"First off...I'd like to begin by congratulating you." Igor said as Justine and Caroline looked awed as the former of the two spoke up.

"To think our master would give words of praise..." Justine said in awe as Caroline huffed and spoke up, glaring at Ren as she spoke.

"You better treasure this moment, Inmate!" Caroline rebuked Ren as Igor spoke up once more.

"You have encountered allies who share your ideas, and you have found your place in reality. The time has come... Your rehabilitation will soon begin." Igor said to Ren who blinked as he spoke up.

"I don't understand. Didn't my rehabilitation begin when I first awoke to my powers?" Ren asked Igor in confusion. Caroline frowned as she smacked her baton on the bars of Ren's cell as she spoke up reprovingly.

"Just shut up and listen, Inmate!" Caroline said as Igor spoke up.

"Your test to see if you could complete your rehabilitation started with the awakening of your powers, yes. However, now the actual rehabilitation can begin. That said...You have a special potential. However, that must be refined into a useful power. It is weak now, but refining it shall grant you the strength to stand against the coming ruin. ...That is the rehabilitation cast upon you." Igor said to Ren who nodded he spoke up once more.

"I think I get what you mean by 'coming ruin.' However, you say refining my power can grant me strength?" Ren asked Igor. Caroline huffed as she once again smacked Ren's cell bars with her baton and spoke up.

"It's time you learned something for once!" Caroline rebuked Ren as Igor spoke up.

"Indeed. There are various means by which you may gain the power to resist the ruin. Fighting Shadows and gaining experience is one way. The fusion process I taught you prior is another." Igor said as Caroline spoke up, her glare slightly less pronounced as she spoke up.

"This is all possible because of our master's guidance, Inmate!" Caroline said as Justine smiled before speaking up for the first time in a bit.

"Though it may be presumptuous of us, we have words of wisdom for you as well." Justine said as Caroline nodded and spoke up.

"When you're out in reality, you better hone your relationships with those you have contracts with!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up again.

"Spending time with those people will lead to the cultivation of your relationships with them." Justine said as Caroline huffed and spoke up.

"If you've got time to waste, you'd better visit your contractors, Inmate!" Caroline rebuked Ren as Justine spoke up.

"That is another source of power to evade the ruin that our master has mentioned." Justine said as Igor nodded and spoke up.

"Thanks to the contracts you've formed, your heart is steadily gaining the power of opposition. It seems the rehabilitation is going well. This is a truly joyous occasion...I shall grant you an ability befitting of your newfound growth. Consider it a gift. May the devotion to your rehabilitation grow even deeper. I have high hopes for you." Igor said as Ren felt his bond with Igor grow deeper as the 'Fool' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'II' becoming a 'III' to signify it went up to Rank 3, and with that boost Ren gained the ability to stock two more Personas, upping his limit from 6 personas at once to 8 by way of the 'Power Stock' skill. After that, the alarm went off as Justine spoke up.

"The time has come. Return to your brief moments of rest." Justine said as Caroline huffed and spoke up once more.

"And don't forget to go talk to your contractors, Inmate!" Caroline said as Ren went back to his bed and dozed off...

(The next morning, on the train to school with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

Ren and Kusa heard two college students talking while they stood on the train to school and listened in because they could.

"I wish I had money. I'd kill for a real breakfast..." One of the college students said as the other spoke up.

"What about Big Bang Burger? The one on Central Street is holding a contest right now. The Big Bang Challenge or whatever. If you go at night, you can eat for only 500 yen." The other college student said in an energetic-sounding voice as the first college student spoke up once more.

"You gotta eat one of their giant burgers though, right? How can anyone actually finish that? Still...500 yen IS a steal." The first college student said as Morgana smirked and spoke up eagerly, ignoring the contemplative looks on Ren and Kusa's face as he spoke.

"A huge burger, huh? Interesting." Morgana said as he turned to Ren while he kept speaking.

"I bet giving that a go will increase your Guts, Ren." Morgana said. Kusa and Ren shrugged, spending the rest of the ride considering Morgana's words...

(Later on, in class with Ren, Ann and Morgana)

"Like you heard last week, gym class is canceled today. Instead, I'm supposed to give you some guidance. The gist is, don't go around talking about the incident. That's all. The police are still investigating Mister Kamoshida, so I can't say anything myself. As a teacher though, I'm ashamed for not having noticed that a student was suffering like that...I'm not defending him, but as a colleague, he just seemed like...well, a normal person. Honestly, it still doesn't feel real. I guess people can have multiple sides to them." Kawakami said as Morgana spoke up quietly from inside Ren's desk.

"The teachers have it rough, huh...?" Morgana asked but Kawakami kept speaking before Ren could answer Morgana.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered something I learned about psychology. They say that humans have several different personalities hidden in their subconscious." Kawakami said as Morgana blinked before speaking up so only Ren could hear.

"Different personalities...?" Morgana asked as Kawakami kept speaking making Ren focus on her.

"Oh, to be clear, I'm not talking about multiple personality disorder. These different personalities can be a different gender or a different age from you. I mean, if you think about how gods and monsters in myths were first based on the human image...If you actually saw one of those personalities with your own eyes, it might look like a monster." Kawakami said as Morgana spoke up.

"Mm-hmm..." Morgana said as Kawakami's eyes widened slightly at the increased show of interest from the students as she spoke up in surprise.

"Hm? You all seem more alert than usual. Did I finally talk about something that interests you? Well, I'm just saying what I've heard. It feels like I just now understood what I learned long ago." Kawakami said as Ren blinked as he felt his Knowledge increase from Kawakami's lecture.

(at lunchtime with Ann, Kusa, Ren, Morgana and Ryuji in the hallway)

"It ain't much, but we've been gettin' more postings on the Phantom Aficionado Website...'I wanna make my friend apologize for not returning the stuff I lent him.' ...Ugh, deal with that yourself!" Ryuji huffed as Ann blinked as she saw a pair of girls exiting the classroom next to where she, Ryuji, Kusa, Ren and Morgana were gathered.

"Hey, those girls..." Ann said as one of the two girls spoke up nearby as the group listened in.

"You know that Phantom Thieves rumor about stealing Kamoshida's heart? I wonder if it's true." One of the two girls said as her friend spoke up.

"It's got to be made up. Do you seriously believe they exist?" The shorter-haired of the two girls said as the longer-haired girl spoke up once more.

"But look what happened to Kamoshida." The longer-haired girl said as the shorter-haired girl huffed.

"He probably just couldn't keep hiding it after that girl tried to kill herself." The shorter-haired girl said as the longer-haired girl frowned and spoke up.

"Yeah, you might be right. I guess there's no way they really exist." The longer-haired girl said as the shorter-haired girl huffed and spoke up once more.

"Most importantly, it seriously sucks that our school is gonna be known for stuff like this!" The shorter-haired girl said as the longer-haired girl frowned and spoke up.

"I wonder if it'll affect our college entrance..." The longer-haired girl said as the shorter-haired girl shrugged as the two walked off, completely ignoring the group nearby. After they were gone, Ryuji spoke up once more.

"That's prolly a normal reaction for now, but...they'll see soon enough! If we can take care of two or three famous guys, people'll have to believe we exist." Ryuji said as the others nodded, with Kusa looking at Ryuji and speaking up.

"I admire your optimism, Ryuji. That said, where would we find these 'famous guys' as you put it to 'take care of' them as you put it?" Kusa asked warily as Ann nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Kusa. It's not as easy as Ryuji makes it sound. That said, so about those big shots...We don't have any leads yet, right? Plus there's that rumor about you three threatening Kamoshida too..." Ann said, traling off as Kusa frowned at the mention of the rumor about him, Ren and Ryuji threatening Kamoshida before Morgana spoke up.

"Looks like you'll just have to live a normal, honest school life for the time being. Still, make sure you stay prepared just in case anything comes up, all right?" Morgana said as Ryuji nodded and spoke up.

"I'll keep an eye out for info on any big shots that might be comin' around." Ryuji said as Ann smiled and spoke up.

"And I'll try to dig up some dirt online." Ann said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Meanwhile, I'll try to keep an ear to the ground in case any sort of dirt surfaces around the first-years. Granted, if anyone's likely to be privy to that sort of dirt, it'd probably be Yoshizawa given her status as an honors student. Then again, it's equally likely said status would just be equally as likely to be a means for people to gossip about her as it is to be a way for her to pick up on dirt. So it's a bit of a double-edged sword in that sense if you think about it. Still, it never hurts to have too many ears/eyes out for dirt." Kusa said sagely as Ann and Ren nodded while Ryuji spoke as he hung his head.

"That makes sense, Kusa. Ugh, we went and formed the Phantom Thieves group, but we can't even find a target..." Ryuji said as Kusa's eyes widened fractionally as he glared at Ryuji and spoke up.

"Indeed, but be that as it may Ryuji, consider this: Is it not the point of being a phantom thief to keep that sort of thing on the down-low, or in other words NOT talking about it where people can hear? In other words, think before you speak, man! This is another thing that could get us all into trouble if the wrong people heard us discussing it." Kusa said pointedly, but being careful to keep his voice at a level that only the five of them could hear. Ren and Morgana nodded approvingly at Kusa's remark as both spoke up.

"Good point, Kusa. We shouldn't be discussing that too loudly anyways." Ren said sagely as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Precisely. But I think we can give Ryuji a pass on this one since he didn't mean to say that out loud." Morgana said with a smirk as Ann spoke up while giving Ryuji an encouraging smile as she spoke.

"There, there..." Ann said as she gave Ryuji a comforting pat on the shoulder making Ryuji sigh as he spoke up.

"I guess sometimes things just don't go the way we want 'em to..." Ryuji said as the group nodded their agreement...

(At around that same time, in the principal's office)

"Excuse me." A female student with short brown hair that was wearing the female version of the Shujin uniform said to the principal only to frown and speak up again when the principal didn't answer immediately.

"Did you wish to see me, Principal Kobayakawa?" The female student asked Kobayakawa, who looked up and nodded at the female as he spoke up.

"You saw the state Kamoshida-kun was in, didn't you? It's as if his personality has completely changed. Something is definitely wrong here." Kobayakawa said to the female, whose eyes widened in surprise at this as she spoke.

"I'm not sure I follow..." The female student said to Kobayakawa who frowned as he spoke up once more.

"From what I've heard, it appears as though some students were meddling in his business. If they did something to him...Who could they be?" Kobayakawa said to the student whose strikingly red eyes narrowed in thought before she spoke up once more.

"Are you saying that these students may have caused Mister Kamoshida to change?" The female asked as Kobayakawa spoke up again.

"That is what I wish to know... Even if it takes some probing into student matters...I would like you to look into this for me." Kobayakawa said to the female student who frowned as she spoke up.

"It is true that there are many rumors regarding Mister Kamoshida, but...Do you mean all of this talk about those Phantom Thieves?" The female student asked as Kobayakawa nodded as he spoke up while looking the female in the eyes as he spoke up.

"It is undeniable that Mister Kamoshida has changed in some way. I'd like to have a grasp of the cause. This shall also ensure that I handle the mass media and police in the correct fashion." Kobayakawa said as the female student frowned, realizing that Kobayakawa was only worried about his own image above all else as she spoke up.

"Oh..." The female student said sounding disappointed as Kobayakawa spoke up again.

"I will continue speaking to Mister Kamoshida myself. Unless you find whomever did this, these irresponsible rumors will likely never die down. Don't you agree?" Kobayakawa said as the female student frowned at this while he kept speaking.

"You have been at the top of your class since day one. Your conduct is good, and teachers favor you. I could write you a recommendation for any college of your choosing, Makoto Niijima." Kobayakawa said to the now-named Makoto who blinked in surprise, barely hiding a gasp as she spoke up, clearly shocked by Kobayakawa's words as she spoke.

"Th-Thank you..." Makoto said appreciatively to Kobayakawa who smiled and nodded as he spoke up.

"Your lineage must certainly play a part in this excellence. Your sister is still young, yet she holds an admirable position at the Public Prosecutor's Office, no?" Kobayakawa said as Makoto gave a start at this frowning at the mention of her older sister as Kobayakawa kept speaking.

"If something disappointing were to happen here, that wouldn't reflect very well on your sister...Do you understand?" Kobayakawa said to Makoto who gritted her teeth but nodded, knowing she had to be good for her sister's sake as she spoke up.

"...Yes." Makota said as Kobayakawa smiled and nodded as he spoke up.

"Haha, how wise. It's no wonder you're our student council president. I'd appreciate if you look into this as soon as possible. I ask that you begin at once." Kobayakawa said to Makoto who frowned as she simply nodded before speaking up.

"Yes. If you'll excuse me then." Makoto said as she left the office, after which Kobayakawa pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. When he heard a voice on the other end, Kobayakawa spoke up.

"It's me, sir. My apologies for troubling you at such a busy time...Yes, it's about the matter we discussed earlier..." Kobayakawa said as he listened to the voice on the other end before nodding as he spoke up again.

"I have all bases covered. The investigation will begin immediately...Mhm, of course...Yes, I will get results...I should be able to update you soon...Well then, I must be going. Thank you very much for your time..." Kobayakawa said as the phone was abruptly hung up on the other end...

(Later that afternoon, in class with Ren, Ann and Morgana)

Ren frowned as he heard his phone go off while listening to the teacher, looking at it to see a group chat with Kusa, Ann and Ryuji.

"The police are really here...I saw 'em at the entrance." Ryuji sent as Ann and Kusa sent responses close together.

"I saw them too! They were talking to the teachers!" Ann sent. Kusa's response came in next.

"I haven't seen any of them near the first-years thus far, so maybe they're containing their investigations to the second years for now?" Kusa sent guessingly. Ryuji then sent a response after that.

"That's possible. Either way, that change of heart thing's, seriously amazing, huh!?" Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"I hope they don't find out we're responsible..." Ann sent as Kusa sent a response.

"They shouldn't be able to find anything out, provided we all keep quiet about it and keep our stories straight. Got it, Ryuji!?" Kusa sent as Ryuji frowned but sent a response.

"First of all, why single me out!? Secondly, I'm sure we'll be fine. There's no proof it was us." Ryuji sent. Kusa then sent a repsonse.

"I wouldn't have to single you out if you weren't always messing up on things like code names and talking about group business too loudly in public areas. I'm sure Morgana-sensei agrees with me that you need to learn to think before you speak." Kusa sent. Ren then sent a response.

"Even though you're probably right Ryuji, I'm still concerned. After all, unlike you, Ann or Kusa, I'm on probation. So I'm basically on a much shorter metaphorical leash than you guys. I've had it made clear to me multiple times since arriving in town that one mess-up and my life is over if I get caught so you can see why I'd be concerned." Ren sent. Ann and Kusa nodded their understanding of Ren's response. Ryuji just sent a response of his own.

"First of all, my bad. I try to remember, but I forget from time to time. I'll work on getting better at remembering. That said, c'mon, don't worry so much Ren." Ryuji sent as Ann frowned and sent her own response.

"But I mean, haven't rumors been going around about how you guys threatened Kamoshida?" Ann sent as both Ren and Kusa frowned at that point, knowing that was true. Ryuji just sent another response though.

"This world's Kamoshida shouldn't know anything about what actually happened to him though." Ryuji sent as Kusa frowned and sent a response.

"Perhaps, but who says she meant THAT version of Kamoshida!? What if she meant the one in the real world that the three of us plus Mishima-kun called out?" Kusa sent. Ann nodded as she sent her next response.

"I did mean the real-world Kamoshida, Kusa. I don't know why Ryuji thought I meant the other one from you-know-where. But still..." Ann sent as Ryuji sent another response.

"We did what was right. Don't go freaking out over some label." Ryuji sent as Ann shrugged while Ren and Kusa frowned, all three sending responses close together.

"Are you really that naive, Ryuji!? If it was just some label, I for one would agree with you! But you're acting like Ren's freedom isn't a big deal! You do realize that he's our leader, right? If he goes down, we're kind of screwed as a result." Kusa sent as Ren sent his response next.

"Exactly, Kusa! And this is why Morgana is torn between you and himself as second-in-command after me. The only reason he's not considering Ann is because she's technically the newest member of the team so she lacks experience. No offense Ann." Ren sent as Ann sent a response.

"Good point, Kusa. We do need Ren here to keep things going smoothly, that's for sure. And none taken, Ren. I know I'm still the newbie relatively speaking. But still, I guess that's true..." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Kusa, I realize Ren's freedom is at risk! I'm just saying we need to keep calm so that we don't make ourselves suspicious by seeming anxious about things. After all, they say cops can sense fear rather well. That said...Man, I can't wait to keep living this double life! All right, Ren! The rest of us're gonna be counting on you!" Ryuji sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Ahh, my apologies then Ryuji. I didn't realize you were actually trying to keep us calm. I retract my comment calling you naive. That said, we're also going to be counting on Morgana-sensei to a point as well since while Ren is leader, Morgana has the Metaverse expertise that none of us do so that makes him our senpai, as much as I hate that term, in terms of experience." Kusa sent as Morgana nodded approvingly from inside Ren's bag as Ren put his phone away in time for Ushimaru to call Ren out.

"Hey, Amamiya! Are you listening!? You! Pay attention! Is that how you listen when someone's talking to you!?" Ushiimaru said as he once more nailed Ren in the forehead with his chalk. Morgana then mentioned Ren needing more Proficiency to completely dodge the chalk as the rest of class proceeded uneventfully...

(After school, with Ren and Morgana)

As Ren was packing away his things to figure out his next move, he heard someone calling out to him.

"...Hey." Mishima said as he walked up to Ren. When Ren looked up at Mishima, Mishima took that as a cue to keep speaking and did so.

"Have you seen that Phantom Aficionado Website?" Mishima asked Ren who frowned as he looked Mishima in the eyes as he spoke up.

"I've heard about it, but I haven't checked it out yet myself to be honest." Ren said after a moment. Mishima smirked as he spoke up once more.

"Well, I'm the one who started it." Mishima said as Ren's eyes widened behind his glasses at this.

"YOU started that site!?" Ren said in surprise as Mishima looked him in the eyes, getting up close as he kept speaking, making Ren and Morgana both uncomfortable as he spoke.

"That's right. Um...You guys are the Phantom Thieves, aren't you?" Mishima asked as Ren frowned as he spoke up.

"First of all, give me some space please. Second of all, what are you talking about?" Ren said. Mishima blinked as he realized how close he was standing to Ren as he spoke.

"Sorry." Mishima said, taking a couple steps back as he kept speaking.

"Although...if things really are as I think, I should keep it a secret. Kamoshida used me, and I did some horrible things to you guys. This isn't much of a way for me to apologize for it...But if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know!" Mishima said as Ren blanched at this, not sure how to handle this at first before he spoke up.

"That's great, but I'm honestly not sure what you could do to help that you're not already doing. From what I've been told by the others, you're doing a bang-up job on that site of yours though." Ren said. Mishima nodded, smiling as he spoke up.

"I'm glad to hear that. It's not just Kamoshida...There are tons of evil adults out there. But I'm sure the Phantom Thieves will do something...They can't let this end after just one target. That's why I wanted to make a forum where people could post their problems. There are probably a lot of people who have high hopes for the Phantom Thieves' next move. So I've also implemented an anonymous poll on the site." Mishima said as he pulled up the site on his phone and showed it to Ren, where a poll was displayed as Mishima kept speaking.

"And the name of this poll is... 'Do you believe in the Phantom Thieves or not?' I wanna work on this forum so eventually it'll be packed with tons of supportive posts. I'd really like to help out in the Phantom Thieves' acts of justice! Can I, please?" Mishima asked Ren who thought about it.

"Sounds like fun. Keep in mind, at best you'd be helping out from behind the scenes since that seems like the best fit for you from what I've seen." Ren said simply. Mishima nodded, smiling as he spoke up.

"I'll live up to your expectations... I promise." Mishima said, making Ren get the sense of abundantly high expectations from Mishima...

(Fast forward to the interrogation room with Sae and Joker)

"Besides the public's reaction to your group, there were others who supported you. Someone who enthusiastically cheered the Phantom Thieves on. Perhaps they were quite close...What do you have to say to that?" Sae asked Joker.

(Back in the present with Ren, Morgana and Mishima)

As Ren saw Mishima looking at him, he heard the expected voice in his head.

"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 Moon Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power..." Ren heard in his head as in his mind's eye another card appeared, this one with the word 'Moon' on it and the letter 'I' under it to signify that the Moon Confidant had been unlocked and was now at Rank 1. As a result, thanks to the ensuing gain of 'Mishima's Support', even backups could earn EXP, albeit at a reduced rate compared to front-line members. Ren smiled as he sensed Mishima's Support. After that, Mishima nodded and spoke up.

"...See you." Mishima said as he left, right as Ryuji walked over with Ann and Kusa in tow as he spoke up.

"We heard all that. Geez...it was a little awkward tryin' to figure out when to walk over here." Ryuji said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"Really? I thought the awkward part was me AND Ann having to keep you from rushing over and scaring the crap out of Mishima with your surprise when he revealed he started the Phantom Aficionado Website. I for one was shocked to hear that, but it makes sense thinking about it now. He would have both reason and motive to start such a site." Kusa said with a sage nod. Ryuji shrugged as he spoke up.

"Okay, that's actually a fair point. I'm actually impressed Ann was able to restrain me though. I didn't think she worked out enough to bodily restrain someone but she proved me wrong." Ryuji said as Ann and Kusa rolled their eyes as the former spoke up.

"Anyways, changing the subject, So that forum is Mishima-kun's..." Ann said as Morgana spoke up for the first time since Mishima had spoken to Ren.

"Has he figured out our identities?" Morgana asked. Kusa shook his head.

"I doubt it, Morgana-sensei. Or if he did, he wasn't showing signs of wanting to do anything malicious or unprofessional with that information so I think we can trust him." Kusa said as Ann nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Kusa. Even so, I think it'll be fine. He seemed to be playing it cool." Ann said as Ryuji nodded, shrugging as he spoke up once more.

"True. I guess we should have a little 'chat' about this later." Ryuji said as the others nodded before Morgana spoke up.

"I will say though... a forum where people can post problems may prove unexpectedly useful." Morgana said getting confused looks from Ann and Ryuji as the latter spoke up.

"Anyways, we gotta get lookin' for a new target." Ryuji said as Ann nodded and spoke up.

"And we need to stay sharp until we manage to find one. Once we do, we'll have to head into another Palace, so we should prep our equipment and-" Ann said before Ryuji cut her off with a groan as he spoke up.

"Wait, oh CRAP!" Ryuji said making Ann turn to look at him in surprise, Kusa and Ren both frowning at Ryuji's outburst as Ann spoke up.

"What's with you!?" Ann asked, making both Ren and Kusa also look at Ryuji, both curious to hear the answer to this, but when he spoke up, they both facefaulted as did Ann.

"Don't we have an exam comin' up!?" Ryuji said as Ann, Kusa and Ren picked themselves up off the floor after facefaulting in unison. At that point, Ann spoke up as Kusa glared at Ryuji for his unnecessary outburst and interruption of Ann's previous line of thought while Ren just gave Ryuji a disappointed look at his interrupting over an exam of all things.

"Ugh...Judging by that reaction, I'd assume you're going to struggle this time too?" Ann asked Ryuji who huffed as he spoke up with a glare.

"It's not like you're any better! All you're good at is...English!" Ryuji snapped at Ann as she spoke up before Kusa could tear into Ryuji.

"I'd rather that than be bad at every subject!" Ann said as Kusa spoke up at that point.

"You know, Ryuji, I don't know how you figured it'd be wise to both interrupt and potentially piss off the people most apt to help you study for said exam, e.g. Ren and Ann, but apparently you felt the need to do so. I'd help, but being as I'm just a first-year, it's highly unlikely we'd have exams on the same things. Not to mention, unlike you, I make it a point to study on the sly when I get the chance just to avoid struggling the way you seem to do. However, I can't be angry that you struggle given that Ren here has also struggled from time to time with exams before he came here. But he's a smart guy when he applies himself." Kusa said ignoring the twin glares from Ren and Ryuji. Morgana chuckled from Ren's bag as he spoke up.

"And that is why you're the likely choice to be second or third in command, Kusa! You take your studies seriously." Morgana said, before glaring at Ryuji as he kept speaking.

"That said, even your Japanese is questionable at best, Ryuji." Morgana said as Ryuji huffed and spoke up, his words causing Kusa's eyes to narrow in annoyance.

"What's questionable is whether you're really even a human." Ryuji said as he turned to face Ren, ignoring the unimpressed looks on Ann and Kusa's faces at his comeback as he spoke.

"Ha! Good comeback, huh?" Ryuji said to Ren who just shrugged before speaking up.

"It's not bad as comebacks go, but with all respect I'm not going to join you in drawing the ire of not only Morgana but probably Ann and Kusa as well. I at least have THAT much common sense, my friend." Ren said apologetically to Ryuji, getting an approving nod from Kusa as Morgana growled at Ryuji and spoke up.

"Why, you...Let's discuss this with our fists!" Morgana said, making to jump out of Ren's bag to fight Ryuji, only for Kusa to grab him up at the last second and place him on his shoulder as Ryuji made to get in Morgana's face while speaking up.

"Bring it!" Ryuji said as Kusa frowned at Ryuji but Ann spoke up with a frown before Kusa could say a word.

"Will you two stop it!? And Kusa, good job holding Morgana back so he wouldn't do something he'd regret later." Ann said. Ryuji and Morgana huffed and turned away from each other as Kusa chuckled at the predictable clash of egos with his teammates. Morgana then looked at Ren and spoke up from on Kusa's shoulder.

"Let's not draw any attention to ourselves until we find our next target. Don't forget to study, though-I'm not getting blamed if your grades start dropping." Morgana said as Ren nodded. He then looked through to see if he had any new chats, frowning when he only had the one from Ryuji. After that, he considered his options, looking through his map to see if he had any Confidants to level up, and to his surprise, his map showed that he could level up either Ann, Ryuji or Takemi's Confidant links.

After pondering his options, he decided to rank up Ann since as far as he could recall, Ann was one of his only Confidants still at Rank 1, not counting Mishima who he'd just started, the only other one being Takemi as far as he could recall given that Morgana, Sojiro and Kusa were at Rank 2 while Igor and Ryuji were at rank 3.

Making up his mind, Ren walked over to Ann after discreetly passing Morgana over to Kusa who nodded, put Morgana on his shoulder and walked off so Ren could spend some 1 on 1 time with Ann. Ren then spoke to Ann after Kusa and Morgana left the room with Ryuji. Ren frowned as he saw the slightly upset look on Ann's face as he spoke up.

"You okay, Ann? You look like something's bothering you again..." Ren said warily, not wanting to pry into Ann's business but also being worried for her. Ann looked up and smiled at Ren as she spoke up.

"Oh, hi Ren. Nah, I'm okay. I was just uneasy, that's all. See, it felt like someone was watching me this morning...What should I do? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least ask...No, but then..." Ann said, trailing off as Ren spoke up, voicing what he was sure Morgana would've voiced were he here and not hanging with Kusa.

"You sure you're all right? You seem depressed..." Ren said to Ann who blanched as she realized she'd been thinking out loud.

"U-Um...never mind! It's nothing!" Ann said hastily making Ren frown as he spoke up.

"Are you sure? That was a rather hasty denial for it being nothing. Do I need to have Kusa and Morgana go head-hunting? I'm sure they'd do it if I asked, especially if someone was bothering you." Ren said, only half-joking. Ann smiled as she shook her head.

"No, that's okay. But I appreciate the gesture. Besides, I think we both know they'd probably invite Ryuji to go head-hunting with them and then that would just turn into a big old mess and we'd have to bail the three of them out of trouble probably. Not sure it's worth all that hassle." Ann said as Ren nodded, figuring he could safely get away with inviting her to hang out and talk with his current Kindness rank. Ann saw the look on Ren's face and spoke up with a smile.

"I'm fine, seriously! Besides, I wouldn't wanna trouble you." Ann said to Ren who shook his head firmly as he spoke up.

"It's no trouble at all, Ann. Besides, given that we're teammates and all, not to mention friends, it kind of comes with the territory, so to speak, that we'd be able to be there for one another and provide support for each other when we're struggling, so you keeping things to yourself is really just detrimental to the morale of the group in the long run. If something's bothering you, I want you to feel like you can rely on me to help you through it, since that's what friends do: they help each other through both good times and bad times. Besides, if I was willing to sit down with you and let you vent to me, when we barely knew each other might I add, about your problems, why would it be any more of a hassle to do so now that we're friends and have each other's backs?" Ren said to Ann who looked at him in surprise at his words before smiling as she nodded, speaking up shyly after she processed everything he'd said to her, feeling sheepish for forgetting that they were teammates and friends now.

"Huh? Oh...right. We did talk before about my problems, didn't we? I guess it wouldn't be so bad talking to you about this stuff. The truth is, there's something I want to tell you. So can we hang out?" Ann asked Ren who only had to think about it for a few seconds before smiling at her and nodding.

"But of course. I've always got time for my friends." Ren said with a nod to Ann who smiled as she spoke up.

"Thanks! All right, let's go to the diner." Ann said, making Ren inwardly glad he'd had the foresight to basically pawn Morgana off on Kusa, hoping the not-cat wasn't giving Kusa too much grief as he and Ann headed to the diner...

(At the diner with Ren and Ann)

"Umm..." Ann said uncertainly as Ren looked over at her and nodded.

"Yes? Something up, Ann?" Ren asked Ann who shyly nodded.

"Hey, um...There's something I want to talk to you about, Ren. ...It's Shiho. Well...I went to visit her in the hospital. She...She said she was sorry. Sorry for not telling me about Kamoshida...about all the things he was doing to her...But it was my fault too. I didn't realize how much trouble she was in...I wasn't there for her...So, I apologized as well." Ann said to Ren who nodded as he spoke up.

"I can imagine that must've been difficult to do, have a mutual apology be shared between you and Suzui. I did notice from the little I saw of her before she jumped that she's quite strong, even if at that point she felt backed into a corner. But you're just as strong, being able to deal with what that scumbag did, not only to you, but to Suzui as well, and not do anything you'd regret later over it. If anything, that just shows me how much you care for and like Suzui. Hopefully she feels the same about you that you do about her." Ren said encouragingly as he smiled at Ann. Ann giggled at Ren's remark even as she slightly flushed in embarrassment as she spoke up.

"Isn't she? Shiho really is a great girl. I'm glad I finally got to tell her everything I couldn't bring myself to say before. And, um...remember how Kamoshida threatened to take Shiho off the team if I didn't sleep with him? I had only agreed to it so that I wouldn't ruin Shiho's dreams...But now that I think about it, he never would have put her on the bench and cost his team games...I seriously should have dared him to try and take her starting spot...but in the end, maybe I just didn't believe in her ability." Ann said as Ren frowned at this before speaking up, choosing his words carefully as he spoke.

"You might be right, about Kamoshida not wanting to cost his team games at least. I'm not going to say if you're right or wrong on doubting Suzui's ability, because I think you know as well as I do that you wouldn't really doubt the abilities of your crush that easily. That aside, I can't imagine Kamoshida's actions leave you with much of a good impression of men as a whole, and I wouldn't blame you one bit for feeling that way since what he did was sick and messed up on so many levels. Either way, I'm here for you no matter what, as is the rest of our friends/teammates." Ren said. Ann winced at Ren's words, accepting he was right as she spoke up.

"I knew it... I'm so stupid...All of this happened because of how weak I am...That's why I believed Kamoshida's authority outweighed Shiho's own ability to earn her starting spot. Ren, do you remember the last time I talked to you like this? When I got that phone call from Kamoshida... and cried. I felt so alone...scared, even...But because you were there for me, I decided not to go. I was a little surprised at how pushy you were about it...but I see now you just wanted to help...Thanks." Ann said to Ren who smiled as he spoke up, now really glad he decided to make his hangout with Ann 1 on 1 since he had a feeling he would've had to stop Ryuji, Kusa AND Morgana from trying to break into jail to beat up Kamoshida had they heard any of what Ann had just told him as he spoke.

"It might sound a bit gallant and/or self-righteous of me, but I couldn't just ignore you suffering like that, Ann. You looked so devastated and hurt by that phone call, I couldn't have just left you like that. It wouldn't have been right of me. Not to mention I probably have been able to look at myself in the mirror without thinking about how cowardly I'd have been if I'd have just kept walking instead of stopping to take time to talk to you and help you through your problems, because not only was it the right thing to do, it was the only thing to do.

And don't ever apologize for needing to talk or get support, because that's perfectly okay and understandable you'd need that after what you've been through. However, I will disagree with you calling yourself stupid. You are NOT stupid, Ann! You were just in a bad position and in a really fucked-up mind space, pardon my crassness there, because of what that scumbag did to you." Ren said firmly, looking Ann in the eyes as he smiled reassuringly at her. Ann smiled as she looked at Ren and spoke, seemingly impressed with Ren.

"You're so kind, Ren. Back then, people used to call me all sorts of names...'Prissy bitch', 'Kamoshida's girl'...I got tired of it pretty quickly. But to tell you the truth, someday I want to be able to take labels like that in stride. Hey, um...Personas are the power of the heart, right? That means if my heart gets stronger, my Persona will too." Ann said as Ren nodded, agreeing with her assessment as it sounded right to him in theory before he spoke up.

"I'm sure you'll be able to take such things in stride someday, Ann. After all, if you manage to get Suzui to reciprocate your feelings for her, you'll have to get used to labels both like what you've already had and worse than what you've already had given how uncommon same-gender pairings seem to be around here." Ren said, lowering his voice so only Ann could hear as he made his comment about same-gender pairings out of respect for Ann. Ann then smiled appreciatively at Ren as she kept speaking.

"That's true. If someday I do end up being lucky enough to call Shiho my girlfriend, I will have to be able to take hateful labels in stride. So...I want to strengthen my heart. And I want to use that strength to help the people around me.I hope we can save people from trouble, just like we did when we changed Kamoshida's heart." Ann said as Ren nodded before she spoke up once more.

"Though honestly...I don't even know what 'strong' is. But I'm going to find the answer, I promise." Ann said to Ren who smiled and nodded, looking at Ann as he spoke up.

"You won't do it alone, Ann. We'll all help you find that answer as a team. So let's find your answer to what 'strong' is...together, with our teammates." Ren said, adding the 'with our teammates' bit to the end of his statement after realizing how possibly awkward and embarrassing it might have sounded had he simply ended his statement with 'together.' Ann blinked at Ren in surprise before speaking up in a mix of awe and surprise, and even slight appreciation.

"Huh? Really...!? Thanks! I feel like I'm a little stronger already!" Ann said before giggling as she kept speaking.

"I guess that doesn't really count though, huh? Well...I'll be relying on you. Let's train together and make our hearts super strong!" Ann said as Ren nodded, sensing a heightened motivation from Ann, making the 'Lovers' card appear in his mind's eye as the 'I' on it turned into a 'II' to signify it had reached rank 2, and as a result, Ann gained the ability 'Girl Talk' which allowed her to enable a re-do if a negotiation with a female Shadow happens to fail. After that, Ann spoke up again.

"A strong heart...Hmmm...How about this: I won't get any refills on fountain drinks! I mean, they're free, so not getting any would mean you have a strong heart!" Ann said before blinking as she saw Ren sweatdrop at her remark as she kept speaking.

"...Is that not right?" Ann asked Ren who hesitated briefly before shaking his head.

"I'd say that's more a sign of strong self-restraint as opposed to a sign of a strong heart, but that's just my opinion." Ren said honestly as Ann nodded.

"Ahh, I see...Well, see you later. Bye!" Ann said as she and Ren went their separate ways, Ren heading back to Leblanc, where his phone rang as he was about to go inside, prompting him to stop and answer it.

"Hello?" Ren said, and smiled as he recognized Ann's voice.

"Oh hey, it's me! Thanks for listening to what I had to say earlier. Now I feel like I have a better idea of who I want to be. Also, I'm going to think of how I can strengthen my heart. If I think of anything, I'll let you know. I hope you'll join me again next time!" Ann said as Ren paused briefly before speaking up.

"Of course. You're my teammate, after all. That's what teammates do. They help one another out when they need it." Ren said honestly before getting a bit embarrassed as he kept speaking, not sure why he was adding this but doing it anyways.

"Not to mention, Kusa isn't necessarily the only one who sees you as a sister of sorts, if we're being honest." Ren said shyly. Ann giggled as she spoke up.

"Aww, I didn't realize you were that fond of me already. And thanks! You are such a nice guy! Honestly, I'm just as glad for it given that if I'm being honest? After what Kamoshida tried to do to me, I'm not exactly sure if I could ever still feel that way about a man anymore. I think...I think I might be into women now. Oh! But how about you help me come up with ways to train my heart? Just lemme know when a really good idea hits you, okay?" Ann said as Ren's eyes went slightly wide when Ann basically came out to him, which was unsurprising considering the fact that even if he and Kusa had suspected that she didn't like guys romantically, having it confirmed was another thing entirely. Ren then nodded as he spoke up.

"Can do, Ann. And don't worry about what you told me. I don't think any differently of you if you can't find it in yourself to love men anymore after what that dick did to you. I don't blame you one bit for switching to girls. And don't worry, if any of the others give you grief about it, I'll deal with them myself. You will not be judged on our team for the choices you make, that I promise you." Ren said. Ann smiled as she spoke up once more.

"Thanks so much for being so supportive and understanding, Ren. Keep what I just said to yourself for now, okay? Byeee!" Ann said as she hung up and Ren went into Leblanc, only to be surprised by Sojiro tossing a key at him, which he caught in his right hand as soon as he walked inside, making him turn to Sojiro in surprise.

"A key? Wait...is this...?" Ren asked, looking at Sojiro in surprise as Sojiro nodded.

"That's the key to this place. You get to lock up from now on. I can't keep waiting for you to come home. Don't start any fires, okay?" Sojiro said to Ren who nodded as he spoke up.

"Okay. Thanks for trusting me to lock up, Sakura-san. I promise not to betray that trust." Ren said as Sojiro nodded before speaking up once more.

"Good to know. Also, before you ask, Kusa will be back shortly. I sent him on an errand to grab some stuff from my house for the cafe." Sojiro said as Ren nodded.

"Got it. Thanks for the heads-up, Sakura-san." Ren said politely, deciding not to mention that Kusa probably is taking his time on that errand on the off chance he gets to hang out with Futaba, though he figured Morgana wouldn't allow Kusa to slack off TOO much. Or so Ren figured, until he saw Morgana come padding down the stairs towards him.

"Of course Kusa dropped you off here before he ran his errand. Typical Kusa." Ren deadpanned as he leaned down to gently pet Morgana by way of greeting, getting a surprised purr from Morgana for his troubles. But also surprising to Ren was Sojiro telling him he was allowed to leave Yongen-Jaya at night, provided he didn't get himself into trouble. Ren smiled and thanked Sojiro again, getting a nod of gratitude for his efforts. After Ren finished petting him, Morgana spoke up.

"Hey! Do you want to go out now that we're allowed? Oh, and come to think of it, shouldn't we stop by the airsoft shop and ask about that paper bag?" Morgana asked Ren who shrugged and spoke up so only Morgana could hear.

"I wouldn't mind going out possibly, though I'm going to have to veto the airsoft shop idea for now since I don't think I'm in a hurry to go back there about that before I have to. I'll go there to sell things all I have to, and to buy, but not to ask about the bag." Ren replied getting a nod from Morgana. After thinking about it, Ren and Morgana decided to go take a walk to look around Central Street a bit while deciding what to do. Eventually, Ren noticed that the previously closed-off diner was open, making him and Morgana look at each other in surprise as Morgana spoke up.

"Hey, this family restaurant has been renovated and it's open again! I bet you could study here while also enjoying the menu. You wanna study here?" Morgana asked Ren who nodded as he spoke up.

"Sure, this place looks interesting. Let's go check it out." Ren said as Morgana nodded, ducking into Ren's bag as he walked inside. After getting inside and finding seats, Morgana poked his head out of Ren's bag and spoke up.

"It's good that we managed to find seats, even if it is a bit crowded." Morgana said as Ren shrugged and spoke up.

"It's a diner, where people eat. What did you expect, Morgana?" Ren said simply as Morgana nodded and ducked back into Ren's bag as a waitress walked over to speak to Ren.

"Welcome. May I take your order? We've added a new menu now that renovations are finished. Would you like to try it? I highly recommend the 'Surprise Sando' and 'Nostalgic Steak'." The waitress said as Ren looked over the menu before speaking up.

"Since you recommended it, let's go ahead and try out the 'Surprise Sando', please." Ren said politely. The waitress nodded, bowing as she spoke up.

"Got it. I'll be right back with your order." The waitress said, returning not long after with said order and setting it down as Morgana looked up at it with uncertainty on his face as he spoke up.

"Ughhh, it sure does look good, but...Yeah, it probably actually tastes good too...Aargh..." Morgana said, not entirely sure he was right in what he was saying. Ren shrugged and eventually ate the entire plate, surprising Morgana as he spoke up.

"For real!? You scarfed that down without any hesitation. I'm overwhelmed by your Guts." Morgana said as Ren pumped a fist as his guts went up. Morgana then spoke up again.

"Looks like you were able to get some studying done, but there's just too much noise..." Morgana said as Ren's Guts and Knowledge both went up somewhat. Morgana then spoke up.

"Wanna head back? Well, that should be enough for today. Come on, let's go home." Morgana said as Ren nodded, smiling as he put his stuff away and went back to Leblanc, locking up and heading upstairs, where he smirked at the contented look on Kusa's face as he dozed on the sofa, not even flinching as Morgana laid on his chest while Ren went to bed...

(The next morning, on the train to school with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

"Hey! Move a little more to the right. I can't see the screen." Morgana said from inside Ren's bag as he nodded and did as asked as best he could while standing. The train news mostly was more coverage of the Kamoshida incident, and the school's continued denials of any involvement therein, as well as a brief mention of an upcoming exhibit by someone named Madarame, making Morgana frown as he spoke up.

"People are really talking about the Kamoshida incident. No one in this car knows that we're the ones who did it..." Morgana said as Ren nodded while Kusa spoke up.

"That's true, but I get the sense you're not including myself and Ren in that statement, Morgana-sensei." Kusa said as Morgana nodded while the rest of the ride passed in silence...

(Later that morning, in class with Ren, Ann and Morgana)

"Yup, yup. Oh yeah, you've got exams starting on Wednesday. Don't tell me you forgot. Open your textbooks! Anyway, today we'll be talking about 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.' Most theorize it's the oldest story in Japan. For some, it's the oldest science-fiction story in the world. But if you ask me, it's the oldest story in Japan about a terrible woman. I mean, Princess Kaguya gives her suitors absurd tasks, demands fancy gifts, then runs off to the moon. Some men lose their fortunes, some are humiliated, and some even get serious wounds or go blind. Women like Princess Kaguya actually show up in a lot of stories from around the world. Now then, Amamiya-kun." Kawakami said as she called on Ren while lecturing the class, prompting him to sit up and give her his full attention as she kept speaking.

"Do you know the answer? You've probably heard that a woman who uses her wiles to lead people to their doom is a femme fatale. So what's the literal translation of the phrase 'femme fatale'?" Kawakami asked Ren who smiled as he thanked his lucky stars that he and Kusa had looked at just this sort of thing in their homework recently so he knew the answer, making him smirk confidently as he spoke up.

"THIS IS IT! The answer is 'fatal woman'." Ren said as Kawakami smiled, nodded and clapped as she spoke up.

"Exactly! That is correct. The answer is fatal woman. In French, of course. Some famous examples are the witch Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legend and Queen Salome from the Bible. Not to mention the wild, seductive dancer of opera, Carmen." Kawakami said as the usual murmurs about how smart Ren was and how people want to borrow his notes ensued. In addition, Morgana praised him for knowing the answer as his Knowledge increased a bit. At that point Kawakami spoke up once more.

"Let me just warn you that exams aren't so easy that you can pass them with a single night of cramming. Take your time and make sure you understand the material, okay?" Kawakami said as Morgana spoke up with a smirk.

"You heard her. Must be rough being a student." Morgana said to Ren who quietly sputtered before glaring at Morgana as he spoke up.

"Never mind being a student, must be rough being a Morgana, who has no memories and is stuck looking like a cat." Ren said huffily as Morgana glared.

"I am NOT a cat! But more importantly...Well, you have nothing to lose from studying. Give it all you've got." Morgana said huffily as Ren smirked as he got one over on the not-cat...

(After school, on the rooftop with Ren, Kusa, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana)

Ryuji huffed as he spoke up while flipping through posts on the Phantom Aficionado Website, trying to help find the next target for the group.

"None of these posts are any good. Everyone's just bitchin' about their parents or their ex-boyfriends. There ain't even a hint of a hint about a new Palace..." Ryuji said as Kusa frowned, crossing his arms as he spoke up.

"You know Ryuji, Rome wasn't built in a day. In other words, we have to have patience while we wait. I mean, it's not like our next target's going to be tossed into our laps or anything like that." Kusa said sagely as Ann nodded before she spoke up.

"Agreed. Besides, we can't get everything online...Finding a post with a name and location is asking a lot..." Ann said as Ryuji nodded and spoke up.

"Good point, Kusa. Welp, guess we just gotta find one ourselves then!" Ryuji said as Morgana huffed and spoke up.

"Are you seriously suggesting we look for a target that even the police have overlooked?" Morgana said as Ryuji sighed and spoke up.

"Yeah, you're right. We should prolly just hold off 'til exams are done with, huh? We can wait and see for a little longer, then worry about comin' up empty-handed if it happens..." Ryuji said, trailing off as he and the others heard the door to the rooftop open making Ren and Kusa stand up warily to look towards the rooftop entrance while Ann and Ryuji turned their attention towards the rooftop door as Morgana deftly leapt up onto a high-up perch out of sight as the group saw a figure walk out onto the rooftop making Ann speak up.

"Oh..." Ann said as a female with brown hair, striking red eyes, a red and black plaid skirt similar to the pants Ryuji, Ren and Kusa wore, dark leggings and black heel boots as well as a black blouse over a white turtleneck sweater walked out to face the group as she spoke up, fixing them with a disapproving look as she spoke, either not seeing or ignoring Ryuji blinking at her as he appeared to look her over in surprise while she spoke.

"This place is off-limits, you know." The female said as Ryuji sighed and spoke up as Kusa huffed.

"Sorry. We'll get out of here once we're done chattin'. Anyways, what's Miss Council President want with us?" Ryuji asked the female, now revealed to be the student council president. The student council president smirked as she looked over the group and spoke up in amusement.

"The troublemaker, the center of gossip, the infamous transfer student, and the impulsive yet well-behaved first year. Hmm, interesting combination." The student council president observed as Ren and Ryuji blinked at her descriptions of each of them while Ann huffed and Kusa spoke up.l

"Impulsive!? Well, that's certainly a new one used to describe me. But never mind that, I didn't think our little gaggle of misfits was significant enough to rate the attentions of the student council president herself. I'm not sure if I should be honored by that, or insulted you think so little of most of us." Kusa said conversationally as he fixed the student council president with an appraising glance. Ann hissed at the student council president as she heard how she was described before speaking up.

"Hmph, great way to start a conversation..." Ann said huffily as the student council president spoke up, seemingly surprised by Kusa's calm observation as she spoke.

"Fair point, Amamiya-kun the younger. By the way...It seems as though all of you got to know Mister Kamoshida pretty well." The student council president said as Ren, Ryuji and Kusa all laughed at this while Ren spoke up.

"Somewhat, I suppose. Though I wouldn't say that I really got to know that guy that well per se." Ren said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Unless by 'get to know', Miss President here means get routinely badmouthed, threatened and mocked by that scummy freaking dirtbag, then sure we definitely got to know him. Honestly, that guy's lucky that Ren's got self-restraint otherwise I might've been tempted to beat him up on principle, and I doubt I'd have been alone in that." Kusa said huffily, not really caring he was saying that in front of the student council president as Ryuji smirked and nodded his agreement.

"Dang right you wouldn't have been alone in that, man! I can think of several people who'd have jumped at the chance to get their own back on that dick! Not to mention I was also ready to attack him myself by the time he was done mocking us all. So it's definitely not just you, Kusa." Ryuji said with a smirk as Kusa nodded. Ann nodded as she spoke up, frowning at the student council president.

"Exactly, what they said! It's kind of obvious when you think about it, though. Anyone who attends this school would have interacted with him, whether they liked it or not." Ann said with a frown as the student council president nodded to Kusa and Ryuji's remarks and to Ann's as she spoke up.

"Hm...fair point again, Amamiya-kun the younger and Sakamoto. And I'll pretend that I didn't hear you two say you'd resort to attacking faculty members given how much of a disgrace Mister Kamoshida turned out to be to this school. That said, Amamiya-kun the elder, I heard Mister Kamoshida used a volleyball team member to spread details of your past record. Don't you hate him? Mister Kamoshida, I mean." The student council president said as Kusa and Ryuji huffed, the latter speaking up.

"What's all this about?" Ryuji asked as Kusa spoke up before the student council president could do so.

"It's kinda obvious when you think about it, Ryuji. She's clearly fishing for information on something. And for the record Miss President, you don't have to beat around the bush with us. If you have something to say or ask, just come out and say or ask it. I know you have a rough job to do, but you're not the only busy one here. Also? Kindly never try to bash my brother in front of me like that ever again, Miss President. You might be an authority figure, but that won't stop me from defending him if necessary." Kusa said calmly as Ren and Ann nodded approvingly to Kusa's response. Ryuji nodded as he spoke up.

"Exactly! Kusa's right. And another thing! My friend here's an upstanding guy. I don't care if you are cute, you can't just come waltzing in here throwing shade like that!" Ryuji said huffily, making the student council president's eyes widen fractionally at Ryuji, whether consciously or subconsciously, calling her cute as she spoke up.

"Ohh...sorry. I don't mean to offend. Many students have been shaken up by what happened with Mister Kamoshida. The rumors about that odd, calling card-esque posting aren't going away either." The student council president said as Ann huffed and spoke up

"Be that as it may, I didn't expect that someone like YOU would care about that tactless stuff, Niijima-senpai." Ann said to the now-named Niijima, ignoring Ren and Kusa blinking at her usage of 'senpai' as they traded knowing smirks as they looked at Ryuji as he spoke up.

"I don't know that it was tactless, per se. But it was definitely rude if nothing else. Anyways, we done here? We can't leave if you keep talkin' to us." Ryuji said, trying not to flush in embarrassment as he slightly came to Niijima's defense, as the smirks on Ren, Kusa and Morgana's faces, even if only Ren and Kusa saw the latter's smirk, got bigger as they looked at Ryuji. Niijima huffed as she frowned at the group and spoke up.

"I get that you're probably bothered by what I've said so far, but please, at least TRY to understand my position. Being forced to deal with this horseplay..." Niijima huffed as Ren, Ann and Kusa exchanged wide-eyed glances at Niijima calling the current situation 'horseplay'. Ann huffed and spoke up.

"Horseplay!? Is that what you think this is!?" Ann asked as Kusa spoke up in a gentle yet calming tone.

"Let's be fair here, Ann. I can see how Niijima-san would think this is horseplay. But at the same time, it's really not. And another thing. If you're looking for info? It usually helps if you don't come off as stand-offish, full of yourself and holier-than-thou, since that tends to put people on edge and have them on the defensive around you. That said, you seem like a nice person, Niijima-san, but surely you realize that insulting us isn't the way to ingratiate yourself with us.

And more to the point, don't believe everything you hear. All the stuff you hear about my brother and Ryuji and even Ann? All of that is such a huge-ass crock of garbage, I don't think there's a dumpster big enough to fit all of it. And don't even get me started on how much horse-shit anyone who believes that garbage is full of, because they're more full of horse shit than me and Ren's cat is full of sushi, and Morgana loves him some sushi, to the point he eats a lot of it." Kusa said to Niijima in a calm yet firm tone, making her blink at him as she spoke up.

"I...see. Thank you for that, err, wonderfully candid explanation, Amamiya-kun the younger. Ah yes, by the way...It's been decided that this place will be closed off due to the incident. I heard some people are coming up here without permission, after all. I'm sorry to have interrupted you." Niijima said as she turned on her heel and left, almost slamming the rooftop door behind her as she left, making Ren and Kusa blink at the aggression in Niijima's reaction as the latter spoke up.

"Wow, why does she have her panties in a knot so much?" Kusa said with a frown as Ren and Ryuji laughed while Ann spoke up.

"Your choice of phrasing aside Kusa, what was that about?" Ann asked as Morgana hopped down off of his perch and right onto Kusa's shoulder as he spoke up.

"She's on to us. That girl seems rather sharp. We should be cautious of her." Morgana said as Kusa nodded with a smirk.

"I getcha, Morgana-senpai. Too bad Ryuji seems to have decided to develop a crush on her. Maybe he can tame her if they end up together though." Kusa joked as Ryuji huffed and spoke up.

"Oh shuddup, Kusa! Just because I called her cute that once earlier does NOT mean I have a crush on her! And to be honest? She really pisses me off!" Ryuji said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"I agree, Ryuji. But we should really be careful either way, just to be on the safe side." Ren said as Ryuji nodded with a huff as he spoke up.

"That's true. Ugh, talk about a pain in the ass..." Ryuji said as Morgana spoke up, smirking at Ryuji as he spoke.

"That reminds me...Study hard. Especially YOU, Ryuji. There are bound to be traps that will need to be solved with brains. Keep in mind that everything you do in your daily lives has an impact on your abilities." Morgana said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"Everything!? Even when Ryuji goes running with Ren on the sly to train, and when Ann spends time trying not to strangle Ryuji when he makes stupid comments?" Kusa asked as Ren and Ryuji huffed, as did Ann when Kusa mentioned her. Morgana then nodded as he spoke up.

"Yes Kusa, everything! Including the time you spend slipping off to hang out with that lady friend of yours. And don't think I forgot about you dumping me off at Leblanc last night when you slipped off to run that errand for the chief!" Morgana said, huffing at Kusa as he spoke up.

"Okay, I get your point, Morgana-sensei. No need to drag up my private life like that. I believe we were roasting Ryuji about his study habits anyways?" Kusa said as Ann nodded and spoke up.

"That we were, but in all seriousness...True, studying won't be so bad if we just think of it as helping us prepare to be phantom thieves..." Ann said as Ryuji sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, I guess you got a point...But man, it's just so lame. I was so fired up about helpin' people, not about studyin'..." Ryuji said as Kusa smiled and spoke up.

"I feel you on that. No one likes studying, Ryuji. But even so, it's a necessary evil. So we'll just have to grit our teeth and bare it as best we can. Also, sorry about before. You do realize I was just having some fun with you, right?" Kusa said to Ryuji who nodded as he spoke up.

"I get it, Kusa. Still, you could be more equal-opportunity with your teasing." Ryuji said huffily. Kusa chuckled as he spoke up.

"Oh, I AM very equal opportunity in my teasing. I just know better than to tease Ann or Morgana since one of them is a lady and the other would be able to draw blood if he wanted to. And I quite prefer NOT having my blood spilled over teasing, thank you very much." Kusa said with a shudder as Morgana chuckled and spoke up.

"Got that right, Kusa! That said, I wouldn't do that unless I had to. Well, I do have somewhere interesting to show you beforehand. You guys DID originally promise to help me out with my mission, after all." Morgana pointed out making Ren and Ryuji blink at this as the latter spoke up.

"Huh? Mission?" Ryuji said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, mission. Or did you forget Morgana-sensei was on a mission when he ended up in his current form and without his memories?" Kusa pointed out helpfully as Morgana nodded.

"Exactly, Kusa! That said, follow me." Mona said as the group shrugged and followed Morgana...

(A short time later, at an unknown location with Ren, Ryuji, Morgana, Kusa and Ann)

"What're you bringing us here for?" Ryuji asked as Morgana huffed and spoke up.

"Just do as I told you." Morgana said as Ryuji huffed and nodded.

"All right, I've got the Phantom Aficionado Website up. Now what?" Ryuji asked as Morgana spoke up.

"Look for a post with a full name in it." Morgana said as Ryuji huffed and spoke up.

"I already said there's no info on any big shots. Don't you remember? But man, people actually go put someone's real name on here. That's some scary shit..." Ryuji said as Ann spoke up, also looking at posts.

"Hmm...'He won't listen to what I way'...No wait, there's no name on this one." Ann said as Ryuji spoke up, also looking at posts.

"What about this one? ...'Someone's been bad-mouthin' me in online chat rooms' ...Oh wait, this one's got a name." Ryuji said as Morgana shook his head and spoke up.

"Ignore those. Aren't there any posts about more serious trouble?" Morgana asked as the others shrugged until Ann found a post and read it in shock.

"Ooh, how about this one? 'I don't know what to do about my ex who's stalking me. His name is Natsuhiko Nakanohara.' It says he's a teller at City Hall." Ann said as Ryuji blinked in surprise and spoke up.

"A government worker's stalking someone?" Ryuji asked skeptically. Kusa and Ren blinked, neither one inclined to disbelieve such a thing as Morgana spoke up.

"That should be a suitable target. All right, now get the Meta-Nav ready." Morgana said as Ryuji smirked before speaking up excitedly.

"We're just gonna jump right into a Palace? Fine by me!" Ryuji said as Ann huffed before speaking up.

"HEY! What happened to all that talk of 'unanimous decision'?" Ann asked as Kusa spoke up.

"I think this is where that comes into play, Ann. Let's be patient and see for ourselves though." Kusa said, amused by Ann's reaction as Ann turned to Ren.

"Fair enough, Kusa. So, what do you think we should do, Ren?" Ann asked Ren who thought about it and nodded.

"I say let's go. If this is a Palace, then we need to do this, if for no other reason than it'd make for good training." Ren said. Ryuji smirked as he spoke up happily.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Ryuji said as Kusa spoke up.

"Now before we do much else, do you agree Ann? After all, you were the one who brought up the 'unanimous decision' rule, and it is only fair that we follow that rule, if only as a formality. For the record, I agree with going. And given Morgana asked for the Meta-Nav to be fired up, I'll guess he agrees as well?" Kusa said as Morgana nodded while Ann spoke up.

"Yeah, I agree as well. I just wanted to be sure we were doing this by the book. Okay then. Let's go." Ann said as Ryuji spoke up.

"We need a name and a place, right? So the name is..." Ryuji said as Morgana cut in and spoke up.

"Actually, we don't need a name this time. Just enter exactly what I say. The keyword is...'Mementos.'" Morgana said as Ryuji frowned.

"Huh? What're you tryin' to pull?" Ryuji asked as Morgana spoke up once more.

"Just listen to me. It should work... I think." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"I haven't seen Morgana be wrong really about anything much yet, not counting that time I had to get on him about why the word 'cougar' is bad when said to women, so I believe him." Kusa said sagely. Morgana gave Kusa a grateful smile while Ryuji huffed and spoke up.

"Geez, that again? Uhh... 'M-e-m-e-n-t-o-s,' was it?" Ryuji said as he put the keyword in and was surprised when his phone said, 'Candidate found!' , making Ryuji hop up in shock as he spoke up.

"We got a hit!?" Ryuji asked, wide-eyed in surprise. Morgana smirked as he spoke up.

"Just as I thought!" Morgana said as the Meta-Nav activated. When it was done, Ann gasped as she realized that other than herself and the others, no one else was around.

"Everyone disappeared! It...kind of feels like I'm...walking on air?" Ann said as Ryuji spoke up.

"Is this that Nakanohara guy's Palace?" Ryuji asked as Morgana spoke up with a nod.

"That's half-right, but half-wrong. This IS a type of Palace, but it's different from the normal ones. Come on, let's head down. The Shadows here lurk underground. I don't quite understand why. It may be because they're drawn to something." Morgana said as Ann frowned and spoke up.

"Underground? How are we going to get there?" Ann asked. Morgana huffed as he spoke up.

"How? You use it every day on your way to school. Follow me!" Morgana said as he hopped down and walked off around the corner as Ryuji spoke up.

"Ah! Wait up, cat!" Ryuji said as Kusa frowned as he spoke up in an unimpressed tone.

"He's not a cat, Ryuji! Get that through your thick head!" Kusa said with a frown as the others ran after Morgana. After the group caught up to him, they looked around...

(In 'Mementos', with Skull, Panther, Mona, Joker and Draconis)

"The hell is this place?" Skull asked as he blinked as he looked at Joker, gaping as he saw Joker's Phantom Thief attire on him as he spoke up again.

"Wait, our clothes changed!?" Skull said as Draconis spoke up dryly.

"Of course they changed. Or did you think that that rule would be ignored in the Metaverse, Skull? Because somehow, I doubt that even in the Metaverse, they allow 'clothing optional' to be a thing." Draconis said in his usual dry and dead-pan tone, ignoring the flustered look Panther shot him at his 'clothing optional' comment as she spoke up.

"Ugh, shuddup Draconis! I don't think that's what Ryuji meant by 'our clothes changed!?' and you know it! That said, The Shadows know we're here!?" Panther said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Since the moment we stepped in." Morgana said as Draconis spoke up.

"First of all, I was only joking Panther. I know what Skull meant. Secondly, if that's the case Mona, why was it only when we followed you down here that our clothes shifted to our Phantom Thief garb if they knew we were here the moment we arrived? Because I recall quite clearly we were in our normal outfits when we first got here." Draconis said. Skull nodded as he spoke up.

"Exactly, Draconis! And Mona, you should've told us!" Skull said with a huff. Mona smiled as he spoke up.

"When I said 'first stepped in', Draconis, I meant when you followed me down here, not when we first entered the area with the Meta-Nav." Mona pointed out sagely as Draconis nodded as he spoke up.

"Ahh, I see. My apologies for questioning you then, Mona-sensei. I should've known you knew what you were talking about." Draconis said. Mona nodded as he spoke up.

"Also, we're still safe right here. I've come to investigate a number of times. Shadows never come up to this floor. But it's a different story once you go down. This place is simply teeming with them." Mona said as Draconis' eyes widened behind his mask as he spoke up.

"Um, Mona? Word choice, please!" Draconis said with a shudder as Joker and Skull blinked briefly before also shuddering as they realized why Draconis had called Mona on his word choice. Panther huffed at Draconis as she spoke up.

"You do realize, Draconis, that YOU're usually the one to point out the poor word choice when it's made, first with Skull then now with Mona? None of the rest of us probably would've realized Mona had made an inadvertent innuendo if you hadn't pointed it out! But never mind that!" Panther said as she rounded on Mona after scolding Draconis.

"But more importantly, what is this Mementos!? It's about time you start explaining." Panther said to Mona. Mona put his hands on his hips as he spoke up.

"But of course! Mementos is...everyone's Palace." Mona said as Skull, Joker and Draconis all facefaulted at Mona's explanation. Skull then spoke up.

"Huh? Whaddya mean, 'everyone's'?" Skull asked Mona as Mona spoke up.

"A Palace as grand as the previous castle only forms when a person's wishes are extremely distorted. So, instead of many individual Palaces, the general public has one gigantic shared Palace. That's where we are now... Mementos." Mona said as Panther nodded before speaking up.

"Now that you mention it, this place feels a bit different from Kamoshida's Palace..." Panther said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"When you say shared...you mean they're all put together? Even though they're just strangers?" Skull asked as Mona nodded.

"Think of it as the collective subconscious...No, never mind. You wouldn't understand that." Mona said before Draconis spoke up.

"Skull probably wouldn't, no. But the rest of us are a different story. What you're describing sounds suspiciously similar to how some say that dreams can be shared when asleep, and people can visit other people's dreams, in theory at least, without realizing it. Does that sound about accurate?" Draconis asked as Joker laughed and spoke up.

"That sounds, Draconis, like you got that from an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants." Joker mentioned as Draconis flushed in embarrassment as he spoke up.

"I most certainly did NOT get an idea from that show, Joker! I don't know what you're talking about!" Draconis said huffily as Skull, Panther and Mona laughed at the put-out look on the usually stoic and stony-faced Draconis' face as Mona nodded.

"Similar, but not the same. Just trust me when I say it'd take too long to explain." Mona said as Draconis nodded.

"Fair enough, Mona-sensei. And Joker! I'm going to remember you said that about me! Do remember I know what paybacks are, especially given who my desk partner is." Draconis pointed out dryly as Joker laughed.

"Oh come on, Draconis! Why get so bent out of shape over being called out on liking a cartoon? It's not a big deal." Joker said to Draconis who pouted.

"Because it's a kid's cartoon, for one. And for another, what if Skull and Panther don't find that show fun? I'd rather not have them think less of me for such a subtle guilty pleasure." Draconis said in a petulant tone, making Skull actually laugh at the tone Draconis had taken before Panther spoke up.

"Relax, Draconis. Even though Skull's laughing right now, he's laughing at how whiny you sounded just now. Neither he nor I think any less of you just because you happen to like a kid's cartoon. So you can quit being mad at Joker." Panther said to Draconis who sighed and nodded, reluctantly nodding as he spoke up.

"Fine, I'll let him off the hook this time. Sorry for that insolent display just now. And Mona, NOW you can say that there's been an insolent display in front of a lady." Draconis said as Mona nodded and spoke up with a smile.

"Fair enough, Draconis. And you didn't have to do that to make me feel better about my outburst in the last Palace. But I appreciate it." Mona said with a nod as Panther spoke up at that point, looking at Mona as she spoke.

"So what you're saying is...Using this place, we can even change the hearts of people who don't have a Palace?" Panther asked as Mona nodded with a smile and spoke up.

"Correct! The steps to do so are slightly different though." Mona said as Skull nodded before speaking up uncertainly.

"Fair enough, but this place looks pretty huge. Are we gonna be able to get around just by walkin'?" Skull asked as Mona hopped down off of his perch to look at Skull as he spoke up from next to Panther.

"It seems the time has finally come..." Mona said as Skull, Joker, Panther and Draconis all looked at Mona in confusion as he kept speaking.

"Morganaaa...transfoooooorm!" Mona said, not seeing Draconis and Joker exchange shocked looks at Mona breaking the 'code names only' rule as he spoke, leaping up and turning into a van, to the stunned shock of the others, speaking up as he looked at the others.

"Come now, Panther. Ladies first." Mona said suavely as everyone else's jaws dropped and Panther spoke up first, finding her voice.

"A car..!?" Panther said as Draconis spoke up at that point, his eyes wide behind his mask.

"Never mind a car, Panther. Mona's gone and turned himself into a freaking tour bus! Since when can he do that!? And where the frick was THAT skill in the real world!? We could've saved ourselves so many cramped-ass train rides with this!" Draconis said huffily as Skull and Joker readily nodded their agreement. Skull then spoke up.

"No way! And yeah, good point Draconis. Mona, when were you gonna share this with us!? We could've gotten so much further with this..." Skull said with a frown as Mona spoke up.

"First of all, this wouldn't work in the real world, Draconis. The reason for that is simple. This comes from the way cognition materializes in the Metaverse, plus a bit of extra training. It's not dissimilar to how you guys transform." Mona said as both Draconis and Skull sputtered at that before the latter spoke up.

"You turnin' into a car is totally different than our clothes changin'!" Skull pointed out huffily as Mona spoke up.

"For some reason, 'cats turning into buses' is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public." Mona said as Draconis huffed.

"Perhaps, but how many people were high off their asses when having that cognition, I wonder!? Because let's be real, a cat turning into a car feels like something someone would think up either on some sort of vision quest, or after they've had just a bit too much of the Mary Jane, as I've heard it called. And Joker, before you ask, I heard it called that around school before we moved here so don't ask." Draconis said, forestalling Joker's likely response as Skull laughed at Draconis' remark before high-fiving him and speaking up.

"Truth, man! I could see someone thinking a cat could become a car or bus after having some weed." Skull said with a nod. Ann huffed as she spoke up.

"Anyways, ignoring the extremely random, and frankly surprising, digression by Draconis and Skull, why a bus though?" Panther asked. Mona did the car equivalent of a shrug as he spoke up at that point.

"No idea." Mona said as Draconis spoke up once more.

"Probably because whoever designed Mementos was totally inspired by one of those mosh pits you see at rock and roll concerts, and apparently the common cognition is that they can make animals into tour buses. I'll admit, it's not a bad idea, IF the Phantom Thieves were moonlighting as a band, which to be fair could be interesting to consider once we have a few more members since usually most bands are at LEAST five people and if we exclude Mona due to his current form, we only are a group of four." Draconis said as Joker and Skull nodded their agreement as the latter spoke up, an eager grin on his face as he spoke.

"Dude, if we ever did become a band? Dibs on the drums!" Skull said with a smirk as Draconis shrugged.

"I was going to call dibs, but fair enough. I suppose Joker and I can settle for guitars while Panther could be lead vocals, if she has the singing talent for it? Which to be fair, do ANY of us have any musical aptitude now that I think about it?" Draconis asked. Everyone shrugged, aside from Mona who was currently a bus. Skull then frowned as he had a thought and spoke up.

"Wait...if you could do this in the Metaverse, why didn't you do this at the castle!?" Skull asked Mona, as Joker and Draconis nodded their agreement of Skull's question as Mona spoke up with a pointed look at Skull as he spoke.

"I would have if I could! But that castle was cramped, there were tons of stairs, and no way THIS fits on top of a chandelier!" Mona said as Draconis nodded his understanding as he and Skull filed into Mona, leaving Joker and Panther to blink at each other as the latter dashed after Skull into Mona, yelling at him as she ran.

"Hey, Skull! Ladies first!" Panther said, pushing Skull aside so she could get a good seat as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Hey! ARGH! Stop pullin' me! That's dangerous!" Skull said as Panther eventually got into the front seat and claimed shotgun, unintentionally shoving Skull into Draconis, who found himself squished up against the back-right passenger window, speaking up dryly.

"Oof! Methinks this transport is just a tad too cramped to fit us all...Mona, couldn't you have given yourself more space on the interior for your passengers!?" Draconis asked. Mona then spoke up as Panther shoved Skull into the backseat, yelping at the impact.

"Panther! Please be gentle!" Mona said as both Joker and Draconis grinned, both speaking up at the same time.

"I know we shouldn't, but how can we not when you set us up so nicely, Mona? Ready, Joker?" Draconis called to Joker who nodded.

"Naturally, Draconis." Joker said as both of them spoke up simultaneously, ignoring the groans from inside Mona at what they said next.

"BE GENTLE? THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" Joker and Draconis both joked simultaneously, getting twin death glares from Panther and Skull for their humor and a groan from Mona who spoke up.

"Oh come on! Not funny you two!" Mona protested as Joker and Draconis were both chuckling at their own wit, the latter speaking up.

"I'm sorry, but you have to admit you walked into that one, Mona-sensei. I apologize for my crass humor, but how could I not let that set-up go un-used after you so graciously handed it to me? Besides, if you didn't want us to say that, you should've chosen your words better." Draconis pointed out sagely as Joker nodded from outside Mona and spoke up.

"He's right, you know. And I too apologize, but that was too perfect of a set-up to waste. I'm sure Skull will agree once he stops groaning at how bad our joke was." Joker said. Eventually, Joker, Skull and Panther were all settled into the back seat with Draconis somehow managing to sit up front in the coveted shotgun seat, a smug smirk on his face as he got comfortable. Skull then spoke up.

"All aboard! Let's go!" Skull said as Joker and Panther nodded eagerly, ready to see a self-driving cat-car, no matter how illogical that sounded. When nothing happened they all blinked, while Draconis chuckled, suspecting they were being naive to think that Mona's current transformation was self-driven. Mona then spoke up with a huff.

"Why are you all just sitting back there? I'm a car, remember? I'm not going anywhere unless someone drives me." Mona said. Skull huffed and scoffed as he spoke up.

"You can't drive yourself!?" Skull asked in surprise. Draconis laughed as he spoke up.

"Of course he can't, Skull! I don't care if his current transformation is the cognition of some hippie somewhere, even they know cars don't drive themselves! That said, since you're all in the back, and I'm in the front, I guess that means I'm driving?" Draconis said with a smirk. Joker, Skull and Panther all blinked at that as Panther looked at Joker and spoke up

"Do you know how to drive?" Panther asked Joker who shrugged.

"Honestly? The only driving experience either Draconis or I have is in video games, and while Draconis is a good driver, he's also just a bit of a speed demon as well meaning he'd probably be crashing us into Shadows every so often if he drives." Joker said. Panther blanched at that as she spoke up.

"That's a bit worrying, but I'll let you handle it. I don't even have that experience to lean on." Panther said as Draconis huffed from the shotgun seat.

"Not only is that rude, but that's also lies, Joker! Besides, I only crashed once, and that only because I didn't see that chicane coming in time to brake!" Draconis said huffily as Skull blanched at that and spoke up.

"Okay, yeah no, Joker's not only a safer driver, but is also more skilled at it than me!? That decides it: Joker's driving!" Skull said quickly.

"SECONDED!" Mona and Panther said at the same time as Joker looked apologetically at Draconis and spoke up.

"Sorry Draconis, but the majority rules in this case. At least you get to ride shotgun, right?" Joker said as he hopped over the seat to slide into the driver's seat. Draconis sighed and nodded.

"That's true. I do get to ride shotgun. Might've been funnier to let Skull have it though, since he's kinda the shotgun guy of the group and all." Draconis said as Skull laughed.

"Truth, Draconis! I can shoot Shadows from out the window! I'd be blastin' Shadows with my shotgun while ridin' shotgun!" Skull said with an eager smirk as Joker and Panther cringed at how totally stupid Skull's comment sounded as Draconis dryly laughed at the comment. Draconis then spoke up.

"Unfortunately for you Skull, my friend, I already have shotgun so not this time. Maybe next time though." Draconis said as Skull nodded.

"Fair enough. I suppose that makes sense." Skull said as Panther spoke up, looking at Joker as she spoke.

"All right then, we'll leave the driving to you!" Panther said to Joker as he got settled into the driver's seat, which he did with a nod as Mona spoke up.

"Now start the engine! You can't drive if it's not running!" Mona said as Skull moved over after Joker got in the driver's seat as he spoke up.

"Ah, geez. What a pain...Where's the key to this thing?" Skull said. Mona frowned as he spoke up.

"Why would you need a key!? There's a switch just down next to the steering wheel." Mona said and Joker reached down to hit the first switch he saw, and Draconis' eyes went wide as he heard the next words out of Mona's mouth, blanching as Mona spoke.

"That tickles! Lower, lower!" Mona said as Joker hit a switch further down as Mona's engine started with a purr as he spoke up.

"Oh, there... that feels sooo gooooood..." Mona said as Draconis and Panther's eyes went wide in horror at Mona's word choice. Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Uh, is that purrin' I hear? What a creepy-ass car!" Skull said as Mona spoke up with a smirk.

"Don't underestimate my meowtary engine." Mona said as Draconis blanched and spoke up.

"Meowtary!? Isn't it supposed to be rotary!?" Draconis said as Joker nodded his agreement while he spoke up..

"Agreed, Draconis. It IS supposed to be a rotary engine." Joker said with a nod. Mona huffed and spoke up.

"Oh, rotary, meowtary, who cares!? We're going full throttle! It's time to fly!" Mona said as Draconis had to seriously bite his tongue right then not to start singing the lyrics to the Iron Maiden song 'Aces High' when Mona mentioned it being time to fly. Once Joker got Mona moving, Skull spoke up in surprise.

"WHOA! Man...This place totally does feel like a Palace..." Skull said as Panther nodded with a frown as she spoke up.

"Yeah, I guess it'd be strange driving on the tracks like this in the real world...Anyway, Nakanohara's somewhere in here, right?" Panther asked. Mona nodded.

"Most likely in a segment of his own creation. Don't worry, it won't be the size of a Palace. Our next step is to find an entrance to that segment." Mona said as Skull spoke up.

"That's true, but then again...And what's this entrance gonna look like?" Skull asked. Mona spoke up uncertainly.

"I have no idea, but strong distortions should be a pretty obvious visual clue." Mona said as Skull moaned before speaking up in annoyance.

"Oh come on! So we just gotta go wanderin' around for it then? What a goddamn pain in the ass..." Skull said. Draconis nodded as Joker started driving Mona through the area, eventually stopping as the cane to a red and black mass of swirls that had Skull gaping as he spoke up.

"Whoa...Dude, the hell is this? It's all wavy and shit." Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"Am I the only one reminded of those old tie-dye swirls that some computers use as a screensaver? Because this brings me oddly to mind of that...or at least some sort of sick ass lighting show, either or." Draconis said with a smirk. Skull laughed as he high-fived Draconis while Mona spoke up.

"This is the place...I sense the target up ahead. Now, are you ready, Joker?" Mona said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, let's do it. Let's get this over with." Joker said. He then drove Mona through the swirls, and when the group came out on the other side, Mona turned back to normal as everyone was ejected from him, making Skull blink as he looked ahead and spoke up.

"Hey, something's there!" Skull said. Mona nodded and spoke up from next to Skull (Panther had tagged out with Mona and was on reserve at the moment) smirking as he spoke.

"That seems to be Nakanohara's Shadow." Mona said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Lemme see. Some front desk guy at City Hall became a stalker, right?" Skull asked as the others nodded and Panther spoke up from the back.

"I don't know how much evil he's done, but we have to do something if he's bothering other people." Panther said as Mona nodded.

"All right, we'll go talk to him." Mona said. Joker nodded as he walked up to the shadow of Nakanohara who blinked as he saw the group and spoke up.

"W-Who are you!?" Nakanohara said as Panther frowned and spoke up, sounding annoyed as she spoke.

"Are you that stalker!? Have you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels?" Panther asked as Nakanohara huffed and spoke up.

"She's my property! I can do whatever I want with her! It's not like she didn't treat me like a plaything! What's wrong with me doing the same!?" Nakanohara said as Skull and Draconis exchanged stunned looks as the former spoke up.

"You can't treat someone like shit just 'cause they did it to you! What a load of crap..." Skull said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"I concur. But also, what you seem to not realize, Nakanohara-san, is that things like this can become a vicious circle if they keep being visited upon others. In most cases, if unchecked, the abuse victim often becomes the abuser! And that's not okay!" Draconis said with a frown. Skull nodded his agreement as he spoke up.

"I couldn't agree more, Draconis!" Skull said as he turned to Nakanohara as he kept speaking.

"We're gonna change the hearts of ALL the bastards like you!" Skull said with a glare as Nakanohara huffed and spoke up.

"There are millions of people far worse than me! What about Madarame...? He stole everything from me, but you're letting him off the hook!?" Nakanohara said as Skull frowned as he looked at the others.

"Madarame? The hell's this guy goin' on about?" Skull said as the others shrugged. Nakanohara then turned into a Shadow as Mona spoke up.

"Get ready! Here he comes!" Mona said as the battle began. Nakanohara glared at the group as he spoke up.

"Now that I finally have what's rightfully mine... I'm not going to let you take it away...Look...THis is a winner-takes-all world. Come fight me and I'll show you what I mean!" Nakanohara said as Draconis, Skull, Mona and Joker rolled their eyes at Nakanohara's words as the battle began. After a few casts of Zio and some All-Out Attacks, eventually the group defeated Nakanohara, and as a result everyone except Joker reached level 12 while Pixie reached level 9 and gained Resist Confuse. After the battle, Nakanohara looked at the group in fear, seemingly much more cowed as he spoke.

"I-I'm sorry...please forgive me...I-I couldn't stop obsessing...N-Not after this person I trusted used me and then disposed of me." Nakanohara said as Joker frowned and spoke up.

"Which person? Is this related to that Madarame person you mentioned before?" Joker asked Nakanohara. Skull blinked as he spoke up.

"Hold on, are you talkin' about that guy you mentioned earlier...Madarame?" Skull said as Nakanohara nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, precisely! I...was afraid of being thrown away again like some worthless thing." Nakanohara said as Panther frowned before speaking up.

"So some selfish bastard was making you suffer too...Still, you shouldn't have dragged an unrelated woman into your mess." Panther said as Nakanohara nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, I know that now. I'll put an end to my love for her...Hey, you can change people's hearts, right? In that case...Won't you change Madarame's heart!? Before more people fall victim to him..." Nakanohara said as his Shadow dissipated and turned into a white orb that hovered in front of Joker as Panther spoke up.

"Change...Madarame's heart!?" Panther asked as Skull saw the orb in front of Joker and spoke up.

"Huh? What's that shinin' thing?" Skull asked as Draconis blinked and spoke up.

"I could be wrong, but isn't this similar to what Kamoshida's Treasure looked like before it was materialized by our calling card?" Draconis asked uncertainly. Mona nodded.

"That's correct, Draconis. This is the bud of a Treasure. Had we left it be, it very well may have blossomed into a Palace." Mona said as he turned to Joker and kept speaking.

"Joker, this will make a perfect reward!" Mona said as Joker nodded and seized the Treasure bud, which was revealed to be an 'Attachment Pearl'. At that point, a message popped up on-screen signifying that the group had completed a request. After that, Skull spoke up.

"So Nakanohara had a change of heart, right?" Skull asked as Mona nodded.

"Yeah, most likely." Mona said as Panther spoke up uncertainly.

"But how are we supposed to know if we succeeded?" Panther asked. Skull crossed his arms as he spoke up.

"The lady posted the dude's name online. if he really does change, she'll prolly comment again." Skull said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Hm, you do have a point." Mona said as Skull smirked and spoke up.

"Either way, trainin' against Shadows down here's the best! It's great prep for our next target!" Skull said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"I agree. Not to mention, when and if we get more members of the group, and I have no doubt we will. Since with all respect to Panther, I highly doubt she'll be the last Phantom Thief we end up recruiting, we can use this place to help get the newer members into shape once they join up and their Persona is up to snuff for it." Draconis said thoughtfully as Mona nodded his agreement. Panther also nodded as she spoke up.

"It's also nice to be able to give courage to the people who post their problems online." Panther said as Mona smiled while speaking up.

"On top of that, we can sell whatever treasure we get for some cold, hard cash!" Mona said as Skull smirked and spoke up.

"Sounds like things are goin' pretty great for us! ...All right, we did it!" Skull said as Mona spoke up.

"Hold on. There's somewhere I want to show you guys before we leave." Mona said as Skull blinked before speaking up.

"What, there's more?" Skull asked. Mona nodded.

"Don't worry. It won't take long. Well then, why don't we leave this room first?" Mona said. The others nodded. Once the others were back out of the room and inside Mona's car form, Skull spoke up.

"Ugh, guess we gotta do it...So? What else do you wanna do?" Skull asked Mona. Mona spoke up.

"There's something I'd like to check in an area further down. First off, we should look for a platform that'll let us descend." Mona said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Wait, you've been here before, right? Don't you got like a map or something?" Skull asked Mona. Mona shook his head.

"That would hold no meaning in this place. The layout changes every time you enter." Mona said as Panther gasped and spoke up.

"Wait, for real!? So our path changes too!?" Panther asked as Mona spoke up.

"Yep. This place is the fused cognition of a countless number of people. It's constantly shifting. Even so, our destination should be pretty close. I'm counting on you, Joker." Mona said as the group started driving, Joker leveling up to level 13 thanks to a Shadow along the way. After a bit, the group found the platform and got out of Mona as he turned back to normal. Skull then spoke up.

"Hold on a sec...You guys hearin' somethin'?" Skull asked as the group saw a train pull up across the way as Skull kept speaking.

"The trains're totally runnin'!" Skull said. Mona frowned as he spoke up.

"Of course they are. We're in the subway, you know." Mona said as Panther spoke up.

"Yeah, but I thought this was a Palace!" Panther said. Mona blinked and spoke up.

"Then maybe this is how the public views this place? I don't know." Mona said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"People go through this darkness...every day?" Panther asked. Skull's eyes widened as he spoke up.

"Forget that! You sure we're cool runnin' around on these tracks!?" Skull said as Mona spoke up and his words had even Draconis' eyes going wide as he finished speaking.

"It should be fine as long as we're not on the same ones...I think. I'm no train expert." Mona said as both Skull and Draconis blanched and the former spoke up.

"You gotta be kiddin' me..." Skull said with a frown as Mona spoke up.

"Anyway, let's head down to the lower area. It should be right after we go down that escalator." Mona said as the group nodded. Once the group took the escalator down, Mona spoke up in the next area.

"This way! All right, there it is! The thing I want to make sure of is inside!" Mona said. The group then ran forward to investigate the wall on the other side, Panther speaking up as they got to the wall.

"What is this place? It's kinda creepy." Panther said. Skull frowned as he spoke up.

"And a dead end at that. Why's it even exist?" Skull asked as Draconis frowned at that, before his eyes slowly widened in realization and he spoke up.

"Unless this 'dead end' isn't a dead end as it first appears, but instead a door of some sort that has to be unlocked in some fashion." Draconis said in realization as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Now hold on...Just watch. This is most likely not an ordinary wall. If my hunch is correct..." Mona said, walking forward and touching the wall which then disappeared as the path behind it was revealed. Panther gasped as she spoke up.

"It opened!" Panther said as Draconis' phone spoke up at that moment.

"A new area has been confirmed in the depths. Updating guidance information." Draconis' phone said as Mona smiled and jumped for joy as he spoke up.

"See!? It's just as I thought!" Mona said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"Like you thought!? You got that theory after I made my guess about the wall being a door if anything, Mona." Draconis said huffily as Skull nodded agreement. Panther spoke up before a fight could break out.

"What do you mean?" Panther asked as Mona spoke up and Draconis stopped complaining so he could listen to Mona's explanation, curious about this himself.

"That wall wouldn't budge when I came here by myself before. But it'd be weird for the deepest part of Mementos to be some normal place like this, wouldn't it?" Mona said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Naturally. With your luck, the deepest part of Mementos will likely take us deep deep beneath the earth or something like that. I'd say it'd take us straight to hell, but not only is that absurd, but it's also not even physically possible." Draconis said as Joker and Skull nodded their agreement. Skull then spoke up.

"Exactly, Draconis! I'd believe that. And Mona, you were thinkin' there's gotta be more?" Skull asked Mona who nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah! Now that Kamoshida's Palace is gone and people are actually starting to talk about us...I knew something had to have changed down here!" Mona said as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"How deep is it? Should we try going further down?" Panther asked Mona who shook his head and spoke up.

"Let's not. That's not why we're here today, remember? We've already accomplished our goal. We should head back and I'll explain more once we're home." Mona said as the group went back to the entrance of Mementos. Once there, the group was surprised by the presence of a small blonde boy driving a cart with what looked to be an orb full of flowers in front of him, making Panther gasp as she spoke up.

"Hey, look!" Panther said as Mona jumped in surprise as he spoke up.

"A person!? In Mementos!?" Mona said as the boy in white spoke up to himself.

"Hmm...Maybe it's this one." The boy in white said as he drew the flower orb into a cup, oddly enough, and drank it, confusing the group. He then kept speaking to himself.

"Ooh! Tasty!" The boy in white said as the group walked up, Skull speaking up.

"Hey, what's he drinkin'?" Skull asked as Draconis spoke up, clearly in disbelief at what he'd just seen.

"Well, Skull, either we're all punch drunk from all the Shadows Joker hit with his driving, OR we all just saw that kid drink a drink made of flowers, of all things." Draconis said. The boy in white turned to the group on hearing Draconis' voice and spoke up.

"Oh? Hmm, I thought i felt something strange for a second...So, who're you guys?" The boy in white asked the group as Mona huffed and jumped up and down as he spoke.

"WE should be asking YOU that!" Mona said. The boy in white nodded as he spoke up.

"Good point. Sorry about that. It's customary for a human to introduce itself before asking another human for its name. Thanks for reminding me, Misterrrr...Um, Tanuki? No, um...Hmmm...Cat?" The boy in white said as both Draconis and Mona huffed as the latter spoke up once more.

"What took so long to come up with 'Cat'!? And I'm NOT either of those!" Mona said huffily as Draconis chuckled.

"Nice to see that he reacts that way, no matter WHO calls him that." Draconis said with a chuckle. Skull nodded as he hung his head before speaking up.

"Yeah, uh, gettin' confused about that seems pretty normal to me." Skull said as Draconis rolled his eyes and spoke up.

"Yes, well, you also have a brain the size of a coconut given how often you forget that Mona isn't a cat, so maybe that's just normal for you, Skull." Draconis deadpanned. Joker and Mona laughed at Draconis' quip as the boy in white spoke up.

"My name is Jose. I'm looking for flowers." The now-named Jose said as he introduced himself. Jose then kept speaking.

"I'm pretty surprised to see some normal-looking humans running around. I didn't know people could just come here." Jose said as Mona smirked and spoke up.

"Well, we are pretty special, hehehe...W-Wait, that's not important! Who YOU are is what matters right now!" Mona said to Jose as the others nodded their agreement. Panther spoke up at that point, looking at Jose as he spoke.

"When you said you were looking for flowers, did you mean that floating thing?" Panther asked Jose who nodded as he spoke up, though once he spoke, Skull and Joker had to hold back Draconis and Mona respectively from attacking Jose.

"That's right, pretty lady. Those seem to be the ones I've been looking for. I'm collecting as many of 'em as I can 'cause I'm studying humans. Skull blinked as he spoke up, as both Mona and Draconis glared at Jose as Skull spoke.

"Studying humans? That's why you turned a flower into a drink?" Ryuji asked Jose who nodded and spoke up.

"Yup." Jose said as Skull leaned to the closest person, in this case Draconis and muttered so only he could hear.

"Drinkin' flower juice counts as studying?" Skull said as Draconis chuckled and spoke up.

"To him it does. But honestly? I think we figured out which sort of crazy hippies would think a cat could turn into a tour bus." Draconis joked at a level only Skull could hear as Skull chuckled and nodded. Jose looked at the group as he spoke up once Draconis and Skull finished chuckling at Draconis' joke.

"Hey, could you guys help me with my research?" Jose asked the group as Panther blinked and spoke up.

"How?" Panther asked as Jose smiled and spoke up once more.

"By collecting flowers for me. I wouldn't ask you to do it for free, though. I find all kinds of stuff you can use while you're exploring. I'll trade you some of that stuff for more flowers." Jose said as Skull looked at Joker as he spoke up.

"Well, whaddaya think? Should we try an' get him some flowers?" Skull asked as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Seems like it could do us some good, but we don't know this kid...We gotta be careful." Mona said as Panther smiled and crossed her arms as she spoke up.

"Oh, I'm sure he's fine. Let's give him a hand. He seems like he could use it, and it shouldn't be too hard to pick flowers while we're exploring, right?" Panther asked as Draconis blinked and spoke up.

"Pick flowers!? Panther, you DID see that orb that had flowers in front of it in front of Jose when we got here, right!? I don't think we have to pick flowers in Mementos." Draconis said with a frown as he crossed his arms. Skull nodded his agreement with Draconis as he spoke up.

"Okay, any OTHER reasons?" Skull said as Panther giggled as she spoke up once more.

"Hehe, he called me 'pretty lady'." Panther said as Mona looked down as he spoke, not seeing Draconis' eyes widen as he spoke.

"Nooo! Lady Ann..." Mona said as Draconis spoke up.

"Mona, is that her code name!?" Draconis hissed into Mona's ear pointedly after he heard Mona slip up and use the wrong name for Panther. Mona blinked.

"Oops! I mean Lady Panther!" Mona said as his eyes went wide as Draconis' words registered as Skull spoke up.

"Eh, it's prolly fine. I mean, he said he'd give us useful stuff an' all. Whaddya say?" Skull said to the others as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"True, not to mention, between your shotgun and my throwing knives, as well as Joker's knife, we can make this little brat pay for it if he tries anything funny with Panther. I mean, think about it! She's practically the unspoken 'sister' of our group, isn't she!? So by that logic, that makes you, me, Mona and Joker the 'protective older brothers' so to speak that get to threaten any boy who tries to make a move on Panther and if they hurt her, we get to make them suffer for it. And between us, I'm sure we could get QUITE creative when doing so if we wanted to, couldn't we boys!?" Draconis said, an oddly sadistic smirk on his face that Skull, Mona and Joker all mirrored as they nodded, before turning unified glares on Jose as Jose spoke up.

"Well, are you going to help me find the flowers or not?" Jose asked as Joker spoke up.

"I say let's help him. But I agree with Draconis, if he tries anything funny with Panther, we can deal with him then." Joker said with an almost feral grin on his face as Skull, Mona and Draconis nodded while he spoke. Jose nodded as he spoke up.

"Thanks." Jose said as Mona spoke up.

"Wait, wait, hang on a second! We still have no idea who this kid is! Don't go thankin' us just yet, bud!" Mona said as Draconis lifted him onto his shoulder to whisper into his ear.

"Cool it, Mona. No need to scare the brat yet. That comes AFTER we confirm he actually has feelings for Panther. No sense scaring him off if it was just an innocent compliment when he called her 'pretty lady', though I'm inclined to agree with you on distrusting him. Unfortunately, phantom thief code dictates we have to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, since we are gentleman, or lady in Panther's case, thieves and all." Draconis said so only Mona could hear, getting a satisfied nod from Mona. Jose spoke up again, his words causing Joker and Skull to double over laughing as Draconis' and Mona's eyes twitched.

"Aw, are you tired, kitty? You seem grumpy." Jose said as Mona practically seethed as he hissed at Jose before speaking up.

"I am NOT a cat! And I'm NOT grumpy!" Mona said angrily, making Joker and Skull laugh even harder, not even flinching as Draconis bonked them both over the head with his fists, huffing as he glared at Joker and Skull as he spoke up.

"Whenever you two idiots are done having a laugh at Mona's expense, we need to keep him from killing Jose." Draconis said huffily as Jose spoke up.

"O-Oh, okay-then, are you hungry? I learned hunger can make a person turn grumpy." Jose said as he pulled out a cookie and offered it to Mona.

"Here, you can have this." Jose said to Mona, making Draconis' eyes go wide as he grabbed it away from Jose to check the label, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw it was just sugar cookies. He glared at Jose as he spoke up.

"Kid, check your labels before you give out cookies. What if you'd given him something he was allergic to!?" Draconis snapped at Jose as Mona recoiled at the sight of the cookie and spoke up.

"Thanks, but I'll pass..." Mona said as Skull spoke up after taking the cookie from Jose.

"If he doesn't want it, I'll take it. Also, Mona, you're makin' the kid worry about ya even more. Guess there's no way outta this one." Skull said as Jose got into his blue car and spoke up.

"I'll be looking for flowers around here, so stop by and say hi if you see me. Oh, and I guess just gathering flowers would be kind of boring, huh? Since you humans seem to enjoy playing so much, I'll come up with some fun games for you. Ah, I also remembered something humans like to say to each other: Good job!" Jose said as he honked his horn before driving off. After he was out of earshot and sight, Skull spoke up.

"Who in the hell was that?" Skull asked as Panther spoke up.

"if he's studying humans, does that mean he isn't one?" Panther asked as she kept speaking.

"I mean, he just seemed like some nice kid." Panther said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Well, he didn't feel like a Shadow...I wouldn't say he's dangerous... at least, for now..." Mona said as Skull spoke up.

"Anyways, if we see any of those flowers he wants, I guess we can grab 'em for him." Skull said as the group went to leave only for a familiar honking to stop them in their tracks.

"Whoa! I totally forgot!" Jose said as he drove back up to the group and walked over to them as he spoke up.

"There's something I've been meaning to give to all of you." Jose said as Joker frowned and spoke up.

"And what would that be?" Joker asked. Jose blinked as he spoke up.

"Well, actually...I picked up something strange while I was exploring earlier. Here it is..." Jose said as he pulled out a mysterious blue star with many colors on the front, almost in the image of a globe, making Skull blink as he spoke up.

"Huh? What in the heck is that?" Skull asked as Jose spoke up.

"It's a star. At least, that's what they look like, so that's what I call them." Jose said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"A star?" Mona asked as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Umm, so what about it did you want to show us?" Panther asked Jose. Jose frowned as he spoke up.

"Humans make wishes on stars, right? That's so interesting. Stars granting wishes...So this star is going to grant your wishes." Jose said as everyone's eyes widened at this and Mona spoke up.

"Wait! Our wishes!?" Mona asked in shock as Jose chuckled as he spoke up.

"Yes. ...Or, it would be nice to think that." Jose said as Mona frowned as he spoke up.

"Hmph...'Nice to think that'...Seriously..." Mona said as Draconis gently patted Mona on the head as he spoke up.

"If nothing else Mona, this star could be a good paperweight or something handy to toss at Skull and Joker's heads whenever they get out of line." Draconis joked as Skull and Joker's eyes went wide at the slightly scary smirk on Draconis' face as he spoke to Mona who nodded and spoke up.

"Too true, Draconis. Too true." Mona said. Jose then nodded as he looked at Joker and spoke up.

"I'll give this to you. It's so sparkly and beautiful, you want it too, don't you? It's a 'sign of our friendship.' I know what that is. Off I go now. Good job!" Jose said as Mona spoke up.

"Hey, wait!" Mona said as Jose drove off once again after giving the star to Joker who blinked at the star as Skull spoke up.

"Welp, there he goes. A star, huh? He said it'd grant our wishes or somethin'..." Skull said as Mona scoffed and spoke up.

"I highly doubt something like that would actually happen, even in Mementos...Well, I guess you can at least try making a wish." Mona said as Panther smiled and spoke up.

"I know! Okay...I wish for all-you-can-eat parfaits! With zero calories!" Panther said as Skull spoke up.

"An extra large beef bowl! With pork soup on the side!" Skull said as Draconis spoke up and took his turn.

"Eternal happiness for everyone! Oh, and Mona-sensei getting his true form and memories back!" Draconis said as Joker took a turn.

"Prosperity and success for everyone here! And just because I know it'll annoy Draconis, girlfriends for him and I!" Joker said as Mona frowned.

"Oh why not? UNLIMITED ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SUSHI!" Mona said hopefully. When nothing happened, Mona frowned.

"...Shoot, nothing's happening. And thanks for at least being selfless in your wishes, Draconis." Mona said, giving Draconis an impressed smile. Panther frowned as she spoke up.

"Was Skull's wish too petty?" Panther asked as Draconis sputtered as he spoke up.

"Was SKULL's wish too petty?! More like were Skull, Panther, Mona AND Joker's wishes too petty?" Draconis said huffily. Skull frowned at Panther as he spoke up.

"You're one to talk!" Skull said as Mona hung his head.

"Draconis is right. Other than his wishes, all of our wishes were rather petty. Hm, I guess things don't just happen that easily." Mona said. He then turned to Joker and kept speaking.

"But we can't just throw the thing away...Hold onto it for now. Well then...That was a bit unexpected. Let's head back now." Mona said as the group nodded and exited the Metaverse...

(Outside the Metaverse, in Station Square with Ren, Ryuji, Kusa, Morgana and Ann)

Ryuji frowned as he spoke up after the group was out of the Metaverse.

"Mementos, huh? I still don't really get that place. Oh, and what was that wall thing we saw at the end?" Ryuji asked. Morgana frowned as he spoke up.

"I'm not entirely sure, but that wall must've been there for a reason. If Mementos is the public's palace though...it might be affected by the general public's belief in us." Morgana said as Ann spoke up.

"Why do you know so much about it, Morgana?" Ann asked Morgana who spoke up.

"My memories are a little fuzzy in that regard." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"First of all, I think that wall was actually a door of sorts. Secondly, his knowledge of Mementos must be part of Morgana-sensei's memories that he's slowly getting back. Maybe in time his true form will also return to him." Kusa said. Morgana nodded as he spoke up.

"Perhaps so, Kusa. Either way, thank you. However, I need to know what lies in the depths of Mementos, no matter what." Morgana said as Ann blinked and spoke up.

"No matter what?" Ann asked as Morgana spoke up.

"Mementos is not just everyone's Palace, it's the source of all Palaces. It used to be that Palaces with Kamoshida's with one ruler simply didn't exist. So, if we can do something about the greatest cause of distortions, I'm certain my appearance will..." Morgana said as Ann smiled with a nod as she spoke up.

"You wanted someone to save you too..." Ann said as Morgana sputtered before speaking up.

"I-I just needed pawns." Morgana said as Ryuji and Kusa laughed as the former spoke up.

"I see...So that's why you came pokin' your nose around with us." Ryuji said as Ann smiled and spoke up.

"I'll help you. I hope you can regain what you've lost." Ann said as Kusa nodded agreement as he spoke up.

"I agree with Ann. If we can help you, you can regain your lost memories and maybe even your true form. Even if you don't though, you're still a valuable member of the team that we couldn't do without, Morgana-sensei." Kusa said with a smile as he nodded respectfully to Morgana. Morgana smiled as he looked at the others and spoke up.

"Lady Ann...Kusa...thank you both so much! I'll...be relying on you guys." Morgana said as Ann frowned before speaking up.

"By the way Morgana...are you a boy? Or might you be a girl?" Ann asked as Kusa rolled his eyes and spoke up.

"Seriously!? Between Morgana-sensei's mannerisms, and the obvious fact he's hot for you, Morgana-sensei is very clearly a man." Kusa said huffily. Ren chuckled as he spoke up with a smirk.

"I agree, definitely a boy. Although...could it be a car?" Ren joked. Ryuji and Ann chuckled as the latter spoke up while Kusa huffed at Ren's dumb joke.

"That is a possibility!" Ann said as Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"I wish I could deny it, but...I just can't be sure." Ryuji said as Morgana frowned and spoke up at the same time Kusa did.

"WHY NOT!?" Kusa and Morgana huffed in unison, making Ann giggle and Joker and Skull chuckle at the unison between Kusa and Morgana as the latter spoke up.

"In any case, of course I'm male! At least Kusa recognized that! Even if I don't appreciate him mentioning my business like he did." Morgana said as he kept speaking.

"I mean, I..." Morgana said, trailing off as Ann spoke up.

"...What is it?" Ann asked as Morgana frowned, huffing as he spoke up.

"No...it's nothing. We're done talking about that! Anyway, we now know that we can perform minor changes of heart in Mementos. If we come across any eye-catching leads, it may be worth dealing with them for a bit of combat practice." Morgana said as Ann frowned and spoke up.

"There weren't any other outstanding ones though." Ann said as Ryuji smirked and spoke up.

"I bet we'l get tons of 'em if we can change someone famous and make the Phantom Thieves well-known. The big fish are our main targets after all." Ryuji said as Morgana chuckled as he spoke up, smirking at Ryuji as he spoke.

"First, YOU need to find a way to get through your exams." Morgana said as Ryuji hung his head and spoke up.

"I gotta study..." Ryuji said resignedly as the others laughed at him, none of them aware of the blue-haired individual watching them from nearby...

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

Once Ren and Kusa were back in their room at Leblanc, their phones went off to signify a group chat.

"Man, that Nakanohara guy was a piece of cake! If we can take down some kinda big target next, we're totally gonna get famous." Ryuji sent as both Ann and Kusa frowned, the former sending a response shortly after Ryuji's.

"Hey! We're trying to help people, not get famous!" Ann sent as Kusa sent a response.

"I concur. I thought the objective of our group was to help those who needed it, not to get rich and famous." Kusa sent huffily. Ryuji sent another message.

"But if people don't know who we are, how're we gonna give them any courage?" Ryuji sent as Ren sent a response.

"I agree with Kusa, but at the same time, Ryuji raises a good point. How can people get courage from people they barely know?" Ren sent. Ryuji sent a response immediately.

"See?" Ryuji sent as Kusa sent a response.

"I don't think Ren said YOU were right, Ryuji, when he said 'he's right.' I'm pretty sure that was aimed at me." Kusa sent as Ann sent a message.

"That's true, Kusa. That said, I don't think that Ryuji's necessarily wrong...But should we really be doing this at all if we don't have a reason like with Kamoshida?" Ann sent as Ryuji sent a message shortly after.

"You mean we shouldn't be sticking our noses into other people's business? I dunno, man. If someone's in trouble, it's only natural to wanna help 'em out!" Ryuji sent as Kusa and Ann both sent replies close together.

"On this point, I agree with Ryuji. It's only natural and right that we want to help out those in need, regardless of if we get rewarded for it or not. Doing the right thing should almost be a reward in and of itself." Kusa sent.

"I mean, I agree with both of you. And I guess I was glad we were able to solve the stalker case." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Plus, what good are our Personas if we don't use 'em for good? Don't you agree, Ren?" Ryuji sent as Ren frowned but sent a response.

"I definitely agree with you, Ryuji. At the same time though, I also feel that a Persona can't strictly speaking be used for evil, like it's impossible to do so. But I could just be naive in thinking that." Ren sent. Ann sent a response at that.

"Yeah...You're right." Ann sent as Ryuji sent another response.

"We don't got much time to be arguing over this either. That Madarame (?) guy bothers me." Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"Yeah. But no getting carried away, you understand? And don't do anything to stand out like fail all your exams." Ann sent as Kusa laughed at Ann's response before sending his own.

"Damn! Ryuji, need me to get you an ice-pack for that sick burn man?" Kusa sent as Ren and Morgana both laughed at Kusa's response. Ryuji then sent a response.

"Oh, shuddup! And oh crap! Speaking of that, I haven't studied at all...What about that star? The one Jose gave us. Wonder if that could help us ace the exams." Ryuji sent.

"I seriously doubt Jose gave us that just so we could use it to cheat on an exam." Kusa sent dryly as Ann sent her response.

"Precisely, Kusa. And yeah, somehow I doubt that." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Hell, I'd settle for just not failing." Ryuji sent as Ann frowned and sent a response.

"Bargaining isn't gonna help you here. Besides, Kusa was right before. We wouldn't use it for that in the first place. Maybe you should just, I dunno, put some actual effort in? You've still got time." Ann sent as Ryuji and Kusa both sent messages.

"Damn, Ann. Keep that up and you might make that burn a second-degree burn. I don't think we have enough ice-packs for that sort of burn." Kusa sent. Ryuji sent a response.

"Shuddup, Kusa! And fiiiine..." Ryuji sent as Ren put his phone away before the likely back-and-forth textfest between Ann, Kusa and Ryuji could keep going as Morgana spoke up.

"What's up? Is it Ryuji? Did he mention anything about Mementos? If there's anything you want to know, I can tell you." Morgana said as Ren nodded.

"There is, but we can discuss that later. I don't know about you, but I'm beat from all that work we did today. I kinda wanna just lay down and hit the hay early. How Kusa still has the energy to be sociable and energetic, never mind Ryuji and Ann, shocks me." Ren said as Morgana nodded.

"I see. Go ahead and lay down then, Joker." Morgana said as Ren did just that...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And there we go, chapter 13 done and dusted! I hate that I had to split it up over two days though, but I suppose that happens when you're me and manage to screw up the saving on your work. Lucky for me it didn't cost me TOO TOO big of a chunk of the chapter as a result, and I was able to easily fix it in a short amount of time. So that's good at least. That said, hopefully I won't make this mistake in future chapters! Either way, hope you enjoy the story so far, and until next update, sithlorde1988 out!