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

24. Snake's Den

A/N Been a long two weeks, but this chapter is a damn long one so hopefully it was worth the wait. Anyway, enjoy!

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

Chapter 24

August 4th — Metaverse: Central Shibuya, Early Afternoon…

Naoto stood alongside Yu, overlooking what appeared to be just another area of the city marred with the infamous 'MINE' graffiti they had unfortunately become accustomed to seeing. She marked several additional areas off with a map that she had been carrying, scowling as she did so.

"It's getting worse," said Naoto. "It's moving at different rates all around the city, so I'm unsure of what exactly is causing it, but I'm fairly certain that within the next week or so, the graffiti will have covered the entirety of the city. Worse, I'm unsure of what exactly happens once it does…"

"I'd prefer not to find out, though I have a sneaking suspicion it can't be good if it does," Yu stated.

"On that we agree," Naoto replied, offering a small but dry laugh. "Let's head back to the nearest exit point. I'd prefer not to stay here longer than we have."

The pair were able to make their exit without issue, arriving just outside an alleyway near the police precinct before making their way towards the from entrance in-between a swarm of incoming and outgoing officers.

"Any luck reviewing the precinct's security tapes in search of our missing officer?" Yu offhandedly inquired.

"It's been fruitful to the extent I have confirmed that the evidence never arrived here in the first place," Naoto answered. "Though it hasn't given any indication as to Officer Ichinose's current whereabouts."

"And I've got no news on that either, sadly," Jirikishi cut in as he approached the duo from off to the sides of the bustling precinct. "Apologies for the momentary eavesdropping."

"It's not a problem," replied Yu with a friendly smile.

"Well, let's just assume it was, because I'm about to make it up to you," Jirikishi replied.

The detective smirked as he waved a plain-looking file in his hand, after which he motioned for them to follow him into a nearby conference room so that they could discuss its contents.

Upon closing to door to ensure they wouldn't be bothered, Yu asked, "So, what do you have for us?"

"That woman you told me about, I was sure she sounded familiar, so I followed a hunch and here we are," he began, opening the folders contents and spreading it out on the table, "I'd bet any amount of money this is her."

The photos that were presented were far from perfect, but the shimmering black hair and the captivating green eyes left little room for doubt that this was exactly the person that they'd been looking for.

"Yumiko Hebiza…" uttered Naoto blankly as she shifted through the documents.

"Sorry to say that we don't have much on her. However, the truth is she's far more infamous than her file would have you believe. Around five years ago before the purge, she was a living legend as far as cops were concerned. A mysterious woman that managed to charm her way into the company of incredibly powerful politicians, titans of industry, and even a few criminal bigshots at the time."

"To what end?" Naoto questioned, quirking a curious brow.

"Her front was that she acted as a consultant on various matters. We thought initially that it was a front for prostitution ring and that she was sleeping with these men—and a few women, actually—in an effort to blackmail or extort them. That turned out not to be true, and on the surface everything seemed legit. Most detective's put on the case still felt something was off though," Jirikishi explained. "When the hammer finally dropped on Shinjuku, she became the center of a massive corruption investigation. Even so, she was never so much as charged with a crime given that the evidence we had on her was circumstantial at best. Even the top financial investigators in Japan couldn't find so much as a penny out of place between her or any of her clients. No under-the-table deals, no bribery, nothin'."

"She was an information broker," Yu stated with certainty. "Money was never the goal, she just coaxed information out of them without their knowing it, right?"

In a rare turn of events, Jirikishi was genuinely surprised by the young layer's quick deduction. So much so that it showed on his expression as clear as day.

"No one knows for sure, but yeah, and one that was too slippery for us to catch. I'm obviously not a fan, but I have to admit, she was remarkably smart in the way she went about her business. Gotta hate that in a criminal…"

"It says here that she vanished shortly after the purge began and these investigations cleared up," Naoto pointed out, a puzzled look in her eyes. "If there wasn't any proof of her wrongdoing, why just disappear like that? And where could she have gone?"

"You're asking the wrong person," Jirikishi replied, shrugging his shoulders as he did so. "Ah, but there was one other thing I wanted to talk to you two about."

The detective then opened the other folder he carried with him, producing what appeared to be stake-out reports from two locations that were entirely on the opposite sides of town.

"Should we assume these are other areas of potential interest?" Yu questioned.

"Yes, though these come from yours truly as opposed to being one of the many useless rumors we got from Shun," Jirikishi stated, smirking amply at the backhanded insult to the former gangster. "I'll leave you to it though so you can discuss your next steps in private. I just hope this information is useful in your 'investigation'."

"I'm sure it will be, and we'll keep you posted if we find anything out on our end," Naoto stated.

"Oh, by the way," he muttered lackadaisically. "The club mentioned in those files sems like it's a bigger hub of activity. Just something to keep in mind."

"Got it, thanks," replied Yu.

With a small, respectful nod, Jirikishi left the room. The two Persona users present wasted no time diving right in to the information he'd left behind.

"This makes two targets of interest," Naoto began analytically. "The first is a warehouse on the city's east side suspected of being a holding area for the drug trade. The other is a club on the opposite side of town called… Ehem, the Golden Pole-vilion. It's suspected of being a distribution channel for the drugs into the hands of willing buyers."

There was a silence that gripped the room, though this was only on account of the two partners sharing a look with one another. It was clear that they were of one mind as to what their approach should be.

Metaverse: West Shinjuku, Later that Evening…

"How do the roads look, Queen?" Joker called out to the front of the car.

"All good so far," she answered.

"If Naoto-san's directions are to be believed, we'll be just outside our target in about ten minutes," Avenger added.

A divide and conquer strategy had been selected and agreed upon quite some time ago. The first and current group consisted of the two Wild Cards, Yosuke, Ryuji, Ann, Rise, Futaba, and of course Mona who acted as their transportation and the Nijima sisters that sat in the front manning the wheel.

Naoto had taken the rest of the team to investigate the suspicious warehouse on the east side of town. Ryuji, however, was far more interested in the 'club' that they found themselves heading towards.

"So lemme get this straight," uttered Skull as he turned in his seat to look at the silver-haired Wild Card. "We're goin' to a strip club, right? Like, for real?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Yu answered.

"Awesome!" cheered Skull with a grin.

Luckily for the blond, Ann and Makoto were seated a few rows back next to Rise, which effectively saved him from any punches that would have otherwise been thrown into his shoulder. They did glare at him, but virtually every one of his other female teammates present were doing the same anyway.

Even Yosuke, who sat next to him, was far less excited and for obvious reasons.

"Uh, be careful with what you wish for," stated the brunette with a grimace. "Been there done that with the whole 'strip club in the Metaverse' thing, and it ain't what it's cracked up to be."

Skull blinked confusedly. "Say what now?"

"You guys seriously went to a strip club in this world before?" Panther said in disbelief.

"Yeah, and it was…" Yosuke began. He trailed off upon noticing the narrowed eyes of the one and only Rise Kujikawa, which of course was a clear warning to watch his words. "Well, y-you know, it wasn't anything special. Just a normal place filled with Shadows."

"But why were you guys there?" Oracle pressed.

"Is that really all that important?" Yu asked in his usual deadpanned tone.

The young lawyer's response seemed innocent enough, though Rise couldn't help but give him a smile of appreciation.

"I mean, nah, I guess not," Oracle ultimately replied.

"I kinda wanna know though…" said Skull.

"I agree with Yu. It's entirely unimportant," Avenger stated pointedly from the front of the Mona-bus. "We're nearly at our destination, so our focus should be on preparing ourselves. Remember, we fully expect this location to be more heavily guarded due to how deep into the graffiti'd space it is."

"Sis is right, we need to keep our eyes peeled and ensure we're ready for a fight," Queen said.

Within a few minutes the crew had parked and subsequently made their way to within eyesight of their target. A mere glance all but confirmed it was the very den of suspicious activity that they had both suspected and hoped to find.

The club was massive and sprawling much like its equivalent in reality, so much so that the full length thereof couldn't be seen from the Persona users' current position. An added layer of difficult in doing so was the simple fact of the matter that a large number of Shadows were patrolling the building's outskirts.

"Well, looks like Jirikishi was right on the money," Yu muttered. His eyes drifted to the surrounding area. "Anyone spot a good vantage point?"

"Hmm, how about there?" Joker thought aloud.

He gestured to a nearby building that was of a good enough height to allow them an easier time looking at the entirety of the club's landscape. It seemed easy enough to climb up, but there was one major problem that presented itself.

"Looks good, if only we could manage to get there without being noticed," Oracle said.

"Yeah, she might be right," Skull admitted, scratching the back of his head. "If we climb that, we're gonna stick out like a sore thumb to all those Shadows out on patrol."

Joker, saying not a word, grabbed a rock stepped out into the open without catching the attention of the enemy guards. He then tossed the rock at one of the support beams of an outside pavilion, hitting it dead-on in spite of the distance.

A resounding *smack* quickly caught the attention of all Shadows in the immediate area.

"Huh? What was that?!"

"I heard it too. C'mon, it came from over there!"

The Trickster couldn't have hidden his confident smirk even if he tried.

"See?" Joker asked cheekily. "Problem solved."

"Panther, Queen—either of you two wanna say the line or do you want me to?" Oracle inquired, sporting a deadpanned expression as she did so.

"Be my guest."

"Feel free."

"You are such a showoff," Oracle stated.

"Be that as it may, we now have our opening," Avenger remarked. "Come on, let's get moving."

It was not time at all before the group was right up against the railing of the nearby building, and though it didn't quite offer them the ideal bird's eye view, it was a big improvement from their previous vantage point.

"Much better," said Panther. "Look, we can even see onto one of the terraces. With a little effort, we could probably even jump our way onto it."

"True, though I don't think that's the best of ideas," Queen remarked. "After all, that staircase on the other side likely goes down into the center of the club, which I imagine is full of Shadows."

"True, but at least—" Panther began.

Abruptly, the doors to the mentioned terrace flung open, giving birth to the blaring sounds of the club's music for a brief time as two Succubae stepped forward, each possessing the bodies of a human host. Each member of the group ducked for cover, not wanting to take even the remote risk of being noticed.

It seemed that they had avoided being noticed for the moment, at least if the lighthearted laughter of the female Shadows was anything to go by. They leaned up against the railing of the terrace and began a casual conversation with one another.

"Can anyone make out what they're saying?" asked Queen.

"I can barely hear a word," Yu replied.

"Same here," Joker remarked.

"Oracle, that means we're up," Rise whispered.

With a firm nod from Futaba, the two set about using their innate abilities to zoom in on the conversation between the Succubae. Though it was by no means easy without fully calling out their Personas, they managed it without incident and broadcasted it to their allies discretely.

"Work is so boring tonight," one groaned, her voice laced with clear-cut annoyance. "I'm so done with talking up these morons. Where are all the good men at?"

"It could be worse you know," the other replied, sporting a coy smile.

"How's that?"

"You could be working in the back unloading those trucks for all eternity, for one."

"Hehe, true enough," she laughed. "Though sometimes I wonder if the humans come here for us or for those pills."

"They come for both, which is why I'm here to check on you two."

The human voice that spoke was feminine, and while pleasant held an oddly ominous undertone. It belonged to the enigmatic woman in the red kimono, who approached her subordinates on the terrace as casually as she could.

"M-Mistress…!"

"We just came out for some fresh air," one of the Succubae stated, giving the green-eyed girl a respectful bow. "Though I confess, the lack of interesting men tonight has us a bit…"

"Disinterested," she finished, sporting an amused smirk. "Believe me, I understand your pain. In fact, I think it's been ages since I've had the opportunity to work up anyone that checked my boxes. Still, we must do what we must do, right?"

"Yes, understood."

"As you say, mistress."

"Good girls," the woman stated cheerfully. "Now come back inside. I've received word that Genzo is in the area, and you know what that…"

She trailed off and suddenly approached the railing, placing her hands on it and leaning over it. Her eyes narrowed observationally, before they closed altogether for a time as if she entered a state of deep thought.

"Hmm…"

"Mistress…?" a Succubus called out, clearly confused. "Is something the matter?"

"Depends on your point of view," she replied. Her lips curled into a smile of twisted anticipation. "I can feel it in the wind. Genzo is nearby, meaning our friend is about to make an appearance."

The woman began to walk back towards the club, motioning for the other two to follow suit.

"Come then, let's head inside. I'll ensure our friend is stopped at the front door; after all, we wouldn't want him to get a look at what's in VIP area in the back, now would we?"

With that, the doors were closed and she was gone. The Persona users from across the streetway finally felt safe to peer up from behind the building's solid concrete railing. They breathed a sigh of relief on account of having been able to spy on the others unnoticed.

"Well, that panned out pretty well," mused Yosuke.

"And then some," Oracle stated eagerly. "From what we just heard, it looks like the back of the complex is our best bet to find something juicy."

"Both inside and out, it would seem," Sae thought aloud. "In addition to this 'VIP area' the woman in red spoke of, it would seem they're peddling drugs by the truckload in the back."

"Speakin' of, that was her, right? That Yumiko Hebiza woman," Skull spoke up.

"For sure," answered Joker, nodding with certainty. "I'd recognize that voice anywhere."

"I'll be honest, I recognize her more for her—"

Skull's presumably crude statement was cut short by the sound of an abrupt and powerful explosion from the front of the complex. The mixed Phantom Thief and Investigation Team unit ducked for cover on instinct, though they did peek above the railing this time around purely to observe how the Shadows reacted below.

"There's an intruder! All hands converge towards the front gate!"

"Dammit…! It's the Black Biker, isn't it?!"

"Probably, but it doesn't matter! Now move your asses!"

Another explosion popped off, this one just as large in size and scope. The team of Persona users watched as the Shadows rushed all the more, and while they certainly were curious as to the cause of the explosion itself, it was the gift of a lifetime as far as their infiltration was concerned.

"Lucky us," Oracle stated with a grin. "Come on, let's hurry up and take advantage while their guard is down!"

The group started to mobilize save for one person. Joker instead chose to stand in place, gazing down thoughtfully at the front of the club from their current perch. Everyone soon realized this and waited for him to react, but he remained stoic nonetheless.

"Is something wrong?" Avenger inquired.

"Not really. I was just thinking you guys should go on ahead without me," Joker stated.

His teammate's immediate shock was understandable.

"Huh?! Hang on, what are you sayin'?!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"This might be our best chance to see the Black Biker firsthand, right?" Joker replied, his gaze stern. "I'll head over to the front and take a look while you guys take the back."

"None of us doubt that you could manage that just fine, but the fact remains that we'll need you when we infiltrate the VIP area. Our odds of getting in and out decrease substantially without you there," Queen stated pointedly.

Just as it was clear that Joker was about to respond in protest, Ryuji walked up to his friend and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Queen's got a point man, so just leave the front to me," Skull said, giving him a grin and a hearty thumbs-up. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to get a real good look at him for ya."

"Hold it right there! You can't just go dive right into that by yourself!" Morgana exclaimed in protest. "It's crawling with Shadows, and you're probably the least stealthy person here outside of Yosuke-san!"

"I take offense to that, but he's right," Yosuke added.

"Ugh, fine, then why don't you come with me, Mona?" Skull countered, his hands casually hanging out of his pockets as his eyes met those of the feline. "You're good with all that stealth stuff and you can sense Shadows when they're nearby, right? So you come with me and take care a' that part and I'll smash our way out if we get caught. Easy, right?"

The black-furred Persona user opened his mouth to respond but the words clearly died in his throat upon realizing something very apparent: Ryuji actually had a point.

"That… actually makes a lot of sense," Mona replied. He cleared his throat, crossed his arms, and turned away in a display of fake-coldness. "Clearly you've decided to use your head for once. You should try to do that more often."

"I'll ignore that," Skull replied. "Now c'mon, let's get going."

"…thanks, Skull," Joker simply said.

He smirked. "Thank me by takin' care of stuff on your end with the others."

With that, the blond and the cat took their leave.

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Back Area

The sounds of roaring engines dominated the air as the Wild Cards and their teammates maneuvered closer and closer, managing to stay out of the sight of any patrolling Shadow. They peered out from their position behind a series of crates and barrels, allowing them to get a good look at the Shadows as unloaded the fleet of trucks each of the trucks that were seemed to continued to ride through the rear gate.

Each of the Shadows themselves were clearly grunts in the same way that the White Masks footsoliders had been, but obviously their appearance was far different. They were all shirtless, muscular men with tattoos coating much of their bodies. Were it not for the plain white masks on their faces, they'd easily be confused for stereotypical Yakuza.

"Three, four five… seven trucks being unloaded concurrently," Queen uttered in amazement. "Do you think each of these is filled with fentanyl?"

"Most likely, yes," Avenger replied.

"So, what's the plan? Do we take 'em down?" Yosuke asked.

"I'd much rather find out where those trucks are coming from in the first place," said Oracle, flashing a devilish smile. She took a small electronic device out of her jumpsuit, presenting it before the group. "This bad boy should help me make that happen. I've got enough of 'em for each of the trucks, so all I need to do is watch my step and bingo, we should be able to follow the ants back to their hill."

"Since when have you had those?" Panther asked in amazement.

"I got the idea from when we were tracking the White Masks and figured making a few couldn't hurt. You know, just in case."

"Good foresight," Joker complimented.

"That aside, using the trackers is by far our best move," Sae replied. "Besides, just taking them out is akin to removing a single drop of water from the ocean. In law enforcement, when dealing with criminal organizations of this scale, it is important to keep in mind that you won't win until you cut off the head of the snake."

"Well said," Yu stated in agreement. "Outside of that, there's one other good reason not to start a fight if we don't need to. The back entrance is unguarded right now, meaning we've got a perfect opportunity to sneak in with a small group."

"And with any luck, we'll be able to get a good look at what our friend in red is trying to hide," Joker thought aloud, smirking cockily. "Count me in."

"That much should be obvious. You're the most skilled person on our team when it comes to stealth," Queen replied, rolling her eyes visible in response.

"Plus, even if he does get caught, he can just blast his way out anyway," Panther added. "But anyway, who else should go?"

"I'm thinkin' it should be a full squad, and of course we can't send Yu-san since we'll need an ace out here as a fallback," Oracle said. Looking at the rest, she continued, "Yosuke-san is as bad as Skull when it comes to sneaking around, so that's a no. I'd rather have Avenger out here so she can beat the crap out of anything that tries to attack me if I get caught…"

"I feel I've just learned a great deal about your impression of me…" Sae muttered to herself.

A sympathetic hand placed itself on her shoulder courtesy of Yu, though she could tell in an instant that it was an attempt at a joke on his part. She brushed it off as if annoyed, but the smile that tugged at her lips said otherwise.

"Let's just make this easy," stated Rise. "Panther, Queen and I will go with Joker. The rest can stay here and back up Oracle."

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Yu questioned, a bit of concern underlying his voice. "You're not exactly the first person that comes to my mind when I think of stealth."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she stated, her arms crossed indignantly.

"Well, it's just that whenever you enter a room, all eyes kind of naturally end up on you…" Yu replied.

The Wild Card answered as if it were obvious, and though it wasn't entirely clear how he'd meant his words to be perceived, it was perfectly obvious how Rise seemed to take them. Her momentary annoyance melted away faster than ice cream on the surface of the sun.

A subtle red tinge showed on Rise's cheeks as she averted her gaze. "Y-Yes, well, be that as it may, they need a navigator and Oracle is the only one of us who can work the trackers so easily."

"She's right, and at this point, we're wasting time by discussing this further," Avenger cut in.

"Yeah, you've got a point there…" Yu admitted. "Be careful, you four."

"Don't worry, we've got this," Joker replied.

As if to prove his point, the Trickster then proceeded to speed across the courtyard in both stealth and style, effortlessly avoiding the gazes of nearby Shadows and quickly arriving near the back entrance to the club where he stood in place awaiting the arrival of his teammates. He looked back coyly as if to invite them to hurry up and join him.

"…Queen, I think it's your turn to say the thing," Oracle said.

Thus, it was with a telling smirk that she did just that.

"He is such a showoff," Queen stated.

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Front Area

Another series of explosions went off as Shadow after Shadow scrambled in the front courtyard in an failed effort to get the unbridled chaos under control. From the perspective of both Morgana and Ryuji who hid behind a barrier spawned by recently-created debris, it was an absolute warzone. The latter of the two peaked out briefly to assess the situation.

"Do you see anything?" Morgana asked.

"I'll let you know as soon as shit stop's blowing up," Skull replied.

Yet again, the ground erupted just a short distance away, prompting the blond to quickly duck back behind the barrier so as to avoid having his face either blown off or cacked in dirt.

"Welp, good to know shit's still blowing up…" he muttered.

"We have to get into a better position if we're going to have a shot at seeing the Black Biker," Morgana stated pointedly. "The good news is he's distracting all of the Shadows, so there aren't any that are too close to us, but there's no telling how long he'll stay put!"

"You're right," said Skull, almost sighing to himself. "Alright, so what's the play?"

"You're asking me?" Morgana asked, his tone and expression as cheeky as they came.

"Shut up," Skull huffed with narrowed eyes. "Just a quick FYI, this is why you're here in the first place, ain't it? My idea would be to just dive in and get a good look at the guy up close and personal, but that clearly ain't a good plan, soooo…"

"Okay, gimme a sec," Morgana replied.

The feline's gaze became stern as he peered out towards the courtyard through the smoke and fire that currently engulfed it. He was clearly hard at work coming up with a plan of action, though his choice of words prior to his doing so immediately came back to haunt him.

"Okay, it's been a second," Skull stated.

"Y-You…!" Morgana seethed. He stopped himself and took a deep breath. "Alright, I probably deserved that one."

"Ya think?"

"In any case, I've got our course mapped out. Just follow my lead, okay?" said the cat.

When the blond-haired teen nodded in response, Mona set off on his course. With focus and poise befitting his expertise, he managed to go from cover after cover until he reached an area near a large metal piece of debris.

Once Mona finally stopped in place, Skull grinned eagerly, ready to give the short trip his all simply so that he wasn't outdone. Even if he lacked the grace that Mona had displayed, it was clear that the thuggish Persona user's movements were just as speedy and effective, if not more so.

In no time at all, he was right up next to the black-furred feline, and appeared quite satisfied with himself at that.

"Okay, just one more jump should do the trick," Mona stated.

"Oh—what?" Skull asked in disbelief. "No props? C'mon, you gotta admit you thought I was gonna mess that up, didn't ya? And I didn't!"

"Fine, fine, you did good," Morgana replied, unable to stifle a slight laugh. "But come on, get serious. We should almost be at a good vantage point."

"Relax, we got this," Skull stated.

His absolute confidence proved to be the perfect jinx, as only a moment later the alarming cry of a nearby Shadow was shouted in their direction.

"Over here! There's another one!"

"…do you think that's about us?" Skull uttered.

The sound of approaching footsteps made the answer more than obvious.

"Crap!" Skull exclaimed. "B-But how?! I thought I did a good job, too!"

"See? It's right there! There's hair is sticking out like a sore thumb!"

The blond at first tried to stare at his own head as if trying to see what the Shadow's had been referring to. Morgana face-palmed on account of it taking Ryuji more than a second to realize that he was trying to do the impossible.

"Your head is sticking out just over the debris, Skull…" Morgana muttered.

"Aw, god dammit!" he growled, pounding the dirt with his hand. "Can't I get lucky just once?! Is that too much to ask?!"

"Evidently, yes," Morgana replied. The feline seemed to oddly soften as if he felt true sympathy for his teammate. "But hey, don't beat yourself up. It's not like you did it on purpose."

"Over there, too! On the left, it's a cat or something! Its tail is right there!"

Morgana blinked confusedly. "...huh?"

The feline turned around to see his tail sticking out from the far side just as the Shadow had stated. His jaw slacked and his pupils shrank.

"Dammit!" Morgana swore.

"C'mon, time to follow your own advice," Skull stated. He picked up his mace, donning a battle-hungry look. "At least we've got some volunteers to help us feel better, yeah?"

"…I call dibs on the one that called me a cat."

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Back Area

'Come on, Futaba, you can do this! You've got this in the bag!' Oracle thought.

After mentally hyping herself up, she took a quiet but deep breath before making her move. She rushed past a nearby patrolling guard that had headed off the opposite direction, managing to get herself underneath the final truck without issue. She placed the tracker securely on the vehicle's underbelly, after which she peered out to track the nearby footsteps of patrolling Shadows.

Once the coast was clear, she made leap after leap from behind cover, avoiding the gaze of the guards and eventually arriving next to her teammates who had been hiding behind a series of nearby creates off to the side.

"Great work," Yu complimented genuinely.

"Agreed, that was most impressive," Sae remarked.

"Just another day on the job," Oracle replied with humility.

Once everyone's attention was elsewhere, Futaba allowed herself a small fist pump on account of the praise she'd just received. Stealth wasn't exactly her forte, but she was confident enough in her ability to mimic Ren given how many times she'd seen him move about in the same manner.

'Alright! Go me~ go me~ it's my birthday~!" Oracle cheered in thought.

"Hey, is that…"

"Huh? Wait, yeah…!"

"Who's over there?! Intruders! It has to be!"

"Uh… did they spot us?" Yosuke wondered aloud.

The sound of feet pounding the ground and coming ever-closer towards them had them thinking only one thing.

"I'm gonna go with yes," Yu muttered.

"But how did they…?" Avenger trailed off.

Sae's eyes shifted towards Futaba, or more specifically the area atop her head. Gradually, everyone else seemed to follow suit, though the navigator herself was still at a loss.

She patted the top of her head out of simple curiosity, and it was then that she felt her goggles and realized that they were sticking out to a point just above their cover.

"Aw, god dammit!" Oracle exclaimed.

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Yu stated in a comforting manner. "Besides, I'm sure all of us are more than ready for a fight, isn't that right?"

As a Shadow rounded the corner with a sword in hand ready to strike at the group, a bullet promptly tore through its chest. As it dissipated into nothingness, all eyes turned to Avenger, who smirked confidently back at Yu, blowing the top of her shotgun-esque pistol.

"Well, that answers that," chuckled the Wild Card. He stood up and drew his sword. "Let's get this started, shall we?"

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion – Rear Club VIP Area

The team consisting of Joker, Panther, Queen, and Rise walked through a secondary set of doors just outside the back entrance, coming into yet another shockingly large and extravagant room.

Several sets of staircases were located on the room's corner's leading to a second floor while a singular grand staircase lined the front heading towards a large door labeled 'VIP Suite'. A literal red carpet led to the very same door as if it the sign itself weren't enough of a hint at what the room was.

"Well, that's convenient," Joker thought aloud.

"And also probably not the best place for us to go through if we're going for stealth," Panther reasoned.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that," Joker chuckled. "But maybe you can tell us for sure, Rise-san?"

"On it," replied the redhead in a friendly manner.

She set about searching out as far as she could see with Kanzeon, and though the room they were currently in and most of the rest of the club grounds were as clear as clear as the light of day, the VIP room itself was shrouded in darkness.

"Judging by your expression, I'm guessing you're not having any luck, huh?" Panther remarked.

"Sadly, yeah," she answered. "Something in that room is obstructing my ability to see into it. I'm not sure what it could be, but if I had to guess, it's gotta be some kind of powerful distortion like we saw at the White Mask's Palace."

"That'd definitely make sense," Queen reasoned, her chin cupped in consideration. "Though now we'll need to determine how we proceed. It'd be ideal to get a set of eyes inside, so…"

All eyes naturally shifted towards Ren, though it did take him a moment to realize that they'd taken it upon themselves to volunteer him for the job.

"Okay, I know I was going to be the one that went ahead anyway, but was the staring really necessary?" Joker asked.

"We're just being considerate, you know," said Panther, a coy smile crossing her lips. "After all, we know just how much you love to show off, so think of this as us just giving you another chance to do just that."

"What she said," Queen piled on.

"Alright, I get it, I get it," Joker replied, a bit of laughter escaping his throat. He stepped forward towards the staircase on the far-right corner, stopping only for a brief second to ask a question of their navigator. "The vent's upstairs third door on the right side, right?"

"Huh? Well, yeah, but how did you…?" Rise uttered in amazement.

"Got it. And thanks."

Most normal people would have then simply walked up the stairs towards the mentioned door, but then again Ren wasn't most people. He instead elected to jump up the spiraling staircase row by curved row until he stood at the railing just off to the side of the top of the staircase. He gave a casual two-fingered salute, which judging by what happened next, was clearly directed at both Ann and Makoto.

"Panther, I think it's your turn to say the line," Joker said cheekily.

As if to further put emphasis on his showmanship, he did a back flip and landed on the second floor's surface before running off in search of the vent leading into the next room. He was out of sight within seconds, leaving his teammates a mix of stunned, impressed, and exasperated.

"Such a showoff," Panther stated, sighing in spite of her clear amusement.

"Seriously, what are we going to do with him? If his ego gets any bigger, the Metaverse will have to start expanding just so it can fit it," Queen joked.

"Right?"

"Honestly, I'm surprised he does stuff like this when we're in here so consistently," Rise thought aloud. "I mean, he's so quiet and kind of unassuming when we're in the real world. It's almost as if he's a totally different person altogether."

"That may not be too far off from the truth…" Panther muttered to herself.

"Hm? Did you say something?" Queen asked.

"It's nothing important," replied Panther, flashing a reassuring smile. "Anyway, let's get into position, yeah? If Joker gives us the green light, or if he's attacked, we should be ready to go in and back him up."

"Totally agree!" Rise chirped. "And on that note, the front door is probably the best bet, so let's head over and get ready."

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Back Area VIP Room

Joker peered through the gaps in the ventilation shaft and observed the room ahead as best as he could. Seeing and sensing nothing in the room, he carefully pried open the metal sheet and jumped out as quietly as he was able.

He quickly hid himself behind a nearby support beam, using it as cover while he got a better look at the room's contents. Based on the previous area, everything seemed within expectations. The furniture and décor strewn throughout the room were lavish with perhaps the most eye-catching piece being the crystal chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling.

What surprised him was the fact that there wasn't a soul present.

'Alright then,' Joker thought to himself. The Trickster stepped out into the open, glancing curiously at the essentially empty space. 'So… what the hell is supposed to be so special about this place?'

Even with his Third Eye, the black-haired teen couldn't pinpoint any area of interest. He hoped that perhaps their navigator would have better luck.

"Hey, Rise, I'm—"

His ears caught the sound of throwing knives slicing through the air, allowing Joker the split-second he needed to leap into the air to evade. He drew his own knife and pistol, adopting a defensive stance, knowing there was another attack likely in the works. To Ren's moderate surprise, his would-be assailant chose to remain completely hidden from sight. He stayed perfectly still, not wanting to drop his guard for even a second as his eyes scanned the room for even the faintest trace of a red kimono.

Like a viper striking its pray from the grass, the raven-haired beauty lunged at Joker's side with a blade in hand. Metal met metal as the two engaged in a masterful exchange of knife-on-knife combat.

Eventually, Joker would get the upper hand through use of his natural speed, forcing Yumiko back. He drew his pistol and launched several bullets her way, which she either dodged or simply batted away with the cold steel of her knife.

The green-eyed woman smirked confidently as she allowed her blade to rest at her side, twirling it stylishly in a manner that was almost reminiscent of the very person she was fighting.

"I'm surprised you were able to guard against me so easily," she abruptly remarked. "And here I thought I had done a good enough of a job concealing my presence."

"Don't beat yourself up, it's not easy to get the drop on me," Joker replied cheekily.

"And yet you're remarkably easy to fool," the woman countered, giggling coyly. "Or did you come all this way to tell me you didn't really expect to find anything in this room?"

"So, I guess you noticed us after all…" Joker sighed.

"My hearing isn't to be underestimated," she stated. "Even now as you stand over there, I can hear the sound of your heart beat with perfect clarity."

Ren, for his part, was unable to tell if that was meant to be a joke or a playful embellishment. Such was just another of many reasons to be cautious when fighting the red-clad woman.

"I guess all that talk about you being a living legend wasn't just talk, Hebiza-san," Joker replied.

The woman's playful aura and demeanor dropped visibly at the mere mention of her name. Her jade eyes narrowed heavily and stared straight into Joker, and were he a lesser man, the Trickster would perhaps have even felt a tinge of fear under the weight of her venomous gaze.

"You know my name then," the woman mused, her tone cold and analytical in nature. "That's a pity. I was hoping to have more fun with you first."

Faster than he was expecting, the raven-haired beauty was directly at his front. Ren managed to block her knife strike and avoided any bodily injury, though as he attempted to leap away to gather himself, she surprised him yet again by grabbing one of his forearms with her free hand.

Joker managed to shake her off before anything more could come of it and subsequently put some distance between the two of them. Again, he anticipated she would strike while he was gathering himself, but she instead chose to stand in place and stare him down.

'I don't know why she let up, but I'm not complaining,' Joker thought.

He brought his hand up to his mask and glided it across his face.

"Persona!" he exclaimed.

Nothing happened whatsoever, leaving Joker momentarily stunned. He attempted to repeat the process yet again, though it was at that point that he realized the issue: His hand hadn't risen to his mask in the first place and hence he couldn't complete the summoning.

The Wild Card tried again and again to move the limb, or any of his limbs for that matter. Sadly, he was as immobile as a statue, unable to do more than wiggle a few of his joints at best.

'What the hell?!' Joker wondered in shock, staring down at his hand with widened eyes. 'Ryuji told me about her poison knives, but when did she manage to cut me? I was sure I dodged all of her attacks, so…!'

A soft hand cupped his cheek and guided his attention forward, bringing him within inches of Yumiko's alluring green eyes. If she wanted to slit his throat then and there, she very well could have, though instead she chose to take a few steps back as if she were simply toying with him.

"I know what you're thinking," she announced, almost amusedly. "Your blond friend was wrong, it's not a poison that coats my knives. In point of fact, it isn't even a poison at all. Take a look for yourself."

Joker looked down at his arms and legs once more, finding himself even more shocked as a rock-like texture began to creep up his limbs. He lost all feeling in the areas it covered as if his body truly was turning into a statue.

"Is that…?" Joker trailed off in disbelief.

"Stone," Yumiko replied. As if to further emphasize her point, she tapped her knuckle on the surface. "A common effect I tend to have on men, one way or another."

"But… how?" he couldn't help but ask.

"If you behave yourself, I might just tell you."

Once again, her hand playfully cupped his chin as she leaned in, leveling him with her gaze. She closed her eyes as if she were hyper-focusing on something she could sense, smiling pleasantly a moment thereafter as they opened once more.

"That's good, remain calm just like that. If you panic, the effects will only be worse, and I can't have you turn into a statue just yet," Yumiko stated. Her expression became oppressively serious. "Tell me: How do you know my name?"

Joker felt a pressure that he'd never felt before in his life, and it had little if anything to do with the ever-creeping stone that was coating his body. He felt as if the woman's gaze was somehow constricting his very soul.

Even so, he was still Ren Amamiya.

"I googled it," he quipped in response.

The woman's eyes narrowed and her lips dropped into a scowl.

"Given that you're at my mercy right now, do you really think it's a wise decision to be cracking jokes like that?" Yumiko inquired, a bit of venom in her tone.

"I dunno, did you really think I'd answer your question seriously?" Joker shot back.

Yet again in a turn of events that he didn't quite expect, the woman's expression softened. She walked a short distance away, turning her back to the Wild Card before next she spoke.

"You know, I've always found people who seem so calm, cool, and collected to be remarkably fascinating. You could say the harder they are to read, the more they catch my interest," she began. "I can't help but wonder: what are they hiding beneath that mask? Because it is a mask, of course. Everyone panics, everyone worries, and everyone has secrets… and I can tell you most certainly have things you're hiding on the inside."

"Is that a fact?" Joker asked nonchalantly.

"It is, and that's very bad for you," Yumiko replied. She turned to face the Wild Card, piercing his eyes with her own once more. "You see, that nasty little curse making its way up your arms and legs is more effective the more interested I am in someone."

"Lucky me."

"I wouldn't quite phrase it like that. After all, if the process completes, it's non-reversable," Yumiko stated. With a devilish grin, she added, "Perhaps I should have mentioned that before."

For a moment, there was clear panic that shined in Joker's eyes. Most wouldn't have caught it, but the woman in his company was not most people.

Yumiko casually began to walk back to Ren, taking a deliberately slow pace just so that he could feel the stone surface continue to creep up his body. She placed a hand on his chest and bringing her face within an inch of his own.

She was so close, in fact, that he could feel her breath on his face and smell the scent of her intoxicating perfume.

"Now that I get a good look at you, you're quite cute. Not quite as handsome as the silver-haired one, but you've certainly got potential," Yumiko stated. Her head tilted and her lips moved forward, stopping just short of Ren's. "Last chance, short dark and handsome. All it'll take is a kiss, and you're in for a fate worse than death. So, with that in mind… are you going to answer my questions willingly, or are you going to spend the rest of your existence as a statue?"

The raven-haired beauty was abruptly forced to pull back to dodge a rather large fireball that nearly crashed into her torso. A mix of fear and relief showed in her eyes as she landed, though it lasted for only a second. She caught a glimpse of Panther, who stood right in front of the room's exit with Carmen at her side.

"…now that's a look that could kill," Yumiko whispered to herself, noting the blonde's razor thin glare and the fire in her eyes.

The booming roar of a revving engine drew her attention towards Johanna as she charged forward with her wheel at the helm, its wheels burning bright with raw nuclear power.

Yumiko, however, was by no means caught off guard. She effortlessly leapt into the air, landing atop the railing of the second-floor balcony and dodging the charge with ample time to spare.

She gazed down at Queen from her new perch, noticing the same animosity and fervor in her eyes that she saw in Panther's. The raven-haired beauty couldn't help but don an amused smirk at the display.

"Well, that was quite the passionate rescue," Yumiko remarked. "And here I was thinking I had another minute before you even so much as waked into the room."

Amidst the chaos, Joker felt his limbs return to normal. He quickly leapt to Panther and Rise's side by the door with Queen following closely thereafter.

"Thanks for the save," said Joker in appreciation.

"My pleasure," Queen uttered, her eyes never leaving the woman in red.

"Also, word to the wise, do not let her touch you," Joker stated. "What happened to Skull the other day wasn't because of some poison. It seems like she has a natural ability that paralyzes your limbs and turns you to stone."

"That works fine for me. I was planning to kick her ass without getting a scratch anyway," the blonde replied.

"Panther, is it?" Yumiko asked through a chuckle. "Do you actually believe that or is that just your emotions talking?"

The fact that she had clearly heard them took the three new arrivals by surprise.

"She's got freakishly good hearing, too," Joker explained.

"Kinda figured that…" Rise uttered.

"Do we know her Persona?" Queen asked.

Before an answer could be given, Yumiko rejoined them on the bottom floor. She stepped to the dead center of the room, staring cockily at the Persona users before her. A heavy pressure began to build and the air began to grow heavy, the source of it clearly being the red-clad villainess.

"There you go again. So obsessed with my Persona of all things…" Yumiko uttered. "But if the four of you truly have a death wish, then so be it."

A sea of red flames poured around Yumiko out of nowhere, engulfing her body entirely for a time. When the energy appeared to reach its peak, it raged for but a moment more before dissipating in one final burst.

What was revealed in the aftermath was a fairly large being with the lower body of a snake and the upper body of a slender, astoundingly beautiful woman. Every inch of the Persona's body had a green hue, from the scales on its tail to even the sclera that surrounded her bright green eyes. Her shoulders and chest were covered by a slim piece of ornate armor, leaving most of her body entirely exposed.

Perhaps the most noticeable trait that the Persona possessed was its hair. In place of follicles of brown, red, or black were a series of what appeared to be dark-green snakes that extended out in all directions. They twisted in place, hissing quietly as they gazed blankly at their would-be prey.

"…Medusa," Yumiko uttered confidently.

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Front Area

Morgana and Ryuji sat hidden behind a piece of debris, intent on catching their breaths for however long they could manage to do so. Despite their best efforts, it seemed as if every time they cut down one Shadow of any kind, five more took their places.

One of the grunts that had fanned out to find them happened to drop in on their side during his search.

"Their over—"

A pellet courtesy of Morgana's slingshot pierced the Shadow's forehead and sent it back to the Sea of Souls within a split-second. Judging by the lack of movement nearby, it seemed no one had heard him.

"Nice shot," complimented Skull.

"Thanks," Mona replied. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm good to go for now, but I just don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep it up…"

"W-What? The intruders are at the rear courtyard now?"

"The Black Biker must have slipped away while we were focused on those other two!"

"Some of you stay back! The rest of you, come with me. The boss already went back to deal with the Black Biker personally!"

The feline and the blond shared a knowing smirk with one another. It was clear even without Morgana's sensory abilities that a good number of the Shadows nearby were pulling back.

"Looks like we caught a bit of a break," Skull reasoned. "I mean it sucks for the others, but I'm sure they can handle things while we get a good hard look at our mystery biker."

"My thoughts exactly," Morgana replied. "C'mon, let's hurry so we can rejoin the others."

In unison the two took a confident stride out from behind their cover and out into the open. They stopped immediately after the symphonic sounds of guns being aimed at them flooded the area.

It was then that they took note of the nearly three dozen Shadows that still swarmed the area. The force consisted mainly of grunts wielding little more than swords and pistols, though the two Minitours mixed in and the Halberies that floated in the skies above them were a much unwanted complication.

"Gonna be honest, I wasn't expecting that…" Morgana thought aloud.

"So, I guess I take the left and you take the right?" Skull

"Sounds good," Morgana replied. "Oh, but uh… if I die and you don't, tell Lady Ann that I…!"

The feline hadn't managed to finish his sentence before the sea of Shadows before them quite literally began to fall to pieces. Their torsos vanished into the wispy black particles they were so accustomed to seeing in the aftermath of a Shadow's demise, which of course left them wondering what the hell was going on.

Their eyes ultimately fell on a bike that stood smack dab in the middle of the dissipating ashen mist, and as the air cleared, the appearance thereof became fully apparent.

The motorcycle itself was beyond anything either Skull or Mona had ever seen. It had a sleek, shimmering black appearance with an engine that radiated such power that it was almost unbelievable. As for the rider, the name 'Black Biker' was all too fitting. He seemed fairly tall, though it was difficult to tell for sure, and sported a long-sleeved black leather jacket, black pants, booted shoes, and a pitch-black helmet with a tinted vizor in the middle.

He looked straight at the two Persona users, his gaze lingering for only a second.

"The biker! He's—"

The Black Biker's engine revved as he peeled off, running down the Shadows that had come into view. He then wasted no time rushing off towards the front gate, speeding away so quickly that he faded over the horizon within seconds.

"Okay, what the shit just happened?" Skull uttered confusedly.

"…I got nothin'," Morgana admitted, shaking his head. "But needless to say, I don't think our mystery biker is Akechi after all."

"Seems not," Skull replied. He cupped his chin in consideration. "Unless the guy went through a makeover or somethin'. But even then, I've got a feeling that bike itself was the dude's Persona, so it prolly couldn't have been him…"

"Given it was durable enough to run over Shadows, you're most likely right," Morgana stated in agreement. "Still, we've gotten what we came here for, so let's hurry back and help out the others."

"Right."

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Back Area

"Jiraya!" Yosuke exclaimed.

The mentioned Persona's shuriken tore through those few Shadows that remained in the courtyard with impunity, leaving the subtle crackling of their decaying torsos as the only sound echoing through the area.

Off to the side, a reinforcing squad of grunts was fast approaching. They were clearly eager to enter the fray, though Yu and Sae were at the ready and cut them down before they could so much as speak a word.

"Nice work," Yosuke remarked, giving the pair a thumbs up. "And uh, is it me, or is this getting easier?"

"Famous last words," Yu stated.

As if fate itself were backing the young lawyer's words, a wave of pressure washed over them the likes of which they'd hardly ever felt before. Their eyes turned towards the club out of evident worry.

"Alright, that definitely can't be good," Yosuke thought aloud.

"It's Yumiko Hebiza, I'm positive on that," Oracle stated. She gazed ever-deeper through the lenses of her goggles. "And… w-what the? It looks like she's seriously giving Joker and the others a run for their money."

"Is she fighting them alone?" Yu inquired.

"Shockingly, it seems like it, yeah. In fact… it looks like they're not sending anyone to back her up either. All Shadows are headed straight for us," answered the navigator.

"In which case, I'll go back them up," Yu stated firmly. "We can't let the opportunity to take her in go to waste, and of course we'll be depending on you guys to keep our exit path clear."

"Need you even ask?" Sae responded playfully, brandishing her twinlbade for emphasis.

"Honesty? No, of course not. Least of all when you're here," Yu answered.

Though it was clear the silver-haired beauty was pleased at the compliment, there was one among them that had no interest in watching a mild flirting session play out before his very eyes for the eighty-thousandth time.

"Shower Avenger with compliments later, pretty-boy," Yosuke stated, rolling his eyes. "Get goin', will ya? We got things covered here, so don't worry!"

With a nod, the Wild Card was off, being able to enter the building without tissue while the others were left to stand guard. Sure enough, more and more Shadows started to make their way into the courtyard.

"Intruders! Halt!"

Several of the Yakuza-esque beings soon began to mutate into far larger creatures, their chest and arms bulged an incredible degree as if the worlds fasting acting steroid coursed through their veins, though hilariously their legs remained relatively skinny by comparison. Their upper bodies seemed to be coated with even more tattoos, and their skin tinged blue and the blackness of their masks twisted onto a demonic gold.

"Okay, someone skipped leg day," Yosuke joked, actually managing to chuckle at their appearance.

"Looks like they're called Bulks, and their weak to wind and fire attacks," Oracle stated.

"Bulks…?" Avenger uttered confusedly.

"Like maybe bulk as in the bodybuilder term or maybe just a play on blue hulks?" Oracle reasoned. "Look, I don't make up the names, so don't complain to me about it!"

"Fair enough," Yosuke replied, shrugging his shoulders. He soon called for a tarot card before his body and slashed through it with his kunai. "Jiraya!"

The brunette's Persona soon appeared and sent a massive swatch of razor-sharp wind blades roaring towards the mass of Shadows. Their arms were quickly torn full of holes, at which point they quite literally deflated and began swishing all over the place like a rogue balloon. Those that had been normal grunts stood little chance as well, though they died in a far less comedic fashion and instead were swept away and torn to pieces rather anticlimactically.

"Man, I'm on a roll," Yosuke muttered to himself.

"Stay alert, Yosuke-san! We've got more incoming!" Oracle warned.

"Meh, we'll take care of 'em," Yosuke replied confidently. "Besides, the big baddie's inside, isn't she? So—"

A fist soon came rushing towards the brunette without warning. He barely managed to duck under it, watching wide-eyed as the crate he stood just in front of was shattered to pieces.

Sadly, he was given hardly a second to gather himself as another hook came barreling towards his chest. Futaba managed to create a barrier at the very last second, though when the fist hit its mark and the invisible surface shattered like glass, Yosuke was still sent flying all the same.

The brunette slammed into the side of a nearby truck, denting it visibly and groaning as his limp body slid to the ground.

'Dammit, even through a barrier?!' Yosuke thought.

He managed to peel one of his eyes open even in the midst of immense pain, catching the blurred image of what appeared to be a large man charging at him like a rhinoceros. In the middle of his stampede, however, Astrea took advantage of his wide-open flank and slammed into him with her swords brought to bear.

Needless to say, the man was sent flying a and ultimately crashed into a nearby set of crates, destroying them on impact.

"Hang on, Yosuke-san!" Oracle cried out.

Necronomicon took its position above the downed Persona user and showered the immediate area with green particles from the underbelly of its saucer-like frame. Yosuke was then pulled back up to his feet by Avenger, who wasted no time in extending a helping hand.

"Thanks, much appreciated," said a rather grateful Yosuke. His eyes drifted over to where his attacker had been. "I'll be honest, that's the first time I've ever seen a fist break through a barrier and still do damage. Just what the hell is that Shadow made of?"

A sea of dust and debris littered the area of impact, making it virtually impossible to see his attacker. He wanted to take no chances of another sneak attack and willed Jiraya to launch a burst of wind purely to clear the air.

He alongside the others were expecting to see a Shadow of some kind standing amidst the former cloud of dirt and rubble, though instead they found a human man. He was rather tail and imposing in his own right, but certainly nowhere near the extent they had anticipated.

The man's head was devoid of hair save for the thin goatee on his chin. He was garbed in a black suit and gray undershirt, sporting no tie around his neck. His overall appearance was actually entirely plain outside two lone tattoos that placed themselves under each of his respective eyes, one being the 'yin' symbol and the other 'yang'.

"Who the hell is that guy supposed to be?" Yosuke uttered confusedly.

"Just another person we have to take down, and that's all that matters," Avenger replied. "Are you in good enough condition to fight?"

"Yeah, mostly. But just so you all know, that guys fists somehow made impact even through Oracle's barrier, so he hits hard," Yosuke stated. "And by that, I mean hard."

"Noted."

"Curious," the bald man's calm, monotone voice called out as he began to approach both Yosuke and Sae, eying them coldly as he did so. "Hebiza said that you don't work with the Black Biker, and yet your assault here coincides with his."

"Ever hear of a coincidence?" Yosuke asked.

"I don't believe in them."

"Smart man," Sae remarked absentmindedly. "In which case you must know it'd be pointless to ask us if we're affiliated with him."

"That I do," he replied, cracking his knuckles before he added, "Which is why I don't intend to waste time talking."

"You've wasted plenty enough as it is," she stated with a cocky smirk.

A God's Hand courtesy of Captain Kidd launched into the man's side, sending him flying like a speeding bullet through everything that was unfortunate enough to be on his path. He ultimately slammed into a stone wall on the far side of the courtyard.

Skull pumped his fist upon seeing the direct hit. "Got 'em!"

"Don't get too cocky," Morgana warned. "We should move in and deal with him before he has a chance to get back up!"

The soft patter of footsteps hitting the ground from where the man had been flung quickly put a stop to any hope that they would get the chance to follow through with the feline's suggestion.

From the dusty mist resulting in his own collision, the bald man stepped forward, his suit being torn but his body being unharmed entirely.

It was as if the direct hit hadn't even made him stumble.

"Damn, and here I was thinkin' I got a pretty good hit in…" Skull muttered under his breath.

"It's not you, it's him," Yosuke explained. "The dude is basically built like a truck."

"Then we should try to take him down quick. Skull and I got rid of the last wave of Shadows that were coming to reinforce the area, so we should have a decent opening before more show up," Morgana stated.

Wasting no time, the four Persona users fanned out around the approaching enemy while Oracle hovered overhead to lend her support as best as she could. Though effectively surrounded, the man didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

"If you think you'll have an easier time because you outnumber me, you're sorely mistaken," he simply said. "Come forth, Benkei."

Without the need for so much as a gesture, a sea of red flames poured forth from the man's body. The embers vanished an instant, though their short-lived appearance was by no means a measure of the creature that they had brought forth.

A large, towering humanoid being now stood steadfast behind the bald-headed man. It had immaculate heavy armor with gold trimmings in the form of a breastplate, gauntlets, a waist-guard and greaves, while by contrast the clothing beneath was tattered and plain. Even its face was covered by a white headscarf which hid a pair of glowing yellow eyes beneath, which shined even though the rest of its head was entirely concealed.

Its weapon of choice was a massive staff with two large metal ends pronged with spikes, though it was clearly far from its only tool in that regard. Strapped to its back was a plain quiver-like case that had any number of armaments ranging from axes to swords to odachi to polearms. It was as if the Persona held the entirety of an armory on its own back.

Overall, its clothing and appearance invoked the image of a monk, though the weapons that it wielded seemed to contrast that assumption.

The Persona finalized its entrance by brandishing its staff before pounding one of its ends onto the ground with authority. The earth itself shook for a moment, a clear indication of the creature's remarkable strength.

"Okay, the hard way it is," Skull thought aloud.

The four teammates shared but a glance with one another before charging in to meet the new arrival in kind.

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Back Area VIP Room

Fire erupted all around the room in a blaze of glory as Carmen let loose its full power on Medusa, all the while said Persona merely raised its hand and erected a barrier to deflect the magic even as all that surrounded her burned to cinders.

Johanna was quick to follow up, launching a flurry of nuclear attacks as it circled the stationary Medusa. The Gorgon still managed to evade with a slither of her serpentine lower-half, then calling forth a bow in her hand before shooting off a series of powerful arrows at the still-encircling motorbike.

Arsène quickly lent its support, sending a wave of a twisting black nether shooting straight for the snake-covered head of the enemy Persona. Medusa lowered its bow and managed to evade once more, beginning a seemingly endless dance between the four of them as the room continued to be torn apart piece by piece as a result.

Elsewhere, Panther and Joker were fast at work cornering Medusa's wielder. They moved in perfect, almost shocking unison, the likes of which couldn't hope to be reached without countless time spent in battle alongside one another.

However, in spite of their flawless unity, it remained the case that Yumiko Hebiza was more than holding her own. In fact, at times, it seemed she had even managed to drive them back.

Believing that they were nearly running out of time, Joker charged with everything he had and struck at her right arm, if only to slow her down just a little. Though slightly put off balance, she did in fact manage to guard against his slash, then bringing up the knife in her opposite hand to give a counterattack of her own.

Joker leapt away with all his strength, launching himself a great distance in the air as a result. This gave Panther a wide-open shot, which she took courtesy of her machine gun.

Bullets started to fly, but the woman is red was undeterred.

"Nice try," Yumiko stated cockily.

She sidestepped the first barrage of bullets before charging Panther outright. Her green eyes had the look of a viper to them as she readied to pounce, though a bullet from the skies grazed her hand and thus put an immediate stop to her charge. She backed away in shock, still having to dodge what was left of the ammo in the blonde's cartridge as she did so.

When the storm of bullets had ceased, Yumiko came to a stop and looked down at the blood dripping from her hand with a scowl. She glared heavily at Joker as he rejoined Panther's side, knowing it was his bullet that had wounded her.

"If I weren't so mad, I'd almost be impressed," Yumiko muttered. "Just how long have the two of you fought together like this, I wonder?"

"Long enough to beat you, and that's all that matters," Joker replied.

"What he said," Panther confidently remarked.

"Is that a fact?" Yumiko asked rhetorically.

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Johanna, who hovered overhead the green-eyed Persona user and was about to come crashing down on her like a meteorite to the earth's surface.

Makoto was confident for only a moment, but it became clear her sneak attack just wasn't meant to be. A powerful steel arrow slammed into Johanna's side, causing her to veer off to prevent a literal crash landing. Thankfully, a barrier had been erected to prevent any actual damage, much to her opponent's annoyance.

"Medusa," Yumiko uttered calmly.

The Gorgon had slithered to its master's side in an instant, readying its bow with three arrows simultaneously. They roared with lighting as they shot off, though instead of hitting the three Persona users she had intended, they instead crashed into an invisible surface which shattered on impact.

Again, her blood boiled.

"Which one of you is…" Yumiko trailed off.

Her eyes shifted towards Rise, who stood off to the side with Kanzeon directly behind her.

"Ah," she muttered in understanding.

Without the need for its wielders order, Medusa sent yet another flurry of arrows holding varied elements directly at the navigator. It seemed for only half a second that the attack would manage to do anything as the Phantom Thieves at her front repositioned themselves to dismantle the arrows mid-flight.

They landed in front of Rise, prompting a very tired-looking Yumiko to jump down to the ground level to join them properly.

"You know, you're a very annoying group of people," Yumiko remarked, her arms crossed. "Though I must admit, I'm…"

Yumiko's eyes widened in shock and she stopped dead in her speech. Her expression soon shifted towards one of almost desperate anticipation, something that greatly confused those that she was currently fighting.

"Sorry, but it seems I have a more important guest to attend to," Yumiko abruptly stated.

The playful look to her eyes vanished in an instant and her gaze became steely. Her energy began to build and it was clear that she was focusing to the maximum extent that was possible.

Knowing a big attack was likely coming, the Phantom Thieves prepared for the worst, with Queen fortifying everyone's defenses while Rise enacted a barrier to protect them in the likely event that it was a magic-based attack. On the off-chance that the barrier and defense would not be enough, however, Joker readied to call out his one Persona he knew could tank just about any blow.

In spite of their collective preparation, none of them had predicted what would actually come.

"Gorgon's Gaze!" Yumiko exclaimed.

Medusa let out a high-pitched battle cry both her own eyes and the eyes of the snakes glowed a blinding green. They lit up with such brilliance that the very atmosphere of the room changed color for a time, though of course a lighting change was never the main goal.

As the eyes continued to shine, those in front of the snake-like Persona began to turn to stone. They resisted as best as they could, but the transformation was ultimately so quick that they could hardly react whatsoever.

After a few more seconds time, the attack died down and Yumiko was left standing in place, taking a deep breath of relief as a lone bead of sweat dripped down her cheek.

'Fighting them took more out of me than I would've liked,' Yumiko admitted internally. 'That's unfortunate. Now I don't have the luxury to…'

A subtle groan pierced her ears. She turned, stunned, to see that the redhead among the opposing group of women had yet to fully turn to stone. Her arms were clearly immobile and her lower body was solid rock, but the transformation had clearly stopped at that.

Without saying so much as a word, Yumiko walked up to Rise, grabbing her chin with a bit of forcing them to come eye-to-eye in the process. She stared deeply into the pits of her soul through her brown orbs, again, saying not so much as a word.

Rise felt a cold chill creep down her spine even in spite of her numbed senses. There was just something about her piercing gaze that was discomforting, though she couldn't quite explain it.

"…this is a first for me," Yumiko stated as she continued to observe the redhead. "Did you use some kind of ability to shield yourself?"

"If I did, it's not like I'd tell you," Rise scoffed.

"So, I see you're the same as the others after all. I like your spirit," she chuckled, for the moment finding amusement in her bravery. "Still, willpower alone wouldn't be enough to resist the Gorgon's Gaze. Tell me, what are you hiding?"

"Why are you assuming it's unique to me?" Rise countered.

A skeptical Yumiko was about to press further, but the sound of a mere grain of rock hitting the floor tore her attention away. It made such a light sound that perhaps no one else could have heard it, but to Yumiko, it was as loud and clear as if it had been a boulder dropping from a skyscraper.

The statues for the other three were starting to crumble, albeit at a barely-noticeable pace. Still, it was noticeable, and so she was left wondering how on earth they could resist her ability.

Yumiko was naturally taken aback by this turn of events, and as she was left only with one non-statufied person to question, her attention shifted once more to Rise.

"I don't like to use force, but I'm short on time," Yumiko sighed. She brought out a knife, placing the cold metal edge just barely an inch away from surface of the young woman's cheek. "Tell me what I want to know—how did you resist the transformation?"

"And I would know this why?" Rise countered.

The red-clad woman's eyes narrowed.

"Don't be stupid," Yumiko warned. "You have such a pretty face that it'd be a waste to scar it. So, if you don't mind…"

Abruptly, Yumiko felt the sensation of cold steel held directly against her throat. Her gaze shifted to its source, finding it to be a katana held by the silver-haired man she'd been expecting. His gaze was just as sharp as the blade that he held, and even without the use of her 'gifts' she could see the beginnings of rage in his eyes.

'He's stealthier than he looks,' Yumiko thought.

"Yu…!" a relieved Rise said.

The idol had uttered his name absentmindedly, smiling brightly in the face of his would-be rescue on reflex. The utterance of his name, however, drew a visible reaction from Yumiko.

In an instant, the green-eyed woman ducked under Yu's blade and used the knife she held up against Rise's cheek to guard against any potential attack of opportunity as she retreated.

When all was said and done, Yumiko stood a fair distance away from Yu and the other petrified Persona users, though she couldn't help but be somewhat surprised by how easily he'd let her slip away.

"I'm surprised you didn't take advantage just now," Yumiko remarked. "Or were you perhaps just more focused on saving your friend there?"

"That much should be obvious, shouldn't it?" he answered.

"I suppose so, but more to the point…" Yumiko began. Her gaze became deathly serious as she approached the silver-haired man. "Are you Yu Narukami?"

"And if I am?" he answered.

Those simple words were all it took for Yumiko to call forth her Persona in a blaze of red flames. The serpent launched a volley of arrows directly at Yu, who found himself hard-pressed to call out a Persona of his own in time to defend.

The Wild Card called on Yoshitsune, who dismantled the projectiles mid-air. To his surprise, Medusa then lunged forward and wrapped around the legendary samurai with its lower half, constricting him like a python. Yu was ready to swap his Persona out to turn the situation on its head, but Yumiko's direct intervention made that impossible. She'd rushed towards him alongside her Persona, setting her sights on him while the Gorgon had its sight on Yoshitsune.

Yu found himself having to guard against a series of expertly timed and transitioned kicks, slashes, and volleys throwing knives launching at him at a rapid pace. He had neither the room to breathe nor the luxury of making an error of any kind. Still, he held his ground, ultimately locking blades with her and forcing her into a temporary stalemate.

The two continued to apply pressure, nether backing down as they stared icily into each other's eyes.

"Guess that answers that," Yu mused.

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Back Area…

"Jiraya!"

"Zoro!"

A massive tempest of wind barreled towards the masked monk, who in turn simply spun his staff around expertly before slamming its end down towards the earth with such force that the shockwave itself dispersed the incoming attack.

Astrea was quick to take advantage of the opening and swept across Benkei's exposed flank, and though her blades certainly connected, it seemed to have no effect whatsoever. In fact, so unharmed was the towering Persona that it was already preparing to land a counterattack of its own.

"Hyaaaaa!" Benkei roared.

With expert agility and remarkable strength, the warrior monk twirled its spiked staff around its body and used the gathered momentum to land a powerful blow. Astrea guarded, but was sent flying as a result of the raw strength of the impact.

The winds around the area roared as the blow landed, leaving most shocked beyond belief.

"Just how strong is that damn thing?" Skull muttered.

"Strong enough."

The monotone voice of Benkei's wielder was accompanied shortly thereafter by a large glaive slamming down towards the blond Persona user. He managed to dodge, albeit just barely, though his panicked eyes were able to get a good look at the crushed earth where he previously stood.

'Shit that was close!' Skull thought. He noticed the man's grip shift and tighten on the hilt of his sword. 'Aw crap.'

A powerful upswing of the glaive sent large chunks of rock and gravel hurling towards Ryuji, forcing him into a less than graceful landing. He bounced across the courtyard, grunting annoyedly as he began to pick himself up.

Sadly, it seemed that his opponent was far from keen on letting him do so.

'Double crap!' Skull exclaimed as he stared down the incoming attack.

A flurry of kunai and a series of pellets being fired off from a distance forced the approaching enemy Persona users to pivot and ward off the incoming projectiles. With his focus momentarily shifted, an opening seemed to present itself.

"Captain Kidd!" Skull exclaimed.

A God's Hand shot out from the cannon arm of the legendary outlaw, barreling down on the glaive-wielding man with impunity. It seemed he had nowhere to run with Yosuke and Mona zoning him out from afar, leaving a confident Skull grinning eagerly in anticipation.

"Benkei."

The armored monk returned to its master's side in a split-second, and in a truly impressive feat of strength, it extended its left arm to meet the incredibly strong incoming physical with little more than the palm of its bare hand.

It was shocking enough that the Persona had attempted such a feat, but more shocking still was that in an instant, it proved to be successful. The steadfast warrior neither flinch nor recoiled whatsoever when the God's Hand made its impact, leaving those that witnessed it at a literal loss for meaningful words.

"You're kidding me…!" Yosuke uttered in horrified awe. "Just how strong is that thing?!"

The brunette regretted asking the rhetorical question a moment later as it seemed they were about to be given a live demonstration. Benkei's stance became as firm as a statue, a clear indication it was gathering its power for an even grander display of force.

"Aw crap!" Yosuke exclaimed.

Momentary panic began to settle in as the three male Persona users readied to charge in an effort to break the monk's posture. They, however, were beaten to the punch.

A wave of pitch-black energy crashed into the monk's torso, breaking its stance but failing to stagger it entirely. Taking advantage of the situation, Astrea charged with its blades once more, engaging Benkei at a pace that human eyes could hardly follow.

"Haaaa!" Avenger roared as she crashed down towards the bald-headed man.

In the heat of the moment, the stoic Persona user did all that he could to parry the dive-bomb. Shockingly, he managed to do so and fought off the brunt of the impact with expert poise.

Sae, however, was by no means going to allow him a moment's rest. She drew back her twinblade, seizing the momentum entirely by levying blow after blow in a relentless string of attacks that put her opponent exclusively on the defensive.

And that alone was enough to drive him as close to anger as he'd come thus far.

"I don't fall so easily!" the man exclaimed.

In spite of the fact that most sane people would have thought doing so to be a massive risk, the bald-headed man swung his glaive towards Avenger's approaching twinblade with all the might he could put into it. The resulting collision created a small shockwave that forced both combatants back. Most would've welcomed the few seconds of a reprieve, but neither of the two were even inserted in rest. They lunged at one another ferociously, locking blades yet again. The metal of their weapons shook under the pressure that they continued to apply, each unwilling to give so much as an inch in the exchange.

Their eyes locked in the heat of combat, and it was only then that the stone-cold visage of the tattooed man faded. Though it was only faint, it was more than clear that there was shock written on his face.

'What on earth…?' Sae wondered, having no idea whatsoever what brought about the sudden change.

Even though her thoughts left her distracted for only half a second at best, her opponent had used the opportunity to its fullest. He spun his body off to the side before leaping away with all his strength, cracking the ground beneath his feet and launching himself a great distance away.

Despite the distance that had been put between them, Sae was fast on his tail and was about to re-engage. However, just as she was within striking distance, Benkei appeared at the man's side once more. The warrior monk slammed a fist into the ground, causing an upheaval akin to an earthquake that littered the immediate area with dust, dirt, and rock.

"Hang on, we've got this!" Mona exclaimed.

Though Jiraya and Zoro cleared the air with a burst of wind, it was clear that they were too late to make a difference. Their steadfast opponent, who had yet to even so much as give an inch if he could help it, was now gone like the very wind that cleared up the battlefield.

"Okay… what the hell was that?" Skull wondered aloud.

"He ran away," Oracle announced plainly. She began to descend back down to the earth from the safe walls of her Persona, tentacles guiding her body to the ground. "I sensed him head into the club. I've got no idea why he suddenly backed off, but it looks like he's headed straight for Joker and the others. We should hurry in to back them up ASAP."

"Agreed," Mona uttered. He turned to the others, "Let's roll, you guy. There isn't any time to waste!"

"But why'd he leave so suddenly?" Skull questioned. "I mean, I ain't tryin' to be a downer, but we weren't exactly kicking his ass."

"We can find out why he left after we manage to catch him," stated Sae firmly.

No more words needed to be said before the group sprinted forward, the sounds of approaching Shadows echoing from the courtyard as they entered the clubhouse and slammed the doors shut.

Metaverse: The Golden Polevilion — Back Area VIP Room

"Medusa!"

"Yoshitsune!"

A volley of arrows launched forward only to be intercepted by the lighting-quick sword of the towering samurai warrior. In the aftermath, a dissatisfied Yumiko willed the Gorgon to sprint forward and constrict the opposing Persona much like she had before.

This time, Yu was more than ready.

"Kohryu!"

Just as Medusa reached the point of no return, a golden dragon had taken Yoshitsune's place on the battlefield. It's massive spiraling torso was a clear indication that the Wild Card knew exactly what was headed his way.

The Gorgon, unable to turn back, wound itself around the dragon's mid-section, and no sooner than this was done did Kohyru's entire body spark to life with raging electricity, effectively turning itself into a super-charged titanic taser.

Bolts of lightning shot through the serpentine Persona's torso, effectively bouncing back to its master all the while.

"Khh…!" Yumiko hissed, her eyes narrowing as she attempted to shake off the pain.

She called back Medusa as quickly as she was able. In doing so, she knew she would be rendered defenseless and as a result drew several throwing knives in the expectation that her opponent would mount some kind of assault.

And yet Yu didn't move so much as an inch.

Though surprised, Yumiko had no time in the moment to dwell on it and called forth Medusa yet again. The battle entered a momentary standstill, with each fighter standing at the ready by their Personas.

'His instincts are certainly what I would expect and hope for,' Yumiko thought. 'But why didn't he take advantage while I was falling back just now? And why… hm?'

The red-clad woman's eyes momentarily shifted towards the building's rear entrance. A reflexive scowl crossed her lips as she sensed what was headed her way.

She was running out of time.

"You know, I really can't stand how unbearably passive you are," Yumiko began, clearly emphasizing a sense of boredom through her tone. "I had you pegged for the strongest member of your group, too. I have to say, so far you haven't really impressed me."

"I'm not really trying to," Yu replied.

"Then you're the first man I've ever met that wasn't," she muttered under her breath. "Still, if all you're going to do is stand there, then you're not leaving me with many other options."

With reluctance in her eyes, she quickly pulled a small black spherical object out from her kimono, throwing it only a short distance at her front. The reason why became rather obvious soon enough as smoke burst forth in all directions, concealing her from from sight.

'Is she trying to escape?' Yu wondered confusedly.

Before he could even switch Personas to clear out the obstruction himself, a massive orb of energy cleared the cloud of smoke on his behalf. The pulsing white sphere raged from the top of an arrow drawn back from Medusa's bow which set itself squarely in the Wild Card's direction.

'She seriously managed to charge it that quickly?' Yu wondered, his eyes wide with shock.

He didn't understand how Yumiko had managed to do it, but the how of the matter could wait until after he was no longer about to be blown to bits. Under the threat of such a devastating attack, he knew he had only one option.

"Ongyo-ki!" Yu exclaimed.

The ogre-like Persona answered his call, appearing just moments before the Megidolan charge shot out from Medusa's bow. When the almighty arrow slammed into the torso of the obsidian demon, the explosion was remarkably subdued, but it had clearly hit its mark.

Yu gritted his teeth as the impact took its toll on his body. He found himself almost buckling under the pressure, but in the end, even if only just barely, he managed to remain standing.

A series of smoke bombs bounced off the floor's surface, leaving everything in sight shrouded in a dark, dense cloud. Still recoiling from the blow he'd just taken, Yu wasn't even able to switch out his Persona to clear it away.

"Graaa…!" Ongyo-ki grunted as its limbs were suddenly constricted by the Gorgon's torso.

The towering Persona thrashed about and fought for control as best as it could, keeping Medusa at bay in a back-and-forth struggle that had seemingly no end in sight. But then again, Ongyo-ki never needed to come out on top in the first place. It only needed to buy its wielder enough time.

Yu, having recovered as best as he could up until that point, readied to swap to another Persona to turn the tides. However, by then the raven-haired woman was well aware of his trick and intended to do and was intent on making it as hard as possible for him to make the switch. Even before he could extend his hand, he found himself on the receiving end of a flurry of throwing knives.

Yumiko came leaping through the smoke with two blades in hand. She slashed and ripped at the Wild Card with everything she had before retreating back into the smokescreen just a few seconds later. She repeated the process, striking from various other angles with such speed that her prey could hardly afford to breathe.

Even so, Yu stood firm and moved not an inch.

'Fight back, dammit!' Yumiko hissed in thought.

The smoke had all but cleared, and she could tell that she had hardly even a minute left before their deadly dance came to a close. Out of either frustration or impatience, she sent a wild flurry of knives towards the passive Persona user, many of which didn't even come remotely close to hitting their mark.

A panicked Yu watched the wayward projectiles with fear in his eyes, finding it necessary to rush off to the side to intercept their path. Yumiko couldn't help but be confused by this, not understanding how by far her least effective attack had somehow inspired his most noticeable reaction.

It became obvious a moment later why Yu had moved with the urgency that he had. A fair number of the knives were headed straight towards his semi-statufied teammates, with Rise in particular staring down the brunt of the would-be impact.

The songstress braced herself as Yu dove in front of her, slashing several of the knives out of the air and managing to ward most of them off. A lone blade sliced through the top of his shoulder, and though the wound was somewhat shallow, blood nevertheless began to pour down his shirt.

"Yu!" Rise exclaimed worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," he assured, his steely gray eyes never leaving the red-clad woman. "Please tell me you're okay, at least."

The subtle desperation that underlaid his voice tugged at the redhead's heart, though before she could respond, the enemy Persona user of all people did so on her behalf.

"Yes, she and the rest of them are perfectly fine, and all thanks to you. It's quite touching, really," Yumiko stated, rolling her eyes derisively. "That wasthe reason you were being so passive, wasn't it? To protect your teammates?"

"Of course. Or does it come as a shock to you that I care about others more than I care about myself?" Yu shot back.

"Spare me the veiled insults. And in that case, let me be very clear," Yumiko hissed, her eyes heavily narrowed. "Start fighting me with everything you have, or the next time I attack, they'll be the targets."

An unmistakable bloodthirsty aura began to seep from her being that made her threat feel all too real. Yu strengthened the grip on his katana, readying to respond to what would undoubtedly be one hell of an onslaught.

The conflict at hand promised to be akin to an unstoppable force slamming into an immovable object. However, neither side would end up making a move, as without warning the doors to the room quite literally shot off the hinges.

All eyes turned to see a towering bald-headed man walk imposingly into the room. Yu immediately assumed that it was enemy reinforcements and was fast at work contemplating his next move to stall for time.

'Everyone else is just behind, I can feel it. All I need to do is manage to hold them off for—' Yu thought.

"Let's go," the man announced abruptly, his gaze fixed on the green-eyed woman. "We're leaving. Now."

Both of the current combatants were at a loss for words.

"Excuse you?" Yumiko scoffed.

"We're—"

"That was rhetorical," she stated firmly. "And you couldn't have given me five more minutes?"

"Hebiza."

It was clear that the black-haired beauty was about to protest further, however she could tell just at a glance that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. With a fiery agitation in her eyes, she sheathed her knives.

"Fine, it's not as if I could accomplish much more here anyway," Yumiko sighed.

It was obvious that they were about to leap away, though before they could actually do so, a bolt of lightning came crashing down out of nowhere and forced them to evade. Their eyes shifted towards the freshly-arrived Izanagi as it hovered in place next to its master.

"Now you choose to be aggressive," Yumiko uttered bitterly.

"What? Did you think I was just going to let you leave?" Yu asked.

"It's not really your choice, handsome."

With a snap of her fingers, a red fire surrounded her and gave way to Medusa once again. Both the Gorgon's eyes and those of the snakes on her head immediately began to glow an eerie green.

"Yu, close your eyes and brace yourself!" Rise warned.

The Wild Card did just that all the while a brilliant and blinding flash of light resounded throughout the area. Even through his closed eyes he could feel its radiance, and while it felt as if it would last forever, eventually the light did die down.

Yu dropped his forearm and opened his eyes, observing the obvious result. Both the red-clad woman and her imposing comrade were nowhere to be seen, but he couldn't have cared less in the moment.

By far his biggest concern was Rise and the others, and so he wasted no time rushing over to them.

"Are you okay?" Yu asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," the redhead answered. "You know, minus the part where I'm half-statue…"

"I'm assuming that attack just now was what did this to all of you in the first place?" Yu reasoned.

"Right on the nose," Rise said, flicking the rocky surface of her hips. "It looks like I can manage to partially block it out, but my second attempt looks like it went a lot better than the first."

"Any idea how to reverse it?" Yu inquired.

The stone coating on his teammates shattered no sooner than the question was asked. A confused trio of Phantom Thieves quickly began checking their bodies for any traces of stiffness, relief washing over them when they realized they had full mobility once again.

"Thank godthat's over with," sighed Panther, stretching her arms as best as she could. "If I'd have been stuck as a statue for the rest of my life, I'd have been so pissed off!"

"You and me both," Joker remarked with a slight laugh underlying his words. He turned to his fellow Wild Card. "So, what'd we miss?"

Before Yu could give a response, the remainder of their teammates stormed through the room's entrance. Each began, to scan the area for signs of their targets, but it quickly became apparent that they were no longer there.

"Aw, crap," Oracle grunted. "Did they seriously get away?"

"Ah," Joker uttered. "I guess that answers that."

"Sadly, yes," Yu replied.

The sound of stampeding Shadows echoed from just beyond the door, alerting everyone that their conversation would have to wait.

Joker sweatdropped. "No time to discuss that, I'm afraid."

"Emergency plan B?" Yu asked.

"I was thinking the same thing."

Morgana blinked confusedly. "Emergency plan B?"

"It's a last resort plan that Joker and I came up with in the event that we found ourselves in a situation where we'd need to make an emergency exit," Yu explained, his voice deathly series.

"It's very difficult to execute, too," Joker added. He hung his head as if doubting their odds of success. "It requires perfect coordination and extreme focus. Still, it's either that, or be surrounded by a hoard of Shadows."

It was obvious that no one had any idea what they were talking about, and it remained that way since the two stepped away towards the nearest wall without saying so much as a word.

"Persona!"

The Wild Cards both summoned Zaou-Gongen, which then promptly rushed towards the wall on the left side of the room and tore a hole through it so massive that a dinosaur would've been able to make it through.

Dust and debris littered the room as both Ren and Yu turned back to their dumbstruck teammates.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"Don't you 'what' us!" Oracle exclaimed. "You…! All you did was blow a hole through the wall! What the hell was all that crap about perfect coordination and extreme focus?!"

"Well, we did have to hit it really hard," Yu replied.

"…history will one day frown on us for not putting you in a mental institution sooner," Sae remarked.

Yosuke nodded. "Agreed."

"Maybe so," said Yu. "But for the time being our focus should probably be on escaping."

A series of Yakuza-esque Shadows stormed through the now-doorless entrance to the room, all the while the Persona users took full advantage of 'Emergency plan B' and raced through the opening in the club's wall.

They made their way into the concrete jungle and moved out of reach of Shadows that perused them. They arrived at an area just outside an exit point in the Metaverse, sighing in relief at the sight of it on their Meta-Navs.

"Phew, haven't had to run like that in a while," Skull thought aloud. "Takes me back to when we'd have to run outta Palaces before they'd blow up."

Panther hung her head somewhat. "I just wish we didn't let Yumiko Hebiza slip away for a second time…"

"It could be worse," said Joker. "By the way, did you manage to get those trackers on the trucks, Oracle?"

The beaming smile of the orange-haired teen said it all.

"You bet your ass I did! With any luck, we'll be able to track 'em down right back to the source here in the Metaverse!"

In the background, those who were there with her in the courtyard shared an uncertain look with one another.

"Uh… should you tell her, or should I?" Skull asked.

"Well, you're better at ruining things," Mona replied.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "I mean you ain't wrong, but still…!"

"Ruin what?" Queen inquired.

The two frenemies almost refused to respond on account of a lingering sense of guilt.

Yosuke was the one to spit out what was on their minds. "The trucks kind of, um… blew up."

Oracle immediately stiffened and the happiness she'd previously sported evaporated in an instant.

"W-Well, you know, with the fight against that super strong bald guy and all…" Skull added.

It took the navigator a moment to recollect her last sights of the courtyard, but in doing so she most of the area being on fire and destroyed as collateral damage. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, she took out her phone and opened her tracking app, finding that no signals were available nearby.

She glared at the plexiglass screen, her mood turning sour then and there. A dead signal meant only one thing, after all.

"U-Um, you good, Futaba?" Skull asked as casually as he could.

"…Let's just go home," Oracle grumbled.

Yongen-Jaya: Café Leblanc, Some Time Later…

The entirety of the team that had managed to get together in the aftermath of what had proven to be a more eventful night than they'd assumed it would be.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Chie began, clearly in the midst of a migraine. "When you guys went to that club, you ran into the Black Biker, that green-eyed woman, and some new crazy powerful monk-looking Persona user?"

"I didn't say he looked like a monk…" Yosuke replied.

"That's the image I have of him in my head."

"Me too, actually," Yukiko stated.

"Aw man, now I'm seeing it too. He totally did look like a monk," Futaba muttered.

"We're getting a bit off topic," Makoto said.

"Also, we barely got a good look at the Black Biker," Ryuji pointed out. "Mona and I saw 'im for like two seconds before he zoomed away, and we barely even managed to see that."

"Man, we really missed out…" Chie thought aloud. "We didn't find anything at the warehouse on the other side of town. Just a bunch of random Shadows roaming around just like everywhere else in the Metaverse."

"A few duds are bound to happen over the course of an investigation like this," Naoto stated. "On the topic of this 'monk man' you mentioned… did he happen to have a tattoo of a yin and yang sign under his eyes?"

"Yeah, actually he did," Yosuke replied. "And since you asked that question, I'm guessing that means you know who he is."

The blue-haired detective soon flipped her laptop around, showing the group a criminal profile of the bald-headed man. He was instantly recognizable as the very man that they'd had the misfortune of encountering in the Metaverse just hours prior.

"Genzo Hagane…" Yukiko read.

"That'd definitely him alright," Ryuji thought aloud. "Well, either that or the dude we saw was a clone or his twin."

"Have you been watching soap operas again?" Ren joked.

"Maybe," Ryuji said with a shrug. "But hey, it could happen."

"Actually," spoke Naoto, her voice stern even as she interrupted a playful back and forth. "Ryuji-kun's theory might not be unbelievable compared to the alternative."

Not a soul present could actually believe that the detective was being serious, and yet she very clearly was.

"Um… how, exactly?" Makoto uttered, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

"Genzo Hagane was pronounced dead six years ago," Naoto stated.

"Dun-dun-duuuuun~!" Chie uttered, earning a few snickers. The young detective just stared at her with half-lidded eyes. "What? You gotta admit that was pretty funny."

"I laughed," said Yu.

He then received an even nastier look from the blue-haired beauty, but she nevertheless moved past it.

"Regardless," Naoto began, annoyance clear in her tone. "Years ago, Genzo Hagane was a well-known enforcer for a powerful group of Yakuza. A case was put together and when police went to arrest him, he resisted. Harshly."

Yu continued to read off the case file. "It says here he severely wounded seven officers with his bare hands before he was shot four times in the chest and then fled into a building under construction."

"He then somehow managed to take out the support beams for said building and caused it to collapse on himself, refusing to be taken alive," Naoto added.

The disbelief in the audience was palpable.

"Holy shit…" Ryuji said in amazement. "And he's still alive? The hell is the guy made of?"

"It's difficult to say, mainly on account of his body never being recovered," Naoto answered.

"I kinda find it hard to believe he anyone could live through all that," Futaba thought aloud. Cupping her chin in deep consideration, she added, "Although I also find that story in general hard to believe in general."

"I as well," Yusuke commented.

"I'll admit, even among police, his reputation appears to be the stuff of legends," Naoto replied. "Though it seems impossible, I find it hard not to see the parallels with the man you encountered earlier tonight."

"Ultimately, I don't think it matters," Makoto thought aloud. "The question we need answered is whether or not Genzo Hagane and the woman in red are the cause of everything that's happening in Shinjuku right now."

"About that…"

The blue-haired detective retrieved her laptop for only a split second before switching over to another document to show the group at large. On the screen was now two maps on which blobs of green, yellow, and red colors of varying degrees were strewn across the surface.

Each of the patterns, however, were so entirely different that it almost looked like a modified set of Rorschach tests stacked side by side.

"And this is… what, exactly?" Yosuke uttered confusedly.

"They're heat maps. We use them all the time in law enforcement to track hotspots for various crimes," Chie explained. "Though where and what this one is tracking, I've got no idea."

"You're completely right. And for the record, this is of Shinjuku—but I'll get to that in a moment," Naoto replied. Her eyes reflexively shifted towards her trusted partner. "Taking all things into consideration that we've uncovered thus far, I've gradually started to believe that Detective Jirikishi's hunch was correct. In all likelihood, we are dealing with someone from the pre-purge era in Shinjuku. In fact, the reason I recognized the man you encountered based only on your description of him was because I've been researching any and all known criminals from that era."

"Talk about extra…" Ryuji mumbled.

"It is just like her though," Yu said with a chuckle. "Always goes the extra mile."

Naoto somewhat lost her stride, but recovered rather quickly. "Y-Yes, well, during my research, I took the additional liberty of creating this heat map of crimes at the height of the pre-purge era and the current crime wave in Shinjuku."

"They look entirely different," Yukiko pointed out.

"That they do," Naoto replied. Her lips curled into a smirk. "That is when you look at them aggregated. However, in the pre-purge era, there were any number of conflicting crime lords that had their preferred rackets, as well as competitors in the same field. As I was playing with different ways to split out the data to track down our kingpin, I came across an exact match…"

A few strokes of the keyboard altered the surface of the left map on the screen. The result was not a perfect match, but the resemblance was certainly enough to the point that anyone could see the similarities.

"This is remarkable, Naoto-san," an astonish Haru couldn't help but compliment

"W-Wait, if you were able to this, then do you have some idea about who's actually behind all of this?" Ann asked in realization.

"I truly wish that was the case," sighed the detective. "These are all crimes that are believed to have no broader gang affiliation. There's a clear pattern, yes, but those arrested at the time in these areas never really had any useful information, so much so that they were often arrested as merely common criminals with no affiliation. Without the benefit of our knowledge of events in the Metaverse, it's likely that even I wouldn't have been able to identify this pattern."

"Hold up, we know about the bald dude and the woman in red, right? Couldn't it have been them back then, too?" Ryuji thought aloud.

"That theory falls off upon closer analysis," Naoto replied. "Yumiko Hebiza was an information broker first and foremost while Genzo Hagane was strictly an enforcer. The current state of Shinjuku doesn't fit their MO's in the slightest."

"Then you think we're dealing with a lone spider at the center of a massive web," Makoto reasoned.

"It's very likely, yes. And whoever they are, they've shown a penchant for being remarkably shrewd, calculated, and sadly for us, cautious," Naoto replied.

Everything that the detective had run down made a great deal of sense, which was of course frustrating on account of the fact that it meant they still had no idea whatsoever who or what they were fighting against.

"Then we're basically back to square one," Rise sighed.

"Maybe not," Ren in realization, "I actually know someone that might be able to help us out."

"Wait, for real?" a shocked Ryuji questioned. "Who?"

"She's a reporter that works in Shinjuku, and a pretty well-connected one. It might actually work to our benefit that what we're looking at was years ago since back then she would've been knee-deep in stuff like this," Ren stated.

"Do you think she'd really be able to help?" Makoto asked.

"It can't hurt to ask. In fact…"

Joker began to text her then and there, and to the surprise of many, he kept his phone out clearly waiting for her response.

"Uh, wouldn't she be asleep by now?" Kanji mused.

*Bzzzzt* *Bzzzzzt*

"I suppose that answers that," Yusuke said surprisedly.

"She says she might actually be able to help us out," Ren stated to the group. "She also says we can meet tomorrow at the usual place."

"Mind if I tag along?" Yu asked.

"Not at all. In fact, I think it'd be better if you did given what it'll be about."

"I would attend as well, but I think it's best that I connect with Detective Jirikishi tomorrow morning to go over everything we've discovered thus far," said Naoto. "That, and I've some other matters to attend to at the precinct."

Yu nodded in understanding, "Sounds good. Well, it's getting late, so we should all probably head out now."

It seemed that everyone was in agreement, but in the case of a lone thuggish Persona user, one burning question gnawed at his mind so intensely that he couldn't help but ask it.

"Hey, hang on just a sec…" Ryuji trailed off, eying his best friend suspiciously. "Your tellin' me that you text some chick at like one in the morning, she's awake, and her response is for her to ask you to meet 'at the usual spot'? What's that all about?"

Most of the older crowd found it somewhat odd, but the level of suspicion that came from the female Phantom Thieves present poured forth from their being like rain during a hurricane.

A number of the older girls felt somewhat nostalgic seeing it, though perhaps not in a good way.

"I'm really not sure what you mean," Ren answered, doing himself absolutely no favors. "But as for why she's awake, it's probably because she's just been up drinking all night. She tends to do that more than she probably should."

"That raises more questions than it answers…" Futaba muttered.

"For example: how on earth could you possibly know that?" Ann added, her eyes narrowed as thin as razors.

"If anything, it only makes me more curious," Haru remarked, her brown orbs holding a dark shadow to them more and more with each passing second. "I can't help but wonder if you and this woman might be involved in something… illicit."

"Yes, I agree," Makoto chimed in.

The infamous Thief of Hearts found himself placed in front of an inquisition, though he had only himself to blame for his poor choice of words.

"Wow, they seem really annoyed for some reason," Yu stated observationally.

Though the young lawyer wouldn't end up on the receiving end of a lecture like his younger counterpart, he did receive a few agitated looks from his female teammates, particularly Rise for reasons that were obvious to most. Yosuke had to stifle a chuckle while Kanji just sighed tiredly.

"Actually, this reminds me back in the day whenever the girls—" Teddie began.

He was immediately cut off by Chie, who had her hand covering the blond's mouth in two seconds flat.

"I think it's past your bedtime, Teddie," Chie said.

"Mmmfh?"

"Yes, 'mmmfh' indeed."

Yu chuckled at the interaction, but as he turned to actually watch Teddie continue to struggle in vain, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye—or more particularly, someone.

Sae sat silently, her face appearing oddly contemplative even by her standards. He'd almost forgotten that she was there with them given that she'd not uttered so much as a word since they'd returned to Leblanc a little over an hour ago.

That realization had Yu about to walk over to her to check if something was bothering her. However, as if she sensed on some level that he was about to, she stood up from her booth seat and addressed the group.

"I think turning in is a good idea," Sae abruptly stated. "I'm rather tired, so I'll be heading out now. As always, please keep us appraised of whatever you discover tomorrow."

"Right behind you, sis," Makoto uttered.

The elder of the Nijijma siblings nodded somberly before making her way towards the exit. No one really thought much of her abrupt departure, though Yu eyed the door wistfully for a time after she'd left.

"I think Sae-san's right," Chie said. She yawned tiredly, adding, "It's getting pretty late, and I've got a pretty early shift tomorrow."

"That's probably for the best," agreed Yu. "Just keep me posted on when and where we need to meet up with your reporter friend, Ren."

"Will do."

Tokyo: Upscale Apartment Complex, Some Time Later…

Makoto and Sae walked through the front door to their apartment in what was undeniably awkward silence. It wasn't fresh, either, and had lasted since the very moment they stepped into the subway station.

The younger of the two in particular was unsure of what exactly to even say. She mused that perhaps Sae truly was just tired, or maybe feeling suddenly unwell. Neither of those two things were common, though at the same time neither was outside the realm of possibility.

Nevertheless, she had a nagging suspicion she just couldn't shake that it was something far worse.

Abruptly, Sae rubbed her eyes. "Thank goodness were finally home. I've had a horrible headache for some time now…"

"I see, that's good," said Makoto, sounding clearly relieved. "I-I mean, is there anything I can get you, sis?"

"No, but thank you," she replied, mustering a smile. "Just get to bed, okay? It's been a long night for all of us."

"Will do. Good night, sis."

With that, the siblings went their separate ways. When Sae finally did get into her room, she lingered in front of her door, frowning into space.

'I feel badly about lying to her, but what else was I supposed to do?' Sae wondered. 'Supposing I did say anything, how am I to explain myself? And what if I ended up worrying her over nothing? And of course, if I say nothing, she'll be worried about my silence all the same.'

It was never something that she'd ever said out loud, but Sae had a particular distaste of lying to Makoto. As her elder sister and guardian, she expected honesty from her, so in turn it would have been hypocritical for Sae to not extend the same courtesy—or at least that's how she saw it.

All the same, Sae knew that one of Makoto's most glaring flaws when it came to their relationship was that she was horrible at so much as broaching any subject that was even remotely awkward. Their recent talk about dating was proof enough of that.

Worse was that it was always obvious whenever Makoto wanted to ask something, and more often than not, Sae knew exactly what it was that she wanted to say.

'A part of me wishes she could just be more direct with me,' Sae thought. She hung her head and sighed, 'Though I suppose I could just as easily press her on it, and I rarely do… and now just wasn't one of those times, even if I wanted it to be.'

The source of the silver-haired beauties concern stemmed from one thing and one thing only: the shocked look on Genzo Hagane's eyes when they came face-to-face. Though it seemed unlikely even at the time, if not impossible, it felt as if he had somehow recognized who she was.

That recognition seemed to have some significance to it as well. Perhaps he'd been a criminal that became acquainted with her through her prosecutorial work.

Sae, however, had never once seen the man before in her life, and she had a flawless memory when it came to faces. The idea that he may have known her prosecutorial work also didn't make much sense given that she now knew that in the years Genzo was active, she would've still been in college. It couldn't be related to her current work, either, since she was no longer in the employ of the SIU, nor had she been for nearly half a year.

'If I'm right, if he truly did recognize me, then the question is… how?' Sae wondered.

They'd never met before.

She'd never worked a case that was even remotely related to him.

Yet there was still one way she could imagine that he would recognize her.

'There's no way it would make sense,' Sae thought. Her expression fell. 'And yet… there aren't any other possibilities that I can think of.'

The man was likely acquainted with her by association to one man: Akashi Nijima.

It would make sense, after all. Her father was a detective in the SPD that never once accepted the corrupt law enforcement model that bled through Shinjuku all those years ago. She was certain that a number of people may have had designs on taking his life even before he was ultimately run down by a truck. To that end, it would even make logical sense that crime bosses even considered going below the belt and bringing his family into the picture to get him to 'fall in line'.

'Even if it's not concrete enough for me to be sure, I should probably tell Yu and Shirogane-san,' she thought.

Sae picked up her phone and immediately set about typing a message to Yu first and foremost. A strange thing happened, though…

Her fingers simply wouldn't move.

She simply sat in place, staring at the screen up until the point that it timed out from inactivity and went blank yet again. Even after that, she still did nothing but stare in silence for a time.

"Why can't I…?" Sae wondered aloud.

It was then that she noticed her Shadow staring back at her from the mirror. And it was then, as she was looking into the fiery golden eyes that were a window into the depths of her own soul, that she came to know the answer to her question.

Tokyo: Upscale Apartment Building

The characteristic ding of the elevator sounded off as it arrived on the top floor, allowing Yu and Rise to walk down to their respective apartments before they parted ways to opposite sides upon reaching their doors.

"You know, I honestly still find it hard to believe we're neighbors right now…" Rise offhandedly remarked, doing so with a cheerful smile.

The Wild Card chuckled. "Same here."

"Either way, good night, Yu. Sleep well."

"Good night, Rise."

He reached into his pocket to grab his keycard, but upon doing so he felt a sharp pain shoot out from his right shoulder. He instinctively grabbed it and winced in tandem.

"Ahh," Yu hissed.

This naturally drew Rise's attention, who turned around in a heartbeat before even opening the door to her own apartment.

"W-What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked, concern written all over her face as she walked up towards him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Mostly," Yu answered.

The silver-haired young man stood up straight and clearly put a great deal of effort into shaking off the pain such that it didn't show. Rise's skeptical stare was proof that it had no effect, though.

"Uh-huh," Rise uttered disbelievingly, her arms crossed. "Then if you're fine, you wouldn't mind taking off your blazer for me, would you?"

"Hm? Why would you want me to do that?" he asked curiously.

"Gee, I wonder why."

"That's what I said, yeah."

That comment of his earned him an immediate glare. Rise then brought her hand up to his right shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. She put hardly any pressure at all and yet it still caused a noticeable recoil on his part.

"O-Okay, I probably deserved that," Yu replied, a bead of sweat dripping down his cheek.

"Come on, off with the blazer," Rise stated pointedly.

Nodding in acceptance, Yu did just that and removed his suit jacket, revealing the still relatively fresh wound on his shoulder that he'd received in the Metaverse. The anxious look it inspired in his redheaded friend was a majority of the reason he didn't want her to see it.

"You really had the nerve to try and hide this?" Rise scolded.

"It's not that bad," Yu said in a longshot attempt at reassuring her.

"At the very least, you need to disinfect it and bandage it up," Rise said.

"I was planning to," Yu replied defensively.

"By yourself?" Rise asked in evident lack of belief. "You were wincing just trying to get your keycard, and you expect me to believe you could disinfect and dress your wound without somehow making it worse?"

"I didn't say I expected you to believe it," Yu pointed out.

Yet again, the redhead's venomous glare made an appearance. A simple raising of her hand caused him to defensively cover his shoulder. She instead reached in to his right pocket, managing to take his keycard out of it before opening his apartment door on his behalf.

"Come on, I'm helping you," Rise stated.

She walked right into the apartment as if to further emphasize that there was no room for arguing, and while Yu was a talented lawyer, there wasn't a chance in hell he'd be able to convince her otherwise.

"Well alright then…" Yu muttered.

By the time he crossed his front door, Rise was already filling a bowl with water and getting a clean rag out of the kitchen. She gestured her head towards the living area's couch, a message that was quickly received.

In no time at all, she was seated right there alongside him. Without warning, she started to unbutton his shirt, which nearly caused him to jolt in surprise.

"Come on, off with the shirt. I can't clean the wound properly otherwise," Rise pointed out.

"Ah, right."

Actually getting the shirt off proved to be rather painless, a fact that Yu was incredibly thankful of. He waited patiently for his friend to start the cleaning process, but to his surprise, a good number of seconds went by without her doing anything whatsoever.

The truth was that even though Rise had been down-to-business up until that point, the sight of the Wild Card's admittedly chiseled physique had caught her attention in more ways than one. Luckily, it didn't seem as if he'd noticed that particular fact.

"Rise…?" Yu uttered.

He peered over at the redhead and saw her completely zoned out. She seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in upon hearing the sound of his voice.

"R-Right, are you ready?" she asked.

"Yeah, you can start whenever."

Rise soaked the washcloth and began to clean the shoulder wound as gently as she could. It was clear that there was still some discomfort even in spite of her efforts, but that couldn't really be helped in the grand scheme of things.

"Hopefully this isn't too bad?"

"No, not at all. Thanks for asking, though," Yu said.

"You know," she said, her tone holding a noticeable edge to it. "You really should have said something before we left the Metaverse. We could've healed a wound like this up in no-time flat."

"In all the commotion, I actually forgot about it," Yu admitted.

"I really worry about you sometimes," Rise sighed.

"Speaking of…" Yu trailed off leadingly, his expression one of deep thought. "What was your impression of my fight with Yumiko Hebiza?"

The mere mention of the fight brought to memory the moment that one of the woman's throwing knives cut into Yu's shoulder right before her very eyes. Needless to say, it didn't exactly fill her with happiness and joy.

"You mean other than being really pissed off that she injured you?" Rise asked rhetorically.

"I was more referring to the way she was fighting me, so yeah."

Even in spite of her bitter distaste for the green-eyed vipress, Rise put in an earnest effort in giving a useful answer. Coincidentally, the more she thought about it, the more she started to understand why Yu had asked her that question in the first place.

"Now that I think about it, it was a total one-eighty from how she was fighting the rest of us," Rise answered. She soaked the wash cloth in the bowl of water yet again before continuing. "Before you showed up, she fought almost… playfully. Like she was more messing around than anything else. But after you came into the picture, she seemed to give it everything she had."

"I got that impression too," Yu stated, nodding his head along. "It seemed to me like she was almost trying to get me to go all-out, and I can't for the life of me figure out why that might be. Then there's also the fact that she knew my name, but didn't seem to recognize me by my face."

"Huh, yeah, that was pretty weird," Rise thought aloud. "I wonder why that could be. You'll have to ask her when we see her next time. You know, right before I claw her eyes out."

"Easy, no need to go that far," Yu said, unable to stifle a laugh.

There was a comfortable silence that settled in as the songstress had nearly finished cleaning the wound. Still, even as she remained focused on the task at hand, there was one thing she couldn't help but bring up.

"So, I noticed you seemed worried about Sae-san earlier," Rise offhandedly stated.

"You picked up on that, huh?" Yu questioned rhetorically. His shoulder slumped tiredly at the recollection of how she looked back at Leblanc. "Honestly, I still am. I could tell she was struggling with something, and she's the type of person that keeps things bottled up even when she knows she shouldn't. It's hard not to worry about her when she gets like that. Even back in college, she—ow."

Yu winced as the fabric of the cloth was abruptly pulled back, tagging the folds of his wound in the process. He turned to see Rise looking down at him with the same ominous smile that he'd noticed Noir sporting every time her axe dug into the torso of a Shadow.

"Hold that thought for just a second. I'm done cleaning the wound, so now I'll need to disinfect it," Rise announced, her tone overly-sweet as she got up off the sofa. "Where do you keep your iodine? You know, burning, stinging iodine?"

"I-In the cabinet just over there…" Yu replied, gesturing off towards the kitchen.

With almost an unmistakably sadistic joy, Rise retrieved the iodine and another clean cloth rag before returning to Yu's side. Her frightening smile never faded as she applied a generous amount of the liquid and prepared to blot it over the wound.

"Anyway, you were saying?" Rise pressed.

"Actually, I was just about—A-Aaah!"

The stinging sensation was every bit as unpleasant and painful as he expected, and he was thankful to whatever higher powers were out there that it didn't last very long.

"Relax," Rise said reassuringly. She then reached onto the table, swapping the iodine and the rag out for a package of bandages. "I grabbed the gauze when I was getting the disinfectant. Sit tight, we're almost done."

True to her word, it didn't take long for Rise to actually wrap up the shoulder injury. In fact, she did it strangely well.

"There," she chirped.

"Thanks," replied Yu, moving the arm slightly to ensure the gauze were secure enough. When he'd done so, he looked back to his friend. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm a bit surprised you're that good at bandaging a wound."

"I'm a woman of many talents," Rise stated, flashing a cheeky smirk.

"Well, no denying that."

"And you'd better not. Especially when I know where to smack you for a critical hit," she joked, eliciting an audible laugh from her former senpai.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied, matching her grin with one of his own. "Thanks again. This helps a lot."

"Geez, will you quit thanking me already?" Rise asked, annoyance breathing through her eyes. "You're only hurt in the first place because you were protecting me. The least I could do was help you dress the wound after you were dumb enough to walk out of the Metaverse with it."

"About that. You're not…"

A clearly hesitant Yu Narukami trailed off, somewhat to Rise's surprise. She had an inkling as to what he was going to ask, but she still wasn't entirely sure.

"Not what?" she asked.

"Never mind, it's not really important."

"…you were going to ask if I was mad at you, right?" Rise mused. He was clearly surprised she seemed to know, prompting her to giggle amusedly. "What's with that look? Did you really think I didn't know why you were trying to hide it from me before we walked into your apartment?"

"Kinda, yeah," he admitted.

"Well, you are pretty good at keeping a straight face, but I can still figure you out every now and then, you know," Rise stated playfully. "And for the record, I'm not upset at all."

There was a comfortable silence as the redhead began to clean up everything she'd used to tend to Yu's wound. When she sat back down next to him on the sofa, she looked directly into his eyes, flashing a brilliant, almost blinding smile from ear to ear.

"I used to get mad, you know. Mad at you, and mad at myself," she began, her voice soft and genuine. "Every time you used to jump in front of an attack that was headed my way, my heart would stop, and I swear it wouldn't start beating again until I saw that you were okay. I used to think that if you got hurt trying to protect me, that I… well, I don't even know what I'd do."

"So then what changed that?" Yu asked, sincerely interested in her answer.

An almost bittersweet smile crossed her lips.

"The truth is, I had to accept that as a navigator, I needed the rest of you to be with me to be effective. So, I doubled down on mastering my support abilities," Rise answered somberly. She seemed to cheer up, even laughing girlishly as she added, "That's actually the reason I got so good at making shields—so I could protect myself and all of you. Even after all those years going by without using Kanzeon, I'm still probably even better at it than Futaba-chan is."

"Wouldn't surprise me if that were true," Yu thought aloud. A playful smirk donned on his features. "After all, not just anyone can water down the blow from a Megidolan like that."

The idol's eyes went wide in shock.

"W-Wait, you picked up on that?!" Rise exclaimed.

"Did you really think I wouldn't?" he shot back amusedly. "Rise, I know what getting hit with a fully-charged Megidolan feels like, and that wasn't it. And since you were the only other person there…"

"I see…"

"Which also means I know you were shielding me over shielding yourself."

She went silent and averted her gaze as if to not betray her nervousness.

"W-Well, of course," Rise began. "I don't get mad when you try to shield me anymore, but that doesn't mean I enjoy seeing you get hurt. And it sure as hell doesn't mean I just have to stand by and watch."

"I'm not complaining," Yu replied, his charming and reassuring smile flashing from ear to ear. "Megidolan's hurt."

"I wouldn't know. You always play the hero and prevent me from getting hit," Rise countered.

"I mean hey, who doesn't like to play hero from time to time?"

"Again, you always play the hero," she giggled. There was a softness that came into her eyes as she quietly added, "At least for me you do."

The tenderness and genuine nature of her voice caused an awkward tightness in Yu's chest if only for a moment. He cleared his throat and looked at the clock, and though he did that simply to avert his gaze in an unawkward way, it nevertheless caused him to realize something that'd slipped his mind.

"Wow, is it really that late already…?" Yu said in amazement.

"Hm?" Rise uttered. Her eyes shot wide open upon seeing the time. "W-Wow, seriously?"

"We should probably turn in," Yu mused. "Come on, I'll walk you out."

"The doors lock on their own, so there's no need," she stated.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure I can manage to walk all the way over to the door, open it, and then walk across the hall, yeah."

"Well, when you put it like that…"

"Just get to bed," Rise said through a laugh.

"Fine, fine," Yu replied. He let out a hearty yawn, much to his and the idol's amusement. "Guess I really am that tired. Good night, Rise."

"Good night."

The two went their separate ways, with Rise double-checking to make sure she hadn't left anything over while she'd been there. She was nearly about to put her hand on the doorknob when she stopped in place, realizing she'd forgotten to mention something to Yu.

'Ah, damn, I forgot to tell him to drink water to help with the blood loss,' Rise thought.

She could have just as easily shouted it up at him from downstairs, but given that she was already so close to the kitchen, she believed that to be unnecessary.

'It'd just be easier for me to take him up a glass,' she mused.

The door to his room was still open, and she meekly knocked on the frame as she announced herself.

"Sorry to barge in, but I figured you could use a glass of…" Rise began.

She trialed off on account of seeing the silver-haired young man passed out on his bed. The fact that he was exactly as she'd previously seen him—shirtless and wearing only his suit pants—was evidence enough that he'd entered the room and immediately laid down on his mattress to get some sleep.

'Wow, he must've really been tired,' Rise thought. 'He didn't even cover himself up before falling asleep.'

The redheaded popstar placed the glass of water on the stand next to his bed and went to work finding the nearest blanket on hand.

As she readied to cover him up, her eyes drifted to his midsection, or more specifically the chiseled abs that had caught her attention when she was first treating his shoulder wound. She caught herself staring, though it took more time than she'd care to admit before she carefully began to tuck him.

It seemed that caution was unnecessary though as Yu Narukami appeared dead to the world on all accounts.

"All that fighting must've taken its toll on you," Rise mused from her position at the Wild Card's side. "I guess that makes sense though. After all, I haven't seen you have to switch out so many Personas in a fight since we were in high school."

Yu had clearly needed to pull out most of the stops when he was protecting her and the others. Tanking an amplified Megidolan also likely didn't do his stamina any favors either.

At this, Rise felt a pang of guilt. She'd lent her support when she could, yes, but she was by no means as useful in his fight with the woman in red as she'd wanted to be.

'He'd just tell me it's stupid to feel guilty over something like that,' Rise thought, chuckling amusedly. 'And I know he'd do it a thousand times over if he had to. That's just who he is, no matter what I say or do…'

Rise found herself smiling as her longing gaze continued to keep itself on Yu's peaceful, resting face. She extended her hand uncertainly, even nearly pulling it back at one point. Eventually, she began to gently brush her hand through his hair, and to her pleasant surprise, in his unconscious state he started to subtly lean into it.

"Even in your sleep you're adorable," Rise whispered to herself, letting out a slight sigh. "You're so kind, caring, and handsome… but you don't make it easy for me, you know?"

Her other hand was drawn to her chest as her heart began to ache, a clear sign her emotions were starting to get the better of her. They were always so difficult to control when it came to him.

"I wish just once you'd really look my way and use that big brain of yours to read in-between the lines. But even though you never do…"

Whether it was due to the power of the moment itself or just her own inability to hold back any more than she already had, Rise leaned in towards Yu's face, bringing her lips within striking distance for a kiss.

She hesitated only briefly, but softly closed the gap between their lips and lingered for only a few seconds. When she pulled back, her cheeks were redder than her hair, though a soft and unmistakable smile shined on her face all the while.

"Thank you for always being my hero," Rise whispered, her tone heavy with emotion. "And even if you drive me crazy sometimes, you're perfect just the way you are."

She held her eyes locked on Yu's face looking for any sign that he'd actually been awake, or perhaps that he'd woken up. When she realized that he was still out cold, she hung her head and groaned to herself.

"You would seriously be asleep," Rise said. She somberly went on, "But… that's fine."

Rise stood up from the bed and headed for the door, saying nothing in the wake of her departure. She made her way down the stairs and out the door, and just like that, the idol had taken her leave for the night.

It took several minutes until after her departure for Yu to stir from his bed even slightly. He picked up his upper body, unable to keep himself from staring at his still open bedroom door, his cheeks noticeably flushed.

'I'm shocked I was able to pull that off…' Yu thought to himself.

That he was able to keep calm when being awoken to a kiss on Rise's part was a testament to his ability to remain calm and collected. Even more so when he'd heard the emotion in her tone in what she said thereafter.

"I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting to wake up to that of all things," Yu sighed.

He began to lightly graze a finger across his lips as the sensation of her kiss still lingered.

"And I definitely wasn't expecting any tongue," he muttered, his cheeks heating up more so.

He sank back down into his bed, covering his eyes with his forearm. Needless to say, getting sleep was going to be more difficult than he bargained for.

A/N There we go. There's a lot to unpack in this chapter, so I'll get right to it. Next chapter will be posted next Friday for reference.

Explanations:

Next Chapter: Focus will be Yu and Ren having a trip to Shinjuku to see Ohya, and maybe-possibly-perhaps they might run in to a certain fortune teller. That'll be more the secondary plot though, with the primary plot being centered around Sae, though I'm sure people could've guessed that was coming.

Yumiko Hebiza: Yumiko meaning beautiful (美) and daughter(子) while Hebiza (蛇座) just means the Serpens constellation, which is a reference to her Persona. Her green eyes are also meant to be more snake-like since I think green is the color most associated with snakes. She has a special power, obviously, that turns people to stone that she touches, which again is a reference to her Persona, Medusa. There were a few hints in the sub-text in the previous chapter that alluded to her ability to turn people to stone, and I figured people would guess her Persona based off of that since I think Medusa is a widely-known mythological figure.

Yumiko Knowing Yu by Name: Again, reasons I won't explain here, but obviously it'll be relevant in the future.

Genzo Hagane: Old school tough-guy Yakuza. Again more of a case that his 'mountain strength' is an allusion to his Persona, Benkei, who was a famous warrior monk that never went down in battle. The myth goes that he even died standing when he made his last stand. Much like Yumiko, more on him later. Hopefully people at least thought his persona was cool in concept since it's a famous warrior monk.

Genzo Recognizing Sae: More significant in the next chapter so I won't be talking about it much here. Obviously, it was set up for a reason.

The Black Biker: Not Akechi. Or is it actually Akechi and I'm just screwing with people? Definitely not possibly maybe.

The Red Flames: For those of you that caught it, yes, Genzo and Yumiko have red flames instead of blue like all other Persona users have. That is significant for reasons I won't get into for spoiler reasons, but I will at least call it out here so that if anyone noticed it, they can pat themselves on the back.

The Golden Polevilion: This is just a play on the 'Golden Pavilion' which is a famous Japanese cultural site. I just replaced the pav with pole as in stripper pole because it's a strip club.