Persona Trinity

by IIIIIIIIII

Six months have passed since the defeat of Yaldabaoth and the disbandment of the Phantom Thieves. Ren Amamiya now enjoys a normal high-school life, hard-won though it may be. For once, normalcy started to feel normal. However, the whims of fate would set the Wild Card User on another path. And he would be far from the only one fate would call on. Pairing: Pseudo RenxHarem YuxHarem

17. Belly of the Beast

A/N As promised, here's this week's chapter. Not much to say, so without further ado…

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona, or any of its characters, and I make no money off of this.

Chapter 17

White Mask Palace: Section 7A

Makoto floored Johana's accelerator to its fullest, zooming down the Palace's halls with laser focus. A very-much-so caught off guard Ann Takamaki screamed in surprise, clinging to the former student council president as if her life depended on it.

"Sorry," apologized Queen, her eyes still ever-locked on the road ahead. "I did say to hang on though."

"You most certainly did not!" Panther exclaimed.

"I said it when we started off."

"That was forever ago!"

A flurry of bullets shot towards them, missing the motorcycle itself but certainly putting the fear of god into those who rode it.

"Looks like we've got company," Queen muttered with a scowl.

Her companion turned towards their pursuers while she herself checked her mirrors, each seeing a large gathering of White Masks approaching quickly on motorbikes of their own. They were gaining at a noticeable pace, though the gradually increasing accuracy of their shots was evidence enough of that.

"Let's see how they like this," Queen spoke rhetorically.

The brunette momentarily eased up on the accelerator, all the while Johanna's back wheel began to pulse with bright blue light. She then rushed forward in a zigzag pattern, leaving a trail of nuclear energy lingering in her wake. The approaching cycles smashed into it as if it were solid as steel, resulting in a dozen explosions and effectively downing the entirety of the first wave.

"Nice!" Panther cheered.

Any joy was short-lived as soon another group were hot on their trail coming up just behind that which they'd only just dispatched. Bullets once again came flying towards them, though this time Ann was keen to return the favor.

The blonde took out her submachine gun and began to let its bullets loose on approaching White Masks. She managed to tear into a good number of front tires, ripping the rubber to shreds and causing collision after collision within the enemy lines.

Though thinned in number, a total of four still remained charging, which Makoto was all too happy to deal with.

"Hold on!" Queen exclaimed.

Once the blonde had grabbed onto her back yet again, she spun Johanna around, letting loose a small nuclear blast that took out those that remained in their pursuit. At least for the time being.

In the calm and quiet that ensued, Ann had but one thing to say.

"Now that was a warning," Panther joked.

"You know, if anyone's complaining, it should be me," replied Queen, chuckling in a playful manner. "Those zippers of yours really tear into my back you know."

"Ugh, trust me, they're way harder on me," Panther replied. She adjusted her chest, wincing somewhat. "It feels so tight sometimes it's suffocating. I know I should be thankful that it keeps me from bouncing all over the place, but still…!"

"Wait, your costume is restricting your chest?" Queen uttered in amazement, a bit of jealously in her tone. "My god, just how big are your—"

A roaring engine coming from downwind of their current location peeled their attention away. They took notice of a set of military-style transports barreling towards them with the subtlety of a tyrannosaurus rex chasing its dinner.

"These guys don't let up easy, do they?" Panther groaned.

"Did you expect them to just give up?"

"No, but I was kinda hoping…"

Abruptly, several hatches opened on the sides of the twin vehicles, out of which exited a number of creatures that cried demonically as they took to the skies. They were pitch-black in color and bird-like in appearance, possessing white, fiercely sharp talons on their feet and a pair of massive wings. Their appearance as Shadows was complete with the presence of a white, beaked mask with the roman numeral 'III' tattooed on the forehead.

Though their blood-curling appearance certainly wasn't pleasant, the true problem was that neither of the two Phantom Thieves recognized the Shadows in the slightest. Given the way the new Metaverse had unwound so far, that was nothing new, but for them to be encountering a new foe at a time like this was certainly not a comforting thought.

"Kaaaaaw!"

The creatures wailed as they flew forth at high speeds. They encircled Johanna within seconds, catching the two thieves off guard.

Several readied their talons in an effort to swoop in for a kill, though Panther was quick to react and brought her machine gun up once again to shoo them away with force. Bullets flew into the wings of the gathered Eagles, ripping through them and culling several of the Eagles within seconds.

Though the blonde had hardly made a dent in their numbers, she did effectively force them to retreat and rethink their plan of attack.

'There's no way they're going to back off that easily,' Queen thought.

Deciding to take the initiative, she spun Johanna yet again and sent a flurry of nuclear blasts towards the Shadows. Sadly, she had far less luck than she had before as they dodged the attacks entirely, simply flying away out of the blasts area of effect.

Worse was that they hadn't settled for a simple evasion. They were quick to launch a counteroffensive of their own, flapping their wings towards the enemy Persona users and sending a storm of razor-sharp ice shards crashing down towards them.

"Ahh…!" Panther hissed, feeling one of the frozen projectiles graze her upper arm. She turned and glared at the wound, seeing small amounts of blood drip from the fresh cut. "Dammit!"

"You okay?" Queen asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I'm pissed is what I am," Panther growled back. Her mask vanished in a blur of blue light. "Carmen!"

The red and black-coated temptress appeared and sent several spheres of fire and flames towards the looming Shadows. Much like prior they scrambled to evade the attack, only for most to be captured in the radius all the same.

A fiery explosion erupted, engulfing the Eagles and reducing them to ashes. A triumphant smirk could be seen gracing Ann's features as Carmen phased out of existence.

"Looks like it's just those two that's left," Queen thought aloud.

"Should we even be worried?" Panther asked. "I mean, they're just used for transporting stuff, right?"

The shifting of mechanical gears could be heard, at which point a large gun emplacement rose up from the roof at the forefront of each truck. Their barrels began spinning, a prelude to the virtual firestorm of bullets that was about to burst forth.

"Me and my big mouth…" Panther muttered.

Before the guns started to fire off, Queen took one look in her rear-view mirror and spotted an easy out. She reduced her speed, positioning her bike in between the gap of the two hulking juggernauts.

The bullets soon hit little more than the road ahead of the cars themselves, all the while Johanna took its position directly behind their rear. With a simple spin, she fired off a nuclear blast at each of the back tire sets, engulfing them in a large explosion and damaging them beyond repair.

Each of the trucks quickly went out of control, smashing into one another and forcing Queen to avoid the large chunks of metal debris that flew back in the aftermath of their collision. Though some smaller bits and pieces hit her Persona's frame, she was able to take the hits with relative ease and avoid any bodily harm to both herself and her companion.

They cleared past the wreckage, though yet again their pursuers were hot on their tale. Yet another wave of motorbikes was fast approaching.

"Again, with these guys?! Just how many of them are there?!" Panther exclaimed.

"Don't worry, we'll shake them off just like the others."

The blonde gave one quick glance back and felt an instinctive pull that she simply couldn't ignore. She stood atop Johanna's back end and stabilized herself as best as she could, quickly catching the worry of Makoto in the process.

"Wait, what are you—"

"Don't worry, I've got this!" Panther replied confidently.

Without warning, she put all of her strength into her legs and jumped as high into the air as she could, effectively catapulting herself towards the approaching group of White Mask Shadows.

She was poised to land directly overtop of them, just as she had hoped.

"Persona!" Panther cried.

Both Ann and Carmen hit the ground in a blazing inferno. The resulting explosion shot the White Masks across the area in all directions, most dissipating even before they hit a solid surface.

In the aftermath, the blue-eyed teen looked at the results with evident satisfaction. Shortly thereafter, Makoto drove back to her side, herself clearly impressed.

"Nice move," complimented Queen. "Reckless, yes, but still well done."

"I thought so too," she replied, albeit all in good fun. "Guess you're not the only one that can think fast, huh?"

"Good thing for that, too, otherwise—"

The subtle hissing of Shadows caught their attention and cut their conversation short in its infancy. They caught sight of a number of Eagles approaching from down the halls of the Palace, likely emerging from the wreckage of the transports they'd only just recently downed.

Though their sheer numbers were staggering, the two weren't deterred in the slightest.

"We can't outrun those things on Johanna, so it's better to deal with them here and now," Queen stated pointedly.

"No arguments here," replied Panther with a battle-ready grin.

They readied to intercept the hoard of Shadows in what would likely have been quite the battle. However, just before the mass of Eagles had neared their current position, a massive steel door closed directly in front of them. It thereby cut off the Shadows path of attack in its entirety and left both Ann and Makoto staring at its metal surface at a loss.

"Uh… did you do that?" Panther asked confusedly.

"I was going to ask if you did…"

"That was me, thank you very much."

The sound of the voice coming through their comm link was immediately recognized.

"Oracle?!" Panther uttered in surprise.

"The one and only!" she replied cockily.

"It's her alright…" Queen said with an amused look about her features. "I take it things are going well on your end?"

"Mostly, yeah," Oracle muttered. The mixed emotions of her voice were all too apparent. "They locked down all the key areas, which works out fine since we're already in the control room, but not so much for the path to the core and the place they're keeping those people they kidnapped."

"I take it you can manage to unlock them?" Queen mused.

"Yeah, in fact I already took care of the path to the core—but anyway, that's not the issue! It's clear that Naoto-san's group is dealing with a super strong Shadow right now and they might need some backup," explained Oracle, a sense of urgency in her tone.

"What about Noir and Yosuke-san?" Panther asked.

"Well, they're moving… w-woah, they're moving super-fast, but it looks like they're pathway out is less direct than yours."

"Um, how fast would you say they're moving…?" Queen inquired.

The oddly pensive nature of her friend's tone prompted Ann to quirk an eyebrow. The fact that Makoto's body language oozed concern only made even more curious.

"I can't really tell, but stupidly fast."

"Oh no…" Queen uttered fearfully.

"Uh, what's up?" Panther asked.

"It's, uh... it's nothing."

White Mask Palace: Section X

The Wild Card duo had thus far made their way into the mysterious unmarked section of the Palace without incident. They'd run into a few packs of guards and dispatched them quickly as they walked deeper into the enigmatic area.

Still, relative to their expectations, things were weirdly quiet.

"You'd think this place would be a bit more unique than the rest of the Palace," Joker remarked offhandedly. "Though now that I say that, I'm sure the next room is gonna be exactly that."

A moment later would prove the Trickster entirely correct. They entered an area that was far more massive than the small rooms and hallways they'd previously entered. This section spanned multiple floors, possessing an elevator at its center that in all likelihood would go exactly where they needed it to.

"Called it."

"That you did," chuckled Yu, stepping forward and glancing around to get a better look. "It looks like there aren't any guards. Feel like giving that elevator a try?"

"Sounds good to me."

The pair walked up and pressed the button to call the elevator down to their level. Not a Shadow stepped up to stop them from doing so, and oddly, it seemed to move down to their level without incident.

To say it was oddly convenient was an understatement.

"Huh…" Joker muttered in contemplation.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, really. I was just thinking how every Palace I've been in so far has had an elevator of some kind."

"This would be a first for me."

"They didn't have elevators in the TV world?"

"Nah, just stairs. A lot of stairs."

The elevator soon came to their floor and opened, though its metal doors gave way to a large number of White Masks who stood both in formation and with their guns at the ready.

A series of bullets fired off, forcing the two back, Yu drawing Yoshitsune and Joker drawing Shiki Ouji to tank the attacks without issue. Seeing no need to waste their ammo further, they ceased fire.

The White Masks flooded out of the elevator, forming a cone around the front while a contingent came out from the sides of the room and cut off the duo's retreat. Effectively, they found themselves back-to-back and surrounded by the enemy forces.

Shadow himself was soon revealed to be among them, however he had yet to even so much as leave the elevator itself, a clear attempt at showing his control of the situation. He stood imposingly with his hands confidently tucked behind his back as he looked on towards the Wild Cards as they became ever-more surrounded by his men.

"Good that you're here," began Joker. "We are prepared to accept your unconditional surrender at any point you would like to offer it."

"Act fast though. It's a one-time offer," Yu added.

"…that may be the closest I've ever come to laughing," Shadow idly mused. "Take them down at once."

Just as several were about to make their charge, those White Masks that had taken their position near the entrance found themselves under assault from behind. A large explosion popped off, taking down each of the guards in the process. The flanks were next up on the docket, each of whom were taken down swiftly by ice and wind.

Those White Masks that stood at the forefront in an arc opted to stay in defensive positions, not wanting to act hastily in the wake of what was undoubtedly a reverse-ambush. A moment later would reveal its perpetrators, who quickly rallied at the sides of their team's co-leaders.

"Sorry if we're a bit late," Skull announced, resting his mace across his shoulders.

"Still, better late than never, right?" Kanji mused.

"At least we still managed a stylish entrance," Morgana stated proudly.

"It was bear-riffic!"

"Do you have to always say stuff like that…?" Morgana muttered, clearly a bit deflated. He perked up shortly thereafter. "Well, regardless, we're here to back you guys up!"

"And as far as we're concerned, your timing couldn't be better," said Yu.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Joker chimed in.

The arrival of the reinforcing Persona users clearly hadn't been something Shadow had expected if his body language was anything to go by. Without so much as saying a word, he closed the doors to the elevator and began to head up once more, clearly leaving his subordinates to act as fodder as he set off to a more important task.

"He didn't seem too happy, huh?" Joker asked with a wry grin.

"Nothin' makes me happier than pissin' off dickheads like that," Kanji stated.

"Amen to that," said Skull. He brandished his weapon, a battle-hungry look about him. "You guys should let us handle this. We'll clear the way for ya."

As if it were more of a statement rather than a topic for discussion, the four leapt into the fray directly towards the enemy line. The Shadows were taken out in droves before they could even transform, though even when they did, be they Minotaurs, Eagles, or Tables—none stood a chance in the wake of the punishing onslaught that ensued.

"Zoro!"

"Bearsona!"

In an instant, a blizzard and a tempest in unison cleared the line towards the elevator, taking out swaths of Shadows and White Masks in the process. Their path clear, Yu and Joker made their move.

"I'd bet any amount of money the elevator was shut down," Yu stated.

"Same here," replied Joker. "Stairs?"

"Now you're speaking my language."

The Wild Cards were gone within seconds, and once they had taken the staircase, Teddie took the liberty of freezing the door shut behind a pile of ice so large it would take an eternity to melt.

Each of the four Persona users took their positions with their back towards the now-sealed entrance, clearly intent on not letting a soul—or Shadow—get past them. More and more enemies flooded from the entrance, all but replenishing the losses they'd incurred thus far.

"Get ready for the long-haul boys, somethin' tells me this ain't stoppin' anytime soon," said Kanji, cracking his neck.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Skull proclaimed eagerly. As the White Masks began to split into an even greater number of Shadows, he tuned to Kanji, asking, "So, think this is a good time to try the thing we were talkin' about?"

"As good a time as any," he replied.

The two Persona users leaned against one another's backs, glaring down the enemies at their front with thuggish bloodlust. Their energy began to rise in unison, and in near-perfect synchrony, they called forth their Personas and began their charge.

A spiraling torrent of electricity began to form around them, which continued to grow and grow until it took the form of two dragons made of pure energy, each circling in the opposite direction.

With the beasts fully formed and brimming with raw power born of their very soul, the two simply shouted out the attacks name as one.

"Twin Lightning Dragon!"

In a flash, the dragons continued to spiral into an ever-greater circle, expanding and crashing into everything in sight across the entirety of the room. Those Shadows that didn't vaporize immediately under the pressure were shocked into paralysis, leaving Morgana and Teddie to clean them up with ease.

The room was quickly emptied, leaving not a sound within it save for the high-five that the two electric-users gave one another.

"Alright, it worked!" Skull cheered.

"Knew we could pull it off!" Kanji stated.

"And what exactly was that?" Morgana uttered in amazement. "The two of you somehow combined your powers, right? But… how?!"

"Maybe we're just that good," Skull replied, sporting a cocky grin as he shrugged off the question.

"Oh brother…" Morgana muttered, pinching the bridge between his eyes.

"Still, it is pretty awesome," Skull thought aloud. "I guess we get the privilege of naming it. Oooh, and 'course we gotta make it sound super badass!"

"Actually," interrupted Kanji, his tone blank. "That kind of thing isn't new, at least not to us. Yukiko and Chie actually came up with it and named it already…"

"Aw man!" Skull groaned.

"What do they call it?" Morgana asked.

"A Unison Attack."

"A Unison Attack, huh…?" Morgana uttered thoughtfully. "Teddie, we can't let them outdo us! Come one, we need to come up with one so that we can…!"

The feline trailed off upon seeing that the bear-like Shadow as currently spinning around in a circle without a care in the world. A lone bead of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"You know what, never mind."

"Focus up, Teddie," Kanji said, cracking his knuckles as he turned towards the doorway. "We're about to have some more company, and we're not lettin' a single one of 'em past us."

"You read my mind," stated Skull.

White Mask Palace: Section 1A, Subject Containment

"Hyaaa!" Chie exclaimed, launching yet another kick at the cartoonish King.

The taunting creature carefully sidestepped the attack, all the while the two Knights came to its defense and readied their lances to rip the brunette's torso to shreds.

Tomoe quickly appeared, using her polearm to parry the attacks simultaneously and effectively leaving the two attacking Shadows wide-open. Naturally, Yukiko and Naoto had been at the ready, knowing well in advance what their long-time teammate was attempting to do.

"Konohana Sakuya!"

"Sukuna-Hikona!"

A unison of fire and darkness spiraled towards the all but defenseless Shadows. It seemed a direct hit was inevitable, but the thunderous roar of a shield hitting the ground quickly put a stop to any such assumptions. A barrier formed around the Knights, protecting them altogether even as they picked themselves back up.

Thankfully, they were still too disoriented to be able to land an attack on Chie, who managed to escape from their range and rejoin her comrades.

"Dammit," Chie hissed disappointedly. "I was sure that would work. What happened?"

"That Shield Knight happened. That's what," answered Rise. She scowled from underneath her Persona's visor. "It hasn't so much as moved an inch so far, but if what just happened is any indication, you'll have a hell of a hard time landing any hits as long as it's around."

"Got it. In that case…" Chie muttered.

With Tomoe at her side, Chie leapt into the fray once more. The legendary warrior twirled her polearm and engulfed the two Knights in a bright red aura. They soon turned to both her and her wielder, their eyes fixated on them as if compelled to do nothing else but to focus entirely on them. They charged moments later, leaving Tomoe to defend herself while Chie continued to dodge any attacks that were hurled at her.

Her comrades quickly went to work to utilize the space she'd given them. Naoto approached the Shield Knight from the front, launching off a flurry of both light and dark attacks directly at its shield. They did little more than fizzle on contact with it, leaving the black-haired innkeeper to work her magic and attempt an attack on its flank.

"Persona!" Yukiko exclaimed.

A series of powerful fire attacks headed directly for the side of the towering Shadows head, only to be redirected to its shield moments later.

"What?!" Yukiko shouted annoyedly.

In response to the attacks on its person, the Shield Knight raised its namesake before slamming it into the ground with incredible force, launching off a shockwave that slammed into both Naoto and Yukiko. Though it effectively took them off guard, their navigator was more than prepared.

"Kanzeon!"

A barrier formed around her two teammates under fire and shielded them from damage, allowing them to regroup and put some distance from their target yet again.

Elsewhere, however, Chie was met with great success as the Shield Knight had been distracted. Tomoe lopped of their heads in unison, cutting them down and causing them to wither away. Her teammates look at her triumphant expression, relieved that their attack had at least yielded something useful in the end.

"Yes! Take that!" Chie cheered excitedly.

The King soon entered her field of vision, moving around in the same agitating manner it had previously. Though only annoyed at first, the brunette quickly began to put two and two together.

'Wait, is it about to do what I think it is?' Chie wondered.

"Ya-hoo!"

Yet again, two Knights appeared by the Shadows side out of a puff of smoke in the aftermath of the cartoonish dance. Chie's eye twitched as she looked up to see all of her effort rendered completely useless.

"…you're shittin' me," Chie muttered.

"Ya-hoo!"

The Knights quickly went to work and set their sights on Chie, pushing her back and forcing her retreat almost immediately. Any continuation however was cut off courtesy of the locked door coming undone.

"The lockdown got lifted?" asked Rise confusedly.

"While that's certainly good news, don't let it distract you!" Naoto exclaimed.

Her words proved to quickly be good advice as the enemy quickly went on the offensive yet again. The Shield Knight pounded its shield into the ground yet again, sending a shockwave at the third of the group closest to it while the Knights took their best shot at the tomboyish police officer yet again.

Naoto, Rise, and Yukiko were entirely fine, though Chie was sadly less lucky. She found herself unable to dodge, having missed a step in her attempt to evade. She was forced to guard against the attacks with the full force of Tomoe's polearm, which lucked with the two javelins of the Shadows assaulting her.

'Dammit!' Chie thought.

She gritted her teeth and gave it her best effort, but it was undeniable that she was being forced back. Even her strength wasn't enough to go up against the combined force of the two Knights.

"Chie, I've got you covered!" Yukiko exclaimed.

A boisterous engine's revving could be heard from just beyond the door, giving the heiress pause as she looked over to see two new arrivals enter the fray and come to Chie's aid in her stead.

Both Ann and Makoto arrived on the back of Johanna, launching themselves in the air directly atop the two Knights that were still deadlocked with Chie. They took advantage of their defenseless position, each taking one down with a powerful burst of elemental power courtesy of their respective Personas.

"G-Graaa…!"

The twin Shadows hissed in vain as they faded into dust, all the while Panther and Queen stood tall by their comrade's side, ensuring that she was good to stand.

"Nice timing," Chie complimented, managing to stay on her own two feet without the need for any assistance for the moment.

"We aim to please," Queen quipped in response.

The brunette abruptly appeared panicked, much to the shock of her freshly-arrived comrades.

"Forget that—aim for the King! If we don't, then…!"

She turned to see the robed Shadow dancing yet again in the same infuriating manner. Given that it was nearly done, it seemed yet again they were too late to do anything to stop it.

"Uh, what's it doing…?" Panther uttered confusedly.

"Wait for it."

"Ya-hoo!"

Yet again, two more Knights spawned in the containment center. To say it was demoralizing was an understatement at the very least.

"…god I hate that thing," Chie couldn't help but say.

"Ya-hoo!"

White Mask Palace: Section 8B, Some Distance Outside of the Control Room

Within a large supply area, a number of guards rallied together and awaited any news from the front. One among them seemed to receive just that, and so it was that he turned to his comrades to relay the news.

"Looks like they've lost track of the intruders in Section 7."

"What? How?"

"Does it matter?"

"I'm with him on that. Anyway, where do they want us to ship off to?"

"Dunno," the man replied. "Orders from our number two have gone dark."

A second later would give them a perfect explanation as to why that had been the case. The doors of the eastern exit blasted open, sending heaps of metal debris flying in all directions.

Through the wreckage leapt a silver-haired woman, her eyes ever-locked at her front and her twinblade held at the ready even in spite of the cataclysm that was taking place around her.

"…should we attack her?" One of the White Masks asked.

Yoshitsune soon rushed towards her with its swords drawn, forcing out Astrea to meet it in kind. Shockwaves resounded as their blades met time after time, giving no room for any interlopers to cut in and break them apart.

Light soon emerged from the entrance, lunging towards Avenger with the grace and ferocity of a seasoned warrior. She reacted in full force, going at him with everything she had and refusing to give even an inch if she could help it.

Ultimately, Light would gain the advantage by managing to put Sae moderately off balance before delivering a powerful kick to her ribcage. She winced reflexively as a result, though she did manage to keep herself standing strong even under such duress.

The White Mask attempted to take further advantage of his position by bringing his sword back for a powerful strike. Sae in turn quickly realized she was in no position to block it, and as such she pulled out her miniature shotgun and started firing it off in an attempt to force him back.

Light was forced to pull out of his attack although he was able to slice through the bullets and prevent any damage to his person. They stared down one another in the ensuing lull, neither backing off in the slightest.

"S-Sir…?" One of the White Mask guards called out nervously.

"I'm rather busy at the moment."

"Yes, but… your orders?"

"Stay out of the way," Light replied.

Both Yoshitsune and Astrea then crashed in the middle of their users, tearing the ground apart with the impact and forcibly withdrawing from reality as a result. Seeing the spectacle of force, the remaining guards quickly shared a look before running off.

"My apologies for the interruption," Light stated calmly.

"No need."

"I assumed you wouldn't take issue with it," Light said. It was clear he was smirking beneath his mask by his tone. "After all, you look like you're in need of a bit of rest."

Sae's crimson eyes narrowed, a clear sign of her annoyance both by her opponent's confidence and the fact that he had been right. She could feel her level of energy falling even now, and worse still was the fact that for all the effort she'd expended thus far, none of her attacks seemed to do any damage to the White Mask lieutenant.

'It's like his Persona has no weaknesses…' Sae thought annoyedly. 'At least none that I can exploit. The end result isn't different either way.'

In spite of this, she knew she wouldn't get anywhere by allowing herself to be on the back foot. As a result of this, she opted to go on the offensive in an effort to size at least some momentum.

"Astrea!" Avenger exclaimed.

The goddess of justice charged once more with a blade of dark and light overflowing with energy. Yoshitsune met the blades with equal force, keeping the advance at bay and locking the two Personas in a standstill.

Lighting abruptly started to spark around Yoshitsune body, which very quickly erupted and captured Astrea in its powerful burst. In spite of the spectacle, it was clear it accomplished very little, thereby allowing the goddess to strike once more.

Astrea's blades cut into the samurai's torso, landing a clear hit but doing little if any damage whatsoever. The quick opening was all she would get as well as soon thereafter Yoshitsune brought its blades to bare once more and the two continued to trade blows. Their clash erupted all over the supply room, taking down crate after crate as the titans perpetually dodged, swung, and parried in a harmonious dance of battle.

Sae eyed one of the destroyed containers in particular, though she only managed to do so for a moment before Light was at her side preparing to follow through with his sword.

The red-eyed beauty dodged gracefully, though unlike previously, she leapt away as opposed to launching a counterattack. Her opponent was so caught off guard that he could still be seen in a defensive stance as distance was put between them.

"Why the change of pace?" Light inquired.

His opponent didn't initially answer his question. Avenger simply pulled out her shotgun and aimed it squarely at him, much to his surprise and amusement.

"And what is that meant to accomplish, exactly?" Light said mockingly.

"It's not for you," Sae replied with a smirk.

She shifted her arm to the side and fired off a series of shots into the open container a short distance away. Smoke started to spew out violently, coating the area faster than you could blink an eye.

'She shot the smoke grenades?' Light wondered.

He kept at the ready to defend himself as the visibility in the room hit almost nothing, moving forward about as cautiously as one could. Knowing his eyes were virtually useless, he closed them, opting to use his other senses to gauge where she would inevitably attack from.

To his surprise, however, none seemed to come.

'Wait, she can't possibly mean to escape…' Light thought.

He couldn't hear the sound of footsteps anywhere, though he wouldn't have put it past an opponent of Avenger's caliber to be capable of extreme stealth. Doubt festered in his mind, though as fortune would have it, the sound of metal hitting the floor echoed from the room's left side.

Clearly, her obscured vision had caused her to inadvertently bump into something along the way.

'There!' He thought.

Yoshitsune once again emerged and spun towards the exit he believed his opponent was near, clearing up the smoke along the way due to the sheer speed and force with which it moved. Its swords tore apart the walls and many crates, but hit little else. Light could only stare bewildered at the empty space.

"What?!" Light uttered in shock.

With the smoke now clearing enough to see, a blinding radiance from the right side of the room caught his attention. There, Sae stood in place with Astrea just in front of her. The former did little but pose triumphantly while the latter had its swords aimed for the ground, surging between which was an orb of immense bright white power.

It was obvious what was about to happen, though to Light it was even more obvious that he wouldn't manage to stop it. In spite of his Persona's speed and power, even it had its limits. Of course, he willed the embodiment of the samurai hero to make its best effort, but the writing was on the wall all the same.

As Astrea's blades pulled apart and let loose the energy that had built up, he could only chuckle and close his eyes in acceptance of the likely result.

"Well played," Light whispered.

A massive, almighty blast ensued, capturing the entirety of the supply room and several of the nearby hallways in its wake. The blast lingered for a fair amount of time, though even its incredible power did eventually die down.

When the dust settled, Sae stood the victor with Light now beaten and slumped down on the floor, his mask broken and his eyes closed shut. She managed to remain standing just long enough to confirm he was truly unconscious and allowed herself a small smirk in the wake of her win.

Ultimately, however, she collapsed to one knee, the strain of her previous attack more than catching up with her. She panted heavily, a bead of sweat dripping from her temple as she attempted to regain her strength.

'So that was a Megidolan, huh…?' Sae uttered through strained breaths. 'I wonder if I simply need to get used to using it or if it will always be this straining… Well, either way, I suppose I don't have time to dwell on it.'

Rallying herself with all the strength she had left to spare, she stood on her own two feet and headed back to the control room. With any luck, their operation was nearly at its end.

White Mask Palace: Section X, Upper Levels

On account of their teammate's running distraction at the base level, the cross-generational aces were met with no resistance whatsoever in their pursuit of the White Masks' commanding member.

They happened upon a large door that signified the end of the line, and while it was shut, it was by no means locked. Needless to say, they found that fact all too convenient.

"Ambush?" Joker reasoned.

"Most likely."

Wasting no time in their efforts to find out, they opened the metal frame and passed through it only to be instantly assaulted by a group of four White Mask guards. As the two were more than prepared, they ducked under their bullets before bringing their weapons to bare and cutting them down.

"Called it," Joker stated, stylishly twirling his knife before sheathing it up his sleeve once more. "That makes me what, two for two?"

"So far, yeah," Yu replied, sporting an amused grin.

"I'm feeling three for three. So, I'll say Shadow is about to attack us himself this time."

The Trickster was proven correct yet again. Shadow descended down from above, his Persona drawn as he crashed towards the ground intent on crushing the two Wild Cards in one decisive attack.

However, yet again the duo were more than prepared for it. They opted to dodge off to the side, taking no damage and calling forth their own Personas to launch an attack of their own. Twin Yoshitsune's slashed towards Nanami in unison, quickly forcing it back and overwhelming it to the point that Shadow had no choice but to recall his Persona.

In order to avoid the predictable onslaught on his own person that would follow, he jumped with all his strength towards the top of a nearby open set of stairs that led to yet another higher platform. He landed on the railing, managing to stand perfectly tall as he looked down towards onto his opponents.

"You can stop posing now," Joker quipped. "It's a little too over the top."

"And coming from us, that's really saying something," Yu added.

"The two of you are quite talented at trying my patience, do you know that?" Shadow said.

A bit of frustration seemed to be making its way into the man's tone. It was the closest thing to emotion he'd exhibited thus far.

"The feeling's mutual," Yu replied sternly. "Now are you gonna come down here to fight or are we gonna have to come up there to kick your ass?"

"I'm not sure I understand your confidence. After all, as I remember it, our last encounter was a stalemate at best, and I was merely testing you," Shadow stated in response. He gripped his sword and primed it menacingly towards his targets. "But very well, I'll play along."

His expressionless Persona appeared at his side and the duo once again swept towards the wielders of the Fool Arcana with a clear intent to kill. Yu was the first to step up to meet him head on, calling forth Yoshitsune once more to lock down Nanami while he did the same to its wielder.

Joker, playing off of the flow of the battle, rushed to the enemy Persona's flank in an attempt to catch it off guard and hopefully land a decisive blow to set the pace of the battle.

"Beelzebub!" Joker exclaimed.

The tyrant lord of flies sent a massive wave of concentrated darkness barreling into the enemy Persona's side, capturing the entirety of its body and eclipsing it from sight entirely.

As the twisted nether still poured firth, Nanami popped out of the stream directly in front of Beelzebub, clearly unphased by the attack in spite of its clear strength. Its blades slammed into the demon's armored carapace, piercing its flesh ever so slightly.

Ren winced at the pain, recalling Beelzebub before leaping away in an attempt to gather himself. He covered his retreat with a barrage of bullets primed at Nanami's already preoccupied master, ensuring that the Persona needed to go on the defensive and block the potshots as opposed to coming after him.

Shadow himself was on the retreat given that his Persona was no longer able to preoccupy Yu. He masterfully dodged Yoshitsune, much to the annoyance of said Persona's wielder.

"Izanagi!" Yu cried out, swapping his chosen fighter in an instant.

The creation god brought down the metaphorical hammer and levied a massive electric attack that engulfed such a large area that it was impossible to properly dodge. Nevertheless, Shadow emerged from the blast showing little to no injury to his person, even managing to come at Izanagi with the same fervor that he'd battled with previously.

Shadow's blades coated themselves in a small but noticeable gust of wind, and as he plunged towards Izanagi, he simply slashed them forward and sent a shockwave of the very same energy slamming into the Persona's torso.

Nanami in turn went after Yu, taking advantage of the split-second in which the Wild Card's body was recoiling from the attack on his own Persona a half-second prior. Its blades roared with wind as they came crashing down, likely to cause immense damage should they hit their intended target.

"Ishtar!" Joker shouted urgently.

A barrier formed around Yu in an instant, shielding him from the attack and enabling him the short time he needed in order to recover from the attack. He quickly came to Ren's side in an effort to reset the battlefield.

"Thanks," Yu said. He looked to the horned goddess of love for only a moment and couldn't help but smirk amusedly. "It's funny, I'd have used the same Persona if the roles were reversed."

"Great minds think alike," Joker replied. "Plus, she's never let me down before. Speaking of which…"

Ishtar giggled flirtatiously before clapping its hands together. A circle lined with a green aura appeared around both Ren and Yu. Starry particles floated around their bodies, rejuvenating them to their fullest if their refreshed appearance.

"Good ol' Ishtar," Yu uttered.

"Isn't she though?"

"If you two are quite done…" Shadow muttered evenly.

Both he and Nanami raised their swords yet again, each coating their blades with wind yet again. The two aces of their respective teams could only scowl at the sight.

"That trick of his is really starting to get under my skin…" Joker whispered.

"Same here," he replied. "Still, if the damage is unavoidable, I've got just the Persona. Let's tackle this just like we planned."

The two shared a look before Yu went off to meet the enemy in the heat of battle, leaving Joker behind to offer his support in the interim. As the silver-haired man neared its target, he called out what would be his trump card for the occasion.

"Ongyo-ki!" Yu exclaimed.

A colossal pitch-black demon akin to an executioner with the mask of an oni appeared to meet Nanami head on. Its double-sided crescent moon sickle spun wildly in an effort to parry the myriad slashes that came gunning for its master, doing so with great success as Yu was able to meet Shadow head-on without anything getting in his way.

Steel clashed with steel, sparks flew in both the skies and the ground as both the titans and mortal men collided in a seemingly endless onslaught in which neither side was willing to give an inch.

Although it was certainly a thrilling spectacle in which neither party was coming out on top, Shadow was more than aware that would not last forever. It was beyond clear that the two Persona users had a plan in mind, and so he sought to gain a decisive advantage before it went into effect.

His faceless Persona managed to put Ongyo-ki off balance and create a solid opening, at which point it brough the full weight of its energy-coated blades down on the oni's torso. It had clearly been a direct hit, thus it was that Shadow brought his twin lighting-coated swords down on Yu with everything he had.

Shadow had expected the damage done to his Persona would cause him to stumble, if only for a second. However, to his mild but unshown surprise, the Wild Card managed to parry, locking his blade in a stalemate even if it seemed to take great effort for him to do so. More surprising still was the fact that Ongyo-ki had recovered just as quickly, as if the damage had been only a minor inconvenience.

"How annoying…" Shadow muttered.

"Give it a second. It'll get worse for you, I promise."

The gray-eyed lawyer abruptly began to glow with an aura of blue, red, and green. Simultaneously, a dull glow of the same colors formed around Shadow's own body. From the corner of his eye, he could see Ishtar casting the spell from across the room, and though it only took him a split-second to realize what was happening, it was still far too late.

Yu quickly broke the stalemate with a powerful swipe of his sword, managing to force Shadow back with relative ease. The White Mask's leader quickly tried to regain his footing, but found his opponent's movements too quick for him to dodge.

Though off-balance, he launched the stored energy in his blades towards Yu in an effort to slow his approach. The gambit paid off, and he was able to regain position and guard against what was to come.

Shadow managed to do exactly that, however, unlike previously, he was on the back foot and had little to no hope of turning the tables as things stood. In his mind, he was fully aware of how things would end.

'I can't recover so long as that other Persona is on the field lending its support,' thought Shadow. 'However, though his Ongyo-ki is incredibly durable, even now, Nanami has the advantage in speed. I will have to time this properly, but…'

A plan now in mind, he simply bided his time. Soon enough, his own strength started to return and he could tell the force behind Yu's strikes had started to weaken. His Persona was quick to react, dashing away from Ongyo-ki and heading straight for both the Trickster and the goddess at his side.

For a moment, it appeared that Shadow was about to break free of the endless loop that would have inevitably led to his defeat. That was only from his perspective, though. The Trickster could only smirk as he saw the attack coming.

'Perfect,' Joker thought.

He brandished his knife, taking position direct along Nanami's path to Ishtar. It was clear that he meant to attack the Persona himself, something that nearly made its wielder burst out in laughter. It was a fool's errand born out of desperation, egotism, or stupidity—at least he believed. The sight of the knife's blade sparking to life with energy quickly made him think otherwise.

'What? But that can't be…!' Shadow thought in disbelief.

As soon as the enemy Persona was directly overhead, Joker went into action. His now electric-infused blade in hand, he slashed into Nanami's torso, spinning around its body and dragging the knife everywhere he crossed.

The damage was clearly substantial enough to throw it off balance and cause it to slam into a nearby wall. He recalled Nanami a second later so as to avoid any further injury, though his main problem quickly became the Wild Card that was still at his front.

Yu's sword was wound back and prepared to follow through with everything he had. On instinct Shadow made to block it with his own blades. He could only smirk at the sight, which enraged the White Masks' leader to no end.

None of his other attacks had done so much as damage him, so why would he move with such nauseating confidence now of all times? The answer was quickly given as the silver-haired man's katana began to rage with lighting exuding from its metal blade.

Whether it was due to the shock of current events or the sheer force behind Yu's attack, one of Shadow's twin blades slipped out of his hands as a result. It flung across the room, and though he initially believed he could retrieve it, the elder of the two Wild Card's trademark Persona would make it impossible.

Izanagi quickly intercepted the sword with its glaive and utilized a cross-slash to slice it to pieces. Its remnants fell to the grounds, leaving Shadow on the retreat and down one of his swords.

The suited man looked over to Yu, who rested his sword across his shoulders, staring back at him with an even expression. Joker quickly arrived at his comrade's side, appearing to all but put the final nail in his coffin.

"I had thought you would assume that to be a unique ability of mine, so I must ask… how is it you even thought to try that?" Shadow asked.

"At first it was just guesswork," Joker answered. "If it had just been your Persona with the ability, then maybe we wouldn't have thought any further on it, but the fact that you could do it got us thinking."

"Our initial strategy was to just back you into a corner just like we did, but naturally we needed a way to fight back when you would inevitably attempt to break out," Yu added. "The last time we fought, those infused attacks did damage even when they shouldn't—like when you hit Joker's Black Frost with fire. So, if those kinds of attacks can get past even an absorption, we figured they'd do better than anything else we could try."

"That you were able to apply it so quickly is laughable…" Shadow replied, subtle amusement in his voice.

"Laughable would be assuming we would come at you by ourselves again without a plan in mind," Joker countered.

"And in case you didn't realize it yet, this would be checkmate," Yu said. He primed his sword towards the White Mask, his eyes as steely and cold as his blade. "Of course, if you still want to fight, we're more than ready."

A moment passed where the masked man considered his options. He made no move to act aggressively so naturally the two young men refrained from doing so as well. Without warning, however, he jumped off the ground with all his might, landing atop the upper level. He then called out Nanami, which in an instant proceeded to cut the metal staircase into pieces.

"Apologies," Shadow stated, turning his back to the two Fools. "But surrender is out of the question."

Those were his final words in parting before he ran off, leaving the two Wild Cards sighing tiredly at the outcome.

"Think we can make it?" Joker asked.

His taller counterpart chose to let action speaks louder than words. Now, it was his turn to call on Ishtar, powering them up sufficiently before he chose to make the jump himself. He landed on the top without issue, and though at that height his expression was difficult to make out, Ren knew him to be smirking.

"And they call me a showoff…" Joker chuckled.

The raven-haired Phantom Thief quickly joined his teammate. They wasted no time in following Shadow's trail, wanting nothing more than to make sure the two didn't lose him this time around.

White Mask Palace: Section 1A, Subject Containment

"Johanna!" Queen cried out.

A powerful nuclear blast erupted beneath one of the Knights defending the King, though sadly it didn't go so far as to immobilizing it even if it was clearly injured. A powerful lance attack shot towards Makoto as a result, which Chie was more than ready to guard against as her comrade backed off.

Tomoe intercepted the lance attack, allowing Queen to launch off yet another nuclear attack in an effort to finish it off. As the energy erupted around the armored Shadow, a loud clank hit the ground that rippled through the room.

A shield formed around the targeted Knight, shattering like glass in the aftermath of the attack. It then quickly went back to work fending off its attackers, who went back to evading its onslaught in an effort to regroup.

"Take this!" Yukiko exclaimed.

A barrage of fireballs headed towards the Shield Knight and yet again it was redirected into its towering shield.

"Son of a…!" Yukiko growled out annoyedly.

On the other side of the fight, a barrage of attacks were levied on the other Shadows while the towering Knight was preoccupied. However, their attacks fell flat on account of barriers once again being erected at the last second.

'Things will go nowhere quickly if this continues. They're adapting and getting far better at timing their rotations,' Naoto thought.

The detective recognized what was clear as day. The battle before them was like a game of dominoes at this point. Unless they toppled the first piece, the rest would not fall out of sync. Thus, there was only one thing to do.

"Yukiko, Panther, Rise!" Naoto shouted. "The three of you should hit the Shield Knight with everything you can! Once it's down, we'll take down the others and then we can all focus on the King! We'll keep them busy until then!"

"Roger that!" Panther replied.

"No arguments out of me!" Yukiko replied.

Chie was the first to spring into action, drawing the undivided attention of the two Knights by squaring up to them with Tomoe. Queen encircled them in an effort to further draw away their attention, taking several shots with her pistol to further draw in their focus.

It was Naoto in turn that went about distracting the Shield Knight itself. Though it did little than stand in place and block for its opponents, she wasn't one to take chances and needed to ensure that it too would not interrupt her comrades' preparations.

Soon enough, both Yukiko and Ann were focused up and prepared to attack. Their navigator in turn let loose the full extent of her support, coating the two in a blinding tri-colored aura.

"Panther, now!" Yukiko exclaimed.

The blonde nodded in understanding, after which she called out her Persona alongside Yukiko's. Both Carmen and Konohana Sakuya let forth a stream of fire that burst forth with such force that the heat thereof could be felt all across the room.

The continuous streams were absorbed by the towering Knight's shield just like prior, and just like prior it stood tall even under the immense pressure of the fire-users' collective onslaught.

"N-Nnnh…!" The Shadow groaned.

For all the poise and strength the Shield Knight displayed, the ceaseless flames continued to rage endlessly. So intense was the continuous heat that, eventually, the shield itself began to glow a bright molten red under the strain. The Shadow began to buckle, though even so it did its best to stand tall.

Despite the Knight's best efforts, the shield inevitably cracked, and the two streams of fire pierced both it and the upper body of the Knight itself. Its quarter-melted torso fell to the ground, dissipating moments later.

Though Panther and Yukiko looked on in satisfaction, even as they caught their breath due to the energy they needed to expend. One domino had fallen, and so it was time for the second.

"Take 'em down, you three!" Rise shouted.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Chie roared confidently.

Tomoe was first to go on the offensive. The legendary female warrior began to spin its polearm, sending a number of icy spheres slamming into the Knights that remained. The orbs exploded on impact, leaving the Shadows frozen and stuck in place.

Before the ice had thawed even slightly, a number of slashes tore across their respective torsos courtesy of Naoto's Persona. Finally, Makoto levied a powerful nuclear attack to top everything off, easily thrashing what was left of the Knights.

When the dust settled, only one of their targets still remained in once piece.

"Nice work," Rise cheered.

"It isn't over yet," warned Naoto.

Those that were able-bodied turned their sights towards the King. They mounted a collective assault as quickly as they could, wasting no time in preventing the mysterious creature from summoning any additional Shadows.

Much to their surprise, the King managed to evade the initial attacks from Chie, Naoto, and their Personas. It impressively sidestepped the colossal blow courtesy of Tomoe and simply leapt over Sukana-Hikona as its Vorpal Blade slashed across from seemingly every angle.

Most would have found its agility rather comical given that's legs were little more than tiny cartoonish nobs, though its two attackers found it quite the opposite for obvious reasons.

"Ya-hoo!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Chie exclaimed.

"I've got it!" Queen exclaimed.

Johanna barreled towards the King, and as she neared, it popped a wheelie intent on delivering a powerful physical blow so as to knock it off balance at the very least. Yet again at the last second, it jumped into the air, flipping over both Queen and her Persona much to their immense surprise. The Shadow landed near the entrance with cat-like grace; it even seemed to strike a pose.

"Don't you dare…!" Chie growled.

"Ya-hoo!"

"God I hate that thing so freakin' much!" she shouted.

As if responding in glee to the brunette's rage, its posture shifted to what they recognized as the first phase of its dance. Those that were still able to fight for the moment were quickly filled with dread as if what had just happened was any indication, it was unlikely they would stop it before it summoned even more Shadows to its side.

"Ya—"

A loud bang echoed throughout the room all that was heard before the Shadow proceeded to shoot across the room. It slammed into the wall with a literal splat before falling backwards, its frontal body flattened like a pancake.

The Persona users watched the event unfold with complete and utter confusion written all over their faces. As the King began to fade away into nothingness, their heads turned to the impetus for its demise—a large White Mask transport that stormed into the room.

Any questions as to whether the driver was friend or foe were quickly answered as the passenger door seat flew open faster than one could blink an eye. Yosuke all but leapt out, planting his hands and knees on the ground as if it were his own personal messiah.

"Ground! Sweet, merciful, stationary ground!" Yosuke exclaimed.

As if they weren't confused enough, the exact opposite happened on the driver's side. The door opened casually, and out stepped a rather upbeat looking Haru Okumura. The groups eyes collectively shifted back over to Yosuke, who was by that point kissing the floor.

"Is everyone alright?" Noir asked calmly.

"Uh, y-yeah, we're good…" Chie replied.

"Thank you for the assist," spoke Naoto, clearing her throat. "I suppose now we should get to loading these people onto the transport before picking up the others."

"Before that though…" Chie began, eying her ground-hugging friend. "What's up with Yosuke? He's acting weird… Well, weirder than normal."

"Hmm, you know, I'm not entirely sure," Noir said innocently.

"Whaddaya mean you're not sure?!" Yosuke cried out. He finally stood on his own two feet, though his exasperation about as exaggerated as it could get. "I kept shouting the entire time—and more importantly, where the hell did you learn how to drive, NASCAR or something?!"

"…I'm lost," Panther uttered.

"Oh good, I'm not the only one," Rise said.

"I think I might know," Queen stated, the regret in her tone catching the attention of many present. She looked to Ann specifically, appearing almost nervous. "You've never, uh... happened to drive around with Noir before, have you?"

"No, can't say I have," Panther replied, eying her friend skeptically. "Why do you ask?"

"How to say it…?"

"She's totally insane!" Yosuke cried out. "I swear the only reason we slowed down was because we hit that damn Shadow!"

"Insane might be a bit… W-Well, it's not entirely inaccurate," Queen admitted.

"We're getting off-topic," Naoto interjected, wanting to get back to the task at hand. "We should see to it that these kidnapped victims are properly secured in the transport. Talk of Noir's driving ability can wait until afterwards."

"I believe Yosuke-san is making a mountain out of a molehill," Noir stated evenly.

"He does tend to do that," Chie remarked, earning herself a glare from the aforementioned businessman.

"I'm so tempted to let you experience it firsthand, but I'm not willing to risk my neck again alongside yours," Yosuke shot back.

"Oh stop being such a baby," she chided, rolling her eyes dispassionately. "Now c'mon, help me pick up those people on that side of the room."

"Yeah, yeah…"

As the group was walking away, Ann tapped the youngest of the Nijima sisters on the shoulder and spoke quietly into her ear.

"Is Haru really that bad?" Panther asked.

"…yes, she is," Queen replied, appearing as if she regretted her own honesty. "It's weird. She's such a sweet, down to earth person normally, but whenever she gets behind the wheel of a car, she becomes an entirely different person. She just… never stops accelerating."

"Woah, seriously?"

"When I was teaching her how to drive, I nearly passed out after."

"Panther, Queen, are you two coming?" Noir called back to them.

"Y-Yeah, just a minute!" replied the brunette. She hastily whispered back to Ann, "I say this out of love for both you and Haru. Never let her drive if you value your life, okay?"

"…got it."

White Mask Palace: Section X, Upper Levels

Shadow approached what appeared to be the final door to the mysterious section's upper-level. Once it was opened, he slashed at the terminal that acted as the means to unlock it and hopped onto the other side before it slammed shut.

However, he made it only a few steps before a loud explosion sounded off and the door flew out at his sides in several separate pieces. He didn't even need to turn around to know the cause.

"…you two are maddeningly persistent," Shadow remarked.

"Did you really expect us to just give up?" Yu asked cheekily.

"It'd be weirdly optimistic of him," Joker remarked.

"Yes, I suppose it would be," Shadow sighed.

Without warning, he pivoted and lunged at the two Persona users, his single sword flashing with pitch-black twisted power as he swung it across his body. A relentless burst of raw energy shot towards the pair without relent, though they were more than prepared to deal with it.

"Arsène," Joker plainly muttered.

The demonic trickster appeared and cut the wave in half, forcing it off to the sides. Both Ren and Yu had expected some kind of follow-up, but yet again Shadow was on the run.

"Guess he really has given up," Joker mused.

"Maybe so, which makes this the most annoying part…" Yu sighed.

They continued to chase after the White Masks leader, eventually coming down the hallway and into a large almost entirely empty room. It seemed entirely ordinary at a glance, but upon entering, an ominous, twisted presence washed over them like a wave of ice-cold water and gave them pause.

'What the hell?' Joker wondered in shock, unable to recall ever feeling such a sensation before.

"So you noticed it too?" Yu reasoned.

"Yeah…" Joker nodded. "Just what the hell is it?"

Their eyes quickly landed on a large cylindrical contained placed on the far-side of the room. It was locked in place by some immense mechanical apparatus, the function of which the Wild Cards didn't even attempt to understand at a cursory glance.

Truthfully, they didn't need to know how it worked to know what it was. Clearly, it was the core of the Palace they found themselves in. The fact that Shadow stood directly in front of it as if to make his last stand only reinforced that fact.

"I take it that's what's holding this Palace together?" Joker asked as both he and his partner.

"To an extent, yes," Shadow replied. He drew his sword at the ready. "Incidentally, if this is the part where you begin to interrogate me and assume I'll answer every question on your mind, you will be sorely disappointed."

"That's fine, you don't have to answer here," Yu replied, readying his own blade in kind. "That's what we have prison for, after all."

"And we're more than glad to take you there," Joker added.

"I believe the expression is 'you'll not take me alive'?" Shadow replied.

He wordlessly called his Persona to his side before lunging into battle once more.

White Mask Palace: Control Room

The atmosphere of the computer-lined room was entirely quiet outside of clacking keys courtesy of Oracle, who was fast at work combing through the White Mask's mainframe. The incredibly serious look on her face actually caught Yusuke's eye.

"A yen for your thoughts, Oracle?" Fox inquired respectfully.

"Sorry, gimme one second…" She replied. Unsurprisingly, she nearly held true to the expression and finished the task she'd been performing beforehand. "What'd you ask?"

"I was merely curious as to what had you so preoccupied," Fox answered.

"I am as well," Avenger remarked.

"You see, since the police are gonna get to take a look at this stuff before I do, I'm trying to take a peek at whatever I can," Oracle stated, though in the aftermath her expression fell. "Thing is, this is one tough nut to crack. The files are heavily encrypted—in fact, it feels like something I'd see from the Ministry of Defense or the CIA."

"I beg your pardon?" Sae uttered in surprise.

"Ah, yes, you may not be entirely familiar…" Fox muttered. "Oracle is a rather infamous hacker. You may know her better as the founder of Medjed, though her moniker as of now is Alibaba."

The casual way with which such an earth-shatteringly surprising detail was given had Sae at a loss. She could only sigh, knowing that in truth it was possibly the least surprising thing she'd come to learn in the past few days.

"…sure, why wouldn't she be," whispered the young lawyer under her breath. "Still, why would you ever hack Ministry of Defense files? And did you say the CIA? As in the American Central Intelligence Agency?"

"I dunno. Being curious or bored just in general, maybe? Anyway, we're getting off-topic," Oracle stated pointedly. "Take a look at this."

A large script of text appeared on the main monitor. Clearly it was a document of some high importance, but most of the text was sadly illegible or just gibberish entirely.

"And this is what, exactly?" Fox inquired.

"I have absolutely no idea," replied Oracle, her voice possessing a high degree of confidence even in spite of her answer. "Still, I was able to find an encryption that appeared commonly and managed to crack it: The word 'Architect' to be exact. I keep seeing it in every other document I dig into. I just wish I could get at least one of these things fully decrypted so I could see its full context."

"…you don't think that—"

Sae was cut off by a car's horn sounding off from just outside the sealed control room. Futaba pulled up the security camera just outside, seeing Chie half-way outside the shotgun seat's window waving directly at them.

"Looks like our ride is here," Oracle replied. "More on this later, I suppose."

With that, she yanked the hard-drive she was copying data onto before heading for the door with her comrades in tow.

White Mask Palace: Section X, Palace Core Room

In what had only been a short battle, Shadow found himself already skidding backwards across the room, stabilizing himself with his sword by plunging it into the floor. He found himself unable to mount even a semblance of an offense, much to his annoyance. Though his physical abilities hadn't dwindled in the slightest, it was at a point that his lack of fatigue was no longer a meaningful advantage.

He was simply outmatched, and he knew it.

"Finally done?" Joker asked after several seconds of his opponent's immobility.

"…it would seem so, yes," Shadow replied.

"Then drop your weapon and surrender," Yu stated firmly.

A period of ill-placed silence ensued, and while neither Yu nor Ren truly knew what Shadow's intent was at that point, they had a foreboding feeling that he wasn't going to come quietly. They were proven right a moment later as Nanami appeared by its master's side.

"I'm starting to get real tired of this," Joker uttered, his eyes fixed in a glare.

"Not my concern," Shadow replied uncaringly.

Nanami abruptly brandished its two swords, at which point the two Wild Cards fully expected an attack of some kind. However, its swords came nowhere near them and instead pointed towards the ground, hovering only a few short feet away from the floor itself.

The two swords began to glow with a bright-white energy, again giving both Joker and his older counterpart the impression that an attack was about to come their way. They were right to assume so, though they were wrong in guessing the form that it would take.

Static bolts began to shoot out sporadically from the blades as more and more raw power gathered with each passing second. It tore apart anything it touched, cutting into more and more of the room with each passing second as the swords continued to gather ever-more energy.

'It feels like a Megidolan, but it's way too unstable. Unless he's trying to…!' Yu thought, his eyes wide. It occurred to him that perhaps the instability was the point. He quickly shouted out, "Have you lost your mind?! If you don't stop now, you'll—"

"Rest assured, I'm fully aware of what I'm doing," Shadow replied. He seemed almost amused, though with his mask still hiding his face, it was impossible to tell. "I did tell you that you would never take me alive."

Both Yu and Joker ran towards the leader of the White Masks with everything they had. However, even they were too late to stop what was to come. Shadow still tall until the very end, allowing the blades to slam into the ground in one final, grand display before being engulfed by the unyielding power that was released.

White Mask Palace: Section X, Lower Levels

"…I think we got 'em all, don't ya think?" Skull asked.

He stood alongside Kanji, who joined him in giving the room one last look-over before nodding his head contentedly at the sea of defeated White Masks.

"Yeah, I think so," Kanji replied. "Took us long enough though."

"You can say that again," Mona sighed.

"I had fun," Teddie remarked.

"Hey, Team Mona, can you hear me?"

"Huh?" Morgana uttered confusedly. "Oh, uh, yeah. Loud and clear, Oracle."

"Good," she replied. "Get ready, we're about to pick you guys up."

"Sure thing," said Skull evenly. "And by the way, we are so not called 'Team Mona', FYI."

"Oh grow up," Morgana said, rolling his eyes.

A second later the doors opened, giving way to the transport that housed both their teammates and the rescued kidnapped victims. The backed up, the rear hatch opening and giving way to Yosuke and Chie who then helped them climb inside.

"I take it Joker and Yu-san aren't done yet?" Queen asked.

"Nope, haven't seen 'em since they went after that Shadow guy a while back," Kanji replied.

"Damn, I was hoping they'd be here," said Oracle, noticeably deflated. "We can't get ahold of either of them on comms."

"They should be back soon is my guess," Skull thought aloud.

"We'll wait here in the meantime, then," Naoto mused.

Things became quiet as the four freshly arrived members of their team buckled themselves up. Towards the back, Kanji took his seat next to Rise and Ann, the former of whom seemed uneasy. It was too out of character for her for him not to notice.

"You worried or something?" Kanji asked, a bit of amusement in his tone. "C'mon, relax. It ain't like you to worry about Yu in a situation like this. Doesn't he always come out on top? Plus, he's got Joker with him too."

"I know, I know…" sighed Rise. "It's just that I'm… I dunno, getting this bad feeling all of a sudden."

"Hm? What about?" Panther asked, the conversation catching her ears.

A massive quake had the Persona users holding onto their seats for dear life. The room itself win which the transport was parked was somewhat torn apart as well, the walls cracking and several of the ventilation shafts erupting altogether.

It stopped after a short while, giving them a much-needed reprieve.

'Note to self, get lottery numbers from Rise this week,' Kanji thought.

"Is everyone alright?" Sae was quick to ask, beating out her sister and the blue-haired detective by as much as a half-second.

"I think so, yeah," Chie stated. "Let's see… yup, still got everything where it should be."

One by one the rest of the passengers chimed in, and thankfully not a single one of them had been injured. A cursory check of the still unconscious kidnappees seemed to suggest neither of them had been hurt either.

"What was that?" Yosuke asked as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It felt like an earthquake, but…"

"That loud sound from the upper levels makes me think it was an explosion," Yukiko remarked.

"I was thinking along the same lines as well," said Avenger, a stern expression showing from ear to ear. "And I'd wager any sum of money the cause was the fight between Joker, Yu and the White Mask's leader."

"…do you think they need backup?" Morgana questioned.

"Well, it couldn't hurt to—" began Skull.

"Even if it was necessary for us to do so, we cannot," Naoto firmly interjected. "I'm sure we all share immense faith in those two. However, this room is about to collapse in on itself and I'd wager the area closer to the upper levels is far worse. Our top priority should be to get this transport to safety and wait for them to return."

"…I agree," replied Queen. She turned to the others. "I'm sure everyone is somewhat reluctant, but we've very little choice but to keep our heads high and trust in them to make it through."

Though clearly there was an underlying sense of hesitation, everyone seemed to understand what the situation called for. Even if it didn't sit well with them, securing the safety of the rescued kipping victims was their top priority. Thus, Yukiko shifted gears and headed out of the room.

They left the starting area of Section X silently, each hoping in the back of their minds one thing: that they were making the right choice. Only time would tell, however.

White Mask Palace: Remnants Palace Core Room

A massive flaming, debris-ridden crater was all that remained of the room holding the Palace's core as well as several of the floors directly under it. Joker found himself dangling from a torn piece of metal flooring at about the midway point, managing to hang on with relative ease.

He looked down, noticing the pit of fire that was ever-encroaching onto his current position.

'Okay, so going down isn't an option…' Joker thought.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself up onto the metal flooring, doing so in one fluid motion. Sadly, however, his foot landed on a stray pipe, causing him to slip and fall backwards.

Naturally he didn't fall far, managing to grab ahold of the metal flooring just a short distance below where he originally found himself. He readied to pull himself up yet again, only this time he intended to do so more slowly to avoid another fall. Thankfully, he would have a helping hand, as Yu stepped forward from the ground-level and grabbed his wrist.

"Need a hand?" Yu asked.

"Well, I won't say no to one," replied Joker.

He was quickly helped to the high ground before the pair shared a look around the raging craterous firepit the uppermost levels of the Palace had become.

"So," spoke Joker. "Do you think he made it?"

"I don't know," Yu admitted solemnly. "But looking around… I doubt it."

Joker could only stay quiet, though truth be told he thought the same. After all, being caught completely defenseless in the center of an attack of that magnitude would, in all likelihood, disintegrate the man entirely. That may have been a preferable outcome though given that the alternative likely scenario was that Shadow had been horribly maimed and now sat in a pool of flames waiting for them to turn him to ashes.

"I hadn't expected him to pull something like that," Joker stated. A sense of self-agitation underlaid his tone. "If only we were able to move a little faster, then maybe…"

"I get how you feel," Yu replied. "Still, we can't dwell on that right now. We need to focus on getting out of here."

"Any thoughts?" Joker asked.

Without any warning whatsoever, reality itself started to shift around them. Gone were the metal walls of the Palace and in fact gone was the Metaverse altogether. They found themselves in the warehouse once more—the real-world warehouse—standing only a small distance away from their teammates.

The remaining Persona users were, hilariously enough, seated on the ground flat on their asses while a practical sea of unconscious people laid around them—being both kidnapped victims as well as White Masks that had been dispatched during their raid on the Palace itself.

"Well… that was easy," Yu remarked.

"No kiddin'," Ren chuckled.

"Uh… what the hell just happened?" Ryuji wondered aloud, giving voice to everyone's collective thought. "We're in the real world again, right? Or am I just going crazy?"

"Jury's still out on that last one, but this is definitely the real world," Morgana stated.

"As for what happened, I think I can guess," Yu spoke up. He looked to his black-haired counterpart briefly. "Shadow must've taken out the core with his last attack. It wouldn't surprise me given what it did to the core room."

"Well, I see a lot of White Masks all over the place, do you think maybe he could be one of 'em?" Ren asked.

He received a sympathetic look from the gray-eyed young man. That kind of optimism was appreciated given the circumstances, but deep down, both of them knew the answer to that question without one being given audibly.

"Yeah, probably just wishful thinking on my part…" Ren muttered.

"Something the matter?" inquired Yusuke. "By your tones, I would almost say the two of you are disheartened in the wake of what should be a rather crucial victory."

"Shadow didn't make it out," Yu explained. "He took his own life, though it's tough to say if he was trying to take us out with himself or if he was aiming for the core."

"Speakin' of…" muttered Ryuji confusedly. "How come the Palace didn't collapse and blow up like usual? You guys said the core prolly got blown to pieces, right?"

"Could be any number of reasons," Futaba chimed in. "My best guess is that Palace was created from within the Metaverse itself rather than being created as a distorted piece of true reality. Maybe destroying the core overloaded the Metaverse and spat us back out here, and even right now I'm not longer seeing an entry point into the Metaverse anywhere near here anymore."

"Such considerations can wait until later, especially since now we have access to what they were researching," Naoto stated.

True to the detective's word, a fair number of computers and assorted data storage devices could be seen throughout the room. With any semblance of luck, the answers to everything would be there.

"…I don't suppose I'll get a chance to look at it personally?" Futaba muttered.

"Not at first, no, though I agree it would be useful to have you do so," replied Naoto, opting to be as honest as she could. "These will be taken into evidence per standard procedure. However, I should be able to pull some strings and enable to take a look personally given time."

"I'm all good as long as I get to take a look myself," she replied cheerfully.

"And on that note…" Yu muttered.

He began to look towards the endless number of unconscious criminals that littered the area, a clear suggestion that the workload now shifted towards the law-enforcing members of the group.

"I take it we should probably head out before you call in a parade of cops," Ren said with a wry grin.

"That'd be best, yeah," replied Yu. "Everyone outside of Chie and Naoto should head out the back. Once you're in the clear, I'll phone in the Shinjuku Police forces on standby to come and do the cleanup."

Nothing more needed to be said as the group waved their farewells and parted ways. Once they were cleared, the only members that remained were those with direct ties to law enforcement. The air grew silent, but comfortably so, as the trio stared on across the fruits of their labor.

"I count forty people saved and nearly two hundred White Masks captured," Naoto said with a proud look plastered across her features.

"Do you think it's over then?" Chie asked.

"It's difficult to say, if I'm being honest…" admitted Naoto.

There was only one thing that needed to be said in response, and so it was that Yu's trademark eye-catching confidence reared its head once again.

"Even if it's not, we'll be ready."

"Hell yeah we will!" Chie exclaimed excitedly.

Naoto could only smirk, adding simply, "Well said."

Yongen-Jaya: Café Leblanc, Some Time Later…

Ren opened the doors to the quaint little café with a relaxed smile on his face, letting the subtle smell of coffee grace his senses. After the day he'd had, the feeling of returning home was relaxing beyond belief.

Futaba and Morgana filed in closely behind him, each appearing to have much the same reaction, though they showed it outwardly much more than he did.

"Home sweet home," sighed Morgana, stretching his limbs. "I'm beat, so I'll be heading upstairs now."

The feline zoomed forward as if nothing was going to keep him from landing a spot-on Joker's bed within the next ten seconds, eliciting a chuckle from the man himself as he watched his friend scurry up the stairs.

"It's been a while since I've seen him so tired out," Ren commented. "How are you holding up?"

When he received no answer from Futaba, he turned curiously to see if she was even still behind him. She certainly was, though it was clear that she hadn't even remotely been able to hear him.

The orange-haired teen was just standing in place in front of one of the booths at the center of the room, her eyes fixed on it wistfully as if in a trance. It was clear that she was very deep in thought as well, but the look on her face had Joker just concerned enough to interrupt them.

"Futaba?" Ren called out.

She blankly turned to him.

"Hm…?"

Though it took a few seconds more, she realized what she had been doing and seemed to return to reality.

"O-Oh, sorry, that was probably a bit weird seeing me do that so randomly, huh?" Futaba mused.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Ren asked.

The trickster was straight to the point as always, but the kind nature of his tone and the steadfast look in his eyes communicated nothing but genuine care and interest towards the person with whom he spoke.

Even if she truly didn't want to speak her mind, Oracle would have been hard pressed not to.

"I was just remembering what those Shadows showed me back in the maze…" Futaba answered, her eyes downcast on the booth once more. "We were right here. You, me, Sojiro… and mom. It's not that the memory of it bothers me, at least not directly. It's more that I'm upset I let myself get taken in by that stuff in the first place."

"There's no shame in it," Ren stated pointedly.

"Well, a certain someone didn't have any problem getting out of it," Futaba countered.

"True, but not for the reason you're probably thinking," Ren replied.

"…okay, I didn't really expect you to say that, so I'll bite," Futaba uttered curiously. "Are you saying you didn't break out off of just sheer willpower?"

"Not at all," Ren answered, his tone deadpanned. "Without getting into the specifics… let's just say that the Désir chose to show me something that I know with every fiber of my soul would never actually happen."

There was a feint but icy nature to Ren's voice that caught Futaba completely off guard. In all the time she'd known him, it was the first time he'd ever spoken that way before. Whatever that coldness was rooted in, it clearly had to do with what whatever the Shadow had shown him.

"W-What exactly did it show you?" Futaba asked, sounding unsure if she even should have done so in the first place.

"Like I said, something I'd never believe," Ren answered with a shrug.

His response was casual enough, but it was clear to the navigator that he truly didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, either way," began Futaba, keen to move past the subject, "It still bothers me that I wasn't as much help back there as I could have been. In fact, I was almost useless sometimes. I just feel the need to become stronger, that's all…"

She crossed her arms and began to frown at the memory of feeling so useless at many different points during the previous operation. Her depressed demeanor ended abruptly, however, when Joker came up from behind her and captured her in a hug.

"W-Wha?!" Futaba stammered, her cheeks flushed as she looked up at the raven-haired teen.

There was more she likely wanted to say, but the soft look in Ren's eyes had her frozen in place. It didn't help that he was so close, either.

"You were plenty useful to us, and don't you dare think otherwise," Ren stated. "That isn't to say you shouldn't want to become stronger and improve your skills. However, I don't want you putting in more effort because you think you're useless as you are."

A soft, quiet series of murmurs escaped her lips as her eyes stayed locked to those of the well-named Thief of Hearts. Eventually, Futaba broke out of the hug and placed herself a fair distance away, her arms still extended outwards for good measure.

"H-Hugging me without warning like that is gonna give me a heart attack!" Futaba exclaimed.

Again, she expected some form of banter or a playful comment, but instead Ren walked forwards and softly grabbed her hands, guiding them down so that he could look into her eyes unobstructed. Her cheeks flushed even more so under the intensity of his gaze.

"You can get back at me for that later," he stated. "But I need you to hear what I'm saying. It's important to me that you don't think that way."

"Geez, you're such a…!" Futaba whispered before sighing deeply. "I know, Ren, I… I know I'm not useless. I don't really think that, it was just a figure of speech."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it."

With a soft smile, he began to walk away, leaving his orange-haired friend stunned by the abrupt departure. This was only for a moment though, as she soon rushed forward and captured the Wild Card in a bear hug of her own.

Ren, clearly somewhat surprised, looked down to see Oracle looking up at him warmly.

"I don't recall dismissing you," Futaba said with a beaming smile.

"That you didn't," he replied with a chuckle.

"And thank you, by the way," Futaba stated. Her grip tightened, as impossible as that may have seemed. "I appreciate that you're always looking out for me. And I might not say this enough, but… I can't thank you enough for being in my life. I-I… was reminded of that earlier today, because even though my mom isn't here anymore… I know still have a family, and I have you to thank for that."

"You have a family because of you, not me," Ren answered. He pivoted and patted his younger teammate on the head affectionately. "But yes, you do still have one. And as long as I have anything to say about it, you always will."

The two broke apart shortly thereafter with Futaba heading towards the door. She turned back briefly, smiling all the while.

"I'll go tell Sojiro how we kicked ass today," she stated, giggling to herself. "Minus the mushy parts, of course."

"I'm sure he just wants to see you come home in one piece," Ren answered. "Good night, Futaba. Get some rest, today was a big day for all of us."

"Right back atcha! Good night, Ren!"

The airs of Leblanc grew quiet with the departure of the orange-haired teen. Ren took a moment to just soak it in, appreciating the solitary moment after all that had happened beforehand.

Though he was unsure if things were truly over, it remained true that today had been a big step towards the end. At least, such were his thoughts as he headed for the stairs, intent on getting some much-needed sleep.

A/N Not a whole lot to say here. With this, we're done with the White Mask Arc, and next couple of chapters will be the start of a bit of slice of life before action starts kicking up again. Anyway, next chapter will be on next Friday.

Explanations:

Unison Attacks: Much like in P4 etc., I wanted to add in combination attacks that are cross-generational. Ryuji and Kanji just happened to be the first in that category, but they won't be the last.

Twin Lightning Dragon: Ryu and Tatsu both mean dragon, hence the name.

Energy-Infused Base Attacks: So yes, both Ren and Yu can use them, and technically everyone else can as well. The mechanics of it will be delved into more as more people learn it, but the gist is that if you can pull it off, it pierces any immunity.

Shadow: Yeah, he's dead. This ain't Naruto, we don't revive characters here.

Ren's Désir Illusion: Bit of spoiler territory here, so I won't get into it too much. He said what he said, so you can theorize based on that if you so wish.