After Tachibana managed to awaken her Persona, the Thieves return the next day to finally finish their infiltration of the Palace.


"Agh... My head hurts like hell" - the girl with orange hair said as she slowly got up from the bed she was sleeping on

"Tachi, you're finally awake" -

"Ritsu?" -

The girl slowly opened her eyes to see her brother standing in front of her. Wasting no time she hugged him.

"Thanks for... Pulling me out of the castle" -

"Don't worry about it. By the way, that outfit you had in the Palace, did you unlock a Persona?" -

"I did. I was fighting some strange thing, it looked like a dick's head, then I started hearing a voice in my head and all of the sudden..." -

"Your attire changed and someone was behind you? Same thing happened to me" -

"Wow... That was amazing! I can't believe I actually summoned a Persona!" - Tachibana suddenly started to jump in happiness - "I need to tell the others!" -

"Eh... They're not here. I asked them to give you some time to rest and I stayed to watch over you. I'll call them if you want" -

"Please do, I need to tell them" -

Using the phone that they found on the roof of Shujin, Ritsuka called Ren to tell him that Tachibana had already woken up and that they could return to LeBlanc, and they did as such.

After everyone got to LeBlanc, Tachibana started to tell the story of how she managed to summon a Persona, which surprised all of them, mostly because even after the summoning and the battle, for a few seconds she looked perfectly fine.

"Well, now that we have 1 more member, tomorrow we'll finish the infiltration, we already managed to get close to the Treasure'' - Morgana said while laying in Ann's lap.

"Those golden knights man, they're tough..." - Ryuji said while scratching his head.

"Maybe now that Tachibana has her Persona, we might be able to take them on and continue" - Ren suggested.

"You guys need so much my help? Of course, who am I to deny it?" -

"Please don't get cocky sis, those knights really put all of us in danger, just one person won't change that. If we want to win, we'll all have to work together" -

"Makes sense to me. Alright, so tomorrow we go?" -

"Tomorrow we go. Remember everyone, we're going to get to the Treasure, no more distractions and no more delays, understood?" - Morgana said to rally up the team

"Yes!" -

With that, everyone went to their respective houses to sleep and prepare for tomorrow.

However, during the night, one person couldn't sleep.

"Senpai, are you awake?" - Mash said while moving Ritsuka a bit.

"I am now... What's wrong?" -

"I can't sleep, I've been thinking about the Palace and all those... Horrible views we saw today" -

"Yeah, Kamoshida has a really weird sense of decoration, Can't wait to steal his Treasure and make that whole thing collapse" -

"But... Do you really think we'll be able to? Two knights were enough to stop us" -

"That was a pain, but I think that if we go with a better strategy, plus now that we have Tachibana as a new member, we can definitely do so" -

"Well, if Senpai thinks we can, then I'll give it my all!" -

"You need to give your all regardless, Mash, but I'm glad I helped. Now, let's go back to sleep" -

Mash tried to, yet once more she was unable, not because of their mission, but because she felt something was missing.

"Senpai... Can I sleep next to you?" -

"Huh? Sure, come here" -

Mash did so and cuddled next to Ritsuka before hugging him. All of the sudden, both felt a strange yet comforting warm wash over them, and they slept peacefully.


/Next day, in the Palace/

"Take this!" - Ann yelled as she attacked one of the Shadows using her whip.

"Great job Panther. Now, everyone, remember what we have to do. 2 Guard Captains, we need to take them on" - Mona said.

"Should we divide and conquer?" - Tachibana asked, now dressed in her Phantom Thief attire.

"We tried that yesterday and it didn't work, so this time we're all taking them on, hope you're ready Avenger" - Skull said while they prepared to face the first one.

While in the Safe Room, the Thieves came up with Tachibana's nickname, or it would be best said that she said it, and the rest just went along with it, 'Avenger'.

She also revealed the weapon that was given to her, a short sword with a red jewel in the middle.

As the Thieves approached the first Captain, Joker shot it in the back to get its attention, causing it to transform into a knight riding a red horse. After that, Ruler and Skull summoned their Personas and attacked it from the back.

Next, Avenger tried to summon her Persona, but what came was different. Instead of the one with the golden armor, she summoned one with a blue suit holding a red glowing spear.

"What the? No, it doesn't matter, as long as it can fight, I can work with it, go!" -

The figure attacked with the lance, clashing with the weapon from the Shadow and allowing Mona and Panther to attack it with wind and fire respectively.

Joker and Shielder also joined, with their Personas hitting the enemy directly and launching it against one of the statues.

The Shadow fought back with a powerful swing of its lance, hitting Mona directly and causing serious damage before trying to do the same to Panther, yet Skull blocked it with his Persona.

"Artoria, go!" -

As Ruler yelled, his Persona performed a powerful slash that nearly threw the Shadow off balance before Skull shocked it with his Persona's electric attack.

Slashing it with her Persona, Avenger managed to stagger it, leaving it open for an All Out Attack.

"Time for some fun!" - Avenger yelled before she, Skull, Ruler and Panther realized their All Out Attack on the Shadow.

After finishing, Avenger strikes a pose while looking away from the Shadow, holding her weapon on her shoulder.

Not a chance for mercy.

"Alright everyone, that takes care of one, good job" - Joker said as they picked up the first eye that they needed.

"We're missing the second one, come on!" -

Just like that, the group rushed to find the second one and wasted no time in starting combat. This time, instead of going for flashy combos between them, they simply decided to rush in and kill it, attacking with a barrage of combined blasts from their different respective elements. In no time, the second knight went down and they took the eye that was missing.

Wasting no time, they headed to a hallway that they visited yesterday with 3 scythes swinging from side to side.

"This is what stopped you from moving yesterday? Understandable honestly" - Avenger said as Mona placed both eyes in a small statue, causing the scythes to suddenly stop moving.

With that, the Thieves made their way across the place and up to the top of the Castle. After climbing a statue that looked like a woman's body and sneaking above Kamoshida and his knights, they finally made their way to the location of the Treasure, and it was...

"Just a simple cloud?" - Ruler said.

"It looks like it, but once the Calling Card is sent, it will transform into the actual Treasure" - Mona explained - "Gotta say, it took us longer than I expected to get here" -

"Whatever the case, we made it. Who should send the Calling Card?" - Joker asked.

"Oh, let me do it! I have a cool idea!" - Skull immediately jumped in.

"Are you sure Skull?" - Panther questioned it.

"Hey, trust me, this will be great" -

"That settles it then. Everyone, tomorrow's the day, we'll steal Kamoshida's Treasure and make him confess to everything he has done, are you all ready?" -

"Yes!" -

With that, they all abandoned the Palace and returned to the real world. They had to get good rest, for tomorrow would begin their legend, the story of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.