Chapter 23: Bank of Gluttony
June 20
At Stolas' mansion, the members of IMP were currently seated at the dinner table, glaring daggers at the prince as he calmly ate his meal. Millie pointedly stabbed her steak, Moxxie refused to eat anything, and Blitzo's expression was unreadable. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Duke Raoul stepped through the entryway, the Goetia taking off his hat as he came to sit next to his brother.
"Stolas, what is the meaning of this summoning?" Raoul asked. "If you wanted to know how Stella was doing, you could have just called."
"This meeting has nothing to do with her," Stolas said firmly. "In fact, it is best that you don't mention anything you hear tonight to her at all, unless you want my Bl- er, Blitz on her hit list."
"Ah, I'm guessing that this has to do with his business of revenge assassination," Raoul nodded. "And it was interfering with the plans of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."
"What is this Phantom Thief stuff y'all keep yammering on about?" Millie asked.
"That would be the group my son is the leader of," Raoul explained. "I've been watching their progress in the Collective Unconscious quite closely, so I know all about their exploits in changing the hearts of the wicked. I'm sure my brother and Blitz explained this to you…?"
"Moxxie sir, and this lovely lady is my wife, Millie," Moxxie introduced.
"Charmed," Raoul nodded. "Either way, what seems to be the problem here?"
"The problem is that not only have those phantom fuckers turned my daughter against me, but they also have one of those cherub dickheads on their side as well!" Blitzo exclaimed. "I gave all my love and attention to Looney, and she goes behind my back and switches sides!?"
"That is not what happened, Blitz," Stolas said. "Via explained to me that they made a deal with Collin that they will help him regain his position after being banished from Heaven, in exchange for working with them. He's also agreed not to reveal any of his working with demons to his superiors as well."
"And how do you know that angel won't just turn around and kill your daughter once he gets what he wants?" Moxxie questioned.
Stolas scoffed. "Please, for as unprepared as Octavia is when it comes to dealing with angels, I have no doubt she could hold her own against one cherub. Besides, I pride myself on being a neutral party in Lucifer's little feud with his father, so if that cherub knows what's good for him, he won't do anything towards my daughter."
"Still, they're in the way of our target," Millie said, stabbing her steak with such a force that it cracked the plate. "They want to "change his heart," whatever that means, and keep stopping us from finding him. And we'd be doing them a favor as well, seeing as Kaneshiro is blackmailing them now."
"The Phantom Thieves work on human terms, which means that they aren't ones to kill their targets," Raoul explained. "Instead, they use the Collective Unconscious to go into the hearts of men and steal away their evil desires, thus filling them with remorse for their actions. I've heard through my connections that the Phantom Thieves have been called out by a popular detective in Japan, questioning their justice. I'm sure that this Kaneshiro fellow is their target as a way to prove that they are just."
"Still, we've already been paid upfront to kill the guy, so we can't back down," Blitzo argued.
Stolas rubbed his chin. "If only there was a way to make it so both sides could win…"
Raoul snapped his fingers. "Stolas, that sounds like an excellent idea! While I am limited in what I can do with the Collective Unconscious at the moment, I'm sure a group of imps like yourselves could easily slip past the presence blocking me in order to go into Kaneshiro's heart."
"Where are you going with this?" Blitzo asked.
"If you are worried about the safety of your daughter, then perhaps you should test their strength against your own," Raoul stated. "From my studies on the human heart, I know that there are certain weak spots that the Phantom Thieves will no doubt be going after. If you wait for them at those spots, then you could test their might to see if they have the strength to not only stand against trained killers like yourselves, but also hold fast to their beliefs in justice."
"I'm not going to kill my daughter," Blitzo said.
"Well Blitz, you don't have to kill them, just make them back off from their target," Stolas pointed out. "If you win, then you can use the Collective Unconscious to quickly kill Kaneshiro. But if the Phantom Thieves prevail, then they can change his heart, and you may kill Kaneshiro another time."
"We have until the end of the month though, which is soon," Blitzo said. Suddenly his phone rang, which turned out to be Saburo. "Yo, big balls guy, I'm kinda busy."
"Blitz! I'm just calling to let you know that plans have changed," the tanuki Sinner said. You could hear the sounds of gunfire in the background. "One of the rival Yakuza clans are trying to take our turf, so I won't be able to send anyone over to deliver the rest of your payment at the end of the month. This could get hairy, so I'm giving you all an extra week to complete your contract. How does July 9th sound to you?"
"That'll do just fine," Blitzo said, before the phoneline was cut off on the other side. "Well guys, looks like we have a few more days to carry out our hit. That means we have some time to try this plan of the duke here, and to figure out what to do about my sister."
"Sister?" Stolas questioned.
Blitzo nodded. "Yeah, according to Looney my twin sister is working for that Kaneshiro bastard as well."
Stolas put a hand to his chin. "Well then, that makes your job a bit trickier. As a lesser demon such as an imp, whatever contract she has with that human means that if he dies, her soul will be destroyed as well. You'd have to break their connection first before you kill Kaneshiro."
"We'll check to see if he really does have my sister, or if Loona was just trying to get us to back off," Blitzo replied. "Either way, Kaneshiro will die by my hands. It's just a case of it I need to make it personal or not."
[***]
June 21
"Eureka!" Morgana exclaimed.
"What'd you think of Morgana?" Octavia asked as the gang waited in their hideout for the rest of their members to arrive.
The not-cat laughed. "Curious, eh? Well, I've come up with a super cool idea. Lady Ann will surely swoon for me if I-"
"Sorry for the wait," Ann said as she came in the door.
Loona looked to Morgana with a shit-eating grin. "Well? What's your idea for Ann, Morgana? Supposedly, you'll make her swoon."
"From what?" Ann questioned.
"Well… It's something I've been giving a lot of thought lately," Morgana said. "Now that we've all gained some experience in battle, I think it'd be good for us to work on our finishers."
"Our finishers?" Collin repeated.
"Yeah, I guess if we're going to keep fighting, we ought to do it with style," Ann nodded.
"Right? Right!?" Morgana said, giddy with excitement. "So, I came up with just the idea… It maybe my best one yet! And we can definitely pull it off if you play a part in it, Lady Ann!"
"Me?" Ann questioned. She thought about it before nodding. "Well, okay- what do you need me to do?"
"Now that's our Lady Ann! Quick on the uptake," Morgana smiled. "What I had in mind was…" He went over his idea with her. "…And that should do the trick!"
"Really?" Ann raised an eyebrow.
"So, is that a no?" Morgana looked down.
"Well, it's not that I don't want to… it's more like, isn't your idea sorta impossible? Even in the Metaverse?" Ann explained.
Suddenly the star charm Ren had gotten from Jose started glowing. "What was that?" Octavia asked. "The charm is glimmering… Could it have reacted to something…?"
"I thought it was just a dumb rock," Loona said.
"Sup?" Ryuji called, entering the room with Yusuke and Makoto in tow.
"We can set this aside for later. For now, it's meeting time," Ren stated.
"I never imagined that I would end up helping the Phantom Thieves," Makoto mused. "Things would get interesting if my sister ever found out…"
"There's no time to be getting sentimental here," Morgana said.
Makoto nodded. "Yes, I understand. I do have one request about all of this though. Can you teach me how to be a phantom thief? Like… about the Metaverse, for example."
"Simply pot, that world is formed of a person's cognition. There, you can change people's hearts," Yusuke explained.
"Yeah, I've gathered that much just from going there once. But the method of transportation still eludes me…" Makoto said. "I mean, it's a smartphone navigation app…"
"You only need a name, location, and distortion. The entry of the Palace is bookmarked after that," Octavia explained.
"You really just make it sound like an ordinary app… Aren't there any dangers associated with it?" Makoto asked.
"Don't worry about that!" Ryuji assured her. "We've already been a bunch of times and-"
"That's not what I mean. It's a navigation app, right? Couldn't someone easily access our history on the server?" Makoto clarified. The group all looked confused. "Wait, why are you looking at me like that…? Has nobody thought of this before!?"
"I… damn, you caught me off guard with that one…" Loona admitted.
"And we don't know where it came from, right? It showed up on my phone without any input from me… Do you know anything about it, Ren-kun?" Makoto said.
"A long-nosed man…" Ren muttered to himself.
"What?" Octavia tilted her head. "Does this have to do with the Velvet Room…?"
Ren nodded. "It's hard to explain but… Let's just say the person in charge of sending out the app will only give it to those that are part of the Phantom Thieves, as far as I know."
"Basically, it's a magic app, so we don't have to worry about anyone else accessing our data," Octavia added. "At the very least, it wasn't made by a regular human."
"True… An app that allows you to enter another world isn't exactly commonplace…" Makoto admitted. "Well, Sis doesn't know who the Phantom Thieves are, so I suppose our information is safe for now."
"We're still learning things ourselves. I hope your sharp wit can help us with that," Morgana said.
"Thank you," Makoto nodded. "I'll do my best. More importantly, we need to stop him from releasing those photos. If the public gets a hold of them…"
"I could only imagine what would happen then…" Ann shuttered.
"Come on, we just have to take care of Kaneshiro before the time limit, and before IMP find where he's hiding," Collin said.
"Plus people'll really start admiring us if we can manage to take this bastard down!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"Yeah, this is the perfect opportunity. We have to succeed, no matter what!" Morgana said with conviction.
"Kaneshiro said the deadline is July 9th. Let's do this," Makoto nodded.
"I say we try to get this all done today," Ren said. "It may exhaust us, but Loona and I went out and stocked up on supplies. The faster we change Kaneshiro's heart, the sooner we can make him confess before IMP get to him."
"And by that point, we can destroy his link to Barbie Wire and hopefully convince Blitz to call off the hit, for good this time," Loona said. She pulled up the Nav and opened it. "So then… Let's go rob a bank!"
[***]
Location: Bank of Gluttony Outskirts
"So, what am I going to be called?" Makoto asked the team. "You all were using codenames, weren't you?"
'You're quite perceptive," Fox noted.
"This time's a hard one…" Skull mused. "Maybe something like "Shoulder Pads"?"
Mona cringed. "Why in the world did you focus on that?"
"I refuse to be called that," Makoto objected.
"What about "Rider"?" Templar suggested.
"Sounds too much like a smuggler. Next," Makoto shook her head.
"Fixer"?" Panther offered.
"I'm not a mastermind though. Next," Makoto shook her head. "Won't you give me something better to work with?"
"She reminds me of an empress," Mona sighed. "You got anything, Joker?"
"I think Lycan gave us the perfect codename yesterday," Joker said.
The hellhound tilted her head. "You mean "Queen"? I was just joking, dude. You know, like the meme of calling a girl boss a total queen."
"But I can see that working," Octavia said.
"It fits so well that I'm at a loss for words here," Mona admitted.
"Queen… It has a nice ring to it," Makoto, now Queen nodded. "I like it. Let's go with that."
"Just remember that my Persona is "Madame Queen", which is totally different," Lycan said.
"But your Persona does give off a similar vibe to her…" Templar muttered.
"Now then, could you explain to me the strategy for this mission?" Queen asked.
"…Strategy?" Skull questioned.
"You don't have one?" Queen said in surprise. "Wait. The Phantom Thieves were acting without any plans!?"
Uh… We pretty much look around the area, I provide navigation when needed, and then…" Mona explained.
"If we run into Shadows, we beat the shit outta them!" Lycan grinned, pounding her fists together.
Queen nodded. "Very well then. I feel like I'll be useful for sure. It seems my role is to be the brain of this time. I'll analyze Mona's information and give out orders. Any objections?"
"N-None, Queen!" Skull stuttered.
"I bet Skull's definitely the tyle that'll be under a girl's thumb," Panther sighed, getting a laugh out of Lycan.
"I'll help with the analyzing as well, since I was kinda doing that before you came along," Omen said. "Feel free to consult with me on any strategies, Queen, and Joker will make sure we execute them with his excellent leadership skills."
"Sounds like a plan," Queen nodded. "Mona, will you begin navigating us?"
"Y-Yes, Queen!" Mona stuttered.
"Him too, it seems…" Fox sighed.
Omen shook her head. "I thought you only had eyes for your "Lady," Mona…" she muttered.
"I-I do! A true Phantom Thief is gentleman to all women!" Mona shouted.
The princess rolled her eyes. Looking ahead, she noted that the front doors were now blocked off. "Looks like we'll have to find a different way in than before."
Joker concentrated, activating his Third Eye ability. "Somewhere…" he whispered, before pointing to a golden pig statue nearby. "There. That object is suspicious. I can feel a draft coming from underneath it…" Pushing up against the placard on the statue, it depressed inwards, moving the entire statue backwards to reveal a hidden passageway!
"Good find, Joker," Omen smiled. Heading inside, the gang came up through a hole in the "ceiling," finding it led into the bank proper.
"I don't remember seeing this place last time. Just where exactly are we…?" Queen wondered.
"There has to be a map somewhere. For Now, let's try to explore and search for the Treasure," Mona suggested. Heading out from where they were, the team stopped when they saw movement from Shadows.
"H-Hold on a second! What is that!?" Panther gasp, pointing to a new type of Shadow.
"A Shadow in the shape of a dog… It seems this place has its own watchdogs…" Fox noted.
"Hm… I don't like the look of this…" Mona said.
"You mean 'cause you're a cat?" Skull teased.
"Hell no! I mean it might be able to sniff out intruders, or hunt us down really fast!" Mona retorted. "But if it does end up making trouble for us, that could actually work out in our favor. We'll have a chance to finally show off our surprise finisher!"
"Sorry to butt in- we've been spotted!" Queen said. The Shadow ran towards them, transforming into its true form, Orthrus. The Shadow howled and immediately went after Mona.
"Heh, not bad…" the not-cat admitted. "But love always burns the brightest when facing down an opponent like this! Panther, I think the moment's final arrived- it's showtime!"
"Eh? You want to do that right now!?" Panther exclaimed. "Geez… Fine! Here we go!" The two cat-themed thieves jumped into action, the landscape suddenly shifting to a dreamy, flowery background.
"A gift as beautiful as you!" Mona said, pulling out a bouquet of flowers.
"Aw, that's sweet!" Panther cooed, the two jumping towards each other. "I won't let it go to waste!" She reached into the flowers and pulled out two machine guns, twirling around to fire in their enemies.
"This one's free!" Mona shouted, pulling out a cartoon bomb to blow away the Shadow.
"Now that's style!" the two said together, and with that, the world returned to normal as the battle ended.
"Uh… Did Mona just admit his feelings…?" Lycan said, confused about what the heck she'd just witnessed.
"Dude, what was that just now!? When'd you guys figure out how to do something like that!?" Skull asked.
Mona laughed. "It's simply the fruit of our secret, passionate training-"
"Hm, yeah, I guess we did put some effort into it. Still, I'm surprised it went so well…" Panther admitted. "Oh! You know what it could've been? Maybe it was because of the thing Jose gave us? That… star-shaped thing? I think it even gave off some kinda twinkle back then!"
"It did back when Mona suggested the idea," Omen nodded. "It reacted to your wish to fight alongside Panther, Mona. Heh, a wish-granting star…"
"If that's truly the case, we're just encountering one strange phenomenon after another," Fox said.
"I don't really get it… But, what I know is, if Mona and Panther can pull that off, can't we do it too? Wouldn't that be sick!?" Skull exclaimed. "Hey Lycan, you wanna try coming up with one of those badass moves of our own? We can call it… "Goth Run,' or something!"
Lycan sighed. "We are not using that name if we come up with something," she glared.
"There's a lot we don't understand about how this works… as usual…" Mona sighed. "But what I do know is, if we use these stars right, we'll be more ready than ever for our battles!"
"Right," Ren nodded. "Now then, let's continue the infiltration." Sneaking around the front area of the bank and avoiding the new dog Shadows, the Phantom Thieves found an elevator that would let them go deeper into the bank. While looking for a way to access the elevator, they found a grapple point to get up to the second floor of the building, followed by a grate they could crawl through with a Shadow on the other side. The guard was no match for Fox's ice skills, and soon the Thieves had a control room all to themselves.
"Oh look over here!" Templar said, picking up an object on the monitor table. "It looks like a keycard of some kind."
"And over here is a map," Fox noted, quickly sketching up an exact copy for the team to use. "As expected, there seems to be quite a large basement floor."
"I'd bet that's where the Treasure is…" Mona said.
"Ugh, does this thing only have part of the map, again?" Lycan groaned. "Why can't these Palaces have their maps all in one place!?"
Queen looked a bit confused. "This happened in the last two Palaces as well. I think it's just a fact we'll have to contend with," Omen explained. "It looks like there's at least one underground level, though. I bet we'll find the other half of the map if we explore down there."
"Shall we go to the elevator we found earlier then?" Fox suggested.
"That should be our last resort. First, let's see if there is anywhere to use this keycard," Queen suggested.
Templar passed the keycard to Joker before the gang resumed their search. Checking to make sure the keycard worked (it did), the leader of the Phantom Thieves recalled a locked door they had passed by earlier. Going there, he used the keycard to open it up, revealing the room to be directly above the elevator shaft that went underground. "We'll get on the elevator and go to the basement from here," Joker said.
"Perceptive as usual, Joker," Mona praised. "We should be able to ride on top of the elevator."
"I see. We sneak on top of it, then wait for it to move on its own," Fox nodded.
"It sounds like that plan will take us further down," Queen said.
"All right, let's get on there!" Mona commanded. The elevator brought the gang down to the Banker Passageway, and after crawling through an air duct, they emerged onto some scaffolding, dropping down into the basement's first floor.
"All security, listen up!" a voice called on the speaker. "The boss has some words for ya!"
"That must be Barbie's cognitive self," Lycan guessed. "Even if she's being held against her will by Kaneshiro, she's still going to be compelled to help him due to him being her summoner."
"Looks like some rats have infested this place!" Kaneshiro's voice suddenly cut in. "under no circumstances let them further down! Strengthen security as much as you can! Understood?"
"It seems pretty obvious where the treasure is now…" Templar mused. "But the map from earlier didn't show much… Let's hope we find the other half before we start sneaking around blind."
"In any case, heading down should be the best move. Let's keep our eyes out for a map while we explore!" Mona said. As they explored the area, the not-cat stopped them before entering a long hallway. "Wait, that's…!" He pointed up to cameras placed on the walls.
"Security camera… They'll probably tighten their guard if we show up on there…" Queen guessed.
Joker peered at the cameras. "I think… I can use my Third Eye to tell exactly where the cameras are looking."
"That's impressive," Lycan said. "Then you lead the way, Joker!" Avoiding the gaze of the cameras, the gang noticed an odd box at the end of hall. "Hm… Hey, this is a power supply box. It says "camera" on the sign. I wonder…" The hellhound reared back and punched the box, sparks flying from it as the cameras behind them all turned off.
"Nice punch," Joker complimented.
"Oh, I get it! We can break this shit to kill the cameras!" Skull said.
"If you see any more boxes like that, make sure to smash 'em!" Omen said. And smash power boxes they did, taking out more cameras to make progress through the bank a whole lot easier. "Looks like there were some laser gates at the top of these stairs," the Goetia noted. "Good thing we investigated the entire downstairs for power boxes first." The gang crossed over the stairs and back down, coming out into a more spacious room.
"Hey, did you hear? It sounds like those intruders are wreaking havoc in here," one of the Shadows said. "So this floor's… and Mr. Kaneshiro ordered us to…"
"Yeah, but still… I mean, with these two keys… to happen?" his partner replied.
"Keys? What are those Shadows talking about?" Skull wondered.
"I wasn't able to pick up everything they said. If only we could get closer…" Queen said.
"I could hear them just fine. Hellhound ears, remember?" Lycan said. "And it sounds like we need the keys off those guards in order to move on towards the Treasure. There's more cameras in this room, though, and those laser gates too. Oh, and would you look at that? There's another box over there." Pulling out her gun, the hellhound shot the box, causing two of the cameras to turn off.
"Hm… I'm guessing the other cameras are connected to a different power source," Templar guessed. "Let's go down further, then loop back around to get to those guards." As they went down, the thieves came across a large vault underneath the room with the guards.
"Is this some kinda vault?" Skull wondered.
"According to the map, there's a great deal more beyond here…" Queen said.
"Then this is not a vault, but a partition of sorts," Fox said. "The terminals must be how you open it."
"Then those guards up there must have the keys to this door," Lycan said.
"For real? Ugh… it's such a pain in the ass how secure this place is," Skull grumbled.
"Well, it looks important, so this must be the path forward," Joker said.
Mona nodded. "Sounds like we need to pay those guards a visit… but they have those cameras blocking our way forward. They're a pain, so we should deactivate them first."
Omen suddenly felt a familiar presence. "Wait… I think there's a Will Seed… that way!" She pointed down the right hall.
"Sweet! Let's go get it then," Lycan grinned. The gang went down the right corridor, finding it looked to be dead end. Joker noticed a grabble point, however, swinging the team up to a higher area. They could see the Will Seed room now, but a savage-looking Shadow was patrolling the area.
"Let's sneak around it and just grab the Will Seed," Mona suggested. Before the gang could act on the plan, there was the sound of a gunshot, and the Shadow spasmed before melting into goo. "What the-? Did something just take out the Shadow!?"
"You can thank me for that, Phantom Thieves," came a voice from above. Another shot was fired, this time just at Joker's feet. "That was a warning shot. Now then, before things get messy, why don't you all just give up."
"I know that voice… Come out and face us, Fatass!" Lycan shouted.
"It's Moxxie!" Moxxie shouted back, dropping down from his perch and landing in front of the Will Seed door.
"Wait, how did he get in here?" Queen wondered.
"You can thank Duke Raoul for getting us in here," Moxxie explained. "Yeah, Millie and Blitz are here too. You see, after you rudely sent us away yesterday, we came up with a plan alongside him and Prince Stolas. The deal is this: if you want to prove your supposed "justice" and have us not kill Kaneshiro, you'll have to defeat IMP first."
"Isn't it unfair to fight you here, though? You don't have a Persona," Skull pointed out.
"Who cares? If he wants to fight, let him," Lycan said, stepping forward.
"Loona… The thorn in my side," Moxxie frowned.
"It's Lycan in here," Lycan said.
Moxxie rolled his eyes. "Whatever you call yourself, I'll never forgive you for all he insults you've called me over the years we've known each other. Consider this a little payback." He pulled out two pistols before squaring up, one gun aimed at Lycan and the other at Templar. "Now then, I have a ting against killing children, but I'm not going to hold back either. So it's best if you just leave this other world and let us do our jobs."
"You know we can't let you kill Kaneshiro," Omen stated, stepping forward, her staff armed and ready. "Moxxie… that's your name, right? I know you and Loona aren't on good terms at all, but she's changed from the hellhound you knew before. She's a core part of our team, and this battle will show you just that."
"Yeah right, as if her lazy ass can ever do anything right," Moxxie sneered.
"Just shut up already!" Lycan shouted. "You know I don't give a shit about what you think, but I'm not about to take your crap laying down either! If you want me to prove my justice, that I actually care about my friends, then let's just fight already!"
"Phantom Thieves, prepare to engage!" Joker said, the team getting into battle formation. "Queen, Mona, Omen, give us some analysis!"
"I'm not sensing any weaknesses," Mona stated.
"Moxxie likes using guns, so expect some heat!" Lycan stated.
"I'll teach you to respect me for once in your life, Loona!" Moxxie declared, cocking his guns. Energy seemed to build around him as he did so, similar to the Charge ability. "Huh, it seems this world has given me more power!"
"He's planning something. Be on alert!" Queen warned. The group braced themselves for incoming attacks as Moxxie unloaded his guns, similar to a weak version of Riot Gun.
"Huh? That didn't instantly cripple you?" the imp was confused.
"Yeah, dumbass. This other world makes us tougher than normal humans," Lycan said as Mona cast Media over the party. The hellhound rushed forward and delivered a melee attack that Moxxie blocked. "But if we can't exploit your weaknesses, we'll just have to try something else instead."
"Carmen!" Panther called, casting Dormina.
"Ah… So… Sleepy…" Moxxie muttered, lowering his weapons as the sleep spell took hold.
"Take this!" Queen shouted, rushing forward with a flurry of punches, knocking Moxxie on his butt. The Phantom Thieves did an All-Out Attack, dealing massive damage to the imp.
"He's probably about halfway done by now," Omen noted.
Moxxie reset his stance, putting his pistols away and switching to his sniper rifle. "Okay, no more messing around!" He aimed the rifle at Mona, tagging the cat with a dart that instantly put him to sleep. "There goes your healer. Now, eat this!" Switching to two shotguns, the imp made the team scatter as they were bombarded by bullets. Due to being put to sleep, Mona was helpless to the shots, getting knocked down.
"Mona!" Panther gasped, grabbing the not-cat and pulling him to safety.
"He's certainly got a lot of fire power," Skull said. "I don't think he's missed a single shot."
"Looks like he's charging up again," Omen warned. "Let's make it harder for him to hit us!"
Joker pulled out a smoke bomb, covering the area in smoke so the Thieves could hide within. "So, you kids want to play hide-and-seek? What was all that about facing me in a fight?" Moxxie taunted.
"Shut up!" Lycan shouted, rushing out of the smoke with Madame Queen summoned, slamming into Moxxie with a Magna spell.
The imp wheezed as he was pushed back with the attack. "When did you get magic…?" he sputtered out.
"Since I got a Persona," Lycan said.
Moxxie pushed her back before leveling his rifle. "Well then, if you're not giving up, I'll just take out the brains of this operation." With a quick shot, the imp fired a round right at Joker, a One-Shot Kill.
"JOKER!" Templar shouted, reaching out a hand as holy energy gathered around it. Just as the bullet struck, the energy burst out and surrounded Joker, blocking the attack. "Yes... the protection spell worked!" the cherub cheered.
"Hey! Using angel magic is cheating!" Moxxie said.
"We're thieves. We don't play by the rules other set," Fox stated.
"And we fight against those that make those rules to step on other people," Templar said. "We're going to bring hope to those in need, to make things right! Your company kills to "make things right," as your own form of justice. We choose instead to reform society, by exposing the truth behind the lies and giving hope to those who need it!"
Moxxie seemed struck by those words. 'Giving hope to those who need it…' He shook his head. "I'm not going to let your angelic lies get to me. How about some lead to shut you up-" Suddenly, the imp was hit by a spell, his mind going fuzzy as he dropped his weapons. "Wait… how do I fight again…?" he said in a daze.
"Good distraction, guys," Queen complimented, desummoning Johanna. "With that Makajama, Moxxie isn't going to be attacking any time soon."
"Matador!" Joker called, summoning a skeletal man with a red cape. The Persona flicked his cape, casting Psy and knocking Moxxie down with another technical attack.
"Time for some brutality!" Lycan called, the gang doing one last All-Out Attack before Moxxie was finally down for the count.
The imp cried out as he was blasted back into the wall, clutching his arm from the stinging pain in it. "You kids… actually got me there…" Moxxie said, panting a bit. "I'll admit it… I said I wasn't going to hold back, but part of me still didn't want to hurt you…"
"You're beaten, Moxxie, so you'll let us pass now," Omen said.
"Yeah, that's the deal…" Moxxie sighed. He looked to Lycan with wonder. "You know, you don't seem to be acting different, but I can tell that somehow, you're not the same Loona I know."
"That's because these guys here accept me for who I am, warts and all," Lycan explained. "I may be a pain in the ass, but thanks to Joker and the others, I can take out my aggression on people that actually deserve it…" She looked a bit solemn. "Look, Moxxie… I'm shit at apologizing, okay, and I don't think you'd accept one from me either."
"You've got that right," the imp chuckled.
Lycan returned the gesture. "But once this whole ordeal thing is over with… I might just not call you a fatass anymore."
"Well, it's a start," Moxxie sighed. "And I'll admit, being the secretary at IMP isn't as easy as I thought it was either. Turns out being as abrasive as you are makes it easier to deal with customers."
"Well, considering we live in Hell, Lycan's no-shits-given attitude is pretty good and biting back against the assholes down there," Omen mused. "And who knows? Maybe if we keep our Persona powers by the end of this, we could make a change in Hell as well?"
"Really? You'd want to do something like that?" Lycan raised an eyebrow.
"I think that sounds like a valiant effort," Templar said.
"Man, just think of the Palaces they'd have down there," Skull said.
"Considering the deplorable things that have happened throughout human history, I can only imagine what horrors can come from such despicable minds," Fox shuttered.
"Anyways, a deal's a deal…" Moxxie said. The imp pulled out an object and tossed it to Joker, which happened to be a Will Seed. "There you go. I found it in that room over there. I think you'd find more use for that face potato than I can."
"We were looking for this anyways. Thanks, Moxxie," Lycan said.
The imp gasped, before giving a small smile. "You really are changing, aren't you, Loona?" As the Phantom Thieves left, Moxxie pulled out his Asmodean Crystal, the one Stolas had given him to travel between the living world and Hell. Raoul had linked the Palace to the crystal, so IMP could leave once their battle with the Thieves was complete.
As Moxxie opened a portal to get out of there, a voice in his head suddenly spoke up. "You have seen a change in someone you thought of as a rival into a person you could learn to respect," the voice said. "I wonder if you have the same resolve to fight for justice as those kids do. Will you run away from the injustices done to you again, or will you take their example and fight?"
"What…?" Moxxie muttered. He suddenly thought of his father, and how he had always wanted to stand up to him, but never had the courage to do so.
"You have run all your life, little rabbit, but even a cornered animal can fight back when the time comes," the voice said. Moxxie shuttered before stepping through the portal back to Hell, the voice fading away with a maniacal laugh.
[***]
Location: Banker Passageway
After their fight with Moxxie, the Phantom Thieves resumed their mission, disabling the security around the surveillance room so they could get close to listen in to what the Shadows were talking about and hopefully nab the keys they held to the vault door below. "About those intruders…"
"Oh? Are you really that concerned?" the Shadow questioned. "Don't be. We have the keys they need, so things should be okay as long as we protect them."
"Sounds like they do have the keys we need to move on," Omen said.
"What are we gonna do then? Beat 'em up and take the keys?" Skull asked.
"Really, Skull? Just look at 'em. They're not your average Shadows," Mona said. "Anyone in charge of such important keys must be extremely strong."
"And there's two of them; dealing with both of them would be tough," Panther pointed out. "Plus, they could go and sound the alarm…"
"Let's just observe for now," Joker suggested.
"They don't really look like they're going anywhere, though…" Lycan frowned.
"Then why don't we split them up and beat them individually?" Queen suggested.
"And how will we do that?" Fox asked.
"Remember that monitoring room upstairs- the room we got the map in?" Queen recalled. "There was some communication equipment there as well. We can use that to lure one away."
"That's bit worrisome, but a great idea all the same," Omen nodded. "It sounds a lot safer than fighting both of them at the same time at the very least."
"Okay, let's leave this part to our resident intellectual!" Mona nodded.
"Thanks!" Queen took the compliment well. "So, first we need to bead to the monitoring room!" The team did just that, riding the elevator back up to the main floor and sneaking over to the monitor room. Queen approached the comms carefully. "Okay, I'll give it a try. Stay quiet during this…" She pressed the button to turn on the comms. "Come in, security room! This is the monitoring room! We've been ambushed by intruders! Requesting backup, immediately! One person would be perfect!"
"Rodger that! We'll send someone your way at once!" the guard replied.
"Sounds like they took the bait!" Templar cheered. "Now we just have to wait for the Shadow to arrive." After a few minutes, the Shadow burst into the room, only to find no one was there. As he looked around in confusion, the Thieves jumped out in a surprise attack.
"This was a trap!? You bastards!" the guard cursed. He burst into his true form, Fuu-ki.
"I think… he's weak to electric spells!" Joker exclaimed as he concentrated.
Skull gave the Shadow a taste of his Zio, knocking the Shadow down. "Woah, nice call, dude! How'd you guess that?"
"Just a skill I picked up from a certain detective prince…" Joker said. The gang rushed in to hit the downed enemy, and soon enough they had acquired the Right Key from it. Heading back down to the basement, the gang were ready to take down the other guard to acquire the second key.
"Why isn't he coming back!? Could something have happened!?" the Shadow fretted.
"He's all by himself. Let's go!" Mona ordered.
The guard soon turned as the Phantom Thieves rushed into the room. "Who are you!?"
"We're here for the other key!" Templar declared.
"What!? Then that comm earlier… How dare you!" The Shadow turned into his true form, a Sui-ki, prompting the battle to begin.
"Too back we already know your weakness," Omen smirked. "Queen, show them your power!" All it took was a Frei from the team's strategist and some free hits on a knocked-down foe, and soon enough they had the Left Key in their position as well.
"Perfect, we've obtained both keys!" Fox smiled.
Queen noticed something on the wall of the room. "Oh, just a moment!" She went over and showed the object in question to the team. "Doesn't this map have a little more information than our own?"
"Ah, right you are! Well done, Queen!" Mona complimented as Fox added the new bits to their map.
"Maybe it can tell us what the bank is like further down," Panther said.
"How's it look? You see where the Treasure is?" Skull asked.
"Well, the most suspicious area would be the deepest part… Look here, there's an elevator that leads down. The Treasure must be past there," Mona stated.
"This map seems to indicate that the area beyond the partition is rather large as well," Fox noted.
"I'm sure security will keep getting more intense form here onward too. We need to be careful," Mona warned.
"And we know that Millie and Blitz are probably down there as well. Make sure you're at the top of your game so we don't fall to them," Lycan added. With both keys in hand, the group went down to the vault doors, with Lycan and Templar going to either side with the keys in hand.
"Okay… Let's try inserting them at the same time," Omen suggested. "On three! One, two…" The keys were inserted, and with a whirring noise, the doors slid open to reveal the next area!
"This took some time, but we managed to force it open," Fox said.
"Great teamwork, everyone," Joker praised.
"Yes, I agree. The cooperation of our whole team is what helped us through this particular ordeal," Queen nodded. Now in the Laundering Office, this new area has money quite literally raining down all around them.
"Dude… There's money all over the floor…" Skull said in awe.
"So he took all of this from the weak…" Mona said with a frown.
Queen got her serious gaze on again. "…He's going to pay for this. Adventuring into this new area of the Palace, the Phantom Thieves came across a new obstacle: security cameras that periodically shut on and off. The had to time their movements in order to not get caught by them, but they eventually made it, crawling through a vent to get into a room with a literal sea of money below them.
"For some reason, I'm tempted to dive right in and swim in it," Templar said. He shook his head. "But we have to focus on the mission!"
"Oh… I feel the pull of a Will Seed nearby," Omen noted. The group looked around, eventually finding a grapple point that would zip them over to where the Will Seed door was. As they flew through the air, however, a knife suddenly flew through the air, cutting the line and dropping the Phantom Thieves into the sea of money.
"Ow…" Skull groaned. "At least all this money was here to break our fall…"
"We could have gotten papercuts though…" Collin said.
"Oh, quit yer whining!" a Southern voice said. A figure jumped down into the pit with them, revealing herself to be Millie. "Can you believe all this money in here? Shoot, I should take some of this for myself and get it converted into Souls back home!"
"I mean, the money we find on Shadows is real enough…" Fox mused.
"Hey, don't get distracted!" Lycan chided. "Millie, you know why we're here."
The imp nodded. "Yep, that means you got past my Moxxie. I know he has a soft spot for kids, but I didn't expect y'all to actually take him down." She twirled a knife in her hands. "Still, don't take this personally, hun. I know I've been looking after you ever since Blitz first adopted ya, but you can't be falling in with the wrong crowd."
"So says the literal assassin," Omen raised an eyebrow.
"Hey! We have the best interests of you kids at heart!" Millie defended. "Besides, going any father against these Yakuza guys is only gonna get you killed. Think about your family! Just let the professionals handle the big scary bad guy."
Lycan shook her head. "I'm not a kid anymore… Hell, in the time you've know me I never was a kid. As Phantom Thieves, we made it our mission to right the wrongs of society, and we're doing it without having to kill. You're not going to convince us to back down now!"
Millie sighed. "Oh well, I'll just have to rough you up a bit until you leave then. Nothing personal!"
"Time for another fight," Joker said, the gang finding their footing as the battle started.
"Millie can hit like a truck, but she's not so keen on taking a lot of hits," Lycan informed the team.
"Then take this!" Skull shouted, rushing forward to give Millie a good whack with his weapon. The imp just smirked, using her knives to block the weapon and retaliate with a rapid series of stabs, before ending it with a kick that sent Skull sprawling. "Gah! What the- That effing hurt!"
"I just said she hits like a truck!" Lycan groaned. "And she's a freak with those knives, so getting up close is exactly what she wants."
"Then we need to keep our distance," Queen guessed. "Everyone, focus on using magic to attack!"
"You might have your fancy spells, but knives are a girl's best friend!" Millie said, darting around to attack. She managed to get behind Fox and deliver a kick to the back of his head, making the artist dazed.
"Fox's been confused! He won't be able to attack!" Mona exclaimed.
"That's two of our strongest fighters down," Omen said with concern. "We can't let Millie get the jump on us like that."
"Then take this!" Panther called, summoning Carmon to cast Agilao on the imp. Millie gave a shout of surprise as the normally fireproof imp was set ablaze, knocking her over.
"Wha… That… burned…?" Millie said in confusion.
"Now's our chance!" Joker called, the gang going for the All-Out Attack. Once Millie got up, the imp gave a growl, before a pink barrier of energy surrounded her for a moment.
"Looks like the Palace is effecting her like it did with Moxxie," Mona noted.
"I won't be falling for that trick again!" Millie shouted, going after Panther with another knife combo. Mona blocked the attack with his sword, pushing the imp away.
"I'm guessing that barrier made it so fire spells won't work," Omen said. "Let's try something else then!" She called on Hua and cast Gryva, the spell doing the trick in knocking Millie down once more.
"I think we've found a pattern here," Queen noted. The Phantom Thieves knew what to do from there: alternate between different spell types Millie couldn't resist, then go for the All-Out Attack or exploit her downed state for extra damage. Whenever the imp attacked them, they made sure to have their guard up, as her strikes were vicious and deadly. Soon enough, a Aques spell from Templar was what finally did the imp in.
Millie winced as she fell on her butt, panting a bit as her will to fight was drained away. "Shoot… You kids don't mess around," she said, looking at them with a smile. "Damn, now I feel like I wasn't going all out myself! I haven't had to try that hard in a fight for a good long while now!"
"You're always up for a fight, Mils," Lycan chuckled. "So, we're good here then?"
Millie nodded. "Yep! You guys sure gave me a whooping here! And that angel you got with ya ain't no slouch either! What's yer name, kid?"
"I go by Templar here…" Templar replied.
"Oh right, you guys use those fancy codenames. I'll just get it from ya later then," Millie shrugged. "Either way, y'all have proven yourself to me to keep doing what you're doing! Hey, there wouldn't happen to be some profit to be made doing this Phantom Thief business, would there?"
Joker shrugged. "Fighting Shadows does give us money, but I think it's best to stick to your day job, miss…"
"Dude, her day job is killing humans," Skull reminded him.
"We only go after those we're paid for," Millie assured the blonde.
"Although you do have a habit of going a bit blood crazy when you fight," Lycan said.
Millie shook her head. "True. Moxxie has been asking that I don't make as much of a mess out on missions…"
"And you should! Your reckless behavior got me kicked out of Heaven!" Templar exclaimed.
Millie actually looked surprised at that. "Wait, really? We must of dipped before that happened. Well shoot, I guess it's too late to say sorry, but I can say we didn't intend for you to get kicked out of your home. I just saw it as us winning the wager on who got that man's soul, like what angels and demons did back in the old days. As someone from a big family, I bet it hurts not being able to see your folks."
"Well… I'll consider if I want to forgive you or not…" Templar said, unsure of how to feel at that response.
"Hm… Oh, how about you take this as compensation?" Millie said, tossing the second Will Seed to the gang. "Good luck on the rest of yer mission! The boss is next, and Blitz won't be as generous."
"Don't worry. We'll be ready for him," Lycan said. Once the Phantom Thieves left, Millie scooped up as much money as she could off the floor before using her Asmodean Crystal to open a portal back to home. As she was about to step through, a voice in her head called out to her.
"So then, the bladed beauty has tested the might of the children, and sent them off out into the world," the voice mused. "Don't feel so bad about losing, sweetie. You win some, you lose some, but you'll always be able to come out of it stronger than before."
"Huh? Who's saying that…?" Millie wondered. For some reason, she thought back to the snake of an assassin that got her leg caught in a beartrap.
"You're still growing, but I can't wait to see the beautiful rose you blossom into, sugar," the voice said as Millie stepped through the portal back to Hell.
[***]
Location: Laundering Office
Taking the elevator down a level, the Phantom Thieves heard some commotion coming from down below. "Isn't that Kaneshiro and Barbie?" Lycan pointed out the two Shadows. "What are they doing down here?"
It's difficult to hear what he's saying from where we are now…" Fox said. Making their way down the area, the crew got ready to face the Bank Officer head-on.
"Kaneshiro!" Queen shouted.
"Y-You bustards… How did you get this far!?" Shadow Kaneshiro cursed. "What about my security!?"
"Sorry, that shit was a piece of cake for us!" Skull taunted.
"…Well, I wouldn't say it was that simple…" Fox muttered.
"H-Hey, finish off these vermin here!" the Bank Officer ordered his guard. "Keep them away from the elevator at all costs!" The guard ran forward, transforming into Kin-Ki as Shadow Kaneshiro dragged Cognitive Barbie into the elevator. While the new enemy seemed tough, Panther was able to put it to sleep, letting the gang wail on it and secure a victory.
"The dick ran off while we were busy fighting…" Lycan growled.
Fox noticed something on the floor and picked it up. "Yes, but… he seems to have been in a hurry. He left this behind. It's a journal. Let us see what lies inside… "R=C-0, I=1, H=2," … What could this mean...?"
"The pages afterward have been torn out as well. Could it be a code of some sort?" Queen wondered.
"We should keep it for now. It could be handy in the next area," Omen said. "Considering how Kaneshiro reacted, this elevator will take us to the innermost part of the bank."
"Of that's the case, it'll be the most secure area as well," Mona added. "Let's make sure we're ready for whatever awaits!" Taking the elevator, the gang looked out to behold the massive vault below.
"Are these all vaults!? How messed up is this guy!?" Skull exclaimed, looking at the maze of vaults.
"We're supposed to check all of these for the Treasure!?" Templar fretted.
"Hold on, this distinct shape…" Queen said. "Could it be…"
"You recognize it?" Omen asked.
"If my prediction is correct, we won't need to check every single one of these small vaults," Queen said.
"For real!?" Panther gasped.
"That is, I hope. I'll explain why once I've confirmed my theory," Queen clarified.
"I seriously hope so too…" Mona said. Now in the Underground Vault, the Phantom Thieves found their route ahead was blocked by a lock with a PIN pad.
"Hm… There's something written above the number pad here," Omen said. "It says "RICH" … Tch, how obsessed with money can one man be? This puts some of the nobles from Gluttony and Greed to shame…"
"Wait, there might be something more than that!" Templar said. "Do you think it's connected to that journal…?"
"Hm, let me think…" Fox said. "If I remember correctly, it said R=C=0, I=1, H=2."
"See? It has all the letters in the work "RICH"!"
"Then let's try it," Omen nodded. Typing in 0102, the panel flashed green, making a tumbler key come out and spin the vaults around, creating a way froward.
"What the!? The whole vault moved!?" Skull exclaimed.
"So my deduction may be correct…" Queen said.
"Money… I need more money… I must grow richer!" Kaneshiro's voice suddenly said from nowhere. "As long as I'm rich, anything will be possible…"
"Kaneshiro… Is that creep watching us!?" Lycan growled.
"That doesn't seem to be the case. It sounds more like the voice of his heart…" Mona stated. "I guess all he really thinks about is money, after all."
"So he blackmails people outta their saving and that's still not enough? What a douche…" Skull frowned.
"More importantly, the message in the journal was the PIN code!" Panther said.
Fox nodded. "Yes, it seems so… but I doubt it will be easy from this point forward. The rest of the pages were torn out of the journal. Who knows what clues they may hold…"
"My guess is more letter-to-number combinations," Omen said. "We should look around to find more clues."
"Time to head further in and find those pins!" Mona cheered. Following the path forward into the Vault proper, the gang snuck around, looking for clues.
Skull couldn't help but have his eyes drawn to a golden pig statue situated in one of the rooms. "I know we already saw one o' these earlier in the Palace, but man, is it ugly."
"I mean, it's a golden piggy bank. Pretty obvious that money's the only thing on his mind," Templar sighed.
"There are some control panels right over here," Omen diverted their attention. "Joker, you think we can do something with them?" Pressing a few buttons, the leader of the team managed to get a nearby shutter door open.
"Attention all guards! Attention all guards!" came the voice of Barbie from the PA. "The rats have made their way to every floor! Tighten security at all levels! They must not proceed any further! Protect the golden pig at all costs!"
"I know that's not the real her, but I was hoping Aunt Barbie would actually be on our side here…" Lycan mumbled.
"Kaneshiro must truly not want us gaining access to this "golden pig," Fox said.
Skull jerked a finger at the pig statue in the room. "Well, pretty sure that one there's the one he mentioned. Pretty suspicious, if you ask me…" Joker went over to the statue and after a quick inspection, pressed in the nose of it to reveal it was actually a small vault with a Torn Page inside.
"Hm? There's a note here... It says "P=1," Queen read.
"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Skull questioned.
"Wait, that sounds like the code from Kaneshiro's journal," Omen said. Taking the page and the journal, she managed to call on a bit of magic, fusing the page back into the book. "Yes! I knew that book repair spell was a useful skill. Take that, Uncle Andre!"
"Oh, it's a continuation of the code we found in there! This should be useful!" Mona cheered. Moving past the shutter door, the gang found another PIN pad, this time with the word "REAP" written over it. Not having all the clues to solve this puzzle, the Phantom Thieves continued onward to find other torn pages. The group eventually found the next golden pig, giving them the new codes of "E=9, A=3."
"Reap? As in, a harvest?" Templar questioned. "What does that have to do with a bank…?"
"The man sees people as walking ATMs… He must think of collecting money from them as a harvest," Mona said.
"Kaneshiro is truly rotten to the core…" Fox said. Omen put in the PIN, which opened up the next area of the vault to the Thieves.
"This isn't anywhere near your quota for this month," Kaneshiro's voice rang out. "Don't gimme your excuses. Did you forget who owns your ass now, who provides you with those drugs you love? Just go reap every last penny!"
"That voice again…" Fox said.
"I'll make you understand if you don't get it… People who can't earn money are worthless to me!"
"He's completely distorted…" Templar mused.
"It looks like he believes money is more important than human- or demon- life… What a pitiful man," Queen scoffed.
"And he's playing on Barbie's drug addiction to keep her in line," Lycan growled. "I can't wait to kick this guy's ass. The next door opened up, so let's move forward." Heading into the second area of the vault, the team had to maneuver around electric fences before climbing up to smash a power box and disable the security.
"This door seems different from the others. It's all gold and shiny," Panther noted as the gang approached it.
"Hm… and there's also a weird pig. Maybe we should do some reconnaissance first," Mona said.
"Good morning. This entrance is strictly for Kaneshiro's Bank employees," said a mechanical voice. "For entry, please display your keycard and pay 10,000 yen."
The gang looked stunned. "I get that employees would have to show their keycards, but…" Queen muttered.
"You have to pay to get through the door too!? What kind of extortionist shit is this!?" Lycan exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure even in Hell they aren't this extortionist!"
"So, Kaneshiro even views his own employees as exploitable resources," Fox mused.
"I'm sure it'll make him a little money, but I doubt it'll amount to anything substantial," Queen said.
"Either way, let's try to find another way around this door," Joker said. "I'm not giving this guy a single yen, Palace or not…" The gang did find another way to their destination by going the long way around, breaking power boxes to disable security as they went. They even got to the other side of the golden door, where Lycan happily destroyed the locking mechanism on the other side, thus disabling the door and opening it up.
Finding two pig vaults, the Phantom Thieves obtained the codes "G=P" and "U=A." The next pin pad was right next to the previous page as well.
"This time the word is, uh… HUGS?" Skull looked confused.
Lycan smacked him on the back of the head. "It says "HUGE," moron. Can you even read?" Reviewing the journal, Omen determined that the code for this PIN was 2319. The PIN flashed green, and the next path through the vault opened.
Kaneshiro's voice rang in their ears again. "This isn't enough… I need to have a huge presence! I'm done having other people walk all over me… It's my turn now…"
"He is beyond redemption… It seems he cares not for those he tramples upon himself," Fox said with a frown.
"Every step we take is strengthening my resolve. Let's push forward," Queen said.
"I was wondering, Queen- what did you think this vault was?" Omen asked.
"With the way it moves, there can be no doubt… This entire floor is the cylinder of a lock," Queen explained.
"Uh, care to explain a bit more?" Lycan said.
"The cylinder is the mechanism that judges if a key is the proper shape," Queen clarified. "If you use the correct key and all the discs align, the lock opens."
"Now that you mention it, while the walls rotate, the path forward has always been facing the same way," Templar noted.
"So you're saying the entire floor is just one giant lock…?" Mona asked.
Queen nodded. "That's right. All the smaller vaults in here aren't important. There has to be an area further in, locked away by the room itself."
"And that's where the Treasure's gotta be Sweet, let's get going!" Skull grinned. In the next part of the vault, a guard stood in the way of the next switch, the Shadow turning out to be a Kumbhanda, but with aliments from the team and light spells from Joker, he was no match for the Phantom Thieves, leaving the next switch for them to use.
"Hm… This panel doesn't have a password. It has arrow keys instead…" Omen noted. "That explains why the Shadow was protecting it, though. Let's just try it out and see what happens." Pressing the left button, the vault rotated and reveal another arrow device. As she approached it, the princess shuttered. "The final Will Seed is nearby…" she said. Feeling where it was, Omen pressed the left button again, revealing a path guarded by another Shadow.
"Yep, the last Will Seed is past that door," Lycan nodded, smelling their prize beyond the enemy. She then tensed up. "But we saw Moxxie and Millie by the other doors, which means…"
"What are you doing here!" the Shadow shouted, pointing at the Thieves. "But since you're here… It'll be the last of you!" He burst into his true form, a Cerberus, but as soon as it revealed itself, a bomb was rolled underneath his legs. When it exploded, the Guard Dog of Hell was coated in an icy substance, freezing it in place before getting blown to hell by a rocket launcher, courtesy of Blitzo.
"Damnit, that was my last rocket…" Blitzo groaned. "But totally worth it!" He looked at the Phantom Thieves. "So, you kids made it past M&M? Mox I'm not surprised pussied out, but Millie is a different story. You guys are really serious about this, despite being all dressed up for Halloween. I almost didn't recognize you, Looney."
"Blitz…" Lycan stepped forward, crossing her arms. "Do I have to say anything, or should we just let our actions speak for themselves."
"I'm doing this for your own good," Blitzo said, leveling his pistol at the Phantom Thieves. "Look, when this is all over, you can just… go after a different target! But for now, I gotta sit you out of the fight."
"Yeah, that's not happening," Omen said. "Phantom Thieves… let's do this."
Blitzo started off the battle by pulling out a firebomb, letting it explode for fire damage on the team. Templar extinguished the flames with an Aqua spell, before lunging at the imp with his spear. While Blitzo dodged that attack, it set up Joker to unload his clip on him, leaving Blitzo stunned with the Shocked status.
"W-W-Wow… Y-Y-You guys a-a-aren't messing a-a-round…" Blitzo said through the paralysis.
"I'll cut you down!" Fox called, using Goemon to safely deal physical damage and knock Blitzo down for an All-Out Attack.
The imp stumbled back a bit, before smirking in a way that unnerved the team. "I'm only just getting warmed up, kiddos! Suck on some led, why don't ya!?" He suddenly pulled out two machine guns and fired in a spread pattern, similar to the Triple Down skill.
"Stay healthy, guys!" Mona called, casting Media on the party.
"Hua!" Omen called, casting Gryva for some damage.
"Nice spell, princess. But I'm not done yet," Blitzo taunted. He pointed a bowie knife at Omen, only to turn his attention to Mona, the cat screeching as their blades clashed against each other.
"Over here!" Panther called, suddenly taking a sexy pose that managed to distract Blitzo.
The imp let out a whistle. "Damn, that outfit is fine…"
"She's too good for you, creep!" Mona shouted, using the distraction to land a Lucky Punch on Blitzo, knocking him over with a critical hit for another All-Out Attack.
The imp roared as he pulled out a flash bang, the Phantom Thieves wincing as their eyes were assaulted by the bright light. Blitzo used the distraction to get in some free hits with his knife and gun, while also knocking down Mona and Templar, cutting the team off from their main healers. "Okay, enough of this bullshit! Just give up before I actually maim you! I'm not above killing kids!" Blitzo warned.
"He's getting reckless. Be careful, everyone," Queen warned as she and Fox stood guard to defend Mona and Templar.
"Get wrecked!" Skull shouted, casting a Zio spell while Panther used Agi.
"Phoenix!" Joker called, summoning the firebird to cast Frei on Blitzo.
"Shit, was that a fucking mini-nuke!? You kids are hardcore," Blitzo laughed. "I'm not giving up, though. Take this!" He raised his gun to another attack, aiming at Templar, only for Lycan to get in the way of the shot. "Looney, now isn't the time for this. Get out of the way so I can take care of the cherub fucker over there."
"If you want him, you have to go through me," Lycan said, standing her ground.
"Okay, it was funny the first time, but I'm serious," Blitzo frowned.
"So am I," the hellhound summoned her Persona, to defend her friend. "If you're not holding back, Blitzo, then prove it. I thought as an assassin you didn't care what you did as long as you got the job done. So? Take. Your Shot."
Blitzo grunted, his arm starting to shake as he stared down Lycan. He tried to aim away from her, but he hellhound stepped in the way every time he aimed at one of the other Phantom Thieves. 'Come on, Blitz, don't be a pussy and take your shot!' said a dark voice in his mind. But even with that part of himself encouraging him to do so, the imp couldn't find it in himself to pull the trigger. Whenever he looked at Lycan… he only saw the scared seventeen-year-old girl, crying to herself in that Satan-forsaken hellhound kennel.
"What a nightmare…" the owner of the kennel had called her. "Serious attitude problems. She'll be out of our hair next month when she ages out. Good riddance, if you ask me. She'll never amount to anything much…"
"I… I…" Blitzo's hand was still shaking.
"Heh… You really care about her…" Omen said, a slight smile coming to her face. "This whole time, I thought you were just the dickhead and ruined my life… but now, after seeing how hard you and your employees have fought against us… The way you look at Lycan as she stands against you… You really do have a heart, don't you?"
Lycan grunted. "He's an arrogant, selfish asshole… but he's not all bad…"
"Looney…" Blitzo whispered.
The hellhound held a hand out to Omen. "Come on, princess. Let's end this." The Goetia accepted it, and the world suddenly shifted around them as the star in Joker's pocket flashed. Instant the Palace faded away to a starry night sky, where Omen and Lycan appeared, standing in a circle of candles.
"Here we go!" Omen shouted, slamming her staff into the ground as a complex pentagram circle appeared underneath them. A red aura surrounded the two, before Lycan rushed forward, savagely clawing at Blitzo before punting him into the air. "We're not done yet!" Omen called, casting a spell from the circle that insnared the imp in bands of magic.
"By the moon and stars… This is your end!" the two girls shouted, pulling Blitzo into the circle as Lycan delivered one last elbow drop before jumping back, allowing Omen to detonate the circle with magic, sending up a pillar of light that scattered into stardust. As the attack ended, Lycan and Omen posed before the world returned to normal.
"Was that… a showtime attack!?" Mona exclaimed.
"Yeah… We just kinda winged it, but I think it got our point across," Lycan smirked. She looked over to see Blitzo laid out on the ground, groaning slightly as smoke wavered off his body. The hellhound rolled her eyes before pulling him to his feet.
"Wow… Just, wow…" Blitzo said, winking as he cracked his spine back into place. "Whatever those Personas are doing to you kids is better than steroids. I can take a beating, but that was… wow…"
"That ends our conflict, then," Joker said. "The deal was that if we beat you, you'd say out of the way of us changing Kaneshiro's heart. I expect for you to uphold that promise."
Blitzo waved him off. "Yeah, yeah… That tanuki guy is going to be pissed, though…"
"Tanuki guy?" Skull questioned.
"Yeah, some Yakuza guy asked IMP to off Kaneshiro for him," Blitzo explained. "If we don't have him dead by July 9th, we'll have his gang on our ass."
"Funny, that's the same deadline we have for our blackmail being leaked," Omen mused. "Hm… You know, there is a way we can all win here."
"How so?" Queen asked.
"Well, what if Kaneshiro just so happens to be killed after we change his heart?" Omen suggested. "If we let him get arrested, that'll put him in a place where someone could easily slip in and take him out."
"You could even make it look like a rival Yakuza clan took him out too," Lycan said, understanding where the princess was going.
"I dunno… Wouldn't it be bad for us, knowing that we're sentencing a man to death?" Panther asked.
"And then all of the people he hurt wouldn't get true justice," Templar added.
Omen hummed, before coming up with a solution. "Wait… what if we get Barbie to help with our justice? She's been used by Kaneshiro to do his shady dealings. If we free her from his grip, she can surely funnel the money he's stolen back to the people and get rid of any blackmail he has on his customers."
"You mean you weren't making that up?" Blitzo said in surprise.
Lycan shook her head. "Yeah, Aunt Barbie is really being controlled by Kaneshiro. If you kill him now, her soul will be torn apart as well. That's why we must change his heart as well, to free her from enslavement."
"That bastard is really going to get it now," the imp growled. "Ugh, but Stolas said that freeing her would be tricky… You don't think he'd just let her go once he changes his heart, do you?"
"Maybe, but it'd be better to free her independently from that," Mona said. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have the last Will Seed for us, would you?"
"Huh? Oh, this potato with a face? Here." Blitzo tossed it to Joker, the Will Seeds fusing into the Crystal of Gluttony afterwards.
"Hey, this kinda looks like…" Lycan peered at the gem. "Yeah, it totally is! Kaneshiro had a similar-looking gem on him!"
"Really? Good catch," Fox said. "Do you think there's a relation between the gem and the Will Seeds?"
"It's just a hunch, but perhaps whatever spell he used to summon Barbie used a gem as a focus," Omen speculated. "As long as he has the gem with him, he can force her to do what he wants, and only has to supply her drugs to make her behave. If this Crystal of Gluttony has similar properties…"
"…We could use it to free your sister from Kaneshiro's grasp," Queen finished, looking at Blitzo.
The imp looked hopeful for once. "Well, shoot. You kids know how to think these things out. I would have just shot the fucker right in the face and lost my sister all over again. So then, what're you planning to do now?"
"First, we're going to find where the Treasure of the Palace is. I can feel it; we're close," Mona stated. "Then, we'll send Kaneshiro a calling card so we can come back here and steal his Treasure for ourselves… Actually, we could use your help for that!"
"Really?" Lycan questioned.
"If the Will Seeds give off the same energy as Kaneshiro's gem, then it should be able to neutralize the pact he has with Barbie… I think," Mona explained. "Either way, if we let IMP personally give Kaneshiro his calling card, they can free Barbie at the same time."
"You guys have to promise not to kill him until after he confesses, though," Omen said.
Blitzo crossed his heart. "Sure, we can do that. We have until July 9th, so we can do it whenever you kids are ready. Just send the location and we'll save my sister. It's been too long since I've seen her in person…"
"So, we're all good with this plan? We change Kaneshiro's heart, and then whatever happens after he confesses, happens," Omen asked.
"He's caused so much pain to others…" Templar said. "Extortion, blackmail, enslavement… We'll do our part in making him confess, but whatever he decides to do after that is on him. We can only make our targets see the error of their ways; not choose how they cope with that crushing guilt. All in favor of this plan?" The Phantom Thieves all raised their hands one by one.
"It's a deal then," Joker said, shaking Blitzo's hand. He looked at his hand a bit funny afterwards. "Huh. This seems like when I'd start a new Confidant and here that voice…"
"Is he okay?" Blitzo whispered to Lycan.
She shrugged. "He gets like that. Joker can be a bit odd, but he's effective at getting stuff done. Kinda like a certain asshole I know…"
"Aw, come here, Looney!" Blitzo cooed, giving his daughter a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Now then go kick some ass in this crazy bank place!" The imp suddenly went over to Templar and pulled on his collar. "Oh, and angel boy? If you even lay a hoof on my daughter, I'll make sure they can't identify your body when your CHERUB buddies dig up your grave, got it?"
"I would never!" Templar stammered, his face going red underneath the mask.
"Good, because you're on thin fucking ice, buddy," Blitzo dropped him. With that the Phantom Thieves went back to the mission, leaving Blitzo to return back to Hell with his Asmodean Crystal.
"Oh, what good show they put on!" a voice in his head exclaimed. "I bet you wish you could get in on that action, do ya, Blitzo?"
"Wha…?" the imp looked around frantically. For some reason, he thought of his asshole father that was the start of the problems Blitzo had faced in life.
"But for now, the curtain has yet to rise. Let the merry band of outcasts do their thing, and some day, you may reveal yourself as the hidden "king" that has yet to be played." The voice chuckled as Blitzo shuttered, going back to Hell where the rest of IMP were waiting. He had to tell Moxxie and Millie about the new plan and deal with the Phantom Thieves.
[***]
Location: Vault (Third Floor)
In the new part of the vault, the Phantom Thieves encountered even tighter security than before. They pushed on through, though, taking out Shadows and smashing up the power boxes littered around the room. Once they were all down, the electric fence guarding the next golden pig was depowered, giving the team the next clue, "O=H=10."
"So we're getting into calculations now… Good grief," Mona sighed.
"Well, H=2, so 10-2= 8. O=8 in that case," Omen stated.
Moving onto the next area, the Phantom Thieves found themselves in a room filled with golden vaults. "Damn! This is nuts…!" Skull said.
"Safes everywhere… Kaneshiro must have gained an obscene amount of money," Fox mused. "Though, walking around the Palace, I don't see anything that seems to have spent it on…"
"Perhaps all he wants to do with it is hoard it…" Queen guessed. "Now's not the time for this discussion, though. Let's keep going."
"Hey, look over there!" Templar said, pointing past an electric fence. "There's another clue vault!"
"And isn't that the power for the bars?" Mona added, looking just to the side of the golden pig.
"Oh, you're right. We can't go this way," Templar sighed. "Cursed Palaces, making it so we can't use our angelic/demonic powers properly…. Guess we'll have to look for a different path." Sneaking around the room (passing by another gold door) and taking out more Shadows along the way, they did eventually get to the next page, which read as follows: "L=U+G, D=G."
"Ugh, it's like, algebra or something!" Panther said in frustration. "I'm getting confused…"
Omen whipped out the journal to add the page to it. "U=3 and G=1, so D=1. In that case, L=3+1 which is 4," she calculated.
"Remind me to ask you for tips on math homework," Skull chuckled.
The gang then went over to where they spotted a PIN pad next to an electrical box. "The code this time is "GOLD" … That's pretty straightforward," Lycan snorted. Omen punched in the code 1841, and the vaults finally rotated to the point of letting them into the center of the room!
"This gold sheen…" Kaneshiro's voice snickered. "This… This is the fruit of all my hard labor!"
"He thinks robbing people is something to celebrate? That guy needs to get his brain checked…" Skull scoffed.
"With this much, I will be invincible! Omnipotent! I've changed… I'm no longer the person I used to be…"
"The person he used to be…? What could have happened to make him so distorted?" Templar wondered.
"I don't know, but no matter what kind of past he had, his actions are unforgivable," Mona stated.
"That's right," Queen nodded. "Now, if my deductions are accurate, that should've been the final mechanism."
"All right then. Let's head back and check on the vault," Joker ordered. Once they got to the center, they found an elevator waiting for them.
"H-Hey, this is an elevator, yeah! So a way down really did show up… You're some kinda prophet, Queen," Skull complimented.
"It's mostly thanks to that notebook. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for that," Queen said humbly. "More importantly, did you hear all those things Shadow Kaneshiro was saying?"
"Oh yeah, I was wondering about that! Didn't he seem kinda… insecure or something?" Panther questioned.
Queen nodded. "Exactly. He kept bringing up how rich and powerful he wants to be."
"So if he's insecure about that shit… he thinks he's really just some poor weaking, huh?" Lycan said.
"Maybe by thinking he was doing to be a strong, wealthy man, he convinced himself it was true," Queen speculated.
"I wonder…" Fox hummed.
"Still, he's damned himself by using a demon's power, among the other horrible things he's done," Templar said. "I suppose we'll discover the truth for ourselves when we change his heart. Let's hurry, Joker."
The gang got into the elevator, reaching the bottom where a large room held the nebulous blob of the Treasure. "Found it. It's right here!" Mona cheered.
"I don't see anything," Queen squinted at the blob.
"Once we get this far, we need to send our target a calling card," Omen explained.
"A calling card… I see…" Queen nodded "Making the target believe that the Treasure is in danger will cause it to materialize. That's quite a bold trick."
"Huh? She understood?" Panther said in surprise.
"Joker, we'll defer to you regarding its timing," Fox said.
"Okay, guys, let's get ready for the heist!" Mona said.
"The next time we come here will be after we send out the calling card," Omen stated. "Heh, and to think Kaneshiro only showed his face once. Coward."
"As long as we steal the Treasure, we'll change his heart," Mona said.
"And don't forget that we have to call IMP to do send the calling card so they can free Barbie," Lycan reminded them. With that, the Phantom Thieves returned to the real world, exhausted from the Palace run but ready to prepare for the calling card.
Author's Note
Man was this a long one, but honestly, I'm just glad we're through with this Palace. I think most people would agree that Kaneshiro is the weakest of the Palace Rulers in Persona 5, which is why I went out of my way to make the Helluva Boss characters more involved in this arc, to raise the stakes a bit more.
So I think the big highlight of this chapter is the three IMP showdowns that happen here. I actually wrote out boss movesets for the imps, and I do plan on having an entire IMP team fight in the future. For now I just want to tell you the "gimmick" of each of their fights:
- Moxxie uses gun attacks and has a high critical hit rate, but is weak to aliment moves and status effects.
- Millie has high physical attack and counters, but is weak to all magic types. However, she becomes resistant to the last magic type used against her, so you can't repeat the same spell twice on her (think the Mr. Freeze boss fight in Arkham City).
- Blitzo has no weaknesses and three different phases to his fight, but will never directly attack Loona or Octavia unless he uses and AOE move.
Loona also gets to shine this chapter, having a moment with each of the imps. I hope I did her dynamic with each of them justice. The Phantom Thieves also made a deal with IMP to let them kill Kaneshiro after they change his heart and he turns himself in. It's probably the most morally grey thing they've ever done, but I'm going off the logic of "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you" if you know what I mean. Also yes, I am teasing some Potential in the IMP crew to have a awakening in the future.
Otherwise, I had some fun getting to incorporate game mechanics into this chapter, like Ann's Sexy Technique, the Sleuth skill Joker gets from Aketchi's Confidant, and Collin using his own Guardian's Blessing to protect Joker from one of Moxxie's shots. Also, Octavia being a secret math nerd to solve the vault codes was a fun thing for her to do. Oh, and Showtime attacks, a highlight of Royal, are her as well! We see Mona and Panther's, but I also wanted to come up with my own for Omen and Lycan. I don't have a name for it yet, so why do you guys give me one? What should Octavia and Loona's Showtime attack be called?
Next time is the boss fight against Kaneshiro and the liberation of Barbie Wire, so stay tuned!