As the Phantom Thieves continue to make their way inside the Palace, a trap set up by Kamoshida forces them to separate.
"The Shadows here seem to be rather weak, they are no problem to us" - Mona said as he and the rest just finished fighting with another group of 3 enemies.
Kamoshida's guards were certainly annoying, but nothing the group couldn't handle.
"I think that as soon as we can leave this place, I'm going to see if there's a good chinese restaurant in town" - Tachibana said while she scratched her hair - "Killing all this Shadows is working up my appetite" -
"I think that for the moment we should focus on first completing this Palace, then we can think about eating" - Ruler tried to calm her sister down.
"Don't tell me you're not hungry after all of this" -
"Hey, need I remind you that we're supposed to take this seriously? We're trying to find his Treasure!" - Mona entered the conversation.
"I know I know, sorry about that Kitty" -
"Don't call me Kitty!" -
Their small banter was proven to be a mistake as a group of Shadows appeared and surrounded them, joined by two with golden armor.
A fight quickly broke out as the Phantom Thieves rushed to fight their newly arrived opponents, but as they engaged, one of them struck the ground with enough force to break it. While the members of the group managed to get out of the way, one of them wasn't so fortunate.
"Tachibana!" - Ruler yelled as he tried to reach his sister to no avail.
The girl plummeted through the floor of the castle, ending up in one of the deep channels of water that flowed through the Palace. Before falling further below, she managed to grab onto a ledge and pull herself back up.
"Great, now I'm hungry AND wet, amazing day for me" - the girl said as she regained her composure - "Now, what the hell is this place..." -
She arrived at the lowest point of the Palace, a place surrounded by a pond of water, metal cages hanging from the rocky ceiling and at the end of a spiral path, there was a single door without anyone protecting it.
As Tachibana curiously approached, she started hearing strange voices. It was Kamoshida's, but it sounded distorted and echoed.
"What the hell is in there?" -
Using her hands, she started to rip apart the vines that covered the door before pushing it. Inside, there was a weird skull with a bright red inside of it. She took it, feeling how it refilled her energy as she did. Suddenly, she was no longer hungry and felt like she could take on the world.
"Wonder what this is. I'll ask the talking Kitty later about it" -
As she was walking towards a door that she saw, thinking it would lead her upstairs, a golden knight broke down the door, becoming enraged after seeing her carry the strange skull.
"No one is allowed to touch Lord Kamoshida's Will Seeds!" -
"Whoa buddy, calm down for a second" -
"For this insolence, you shall die!" -
The knight dissolved and then transformed into what could only be described as...
"That's a green dick's head" -
The creature however, said nothing. Instead, it shot her with a blast of fire that she barely managed to dodge without falling into the waters below.
She tried to punch the weird enemy, but her hits seemed to be absorbed by the slime that it was made off. A second shot of fire nearly touched her, though it managed to burn part of her clothes.
"Dammit, I'm never getting past this dickhead at this rate" -
As she was getting ready to throw a second punch, her head started to sting. She felt dizzy and fell to the ground while holding her head, groaning from pain.
"Get up Mongrel! Your story is not meant to end in this place. You've survived far worse, show this lowly creature the power you command!" - a voice cried out from inside her head. Despite not knowing it, she felt it... Somewhat familiar.
"Whoever you are... You're right..." -
"That's it. Allow us to make a contract, bound to you once more. I am thou, thou art I. As a Master, and as a Thief, make the world recognize you!" -
A blue light enveloped her body, blinding the enemy in front of her. As it dissolves, Tachibana appeared, now dressed in a completely different manner: She was now sporting a long black trench coat, a small black tricorn on top of her head, her eyes covered by a red and black covering, in her right hand she held a dark blue hook sword.
"Not so sure what this is, but I'm loving every second of it. Now, dickhead, ready for round two!?" - as she said that, the covering in her eyes dissipated in blue flames while a figure showed up at her side, a blonde man with red eyes, sporting a golden armor - "Time for me to trash you. Now, Gilgamesh!" -
At her commands, several golden portals opened behind her and started shooting weapons against her enemy, piercing it and causing a regular amount of damage. She followed this up with a strike from her own hook sword.
"Seems like with these powers, you ain't a match for me dick. Finish him off Gilgamesh" -
Opening portals over the creature, they fired several weapons that impaled the thing, making it dissolve and disappear, as Gilgamesh did the same, returning to being Tachibana's mask.
"Wonder how the rest will feel when I tell them I killed a literal dick" - she said, laughing at her own comment - "Well, time to go back up" -
As she crossed the door, she came across an empty spot where an elevator was supposed to be. Hearing a mechanical noise, she saw the elevator come down, with the rest of the Phantom Thieves there.
"Tachibana!" - Ruler yelled as he reached to hug his sister, holding her tightly.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me" -
"I'm glad that you're... What's with the trenchcoat?" -
"Long story, I ended up fighting a dick and I killed it, well, with a little bit of help, but I still did it!" -
"Mona, you think she...?" -
"She summoned a Persona, pretty obvious Joker" -
"Oh yeah, that's what they were called. Well, now that we're all together, we can continue our exploration!" -
As Tachibana was heading for the elevator, she suddenly dropped to the ground unconscious. Ruler decided to carry her outside of the Palace. They'd have to call their exploration for the day...
