Yu and the other members had assembled outside Togo News Station. Or at least, most of them anyway. Morgana was running late on account of getting distracted by something, and Akechi went out to find her, but Yu would bet his right arm that it was sushi. It was always sushi. His train of thought was broken because he heard someone panting and calling his name, and the noise was getting louder. Turning around, he saw Morgana running as fast as her legs would allow, and coughing up a storm when she finally reached them. Walking at a brisk pace behind her was Akechi.
"I'm sorry for being late!" She wheezed out.
"It's alright. Now that we're all here, let's get to work. And hope we don't have much left of the Palace." Yu replied, getting out his phone.
"Hold on, shouldn't we wait for Hifumi?" Shiho asked.
"I already told you, Hifumi said she's not joining us."
"Well, she could've changed her mind." the volleyball player reasoned.
"If she did, she would've been here by now." Akechi pointed out.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you." A voice called out, as if waiting for Akechi to say that.
Everyone turned to the source, and saw none other than Hifumi herself. She was dressed in her usual attire, but something had changed. Her posture, her tone, and her eyes all spoke of unending clarity of what must be done and ironclad conviction to see it through.
"Hifumi? Did you change your mind?" Yu asked, puzzled.
"Yes. I've decided… that I want to see my mother brought to justice, to be free from her influence, and pursue my own dreams. So, I'm coming with you." She proudly declared.
"Alright. In that case, let's get to work." Yu said, happy that she decided to join them after all.
"So… what do we do first?" She asked.
"First, we go in." Yu said, activating the Meta-Nav. The world around them swirled and morphed as usual, and it wasn't long before all of them, Hifumi included, stood inside the Palace, dressed proudly in their Trickster attire.
Music: Hifumi's Palace them
"Alright Hifumi, if you're going to be working with us, you're going to have to learn the ropes. You already know what Palaces and the Metaverse are, so we'll go over what we do." Yu began, turning to their newest member. He began to explain everything Morgana told him before, what Personas are, how he was able to wield multiple, how to go about stealing the Treasure, and so on. It took a good few minutes, but Hifumi was listening intently, like a general weighing the options their advisors had presented.
"And when it's over, the person has a change of heart, and confesses. That about covers it. Any questions?"
"No, but I do have some concerns. My Persona doesn't seem to have any inherently offensive or defensive capabilities, just support. What should I do?"
"Hmmmm… that's a good question. Wait here, I'd like to test something." Yu stated, turning and walking over the bridge. Long after he was out of sight, the Team heard a noise coming from the shogi board Fu Hao held.
"Alright, I should be out of hearing range now. Wonder how I'll be able to signal them?" The Wild Card pondered aloud, though his voice seemed to echo through the piece that was marked as the King, which also glowed with every word.
"Yu? Is that your voice?" Hifumi asked.
"Hifumi? Can you hear me?"
"Yes. You're… you're talking through my shogi board."
"Huh. That's interesting. But if you can hear me, that's great. Hey, send Shiho over. I want to see how far we can push this."
"Alright. On my way." Shiho replied, making her way over the bridge as well. It didn't take long before her voice was also heard, this time through a piece marked "knight".
"Yu? There's something else. The book in Fu Hao's hand… it's drawing something. It looks like… skeletons."
"That's exactly what I'm looking at. Let me know if it's changing."
"It is! Now I'm seeing… a wall?"
"Huh. So apparently you can look through my eyes. That's going to be useful."
"Hey guys, I can hear you just fine." A voice in Yu's head informed.
"Shiho? That you?" Yu asked.
"Yup!"
"So we can hear each other even if we're not close to the board. Perfect. Head back to the others, I'll join you soon."
As Shiho made her way back, she heard Yu's voice in her ears as he explained.
"So, basically, I wanted to see if we could have some kind of long-range communication. Now that I know we do, we can have Hifumi stay in Safe Rooms and provide support from there. The fact that she can also see through my eyes is also a plus."
"I look forward to it. Though I'm curious." Hifumi started.
"Yea?"
"What gave you the idea? Of me being able to communicate like this?"
"Oh, I just figured if I have unique abilities as a Wild Card, you'd have unique abilities with a support Persona."
"I see."
The silhouette of a man appeared before them, and this time, Yu's voice was heard through his lips, not the shogi piece.
"Alright, so now that we've got that all ironed out, let's get to work."
"Wait a moment. We need a codename for Hifumi." Akechi pointed out.
"Oh, that's right!" Morgana exclaimed.
"Codename?" Hifumi questioned.
"Since the Palace is affected by the real world, and vice versa, we don't go around yelling our real names. Helps us avoid complications." Yu explained.
"Ah, that makes sense. What'll mine be?"
"It has to be Shogun. Or Samurai." Shiho suggested.
"Her attire is more ninja-like. Perhaps 'assassin'?" Akechi suggested.
"Uh, no. We have to call her 'mastermind'. Cause she's pretty much the strategist of the group." Morgana retorted.
"Actually, now that I think of it, I already have a nickname." Hifumi said, getting everyone's attention.
"Really? What is it?" Yu asked.
"Venus. It's a nickname the media gave me because of my beauty. I think it's rather fitting that I'm called that if I'm going to tear down mother's empire."
"Alright. Welcome to the Phantom Team, Venus. I'm Seeker."
"Pariah."
"Ace."
"Carmen."
"Thanks for the welcome, I'll try not to let you all down."
"I believe it. Oh, one more thing."
Yu reached into his pocket and pulled out all the Shogi pieces he had collected so far.
"Hold onto these. We're going to need them later."
"Got it. So, where to first?"
Yu pulled out his phone and teleported them to the Safe Room just inside the previously sealed off castle. Leaving through the door, he and the others were relieved to see that the Shadow from before was still gone. Making their way up the floors, they saw that it was a rather small room, and Hifumi let out a gasp.
"That's my room!"
Looking around, they saw that it was decorated with various paintings of samurai armor, and a portrait of Hifumi herself, which Yu guessed was from Yosuke, and a few stuffed toys. But strangely in the center of the room was a mirror. Looking at it closely, there wasn't a reflection, but there were the words 'Hifumi's potential' written above it. Yu looked at the map on his phone. There was absolutely nothing else in the castle, and yet they were missing shogi pieces, and he couldn't shake the feeling the clue laid in the mirror. Pressing his hand against its smooth surface, the mirror rippled as his hand passed through. Pulling his hand out, he looked at his Team, which noticed what he was doing.
"Once more unto the breach." He whispered, stepping in. His eyes widened and he let out a gasp at what he saw. It wasn't long before the others joined him, and they too ogled the sight.
The Tricksters found themselves standing on a cliff. To their right was a staircase carved in stone that led to a tower, while in front of them was the edge that overlooked a wide mountain range and a valley that appeared golden because of the setting sun. But that's not what was the most surprising feature about the landscape. The entire area was flooded by buildings that were in various states of completion, from the highest mountain peak to the lowest point in the valley.
"Are they building a city here?" Shiho asked.
"No. They're building an empire." Hifumi answered.
"The mirror was called 'Hifumi's potential', so it makes sense Mitsuyo would envision an empire. The question now is where do we find the missing Shogi pieces." Akechi pondered.
"Not by standing around. Let's try that thing." Yu replied, turning around and spotting a tower in the distance. But it wasn't an ordinary tower. Unlike the fortress the Tricksters had just left, this tower was both medieval in design, and broken apart with its pieces swirling around, like a vortex trying to magically put it back together. The Team made their way to the foreboding structure.
"And so, ready to do battle, the heroic Phantom Team made their way to the building, unafraid of the perils ahead."
Everyone looked at each other.
"Um, Venus? Was that you?" Yu asked.
"O-oh. Didn't realize I said that out loud. Sorry, when I'm excited I have a tendency to start roleplaying."
"Roleplaying?" Morgana asked as they entered the bottom floor, with the only intact piece of it being a staircase, while pieces of debris were flying close to it.
"It's basically where you play make-believe. Let's see if that doesn't sink under our weight." Akechi replied as a platform began flying close enough for them to get on. Stepping onto it like an escalator, the four didn't fall or crash to their doom, much to their relief.
"How does that work?" Morgana questioned as the platform began to rise.
"Basically people pretend to be something or someone they're not. Like they could pretend to be a secret spy, or a wizard." Yu clarified.
"Ooooooh! What's Venus pretending to be?" Morgana asked as the wooden board began to spin around the tower.
"Yea Venus. What're you roleplaying as?" Shiho asked teasingly.
"A… a queen." Hifumi answered, embarrassed.
"Maybe your codename should've been 'your majesty'." Akechi added with a small laugh.
"You can roleplay, but don't go overboard, alright?" Yu ordered as another platform approached, but when it got closer, they saw a pack of Shadows, who immediately transformed into what looked like a bunch of men in orange jumpsuits and metal wings. The Tricksters immediately summoned their Personas, Yu and Morgana getting onto the Shadow's platform, while Akechi and Shiho were forced to stay behind.
"Power!" Yu called out, removing his mask to give creation to an angel in red armor. Ordering it to attack, it shot out a ray of light, hitting the Shadow, but not going all that much damage to it.
"Damn. I'll have to visit the Room after this." Yu muttered to himself.
"With the blood sacrifice of seventy-two virgins, your queen bestows incredible strength upon thee!" Hifumi declared, grabbing the piece that represented Yu and slamming it down on a square that pulsed red. When she did, Yu suddenly felt a massive surge of power, both in body and in mind. With this newfound strength, Yu ordered Power to attack again, and this time, the holy magics reduced the Shadow to ash.
"Hold up. Where does someone get seventy-two virgins?" Morgana asked as she sliced another Shadow.
"Comic-Con, easily." Shiho responded, Boudicca lighting up another Shadow, while Akechi shot the last one down with his pistol from a distance.
"Focus guys, we're almost at the top." Yu replied as he and Morgana hopped onto another platform.
"Oh come on Seeker, just having a little fun." Akechi said.
"Get the Treasure now, have fun later. One week deadline, remember?"
"Alright, fair point."
With that, Morgana and Yu had reached the top of the tower, one of the two completely stable rooms the tower had. Inside, they saw that there was another portal dead center, but Yu also noticed a shimmering set of doors. After getting the Safe Room marked, Shiho and Akechi had arrived.
"Hey Venus, do you have a map of the area?" Shiho asked.
"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"
"If the final shogi piece isn't here, then that means it has to be in that massive construction zone. It would be nice if we knew where to look."
"I'm not sure if I have the ability to pinpoint a specific thing."
"I wouldn't worry about it Pariah. If the Palace keeps up its pattern, then we should only have a relatively clear and straightforward path." Yu reassured as he stepped out of the Safe Room.
"Everyone ready to continue?"
"Always." Was Shiho's response.
"Alright then. Once more unto the breach." Were Yu's words as he stepped forward, his team right behind their leader.
Waiting for them on the other side was an extremely blinding light. Shielding their eyes from the lights, the group waited for their eyes to adjust. When it did, they realized the bright light was none other than the sun, and they found themselves in what could only be described as a wooden jungle gym. There were wooden beams and planks everywhere, the bulk of which were covered in some kind of heavy covering. That's when the Tricksters realized where they were.
"We're in the construction site." Yu stated aloud.
"It would appear so. Where do we go from here?" Akechi asked.
"Um guys? The map is only reading one path. And it's a really, really long one." Hifumi informed
"Well, then we'd better get started." Yu answered, turning to Morgana, who blew into her whistle and summoned the Mona-mobile. As they began to drive down, Shiho couldn't help but talk out loud as she looked upon the sea of unfinished buildings.
"Mitsuyo had some big plans for you Venus."
"Her ambition is matched only by her ruthlessness. Whatever plans she has, you can bet they'll involve hurting people. I'd rather not have that happen."
"Still, this must be hard for you."
"It was hard. A part of me still wants to hope that the woman I loved is still here, but that part's getting smaller and smaller. Besides, we're at war. Emotions like remorse and sorrow have no place on the battlefield."
"We've all come from difficult walks of life Venus. We're more than happy to talk and help if you need it." Akechi added.
"Thank you. But let's deal with mother first."
"Speaking of which, it looks like we're here." Yu said as they stopped in front of a series of docks, a number of small ships moored already. Directly in front of them on the water was a giant ship. The ship had sunk, and the bow was the only part still visible, jutting upwards like a mountain, with its name emblazoned in bright orange. The Ami Ito.