[Ren POV]

Date: 4/18/20XX

Day: Monday

Time of Day: Early Morning

Weather: Sunny

"Well, that wraps up the homeroom period," Kawakami finished her lecture. Ren noticed his teacher's eyes immediately go over to him. "Amamiya-kun. A word with you please?" Ren wondered what he possibly could have done for her to talk to him right now in-between classes but didn't argue with her.

"Uh, of course," Ren nodded. Ren saw Ann give him a concerned side-eye. Ren could only give her a look of assurance and stood from his seat to follow Kawakami out of the classroom. They went away from the classrooms and over to the guidance office, they didn't go in it yet as Kawakami turned to address Ren.

"There's something I'd like to ask you," Kawakami mentioned.

"And what that?" Ren questioned.

"It won't take long," Kawakami assured.

The guidance office door opened and out stepped Kamoshida, a school counselor, and the same red-haired girl from the train the other day. Ren hadn't seen the girl much since then but he didn't like how she was in the same room as Kamoshida considering what kind of person he was. Kamoshida immediately took notice of Ren and sent a smile over to Kawakami.

"I see you're already getting on top of the problem I'd mentioned this morning, Ms. Kawakami," Kamoshida mentioned. "I appreciate the support." Ren knew he was referring to their brief interaction at the school gate.

"Thank you again," the girl said to Ren, showing that she remembered him.

"Oh, you know this guy, Yoshizawa?" Kamoshida questioned.

So, Yoshizawa is her name? Ren thought.

"Yes, he lent me a helping hand earlier," Yoshizawa said.

"I recommend you steer clear of the likes of him if you have any consideration for your future," Kamoshida advised. "Remember the discussion we just had? There are a number of students you shouldn't get involved with. This one's at the top of the list." Yoshizawa's eyes seem to widen toward Ren.

"Oh, the delinquent transfer student...?" she exclaimed. Ren hopes that she won't become wary of him much like everyone at this school.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to use the guidance office," Kawakami interjected.

"Oh, pardon me," Kamoshida replied. "We should be going too-don't want to get in the way of guiding this delinquent and all." the coach let a grin come across his face. Ren disliked the way the man said 'delinquent' as if to remind Yoshizawa that's what Ren was. Yoshizawa seemed to be in thought as she stared at the floor. Her face came back up into a smile.

"Please, excuse us," she said with a bow and followed the other two.

"After you," Kawakami gestured for Ren to step into the office first. Ren sat opposite his homeroom teacher. He already knew she wanted to speak to him about Kamoshida. "I'm going to get straight to the point: did something happen between you and Mr. Kamoshida?"

"Why do you ask?" Ren wondered. He hoped he didn't sound rude just now and was only curious. Probably because Kawakami is his homeroom teacher assigned to watch him during the school year.

"Well there was that little exchange just now," Kawakami said. "But that's not all..." What else was there in what she had to know? "He gave me a brief lecture this morning, and your name came up. Something about the dangers of a lack of supervision..." Ren thought it was a bit odd that a teacher was giving another teacher a lecture. "I don't mean to pry, but... just make sure you don't go causing trouble, okay?"

"Okay, I won't," Ren could tell this was stressing the teacher out. The best he could do was give her a promise that he won't cause any more trouble. Unless he gets expelled at the board meeting on May 2nd.

"Oh, and one more thing," Kawakami added. "That girl outside the office-you didn't make a pass at her, did you?"

"Uh, a pass?" Ren questioned. Was Kawakami suggesting he flirted with Yoshizawa? It wasn't like that at all but felt the need to not mention the scene on the train when they met. "Of course not."

"All right," Kawakami nodded. "Mr. Kamoshida has a real close eye on you... Apparently, you've been getting involved with Sakamoto-kun. You seem acquainted with Isamashi-kun and Yoshizawa-san as well. Maybe you're just naturally drawn to athletes? Sorry, bad joke."

"Oh, haha..." Ren gave an awkward chuckle as if Kawakami was expecting him to laugh.

"That's all I wanted to discuss," Kawakami stated. "You're free to go."

"Of course, thank you," Ren nodded and left the guidance office. Ren went back to the classroom to continue the lessons for the day. His phone vibrated and he took it out to find a group chat message.

[Chat IM]

[Ryuji S.]: So I saw Kamoshida at the school gate this morning.

[Ryuji S.]: He was just standing there looking at me with this shit-eating grin on his face.

[Ann T.]: Ugh, that's annoying... He was probably mocking you.

[Yasuhiro I.]: Same thing with me... Although I had a different reaction from him.

[Ren A.]: What happened...?

[Yasuhiro I.]: He just glared at me...

[Yasuhiro I.]: Don't worry, nothing bad happened.

[Ryuji S.]: Honestly, seeing that got me even more fired up about this.

[Ryuji S.]: We're definitely gonna pull this off

[Ann T.]: Yeah. I'm worried about Shiho, but I want to concentrate on our operation too.

[Ann T.]: And I won't let myself get exhausted like last time.

[Ryuji S.]: The board meeting's May 2nd, right?

[Ryuji S.]: We just gotta take care of him before then.

[Ren A.]: I'm ready for this

[Yasuhiro I.]: So am I.

[Ryuji S.]: Same goes for me.

[Ann T.]: Me too

[Ann T.]: I'll do my best. No going in without, OK?

[Ryuji S.]: Yeah.

[Ryuji S.]: Ren, you better let us know if you're going into the Palace.

[Ren A.]: You bet.

Classes ended for the day with the last bell going off. Ren stood from his seat and stretched before reaching for his bag. He put it on as Morgana popped out from it, perching on his shoulder.

"It's finally time to set the plan in motion," he said. "I bet the others are ready to go and waiting on the signal. Well, I'll leave the planning to you."

"Well, I think we're all set since we have proper medicine for our wounds and gear for everyone," Ren stated. "I think we should try the palace today."

"You sure?" Morgana questioned. "There's no telling what strong Shadow's we'll find in there. We could prep some more but it's up to you, Ren." Ren wondered if they should prepare more but he felt confident that he and the others are ready for anything judging by their messages earlier.

"I think we're ready," Ren nodded. "And if it's too tough, we can always try another day."

"Well, if you're ready for it, let's go," Morgana gave a nod back.

"Yeah," Ren said. He approached Ann who was staring out the window likely in deep thought. "Ann?"

"Yeah, Ren?" Ann wondered.

"It's time," Ren said believing she'd already know what he meant.

"Now?" she wondered until her face steeled. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go." They left the classroom together walking beside one another.

"You sure you're up for this?" Ren asked.

"Of course I am," Ann told him. "Don't worry, I know it's gonna be dangerous. But I think together with the five of us, we can do this."

"That we are," Ren said. "Also, when we get in there, we need to give you a codename."

"A what?" Ann questioned.

"We'll talk about it once we head in," Ren assured.

[Hiro POV]

Date: 4/18/20XX

Day: Monday

Time of Day: After School

Weather: Sunny

Location: Class 3-C

Hiro gathered his school bag, getting ready to leave class for the day. He's actually been in a better mood ever since he and the others became ready to confront Kamoshida. It's been a long time coming and Kamoshida's been a 'king' for far too long and it was finally time for him to be dethroned, so to speak.

"Hiro?" He turned to see Makoto approaching him.

"What's up?" Hiro wondered. "No student council today?" To his surprise, Makoto actually shook her head.

"Not today," Makoto said. "I was wondering if you wanted to spend some together after school. Perhaps we can go to your house?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me," Hiro smirked with approval while Makoto seemed happy herself. "All right, let's-" Hiro heard his phone chime in his pocket. "Oh, hold on." He took it out and found a message from Ren.

[Chat IM]

[Ren A.]: Hiro, it's time.

[Yasuhiro I.]: You mean the Palace?

[Ren A.]: Good guess.

[Ren A.]: We're heading in there today.

[Ren A.]: Best we get this over with now.

[Yasuhiro I.]: Yeah, you're right. I'll meet you guys at the hideout.

Hiro resisted the urge to sigh. He knew this was important and there was no point in delaying it. Though he hated he had to cancel his plans with Makoto and hoped it wouldn't ruin their renewed friendship after a few years of not speaking.

"Actually, Mako..." Hiro said. "Sorry, I just realized I had something to take care of."

"Oh..." Makoto's face seemed to fall in disappointment. "I see." Hiro was thankful Mako didn't question what he was up to. He still felt bad that he had to postpone their get-together and hoped she wouldn't be upset with him. "I suppose we'll do a raincheck then."

"Yeah, that works," Hiro nodded. "I'll see you around." Hiro gave Makoto a final smile which she returned and left down the hall. He left down the hall and up the steps that took him all the way to the roof and found the others over by the leftover desks.

"Glad you can join us," Ren smiled.

"Thanks," Hiro smiled back.

"Awesome, Hiro's here," Ryuji grinned. "That means we can go in now!"

"Cool it, Ryuji," Morgana said. "We can't go in just yet. We need to go over some things before heading in."

"Like what?" Ryuji wondered.

"I hope you all understand that our time limit is May 2nd," Morgana explained.

"We basically just have to go to that castle and steal the Treasure from Kamoshida, right?" Ann questioned.

"But wait, what even is a Treasure?" Ryuji asked. "I wanna know that before we do anything?"

"A Treasure is the physical form of the Palace ruler's distorted desires," Morgana stated. "In other words, it's the core of the Palace. Once we steal it, the Palace will crumble... I think. Having said all that, even I don't know what Kamoshida's Treasure is going to be."

"And where can we find it?" Ann wondered.

"I imagine it would be somewhere deep within the castle?" Ren pondered twirling a lock of his hair.

"That's right," Morgana agreed. "It would be."

"I doubt they'd have it sitting somewhere out in open..." Hiro remarked. "With a big sign, that reads: 'Come steal me'."

"Yeah..." Ann drawled. "That would be a little too convenient."

"Eh, I think I get it now," Ryuji said. "We just gotta find the Treasure, yeah?"

"Pretty much," Morgana added. "There's just a lot we won't know until we go in. In any case, our objective is to find the Treasure's location somewhere in the Palace. Make sure we go about this with time to spare so we can avoid any unforeseen circumstances. I expect great things from you guys."

They left out of school together, and probably looked like a strange group together to some people but they didn't care. Hiro figured they have other things to worry about than hearing what remarks are said about them.

"Okay, then..." Ren said. "You guys ready?"

"I was born ready," Ryuji remarked.

"Let's do this," Hiro nodded.

"Me too," Ann agreed.

"Okay, let's-" Ren paused and turned his head to Hiro. "Actually, Hiro? You wanna do the honors?"

"Me?" Hiro wondered "Okay, sure." He took out his phone and opened up the App, tapping on the eyeball icon. He found the destination list and found Kamoshida's castle was listed inside. "Okay, time to go."

"Kamoshida... Shujin Academy... Pervert... Castle..." the feminine voice recited the keywords. "Beginning navigation."

Everything around them became a dark red as the app took effect. The castle took over Shujin Academy's form as well as everyone's outfits changed from their school uniforms, even Morgana's form changed back to when he is in this world.

[Ren POV]

"Wow, it's the same place as before," Ann said sounding amazed taking a look at their surroundings.

"When entering the Metaverse, this Palace specifically, this is where we usually end up," Morgana explained.

"OK, so when do we start?" Ann asked. "Do we head in now?"

"Not quite yet," Ren mentioned. "But we will soon. Right, guys?" Ren turned to Hiro and Ryuji. Hiro gave a nod of his head but Ryuji's seemed to be pretty focused on Ann. "Uh, hey Skull?"

"Daaamn..." the blonde smirked in approval. Hiro shook his head at him with a fold of his arms. Ann seemed confused by what Ryuji was even up to.

"Hmm? What's up?" she wondered.

"N-Nothing," Ryuji quickly shaped up. "I-I was just thinkin' we should choose a code name for you too."

"A code name?" Ann questioned.

"It's what call each other while in the Palace," Hiro explained. "We don't know what effect saying our real names in the Palace will have?"

"Yeah, I'm Skull, he's Knight, he's Joker, and that's Mona," Ryuji listed off while gesturing toward everyone with an appointed code name.

"Judging by your costume..." Morgana piped up.

"I mean, she's got that tail and stuff, so..." Ryuji pondered. "I got it!" Ryuji grinned proudly. "'Sexy Cat'!"

"Wait!" Ann's eyes widened. "Is that what you're going to call me from now on?! I am SO not down with this!"

"Did you just say the first thing that popped into your head?" Hiro deadpanned to Ryuji.

"What? You got an idea?" Ryuji asked.

"Maybe...?" Hiro said and looked at Ann. "Let me think...?" Hiro seemed to think for a bit until he let out a sigh. "Yeah, I'm stumped. The only thing I can think of is 'Catgirl' but I doubt you'd like that, would you?"

"No," Ann shook her head. "I... want to be called something better than a little cat."

"You're right," Hiro agreed. "How about you, Ren? Maybe you can come up with something better?" Ren took a look at Ann's outfit. Ryuji was just looking at the 'sexy' factor of Ann's attire. Hiro seemed to be looking at the mask when coming up with the 'cat' part. Ren eyed the mask as well, Ann wanted to be called something more than a little cat so Ren might've found the perfect code name assuming Ann liked it, of course.

"How does 'Panther' sound?" Ren suggested. Ann gave a smile and seemed rather pleased with the idea.

"Oh, I kinda like it," Ann said. "It sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?"

"Huh? Why?" Ryuji asked.

"Cause it sounds more... ferocious?" Ann tried to find another why she liked the name picked for her.

"Well, if you like it, then I like it," Ren smiled at Ann. The blonde girl returned the gesture with a giggle.

"She's a cougar..." Morgana smirked staring longingly at Ann.

"Don't call me that!" Ann snapped. "More importantly: Kamoshida!"

"About time," Hiro said. "Let's get a move on!"

"All right!" Ryuji punched into his palm. "Let's start fresh and get goin'!"

"It's game time from this point forward," Morgana stated. "I"ll teach you guys the basics of infiltrating a Palace as we go." The others walked on ahead as Ren followed, but a blue flash caused him to stop walking. He turned around to find one of the wardens, Justine, standing beside a blue doorway that appeared to open up for Ren to enter.

"My master would like a word with you," Justine mentioned. Ren said nothing and just decided to go along with Justine's request and stepped through the doorway. Once though, Ren found himself in the same jail cell from his dreams, and instead of his thief outfit, he was in the usual prison rags.

"Oh, great," Ren remarked. "Here again, except I'm not dreaming."

"The prisoner Ren Amamiya has returned," Caroline announced.

"Nice to see you, too," Ren greeted the other half of the wardens

"Know your place, inmate!" Caroline barked.

"Well done, it seems you have remembered my words..." Igor mentioned. "You truly make it worth rehabilitating you."

"What do you mean?" Ren wondered as Igor chuckled.

"I am not attempting to withhold information from you," Igor informed. "The essence of the rehabilitation that you must complete will be explained in due time. Once you encounter allies who share your ideals and discover your place in reality, only then, will I explain it all. Such a day should not be far off. This time, I wish to introduce you to the aid we are providing."

"Aid?" Ren questioned. "What kind?"

"Due to your potential in wielding the power of the wild card..." Igor explained. "You can handle more than one Persona." Ren knew that already with how he managed to strike a deal with Pixie and became his Persona along with Arsene. "That power holds infinite possibilities. We will assist you in nurturing that potential. To that end, we must execute your Persona."

"E-Execute?" Ren stammered. "If you execute my Persona, will I see them again? Will I get them back?" Igor seemed amused with Ren's reaction, giving a chuckle.

"Do not be alarmed," Igor said. "Personas are personalities that exist within you... Thus, you will only be discarding old personalities to have them reborn as new ones."

Igor went to explain how fusions work. Even saying Persona's will gain skills that they normally wouldn't have. Ren listened to the explanation with great attention, knowing that this will give him and the others an edge in combat. Ren felt comfortable with the Persona's he had now and figured he should interrogate more Shadow's to become his Persona. Igor told him the service will still be here once he was ready to use it.

"In anticipation of this, I have prepared a gift for you," Igor mentioned. "I hope that you shall accept it." Ren felt his bond become deeper with Igor. Igor seemed to have given Ren an ability called 'Third Eye'.

"Third Eye?" Ren questioned. "What does it do?"

"That is a thief's skill, allowing one to tap into their sixth sense and see what is hidden in the dark," Igor stated.

"Sounds useful," Ren commented.

"I believe you can handle it now," Igor said. "May you continue devoting yourself to further rehabilitation."

"Now then, if you have any requests, we will heed them," Justine said. Ren left the Velvet Room. He was returned back to his Thief outfit. Once out, the others approached him, each of them with looks of worry.

"Hey, Joker?" Hiro spoke first. "You uh, good? You're not getting cold feet about doing this, are you?"

"Who? Me?" Ren dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Never."

"You sure you're alright?" Ann wondered.

"Fine, why do you ask?" Ren shrugged.

"Well, you were just standing around all of a sudden," Morgana stated.

"Was I?" Ren questioned. Ren supposed he looked like he was just spacing out to everyone while in the Velvet Room. He must've looked so strange since they were still giving him odd looks.

"Why're you spacing out like that?" Ryuji asked. "It's kinda hard to tell what you're thinkin' sometimes."

"Eh, you know me?" Ren smirked. "I'm like a difficult puzzle you can't seem to figure out."

"Let's just say he's a man of high caliber," Morgana remarked. "We're counting on you, Joker!"

"Okay, if we're ready then let's go," Hiro suggested. "We don't need to start from the beginning, do we?"

"No, we don't need to start from there," Morgana explained. "We can head to the safe room we found last time. It's in the first floor of the west building. That's pretty close to our usual entrance. It should be a pretty decent starting point."

"Safe room...?" Ann wondered in confusion.

"It'll make sense when you see it," Ryuji grinned. "Welp, let's head out!" Ren took out his phone and opened the App. He scrolled through a list and found the saferoom they found before Ann's rescue. Once he clicked on it, he and the others seemingly teleported from the castle courtyard to the saferoom.

"Huh?" Panther mouthed. "What's up with this room?" Her eyes wandered about the saferoom when it briefly reverted into a classroom until it changed back.

"It's a gap in cognition," Mona explained to her. "A safe room, if you will."

"Yeah, still not getting it," Panther frowned.

"Right?" Skull agreed.

"Try not to wrap your head around it right away," Knight suggested. "This room is a place where Shadows won't be able to find us, they also can't follow us in here. That's why it's called a safe room."

"Huh..." Panther said. "I didn't think a place like that existed in here. So what do we do in this
"safe room"?"

"Take a break, duh," Skull remarked. "Oh, and we talk about stuff too."

"Basically," Joker added. "Take a break, maybe patch our wounds, and go over what progress we're making through the Palace."

"So, the place is for resting up and plotting... Got it," Panther nodded. "I guess I'll rest for a bit too then. Let me know when we're ready to head out, Joker."

"You got it," Joker replied.

"Ah, right-the safe room discussion reminds me..." Mona spoke. "This is for you, Joker!" Joker took what Mona handed him. It was in a pill bottle and it read: Stamina Kit S. "You can only use it in safe places, but when you do, it'll take care of all the exhaustion from our past fights!"

"Useful," Joker commented.

We'll let you decide when to use it-just make sure the time's right," Mona suggested.

"Okay, since we're here, we should get underway," Joker said.

"All right, let's go," Panther stated. "We have work to do!" The team stepped out into the hallway. Joker taking point in leading the team approached the fancy white door decorated in gold and walked through it. Joker and the others found themselves inside a dining room which was probably where the Shadows in the castle ate. If Shadows even ate at all is a good question.

"We have no idea what awaits us ahead..." Mona brought up. "Here, you better take these. These fine tools have my seal of approval! Use them wisely, alright?" Mona handed off a few tools that will be useful for their infiltration. The team went along together and in front of them was a Shadow. Luckily, its back was turned. Joker looked at the others and nodded his head, each of the others gave him expressions of readiness. Joker went to the Shadow leaping onto his shoulders and gripping its mask.

"Show me your true form!" Joker announced tearing off the mask. The Shadow separates into a trio of black and red ooze and into a few Pixie's.

"These one's are weak to gunfire!" Mona mentioned.

"Guess it's time to test our new firepower!" Joker exclaimed pulling out his gun. Everyone took aim with their weapons and started to fire them altogether. Each round exploded into the Pixie's, causing each of them to dissipate away.

"So, we didn't just waste the ammo did we?" Panther asked checking her submachine gun. "You mentioned that they're reloaded after each battle?"

"Right," Knight nodded. "Mona told us enemies expect our firearms to be filled with ammunition whenever starting a fight with them."

"Oh, that's good," Panther said. "We can basically use them whenever we want." Joker led everyone to a door at the end of the dining hall. He opened it and found a single Shadow all by itself with its back facing them. The Shadow didn't even notice which was perfect for a sneak attack. Joker was about to rush in until Mona reached to him with a paw.

"Hold on, Joker," Mona said. "I've been thinking, we got a lot of manpower with the five of us. So I think now's the time to try something new!"

"Something new?" Joker wondered.

"A way for us to gain the advantage during a battle," Mona mentioned. "It's called a "Baton Pass"! Actually, I'll show you what I mean while we deal with this Shadow."

"Good," Joker grinned. "Always up for a new battle tactic!" He approached the unassuming Shadow and tore its mask. It split into four enemies consisting of a Pixie, a Two-Horned Beasts, a Sacrificial Pyrekeeper, and a Gallows-Flower.

"Okay, I'll show you an example first," Mona instructed. "You better watch closely! Zorro!" Mona brought Zoro forth and hit the Pyrekeeper with Garu, causing it to become weak. "Use this opportunity to Baton Pass and swap your turn with someone else! Let's try it now! Baton's yours, Joker!" Mona leaped up to give Joker a high five. But Joker felt himself become slightly more powerful than usual and if that were the case then it'll definitely help against stronger enemies.

"Strike the enemy's weakness and give the Baton Pass a try!" Mona said. Joker reached for his pistol and took aim at the Pixie, firing several rounds into it and weakening it.

"Alright, pass the baton and follow up!" Mona cheered. The other three were dealing with the Shadow's. Ann swung her whip at the Two-Horned Beasts, the enemy avoiding her attack. The Two-Horned Beasts was distracted and didn't count on Skull appearing and smacking it across the face with his pipe. Knight took aim at the Gallows-Flower with his sniper rifle, blasting a few shots but not quite offing it just yet. Joker looked over to Knight and made a dash over to him.

"Knight!" Joker leaped over Knight's head with his hand out. "Give me your hand!"

"Uh, if you say so..." Knight shrugged but complied as Joker slapped his hand. A yellow blaze covered where Knight was standing. "Woah-?! What the-?! It's almost like my power's been doubled!"

"It's called 'Baton Pass!" Joker stated. "See that enemy I brought down?" Joker pointed at the Pixie. "Finish it off and pass it off to either Skull or Panther!"

"Alright, Joker!" Knight smirked. "I'll take your word on it! Come to me, Mordred!" Knight took off his mask and brought out his Persona. "Annihilate it! Eiha!" The curse skill hit the enemy Pixie head-on, the Shadow crying out once it was destroyed.

"Now, pass the Baton!" Joker told Knight. Knight went to who was closer and that happened to be Panther.

"Panther!" Knight called. Panther turned around hearing her being called. Her free hand with was open as Knight ran past her and gave her a high-five.

"Hey, what was that about-!?" Panther questioned. This time a blue blaze appeared around her. "What going on?! I feel stronger for some reason!"

"It's a Baton Pass!" Knight said. "Joker will explain it later! For now, just attack the enemy!"

"Got it!" Panther exclaimed. "Carmen!" Carmen appeared when Panther removed her mask. "Agi!" The fire attack went straight to the Gallow's-Flower. The fire engulfed the Shadow in flames, killing it instantly.

"Now, pass it down to Skull!" Knight told her. Panther only gave a nod and ran over to Skull. The Two-Horned slammed into Skull, knocking him backward and causing him to skid on his feet. Panther hurried with a jump through the air, even doing a graceful somersault.

"Skull!" she called. "Here, take this!"

"What're you plannin'?!" Skull wondered in confusion. As Panther fell toward him with her hand out. Skull looked worried she was about to slap him but instead, slapped his hand with a high-five and landed on the ground.

"Dude, you crazy?!" Skull shouted. Another blue blaze covered where Skull was. "Holy shit! This feel's freakin' amazing! Now I'm fired up! Captain Kidd!" Skull brought Captain Kidd out when taking off his mask. "Zio!" With an electric blast, the Shadow was obliterated where it once stood.

There was one enemy left, a Sacrificial Pyre-Keeper. It recovered from Mona's attack earlier and tried to escape. It floated away, chuckling whilst believing it was getting away unnoticed. It looked ahead to notice Knight, standing in its way. Once it was close, it was too late, Knight unsheathed his longsword and cut through the Shadow. It faded away into black smoke that fell around Knight whose eyes were closed while he holstered his sword. The team gathered around once the fight was over.

"Great teamwork!" Mona grinned. "I knew you guys would nail it. Improving yourselves is important, but learning to fight as a team is just as vital to our survival. By coordinating our efforts, we can take control of the battle as often as possible. Baton Passes will help a lot with that!"

The group moved down a hallway and reached another door. Stepping on through was a long stairway covered by a carpet. The very bottom of the steps seemed to be in shambles but that didn't stop the team from going up them. Atop the stairs was an entrance that lead through a hall and there just so happened to be another shadow. Joker found there also were some conveniently placed sofas on either wall, though one was placed ahead of the other.

"Damn..." Skull muttered. "There's one here too... Oh well... Guess we just gotta ambush it from behind again..."

"Well, sure, if you want to go about it the orthodox way," Morgana stated. "But there's a more stylish route! See those sofas on the sides on the side of the hallway?"

"I noticed them," Joker replied.

"Sharp as always," Mona stated. "Hide behind those so you can get closer to the enemy. Once it's in range, jump on it and rip it's mask off!"

"Whoa... That does sound pretty damn cool..." Skull commented.

"Hey! This isn't a movie!" Panther exclaimed.

"Joker, with your poise, you should be able to pull it off," Mona remarked. "Give it a try!"

"I suppose it's worth a shot," Knight was in agreement. "Go for it, Joker."

"Okay, watch this!" Joker said. With skilled agility, Joker dove behind a sofa and then maneuvered behind the sofa on the opposite wall in the blink of an eye. The Shadow facing away never noticed his approach as he leaped on its shoulders and ripped its mask. The enemies were nothing the group couldn't handle having used the baton pass from before, they were quickly dealt with.

"Sweet!" Skull grinned. "That totally works!"

"That was so cool!" Panther smiled. "They totally can't spot us while we're hiding!"

"Another useful skill to help us out," Knight smirked. "Perfect for thieves."

"That's right-so long as we lay low like that, enemies won't even notice us," Mona explained. "Whenever we hide, we can take our time preparing for the next ambush."

Moving down the hall, the group went through another door. Inside it was a spacious room, but the peculiar part was a cage-like construction that seemed to be keeping something inside.

"Look!" Skull pointed out. "There's something in there. But the bars're blockin' our way in..."

"Must be something important if he's keeping it locked up?" Knight wondered. "Why else would it be in there."

"That means it has to be important," Morgana figured. "That means there should be a way in and out of there. Joker, do you think you can solve the mystery of this room? I'm sure your observation skills will help you get through!"

Joker activated Third Eye and prints scattered about the floor and found two ram figureheads with circular rings hanging from chains. It was obvious they had to be pulled and thanks to Third Eye Joker knew which was the right one. Joker pulled on the first one and there were tracks that led him to another figurehead on the opposite side. He pulled the chain down and the cage opened up which will now allow them to grab what was on the table in the center of the room.

"Woah..." Skull mouthed in amazement.

"As expected from you, Joker!" Mona praised.

"Yeah, impressive," Knight agreed with a smile.

"You know me?" Joker smirked. "I'm just good like that."

"Look at you acting all cool!" Panther chuckled. They approached the table and found a tan piece of paper and it was revealed to have been a map.

"What the hell?" Skull questioned. "He had it all locked up and shit, but it was just some old map...?"

"Look closely," Knight suggested. "It isn't just an old map, but one of this castle. This could be useful to us."

"Knight's right," Mona said. "Having this will give us a better grasp of the topography of the Palace. It's a true necessity for a phantom thief. This should make securing a route much easier."

"Wait, does it say where the Treasure is on there?" Panther wondered.

"Oh... Actually, it seems like this map is incomplete..." Mona said. The map they found just now wasn't a full display of the castle. "There might be more of them around."

"Mkay, let's start checkin' what we can," Skull figured. "We'll prolly find another map along the way somewhere."

Once the map was obtained, the team left the room and found a door that hadn't been opened. It led into a hallway and there luckily there wasn't a single Shadow in sight. When they reached around a corner, they found another door that brought them onto a balcony that overlooked the central hall.

Joker found a way to get across the central hall and up above him and the others used the chandeliers to make their way over. All of them leaped across a few chandeliers and reached the balcony on the opposite side. They found an open doorway that brought them to a room that seemed like a study area. There was also a saferoom which the team used, they didn't do much but rest up a minute until they were ready to get going. They approached another door that brought them into a dimly lit corridor.

"If the map's right, we still got a long way to go..." Skull stated.

"That's not all, there are an awful lot of patrolling Shadows, too," Mona mentioned.

"That's true," Knight agreed. "You can never know how strong they are the moment we get into a fight."

"Exactly," Mona nodded. "First you need to ascertain how strong they are."

"How're we supposed to do that?" Skull questioned.

"Well, we'll need to observe the enemy's actions and get some insight into their skills," Mona informed. "You should be capable of that, Joker."

"Yep, I'll be able to," Joker said.

"But how?" Panther wondered.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Joker wagged a finger. "Now, now, Panther. I can't go blurting out all my secrets now can I?"

"Pfft, oh whatever," Panther rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Joker focused on the Shadow that was ahead of them. A yellow aura seemed to form around it, something about it told Joker that might mean the enemy and them must be at the same strength. Joker decided to use this opportunity to obtain another Persona. He ripped the mask from it, causing it to shift into a Hunting Puss in Boots. Joker told Mona to knock it down with a Garu causing it to fall over allowing him and the others to surround it.

"I'm scared, Mister..." cried the Shadow. "What should I do?"

"I know what you can do..." Joker replied. "You can lend me your power."

"My power?" it wondered. "Then, let's talk! I gotta find out if you're a weird human or not!"

"What's going on?" Panther asked.

"Just watch," Knight assured.

"Hey, uh, so you know I'm just a little kid, right?" the Shadow mentioned. "You're s'posed to go easy on kids! Are you stupid? Do you go to school and get stupid grades?"

"Honestly, I'm no good in a classroom..." Joker said. "I prefer PE."

"Your brain's a muscle, too, ya know!" the Shadow stated. "Hey, how come you keep coming here? I wanna know. Ain't people your age suppose'ta be out on dates and stuff instead?"

"Funny you should mention..." Joker smirked. "Right after this, kid..."

"Awww, then why're you making me be stuck here?" the Shadow questioned. "I think you should just go to your date. Whoa, that's the same as me..."

"Exactly," Joker nodded. "Which is why we should strike a deal."

"Wait, what the- I think I remember something!" the Shadow exclaimed. "You know, I'm not really a Shadow! I came from the humans' sea of souls! I am Cait Sith! You and I are the same, mister!" The former Shadow formed itself into a mask and was absorbed into Joker's.

"What just happened?" Panther wondered. "That was new."

"Oh, yeah," Skull said. "That's the first time you've seen that."

"Joker got a unique ability that lets him turn Shadow's into a Persona," Mona explained. "I say it's a reliable tool for our mission!"

"Wow, guess you weren't kidding when you said you had secrets, Joker," Panther smiled.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Joker commented.

"You shoulda seen him the first time," Skull smirked. "Dude flirted with a Shadow to get it on our side."

"You... flirted with a Shadow...?" Panther blinked at him.

"Uh, well, it just seemed to work for that situation," Joker mentioned twirling his bang in a nervous way. Knight cleared his throat to get everyone back on track which Joker had to admit was thankful for.

"I think we should keep going," Knight said. "No point in standing around. We got a Treasure to find."

"That's right," Mona agreed. "Let's go."

Joker and the guys started walking but found Panther hadn't moved from where she stood. She seemed in deep thought. Joker hoped the news of him flirting with a Shadow didn't bother her and hoped she didn't think he was like Kamoshida.

"Panther...?" Joker spoke getting her attention. "You uh... coming?"

"Huh, oh yeah!" Panther replied. "Yep, let's go!" They continued onward and opened a door that brought them into a storage room of some kind. Joker leads the others to the top of the shelves and found a small passageway.

"Hey, Skull!" Panther glared. "If you even dare look up, I'll kick you into next week!"

"Ugh, I'm not gonna look," Skull insisted. "Just hurry up and go."

"Just keep going," Knight sighed. "It's cramped in here enough as is." The passageway led them into another room with a single Shadow inside it.

"Uh, there's a guard there..." Panther pointed out.

"That's okay," Mona assured. "Hey, Joker, do you think we can ambush it from here?"

"Does it work like that?" Joker wondered.

"It ought to go the same as when you hide and jump on an enemy," Mona explained. "Give it a shot."

"Alright, here it goes," Joker said. Joker leaped at the Shadow and tore off its mask as it transformed into a Crypt-dwelling Pyromaniac. Joker figured it wasn't that tough and told the others to start firing their firearms. Surprisingly, the Shadow wasn't dead until it begged for them to stop.

"Hee-ho... I surrender!" the Shadow exclaimed. "Please have mercy, ho!"

"No point dragging this out," Joker remarked. "Lend me your power."

"Thank you, ho!" It said happily. "My heart was on fire for a momen- H-Hee?! I remember now, ho! I'm not a Shadow here, ho! I live in the sea of the hee-human heart! I'm Jack-o'-Lantern, ho! I'm you, and you're me!" the new Persona went into Joker's mask

"I didn't realize even Shadows beg for their lives..." Panther wondered. "That's actually kind of surprising..."

"Shadows have emotions too, you know," Mona mentioned. "Of course, they'll be afraid if you corner them like that. It might be worth purposely creating such situations to get them begging for their lives. The Shadows seem to have different attitudes, too. If we take advantage of that, negotiations may go more smoothly. I'll try to let you know what kind of answers the Shadows want to hear, depending on their personalities."

Joker and the others left the room and continued their sprint through the castle. Joker unlocked a door and inside they found a ruined staircase.

"Man..." Mona sighed. "Looks like it's in pretty bad shape..."

"Uhhh, I don't think we're goin' any further this way..." Skull shook his head.

"Maybe we can find a different way?" Knight wondered.

"Yeah, should we check somewhere else?" Panther added.

"Wait-look up there," Mona pointed out. Everyone followed and found a ram figurehead with some sort of latch hanging off it.

"What about it?" Skull questioned. "Are we throwin' a rope over that and climbin' it?"

"Phantom thieves do things a bit more stylishly than that..." Mona stated before his shined like stars. "And I know just what'll do the trick. Hold out your arm, Joker." Mona reached into his pack and pulled out a device that was attached to Joker's arm. Joker inspected the device fit perfectly around his wrist.

"Good-seems like it fits properly," Mona commented with a smirk.

"What'd you strap onto me?" Joker wondered.

"That's just a little something I've been working on in secret," Mona stated. "The grappling hook lets you zip to hard-to-reach locations in a flash. You'll see what I'm talking about when you test it out. Go ahead, give it a try."

"So, how well is this going to work?" Joker questioned.

"You'll be fine if you're smart about it, Joker," Mona said. "Let's give it a try!"

Joker stared at the ram statue and tossed the grappling hook. It launched Joker over the rail in a somersault and onto the staircase. Joker extended the cord toward the others, each of them grabbing onto it and launching them onto the stairs.

"Whoa, Joker!" Skull exclaimed. "On that grapple thing, you were all like, sh-shyaaah!"

"Wow, you really can do anything here if you think you can hard enough..." Panther spoke.

"So far, there's been no limit to how agile we can be here," Knight commented.

"Heh, you actually did it!" Mona laughed. "I knew you could, Joker!"

"Another useful tool, Mona," Joker smiled. "Thanks."

"Anytime!" Mona replied. The team approached an open doorway and just ahead was a Shadow with a red aura that seemed to be radiating off it. They immediately hid away from the Shadow's sight. Joker didn't need to use the Third-eye to how tough this Shadow was.

"Yo, that guy looks like bad news," Skull mentioned.

"Yeah, he does look pretty tough..." Mona agreed. "Not only that, but it seems like he's more aware of his environment than the others. We'd better proceed with caution."

The group decided to avoid that Shadow and keep sneaking around the area. There were a ton of Shadows lurking around. Luckily, they managed to get through them and even found a safe room. After resting, they continued on and found a door with a single Shadow. It turned into a Mad Marsh Horse which they quickly dealt with thanks to Skull's electricity skills.

In the room, there was a shelf of books. There was one book on the shelf that wasn't set in between the others. Joker used Third-eye to find it wasn't like the other books in this room.

"What's wrong?" Mona wondered. "You curious about that book? We can take it if that's the case!" Joker picked up the book and eyed the cover, the title reading 'The Queen Book'.

"This book special or somethin'?" Skull asked.

"It's gotta be," Knight stated. "What say we find similar books to this one? Perhaps it might help with our progress here." The others agreed and continued sneaking through the area and found another door that lead into a similar room as before. Thankfully, there wasn't a Shadow like before but that meant they can grab the book.

"Did that catch your attention, Joker?" Mona asked. "We should take it with us!"

"Beefcake Book?" Knight read the title aloud.

"Hmm... Looks like some weird book on bodybuilding techniques," Panther figured. Joker stowed the book away as he and the others left the room and made their way to another door that hasn't been opened. The room's layout was different but it was similar and was more open due to there being no desk. But there was a book set on the bookshelf which Joker obviously took. This time, the title was 'The Slave Book'.

"The Slave Book, huh?" Mona said. "That sounds kind of important..." The group made their way to a hallway and found a closed door. The tough Shadow from earlier was approaching so Joker and the others went inside. The room was spacious, with multiple shelves against the wall stacked with books.

"Whoa, it's so musty..." Panther grimaced.

"Yeah..." Knight wrinkled his nose in agreement.

"A library, huh?" Mona looked around. "This definitely seems fishy."

"Whaddya mean?" Skull questioned.

"Come on, it's a library in a castle," Mona continued. "There has to be some kind of secret mechanism in here. Let's look around, Joker."

[Knight POV]

Knight and the others took a look around the library and searched for anything useful. He was pretty sure none of these books would help with their current mission but there had to be something up with this room and perhaps find a useful item of some sort. Knight noticed Joker pick up a book on the table at the end of the room.

"Found another book here?" Joker held up the book.

"What's that one say?" Knight asked.

"'The King Book'," Joker read.

"The King Book?" Panther repeated. "We found all these books? What do they do?" Skull seemed to find something interesting as everyone followed to see what he found.

"Let's see..." Skull pointed. "'The History of Kamoshida... 'Tracing Kamoshida's Steps'... 'Kamoshida's Heroisms'... 'Kamoshida's Law'?" Skull's eyes widened and soon realized. "What the hell? All these goddamn books're about Kamoshida!"

"That reminds me, we found a book earlier, didn't we, Joker?" Mona asked.

"What are you thinking?" Joker wondered. "Think it's related to this?"

"Yeah, something might happen if we put the book in here..." Mona said. Joker rose the 'King' Book and placed it between the rows. Nothing seemed to happen once it was done but they still had a few more books.

"There are all sorts of books here..." Panther remarked while staring at the shelves. "The titles don't have any rhyme or reason to them."

"I doubt they would have any reason since this is Kamoshida's cognition," Knight stated eyeing the books himself.

"Huh?" Panther mouthed. "This book... has Shiho's name in the title..." Hearing that, Knight and the others immediately went to Panther's side. "Wait..." Something else caught her eye. "It's not just this one! All of the books are about female students!"

"What, seriously?" Knight questioned taking a glance at the books and turned out they were books about the girls at school.

"'Ann Takamaki: The Charming Doll'." Skull read. "Holy shit..."

"What the heck is this!?" Panther exclaimed angrily. Panther was about to reach for the book with her name on it until Joker stopped her. She seemed shocked at first until Joker shook his head.

"I probably wouldn't look in that if I were you," Joker advised.

"Y-Yeah, you're probably right..." Panther agreed.

Knight peered at each of the books and hoped he didn't find Makoto's name in the line-up of books. But unfortunately, he did find one about her. Knight didn't dare to look at the title. He didn't want to see what nickname he had for his friend in this sick bastard's mind.

"I suppose this is where this one fits..." Joker said forcing 'The Queen Book' into the row. Mona who was looking about found another set of books on an opposite shelf inside the room.

"Wait a second..." Mona spoke. "The books on this shelf seem familiar." Everyone went to check out the books on that shelf. Skull looked at the titles as his eyes went wide.

"These're names of the volleyball team members!" Skull stated. Knight who had been standing beside Skull was also staring at the books.

"No, it isn't just them..." Knight shook his head. "It's names of all the boys at school."

"Ryuji Sakamoto: The Vulgar Ape," Mona read. "There's one here for Skull."

"That bastard!" Skull cursed his body slightly quaking in anger. "Who the hell does he think he is?!" Knight moved down the row and found a book with his name on it.

"Oh, I found mine," Knight said.

"Yasuhiro Isamashi: The Traitor Pest," Joker read aloud. "Huh? Funny. I thought he would have had something else to say about you considering your history."

"It doesn't matter," Knight scoffed. "At this point, I'm nothing more than an annoyance to him."

"Joker..." Panther said. "This one's about you."

"Oh, really?" Joker almost sounded amused. "I made the cut." He looked at the book that Panther had pointed out. "Ren Amamiya: The Criminal Trash. Guess I'm not surprised there. Guess this means this one fits here." Joker took out 'The Slave Book' and stuck it in the line of books. A bookshelf on the opposite end of the room moved away revealing a secret room of some kind.

"Whoa, it opened up!?" Skull exclaimed.

"Looks like those books were placed in the correct spots!" Mona smiled. "Let's take a look inside!" The group each moved inside the room and took a look around. Knight stared at the pictures on the wall and found them to be photos of Suzui.

"The hell is this room?" Skull questioned. "There're tons of pictures of Suzui in here! Wait... It's all pics of her?" Knight looked over at Panther who looked uncomfortable when seeing the pictures.

"Are you going to be okay?" Knight asked stepping over to Panther.

"I..." Panther seemed at a loss for words when seeing the layout of the room. Knight could understand why she would become quiet from seeing this room. There were pictures of her best friend here who recently put herself in the hospital because of Kamoshida.

"We'll make him pay for this," Joker promised. Panther looked at Joker, her expression finally steeling.

"Yeah... Definitely," she nodded. "I feel even more motivated to do this now..."

"That's what I like to hear," Joker smiled as she gave a smile back.

"I'm sure it'll feel awful, but we should search this room," Mona stated. "There has to be something in here if he was hiding it with such an elaborate trick." Everyone searched the room until they found a circular object, a medal, Knight figured out that looked similar to one won in the Olympics.

"Is this... a medal?" Panther wondered.

"Well, it has to be important," Mona noted. "He went through all the trouble to hide it here, after all."

"Guess we'll take it then," Skull grinned.

"Wait, there's something under the medal too," Panther noticed.

"It's a different map from the one we have!" Mona smiled. "This is lucky... Let's take it with us! Looks like this is the last piece of the map! With all of them together, our maps complete now!"

"So is it gonna tell us where the treasure is?" Skull questioned.

"Yeah, look," Mona pointed out with his eyes shaped like stars. "It has to be here..."

"That's a weird-shaped building..." Panther commented. "Could it be a tower or something?"

"That would make sense," Knight chimed. "He would likely keep his treasure in the tallest tower."

"His throne room?" Joker guessed.

"Considering our current position... I'd say we're about halfway there," Mona claimed.

"All right!" Skull said. "Let's hurry over there!"

"No," Mona mentioned. "Now that we know how much we have left, we can calculate the best way to pace ourselves. Let's keep exploring, but take breaks when you need to, Joker."

[Joker POV]

"Okay, guys..." Joker said. "Let's keep going." The group never got to leave the room as a Shadow stepped into the room. The group never had a chance to hide since the enemy noticed them immediately.

"Hey!" it shouted. "What are you doing!?"

"Dammit!" Mona cursed. "Of course they spot us now..."

"No choice then..." Knight remarked. "Let's take it down."

"If we wanna head back, we'll hafta go through this guy..." Skull added. "Time to make a path!" The shadow split apart into a trio of Dirty Two-Horned Beasts. Though, one of the enemies Joker noticed was covered in a strange purple aura; it wasn't moving to attack and only muttered under its breath. It was obviously different from the others but Joker has no idea if it meant it was stronger than them.

"What's up with that one?" Skull wondered. "It's mumblin' to itself, but... it's not making any moves."

"Be careful, if my prediction is correct, that one's a bit problematic for us," Mona explained.

"Alright, then I'll go take care of it!" Skull declared.

"Stay cautious," Knight mentioned. "We don't know what that thing can do."

Skull took his pipe and struck the purple shadow a couple of times. The new enemy attacked him next but Skull managed to quickly avoid the strike from the horns by leaping away.

"Whoa, what the hell?!" Skull gasped.

"It started moving after we attacked it..." Mona stated. "Looks like it's exactly what I expected. Once we take it down-Hey, watch this!" Mona bounded toward the Shadow with his sword and cut it down. The Shadow cried out while its form seemed to take the shape of a sphere with beams of light radiating off it and soon detonated causing the Shadows beside it to get hurt from the explosion.

"What the..." Skull's eyes widened. "It exploded?!"

"That appears to be what happened," Joker commented.

"I'll explain later!" Mona insisted. "Focus on the battle for now!"

The two last two remaining were left weak from the explosion from earlier. Panther finished them off with a spray of bullets from her submachine gun. Three more of the same Shadows appeared, one covered in the purple haze.

"There's another one like from earlier..." Mona said. "Haphazard attacks on it will only make things tougher for us. It's probably best to take it down fast by striking its weakness and getting it to blow up."

"Hit it with a weakness...?" Joker had an idea. "I can manage that. Pixie!" Joker tore his mask and summoned his changed Persona. "Zio!" the lightning destroyed the Shadow making it erupt and hurting the enemies near it. Knight took his rifle and fired a round each into the remaining Shadows, finishing them off.

"I've never seen a Shadow get so intense..." Panther voiced.

"I call those scary ones Disaster Shadows," Mona claimed.

"They really are scary," Skull remarked. "But just so long as we handle 'em right, we oughta be able to make 'em useful to us, right?"

"Right!" Mona agreed. "If we run across any more of those, I say we focus on them first!" With the enemies dealt with, they can finally leave the library.

"Oh, know what?" Panther spoke up everyone turning to her. "We never ended up using that weird bodybuilding book."

"Oh yeah, that one with the 'muscle secrets' bullshit..." Skull said.

"Yeah, I wonder why we haven't used it yet..." Panther noted.

"Well, I get what you're saying Panther, but our focus right now should be on pushing further into the Palace," Mona declared.

"Well, if you want, we can detour around this area for where this book goes," Joker proposed.

"Suppose it couldn't hurt to find out," Knight stated.

"If you gotta hunch on where this book goes, let us know, okay, Joker?" Mona mentioned.

Everyone left the room and avoided the Shadows lurking about. Joker led the others to one of the few bookcases in the current area. Joker found the gap between the books as did Skull who started reading off the books.

"'Muscle Glory'... 'Macho Muscles'..." Skull read. "God, everything here's all about being ripped. That guy's totally in love with his muscles..."

"Gross..." Panther grimaced.

"Yeah..." Knight drawled. "Just put the book in, Joker. So we don't have to keep looking at these..." Joker placed the 'Beefcake' book in the space but it didn't seem to fit.

"Huh?" Skull wondered. "Is that one no good there?"

"Maybe there's something stuck in that spot," Panther stated. "Why don't you try reaching in there, Skull?" Skull never argued and reached into the gap to search for the possible object inside.

"There IS somethin' in here!" Skull said. "There we go. Oh, sweet. Here, it's all yours, Joker." Skull apparently handed Joker 'Protein' which he pocketed for later use.

"I was kinda hoping there would've been something else," Knight folded his arms. "Like maybe a possible hidden passageway."

"At least we got something useful out of it..." Mona smiled. "I'd still call that a win! And an extra pat on the back for Joker for scouring every last corner of this hall!"

"Hey, I'm a perfectionist," Joker shrugged.

"Keep that up as we progress through the Palace, all right?" Mona said. "Now let's get back to the infiltration!" The team made their way back to the locked door that required a medal to pass through it. Joker placed the medal they retrieved earlier into the round indentation and yanked the chain to lower the gate covering the door.

"Sweet!" Skull grinned. "Looks like it worked."

"Now we can keep going!" Panther said happily.

"This must lead somewhere important," Mona mentioned.

"Then let's head in," Knight stated. They went through the door and made their way down some stairs. Not long after they found an open room that seemed to resemble a church. It was strange that there were no guards patrolling the area. The object that really caught Joker's and the other's attention was the huge statue of Kamoshida at the end of it. For a moment, the church turned into Shujin's gym until it reverted back.

"What the...?" Knight wondered while looking around. "Did you guys see that?"

"Wait, was that..." Panther spoke. "The gym?"

"I get it..." Skull glared. "The gym's some kinda holy place for him. He's a god there."

"Kamoshida certainly doesn't stop feeding his own ego, doesn't he?" Joker remarked.

"The self-righteous asshole," Knight growled.

"I can't believe he can think like that..." Panther narrowed her eyes. "Especially after what he did to Shiho..."

"Don't worry," Knight assured. "He's going down."

"Yeah, I know," Panther nodded.

"God, that bastard makes me so freakin sick!" Skull snarled. "Just you wait, Kamoshida!"

"I see... So you're the ones who tampered with the library," a commanding voice spoke. "It seems my time waiting here has paid off..." a guard captain appeared before the team, its gold armor gleaming. "Just as that ape there said, this place is a holy ground for our great King Kamoshida. It is preposterous for miscreants like yourselves to come waltzing in like this!"

The guard captain melted into ooze until it took the shape of a knight in chainmail with a pair of red wings and a long sword clutched in its hand. It glared at everyone with a fierce gaze in its eyes. Joker and the others stood ready against the new foe that came to stop them from going any further.

"You will pay for foolishly defying King Kamoshida... with your lives!"

This chapter took a bit of time to work on. But I will say, I did enjoy writing the fight when the Baton Pass was first used.

Reviews...

ShadowUzumaki55: I try to portray that Hiro and Makoto have that level of trust due to their history together.

Anon: I mean, I have an idea for a Persona 3 story. Although I wish you would elaborate on why you think I'm a moron.

Flame Wolfe: Glad you like it.

ReallyLazyReader: Eventually he will reveal it to the others or rather someone else will do it instead.

Guest: Thanks a lot.

Okay, it will be some time until the next chapter since I'm going to work on another story. Depends on how long it takes since I might be busy with my current job. But I hate to leave people out to dry if they're looking forward to the next chapter.

Anyway, I'll see you guys next time!

Later!