Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.


The Time Where My Friends Are Now

8/06 Distorted Sakura Residence Daytime

*The Days When My Mother Was There -another version-

The Phantom Thieves managed to track the Bandit down to the city nearby and dealt with him in a simple manner, by defeating the Shadow and acquiring the stolen goods that Shadow Futaba mentioned. "Is this... some kind of papyrus? It looks like there's something written inside." Mona pointed out.

"Hey, no peeking at a girl's belongings without her permission!" Ann exclaimed.

"Y'know, just what the hell's happenin' in her heart? There's this bandit, those weird voice sayin' 'you killed her,' and who knows what else... It's a total freakin' mess." Skull complained.

"Futaba's suppose to be the queen of this Palace, but even she can't control it?" Panther added.

I don't know... I never seen a case like this..." Mona denied.

Regardless, we have no more business in this city. Shall we head bad, Joker?" Fox asked as their leader nodded in response.

"I'm worried about the other students trapped. Let's hurry." Queen stated with concern as they eventually made it out of the city.

*Wake up, Get up, Get out there


*The Days When My Mother Was There

The returned to the pyramid and returned the Papyrus back to Shadow Futaba who awaited their return. "We're back. Is this the thing you said they stole?" Skull asked as he handed over the papyrus to her.

Shadow Futaba opened the papyrus up to reveal a big paper that look like a map. "Well done. It is yours now." She said as she returned it back.

"Wait, what...? Didn't you want us to get it back because it's important?" PAnther asked.

"That is a map of the tomb, stolen by the bandit to aid in his ransacking of this place." Futaba's Shadow explained.

"Why are you letting them just do what ever hey want? This is your Palace, isn't it?" Queen wondered.

"All that matters is that the map is now yours, just come further and... Oh." Shadow Futaba noticed something and vanished.

Just then, a small quake shook the floor by surprise followed by the ground beneath them opened up. "Goddammiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Skull screamed as the fell into the trap.

The next thing they knew they landed upon sand that started to swallow them. "Th-This is...!" Fox stuttered.

"Quicksand! Everyone, swim with all your might!" Morgana exclaimed as they swam for their lives.


Eventually they managed to climb out of the Quicksand and onto hard ground, surviving the trap. "... Hey you guys still alive?" Skull askedas they all responded with groans and grunts.

"First a boulder and then this... Did we piss her off somehow?" Panther wondered.

"I don't think it has anything to do with angering her..." Mona denied skeptically. I suspect the problem is that she can't control her instinct to push people away from her."

"A simple defense mechanism..." Queen deduced. "Considering what's she's been through, I don't blame her for mistrusting others."

"We've gotta help Futaba-chan open up the door to her heart nonetheless. I hope the others are doing okay." Panther said.

"I'm putting my yen on the fact that may actually found something on their end. For now, let's escape first." Joker suggested.

"Right, we should worry about ourselves first and foremost." Mona agreed. Come on, let's look for a way back above ground. Otherwise the place is going to end up our tomb too."

They looked around as they see sand pouring in through canals from above and follow paths that leads out of this place. They encounter shadows but swiftly dealt with them with relevant ease and resumed their climb.

As they reach the highest floor in the area they entered into another corridor as they noticed a light on the other side of the room. "Hey... Ain't that light the exit!? I'm kinda surprise how close it ended up bein'!" Skull pointed out.

Thank god we can finally get out of here. This was all around a horrible experience." Mona sighed as they exited the area.


They soon returned to the front entrance of the Pyramid. "We made it out! Damn it's hot though. My ass is al sweaty..." Skull groaned.

"At least we have secured our escape route. We can finally resume our investigation." Fox agreed.

"We still need to find a way to open the door at the stairway. Plus, there was another corridor back their we passed that caught my eye." Queen mentioned.

"We're gonna head back down? What a drag..." Skull muttered.

"Alright. Let's double check the room once more." Mona agree as they went back down into the last room.

Thus, they went back down into the underground passage. Queen guided them to the corridor she mentioned, turns out that there was more areas to explore as they come up to a area that has spikes up with tombs behind the Shadow watching it.

"Look how tranquil it is. It appears to be different from the Shadows we've encountered prior." Fox mentioned.

"Heh, you don't gotta freak out about it! Let's beat its ass!" Skull scoffed.

"Brace yourselves, this is no ordinary Shadow!" Mona added.

"Here we go." Joker nodded as they confronted the Shadow.

"... FOOLISH GRAVE ROBBERS. YOU HAVE ENRAGED THE GUARDIANS OF THIS PLACE." The Shadow exclaimed monotonously. "HENCE, THERE SHALL BE NO PATH FOR YOU. IT IS TIME YOU PERISH!" It declares as it takes for of a Coffin-borne God.

*Keeper of Lust

The Coffin-borne god casts Megido upon the group as they take cover behind several pillars.

"Hmm..." Joker summons Arsene as he casts Eiga back at the Shadow, absorbing the spell than hurting it. "... Guess that didn't work..." He grunted as the Shadow continues to cast off Megido.

"I got it! Zorro!" Mona declared as he summons his Persona allowing him to casts Garula, causing the Shadow to stagger into a down state. "Now! While it's down!" He exclaimed as they unleashed an All-Out Attack.

Despite the powerful technique, they have yet to defeat the Shadow. It then retaliated back by casting Trapped Rat on Mona. "*squeak squeak squeeeaaak*!" Mona said with panic.

"Holy shit! That guy can turn us 'ta rats!?" Skull exclaimed with surprise.

The Shadow soon made another move by calling for another Shadow, a Lamia appeared.

No sooner we face more foes... nonetheless!" Fox quoted as he summons Goemon and casts Bufula on the Slithering Snakewoman, staggering the shadow. "... We will endure. Joker!"

Fox baton passed to his leader and Joker summons Sandman as its casts Garula at the Coffin-borne God. "They're both down! Shall we?" Fox suggested as they launched another All-Out Attack.

They managed to defeat the Lamia, but the Coffin-borne God was still standing. "Damn bastard's still persistent!" Skull growled. He summons Captain Kidd and shoots a Zionga at it.

The Coffin-borne God narrowed its attention towards Mona who is currently still a mouse and narrowed its Megido spell, specifically at him. "*Squeeeeaaaak*!" Mona cried frantically as he was doing his best to avoid the shots.

"Keep moving!" Joker commanded as he went in several swipes with his knife and, by luck, allowed him to strike a critical with a follow-up using his gun afterwards, shooting it at its weak point. "I got this! Kin-ki!" He summoned the Persona as Kin-ki slammed it's weapon like a sledgehammer, causing it to stagger in a dizzy status. "Third time's the charm, guys?" Their leader signaled for another All-Out Attack, this time, they managed to destroy the coffin this time as Joker checks his gloves with a smug.

Just as the battle ended, so did Mona transforming back to his cat self.


"So, what' it like being the prey this time?" Skull chuckled a joke.

"Shaddup!" Mona retorted followed by a heavy sigh.

"All right, we managed to scraped through that somehow! Let's keep it up and head for the treasure!" Panther cheered.

"We should make sure sure we don't get reckless though. It's better to proceed one step at a time." Queen suggested with caution.

They noticed a door above the set of coffins and climbed up and entered the next room; filled with sand and a misplaced weapon at a far corner. "What's this? Some kinda giant bow and arrow thing?" Skull guessed as they cross

"Oh, that's a stationary weapon back from the middle era called a ballista." Queen answered.

"You even know about stuff like this, Queen? I guess that's pretty fitting for you." Panther complimented with astonishment.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Queen grumbled.

"Hold up, that thing ain't gonna shoot us or anything, right?" Skull asked.

Queen took a closer at the ballista. "Well, there's an arrow in here, but it seems to be broken. On top of that, it's slanted away." She examined. I don't think it will pose a problem, so it's we don't touch it." She said to them.

"Alright, let's continue." Mona suggested and continued their infiltration. They climbed up another floor in the room and they see only a reflecting mirror diverting a beam of light... at a wall.

"The light pouring from the ceiling is reflecting off of here, but it's hitting the wall..." Fox observed.

"Maybe there's something in the other room... Let's double check." Joker suggested as they went back into the other room where they see another door on a far end. Joker then spots a ledge for them to climb on and tread over the room as they notice a button next to the end of the ledge. "A button?" Joker wonders.

"Think before you go touching that, Ok? It might be a trap. Although, I'm curious about it myself..." Mona mentioned.

"Alright, let's press it." Joker decides to press it anyways.

Nothing happened at the moment, but soon enough the slanted Ballista below fired at the wall where the room with the reflecting mirror was at, creating an opening for the beam of light to pass through shining upon the lock door in the room.

Despite that, it did spooked the Phantom Thieves. "Holy crap, that totally scared the shit outta me! It totally WAS a trap!" Skull exclaimed.

"I'm not so sure about that..." Mona mentioned as he looks back at the opening from the other room with the reflecting mirror. "It looks like pressing the button change something in here.

"Yes, there is now light being cast on that door. It is a markedly obvious difference." Fox agreed as they took a closer look at the door.

As they approached the large door, it slid open as they got near. "Oh, hey! It's open!" Panther said.

"So shining light upon the door is what caused it to unlock..." Fox summed up.

"Wait, doesn't that mean we can open the door at the great stairs the same way!?" realized.

"That's a definite possibility. In any case, we should push on." Queen agreed as they continued int the next room.

The first thing they see were a stone tablet between a pair coffins. "Hey, there's something written here..." Panther noticed.

"Let's see here..." Queen took a closer look and read the inscriptions out loud. "'The light shed by go of the underworld shall become the sign for those who traverse the pits.' is what it says. What could this mean...?" She speculates.

"Maybe there's more to it than what it says. Let's check further." Mona suggested.

The cut through the room's shadow and climbed up on the coffins and made their way towards another room, but with an dog's head on top of the door.

The next room was nothing out of the ordinary, beside the glowing green gem in the palm of a statue with a dog's head. "It's holdin' something... Wait, what is this statue anyways? Some kinda dog... thing?" Skull questioned.

"This is Anubis, an ancient Deity of the underworld in some folklore. It seems to have some kind of shining orb..." Queen explained.

"That sounds familiar. Something about light from the underworld...?" Panther repeated.

"Hm, this may come in handy. Shall we take it?" Fox asked as Joker approached the statue.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Joker agreed as he took the Abyss Gem. "This orb seems important."

As they left the room, they see Shadows coming their way and Joker led his group up a floor from a set of coffins near them, as the Shadows failed to find where they went. Thus the Phantom Thieves continued to climb up another set of coffins and traversed the walkway and climbed up floors towards another room that has an Anubis statue holding a gem.

"Huh, this statue's the same weird dog thing as before. And look, it's got one of them gems too!" Skull mentioned as they approach the statue.

"The Deity's name is Anubis. It really isn't that hard to remember, skull..." Mona sighed. "So, do you think we should take this gem?"

"Sure, let's take it." Joker agreed as he took the other Abyss Gem.

And so, they left the room and continued their investigation towards another door nearby.

Upon entering, they discovered another reflecting mirror with a beam of light shining on it along with a view of the locked door of the Great Stairways. "The doors to the great stairs!" Fox realized. "That means we are directly above where we ended up after coming through the front entrance."

They approached the reflecting mirror that was directing the light's reflection at the wall. "Hey, don't this look familiar? Y'know, back from when we opened that door underground?" Skull mentioned.

"We had to shine light on that one get it open, right? Do you think this is the same mechanism!?" Panther realized.

Joker stood before the panel under the reflective mirror and tried to press the button... yet, there was no response. "I guess there's no power to this..." He muttered.

What about these pedestals? It seems they have a cavity in them... it looks like something might fit inside." Queen deduced.

"Maybe we should put that orb thing we got from the Anubis statue in there." Panther suggested.

"Let's try it." Joker agreed as he place both orbs into the cavities and the floor started to shake.

The room started to change as the reflective mirror began to rotate the beam of light towards the door as the sound of its lock unlocking.

"All right, we got it!" Skull rooted.

"So shining light upon it is what causes it to open. That is the same as the door underground." Fox theorized.

"We can't sit on our laurels though. Let's stay cautious and proceed forward." Queen stated.

They descended towards the floor below and approached the giant door, as it opened up as soon as the Phantom Thieves approached the door. "Yes, it opened!" Panther cheered.

"We seemed to be pushing our way through the doors of her heart." Fox stated.

"... I don't know if I'd phrase it like that. Anyways-" Panther noted, but then another quake shook the ground. A beam of light appeared and aimed at the next door down. "Whoa, what just happened?" She questioned.

"Another beam of light has shined upon the next door, but we didn't do anything, did we?" Fox wondered.

"Whelp, we'll take if if it means we get to the treasure soon." Skull rest assure.

"Hold on, were our friends waiting over here? Where are they?" Queen mentioned. As they recalled, they were trapped on the other side.

"Maybe they went ahead? They might've found something." Joker assumed as they proceeded up the stairs until someone called to him.

"Joker!?" Rouge exclaimed from above. The Phantom Thieves turned around but they soon looked up to see the Huntsmen looking back at them.

"Oh, there you guys are!" Mona responded as the Huntsmen group climbs down to them. "Were you guys the one who unlocked the door?" he point at the next door."

"I guess so... and you guys managed to get the other door to open as well?" Saber asked.

"We will fill you guys in. Is there a place to share our information?" Blanc asked.

"There's should be a safe room nearby, follow me." Mona said as he lead the two groups to the nearby safe room. And so, both groups shared their recently discovered information thus far.

"Seriously!? Now that's a fuckin' sick thing to do to a kid if that's really how it all went down." Skull growled.

"Maternity neurosis? It a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations. It may be defined simply as a poor ability to adapt to one's environment, but I can't imagine how raising a child would cause such a problem..." Queen speculated.

"And now Futaba's suffering because of people, her relatives, ousted her like that." Rook scratched his head in frustration.

"Let's not forget the suicide note. That is something that a child should never hear." Freya added.

A moment of silence until Mona broke it. "Well, we've all manage to come this far and we opened two more doors already. I'd say we're now halfway to the treasure."

"Yeah, we made a deal with with her, let's help her guys!" Rouge followed up with confidence as everyone else agreed.

They continued into the next chamber and tirelessly dealt with more Shadow on the way. A few turns and corners they climb down to a corridor until they see Shadow Futaba waiting for them again. "Futaba!" Rouge exclaimed as she and the rest o the group approached her.

"You're late. What took you so long?" Shadow Futaba questioned as she soon up and left them, going down the corridor.

"Urghhh, that's it! I had it up to here with her!" Skull yelled.

"Let it go, Skull." Queen reassured as Skull sighed.

The group followed the path the Futaba's Shadow took as Blanc noticed the sides of the corridor had sand piled towards the walls of both sides. "Hold on a minute, what's with all the sand here?" She asked, no sooner as the ground began to shake once more.

Suddenly a big boulder appeared at the top of the corridor, just as Mona realized it. "Shoot, this is bad! Get back!" He exclaimed as he led a retreat as they barely made back to a corner of the corridor while the boulder rolled into a pot hole in its path.

"Okay... what the hell is she thinking!?" Blaze questioned in irritation.

Rouge peeked out from a corner as she sees no more boulders rolling down. "We certainly can go up there, but it won't do us any good if more boulders keeps coming." She stated.

Mona also peeked of their surrounding as he notices a big hole on the other side of the wall. "In there!" He pointed as he led the group through the hole. The next room was filled with tombs in a sorted order.

"This seems to be the backside of the giant boulder trap." Fox assumes.

"Let's survey the area." Saber suggested as they check the room. Freya managed to pull Rook before he fell from collapsing stone flooring. Half the group inspects the tombs while the other half goes up a floor as the notices a button alongside a blank slab.

"There's nothing visible on the slab. Should we press it?" Queen asked.

"Let's come back to this after we check the area a little more." Joker suggested.

The group goes down the walkway as they approached a door with a scaffold next to it. Rouge tried to open the door, and yet there was no response from door. Assuming that the door is broken, they inspected the scaffolding as Rook pushed a board down as it landed towards the other side, allowing them passage towards the other room over. However, the only thing that was within, was a blank slab at the end.

"There's another one of those slabs, But... there's nothing legible on the surface." Rouge noted.

"Sounds pretty useless to me. Whaddya wanna do, Joker?" Skull asked.

"I'm certain that there's more to it than a slab in this room..." Joker said otherwise as he took a closer look at the slab. As he placed his on it, words in purple appeared on it, followed by the ground shaking.

"Ooooh! It's shinnin'!" Skull commented.

"Hm, the devices controlling the murals seemed to react in a similar fashion." Queen deduced.

"Something showed up! It says B01010?" Panther read the slab.

"You think that could be a clue or something?" Rook wondered.

"Either way, we should search to see anything has changed." Fox suggested as they left the room.

As they left the room, they see half the sets of tombs lighting up orbs on them. "Hey, did you guys do something?" Blaze asked as the other half of the group were inspecting the tombs.

"So this thing's link to the stone slab is what powers it..." Mona muttered.

"Quite the impressive contraption. Why don't we examine it closer?" Fox suggested.

They regroup with their of other half of their company and inspected the tombs further. It seems the hologram's coming from these coffins." Saber stated. Rook fiddled with one of their control panels and it turned off. He pressed the button again and it turned back on.

"I see... So it's possible to turn it back on as well." Queen deduced. "It looks like we can turn the holograms on or off by accessing each control panel."

"You think it's related to the code from earlier?" Blanc wondered.

"Code?" Nora asked.

"That's right, B01010,That's what was on the slab in the back room." Panther answered.

"So if we can follow up with the code with these coffins, we might be able to unlock something?" Freya assumes.

They adjusted certain coffins that were match a code that they found and then they noticed the slab up stairs were glowing. "Hey, the slab here's shining now." Nora exclaimed as they reached her at the slab and the button next to it. "Let's press it!" She suggested as she went on and press the button, much to her friend's surprise.

"NORA!" The exclaimed, but the button was already pressed. A small quake occurred and the lock door at the far end of the hallway lit up and opened.

"Ah! The door opened!" Panther realized.

"I almost thought we'd end up fighting, you scared us, Nora!" Rouge stated as Nora laughed weakly in response.

"I suppose this is the first step in this process? The next device must be beyond this point." Fox assumes.

"Still... what's up with these things? Are they because of Futaba's mental state?" Rouge wonders.

"It's hard to say. But it does prove that she might not be as simple a target as we were hoping she'd be..." Mona guesses.

I wonder about the meaning behind those slabs as well..." Blanc mentions

"Well, our path's open now, let keep going, shall we?" Blaze suggested.

Number of Shadows barred their way even traps that prevented their passage. But yet,they effortlessly pushed on through. They even discovered another puzzle and solved it afterwards. "You think that did anything?" Nora wondered.

"One way to find out." Joker stated as he pressed the button.

Soon to follow, a larger quake shook. "Whoa, what's going on!? This is a stronger reaction than anything up to this point." Mona shook his head around to notice any changes.

"Guys, look!" Queen pointed up as they saw the same boulders in the opening, rolling in a line in the same direction to where the boulders go.

"Aren't those giant boulders rolling down the corridor?" Mona asked as the boulders kept rolling one after another.

"Dude, they ain't stoppin'! Is this gonna be ok!?" Skull questioned.

"I can imagine that the boulders might start breaking into that gap..." Rook assumes nervously.

"Hmm..." Joker pondered as he pressed the button again, thus the quake went silent... until it the number of boulders rolling into view started to roll faster all of a sudden.

"That just made it worse!" Blanc yelled in a panic.

"Let me try something!" Rouge exclaimed as she pointed Crescent Rose at the button... *BANG* She fired a bullet, shattering the button and its mechanism all together, much to the other's shook

"RUBY/ROUGE!" They yelled at her but soon enough the rolling boulders started to dwindle until they stopped.

"D-Did that do it?" Mona wondered. He then realized that the boulders were going, he check the entrance they went in from and discovered that it was now blocked off... Thus, relaying this to the others.

"The hole collapsed? And with the boulders stuck, that would make trapped, wouldn't it?" Lotus assumes.

"... That is until we find another way." Saber deduces.

"Yeah, with the shaking, there should be another out of this mess. Let's look for-" Rouge suggested but then notices the standing tombstone next to the hold and looks upward to see an opening. "... Found it." She pointed up to the accessible opening.

They climbed up to find out that the boulders were lined up in a messy fashion. "God damn! Talk about a mess!" Skull commented with surprise.

"It's broken... Well, I guess it would be a little more precise to say Rouge broke it." Mona examined the lined-up boulders as Rouge whistled and looked away as everyone else sweat-dropped.

"Ah... well on the bright side... I think we got ourselves a walkway!" Rouge changed subject as she hopped onto a boulder, stiffed in-between the other boulders allowing them a path onward.

They jumped over boulder to boulder until they reached the top of a corner. They jumped off the boulders and continued onward up the corridors until they find themselves in another room with a blank mural, a reflector and its beam of light.

"This is the same machine we saw before..." Rook mentioned as they approached its panel. He started it up as the blank mural lit up, showing the pieces even more scrambled than last time. The only visible parts of the picture they can tell is the crying girl that looks like Futaba and another person in dark blue skin and ash black hair with cat ears, also including a stoplight on red and yellow caution tape plastered in another piece.

"Well... this is hard to tell. You're up Rook." Rouge hollered.

"Give me a sec. I'm a pro at solving puzzles!" Rook responded with pride as he fix the puzzle pieces. And with several flips and sorting, they finally can make out the picture in whole... which didn't looked pleasant to see...

As Futaba looked like she was crying as the Faunus women was jumping in front of a car.

"What the... Did her mom jumped in front of a car...?" Blaze wondered in shock.

"Could this be the moment when Futaba's mother committed suicide...?" Panther wondered in a sad expression.

They gazed at the portrait of a poor sight until another voice echoe into the room.

"... F-Futabaaa..." the distorted voice wailed. "... Y-You... aaaaaaare..."

As the group tried to make out what the voiuce was, the reflective mirror rotated the beam of light towards the mural as it instantly revealed the door of the Grand Stairway.

"So... she died right in front of Futaba's eyes." Skull stated in disgust.

"That's... that's horrible." Rouge uttered in distraught.

"So... was she trying to repress those memories because of her desire...?" Saber wondered.

"Let's keep moving." Joker nonchalant stated as they agreed to continue the infiltration.

The next room the entered was a large one with a pair of huge sculptures before them. "Ah, what wonderful form. Seeing such divine sculptures in person is exceedingly rare." Fox stated.

"Yeah, I guess you prolly wouldn't be seein' anything like this shit if we weren't in a Palace." Skull somewhat agreed.

"Seriously. This almost feels like a trip abroad or something." Panther added as the Beacon Student would say otherwise, considering that they ARE on a trip abroad.

"Hey, now's not the time to be letting your guard down. I can sense a lot of Shadows ahead!" Mona stated.

They surveyed the area pressed further and dealt with more Shadows on the way, going up, down, and through the maze-like corridors. Even launching another Batista at a wall in order to reveal another area that has a reflective mirror.

Double-backing into the corridors, they find a way to arrive at the room with a statue in the center that's also filled with Shadows to slay. They eventually find themselves on a cliff with a stone pedestal on it. "Hey, isn't this the same thing for those gems earlier?" Rook questioned.

"There could another shining gem in the area. Let's take a look." Queen suggested.

They backtracked once more into the room with the statue again. "We didn't check these doors over here, have we?" Saber recalled on the way back. As Rouge and her teammates went to check the door on the opposite side of this room, the Phantom Thieves entered the room filled with coffins, until they discover a coffin with a different design.

"Do you think there's more to this coffin, Joker?" Fox asked.

Joker took a closer look as he pressed a button in and the coffin opened up to reveal another button inside.

"Whoaaa, I can't believe you saw through that trick!" Skull stated with surprise.

"It's all in the perception." Joker replied as he pressed the button.

In the opposite room, the Student Huntsmen were examining every nook and cranny until one of the coffins opened up, revealing a similar button. "Hm? When did this button appear?" Lotus wondered.

"Maybe the others did something i the other room?" Blaze assumes.

"Alright, let's press it!" Nora suggested as she pressed it anyways. Soon enough, the coffin slid back and revealed a secret room with an Anubis statue holding a green glowing gem.

"Ah, hey! It's the gem!" Rouge exclaimed as she went to pick it off the statue. "Okay! Let's meet up with the others!" She said as they head out of the room.

"Rouge, did you guys find something?" Mona asked as they walked out of their room they inspected.

"Yep, some button appeared and we found the gem we needed." Rouge replied as she showed them they gem.

Suddenly, multiple Shadows appeared behind them. "What the- an Ambush!" Rook jumped with horror.

"Even with this number, we'll only cause a huge commotion, retreat!" Mona suggested as they escaped into a corridor.

Soon enough, they returned to the cliff as Rouge placed the gem on the pedestal, causing it to shine bright as a transparent bridge appeared below. "A Bridge?" Blanc stated.

"A pathway of light is quite impressive. It seems we will be able to pass over it." Fox stated.

"It's not gonna disappear while we're crossing it, right? This is a little scary..." Panther assumes with caution.

They jump down the same floor level with the bridge and crossed over it to reach another corridor.

They entered the next room and cleared the Shadows there and proceeded towards another corridor. Eventually they entered another room fill with coffins and they see Shadow Futaba again, standing on a coffin. Rouge was about to enter the room before Skull stopped her by pulling back her hood. "Wait, it'd suck if we had to go hell again 'cause we walked up to her without thinkin' first.

"Hey, we can overcome anything if we work together. Right, Joker?" Rouge turned to the Phantom Thief as he nodded in response.

The all entered the room as they stood before Futaba's Shadow. "You're late. I thought all of you had died." Shadow Futaba stated.

"We almost did thanks to you!" Blaze exclaimed with her eyes red.

"Do you really want us to help? You have make up your mind!" Saber demanded.

"... I'm not sure. There's not much left at this point though." Shadow Futaba pondered as she faded out.

"Oh... not again! You guys really gotta stop picking her!" Panther stated as she glared at Blaze and Saber.

"Not intentionally!" Blaze retorted as a shadow appeared before them, followed by several tombs breaking open, an ambush revealing more shadows. "Are you kidding me!?"

"Your short temper has created more work for us..." Fox agreed as Blaze grit her teeth.

"I though I was the only one..." Skull muttered as he and everyone engaged the Shadows while Rouge, Joker, Blaze, and Queen confronted the powerful Shadow in the room.

"... WHO DARES INTRUDE UPON THE PEACE OF THIS HOLY GROUND?" The Shadow questioned loudly. "THIS IS THE PHARAOH'S TOMB. NONE MAY DISTURB HER SLUMBER." The Coffin-borne God declared.

"We can't retreat now." Queen grunted. "We'll just have to do this!"


*Keeper of Lust

"Alright! Let's do this!" Rouge declared as they engaged the Coffin-borne God, Cavern Snakeman, and a Lamia. Suddenly, the Coffin-borne God cast a Trapped Rat and transformed Rouge into a rat, leaving only her mask. "C-Chu!? Squeak!" She squeaked.

"Ohmygosh, Sis!" Blaze exclaimed as the Cavern Snakeman swiftly attacked the distracted Huntress with a Giant Slice as she manages to evade the swing followed by a Counter, pushing the Shadow back as Blaze immediately had Ifreeta cast Agilao at it, also causing a burn effect on it.

"If we can hit them at their weakness... but what are their weakness?" Queen wondered as she uses Diarama on the rattled Rouge.

"Think it's weak against wind!" Mona suggested as Zorro deals with the other Shadows.

"Alright... Matador!" Joker summons another Persona as it casts Garula on the Cavern Snakeman, trapping the Shadow in a cutting whirlwind as the burn effect makes it worst, eventually dissipating the Shadow afterwards. Joker had his Persona cast another Garula on the Coffin-borne God, flipping it on its back, leaving the Lamia left standing.

"If I recall, she doesn't like the ice." Blaze pointed out.

Rouge finally overcome her status ailment. "B-Black Frost!" She summoned the Persona as it casts Bufula on the Lamia, causing her to freeze up at the same time.

"They're down! Let's take them out!" Blaze suggested at they began an All-Out Attack. They pummeled down the Shadows in a comical smoke and Blaze finished it in a pose. "Going out with a Yang!" She quoted, much to the others' annoyance and confused looks.

The battle ended before it gotten out of hand, even their friends managed to fend off the ambush.


Afterwards, they regrouped and assess the situation. "Dammit, the hell's up with her!?" Skull growled in irritation.

"Can you guys just try to calm down? Nothing good will come of letting your temper flare up like that." Queen scolded him and Blaze.

"She said 'there's not much left' though. You guys think we're almost there?" Rouge wondered.

"Perhaps." Joker assumes as he takes a closer look at the tomb at the end of the room. He then takes lead, climbing onto of the tomb and climbed further up, revealing an explorable path as everyone else followed suit.

The path lead them to the same room they passed but with lit-up transparent pillars on the same floor they're on, allowing them to traverse over to the other side of the room. Apparently they're traversing over to rooms they were in, but on another side of the same rooms.

They also see another stone pedestal. "Wasn't there something like this before? Like when we had to use that Shining Gem from Anubis?" Freya mentioned.

"We'll need to obtain another one. Maybe there's another one nearby?" Lotus suggested as they continued their infiltration.

"Are you talking about this?" Saber asked as she pulled out the gem they mentioned.

"What the- Whoa! When and where!?" Nora questioned.

"I noticed it shining back in that area where we last saw Futaba's Shadow. I didn't see it until I backed away from a Shadow attack.

"That's incredible." Panther commented.

"And convenient. Alright, put it on the pedestal." Mona stated as Saber placed the gem on the said pedestal. A minor shake and another transparent bridge appeared on their floor.

"Hm, this sight brings a tear to my eye yet again!" Fox complimented.

"You're so freakin' weird, dude..." Skull sighed as they proceeded. they followed to where the beam of light was aimed at, through another corridor and to the same room after with a beam of light shining towards an opening to where they're suppose to go into.

They entered the same room of where the giant statues were in. "Was someone still working on these statues all the scaffolds are still there." Lotus wondered.

"Not to mention the beam of light in reflected... all over the area..." Rook added as they see the beam of light being reflected through different angles.

"Maybe there's another room around here. We can still climb onto the scaffolds, so mind your footing." Queen stated as they climbed up onto the scaffolding and the statue, revealing that the beam of light is directed towards another corridor in front of them. After everyone climb over the statue, they continued upwards towards where the beam of light is going.

Soon enough, they arrived at another room with a reflector and a blank mural. "Another mural, huh? Do your thing, Rook." Mona commanded as Rook started up the mural as it showed scattered pieces of a picture.

"Wait, what!? I can't even begin to tell what this one is." Panther exclaimed.

"... This shouldn't a problem." Rook said with confident as he began fixing the picture. It took him a few minutes to piece back all the pieces together, revealing the whole picture; Futaba pulling on her mother's clothes who's face was calm and smiling. "There we go!" He stated.

"A child pulling on her mother's clothes?" Saber theorized.

"... Mom..." A Girl's voice echoed to the group. "I'm... I'm tired of eating dinner alone all the time. It's always just convenience store bentos. I wanna go somewhere. Take me on a trip!"

"Futaba..." Rouge muttered.

"Don't be so selfish! You know I'm working hard to support you, right?" A Young Woman's voice rung as she grunted in annoyance.

"Dammit...Shut it!" Blaze grunted as she slam her knuckle on the mural, literally breaking down the wall.

"Whoa, Blaze!" Skull exclaimed.

"I know...! I know..." Blaze felt disgusted be what that voice said in response, her curled up fist were well shown to her friends.

With the wall and the mural out of the way, the beam of light shine upon a door of the Great Stairway.

"That woman... She seemed pretty angry." Queen mentioned.

"Was that the maternity neurosis the voice from earlier mentioned?" Blanc wondered.

"I thought it was pretty normal for a kid to want to spend time with their parents though... She was lonely, wasn't she?" Rouge said with sentimental thoughts of her own.

"So these incidents compounded, forcing her mother to suicide...?" Fox assumed.

"What a load of bull!" Blaze exclaimed in irritation as the group turned to her.

Rouge: "Yang-"

"Even if she acted like a brat, there's no way a mom would... would... Grrrr...!" Blaze growled upset.

"... I must die." Shadow Futaba declared as she appeared out of nowhere.

Rouge: "Futaba?"

"I acted like a brat and I killed her... that is why I'm here in this tomb..." Shadow Futaba stated.

"Hey, don't say that!" Rouge retorted, but Futaba's Shadow shook her head.

"I will die..." The Shadow continued as she faded away.

"Futaba-chan!" Panther called out to her with no avail.

"Why'd she get so quiet all of a sudden? What happened to that snarky personality!?" Sukll asked out loud.

"Could her heart perhaps be growing weaker?" Fox wonders.

"We have to hurry and save her!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Yeah, can't have her suffering like this Blaze agrees as they both jumped down to the stairs first.

"Those two seemed really invested in this, aren't they?" Mona wondered.

"It's... probably because, they went through what Futaba's going through right now." Saber mentioned, recalling what Yang told her, much to the Phantom Thieve's surprise, even their Huntsmen friends as well.

"Wait, you sayin' that those two-" Skull was trying to asked, but Blanc interrupted.

"Not right now we have someone to save." Blanc stated as she and Saber followed them down. Despite the Phantom Thieve's bewilderment, they soon followed them to the door. As it opens they soon find themselves in front of another locked door, this time with caution tapes and a "Private, Do not enter" plate.

"Hey, this ain't openin'... Think there's a way to open is somewhere else?" Skull wondered as he inspects the door.

"Say... isn't this door like the one for Futaba's room?" Rouge wondered.

"Yeah, I figured it looked familiar." Mona agreed.

"But why isn't it opening? Do we need a key or something?" Blanc asked, crossing her arms.

"I afraid not. It must be her cognition that no one can enter it." Mona explained.

"Her... cognition?" The Huntsmen asked.

"Considering this door is similar to the real-world door, there's a trick to open it in another way." Mona added. "We need the real Futaba to open her door to her room, so that the door here will unlock. To be blunt, Futaba will have to invite us into her room in reality, changing her cognition that this door is 'unopenable' to 'openable'." Mona explained.

"So the door here will open on its own when we open the door to Futaba's room? I guess that makes some sense." Rook summarized.

"I can tell that this is complicated to you guys, so don't sweat the details." Panther assured.

"Then... should we return to reality to do this?" Saber wonders until they all felt a familiar presence behind them.

"I'm surprised that you all made it this far." Shadow Futaba commented as the group turns to her. "Beyond lies the Pharaoh's Chamber." She mentioned.

"So the treasure's through here?" Rouge asked as she walks towards her.

"Indeed. However you need my permission to open this door." Shadow Futaba said.

"Then open it for us." Skull requested.

"I cannot."Her Shadow denied. "You must have her invite you in."

"'Her'? Isn't Futaba aware of this...?" Blaze assumed right.

"What the eff. Ain't this your Palace?" Skull questioned.

"What does that mean, Mona?" Panther asked.

"This Shadow is Futaba, but not Futaba herself. It's exactly what you guys mean when you guys said that Futaba is not aware of any of this." Mona told them.

"So we need the real Futaba's permission and have her open her room and let us in?" Rouge assumes.

As Mona nodded, Shadow Futaba glance her eyes at Rouge and Blaze as they lok back at her with questionable looks. "I have to ask. Why are you two invested in helping me?"

The sisters said nothing. Losing a mom in a way and all. "Because we can relate. Losing a mom, we can tell it's devastating." Blaze stated much to everyone's shock.

"Shit..." Skull stuttered. They realized that Ruby and Yang went through the same thing Futaba's going through.

"I see... Considering that you all made it all the way here, you should be able to do it..." Shadow responded as she faded away.

"Looks like we'll have to return to reality once." Panther suggested.

"But I remember Boss saying that she won't let anyone in." Queen mentioned.

"Right. She's a serious shut in." Skull recalled.

"How are going to convince her to allow us in anyways?" Nora questioned.

"Standing around here won't help. We'll just have to give it a try... That's what she want's after all." Queen stated.

"If it goes south, we may have to force ourselves in." Blaze agrees.

"Someone's sure stoked about this..." Baffled Skull at Blaze's idea.

"And we have no choice but to sneak in again." Fox added.

"Alright. Joker, Rouge, it's your guy's call when we do this." Blanc stated as they both nodded in response.

"Yeah, we'll think of something." Rouge assured.

"Oh, reminds me. Gimme the calling card. The one Alibaba sent us." Skull asked.

"What are you going to do with it?" Fox wondered as Joker gave him the calling card.

"We're the Phantom Thieves, you know? We gotta announce this." Skull reminded him. "If the treasure's there when we get the room open, givin' this to her will let us take it right away. Queen, help me think of what to write."

"I suppose..." Queen accepts as Lotus nods in agreement.

They all agreed to start this tomorrow, so they decide to call this a day.


8/06 Granbell Hotel Evening

Eventually Team RWBY and Team JNPR managed to return to their rooms before Seta had the chance to wonder where they were. Soon enough, they were contacted by their friends a in chat on their scrolls.

"Calling card's ready!" Ryuji declared.

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed, drawing attention from her friends. "Ryuji said the calling card's ready." She relayed the message

"That was fast..." Weiss responded.

"I mean, didn't they do this the last time?" Nora recalled.

"I bet Niijima did most of the work." Blake denied.

"So we got the card, you think we can start immediately tomorrow? What about how we get into getting into Futaba's room?" Ruby texted.

"What's the rush?" Ryuji replied.

"We only have a few days until we leave the city. We're still on a trip and we were heading to another town in the Kingdom." Weiss also texted in the chat.

"Ohhhh... right..." Ryuji recalled.

"That's the idea. We all want to save her. None of us has any plans, so let's do this tomorrow." Akira suggested.

"Guess we got something to do tomorrow." Yang stated as they all agreed to take a break for the night.


Some time later, Yang came out of the washroom as she looks over to where her teammates are sleeping. "Now that I think back, Yu is Ruby's cousin...?" Yang pondered as she recalls the heist in Gaius's Palace. That place revealed their relations. "And our moms were attending the same school during that time... Ugh..." She decided to take a walk outside.

Leaving the elevator, Yang was considering to head to a bar she recalls until someone hollered her. "Funny, I'm pretty sure it IS past your bedtime, Yang-chan." Seta mentioned as Yang, staggered by surprise as she see her Teacher looking at papers on a coffee desk. It looked like she was finishing up paperwork to Yang.

"P-Professor! Jeez, you scared me!" Yang exclaimed as the staff nearby glance by the ruckus, but then minded their own business.

"Sit with me, you look like you need questions answered, from me?" Seta assumed. despite her eyelids looked always shut. "... And before you ask, it's my Semblance, Reinforcement." She explained. "I have the ability to increase or 'Reinforce' an object's mass by concentrating my eyes on sight on my target." She explains as she open her eyes, revealing her daunting black cold dull eyes.

Yang: "Whoa, Holy Shi-"

"Language!" Seta state verbally as she stop Yang from completing that sentence. "That's the side effect. My eyes are not a pleasant sight." She sighed as she closed her eyelids. "I was incredibly insightful before I met Souji-kun, Summer-chan, Tai-kun, Qrow-kun, and Raven-chan... Every time Raven-chan picked a fight with me, she could never beat me for some reason." She chuckled.

Yang remained silent, as she figured that that is what she wanted to talk about with her. "So... you know my Mom personally?" Yang guessed.

"Like a distant memory, yes. Where she is now, no." Seta shook her head. "After hearing that she left poor Tai-kun, I can tell it wounded him badly. Summer-chan's... disappearance... did not help him and Souji-kun better." She reminiscence with pained smile.

"Sorry about bringing it up." Yang apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Seta shook her head. "I'm glad to know that we mothers bore determine children. At the same time, I fear for you and Ruby-chan, and not just Yu-kun.

"I see... Thanks for telling me. Still those eye of yours, what the heck, can't you turn turn them off?" Yang asked.

"Unfortunately, I've always had them the moment I was born. My best way to keep them off is to have my eyes shut. Best way to seal the intimidation." Seta smiled. "Now... I only hope that this doesn't give you nightmares." She pointed Yang back towards the elevator.

"R-Right. G'night... 'Auntie' Seta." Yang responded as she walked back to the elevator.

Seta watched her as she went back into the elevator. "... It feels like I'm one of those Helicopter Moms..." She thought in disgust as she returns to her paperwork.


8/07 Cafe Leblanc Daytime

The Beacon Students arrived at the Phantom Thieves' Hideout as they go over the infiltration plan.

"So, when're we gonna charge into Futaba's room? There's no point thinkin' it over now." Said Ryuji.

"This'll be different from past cases. We'll be handing the calling card directly to Futaba herself. Once we give it top her, we'll head straight into her Palace." Morgana explained.

"So... one shot, only then, right?" Ruby mentioned.

"Yeah, there won't be any time to prep work in between. I hope you guys are prepared before hand." Morgana asked.

They all nodded as Yang yawned. "We'll be fine. You guys got Pro-Huntsmen with you guys." She gave a thumbs up.

"Looks like it's my turn to unlock the entrance. Forgive me, Chief." Morgana apologized as they all followed the cat to the Sojiro entrance.

"So how will we convince Futaba to let us into her room though? Even boss is forbidden entry." Fox asked as they left the cafe, out of Sojiro's earshot.

"Well... we came into the house last time... maybe Mr. Sojiro forgotten to unlock the door again?" Ruby assumes as some of the students sweat-drops.

"Our best course of action is to be honest with her, even if it's quite straightforward. Futaba doesn't know what we're doing inside her Palace, correct. Hence, if we tell her we've come to steal her heart, she'll surely open and let us inside." Makoto explained.

"... That's it?" Weiss asked.

"Futaba want's to have a change of heart. After all, she contacted us for the express purpose. That desire should lead her to open the door as well." Makoto added.

"Yeah... our feeling should get through if we just try and talk with her." Jaune agreed.

"I believe in Futaba, let's settle this at once." Pyrrha declared as they all nodded.


8/07 Sakura Residence Daytime

At the same time, the young Faunus girl was fiddling with her Cell Scroll until she notice an app. "An eyeball...? What's this? When did this get on here...?" She wondered. She suddenly saw her Shadow self appear out of nowhere, startled by her appearance. Wh-Who're are you...?" She asked.

"I am the other you." Shadow Futaba introduced.

"Is... this some kind of hallucination? It's different from usual..." Futaba wondered.

"How long will you continue blaming yourself and shutting yourself away from the world?" Her Shadow questioned.

"Blaming myself for what...?" Futaba asked.

"For your mother's death." Shadow Futaba answered. Her real self looked away in response. "Don't you think it's time you grasped the truth of that moment? What happened before your eyes... What happened to your mother..." She added.

"The truth...?" She stuttered.

"Why did you choose to rely on the Phantom Thieves and why did you involve those foreign Huntsmen?" Her Shadow added.

"That's..." The young girl stammered.

"Are you simply going to shut yourself in and do nothing? Are you going to avert your eyes from the true answer?" She added as her real self looked distressed. "If so... I will kill them in your world." She declared as she disappeared.

"... I-I... What should I do...?" Futaba question until she staggered when she heard knocking on her door.

"Hello, Futaba? You're there, aren't you? Please answer us." Makoto asked from the outside.


At the same time outside Futaba's room, the group arrived, hoping they can get through to her. "We're sorry for sneaking in so many times, boss." Makoto apologized.

"This is door's definitely like the one in her Palace." Nora noted.

"Hello, Futaba? You're there, aren't you? Please answer us." Makoto asked.

"I doubt she'd answer..." Morgana sighed.

"Heya Alibaba! We need your help with something and has to do with changing your heart. Wanna chat through our scrolls?" Ruby asked plainly, waving her scroll as her scroll vibrated.

"You should've told me you guys were coming." Alibaba told her.

"We've hit a snag, there's something we need you to do for us." Ruby texted.

Alibaba: "Like what?"

"In order for us to steal your heart, we need you to open this door. We can't change your heart otherwise." Makoto stated.

"Please let us in." Ruby pleaded on her chat."

"What!? I'm not mentally prepared!" Alibaba exclaimed in response.

"You have to do this, so we can help with your heart." Ruby added.

"That's easy for you to say..." Alibaba stated with dissent.

"The other you within your heart told us to have you open it. Deep down, you want to open this door, don't you?" Makoto assumed.

Alibaba: "The other me?"

"Right. We're trying to uphold our promise, but you're the one resisting us." Makoto explained.

"... Can you give me some time?" Alibaba asked.

"Ten seconds." Makoto stated seriously.

"That's too short! At least a minute, Please!" Alibaba implored.

"Fine. But if Boss comes home, we'll kick down the door and enter if we must." Makoto warned.

"Yikes..." Jaune muttered as Pyrrha giggled in humor.


A minute passed as they waited for Futaba's response. "Time's up, Alibaba." Makoto declared.

"Alright, I'll open it now." Alibaba assured.

"We need to change her cognition. Better to be completely safe than sorry." Makoto stated.

"So she has to be the one to invite us in?" Ren wondered.

"Futaba please open the door." Makoto demanded as the door creaked open a little.

"All right, let's go in." Ruby declared as she went in first.

When they entered Futaba's room, all they see were books and papers all over the floor, even trash bag on the side. "What are these...?" Blake wondered. Some of their friends peeked from outside the room due to how cramped it looked.

"These are all technical books..." Weiss stated as she translated one of them. "How to hack old-school scrolls for dim-...? I can't believe they're calling our tech 'old-school'!" She exclaimed in offense.

"She keeps herself cooped up in room like this all the time...?" Ann realized.

"... Wait, where's Futaba?" Ruby asked as they looked around.

"Is she hiding?" Ryuji assumes until they hear a knock coming from her closet.

"She'll shut herself in to the bitter end, hm?" Yusuke sighed.

"Even if that door's opened up, we'll get stopped again inside." Morgana meowed. "I bet a fence or something formed right in front of the Treasure now."

"Th-This makes not sense! Explain yourselves!" Futaba demand in her stutter. She was conversing through her closet.

"Whoa, she talked..." Ryuji gasped.

"We needed to change your cognition. Unless we do so,we can't steal your heart." Makoto explained.

"Do you really think she'll understand what we're saying?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"I highly doubt it, even if we explained it to her..." Yusuke agreed with her.

"... So basically, my cognition is being a hindrance, keeping you away from the core of my cognitive world?" Futata summarized, much to their surprise.

"She... understood that?" Yang realized, as she couldn't figure that out herself.

"Why do you know about that? Who are you?" Makoto asked, being surprised.

Futaba didn't responded so they continued with the questioned. "Why'd you call yourself Alibaba and make this more complicated?" Ryuji questioned. "If you wanted help, you could've just asked for it." As he said his question, all they heard was stuttering. "Huh? M-My bad. I didn't quite hear that."

"... 'Cause I was embarrassed." Futaba groaned.

"I think I get it. Asking someone for help isn't that easy..." Ann assured.

"So... Futaba... What's this about the cognitive world? Can ya tell us more?" Ruby asked.

"... 'Cause I knew about it." Futaba answered with exasperated tone.

"Makes sense to me." Ruby nodded as the others sweat-dropped.

"No it doesn't." Ruby's teammates denied.

"Come to think of it, did Mr. Sakura said something about 'cognition' before?" Ren recalled.

"You think this is related to how he was gettin' grilled by Makoto's sister?" Ryuji guessed as she groaned about the fact.

"... Maybe her mother was researching this cognitive science that was brought up?" Ruby assumed.

"Cognitive psience with a PSI in front! Less science, more supernatural. That's important." Futaba corrected quickly.

"We'll that certainly got her attention... It seems we're on the right track." Yusuke confirmed.

"So, cognitive... psience? Futaba, what was your mother working on?" Makoto asked as Futaba didn't give any response. "Please tell us, what happened?"

"She's not answering." Yusuke said.

"... Should we do this later? She seems to have gone through a lot in the past..." Yang pondered about her feelings.

"She said things like 'die' after all..." Blake agreed.

Ruby then stood in front of the closet, hoping to reach out to her. "Futaba. Did you really kill your mom?" Ruby bluntly questioned, much to the other's surprise.

"Ruby...!" Weiss exclaimed silently.

"Wasn't her death some kind of accident? What happened really?" Ruby continued sternly. "This... 'maternal... rosis... is that even a thing?" She added.

"Ruby..." Yang muttered, assuming that her younger sister knows what she's doing.

"It's 'Maternity Neurosis'." Makoto corrected.

"Yeah, that!" Ruby agreed as she continued. "We saw what your heart's like, but we still can't figure anything out. Your mom that Mr. Sakura said is completely different from your cognition thing. We want to hear it from you, the truth. Please..." She begged.

"... M-My mom... was... The one who killed her... was... Nngh...!" Futaba muttered and could speak her grammar due to her staggered words.

Ruby: "Futaba?"

"It's possible that she can't remember because her heart has become distorted." Makoto addressed.

"It's that bad?" Nora realized.

"I'm... sorry, Futaba. If anything, I see me and my sister in you, considering we've lost our moms as well-" Ruby apologize until the sliding closet door opened immediately as a hand grabbed Ruby's hand and pulled into a girl's chest.

"Th-There! Now steal it!" Futaba exclaimed as she pressed Ruby's hand on her boob. Random expressions were on the group's face, confusion, amusement, and... ultimately confusion. "C-C'mon, hurry up!" She exclaimed.

"Um... Futaba?" Ruby hollered with her hand touching her chest.

"We... did come to steal your heart, but it's not really done right here at this moment..." Makoto mentioned.

"Y-Yeah, all you needed to do was open that closet door." Ruby reassured, thinking back. "Did you still think we actually rip'm out?"

"I'm... sorry we made you jump to conclusions. You don't have to be like that." Makoto assured.

"I-I see..." Futaba realized what she did as she looks at Ruby and to where her hand was.

"Yeah..." Ruby agrees in a similar case as they both realized the deed being done. Eventually, she released her hand and retreated back into the closet, closing it as well. "Wha- Hey!"

"... Wh-What's the meaning of this, you perv!? Did you guys trick me?" Futaba questioned.

"Perv!? You're the one who grabbed my hand to do that!" Ruby retorted as she stomped her foot. Some of her friends laughed loud.

"Holy shit, that's rich! Hahaha!" Ryuji cackled.

"No! Hey! Please listen! There's a reason we had to do this!" Makoto reassured with Futaba going silent in response.

"She's aware of the cognitive world, but it seems she doesn't understand how a change of heart occurs?" Pyrrha deduced.

"Um, Futaba, how much do you know about the cognitive world?" Makoto asked.

"I know that there's another world based on cognition. But I don't know how to get there." Futaba explained. "Can you guys go there? You said you 'saw my heart' earlier."

"That's correct." Weiss agreed.

"How do you do it?" Futaba asked.

"Oh, we use a app on our scrolls." Ruby answered.

Futaba: "An app?"

"Yes. By entering the required information, we can go to the cognitive world." Makoto added.

"A name, a place, and a distortion-those three." Ryuji followed. "So in this case, 'Futaba Sakura', 'Sojiro Sakura's house', and-"

"Wait, Futaba, you don't happened to have this app, the one with a eyeball with a red background, do you?" Blake halted Ryuji's sentence.

"... I don't." Futaba answered as a few of them gave sighs of relief. "Can you guys take me with you?"

Ruby: "Sure-"

"NO!" Everyone else shot her down.

"Why're you even askin'? Of course she can't come with us." Ryuji muttered.

Ruby: "Aw..."

"I'll leave it to you then..." Futaba stated with her faith in them.

"Good. And you better not forget about our promise, all right?" Ryuji mentioned as they all nodded and headed out, Ryuji forgot something to include to this. "Oh yeah! Almost forgot. The treasure's not gonna appeared if we don't have her read this!" He mentions as he slips the calling card between the closet door's crevice.

"Hm? A calling card?" Futaba notices.

"It's the one you prepared. Read it." Ryuji asked.

"... I can't read it. It's too dark." Futaba mentioned.

"You could just come out..." Ruby suggested.

"... It's embarrassing." Futaba complained.

Ruby/Ryuji: "What...?"

"I'll make sure she reads it. So you guys go on ahead." Morgana assured as every one else left the room.

"Futaba, make sure you read it, okay?" Makoto pleaded as she soon left the room as well.

As soon as the coast was clear, Futaba eventually exits her closet as she begins to read her calling card out loud. "Let's see..."

Futaba Sakura has committed a great sin of drowning in sloth.

Thus, we will rob every last bit of those distorted desires.

Just as she finishes the sentence, her room suddenly distorts and the atmosphere change as her Shadow Self appeared in her place.

"No. I'm going to die..." Shadow Futaba declared monotonously as the atmosphere returned to normal with the real Futaba standing there.

"Good." Morgana meowed as he pounced away, staggering Futaba by surprise.

"K-Kitty! You again!?" Futaba exclaimed.


8/07 Distorted Sakura Residence Daytime

*Life Will Change -Instrumental ver.-

The group returned to Futaba's Palace as they exited Mona's car hopped off Rook's Persona.

"Aw yeah, let's do this!" Blaze roared in declaration.

"The Palace's security level is so high I can feel it from all the way down here..." Panther noted.

"Futaba's Shadow is going to make this difficult." Saber added.

The real Futaba seemed totally up for gettin' her heart stolen... What's up with this?" Skull wondered as he looked around.

"Something about this place really is unusual." Mona agreed. "Either way, there's only one thing for us to do now that's we've sent the calling card!"

"Y-Yeah. No matter what we gotta face, we're gonna take the treasure." Rook continued in agreement as they entered the Pyramid.


As they arrived at the end of the grand stairway, the locked door began to open up as the green textures descend to reveal a elevator. "All right! It opened!" Rouge cheered.

"Seems like Futaba managed to open the door for us." Blanc agreed.

"Anyways, the Treasure is up ahead! Let's finish this!" Mona declared as they all charged into the next room.

The next thing they was a vastly huge room with a path going up. "So, this is the place that represents Futaba's room." Rouge assumed as she looks out all over the place as it fill with what she thinks is data.

"Yep, this is the heart of a hacker all right." Ryuji nodded. "Anyways, where's the treasure?"

"I'm getting a strong signal from above us. The treasure has definitely manifested." Mona pointed upward.

"There's no knowing what may lie ahead, so let's be vigilant as we push towards the treasure." Queen advise.

They climb the stairs as they see shadows appearing nearby. "Shadows!" Rouge alerted.

"So what's the game plan?" Rook asked.

"We don't have time to deal with these small fries, they'll only reappear in a matter of minutes. We need to make it to the Treasure and get out, fast!" Mona stated the strategy.

"Right, thieves don't often pick fights, do they?" Blanc somewhat agreed as they ran anyways. They only struck the enemy before they could take form and escape the conflict before they're caught. They continued upwards as the avoid the Shadows and dealt with the ones in the way. Diving for cover as the Shadows pass by, knocking them off the floor as they fall into the bottom.

They eventually reach another door as Mona took a closer look at it. "There's no doubt: The Treasure is right past this point." He stated. "No matter what it is, we need to be ready for it!"

"Let's do this!" Joker declared

"We'll save Futaba, that's for sure!" Rouge reassured as they entered the room.


8/07 Sakura Residence Daytime

Back in reality, Futaba was staring at the MetaNav appon her cell scroll. "If I use this, I can change my heart...?" The young Faunus wondered as she opens the app. "Vocal input...? Fu-Futaba Sakura." She stated as the app confirms her input. "Sojiro Sakura's house." She added as she looks down to the last line. "And then... Something about 'distortion'..." She recalls as she mutters it, trying to figure out what her distortion is until several echo of voices started ring in her head. "Not again...!"

"You killed her!"

"You're a plague!"

"It's your fault!"

"Your the one who killed her!"

"Murderer!"

"No!" Futaba screamed as she ran out her bedroom door, looking out in the darkened hallway, realizing something in her memory. "That's right... I remember now. Back when they were here, I-I... messaged 'tomb' in the chat and..." She recalls and reality faintly distorted as her scroll spoke.

"Input accepted. Searching for route to destination." The MetaNav declared.

"... I can go in now?" Futaba realized as the voices started to rung loudly once more with the Faunus covering her cat ears. "I can't take this any more!"

"Beginning navigation." The MetaNav stated as it send her into her Palace.


8/07 Distorted Sakura Residence Daytime

The group enters the dark green it room with their arms at ready. It turns out that there were no enemies in sight, not even Shadow Futaba was present.

"The hell? This ain't what I was imaginin'!" Skull complained.

"Were you expecting mountain of treasure or something of that sort?" Fox asked with sarcasm.

"At least there's no enemies in here." Rook sighed with relief.

"There IS that coffin over there." Panther pointed at the coffin in front of them.

"That's all?" Nora wondered with disappointment.

"The treasure must be inside." Queen assumed

"All right. Let's take it make a run for it." Rouge suggested as she and Skull walks towards the tomb.

"T-Treasure...!" Mona stuttered as he eyed the tomb.

But as soon as Rouge placed her hand on to the tomb, the group heard a screech echoing from the outside and shook the ground. The Phantom Thieves and Huntsmen staggered as they point their weapons everywhere.

"What was that!?" Freya questioned.

"There's something here..." Saber added as she uses her animal traits to sense their foe.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Lotus mutters.

Suddenly, something punctured a hole on the pyramid as the sun shine upon the group with the ground gradually start to shake heavily as something appeared looking down on them. "Fuuuuutaaaaaabaaaaaaa!" The creature roared with its cold eyes glaring down on them.

*Blooming Villian

"AAAAHHHHH, What the hell is that!?" Rook screamed in horror.

"Is that a Shadow...?" Makoto wondered, as it didn't make any sense. No... Then-"

"That... can't be Futaba...!" Rouge finished as she frantically turns the safety lock on Crescent Rose.

"Don't tell me..." Mona muttered in realization as the creature began to break open the structure. The wind picked up as the debris flew away, as the group realized what they're dealing with, a winged beast with woman's face as the head, with cat ears and glasses.

"Th-This is insane!" Nora exclaimed with shock as the beast blew strong gusts with its wings as the group tries to hold their footing from the strong wind.

"If it's not a Shadow, then what is it!?" Skull questioned.

"It's a... cognition!" Mona answered as he holds himself from flying away. "A monster that Futaba's cognition created!"

"How could that be!?" Queen questioned as one of the pillars cracked off and flew right towards the group.

"Hey, look out!" Skull shouted, as Joker manages to rescue Queen out of the way.

Team JNPR didn't had the chance to react as they were launched off the floor. "Jaune, NO!" Rouge exclaimed as she rushes to the edge of the top hoping the were okay, yet she couldn't see them in the sand cloud below.

"Goddammit, here it comes!" Blaze roared as they engaged the Beast that rules the Palace.


"Do not approach the pharaoh's tomb! Misfortune will fall upon you!" The Palace Monster roared while flying around the group.

"Ugh, look at it fly about! We can't reach it like this!" Blanc complained as she summons Shiva, casting Bufula.

"We've got no other option. Let's take it down with our guns and skills!" Mona suggested as they did that.

Blaze fired from her Ember Celica as the volleys of shot missed due to the range and speed of her bullets, causing Yang to summon Ifreeta to cast Agilao and still couldn't hit it. "Are you kidding me!?" Blaze growled.

Joker, Fox, and Rouge used their range weapons and only Rouge was able to deal certain damage to it, with the sniper bullet's velocity to reach its mark as the beast roared.

The Palace Monster retaliated by lunging in slamming it's paws onto the group followed by a swipe at a lot of them. Some of them were pushed back by the force of the impact.

"Goemon, strike!" Fox command his Persona and struck the Beast as Joker sends Arsene to attack as well, yet the beast immediately responds by jumping off and fly away.

"This isn't good. We're sitting ducks out here!" Saber grunted as she also shoots the Beast as it responds with a Wing Blast, blowing a strong gust at them.

"Does it even have a weakness?" Rouge questioned as she casts Sukunda on it.

"I-I don't know!" Mona retorts as he has Zorra cast Mediarama on the group.


On the surface floor of the pyramid, Rook manages to dig himself out of the sand. "I... though was a goner!" He exclaimed with shook.

"Rook!" Frey called out to him as she along with Lotus and Nora regroup to watch the battle unfold at the top of the pyramid. They hid behind debris as they speculate. "How are we gonna deal with that thing in the air? I mean, I have a grenade launcher, but I don't think it'll go down so easily."

"Unless we have something to fly ourselves, we all still won't be able to pin it down, if not unable to returned to our allies." Lotus stated.

Rook nodded and looked around, when he turned around, he notices that they were near a town. "Rook?" Freya asked.

"Maybe... I think I have an idea..." Rook said to his teammates as they followed him into town.


Back with the others, they were all using their firearms to gun down the beast as it Rapid Ascent upwards into the sky with the clouds covering the beast.

"H-How far did it fly up!?" Rouge questioned as she lowered her weapon. "What's it gonna do!?"

"Don't tell me... Is it gonna dive attack us!?" Mona wondered.

"Let it come! I'll beat its ass before it'll strike!" Blaze roared as they wait for the surprise attack.

Although the Beast wasn't coming down yet, the anticipation was tense. "Damn that beast... when's it gonna strike...!?" Blanc questioned.

"Ugh... it's still not attacking!?" Blaze questioned in anger.

Just then as they drop their guard, the Beast Sphinx Dived the frustrated Huntress as Rouge realized what the enemy's target was. "Yang!" Rouge exclaimed as she pushes her away as the Sphinx Dive, destroyed the floor where Blaze was standing on, with the force pushing everyone back into the debris as Rouge and Blaze were flung off.

"Rouge!/No! Blaze!" Blanc and Saber yelled as the Beast flew off as everyone were in critical condition.

"Ngh... This isn't good." Mona winced in pain. "I can't tell at all when it's gonna attack..."

"What is that suppose to mean!?" Blanc questioned.

"You have to tell us, Mona!" Saber demanded as she continues to fire on the beast.

"I-I can't help it! There are some things that even I can't do!" Mona denied.

The situation was not going in their favor.


At the same time, Rouge and Blaze were planted head first into the sand. "On the bright side, we didn't land on anything hard..." Rouge grunted in a muffle tone as they dug themselves out. They eventually realize they landed near the entrance of the Palace.

"Okay, let's get back up there. That monster's going down one way or another." Blaze declared.

"I hope our friends can manage." Rouge hoped as they proceeded into the Palace once more.

As they continued their climb once more, they find Futaba wondering ahead. "Futaba!?" Rouge exclaimed as she caught her attention as they caught up. "H-How are you... How did you get in here!?"

"Wha-Who? Wait, are you're the same perv that went into my room?" The Faunus girl asked.

"What!?" Rouge staggered. "I can't believe you're still calling me that!"

"Look, we ARE the same people. But why are you in your heart, it's dangerous in here!" Blaze mentioned.

"So... this is inside my heart...?" Futaba survey the area. "I did't think it'd be like this..."

"Well, you did asked us to steal your heart and but your heart is really complicated..." Rouge tried to make words out.

"What do we do? We can't just take her with us." Blaze whispered to her younger sister.

"Neither can we send her away, there's still Shadow everywhere." Rouge replied silently as they watch Futaba from afar until a huge familiar mural landed in front of her. "Wait, what is this? As Rouge and Blaze caught up to her.

"Isn't this the first Mural we've saw here?" Blaze wondered.

"That is correct." Shadow Futaba answered as she appeared. She then faced her real self. "Do you remember?" She asked, pointing at the mural for Futaba to see.

*Regret

"... This is the suicide note... The men in black suits read it right after Mom died..." Futaba explained.

"Futaba..." Rouge muttered with concern.

"That's correct. Look at the next one." Shadow Futaba stated as she show the next mural.

"That one with a car..." Blaze mentioned.

"This... This is... when Mom jumped in front of that car..." Futaba whimpered.

"That's right. Now the next." Her Shadow added as Futaba collapsed in despair.

"Futaba!" Rouge knelt down and aided her along with Blaze, placing their hand on her shoulders.

"No..." Futaba stuttered, looking downwards.

"Don't run. I thought you made your mind up after you talked to the Phantom Thieves and Huntsmen." Her Shadow reminded.

"We're with you. It's all right." Rouge reassured her.

"Okay... I'll look." Futaba complied, looking at the girl puling on a woman's clothes. "It's me complaining. Mom, scolded me for bothering her..." She explained as her Shadow nodded in response. "I knew it. It was me who killed Mom. I was a bad daughter... I weighed her down, and she hated me for it... It's just like I remember..." She whimpered as Rouge and Blaze almost see tears going down.

"There's... There's no way that's true at all..." Rouge denied.

"What the hell...?" Blaze grunted with sympathy.

"Are you sure?" Shadow Futaba questioned as they faced her. "Remember everything. Don't Avert your eyes. When did this happened?"

"Just a little before Mom died... I whined about wanting to go on a family trip, but she scolded me and said no." Futaba answered.

"Was that all she said?" Her Shadow added.

"... Mom said 'I'm too busy right now. I need to finish my cognitive research as soon as possible.'" Futaba repeated.

"And what did you do?" Her Shadow continued.

"I threw a tantrum. Told her she thought her research was more important than I was. That's when she scolded me." Futaba explained.

"What did she say afterwards? There was more." Her Shadow included.

"... Did she say...? 'My research is almost over. Once it's finished, we can go wherever you like. I'm sorry I've left you alone for so long, Futaba. Please try to understand though. This research is really important. I need to complete it, even if it costs me my life'." Futaba stated

"Did... she hate you?" Rouge asked.

"She didn't...?" Futaba realized something in her conflicted mind as she then looks upwards to see the mural shining. "Wh-What? She smiled...?" She muttered as her head started to hurt. "Agh! My head it hurts... Which is true...?" She gasped as she pressed her head.

"Futaba!" Rouge and Blaze exclaimed.

"Your memory is..." Shadow Futaba walked away in the direction of the treasure is, fading out at the same time.

Soon after, they hear a screech in a distance. "Huh? It's calling me...?" Futaba muttered.

"Oh, that's right! The others are still in danger!" Blaze realized.

"I don't think leaving Futaba back at this moment is safe." Rouge confirmed. "Stick with us, all right?"

"O-Okay." The Faunus girl nodded as they made their way towards the treasure room once more.


Back with the remaining Phantom Thieves, they finally depleted their ammo, leaving them defenseless for any counter attacks. "No..." Saber muttered.

"The hell!? We ain't doin' shit to it!" Skull growled.

"Hey! You guys okay!?" Rouge asked as she and Blaze returned to the group.

"Rouge! Saber! We thought the worst happened!" Saber exclaimed as they were baffled by who came after them.

"Huh? Futaba!?" Queen gasped. "You came into your cognitive world!?"

"Believe me, we were as shocked as you guys are." Blaze assured.

"The person themselves coming into their own Palace...? If that happens..." Mona muttered his thoughts.

The beast howled as it got the group's attention, especially Futaba's. "That's..." But as she took a step closer, menacing voices rung clearly that everyone nearby heard it.

"You killed her!"

"No..." Futaba muttered in fear as the world distorts around her.

"Why don't you say something!?"

Futaba collapsed as Rouge tries to help her. "Futaba!"

"It's your fault!"

"It's my fault... It's my fault that Mom..." Futaba muttered.

As queen checks her condition, the Beast roar its speech. "That's right. You killed me!" The Palace Beast declared as it lunges at them. Blaze summons Ifreeta to hold it back. Yet that wasn't the group's surprise.

"... What!?" Blanc stated.

"Wait, is that monster her mother!?" Fox realized.

"Futaba's desires and guilt must've distorted her cognition of her." Mona assumes. "The wish that her mother was alive again is mixed in as well, along with those eerie jeers..."

"Oh, Futaba..." Rouge grunted in sad tone.

"You are nothing but a demon who stood in my way! I wish you had never been born! That way I could've announced my results without having to waste my time on you!" The Palace Beast known as Cognitive Wakaba Isshiki, pressed down on Ifreeta who was preventing the beast from attacking. "I poured my heart and soul into the research! It would've been the discovery of the century!"

"Shut up!" Blaze roared as Ifreeta pushes the beast away, followed by and Agilao.

"What did she mean by that?" Queen wondered.

"Could she be talking about cognitive psience?" Mona assumed.

"You're going to die! There's no meaning to your life No one needs you!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she dodges Blaze's Maragi.

"Shut the hell up!" Blaze roared in response.

"Nobody cares about me..." Futaba muttered.

"Futaba! That's not true!" Rouge exclaimed as voices rung out once more.

"I should have never have had Futaba... She was always such a bother..."

"It seems you caused your mother a great deal of trouble, Futaba-chan..."

"She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis..."

Futaba started to have a splitting headache as the voices continued to ring. Even worst when visions of her mother writhing in pain appeared in her eyes.

"Aaagh... Agh...!"

"... F-Futabaaaa..."

"... Y-You... aaaaareeeeee..."

"Futaba! You got to stop listening to those voices!" Rouge pleaded.

"Hey, we're gonna be in deep shit if this keeps up!" Skull reminded them as Blaze continues to fire at the beast.

"So because she thinks she killed her mother and because she thinks she deserves to die... Futaba gave birth to a Palace where her mother want's her dead...?" Queen theorized. Rouge and Blaze were disgusted to hear it as facts.

"Futaba-chan, look! There's no way that monster is your mother! It's just an illusion you created!" Panther explained.

Futaba: "B-But...!"

"Your Mom didn't abused you did she!? Mr. Sakura said that she did her best to raise you herself!" Blaze exclaimed as a Agilao connected with her target.

"Isn't this a false memory that's been imprinted upon you?" Saber questioned as the Beast attempted to swipe at her but Saber jumped over an sling her Gambol Shroud at it.

"A false memory...?" Futaba tried to recall, but she winced in pain as voices continued to ring.

"You made you mother destroy all her research, Futaba-chan..."

"She worked so hard on it as well..."

"She lost her mind, and it's all because of you..."

"M-Mom... I-I..." Futaba stammered.

"SHUUUT UUUUUUP!" Blaze screamed furiously as she charged at the diving Cognitive Wakaba, slamming her fist in the Beast's face as it made it stumbled over to the side.

"Yang...?" Blanc asked with surprise as Blaze huffed heavily as she then turned around to tears coming out of her red eyes. Everyone, even Futaba looked to her with baffled eyes.

"Dammit, Futaba, you have to remember!" Blaze exclaimed as she wipes her tears off as she continues to scout over Cognitive Wakaba who was still flying in a dazed state.

"You're the reason she committed suicide. You were just getting in the way of her research." Shadow Futaba appeared to many surprised looks while her Shadow looks down to her. "Why did you think it was suicide?"

"... Because of the note." Futaba answered in despair.

"Exactly. The men in black suits read her suicide note to you, and what was written on it?" Her Shadow continued.

"All of her complaints... about me." Futaba replied.

"Yes. The shock and pain led you to avert your eyes. But they kept reading it aloud in front of your relatives." Her Shadow added.

Just then, a warm hand perched on her shoulder as Ruby tries to comfort her. "Futaba. Was that suicide note real? Would your mother you love so much truly wrote any of that?" She asked.

"Do you really think she'd ever say that horrid crap at you?" Yang also questioned as she stood at her side.

*Swear to My Bones

A moment of thinking clearly, Futaba realized who her Mother truly was. "No... She scolded me whenever I had tantrums, but she cared for me!" She stated with revelation while standing back up.

"Then what about the suicide note?" Shadow Futaba questioned.

"A total lie!" Futaba declared.

"You were used! They forged her suicide note and laid the blame of her death on you! They trampled all over your young heart! Get mad! Don't forgive those rotten adults!" Shadow Futaba demanded, pointing her finger at her real self with conviction.

"It's because I couldn't face myself, or mom's death... Even then, why did they have to yell at me like that!?" Futaba questioned as her expressed feelings

Futaba stumbled as Rouge caught her as she stood back up. "You okay?" Rouge asked.

Suddenly another jolt of pain stabbed her as a monotone voice rung out.

"What denies you is an illusion... A curse put upon you by the heartless... You knew from the beginning... And yet, you cowered in fear..." The Mysterious voice echoed calmly.

"Ngh... That's right. I knew but I..." Futaba muttered as a giant paw appeared followed by Cognitive Wakaba lifting herself up

"It's all your fault...! This time, you'll be the one to die!" Cognitive Wakaba declared as a pink explosion blasted the Beast by it's side.

They see where those explosions come from and they see Team JNPR with Odin galloping in their air and Rook and Freya riding together with Lotus and Nora gliding on a make-shift chariot with wings. "Over here, you overgrown bird!" Nora exclaimed as they lured the Palace Beast away from the main group.

"They're... okay!" Blanc stated with impression.

"Will you die as you are told...? Who are you going to obey?" The Mysterious Voice continued. "Cursed words spat out by a seething illusion? Or the truth within your own soul?"

"It's your fault! It's all your fault!" Cognitive Wakaba declared as she chases Team JNPR in the sky.

Futaba assured Rouge as she stood on her own despite her mild headache. "I won't let those distorted lies deceive me anymore... And I won't be led astray by other's voices either. I'm going to trust my own eyes and my own heart to distinguish the truth from the lies." She declared as she and the Palace Beast trade eyes at each other. "There's no way you're my mom! You're just a fake created by those horrid adults!" Cognitive Wakaba grits her teeth very hard as she dives at the group as they brace for impact, but Futaba stood her ground. "I'll... I'll never... I'll NEVER forgive them!" She shouted as Team JNPR flew over the group and intercepted the Palace Beast, by Nora slamming Magnhild in the face blowing the Palace beast away while drawing its attention back to Team JNPR.

Just then, the determined Futaba glowed as her Shadow dissipated into the light, transforming into a flying saucer, with a gargoyle in top, floating above Futaba.

"What... is that?" Panther wondered as the flying saucer let out tentacles, wrapping its arms on Futaba as it somewhat abducts Futaba.

Futaba stutters as they group watches her being lifted into the saucer. "How lewd." Blaze joked as Queen and Blanc sweat-dropped with dumbfounded expressions were pointed at her.

Within the darkness inside the saucer, the Mysterious Voice echoes to them. "Contract... I am thou, thou art I... The forbidden wisdom has been revealed." The Voice stated. "No mysteries... No illusions shall deceive you any longer." The voice declared while Futaba opened her eyes to see all the data around her, even pressing a screen as well.

"Futaba, are you okay!?" Rouge Queen called out to her.

"I'm all right!" Futaba answered through the Persona Link.

"Look at that..." Mona said with awe.

"You good to go, Futaba?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah, Please help me!" Futaba requested. "That's gotta go!" She stated as she scanned Cognitive Wakaba while she's in pursuit of Team JNPR.

Rouge nodded in response and Blaze grinned with confident. "Second Wind, everyone!" She declared as they ready themselves.


*Will Power

They observe Cognitive Wakaba as Team JNPR are doing what they can to distract the Cognitive Beast.

"So... what can we do to take her down?" Rouge asked.

"This is my heart's world, right? Hacking into my distortion should be no problem for me! Necronomicon, over here!" Futaba stated as she guide her Persona and distorts an object behind the team, revealing a ranged siege weapon.

"A-A ballista!?" Mona staggered with surprise.

"Shoot it down with this, then beat the crap out of it!" Futaba suggested as she hovers around.

"... I have a good aim. Blaze, with me!" Rouge stated as they both rush towards the Balliasta while contacting Team JNPR. "Rook, can you hear me?"


"Ru-Rouge!? We can here you? How?" Rook questioned while his was racing as the Palace Beast still gave chase.

"Thanks to Futaba! Listen, I have an idea. When I say when, lead her to us, we got something to ground it!" Rouge stated. "After that leave the ground assault to the rest of us!"

"Got it!" Rook agreed as the team continues the distraction, firing their rounds.


"Change directions, aim the tip in the center!" Rouge stated as Blaze spun the lever to make the ballista's direction.

"Even if we managed to shoot it down, we may need to pin down some how." Saber mentioned as Joker notices stone pillars that broke off and gotten an idea of his own.

They see Lotus using Tempest Slash and Cognitive Wakaba retaliating with a Wing Blast. Nora continued to shoot grenade at her as the Palace Beast relentlessly continue its pursuit. "I don't need a child to who defies me! And children I don't need... should be killed!" She shout as she nearly slammed her paw into the chariot, unstabilizing Nora's balance as Lotus caught from falling.

"Rook, get ready!" Rouge alerted as Rook led the Palace Beast them.

"Adjusting vertical alignment!" Blaze stated. "Ready!" Rouge readied the trigger at the moment and once Team JNPR out of the shot, Rouge fire the bolt at the Palace Beast, leaving a critical damage to its side as the Palace Beast fell right in front of the group.

They all gathered in front of the Palace Beast with their arms at the ready. Cognitive Wakaba roared with energy still in her. "Nnnnngh...! How dare you...! Children that defy their mothers should... DIE-" *BANG* The Palace Beast roared in pain as Rouge and Blaze fire a bullet at her.

"Shut up! You're not her mom!" Blaze yelled as she hurled a fist at her.

"You're just a monster born from my own weakness..." Futaba denied. "Everyone, keep attacking! Don't let up!" She stated.

"You don't need to tell us twice!" Blanc assured as she ts Bufula on the Beast, Saber casts Rakunda on the Cognition, rendering it defense to its poorest stated, Skull blasted his entire round of his shotgun, Queen blasted the Beast with Freila, Yusuke had Goemon unleash his own Tempest Slash.

"I'll kill you!" Cognitive Wakaba growled as it tried to flap is wings, but Rouge jumped onto of her and clipped a wing off, a clean cut as the monster roared in pain as the other wing was clipped off by Soma Picaro.

"For you!" Joker exclaimed as he had Kin-Ki out, lifting a shape broken pillar and stabbed the Palace Beast's paw as it roared in pain.

"Got it!" Nora exclaimed as she jumped off the chariot and slammed her hammer on to the pillar like pounding a nail. The Palace Beast roared with agonizing pain.

"Allow me!" Mona declared as he as Zorro stab the other paw, holding the Beast in place.

Soon after, Blaze had Ifreeta slammed the Beast's head to the ground by pulling the hair on top, followed by Soma Picaro digging her scythe in front of its neck and pulled her back with black liquid leaking out of the wound as it shows its cracked reading glasses with bruises of its face. Choking all the way, she glares at Necronomicon, Futaba specifically. "Nnngh...! Futaba... Futaba...! If only... I had... never birthed you...!" Cognitive Wakaba uttered.

Rouge walked up in front of the beast and loaded one sniper bullet into Crescent Rose and pointed direct at Cognitive Wakaba's face, point-blank. "You will never torment her!" Rouge stated loud and sternly.

"No matter what you say to me... I will live!" Futaba declared. "PULL!"

*SLASH* *BANG*

It happened real fast, Soma Picaro decapitated the Cognition and Rouge blasted the head off as the black ooze extinguished away. As soon as the head landed on the sands below the body went limp.

Thus concluding the torment of Futaba's cognition of her mother.


Team JNPR regrouped with the rest of the group as they were glad that everyone's accounted for. "Sorry for scaring you guys back there, she launched us really far." Rook apologized.

"We were fortunate that the was a nearby town. We were able to use materials to use as a chariot." Freya added.

"Were weren't even expecting to see Odin flying in the air, he was like galloping like it was nothing!" Nora boasted.

"Of course you guys managed to defeat it, and that... execution..." Lotus mentioned.

Rouge giggled as they soon realized they forgot someone. "Oh right! Futaba!" She exclaimed as went to check the exhausted Faunus. They also just realized that she was wearing a costume as well; A skintight black bodysuit with fluorescent neon green glowing strips and matching black boots with neon green soles. Her mask is a pair of big black goggles with orange lenses.

"Damn, you're freakin' incredible!" Skull complimented.

"Can you stand?" Blaze asked as she pulled her up.

As Futaba wiped dust off of her, she soon notices that she is wearing the costume. "Whoa! What in the world!? Ooh! It's totally skin-tight!" She said, checking herself.

"That's the least of our worries." Blanc sighed as a light shine elsewhere.

"Another thing showed up!?" Skull frantically stated as they see a young Faunus woman appeared. Transparent, but is showing a gentle smile.

"Mom!?" Futaba gasped as they all realize who she was.

"Futaba. Thank you for choosing to remember the real me." Wakaba valued.

"... I'm sorry for being selfish... Mom..." Futaba apologize emotionally as she step towards her.

"Don't come over here." Wakaba ordered, stopping her daughter. "This isn't where you're supposed to be, is it?"

"But I finally got to see you again..." The young Faunus whined.

"Are you being selfish again?" Wakaba smiled.

She is correct in a way, and Futaba restrained herself a bit. "... Um, I... I love you, Mom." She stated with her emotions backing her.

"I love you too, Futaba. Now, you should get going." Wakaba reminded her as she disappeared in a white light, fading away.

Futaba took a deep breath as she then recalls a deal that was made. "Oh, right. Medjed." She recalls as she walks away.

"Where are you going?" Queen asked.

"Home. I know how to you the Nav now." Futaba answered simply as walks back down the stairs.

"All right. See you around!" Rouge cheerfully wave back.

The group went silent as she left their sight. "Uh... she left?" Saber said with loss of words.

"That girls marches to the beat of her own drum, doesn't she?" Fox assumes.

"Like you're one to talk." Skull scoffed.

"She's pretty good as a Navigator, don't you guys think?" Rouge wondered as silence fell again.

"Wait, what about the Treasure!?" Queen realized.

"Oh, right! We almost forgot! Rook realized as well.

They found the coffin still in one piece and place as they dug off the debris and opened the coffin, only to find it empty. "What the? Where's our prize?" Nora questioned as a violent quake occurred beneath their feet.

*RUN, RUN, RUN!

"Ngh! Now what's going on!?" Blanc questioned as they staggered off-balance.

"M-Mona, talk to us! Any idea where the treasure is!?" Rook demanded his question.

"Futaba... herself was the Treasure! And she's gon, so of course it's empty!" Mona answered as they all caught on to the fact. Just then they all hear loud cracks and they see the sky breaking apart. "Shoot... this is bad!"

"Mona, what's the matter?" Saber asked.

"Not only did the real person come inside her own Palace, she awakened to a Persona while she was here! This place could collapse any second now!" Mona alerted with a pained expression.

"WHAT!?" Most of the exclaimed.

"We've accomplished our mission if her Palace is crumbling. We should hurry back to reality." Queen suggested urgently.

"R-Retreat! Full retreat!" Rook agreed as he ran first to the stairs, only end up blocked by the falling debris.

"Oh shit, we're trapped!?" Skull panicked.

"Uh, uh... down the pyramid go, go, go!" Rook suggested as they jump of the floor, going as the debris keeps falling on them.


*Fall of Anger

As the dust cloud created from the falling debris, envelops the top of the Pyramid, the entire group were all sprinting down the slope as fast as they can.

"It's catching up to us!" Lotus alerted.

"Running! Here's! A Bitch!" Skull exclaimed, huffing with every step.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE" Rook continued to panic as he then tripped and rolled all the way down to the surface.

"Don't leave us, Rook!" Blanc exclaimed

"Mona! Turn into a car already!" Panther demanded.

"I know! I know! I-" Mona staggered as Panther grabbed him and tossed the cat into the air as the cat manages to transform into van as he landed next to Rook, who was still dazed from rolling.

O-Odin! Hurry!" Rook summoned his Persona as the rest of the group continued to sprint down as the blast from the falling debris blasts them into the air as Mona caught them by morphing his back of the van as cushion as Queen immediately took off.

Freya, Lotus, and Nora lands right onto Odin's back, neighing as the Persona start to run off with out the User. "Don't leave with out ME!" Rook exclaimed as he latched himself onto the tail piece as Odin galloped as fast as the van in front.

The group in the van were groaned in pain as they were positioned awkwardly while Queen focused her attention on escaping. She and the Persona Odin, were avoiding the falling debris, skidding left and right as they made their escape. Rook was having a bad day as he cling on for dear life as his scream was as his mouth was wide open as the camera zooms in, fading out to black.


A/N: Next chapter will be the last of the Futaba Arc. And the chance to vote on my page to where they go will be decided by then.

I am so srry for this delay. Work can be a real killer.

Say, I also notice the character from P5R. Kasumi Yoshizawa, she looks gorgeous, I hope to add her to this Fanfic, yet we still don't know anymore, no codename yet and Persona. I intent of doing this with the proper information and not something original just yet. And P5S? Looks cool, but I don't have a Switch, suffice to say.

Longest chapter I've done, huh?

Just don't expect updates like these soon. Like I said, work is putting me in a bind here, so I can't update at my ususal deadlines... If I had deadlines.

Any ideas for a chibi segment, please let me know if any1's interested.

Oh, I almost forgot. Seta's Semblance and Weapons
Seta Narukami's Semblance: Reinforcement - It allows Seta to reinforce an object she holds and turns it into a heavy object once thrown far enough, say like a huge and heavy truck ramming into a small vehicle. The Truck's heavy mass would plow the small vehicle. But what if she focus her sights on the small vehicle, it will change the mass of the small vehicle into a heavy truck, causing something small into a huge bulldozer.

The only side effect is stated that her eyes are so dead it'll intimidate a lot of people, making them taut, stiff upon eye contact. Which is why she keeps her eyes close most of the time and have bangs to cover them, so people won't have to see them.

R&R!

Here's one Omake for the time being.


Tubby Tummy Chariots

In her dorm room, Chie was pressing on her stomach as she was looking in the mirror. "How did this happened...?" Chie grumbled as Yang walked by an notices Chie.

"Hey, what's going on, Chie?" Yang asked.

"It's my belly. I think I gained weight..." Chie groaned as she press her jiggly fat.

"I'll say. You think it was all that meat?" Yang wondered as she then checked herself of her flabby parts. "Ooh... I think I have the problem, too..."

"What, you guys fat?" Ryuji assumes as the pair twist their head to see Ryuji watching from outside the door.

"Hey! Privacy!" Chie exclaimed.

"And calling a girl fat?" Yang questioned.

"Well, hey, I was plannin' on a jog, y'know, working out? Better to burn the fat than gloom 'bout it." Ryuji suggested.

Yang an Chie looked at each and thought about it. "Think we can join in?" Chie asked.

Eventually Ryuji decided to coach them, and push them. "Come on, Girls! Burn that effing fat!" Ryuji exclaimed, rooting for them as they both did sit-ups.

"I think... this is better... than Nora-chan's... training...!" Chie commented as she was doing sit-ups

"I'll... say!" Yang agreed doing sit-ups as well.


Next, they did push-ups with Blake sitting on Yang as Yukiko sitting on Chie.

"Carrying the life of someone is important in a rescue operation, right?" Ryuji suggested.

"No... sweat!" Both girls agreed as they felt the burn.


"Up and down, up and down, up and down!" Ryuji shouted as both Yang and Chie lift a table that have their teammates sitting on it.

"Looking good, girls!" Yosuke cheered.


Last and not least the three ran all around the school campus to in order to complete their dream... of burning fat. "Come on, step it up!" Ryuji huffed.


"I'd say that was a great work out, right, Yang-chan?" Chie asked as she open up the fridge.

"I think we've accomplish burning some fat." Yang agreed.

"Yeah, maybe we can do this next time." Ryuji suggested as they then watch Ann and Nora eating a cake. "Sheesh... they're gonna get fat if they eat all that cake." He muttered.

As Ann took a slice of the cake, Nora inhale the whole thing which bloated her stomach. "Whoa! Are you sure about that, you figure, Nora..." She reminded her.

"No problem- *Buuuurrrp* I'm okay!" Nora assured as the she deflated the suppose fat as she retains her figure, which left the other three conflicted.

"F-For real...?" Ryuji muttered

"Oh, COME ON!" Chie yelled, tossing a water bottle down, as Yang crushed the water bottle in her hand, all the while gritting her teeth with her eyes glowing red.

All that work for nothing and someone else looks fine.


*The Days When My Mother Was There -another version-

*Wake up, Get up, Get out there

*The Days When My Mother Was There

*Keeper of Lust

*Life Will Change -Instrumental ver.-

*Regret

*Swear to My Bones

*Will Power

*RUN, RUN, RUN!

*Fall of Anger