As soon as the sun went down, there was always someone screaming in Shinjuku. This time, it happened to be a host just down the street from Crossroads who was looking into the eyes of a Shadow two heads taller than him. A bottle smashed against the back of its head before it could attack, and it turned towards where it came from.

"HEY! COME GET ME, UGLY!" Ohya screamed. The Shadow turned and charged at the reckless reporter, who dove aside before the Shadow could brain her with its baton. Before it could attack again, a hand slipped around its mask.

"Got-YOU!" the fortuneteller ripped the Greater Shadow's mask off, causing it to reel backwards, disoriented as the young woman hopped off its back and scampered back to Ohya's side.

"How did you know to do that?" Ohya demanded.

"I asked the cards what the best way to fight a Shadow would be," Chihaya replied. "They told me to 'reveal its identity', but I didn't really understand until I realized all Shadows wear masks."

The disoriented Shadow crumbled into a pair of flying fairy-looking demons. They fluttered angrily into the air and buzzed towards the two women. Ohya cursed and pushed Chihaya behind her, drawing an airsoft gun she'd bought earlier in the week for the heck of it. The Shadows' eyes widened as she fired at them, the gun sounding off a little louder than Ohya had expected. Her first few shots missed, but she managed to hit one out of the air before the other buzzed in and kicked at her. Chihaya smacked it away with an impressive right cross, but it refused to fall until Ohya nailed it with another shot.

Before either Shadow could get back up again, a spatter of submachine gun fire sprayed across them and reduced them to ash. Panther hopped down from a nearby roof and hung her gun at her hip under her whip. "You both okay?" she asked the two women.

"W-We're fine, yes," Chihaya said meekly.

"You one of the Phantom Thieves?" Ohya asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Panther, at your service," the Phantom Thief beamed at them. "Shinjuku's a hotbed for Shadow activity, especially Greaters like those Pixies. Fortunately, most flying Shadows are weak to gunfire, like you just saw."

"Convenient," Ohya commented, holstering her pellet gun in her back pocket. "Didn't think an airsoft gun would be that strong though."

"Well, that could be because the Shadows thought it was a real gun," Panther suggested. "My SMG is only an airsoft toy too, but it seems to shoot real bullets because while we're in the Metaverse, everything we see is based on cognition. Especially if you're a Persona-user."

"So you're saying that this 'Metaverse' makes my gun do more damage just because those fairies thought it was real?" Ohya asked, confused.

"I'm not really the best person to ask about that kind of thing," Panther admitted, putting one hand on her head, "but yeah. That's probably going to be the case as long as there are Shadows around."

"Good to know," Ohya told her. "I got to know your leader pretty well last year. He still doing okay?"

"He is!" Panther said brightly. "I'd love to stay and talk about his antics, but I've got to get back on patrol. You never know when another Shadow will show up."

Chihaya was squatting on the pavement, going over a series of cards she'd just laid down. She looked up at Panther. "Head north from here," she told the Phantom Thief. "If you head north, you'll be able to save several people from dying."

Panther was taken aback. "Are you sure?"

"My readings have become a lot clearer since the Shadow Outbreak. This will definitely come to pass unless you stop it. Go!"

Panther set her face, gave the fortuneteller a quick nod, and darted away down the street. She was gone in seconds. Chihaya gathered up her cards and dusted off the front of her dress.

"Sooo," Ohya broke the silence. "You can legit see the future?"

"Something like that," Chihaya replied. "Would you like me to read your fate?"

Ohya snorted. "No thanks. As long as I don't know my future, it'll be more fun when it does happen to me. Still, want me to treat you to a drink or something? The way you pulled off that Greater Shadow's mask and then punched one of the fairies was pretty impressive."

"Um, well…" the fortuneteller stammered hesitantly. "Just one I suppose."

The shopowners in Shibuya all armed themselves as soon as the sun set. All of them had lived through the first Shadow Outbreak, and most had seen the Phantom Thieves' first battle for Tokyo firsthand. Nearly everyone knew someone who had died or someone who had lost someone in the initial Outbreak, and it was no surprise that the people of that district were also the most supportive of the Phantom Thieves.

Posters and banners displaying the Thieves' colors and insignia covered most of the district. Some stores were already selling replicas of the various Thieves' masks, though of course Joker's was the most widespread. One shop even had a cutout of multiple Phantom Thieves' silhouettes standing right outside the door.

While Skull enjoyed the fame, Fox was more concerned with how messy it made Shibuya look.

"Their support is appreciated, but it would behoove them to avoid scattering our symbol everywhere like that," he muttered, slipping down from one roof onto another, eyes and ears pricked for any sign of Shadows. Despite his white and light gray costume, the shadows still concealed his form. Looking down at the streets from his perch, he had an excellent view of the citizens that remained on the streets despite the onset of night. Eyes were cast about warily, especially towards dark alleyways and secluded corners, anywhere that might be likely to spawn Shadows. Shibuya's alleys and especially the back areas of the subways were also hotspots for Shadows.

Yells were heard, drawing everyone's attention. Fox laid a hand on his katana and prepared to seek out the source of the commotion, but right as he located the source, a single lesser Shadow was kicked out of the subway entrance and dissolved on the ground. Sae Niijima stalked out of the concrete tunnel, cracking her knuckles. Several onlookers backed away in fear of this woman who had beaten a Shadow with her bare hands.

Fox's gaze tracked the intimidating public defender as she headed down a familiar alleyway towards a shop labeled Untouchable. A smirk crossed his face. It didn't take much conjecture to guess as to why she was headed there. He faded back into the shadows of the rooftops and vaulted away to look for more Shadows.

Sae Niijima looked up at the sign above the shop. Untouchable. She didn't know what to think of that considering the owner was a former yakuza. But then again, if Makoto recommended him, she was willing to give it a shot.

Like with most small shops, a bell above the door rang as she entered. Virtually every surface in the shop was covered in model guns. The man behind the glass counter was grizzled and tough-looking with orange ear mufflers and a lollipop in his mouth, and he looked at her with a neutral, albeit still slightly intimidating, glare which she returned in kind as she approached.

"Law and government type?" he asked gruffly, noting her posture, bearing, and business attire. "Whaddayou want?"

"Are you Munehisa Iwai?" Sae asked him. "I was recommended this shop as a good place to buy Anti-Shadow weaponry by one Ren Amamiya."

The man smirked upon hearing her mention Amamiya's name. "Another of the kid's confidants?"

"You could say that. Sae Niijima, public defense. Amamiya-kun is currently dating my sister."

Iwai laid his head back for a moment. "Man, that kid sure gets around." He stood up and removed the lolipop from his mouth. "Yeah, I'm Iwai. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Niijima-san. I've had a few of his other confidants in here already to buy their own Anti-Shadow gear, though how my models work like the real deal on otherworldly monsters is beyond me. You looking for anything in particular?"

"Something for range and something for close-quarters," Sae clarified. "Something small and capable of being carried around preferably."

"Understandable," Iwai replied, ducking behind the counter. "For melee, would you prefer knuckles or knives?"

"Knuckles," Sae answered.

"Yeah, you really look like a bruising type," Iwai commented. The gruff former yakuza brought back a selection of different designs for knuckledusters and tekko. Sae opted for a simple, practical design that she could quickly slip onto her wrist and had silver ridges along the back of the hand that turned into short spikes once they met the knuckle plate. As for a gun, she chose a model Smith & Wesson revolver with an unusually high level of detail. Makoto had told Sae and apparently Ren had mentioned to Iwai as well that weapons were more effective against Shadows the more realistic-looking they were.

There were more screams when Sae exited Untouchable. Once she was out of the alley, it was clear why. A trio of Greater Shadows and a small pack of lessers had appeared on the main Shibuya plaza and were chasing after anyone who'd stuck around out in the open. The sounds of gunshots began to echo from the weapons of the more hot-blooded store owners of the district, a couple of them managing to concentrate their attacks on an unlucky Bicorn, which eventually crumpled to the ground and splattered apart into a pool of black, but not before it had successfully bowled over at least two pedestrians.

Two of the lesser Shadows charged at Sae, who calmly palmed her revolver and shot them down at point-blank range. The next closest Shadow was one of the greaters, a putrid lump that she could barely stand to look at, currently in the middle of trying to consume a car with someone in it. Sae unloaded the rest of her ammo into its head, but it didn't do much to the Shadow besides get its attention. Sae rolled to the side as the hunk of flesh charged at her, frantically looking for something she could use as a weapon without having to get in and punch the disgusting thing.

A bottle of alcohol smashed the Shadow in the side. It barely flinched, but its attention turned in the direction the projectile came from. Sae's free hand dug into her purse and closed around a small cigarette lighter she'd confiscated from one of her colleagues earlier that day. With the Slime distracted, Sae pulled out the lighter and dashed up to its side, striking the lighter's flint and tossing the little flame at the spilled alcohol splashed across the Shadow's side. The Slime screamed in pain as the alcohol lit, and Sae retreated from the flashing flame as the Shadow finally keeled over and died.

Then there was a gallop of hooves as the last Greater Shadow focused its attention on her. Sae braced herself to leap aside as the armored cavalier trained its bloodstained lance at her, bullets shattering apart on its armor. A second before it could attack, the Greater Shadow was encased in a pillar of ice that sprung up in spikes from the asphalt. The Shadow screamed once and dissolved.

Sae, and everyone else who had seen the ice appear, immediately cast their eyes about, looking for whoever had killed the last Greater. Then someone shouted, "Hey! Up there!" and pointed at the roof of a nearby building. A single figure in a white mask looked down on the plaza below, and everyone who saw them immediately knew who it was. Cheers erupted from the people below as the figure vaulted down from the rooftop he was perched on, landing in a crouch with one hand on his katana. Fox dashed across the plaza with incredible speed, bisecting each of the remaining lesser Shadows so quickly, they didn't even have time to blink.

Fox flicked his blade to shake off the residue and sheathed it silently. Sae noticed him bring a finger to his ear before muttering, "This is Fox. We've had some injured outside of Shibuya Station. Requesting anyone nearby who can heal."

"This is Queen. Violet and I are nearby and en route."

Queen removed her fingers from her comm device and focused on driving Agnes, her motorcycle-shaped Persona. Violet clung onto her waist somewhat apprehensively as she sped in the direction of the Shibuya Plaza. "You doing okay back there?" Queen asked the younger Phantom Thief.

"Don't worry about me, senpai!" Violet almost had to shout in her ear. "I'm perfectly fine!"

"Good. Be ready to heal when we get to the plaza in Shibuya."

"Got it!" Agnes roared into the plaza, Violet leaping gracefully off of her senpai's Persona while Agnes swerved to a halt and vanished back into Queen's mask.

For the next ten minutes, Queen and Violet healed as many people who'd been injured in the Shadow attack as they could, though there were a couple who had already died. A little later, paramedics arrived to remove the bodies and anyone who was still injured. Naturally, Violet found herself treating a young mother who'd suffered electrical burns and severe contusions after she'd been accosted by a lesser Shadow prior to Fox's arrival trying to protect her nine- and seven-year-old daughter and son.

Violet's mask burned away as she summoned Ella. "Diarama," she intoned, and the young mother was enveloped in a warm turquoise aura. Her pained expression eased immediately as she felt her health being restored.

"Mommy!" her little boy cried, hugging her tightly as she started to sit up.

The mother looked up at Violet with pure gratitude as Ella faded back into the mask on Violet's face. "Thank you so much, miss. You Phantom Thieves' powers are truly incredible."

Violet gave a little nervous chuckle. "Yes, well...I still have a long way to go before I can catch up to my senpai." She looked over at Queen, who was talking with one of the paramedics. "I can only heal one at a time, unlike Queen-senpai, who can heal anyone in a wide area. I'm not as strong as Skull or Noir, or as adept with magic as Panther...But still!" Violet looked down at her hand, clenching her fist. "One day, I'll be able to catch up to them!"

The mother was struck speechless by this display of resolve. Her daughter, in the meantime, walked up to Violet. "Miss Phantom Thief? What's your name?"

Smiling, Violet crouched down in front of her. "You can call me Violet."

"Violet! When I grow up, I want to be just like you! I want to be able to swoop in with magic powers and save people from Shadows too!"

Violet giggled and ruffled the girl's hair. "In that case, you have to keep a strong heart. When you can accept even the parts of you that you don't like to see, maybe you too will be able to gain a Persona."

"I promise I'll work hard!" the little girl replied.

Meanwhile, Makoto pulled her sister aside. "I heard you got caught up in the fighting. You okay?"

"You don't need to worry about me," Sae told her. "Even without powers, I can still handle a few lesser Shadows on my own, especially since I got some new armaments from that store you recommended."

Makoto smirked. "Good. Just try not to push yourself too hard, okay?"

"That should be my line."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud BLAM! and a splatter of black. Toranosuke Yoshida was standing nearby, pointing his model shotgun at a slowly evaporating puddle of black.

"Huh," the old politician remarked. "What do you know? Seems blasting monsters with a gun is oddly cathartic."

Yuuki Mishima shielded his ears as the bartender of the Penguin Sniper club chucked a moltov out the door at the pack of roving Shadows outside on the streets of Kichijoji. The blast scattered the lesser Shadows, causing many of them to dissolve, but the Greater, which bore the shape of a pumpkin-headed witch, opened the lantern dangling in front of it and started to absorb the resulting inferno.

The bartender cursed, but Mishima's mind was racing. That Shadow was a fire spirit. So what counteracted fire..!

"You got a cooler filled with ice water?" Mishima asked.

"The hell do you want that for?" the bartender demanded.

"Hear me out, that Greater Shadow has a fire affinity. If you want to put out a fire…"

The bartender's eyes widened as he realized what Mishima was saying. "I've got a cooler full of ice water and a few pails in the back. Let's take 'em up to the second floor balcony and see how far we can chuck the stuff."

The Pyrojack had begun to move on by the time Mishima made it back to the front door of the club. "Hey, hothead!" he screamed at the Greater Shadow. "Come get me!"

"Eh?" the Shadow squeaked. It spotted Mishima quickly and sped right at the teen, waving its lantern threateningly. Suddenly, a cascade of ice water splashed down on its head from above, knocking it sprawling and dousing its flame.

"Nice going there, kid!" the bartender called down from the second floor, an empty bucket still leaning on the railing.

"Thanks!" Mishima called back before grabbing a broken bottle off the ground. The Pyrojack started to get back up, but it was suddenly jabbed in the head by a cluster of broken glass shards and knocked back down. Mishima smashed the broken bottle into the creature's head three more times before it finally dissolved.

Mishima stood back up and wiped the sweat from his brow. He didn't think he'd been so scared since Suzui...he shook his head to clear the bad memories. He'd just killed a Greater Shadow with a little help from the club bartender. He wasn't weak anymore.

"Thank you, Phantom Thieves...for giving me the courage I needed…"

I leaned against the wall of the alley, gasping for breath. I might have outgrown asthma attacks, but my stamina was still embarrassingly low. And without a weapon of some sort, there was no way I would be able to fight off all the Shadows that had suddenly come running.

My fist clenched around the little sliver of shimmering gold I had discovered earlier that day, hidden in the darkness of a back alley. I didn't know why I'd been drawn to it, nor why I didn't just throw it away. I guess I assumed a strange golden feather vane lying in the darkness might have given me a clue or two about the entire Shadow situation. Whatever the case, trying to take it with me and dawdling in Shibuya until nightfall was clearly not my best idea. That was when the Shadows started coming for me.

It was obvious they wanted it. Why, I didn't know, but obviously if Shadows wanted it, it was bad. So giving it to them was out of the question, and all I could do was run. Dodge around as many corners as I could, run until my lungs started to ache, hide for a minute to catch my breath, then start running again. Thankfully, the Shadows were pretty stupid and mostly gave up after I dodged around one or two corners, but they were still capable of sniffing me out.

There was a clatter of footsteps and several eldritch moans as Shadows roving out on the streat continued searching for me. I cursed my inability to breathe again. I would easily be able to escape the Shadows if my lungs were able to keep up with the energy coursing through what lean muscles I had, but an asthma-plagued childhood and lack of formal physical training had left its mark on me.

I steeled my nerve as I looked back towards the entrance of the alleyway. I refused to die here. I would make it home. I had a purpose in life, and I absolutely refused to die until it was complete. In that moment, I felt some sort of tingle from the golden feather clenched in my right fist. The moaning outside increased.

"Do you have the resolve to see this through?"

I froze at the sound of the voice ringing from out of nowhere. Was it coming from… inside my head?

"Will you stand still and accept your fate?"

I grit my teeth at the voice's condescending tone. Of course I wouldn't.

"Will you run from your fate and let it hunt you down?"

"…"

"Or will you stand and fight back against this reality that tries so hard to destroy you?"

"..."

"I will fight."

Suddenly a spark as the feather vane in my hand flashed with light, and the Shadows moans increased as they detected my presence. Then a scream from me as the feather suddenly jabbed into my palm, driving straight through my hand, and emerging on the back of it, before permanently lodging there, embedded in my skin. The pain was beyond anything I'd ever felt before, my screams unleashing the full capacity of my voice, echoing off the buildings around me as the agony spread up my arm through the entire rest of my body. Shadows rushed into the alley as cerulean flames flashed from the feather now embedded in the back of my blood-drenched right hand and spread out across the ground. The Shadows halted in fear as a figure began to emerge from the fire.

It was humanoid, but barely so. Long arms almost as thick as tree trunks, bowed legs, one eye swollen permanently shut, and a lopsided, brick-toothed grin. The creature wore simple sackcloth pants and shirt and carried a large bronze bell over its right shoulder.

Ignoring my pain, I stood straight and faced the Shadows. I raised my now-scarred right hand.

"Destroy them. Quasimodo."