Persona 5: The Phantom Files

by sithlorde1988

Will cover the events of both Persona 5 Royal AND Persona 5 Scramble/Strikers. What happens when in addition to Ren being sentenced to go live in the care of Sojiro Sakura for a year after being sued for assault, his younger brother is also ordered to go and oversee him? How will this extra character change things? Read to find out! More info in chapter 1! Read and review! Enjoy!

78. The Letter Hunt! Joker's Comeback part 7

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Phantom Files! Finally starting to get closer to the end of Arc 7, but still a few chapters to go! At any rate, this chapter should have the return to Shido's Palace in it, and if it goes far enough into it, also some change-ups that were made for this story, so there's that to be excited about, assuming I don't end the chapter part-way through the infiltration of Shido's Palace. Because that is very much a possibility. But that said, let's hit up the disclaimer whilst I'm thinking of it.

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does not own the Persona series in any way, shape or form (aside from the OCs Kusa/Draconis, Slim, Akira, Kyori, Mimille, Lumine, and any other OCs that might appear in the story, all of whom are made and thus owned by sithlorde1988 unless otherwise noted) and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus, Sega, and to a lesser extent, Koei Tecmo. So all credit to them!

That said, let's get on with the chapter! I'll probably have the longer A/N after the chapter, so keep an eye out for that! Now, here's chapter 78!

Chapter 78: End of the Prep Period! Exploring Shido's Palace! Joker's Comeback part 7

(Unknown location, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Draconis, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Sumi, Draconis' POV)

I looked around as I took in my surroundings, not really sure where I, much less the others who were with me, were at in the present moment. From what I could see, we appeared to be in an engine room of sorts, possibly on the ship that is Shido's Palace? But that's just a guess on my part for now. That said, I nodded to the others as we started trying to find our way out, only for a distinctly male figure to leap down and stand in our way, laughing mockingly at us as he spoke up.

"Well, well. Looks like I've finally cornered you, Phantom Thieves! I do wish you had at least made it somewhat challenging. The fact I was able to catch up to you all so quickly even after giving you a head start into this Palace is laughable. But I suppose it doesn't really matter, does it?

Now that I've found you, none of you are walking out of here alive! Especially YOU, Draconis! You and I still have a score to settle from the last time we met one another!" The figure said, stepping out of the shadows to reveal that he was exactly who I thought he was, making me frown as I spoke up while taking in the mixed black and blue bodysuit the figure wore, as well as the imposing-looking helmet that the figure had on that was shaped like a bird, making me gasp while I spoke.

"Indeed. So you say, Black Mask! But your grudge is with me! Leave Joker and the others out of this!" I said, trying to sound braver than I felt. I knew I could hold my own against him, but I was still scared shitless that Black Mask might try some sort of dirty tactic to tip the battle into his favor. Black Mask laughed at me and spoke up, sneering at me dismissively as he spoke.

"Heh! Don't make me laugh! You talk yourself up like some sort of formidable warrior, yet I was able to swat you aside like you were made out of paper mache before! And I very much doubt that you've improved at all since our last encounter! But alas, you're not the one I'm after first. No, that honor belongs to Joker! But maybe he'll be more agreeable to cooperate if I secured an 'insurance policy' of sorts?" Black Mask sneered as he shocked both myself and Joker by suddenly lunging forward and grabbing a stunned Oracle, holding her in front of him as a meat shield before he spoke up, looking at Joker while he spoke.

"Well, what's it gonna be, Joker!? You gonna fight me one on one, or do I have to start eliminating your friends to get you to cooperate?" Black Mask taunted Joker, not seeing me shaking nearby, both from fear as well as from rage, as he focused on Joker. Joker spoke up, sounding calmer than he likely felt.

"You can let the hostage go, Black Mask! I'll fight you." Joker said as Black Mask laughed and spoke up.

"Are you sure about that? Maybe I should keep her close by, in case I need a meat shield?" Black Mask said sardonically as I gasped and spoke up fearfully.

"Are you out of your mind!? NO! Leave Oracle alone! Your fight is with Joker and I!" I shouted, as Black Mask smirked at me and spoke up tauntingly.

"Aww, what's the matter? Is Draconis scared that I might hurt his precious little girlfriend?" Black Mask said tauntingly as Joker spoke up while glaring at Black Mask.

"LET HER GO!" Joker said rather forcefully, exchanging a subtle nod with Skull, Mona, and Fox, who were all standing nearby, getting nods from the trio in question as they subtly moved closer in case they had to hurriedly get Oracle away from Black Mask. Black Mask smirked at this and spoke up.

"What's this? Trying to play the hero, are we?" Black Mask said before he frowned and pulled his sword out, suddenly putting it to Oracle's throat as I gasped.

"ORACLE!" I said in horror as Black Mask laughed and spoke up sadistically.

"Heh! Now that's more like it! The great and mighty Draconis, reduced to a horrified mess! I wonder if I can get the same reaction from Joker if I were to also take the other redhead in the room as leverage too?" Black Mask said sneeringly as Joker and I both gasped at this, turning identical glares on Black Mask. Joker then spoke up.

"You leave my girlfriend out of this, Black Mask!" Joker said firmly as I nodded and spoke up.

"You tell him, Joker! He knows he can't beat us in a legit fight, so he's trying to use trickery and cheating to win." I said firmly as Black Mask laughed and spoke up.

**Trigger Warnings start here for the following: graphic content, slight gore. Read on if you don't mind such things, otherwise skip ahead to the section marked *Trigger Warnings End* to read on. You have been warned!**

"Is that so? Let's find out, yeah?" Black Mask said mockingly as he pushed Oracle towards me, making me briefly smile before I saw the evil smile on Black Mask's face, shortly before he pulled out a laser and took aim at Oracle. I gasped and rushed forward, diving in front of Oracle seconds before Black Mask pulled the trigger on his laser, which hit me in the stomach, since I'd leapt in front of Oracle at the same time he pulled the trigger. I then grunted, grabbing my stomach as I crumpled to the ground in front of a horrified Oracle. At that same time, Oracle, Joker and Mona all spoke up at the same time.

"NOOOOO!" Joker and Mona said at the same time as Oracle raced to my side and looked down at me and spoke up.

"Why did you do it, Draconis!?" Oracle asked me, as I looked at her and spoke up.

"Because it's what any gentleman worth their salt would do in that situation, Oracle. They'd leap in front of an attack for the one they love. I meant it before when I said I'd use myself as a shield to protect you if I had to. And not only would I do it again if I had to, but I wouldn't regret it for a second." I said firmly as Oracle looked down at me and spoke up.

"Maybe you wouldn't, but what about the rest of us!? Yes, I'm happy you saved me, but what good is that gonna do us if you get yourself killed protecting me!?" Oracle asked me, making me look up into her eyes as I spoke up.

"Whoever said this is gonna kill me, Oracle? He hit me with a laser, not a bullet. Even so, I'm better-equipped to tank that sort of hit than you are." I said, trying to cheer up Oracle with a bluff. She frowned and spoke up.

"We both know it was an energy bullet, Draconis. Quit trying to be macho to spare my feelings." Oracle said as I nodded, struggling to my feet as I saw Black Mask advancing on Oracle, blade out. I then pulled out my throwing knives, leaping in to block the slash Black Mask aimed at Oracle, which knocked my throwing knives away. Black Mask huffed at this and spoke up.

"Hmph! I grow tired of this! If you want to play the hero so badly Draconis, then fine! Let me put you out of your misery!" Black Mask said as his blade flashed forward, quickly lunging towards me. But before I could even bring my throwing knives out to block the attack, I saw a flash of red, moments before Black Mask's blade collided with Oracle, who'd leapt in front of me, easily piercing through her bodysuit and stomach, making her grunt and fall forward to the ground, where she laid face-down, a visible pool of blood forming under her. I gasped and raced to her side and tried healing her.

"DAMMIT! WHY!? Don't die on me, Oracle! I'll save you! Thailog, help me out!" I said as I summoned out Thailog, who nodded and started waving his sword over Oracle, waves of healing energy washing over her in an attempt to heal her wounds, but unfortunately for me, the wound pierced a deep enough wound that Oracle bled faster than Thailog could heal her. Oracle sat up, looking into my eyes as she spoke up weakly.

"Heh. See? I told you our relationship is a two-way street, Draconis. You're not the only one who can protect someone, you know. I'm sorry our relationship had to end like this, but at least I was able to save you a likely decapitation at Black Mask's hands. Draconis, look into my eyes." Oracle said as I nodded, looking into her eyes after slightly lifting her visor so I could see her eyes. Oracle gently took my free hand into her own, smiling as she spoke up.

"Good. I got to see those beautiful eyes of yours, one last time. Stay strong for me, and never forget that I'll always love you." Oracle said to me, and before I could do more than nod, she gave a shuddering breath and went limp in my arms, making me gasp in horror as I looked down at her, her normally expressive eyes now glassy and lifeless. I then spoke up in shock.

"Oracle!? No! This can't be. Please wake up. Oracle?" I said, only to visibly deflate a moment later when Joker and Sumi both looked at each other, exchanging a sad head-shake as Joker spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Draconis. She's gone." Joker said to me, making me gasp and speak up, even as tears formed in my eyes.

"WHAT!? She can't be gone! I was supposed to be the one to protect her, not the other way around! NOOOO! ORACLEEEEEE!" I said, falling to my knees and looking over the lifeless corpse of Oracle, tears falling from my eyes onto her body. I then charged at Black Mask, speaking up angrily as I did so, unaware of my eyes glowing a bright yellow as I charged at Black Mask, my body filling with the rage I felt in that moment as I spoke up angrily.

"DAMN YOU TO HELL, BLACK MASK! YOU KILLED HER! ORACLE IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! I WILL SHOW YOU NO MERCY FOR THIS!" I roared angrily, making Black Mask laugh maniacally, just waving his sword forward, leaving Joker and Sumi barely enough time to blink, along with Panther, Queen, Skull, Mona, Noir, and Fox, who were all watching from nearby, as my head was suddenly and violently separated from my shoulders with a flash of glowing metal, both parts of me hitting the ground with a dull 'THUD!'. The last thing I could recall hearing was the unified scream of 'DRACONIS!' from Joker, Sumi, Fox, Skull, Noir, Queen, Mona, and Panther as my lifeless body hit the ground...

**TRIGGER WARNINGS END. READ ON FROM HERE IF YOU SKIPPED THE PRECEDING SCENE**

(In the living room of the Sakura residence, with Kusa and Futaba, neutral POV)

Kusa sat up suddenly, looking like he was in a cold sweat. Futaba turned to look at Kusa, noticing the outright terrified look on Kusa's face before she spoke up reassuringly.

"Kusa? Are you all right? You look like you had a terrible dream." Futaba said as Kusa looked at Futaba in confusion at first before smiling as he pulled her into a big hug and nodded, kissing her for all he was worth, not even caring that there were unshed tears in his eyes as he spoke up.

"Oh, whew! You're safe, Taba! Thank god that was just a nightmare! But it felt almost too realistic at points. And the fact that Black Mask's appearance was so visible in it is confusing. But I'm just as happy it was a dream, since neither of us fared particularly well in it. But I think we need to be especially careful in Shido's Palace, just to be on the safe side." Kusa said, visibly trying to calm himself. Futaba just smiled as she hugged Kusa, smiling at him as she spoke up.

"You had the same nightmare about Black Mask again, didn't you?" Futaba asked Kusa, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. But this time, Black Mask actually killed us both in my dream. Usually, it ends just before I end up taking a bullet for you, Taba. I'm not sure what to make of the suddenly more explicit nature of this dream, to be honest." Kusa said as Futaba smiled and spoke up while patting Kusa on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Kusa, that was probably your brain's way of trying to process your anxiety and fear about possibly running into Black Mask in this Palace. But as long as we work together, we'll all come back from the Palace together this time. I promise you that." Futaba said to Kusa, who nodded and spoke up.

"You're more than likely right about that, Taba. Nevertheless, I feel like I should be on guard as a precaution." Kusa said firmly as Furaba nodded and spoke up.

"That's fair. But never mind that. We need to get ready since this is our last day of the current prep period. We might as well make the most of it, I think." Futaba said as Kusa nodded, and the two got up and got dressed for the day, somehow not waking up Morgana, who was napping on the hide-a-bed nearby...

(Later that afternoon, in the attic of Leblanc, with Ren)

After sitting a bit in his bed and thinking it over, Ren decided that there was no reason to have the extra day of prep time, since he didn't have anyone he particularly wanted to hang out with. After a bit, he pulled out his phone and started a group chat with Ryuji, Kusa, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, and Kasumi.

"Attention, all Phantom Thieves! After thinking it over, I've decided to end the prep week a day early! So, provided there's no objections, I need you all to meet at the hideout so we can get back to infiltrating Shido's Palace." Ren sent, getting a chorus of affirmative responses from everyone, as they gathered at the hideout...

(A short time later, in the lower level of Leblanc, with Kasumi, Ren, Morgana, Kusa, Yusuke, Ryuji, Makoto, Haru, Ann, and Futaba)

After handing Ren a finished 'Heat Riser' skill card he'd duplicated for him, Yusuke spoke up.

"Hm. It seems everyone is here! That said, Shido's momentum is increasing by the day, which is bad. It would be best if we could deal with this soon." Yusuke said as Ren spoke up.

"I agree, Yusuke. That's why we're going into the Palace today. Right now, in fact. But first, we have one piece of business to address." Ren said as Kusa smiled and spoke up.

"Ah, yes. You're referring to our new recruit's code name, right?" Kusa said as Ren nodded, getting a confused look from Kasumi as Kusa looked at her and kept speaking.

"Basically, when we go into the Metaverse, we go by code names, since as Morgana once pointed out, who knows what effect shouting our real names at one another inside a Palace could have on the ruler's cognition, and the Palace itself by extension? It's more of a precaution than anything." Kusa said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Precisely. And, as much as I'm not a fan of the idea, for now, I agree with Kusa's previous suggestion of using Sumi as your code name for the moment, in lieu of there not being any better ideas that I could think of." Ren said as Ann spoke up, having an idea for a potential code name for Kasumi.

"Hm, I dunno. I feel like Violet could be a good choice for her code name, possibly." Ann said as Kasumi shook her head and spoke up, frowning at Ann's suggestion while she spoke.

"Nope. I appreciate the suggestion Ann-senpai, but Violet was my sister's name in English. I'd rather not be called a code name that is similar to my sister's name." Kasumi said with a firm shake of her head. Ren smiled at Kasumi and spoke up.

"That's understandable, Sumi. Besides, I feel like Sumi's a cuter code name anyways." Ren said as Futaba chuckled and spoke up.

"Mwehehe. True, but are you sure you can handle the rest of us basically using your pet name for Kasumi as her code name, Ren?" Futaba said teasingly as Kasumi pouted cutely at that and spoke up.

"Be nice, Futaba! I don't see you offering any better ideas! Though I will admit that if not for the whole bit of it being a nod to my dead sister, I'd kind of like having the code name Violet. However, I think Sumi feels more right for now. So let's go with that." Kasumi said as the others all nodded unanimously as Morgana spoke up.

"Mwehehe! Excellent! It's unanimous, then! Until we decide otherwise, your code name will be Sumi!" Morgana said as Kasumi nodded agreeably. Ren then nodded as he spoke up.

"Okay, with that out of the way, let's get back into the Palace, shall we?" Ren said. Haru nodded as she spoke up.

"Yes! Let's do our best!" Haru said as the group headed into the Metaverse to continue the infiltration...

(Inside the Metaverse, with Fox, Noir, Panther, Draconis, Joker, Oracle, Sumi, Mona, Skull, and Queen)

"Ready to go, everyone? We'll head to the central corridor first. That's where the doors to the main assembly hall were." Queen said decisively as the group nodded and Panther spoke up.

"Got it. Let's get going!" Panther said as Joker spoke up.

"First, we need to address the front lines. At this point, I think I want Mona, Skull and Draconis up front with me for now. The rest of you can follow at a distance as backups, though I reserve the right to let more of you into battle as the situation warrants." Joker said as the group nodded and the needed tagouts were made so that Draconis, Skull and Mona joined Joker on the front lines, while Panther, Fox, Queen, Noir, and Sumi all followed close behind, Oracle tagging along inside of Necronomicon. After that was done, the group kept moving as the infiltration resumed.

Joker then fast-traveled the team to the 'Central Passage' safe room per Queen's suggestion. At that point, Sumi blinked as she spoke up.

"Wh-what!? What is this place?" Sumi asked as Mona chuckled and spoke up.

"Glad you asked, Sumi. This room is what we've taken to calling a 'Safe Room'. Essentially it's a place where we can take a quick break to recharge and regroup. It also makes a good place to resume an infiltration from if needed." Mona said as Sumi nodded her understanding. Joker then saw that Fox, Queen, Panther, and Mona all had stuff to say. Joker walked over to Fox first and spoke up.

"Heh, it feels good to be back in action, doesn't it, Fox?" Joker asked Fox. Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Now then, to think that we require letters of recommendation from cognitive beings in order to see the Palace Ruler. This time, our target is really making us work for that Treasure, isn't he?" Fox said as Joker nodded and Fox kept speaking.

"That said, I'm not against it. Ideally, they would simply give us their letters if we asked for them. Alas, but this is in an ideal world. As much I wish it were otherwise. However, the reality begs to differ. We might disagree with it, but for us, I doubt it will be that easy." Fox said grimly as Joker nodded his understanding.

After a moment, Joker then had an idea and had Fox duplicate a 'Salvation' Skill Card for him, which he did on the spot, thanks to his 'Live Painting' ability. Fox then handed Joker the finished 'Salvation' Skill card. After that was done, Joker walked over to Panther and spoke up.

"Ready to secure this Treasure route, Panther?" Joker asked as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Definitely! But, still, our last trip into this Palace was an eye-opening experience. Hm, that said, all the people who have letters of introduction have such grand titles, don't they? And now we're going against the person who's controlling them. We can't let our guard down." Panther said wisely as Joker nodded. After a moment, Joker blinked as he realized he didn't see Draconis or Oracle anywhere.

Frowning at this, Joker looked for the two, eventually noticing a partially-sequestered area near the back of the room that, oddly enough, had two fairly large beds set up in it. On a closer look, Joker found Oracle happily typing away at her laptop in the back on one bed, while Draconis sat on the other, his arms crossed with a pensive look on his face. Joker shrugged, seeing that neither Oracle nor Draconis seemed to be in a social mood, so he left the two to their devices and walked over to the others and approached Mona and spoke up.

"Ready to finally get this done, Mona?" Joker asked Mona, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yup! Now then, Shido's social importance, authority, assets, and desires are all off the charts. Don't let your guard down, okay?" Mona said as Joker nodded, walking over to Queen and speaking up.

"Is everything okay, Queen? You seem a bit on edge." Joker said as Queen sighed and spoke up.

"I'm fine, Joker. It's just, I feel like the Treasure's close by, yet I realize that it's also still out of our reach. But I'm certain that this infiltration is going to take a lot longer than we think." Queen said as Joker nodded his agreement and headed over to the table to call a meeting. Once everyone was gathered around the table, Joker spoke up.

"I realize we took a longer prep period than intended, so we might all be a bit rusty on the particulars of our mission. That said, let's take a moment to recap our current progress." Joker said as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"Right! We need to get five letters of introduction, yes? I will do all I can to help!" Noir said as Sumi blinked and spoke up.

"Letters of introduction?" Sumi asked in confusion. Joker smiled at her and spoke up.

"Yes. Basically, the room the Treasure's in has five slots shaped like card slots on the door, and we figure that these letters of introduction that several important guests on the ship have are the keys to opening up the way to Shido's Treasure. So as such, we're about to try and track these nobles down and relieve them of their letters, one way or another." Joker said. Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Correct! And for anyone who forgot the lineup, here's a reminder. The five letter holders are a politician, a former noble, a TV station president, an IT company president, and finally a cleaner!" Oracle said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"And let us not forget, even if we get all five letters, I don't think it'll be as simple as heading back to slot them in their slots afterwards. I fully believe we should be prepared for an ambush after getting the final letter, since I get a feeling Shido might have a trap set for the eventuality we do secure the letters. And even if he didn't, I seem to recall a certain other someone who has reason to want at least some of us dead, and who could also have found their way into Shido's Palace. So we should be on our guard just to be safe." Draconis said warily as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"I agree, Draconis. Let us brace ourselves for what may lie ahead. This is the Palace of the true mastermind, after all." Fox said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss, Joker?" Mona asked Joker, who spoke up.

"I know we just got here, but I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't inquire into how everyone's doing." Joker said. Oracle spoke up.

"I'm okay! And as far as I can tell, everyone's A-okay, so we can absotively keep going!" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"Indeed. I get you were just doing your due diligence, but I honestly would be shocked if somehow any of us were already drained before even doing anything." Draconis said dryly as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"That's fair, Draconis. And ignoring your apparently dry and guarded tone, you seem to be doing okay." Joker said as Draconis huffed and spoke up, a slightly annoyed look on his face as he spoke that had Joker frowning in concern.

"I'm fine, Joker. Can we keep going? Those letters aren't going to seize themselves, you know." Draconis said bluntly, ignoring the concerned looks Panther and Sumi exchanged behind him at his slightly pointed response to Joker's comment. Mona then spoke up.

"Yes, well, I see that everyone still seems energetic. I think we can keep exploring if you're feeling up to it." Mona said as Joker nodded.

"Okay, good. And with that, I think we're done here." Joker said, calling the meeting to a close. Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"All right! Let's get moving! Discussion complete! Move out!" Oracle said as Joker walked to the door to the Central Passage, at which point Panther spoke up.

"Okay! Let's get back to exploring!" Panther said as the group got moving once more. After leaving the Safe Room, Mona spoke up.

"Right. Well then, let's keep going." Mona said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Acknowledged. We know the identities of the five VIPs." Queen said as Oracle nodded and spoke up from next to Draconis.

"Yup, yup! A politician, a former noble, a TV station president, an IT company president, and that cleaner guy!" Oracle said as Noir spoke up.

"Right. Hm, according to the map, there should be a restaurant up ahead." Noir said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. That's where the politician should be, yes? Let us go check it out." Fox said as the group kept moving. After retracing his steps, Joker found a flight of stairs that the group headed up, finding a new room that they went into, at which point Skull frowned and spoke up.

"It's all masked dudes in here too?" Skull asked as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Precisely. I do believe we mentioned before that this place is likely modeled after a masquerade ball/gala-type setting." Draconis pointed out as Mona spoke up.

"Exactly! That said, we might be able to get intel from talking to them. Just don't ask any suspicious questions, okay?" Mona said wisely as Joker nodded and the group kept moving. After swatting aside a tough group of Shadows, Joker's 'Thoth' Persona hit level 47.

After holding up a Shadow in a later battle, Joker called for the All-Out Attack, which the group nodded and complied with, as they all slashed/swung their weapons furiously at the downed Shadow before the camera cut to a shot of Draconis leaping forward and brandishing his throwing knives, stretching back before surging forward with almost blinding speed, slashing back and forth across the Shadow before finally skidding to a halt and tossing down his throwing knives, at which point the Shadow started gushing black mist out of the wounds that had been inflicted upon it. Draconis crossed his arms and glared at the downed Shadow while speaking up.

"Hmph, too easy! And don't get back up!" Draconis said bluntly, flexing as the screen showed him dipping into a dab, Thailog flying into view to pose behind him, his wings unfolded to show the words 'YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND WANTING. BEGONE!' across them in fancy script as the battle ended. After downing some Shadows, Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 52. Joker then noticed some masked guests, two females and one male, nearby and lingered close by to listen in as one of the female masked guests spoke up to the others.

"That reminds me, have you tried the restaurant ahead?" One of the female masked guests said as the other spoke up with a shake of her head.

"Oh, not quite yet. I hear it has received high praise from a famous congressman." The other masked female said as the masked male guest nodded and spoke up in a slightly pompous-sounding tone.

"Hahaha, you are quite correct. The good sir visits it almost every day." The male masked guest said as Joker blinked at this but the group kept moving. Joker then noticed a door behind him, with a sign next to it, moving to inspect the sign, at which point Mona spoke up.

"Hm? What're you-Oh! Hm? What's the sign for?" Mona asked as Panther read the sign and frowned.

"A member's only restaurant, it says. It's called 'Ristorante de Elite'?" Panther said with a confused look as Skull spoke up with a shocked look on his face.

"You really can't read that either? Aren't you suppose'ta be Lil Miss English or something?" Skull asked as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Yeah, ENGLISH being the key word there! But that sign is clearly French! I feel like it's not Panther's fault she can't understand it! I feel like none of us could, aside from maybe Noir and/or Sumi." Draconis said bluntly, coming to Panther's defense. Panther chuckled and spoke up.

"Thank you for the assistance, Draconis. But that sign is in Italian, not French. And it's DEFINITELY NOT IN ENGLISH, SKULL! So, anyway, I take it that this place has a very select clientele?" Panther said before blinking as she saw a section that was in English and spoke up.

"Hm? Hold on, this part's in English. It says, 'This restaurant is exclusive to members. Those without a membership card will be rejected.' SERIOUSLY!?" Panther said as Skull gaped at this and spoke up.

"What? You gotta be a member just to eat dinner? That's such bullcrap." Skull said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed! I can see some seats being on a 'first-come, first-served' basis, but isn't it against the law to be selective of who you allow into your place of business?" Draconis said huffily as the others shrugged and kept moving. Joker tried to go in the door, which did open. Once inside, Joker saw a long hall, which he walked down with the others. As the group approached the end of the hall, a waiter stopped them as he spoke up.

"Sir, if you wish to dine at our restaurant, please present your membership card now." The waiter said as Skull scoffed at that and spoke up.

"Tch! Oh yeah, we heard about that thing earlier. 'Those without a membership card will be rejected', was it? How elitist can you be?" Skull said huffily. The waiter nodded and spoke up, surprisingly not bothered by Skull's attitude at all.

"Indeed. I believe our staff should have explained it when you boarded this ship, unless I'm mistaken. Hm, just to be on the safe side, and with apologies for the inconvenience, but may I please check your boarding pass, sir?" The waiter asked as Queen and Draconis exchanged wide-eyed looks of surprise as the former spoke up.

"Boarding pass!? Joker, this is bad. I think for now, we should retreat. At any rate, it seems we won't be able to get inside peacefully until we can obtain this membership card that is required." Queen said as Joker nodded and the group turned around and headed back the way they came. After leaving the restaurant, Noir spoke up warily.

"Um, there are a lot of people around here, aren't there? Wouldn't somebody have to know about the membership card?" Noir asked as Sumi nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, that makes sense to me, Noir-senpai. Not sure exactly who would know, but odds are someone should know something if we ask around." Sumi said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. I'm not sure either, but either way, it seems that asking around is our only option." Fox said as the group kept moving. After beating some Shadows, Skull and Noir hit level 57. After a bit of walking around, Joker saw a group of four masked guests, two males and two females, standing near a table. After a brief moment to decide, Joker found himself stopping to listen in as one of the two masked male guests spoke up.

"Do you know of the exclusive restaurant up ahead? I wonder how you become a member." One of the masked male guests spoke up as the other masked male spoke up.

"I haven't the foggiest idea how you do that, honestly. My connections only barely secured me a place on this ship, after all, so I'm probably not the one to ask about that." The second masked male guest said as one of the masked female guests spoke up.

"True. I suppose we're just ordinary citizens in comparison to some of the other patrons here, who are all nobles and the like. We should probably be thankful we're even allowed to dine in this lounge to begin with." The masked female guest said as Joker shrugged and kept moving. After a battle, Joker noticed that he'd tripped a Fusion Alarm and headed back to the nearest Safe Room to tend to it, getting some good stuff from it, and strengthening some of his Personas as well.

After the group made their way back to where they left off, Joker noticed another group of masked guests he'd overlooked previously, hanging back with the others to listen in as one of the two masked female guests spoke up to address the masked male and other masked female guest with her.

"Hm? What's the matter? You have been acting quite finicky." One of the masked females said as the masked male guest spoke up, Joker's eyes widening at what he said next.

"Oh, it seems I've dropped my card for the restaurant somewhere around here, as it happens." One of the masked female guests said as the other masked female guest spoke up.

"My, my. You won't be able to dine there without it. Have you tried consulting the staff?" The second masked female guest said as the first masked female guest spoke up, shaking her head.

"Haha, not yet. I doubt there's any need to worry though. I'll try asking around the bars later. I know Mister Shido personally, so I'm sure he'll issue me another if I can't find mine." The first masked female guest said as the masked male guest spoke up at that point.

"Oh, how wonderful! I didn't know you had such lofty connections! No wonder you exude such dignity!" The masked male guest said as the group moved away a bit before Panther spoke up.

"Hey, isn't this a good chance for us? He said he dropped his membership card." Panther said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"Hm. I am not keen on this, but we may be able to take it from him if we can find it first." Fox said as Skull chuckled and spoke up.

"Hell yeah! He dropped it, so we gotta swoop in 'n take it!" Skull said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"That's true, I suppose. But I'm not thrilled with the idea of basically stealing someone else's card. But I also agree that we might not have any other choice if we want to get into that restaurant." Draconis said, sighing as he crossed his arms and nodded his agreement of Skull's words while Sumi smiled at him and spoke up.

"That's probably because you have such a strong sense of right and wrong most of the time, Draconis. But as you said, it's our only option. So like it or not, we really don't have any other option right now." Sumi said calmly as the others nodded and kept moving. After using his Third Eye to find a trail of footprints, Joker eventually followed it to one of the downstairs bars, where he spoke to the bartender, who looked up as Joker spoke up.

"Excuse me?" Joker asked the bartender, who looked up and smiled as they spoke up.

"Welcome, sir. How may I help you?" The bartender asked as Joker spoke up in his most charismatic and smooth voice.

"Yes, I was wondering if by chance anyone might have turned in a dropped item recently." Joker said as the bartender blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? What article are you looking for in particular?" The bartender asked as Joker smiled and spoke up.

"I don't know if one was dropped, but I have reason to believe I may have misplaced my restaurant membership card around here." Joker said. The bartender smiled at Joker as he spoke up.

"Ah, so it was yours. Please do not worry, sir. We have been holding on to it for you this whole time." The bartender said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Very good, very good. Might I have it back now?" Joker asked politely as the bartender nodded and spoke up.

"Why, certainly. Here you are. Please go enjoy your meal, sir." The bartender said as he presented the 'Membership Card' to Joker, who nodded as he accepted it. Afterwards, the group moved off to the side as Queen giggled and spoke up.

"That was actually pretty easy. Should it have been that simple?" Queen said as Draconis crossed his arms and spoke up.

"Normally? Probably not. However, this IS Shido's Palace we're in. And we all know that man has the charisma to make most anyone into a mindless sheep of his. So I can see him outfitting his Palace with people who have a lower collective IQ than a caveman." Draconis said as Mona smiled and spoke up.

"Heh, so lower than Skull's IQ, then?" Mona said teasingly as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Yeah, exactly. Lower than Skull." Skull said before blinking as he realized what he'd just said and frowned at Mona and spoke up.

"HEY! Was that a shot at me, cat!? Oh, never mind that! Who cares if you were taking a shot at me or not? It's all thanks to that dick Shido thinkin' everyone around him is incompetent. Kinda makes me question how someone like him could be related to Draconis." Skull said as Draconis sighed and spoke up.

"Believe me, Skull, I've been asking myself that same question ever since I got the results back from that test. But I think it could be the fact we're both very charismatic, and both prone to making long-winded speeches. But we can circle back to the subject of my unfortunate paternity later. For now, we were talking about how Shido seems to have virtually no belief in his associates, considering he has replacement cards so readily available for them if they lose theirs." Draconis said as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"So he doesn't believe in anyone at all, does he? That must be why there are so many membership cards around." Noir said as Sumi nodded and spoke up.

"That's true, Noir-senpai. But it also kinda makes me wonder if we could've pretended to be an associate of Shido's, perhaps had Draconis dress up like Akechi and pretend to be him, so we could get our own card without having to steal that other person's. But this way was probably far easier and less of a headache." Sumi said as Draconis frowned at that and spoke up.

"Do he and I really look THAT much alike, Sumi? I have a hard time believing I could pull off pretending to be as arrogant and annoying as Akechi usually acts. Not to mention, I don't know if I could stomach having to openly act like I hated you guys, which is no doubt how Akechi probably acts around Shido." Draconis pointed out as Oracle smiled and spoke up.

"To be honest, you do kinda have a slight resemblance to Akechi. Not to mention, I recall you once saying his hair was similar in length and style to yours, albeit without the ponytail. Also, you do occasionally get similarly over-confident and self-assured to what he does, so it's not that much of a stretch to think you could fake being him if you had to, Draconis. But let's leave that at that for now, since I get the sense you don't want to discuss that any further.

Changing the subject, we finally have a membership card. I think that went by fast. But, well, it's not bad that it went by quickly. Let's head to the restaurant and grab a letter of introduction, shall we?" Oracle said as the rest of the group nodded while the group kept moving. After dispatching a Shadow that was in the way, the group headed back into the restaurant, where the waiter from before spoke up while looking at Joker.

"Welcome, sir. May I see your membership card?" The waiter asked as Queen spoke up.

"Um, Joker? One of our targets, the powerful politician, should be at this restaurant. So, what's your call?" Queen asked as Joker spoke up.

"If our target's in there, our next move is obvious. Let's head in and see if we can find him, then devise a plan to get the letter we need from him." Joker said as he flashed his membership card at the waiter, who nodded and spoke up.

"I see. Thank you for displaying your proof of membership, sir. Please head on inside. Note that seats with a blue flower are reserved for special guests. Please refrain from sitting there." The waiter said as Skull blinked and spoke up.

"Wha-? Special guests, you say? Eh, who cares." Skull said as Queen smiled at him and spoke up.

"Skull, this is actually pretty big info. A reserved seat is special information. That may lead us to the politician we've been looking for." Queen said as Skull gaped and spoke up.

"For real!?" Skull asked as Queen sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, that possibility didn't even cross your mind, sweetie!? You're lucky you're so adorable. Anyway, let's head in and find a seat." Queen said as the group headed inside, where Skull spoke up again.

"Wow! Man, things're pretty damn luxurious looking in here. Even the food looks super good!" Skull said as Draconis groaned at how clearly naive Skull was acting. Queen saw this and spoke up before Draconis could light into Skull.

"Oh, my. Um, Skull? Try not to get too excited, okay sweetie? You're embarrassing us when you do that." Queen said patiently to Skull, who blinked before nodding as the group looked around and found a table with large blue flowers in the middle. Fox blinked at this and spoke up.

"That must be the table." Fox said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"I concur with that assessment, Fox. If nothing else, that large array of blue flowers is a pretty big indication of it being reserved for a VIP." Draconis said as Sumi spoke up with a slight frown.

"That's true, Draconis. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the politician we want." Sumi pointed out cautiously. Oracle chuckled and spoke up.

"Don't be so sure, Sumi! I think that Fox and Draconis are right. If nothing else, we have information that indicates very clearly the fact that that influential politician comes here." Oracle said as Queen thought about it and spoke up, having an idea.

"Good point, Oracle. But if we're not sure, then why don't we have a seat at the table next to it and wait for him?" Queen said as Draconis spoke up.

"Good thinking, Queen. Just one problem. Wouldn't a group the size of ours strike our target as a bit suspect if he sees us all sitting at a nearby table?" Draconis said warily as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"That's a good point, Draconis. In that case, I'll go. As you pointed out, he might see it as suspect and become guarded if we go in a big group." Queen said as Noir spoke up with a frown.

"Good idea, but wouldn't it be odd with just one girl sitting there though?" Noir said as Queen spoke up with a nod.

"That's true, Noir. Hm, does someone want to come with me?" Queen asked as Draconis and Joker looked at each other, before both turned identical smirks onto a confused Skull as Joker spoke up to voice the idea both of them had silently come up with.

"Yes, Queen. Someone should go with you. And as he's your boyfriend, I feel like it'd make the most sense to send Skull with you. If nothing else, you two are probably overdue for anything remotely resembling a date. I mean, Draconis and I have each probably hit the double digits for the amount of times we've taken our respective girlfriends out by now, whereas we've probably only heard about maybe once or twice you and Skull have done anything together. So maybe this can be a chance to remedy that, provided Skull can refrain from managing to embarrass you in the process." Joker said with a sly grin as Skull returned the grin and fist-bumped Joker while speaking up excitedly.

"Heh, hell yeah, Joker! That was my intention from the start. Oh, but don't worry. I'll be sure to behave myself so as not to embarrass myself or Queen. After all, she's my girlfriend, and I wouldn't want her to be embarrassed to be in public with me." Skull said with an eager smile. When he kept speaking, both Mona and Draconis had to keep from groaning at what he said next.

"I mean, dude! It's a restaurant!" Skull said excitedly as Panther groaned and spoke up.

"SKULL! What are you, a preschooler!?" Panther said as Draconis laughed at Panther's question in spite of himself.

"HA! That's a good one, Panther! Not really fair to Skull, but still funny. Sorry for laughing at you, but I needed to have myself a good laugh after the way I woke up this morning. But let's leave it at that and end on that note for now, since we're in the middle of an infiltration." Draconis said. Queen sighed as she gave Skull an exasperated look and spoke up.

"Ugh! I was wondering why you were so excited about this, Skull. And here I thought it was because you were eager to spend one-on-one time with me." Queen said while sighing as she spoke up once more.

"Well, that's not important. Let's get going, Skull." Queen said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Um, why isn't anyone asking ME to do this?" Mona said as Draconis looked at Mona and spoke up.

"Simple. No one would take you seriously as you are now, Mona. I'm sorry to say that, but people would mistake you for a cat and probably toss you out if we sent you, and that would leave Queen very much unguarded. As such, it's impractical to send you. But if it makes you feel better, I'd rather have sent you than Skull if we could get away with it. However, there's also the fact that Skull and Queen can pass their being together off as a date, which shouldn't raise the suspicion of the target as long as Queen does the talking." Draconis said gently but patiently to Mona, who nodded his understanding as Queen looked at Skull and spoke up while sliding her hand into his.

"All right, Skull. Get ready. We're going in, sweetie." Queen said to Skull, before looking at the others as she kept speaking.

"Everyone else, stay nearby. I'll give the signal when the time is right." Queen then said decisively. Skull grinned eagerly, not even minding that Queen was holding his hand.

"Oh man, what should I eat?" Skull said excitedly as Oracle groaned and spoke up.

"Ugh. Skull? You do realize you can't get full off of food in a Palace, right?" Oracle said to Skull as Sumi spoke up in surprise.

"Wait, you can't!? I didn't realize that. That's interesting to know, Oracle." Sumi said as Draconis chuckled lightly at Sumi's amusing response before he smiled at Sumi and spoke up.

"Of course you can't, Sumi. Even Mona knew that. Skull's just a bit slow on the uptake, for the most part. But he's still the muscle and spirit of the group, to an extent. I was going to say the heart, but that's both a lie and entirely unfair to both Oracle and you, as we all know the ladies of the group are the heart of the team at different times." Draconis said wisely as Mona groaned and spoke up.

"That's one way to put it, Draconis. If you ask me? I'd say that Skull's as dumb as ever, quite frankly." Mona said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Be nice to Skull, Mona. He might not have the most book smarts of us, but even you have to admit that Skull has some of the most honed street smarts of us all. So he has his own strengths to offer the team." Draconis said gently as the group went off elsewhere to stay nearby and await Queen's signal while Queen and Skull went to the nearby table and had a seat as a waiter gave them menus, which Skull looked at and spoke up.

"Oh, wow. I get to have a meal at a fancy restaurant with my girlfriend. Granted, it's not real food, but the idea's still the same. However, uhh, how do I put this? Ugh, screw it, I'll be honest. I can't read this menu." Skull said in embarrassment. Queen smiled fondly at Skull before snapping her fingers to summon a waiter over, at which point she spoke up to order her meal.

"I'll have the sauteed foie gras, a salad garnished with truffles, some bread rolls, and roasted lamb, please." Queen said as the waiter nodded and headed off to prepare the order, at which point Skull gaped and spoke up.

"Wow, babe. I can't believe you can order so easily like that. I'm both impressed with it, and awed that I have such an intelligent and amazing girlfriend." Skull said honestly. Queen blushed a bit behind her mask at the sincere praise from Skull and smiled as she spoke up.

"Aww, thank you. That's very sweet of you to say that, sweetie." Queen said politely as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Yep, sure thing. Anything for you, babe. Say, ain't we kinda young compared to the others here? They're all involved with Shido too, yeah?" Skull asked as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Very good, Skull. The way I figure it, they seem to be major figures in the political and financial worlds." Queen said. Before Skull could do more than nod his agreement, a different voice spoke up at that point.

"And on whose permission are you sitting there, brats?" A well-dressed man wearing a mask asked as he approached Skull and Queen, his arms crossed. Skull blinked at the question and spoke up.

"Um, whose? Uhh, y'know, I don't see any reserved signs or nothing here." Skull said as the imposing man spoke up with his arms crossed, a frown on his face as he spoke.

"That doesn't matter. It'd be a nuisance if you'd make a racket next to my table. I wish to dine leisurely. Children like you, who're simply hungry, should leave." The man said threateningly as Skull got to his feet and glared at the man as he spoke up.

"What was that?" Skull said irately as Queen sighed and stood up as well while speaking up.

"Skull! Be quiet." Queen gently rebuked Skull, who blinked but backed down at once and sat back down as he spoke up.

"S-Sorry, babe. I'll behave." Skull said. Queen smiled at Skull before turning to the man and bowing apologetically as she spoke up.

"I apologize for our discourtesy." Queen said as the man gave a satisfied nod at Queen's apology.

"Indeed? If you understand, then go home." The man said as Queen had a hunch, deciding to speak up to test it.

"Excuse me, but might you be Mister Ooe?" Queen asked the imposing man, who nodded and spoke up.

"Hm? Indeed I am." The now-named Ooe replied as Queen smiled and spoke up.

"I see. This will be an impudent request, but would you please provide us with a letter of introduction to, if possible, Mister Shido?" Queen asked Ooe, who blinked at this and spoke up in confusion.

"Hm? From the looks of it, you appear to be minors. Why do you need an introduction?" Ooe asked as Queen spoke up, giving Ooe a closed-eye smile as she spoke.

"We wish to be granted an audience with him, if at all possible. You see, his political ideology resonates so much with us on a personal and an emotional level. Of course, the same can be said about you, Mister Ooe." Queen said persuasively. Ooe gave Queen an impressed smile as he spoke up.

"Hm? You have quite the silver tongue for one so young, don't you? Hm, not that I mind it. Are you a high school student?" Ooe asked Queen, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, sir." Queen said honestly as Ooe nodded and spoke up.

"Very good. Hm, speaking of high schools, that reminds me. I've heard that some principal somewhere kicked the bucket. He supposedly tried to leak Mister Shido's name for some reason." Ooe said as Queen and Skull gave him shocked looks, making him chuckle and keep speaking.

"Heh, I was surprised too when I heard about it. And the worst part is, had he simply obeyed, he could've remained in the upper echelons. To think he would cast that all away. An elite such as myself can't even fathom why someone would do such a thing. You know, if you pledge your loyalty, you're given the honor of selecting those who would have mental shutdowns." Ooe said as Queen blinked at this before winking at Ooe and speaking up.

"Is that so? How interesting. Did you ask Mister Shido to trigger a mental shutdown in someone as well?" Queen asked, surprising Ooe with her interest. Ooe smirked and spoke up.

"Hm? Ah, more or less." Ooe said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"I see. Well, considering your caliber, I would assume that the target must have been someone quite important." Queen said as Ooe laughed and spoke up.

"How flattering. Heh, important, you say? No, the target himself was nothing that impressive." Ooe said as Queen spoke up coyly.

"Oh, you must be being modest, Mister Ooe." Queen said as Ooe smiled and spoke up.

"Not really. Do you recall the subway accident early last spring? The one I had targeted was that engineer." Ooe said as Skull and Queen gasped, the former speaking up.

"Wait, that was you!?" Skull said in surprise. Ooe nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, that was me. It was to take out the president of some company and a diplomat who sided with the current government." Ooe said as Queen winked again and spoke up.

"I see. How enlightening. That was very useful, Mister Ooe." Queen said as Ooe blinked in surprise and spoke up.

"Hm?" Ooe said as Queen smiled and spoke up.

"Actually, my sister is a prosecutor at the Public Prosecutor's Office. I could pass on what you just said to her, you know. How about it? Won't you give me a letter of introduction?" Queen said as Ooe blinked at this and spoke up.

"Huh? Is that a threat? Who are you two?" Ooe asked as Queen calmly spoke up, a closed-eye smile on her face as she spoke.

"The letter of introduction, please." Queen repeated as Ooe's stance turned aggressive as he spoke up.

"Ugh! Don't get cocky, brats! I'll never give you one!" Ooe said as Skull smirked and spoke up.

"Ah, but you have one though. Welp, guess it's time to use brute force!" Skull said as Queen nodded and turned to where the rest of the group was hiding as she spoke up.

"Guys!" Queen said as the rest of the group came out of hiding, in time for Ooe to shift forms into the form of a many-headed snake as the fight began! At first, the group took turns throwing different attacks at the foe, trying to determine his weakness. After a while, Joker identified the target's weakness as Psi attacks. At that point, Skull charged forward and slammed his mace into Ooe, dealing a lot of damage. After that, Mona threw out a Mediarama from Zorro to heal everyone up to full health, while Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"It's time! THAILOG, COME FORTH!" Draconis said as Thailog appeared, swinging his unsheathed sword, which was very impressive looking in that it was an elegant blade made of a mix of gold, silver and platinum metals, while the hilt was mostly gold with several different gemstones embedded in it, namely a peridot, amethyst and opal. After using his Nocturnal Rush attack to clock some damage, Joker stepped forward.

"My turn! UNICORN! ATTACK!" Joker said as he summoned out his Unicorn persona, which lifted its horn and released a burst of psychic energy that slammed right into Ooe, downing him, at which point Joker called for an All-Out Attack. After that, Skull and Queen looked at each other and nodded.

"Ready, Skull?" Queen asked as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Always!" Skull said as Queen and Skull spoke up as one.

"IT'S SHOWTIME!" Skull and Queen said as the backdrop changed to that of a desert while Skull and Queen stood together side-by-side as Skull taunted Ooe.

"Ready? Time to get a little crazy with Fist of the Phantom-OOF!" Skull said as Queen elbowed him in the gut to stop him from finishing his sentence.

"Get serious!" Queen rebuked Skull, who apologized as Queen rushed forward, at the same moment that Skull put out his mace for Queen to leap off of, her fists flying forward as she spoke up.

"HA! TIME TO GO FULL...POWER! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! HAAAAAAH!" Queen said as she threw a flurry of punches at Ooe, who winced from the onslaught of blows as Skull raced forward, a full can of grape soda in hand.

"H-Here you go." Skull said to Queen, who scoffed as she crushed the still-full grape soda can in one hand, speaking up as she ignored the torrents of grape soda shooting at her.

"Don't waste my time!" Queen said rebukingly to both Skull and Ooe, as the latter crumpled under the sudden barrage of hits and dissolved into black mist, ending both the Showtime and the battle. From the ensuing EXP gain, two of Joker's Personas leveled up in the forms of 'Unicorn' and 'Seth', the former of which hit level 61 and the latter hitting level 55. At the same time, Panther hit level 57. From the level ups, Panther gained the high-tier healing skill 'Diarahan', making her smile as she spoke up.

"A new skill! I gotta use this next time!" Panther said as Hecate acquired 'Diarahan'. After the battle, Ooe just stood there, stunned speechless by his defeat as Skull pumped a fist triumphantly and spoke up.

"Heh, all right! We got a letter of introduction!" Skull said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. One down, four to go. And I get the feeling they'll only get tougher from here." Draconis said as Sumi smiled and spoke up.

"Perhaps so, Draconis. But I feel like we can handle anything if we work together." Sumi said happily as Ooe spoke up.

"Very well, you win. Have my letter. But please keep the truth of that subway accident a secret, would you?" Ooe asked as Skull sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, fine! We'll keep it a secret." Skull said as Queen spoke up with a frown on her face.

"In any case, we learned something of far greater importance than the truth of a subway accident from last spring. As it turns out, Principal Kobayakawa was connected to Shido after all, this whole time. Heh, no wonder he was so adamant about me digging up information on the Phantom Thieves." Queen said as Panther blanched and spoke up.

"Good point. Still, I can't believe Shido just killed him so nonchalantly like that." Panther said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"That's because he might not have directly killed him, Panther. I think, and this is just a theory at this time, but I believe that Black Mask may have been acting on Shido's orders, meaning that Shido could well be the true mastermind behind Black Mask. But we'll have to wait and see if that theory gets any credit. If nothing else, we know Akechi's on his payroll, since he used Akechi to lure us into that trap that nearly took Joker from us." Draconis said as Mona spoke up.

"Agreed, Draconis. But again, remember that you yourself speculated that Akechi and Black Mask might well be one in the same. So if that's the case, it would follow that Black Mask is likely nothing more than a hired attack dog for Shido. Which isn't to say he doesn't have his own share of culpability in what he's done, because he does. We can all agree on this much." Mona said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. That said, the entire nation is underwater in Shido's Palace. That being the case, he must feel nothing towards one measly educator." Fox said as Sumi frowned and spoke up.

"Hm, good point, Fox-senpai. But even then, could that mean that Shido was indirectly aware of and did nothing to stop Kamoshida while he was a teacher at Shujin?" Sumi asked warily, making Joker and Draconis exchange surprised looks at Sumi's question, both not having considered that. Panther smiled at Sumi and spoke up.

"Good point, Sumi. You could very well be right on that. But we can talk more about that later. Let's focus on the task at hand for now. In any case, even though that politician was cognitive, he turned into a monster. Up until Kaneshiro's Palace, cognitive beings were nothing more than weak presences to us." Panther said as Mona spoke up.

"No, not true, Lady Panther. I seem to recall quite clearly that both you and Draconis had rather pronounced reactions to the cognitions of Lady Suzui and Mishima when we fought Kamoshida's Shadow. But back to the task at hand. That Ooe fellow just now wasn't a cognition." Mona said, surprising the others as Queen spoke up.

"Hm? Are you sure? But he had the memories and appearance of an actual person. Even Skull wouldn't have guessed he was a Shadow if he didn't know we were in the Metaverse." Queen said as Oracle spoke up.

"True. If I had to guess, I'd say that he was probably a Shadow fused with a cognition, creating what we saw just now. In other words, it's like making the Shadow wear human skin." Oracle said as Draconis blanched at this, speaking up in surprise.

"Oh? If that's true, then what's stopping Shido, or any other Palace Ruler for that matter, from using that to make a Shadow wear the skin of one of us?" Draconis asked as Mona shook his head and spoke up.

"Good question, Draconis. I've never seen anything like that before, to be honest. However, that said, such power is normally impossible." Mona said as Fox frowned and spoke up, recalling an important detail that Oracle and Draconis had once mentioned.

"Perhaps, but wasn't Shido the one who destroyed the research done by Oracle's mother on cognition?" Fox asked as Noir and Draconis both had shocked looks on their faces as the former spoke up.

"Oh! Do you think that when he did, he took the results for his own purposes?" Noir asked as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"I wouldn't be surprised at all if he did. From what we've seen so far, Shido's definitely the type of snake who would use anything he can to achieve his own ends. The fact he felt no compunction about basically sending both myself and Joker down the river when all Joker did was try to step up and save a woman from being preyed upon by Shido is proof enough of this." Draconis said as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Tch! Shido, that monster. Is nothing sacred to him?" Oracle said huffily as Mona spoke up.

"No idea, Oracle. For all we know, Shido could have some hidden trick that allows him to tamper with his own Palace. We need to be especially careful from here on out!" Mona said wisely as the others nodded their agreement...

(At that same time, in Shido's office in the real world with Shido)

"Hm? Yes, of course. I will continue accepting them even after I am inaugurated as prime minister." Shido said to the person on the other end of the phone, who chuckled and spoke up, his voice revealing him to be Ooe.

"Hm. As expected from you, Mister Shido. You are truly a reliable man." Ooe said as Shido nodded and spoke up.

And in return, I only ask for your continued support of my efforts. After all, standing up to the world does require money." Shido said as Ooe spoke up.

"Of course. I'll make sure to prepare compensation as thanks for your help in 'cleaning up'. The incident with that accident in spring was very beneficial. This is all thanks to you, sir." Ooe said as Shido nodded and spoke up.

"True. If the study of cognitive psience progresses, I believe it's possible to increase the target range." Shido said as Ooe chuckled and kept speaking.

"Heh, I bid you good luck with that endeavor. I hope you will continue to assist us." Ooe said as Shido nodded while chuckling sinisterly to himself...

(Back in Shido's Palace, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Draconis, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Sumi)

"Hey! Who should we target next? We still need four letters." Noir said as Oracle spoke up.

"Hm. Let's see here. Ah, here we go. According to the map, the elevator ahead will take us to the pool deck." Oracle said as Fox spoke up.

"Hm, I see. If our intel is correct, there should be a womanizing 'former noble' there." Fox said as Panther sighed and spoke up.

"Agh. Womanizing, huh? Do we really have to deal with him next? I am so not up for this at all." Panther said as Sumi spoke up.

"Neither am I, to be honest. But I think we're gonna have to deal with it sooner or later, Panther-senpai. So I feel like we should probably just suck it up and get it over with. Besides, we both know that worst case, Draconis and Joker will be ready to attack at a moment's notice if that guy tries anything funny with any of us, and that's not even getting into Skull-senpai's reaction or Fox-senpai's, not to mention Mona-senpai's!" Sumi said as Panther sighed and nodded her agreement as the group kept moving towards the indicated elevator.

Once there, Joker hit the button to call the elevator, at which point the group filed into it as it headed upwards towards the pool deck. Once the elevator stopped, the group got out, finding themselves in a hallway of sorts as they kept moving. A little while after the elevator, Oracle picked up on the presence of a nearby safe room, which the group promptly found and went into. Once inside, the 'Mid-Starboard Hallway' was added to Joker's fast-travel list.

On looking around, Joker noticed that Sumi, Oracle and Draconis all had things to say. Joker started out by walking back to where Oracle was happily sprawled out on one of the beds in the back typing on her laptop, smiling at her as he spoke up.

"Heh, looking rather comfy there, aren't you, Oracle?" Joker said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Mm-hm. Hey, hey! Whoa, am I the only one who was surprised when Queen ordered her meal so easily back there? I'm impressed with her adaptability and knowledge." Oracle said as Joker nodded before turning to Draconis and speaking up.

"You okay, Draconis? You seem a bit on edge today." Joker asked as Draconis sighed and frowned as he spoke up.

"Honestly? Not really, but I'm doing my best to push past it for the sake of the mission. Besides, it's not like it's the first time I've had a bad dream wake me up in the morning, and it probably won't be the last. So let's not worry about it for now, yeah?" Draconis said as Joker frowned but reluctantly nodded, knowing that Draconis likely wouldn't give him more details than that if he did ask further. Giving up on getting more details from Draconis, he walked over to Sumi and spoke up.

"So, how's your first foray into a Palace treating you so far, Sumi?" Joker asked with a winsome smirk on his face. Sumi giggled at the attempt to sound suave as she spoke up.

"Not too bad, actually, Joker. Sure, I could probably do without all the tense atmosphere and uptight jerks, but that's just part of the job. And I need to have my wits about me for this next guy, especially given he's apparently a womanizer. But I trust you and Draconis to keep us ladies safe." Sumi said, giving Joker a coy wink that he flushed at slightly before nodding as he spoke up.

"Don't you worry, Sumi. I'm not letting that guy put a finger on you if I can help it." Joker said, slyly stealing a kiss from Sumi, who smiled as she eagerly returned the gesture of affection for a few brief but enjoyable moments before the two broke apart and Joker headed back to the door to resume the infiltration. At that point, Panther spoke up.

"All good to continue? Okay, let's get back to exploring." Panther said as the group resumed their infiltration. As the group started to head into the next section of the hallway, Oracle lingered behind and spoke up as the rest of the group started moving forward.

"Oh. Hold on a sec, you guys." Oracle said, but her words came a second too late as the others all turned into mice, other than Oracle, who'd lingered behind. Despite herself, Oracle giggled slightly at how adorable Draconis in particular looked as a mouse, an indignant look on his face behind his dragon mask. Skull blinked and spoke up, his voice squeaking as he spoke.

"Wait, what the shit!? W-We're freaking mice!?" Skull said as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? This is prepawsterous! Er, or something like that?" Fox said as Draconis groaned on hearing the pun that Fox had made before lightly whipping Fox in the face with his tail as he gave Fox the best disapproving glare he could muster in his current form and spoke up.

"Ugh, this is no time for cringeworthy puns, Fox! And that pun was also horrible besides! Please do not make such a pun around me in future! I'd rather not have to keep whipping you with this tail." Draconis said huffily as Oracle groaned and spoke up.

"Agreed, Draconis! Ugh, go to hell, Inari. Can you all just come back here?" Oracle asked as the group nodded and headed back towards Oracle, at which point they all turned back to normal as Noir spoke up.

"Oh, thank goodness. We're human again!" Noir said with a relieved smile as Sumi winced at the annoyed look on Mona's face at Noir's words before she spoke up.

"Well, all of us except for Mona-senpai are human again. However, I don't think Noir-senpai meant to offend Mona-senpai like that." Sumi said warily. Noir blinked and spoke up with a suitably contrite look on her face.

"Oh, oops. You're right, Sumi. I didn't think before I spoke that time. I'm sorry, Mona-chan. That was rude of me." Noir said as Mona waved off the apology, not mad at Noir anymore. Oracle then spoke up.

"Well, looks like we turn back when we leave the affected range. It's not really a big deal." Oracle said as Panther glared at Oracle and spoke up.

"It most certainly IS a big deal! Explain what just happened to us!" Panther said to Oracle irately. Oracle spoke up.

"Gladly. It seems like people who Shido views as 'intruders' turn into mice near those Shido statues." Oracle said as Mona scoffed at this, clearly offended as he spoke up.

"Oh! So we're nothing but rodents to him, huh? That's irritating." Mona said as Draconis frowned before crossing his arms while he spoke up.

"Agreed! And with all apologies to you Mona-sensei, that's kind of a double slap to the face for you in particular, given that cats are usually superior to mice. Not that you're a cat, mind you, because you're totally not. Just stating a scientific fact." Draconis said cautiously as Mona nodded his agreement while Oracle smiled and spoke up.

"I agree Draconis, but we need to be extra careful when we're in mouse form. We won't be able to open doors, and any enemy we try to fight in that state'll beat us to a pulp." Oracle said as Queen spoke up at that point.

"So all we can do is hide? I guess we'll have to change to a completely defensive strategy, then." Queen said as Draconis winced and spoke up.

"And we'll defer to your expertise on that one, Queen. I might have a tactical mind, but it's moreso for offensive tactics rather than defensive ones. I do know some defensive tactics, but I'm not arrogant enough to think they're better than the ones you know." Draconis said humbly. Queen nodded with a closed-eye frown as she spoke up.

"It's nice to hear that you appreciate my tactics, Draconis. That said, I hope we can find a secret passageway to get through there, if only to cut down on the amount of battles we have to fight as mice." Queen said as the group kept moving. After a bit of navigating and dodging Shadows, the group found an enormous clock-like structure in an abandoned room a ways into the hall. Fox frowned and spoke up as Joker hit a button on the clock and a visible change was noticed.

"Hm, something moved when you did that. What was that button for?" Fox asked as Queen spoke up.

"It's impossible to tell from here. Let's look around." Queen said as the group kept moving. After Joker hit a strong Shadow with Makajama, Noir smiled and spoke up.

"Wow, Mona-chan's really feeling it, isn't he? I'm inspired." Noir said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Got that right!" Mona said as Noir and Mona spoke up in unison.

"IT'S SHOWTIME!" Mona and Noir said in unison as Mona spoke up.

"Heh, ultimate power!" Mona said as Noir smiled and spoke up.

"Oh, that's our cue!" Noir said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Yep! TRANSFORM!" Mona said as he turned into the Mona-Bus, at which point Noir pulled out her rocket launcher and took aim at the Shadow, firing a rocket at it as they drove past, hitting it and dealing a lot of damage, but not defeating it, as the Showtime ended. After Skull had Seiten Teisei hit the enemy for a Critical blow, the group tried an All-Out Attack, which did a lot of damage, but still didn't defeat the enemy. After that, Mona stepped up and spoke up.

"ZORRO! SHOW YOUR MIGHT!" Mona said, summoning Zorro, who waved his blade as a boxing glove flew out and hit the enemy dead-on, scoring a Critical hit and downing it. After that, Joker succeeded in recruiting 'Kali', as the Shadow identified itself, to his side, ending the battle. After navigating around a while longer, Joker found a vent after grappling up to a nearby balcony, following it to a hallway where Skull spoke up.

"Hold up. That's a Will Seed through that door, ain't it? Heh, we're doing pretty good so far." Skull said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Already, we're about to be 1/3 of the way through finding Shido's Will Seeds. Let's grab it and keep going." Draconis said as Joker nodded and slashed through the vines on the nearby doorway, allowing the group to effortlessly seize the 'Red Pride Seed' from its resting place. At that point, Skull spoke up.

"One of Shido's Will Seeds, huh? Nice. Let's find the rest of 'em." Skull said as Sumi frowned and spoke up.

"Hm? A Will Seed? What's that?" Sumi asked as Draconis spoke up.

"In a nutshell, every Palace has a trio of items we collect in them, that Mona and I have taken to referring to as 'Will Seeds', since they're apparently coalesced forms of distorted desires of the Palace Ruler, sort of like Treasures. Anyways, once we get all 3 in a Palace, they typically fuse together into a crystal that we can then use as an accessory, often with beneficial effects." Draconis explained as Sumi nodded and spoke up.

"Ah, I see. Thanks for that explanation, Draconis. Let's keep going." Sumi said as the group kept moving. After taking out a strong Shadow, Joker and Draconis hit level 59, while Skull, Fox, Sumi, Mona, Noir, and Queen all hit level 58. Additionally, two of Joker's Personas leveled up in the forms of 'Lachesis', which hit level 48, and 'Thoth', who also hit level 48. Furthermore, Oracle hit level 60. Joker smirked as he spoke up.

"With this power, I become a stronger leader!" Joker said resolutely as he leveled up, ignoring the twin groans from Sumi and Draconis at his usual show of bravado. From the level ups, Skull gained the buff skill 'Matarukaja', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"Hell yeah! A new move!" Skull said as Draconis spoke up with a smile.

"That's actually a pretty solid move you got, Skull. We don't have many, if any, good group attack buff skills. So that's a very helpful skill to get. Good job." Draconis said as Seiten Taisei learned 'Matarukaja'. Additionally, Mona learned the high-tier healing skill 'Mediarahan', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"Now I'm even more charming!" Mona said as Sumi giggled and spoke up.

"Perhaps so, but maybe you could be a bit more humble about getting new skills, Mona-senpai?" Sumi said politely as Zorro acquired 'Mediarahan'. Fox also gained the passive skill 'High Counter', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"Heh! What a skill!" Fox said as Queen spoke up.

"That is a pretty nice skill, Fox. Well done." Queen said as Goemon acquired 'High Counter'. But that wasn't all, as Noir had gained the severe-tier Gun skill 'One-Shot Kill', making her smile as she spoke up.

"Oh! A new skill! How wonderful!" Noir said as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Very nice, Noir! I think that's our first severe-tier skill of a type other than Physical!" Panther said as Draconis nodded to confirm this was the case as Milady acquired 'One-Shot Kill'. After that, the group kept moving. After navigating the maze, the group finally reached an elevator at the other end of the hall, taking it upwards to where a treasure chest awaited.

As the group looked around the area that appeared to be outside the maze, Oracle located a Safe Room to the right of where the group came in, which the group quickly entered, adding the 'Pool Deck' to the fast-travel list for Joker. After the group followed the hall to some stairs, nearly everyone's jaws dropped at the sight of the gigantic pool that met their gaze, as Oracle spoke up in surprise.

"Ohh! Whoaaa, this pool's gigantic! It's hard to believe this is even on the ship!" Oracle said excitedly as Draconis spoke up.

"True. But it's not that uncommon for cruise ships to have small swimming sections for the guests to enjoy, occasionally mixed in with some nice hot tubs to soak in." Draconis said wisely as Panther spoke up.

"Good point, Draconis. But back on topic for now. Our target's here, right? Some sort of former noble guy?" Panther asked as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah. Let's find him and get a hold of his letter of introduction!" Mona said as Sumi spoke up.

"Agreed. But didn't Oracle-senpai mention that this former noble is also a womanizer?" Sumi said with a frown. Joker spoke up at that point.

"That's true. But none of us will let him so much as lay a finger on you ladies. So don't worry about it." Joker said reassuringly as Sumi smiled and nodded while the group kept moving. After taking out some Shadows while exploring the pool deck, Panther hit level 58. After looking around, the group found what appeared to be the former noble they were after lounging on a chair. Skull walked over to the potential target and spoke up.

"Hey dude, you got a sec?" Skull said to the potential target, making Draconis and Mona both groan at how tactless Skull's greeting was. The lounging man gave a 'hmph' of response, but otherwise said nothing as Skull kept speaking.

"Uhhh, hello. Nice day today, huh? Uh, actually, m-maybe not. I-I wanna go swimming in the pool! Yeah!" Skull said, only to get ignored by the lounging man, making Skull sigh as he turned to Panther.

"Okay, it's your turn, Panther." Skull said as Panther gaped at him while speaking up.

"What!?" Panther said, but shrugged before walking over to the lounging man and speaking up.

"U-Um, h-hello there. We really would like to speak with you, sir." Panther said as Queen spoke up at that point.

"We won't take up much of your time. Will you listen?" Queen asked the lounging man. Noir gave the man a pleading look as she spoke up.

"Please, sir." Noir said pleadingly as the lounging man huffed and finally spoke up.

"Sorry, but please leave me be. I don't have time for you rowdy children." The lounging man said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"What!? Hey, you little-!" Skull said as both Sumi and Draconis spoke up to cut off his likely profane comment.

"SKULL!" Sumi and Draconis said at the same time rebukingly. Queen then spoke up.

"No, we apologize for our lack of manners." Queen said placatingly to the lounging man, before turning to face Skull as she kept speaking.

"Come on, Skull. We should leave, sweetie." Queen said as the group retreated until they were out of the lounging man's earshot, at which point Skull spoke up.

"The hell's up with that guy!? Did he really have to be actin' all high and mighty like that!?" Skull said as Queen spoke up.

"Probably not, but to be fair, you walked up to him and said, 'Hey dude'. You need to approach this with more tact." Queen said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly! I get what you were trying to do, but unfortunately tact isn't really a strong point of yours, Skull. But I give you props for knowing when to tag Panther and the girls in to try their hand. They had more success than you did, but there was only so much they could do with that guy's hackles raised like they were." Draconis said gently but firmly to Skull. Queen nodded her agreement as she spoke up.

"Precisely, Draconis. Also, starting the conversation with a quarrel won't get us anywhere." Queen said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Be that as it may, our approach won't matter if he won't listen to us. What are we supposed to do?" Mona said as Noir spoke up.

"Hm. Let's speak to the people around here. Perhaps we'll learn more about that man's temperament." Noir said as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Good idea, Noir! At the very least, we might get some kind of hint." Panther said as Skull frowned but nodded as he spoke up.

"Fair enough. I guess that'd be better than nothin'! Welp, askin' for info it is!" Skull said as Mona spoke up.

"All right, let's go! We'll need to gather intel on this pool deck. Try talking to anyone suspicious." Mona said as the group kept moving. After a bit, the group noticed a woman in a swimsuit by herself, at which point Draconis spoke up.

"Heh, this could be a promising lead, maybe. Let me try this time, Skull. Maybe if you pay attention, you'll pick up some nice insight on tact." Draconis said as the others nodded and he walked over to the lady and spoke up.

"Hello there. Quite the lovely weather we have this afternoon, is it not?" Draconis said to the swimsuit-clad lady in his best impression of a posh accent. The lady looked at Draconis and nodded as she spoke up.

"Hm? Yes, quite. But never mind the weather. Tell me, isn't this swimsuit marvelous? It's part of a new line by one of the premier fashion designers. The bar here actually rents out swimsuits just like these." The lady said as Draconis gave the lady an appraising look before he gave her one of his most winsome smiles and spoke up in a mock-appreciative tone.

"Yes, indeed. That is quite an exquisite swimsuit. You have great taste in swimwear, ma'am. And thank you for that info about the bar. I hadn't heard about that before now, so I appreciate that tip. Have a nice day." Draconis said before walking back over to the others as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Heh heh heh, way to go Draconis! You weren't kidding about you showing me how it's done!" Skull said as Mona, Joker and Fox all gave Skull shocked looks as he kept speaking.

"And thanks to that info you got, I've got the perfect plan!" Skull said smugly as Mona spoke up.

"Man! That laugh was scary, Skull." Mona said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Never mind the laugh, Mona. I think I'm more uneasy about the way he looked at each of the ladies while he was laughing." Draconis said warily. Skull kept speaking, ignoring Mona and Draconis as he spoke.

"Forget about that! Onward to the bar, you guys!" Skull said as the group kept moving. After the group approached the bar, the bartender looked up as he saw Skull standing in front of him and spoke up.

"Welcome, sir. How may I help you?" The bartender asked as Skull spoke up.

"Hey, you rent out swimsuits, yeah? Give us some, ASAP!" Skull said as the bartender spoke up.

"Ah, but of course. Just show me your boarding pass and we will have you sorted right away." The bartender said as Panther gasped and spoke up.

"W-Wait a moment!" Panther said before glaring at Skull as she spoke up.

"You moron, look what you've done! Come on, Skull, let's get out of here! You too, Joker!" Panther said as the group retreated a safe distance away, at which point Queen frowned at Skull and spoke up in a disapproving tone.

"Seriously, Skull, what was that? What were you thinking? Did you get the sudden urge to go for a swim?" Queen asked Skull, who shook his head and spoke up.

"Naw, that was part of my plan! Over there's the fitting room, yeah? I'm just gonna need your help findin' a way in, Joker!" Skull said confidently as Joker nodded while the group kept moving. After a bit of walking, Joker spotted a vent near the fitting room door as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Yeah! Oooh, nice, it's some kinda vent! I bet we could get in from here!" Skull said as Panther gasped and spoke up.

"You're seriously going for the fitting room? Come on, this feels like a criminal offense to me." Panther said as Skull chuckled and spoke up.

"But we're the Phantom Thieves! Just go with it, Panther! I got a plan!" Skull said to Panther before turning to Joker as he kept speaking.

"Hey, Joker, you wanna bust in here?" Skull asked Joker, who smirked as he spoke up.

"Sure, why not? Kiss that vent goodbye." Joker said as he knocked away the vent with one swift kick. At that point, Draconis groaned and spoke up.

"Oh jeez, is it the return of Joker the Box Slayer? Only, it's Joker the Vent Slayer in this case?" Draconis asked uneasily, only to be ignored as the group filed into the vents, Skull chuckling as he spoke up.

"Heh, perfect! Now we just need to get the swimsuits! We'll probably need like four swimsuits...no, wait, five! This is a womanizer we're talkin' about here!" Skull said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"Skull? Why don't I like the tone of your voice right now, sweetie?" Queen said as Oracle spoke up uneasily.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, right about now." Oracle said as the group kept moving. Once the group was inside the fitting rooms, Skull smirked at Joker and spoke up.

"Heh, you did it, Joker!" Skull said as Noir winced and spoke up.

"Um, we do seem to be inside that door we saw earlier. But my question is, why are we inside that door? And more importantly, isn't this a fitting room?" Noir asked. Skull gave the girls an ominous smirk as he spoke up.

"Heh, just trust me! Wait here and I'll be right back!" Skull said as he walked off. Panther winced and spoke up at that point.

"What's he up to? I have a really bad feeling about this, you guys." Panther said as Draconis spoke up.

"You and me both! I'm not sure I like the way he was looking at all five of you, but especially at you and Queen in particular." Draconis said uneasily. Draconis then facefaulted as the group heard Skull cackling to himself.

"It's perfect! My plan's totally foolproof! Hehehe! Man, this'll totally work!" Skull said to himself as Queen spoke up in a slightly bothered tone.

"Skull? Why are you cackling to yourself, sweetie? You have quite a scary look on your face." Queen said as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Actually, it's creepy." Oracle said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Don't worry 'bout that. C'mon, let's head back to where that former, uh, noble dude is!" Skull said as the group returned to where the former noble was lounging. At that point, Skull grinned at the girls and spoke up.

"Hey, it's you girls' time to shine." Skull said as the girls all came out in swimsuits. For Panther, she had a simple red two-piece bikini on that hugged her figure nicely. For Queen, she had chosen a more modest but eye-catching white and dark blue two-piece bikini. Noir had a sea-green one-piece swimsuit with white polka dots on. As for Sumi and Oracle, they had similar sorts of two-piece bathing suits on.

However, where Oracle's was a more frilly-looking bubblegum pink figure-hugging bikini with a micro-skirt on the bottoms, Sumi's was a silky black two-piece bikini with red hearts on it that hugged her figure in all the right spots and had Joker's jaw dropped once he saw her in it, much to Skull and Mona's amusement.

As for Draconis, he was too busy being torn between wanting to be livid with Skull for his half-brained scheme, and being speechless at how good Oracle's bikini looked on her to really notice how speechless Joker had been rendered by Sumi's bikini. While Joker and Draconis were busy trying not to admire the incredible view of their girlfriends in their bathing suits, Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Well, there's no way guys lounging by the pool would not check out girls in swimsuits." Mona said as Oracle whined cutely and spoke up.

"I wanna go home now." Oracle said as Draconis found his voice at that point and spoke up.

"Aw, don't pout, Oracle. I might not agree with Skull's plan, but you do have to admit that looks incredible on you. So try and cheer up, yeah?" Draconis said comfortingly to Oracle, who shyly smiled and nodded as Queen spoke up.

"Skull? Are we really going to do this?" Queen asked Skull as Joker chose then to find his voice.

"I'm not thrilled with this idea either, regardless of how amazing you all look right now. That said, this is our best chance to get that letter, so do your best, ladies. We're counting on you." Joker said reassuringly. Queen sighed but nodded as she spoke up.

"Ugh, this is for our plan, huh? Very well." Queen said reluctantly as Skull spoke up pointedly.

"I'm glad you're agreeable, but if you guys don't hurry, he's gonna go off somewhere!" Skull said as the girls nodded and approached the former noble again as Queen spoke up, looking decidedly uncomfortable in her swimsuit.

"H-Hello, sir." Queen said as Noir spoke up.

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" Noir said conversationally as Sumi spoke up.

"We're sorry to keep interrupting you like this, but we were hoping you'd allow us a bit of your time?" Sumi said hopefully. The former noble looked up and saw the girls, frowning as he spoke up.

"Hm? What do you want?" The former noble asked as Noir spoke up nervously.

"Um, would you grant us a letter of introduction to Mister Shido?" Noir asked as the former noble blinked and spoke up.

"Oh? A letter of introduction, you say? Hehe, I would never give one to some nobodies like yourselves." The former noble said dismissively to the girls, none of them aware of Skull having to restrain both Joker and Draconis with Fox's help at that point so they wouldn't charge in after hearing the former noble call their girlfriends nobodies. Noir, for her part, frowned at this and spoke up.

"A nobody?" Noir asked in a hurt tone. The former noble nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. I've made my decision to only introduce those with a prestigious lineage. And sadly, no matter how beautiful you girls may look on the inside, your ancestry cannot be changed." The former noble said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"Yes, that may be true, but is heritage really everything? Well, what I mean to say is that maybe you could grant us that letter on our merits and not just our lineage?" Queen said as Oracle spoke up.

"We're doomed." Oracle said quietly, making Draconis growl from where the guys were hiding, not liking the sad tone of his girlfriend's voice. At that point, literally everyone's jaws, aside from the former noble's, dropped at what happened next as Panther spoke up.

"I'm quite charmed to meet you, sir. My name is Ann Windsor." Panther said in a posh British accent. Queen gaped at this and spoke up in shock.

"Ann Windsor!?" Queen said in disbelief as Panther kept speaking, ignoring Queen to focus on the former noble as she spoke.

"My father is the descendant of British royalty." Panther said coyly, making the former noble sit up and give Panther his full attention while speaking up.

"Oh? I bet your pardon?" The former noble asked in surprise as Oracle spoke up, shyly holding two of her fingers together cutely as she spoke.

"Seriously!?" Oracle asked as both Sumi and Queen huffed at Panther's claim, sweatdrops on their faces as Panther kept speaking.

"These girls are the daughters of my retainers." Panther said as Sumi huffed and spoke up.

"Retainers!?" Sumi said in shock, unknowingly echoed by Joker and Draconis from where the guys were hiding, as Queen spoke up to cover up Sumi's outburst.

"Oh, yes. Lady Ann treats us quite well." Queen said as the former noble nodded, focusing on Ann as he spoke up, though he did spare a brief lingering appraising look at both Sumi and Oracle, to the shock of Joker and Draconis.

"Ahh, I see. Are you half British, Ann-chan?" The former noble said as Panther nodded while she spoke up.

"I am." Panther said as the former noble smiled and spoke up.

"Your features are definitely different from Japanese girls. One can easily tell at a glance." The former noble said as Panther giggled and spoke up coyly.

"Hee hee. I'm flattered. People tend to have such misconceptions, but that isn't true. My hobbies include tea ceremonies. Then again, my father forced me to learn that art." Panther said as the former noble nodded appreciatively and spoke up.

"I see. Very nice. I sense a noble aura that is different from your servants." The former noble said as Noir got an offended look on her face and spoke up.

"Servants?" Noir said as the former noble nodded and spoke up.

"Precisely. Lineage is absolute. No matter how much effort a commoner exerts, it is a gap that cannot be filled." The former noble said as Panther gave the former noble a closed-eye smile and spoke up, ignoring the shocked looks on the other girls' faces at what she said next.

"You're absolutely correct. I do feel a little sorry for these girls." Panther said as Oracle and Sumi gaped at this and spoke up in unison.

"FOR REAL!?" Sumi and Oracle both said in surprise, unaware of Skull saying the same thing from where the guys were hiding. Panther ignored the two and walked over to the former noble and spoke up.

"By the by, about the letter of introduction you're holding, might we have one, sir? If you'd be so generous as to grant me one, I'll consider introducing you to my father." Panther asked the former noble, who blinked in surprise as he smiled and nodded while speaking up.

"Oh? Then consider it my way of sending my regards to him." The former noble said as he got up and gave Panther a letter of introduction, at which point she cutely winked and spoke up.

"Thank you kindly." Panther said. However, no one expected what happened next, as the former noble gave Panther an unreadable look while speaking up.

"But goodness, do you look great in that swimsuit. And such an amazing body as well. You look like you could be a model." The former noble said as Panther spoke up in embarrassment.

"Oh, no, you must be mistaken." Panther said as the former noble then gently took her hand in his own while patting her on the shoulder and speaking up in a smooth tone.

"Did you make sure to put on sunscreen?" The former noble asked Panther, who spoke up uncomfortably.

"Hey, um, aren't you going a bit fast, sir?" Panther asked, only to be ignored as the former noble spoke up boldly, his next words causing a rather vocal reaction from the guys.

"As members of prestigious family lines, why don't we get on more intimate terms?" The former noble said coyly as Panther blanched and spoke up.

"Excuse me!?" Panther said. At that same time, you could just barely hear an inaudible growl of anger from where the guys were hiding as a certain livid not-cat angrily spoke up, looking ready to fight.

"EXCUSE HIM!? HOW DARE THAT CREEP PUT HANDS ON LADY PANTHER!?" Mona said angrily as Draconis spoke up heatedly.

"Never mind that, Mona! Did you hear that creep talk down to the girls that whole time!? And how dare he call them commoners? That's not only insulting to them, that's an insult to all of us guys as well! Never mind the fact that that's a gross insult to Coffee Daddy, which is unforgivable. Where are my knives!?" Draconis huffed as Skull tackled him to the ground at the same time that Fox tackled Mona and Joker to the ground, Skull huffing at Joker, Mona and Draconis and speaking up.

"Cool it, you three! We can kick that guy's ass shortly! For now, we need to let Panther work her magic! She's doing so well, and she's almost got that letter for us!" Skull said as Draconis blinked and spoke up.

"Huh, that's a first. Skull actually had a good point. Huh, who knew Skull would be the voice of reason for the group? There's a new one. No offense, Skull." Draconis said as Skull smirked and spoke up.

"None taken." Skull said, as the former noble spoke up to the other girls.

"Come now, you peasant servants should take off. You're making her embarrassed." The former noble rebuked the girls as Sumi huffed and spoke up.

"I'm sorry. WHAT!? How are WE making her embarrassed!? You're the one basically trying to force yourself on her, sir!" Sumi said irately as Oracle and Noir nodded their agreement while Queen frowned at the former noble. Panther, for her part, frowned and spoke up.

"Would you kindly stop this?" Panther asked as the former noble ignored her question to speak up in a suggestive tone.

"Want to try on some other swimsuits in my room?" The former noble said to Panther who frowned as she spoke up, the entire group unaware of the masked figure observing the commotion from atop a nearby ledge above the pool deck, his face drawn in a grim frown at the former noble's dismissive attitude towards Noir. But he refrained himself from eliminating the noble, trusting the Phantom Thieves to handle things themselves. Instead, he ducked back behind his hiding place as Panther spoke up angrily, even while internally shuddering from the flashbacks she'd had to when she went through similar treatment at Kamoshida's hand all those months ago.

"Don't touch me, you perv!" Panther said as the former noble sputtered and spoke up in shock.

"Oh! I, uh, huh!?" The former noble said in confusion and shock as Panther spoke up, her voice fairly dripping a mix of disgust, anger, disdain, and outrage as she spoke.

"Now that I'm finally done using you, GET AWAY, YOU CREEP!" Panther said before turning towards where the guys were hiding and yelling so they could hear.

"THIS GUY'S A MOLESTER!" Panther yelled, as the guys took this as their cue and leapt out of hiding as the confused former noble spoke up.

"What the-!?" The former noble said in surprise as the girls' appearances reverted to normal while the guys joined them and the former noble spoke up in outrage.

"How dare you set me up like this!" The former noble said angrily as Mona spoke up angrily.

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU DIRTY ROTTEN CREEP!" Mona said irately as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed, Mona! Not only is this man the worst sort of creep, he's a dirty great effing molester who doesn't respect women OR commoners! And I find that highly unacceptable!" Draconis said as Skull spoke up with a slight wince.

"Uh, former noble dude? It's your fault for falling for such bad acting in the first place." Skull said as Joker, Draconis, and Panther all spoke up together.

"SHUT UP, SKULL!" Joker, Draconis, and Panther all rebuked Skull. Panther then kept speaking.

"Oh, shuddup! We're doing this!" Panther said determinedly as Skull tagged out for Sumi while the former noble shifted forms into the form of a Forneus and the battle began! For the first few turns, the group went about figuring out the former noble's weakness, that being Zio skills. After that, Joker and Skull nodded as they both spoke up.

"Good. Time for us to bring the hurt!" Joker said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Right behind ya, Joker!" Skull said as the two spoke up.

"SETH!/SEITEN TAISEI! ATTACK!" Joker and Skull said as they summoned their respective Personas, the great black dragon that is Seth appearing next to Seiten Taisei as they rained down twin torrents of lightning on the stunned former noble, whittling him down to very little HP, at which point Sumi and Oracle looked at each other and spoke up.

"Okay, step back, boys. That man disrespected us, so I say that Oracle and I should get to deliver the final strike!" Sumi said firmly as Skull and Joker nodded and Oracle spoke up.

"I take it that means you want to try THAT out?" Oracle asked as Sumi nodded and the two spoke up in unison.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Sumi and Oracle said as they leapt up into the air to start their Showtime. As Sumi brandished her rapier and slashed at the former noble repeatedly, Oracle giggled and aimed her wrist at the former noble while speaking up.

"Hey, you! Mister 'I hate commoners'! HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS!?" Oracle said as she shot a burst of energy from the laser that was covertly attached to her wrist, hitting the shocked former noble in the face, at which point she was beamed up by Necronomicon, only for the wizened form of Nostradamus to beam down in her place, at which point he waved his wand at Sumi, easily lifting her into the air as she flipped her rapier in front of her as she did a diving slash at the former noble, smirking as she spoke up.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF US NOW, YOU ELITIST SCUMBAG!?" Sumi said as she dove head-on into the former noble, her rapier drilling into the former noble's wing, damaging him quite severely as Oracle beamed down from inside of Necronomicon, pointing a finger at the downed noble.

"NOW, NOSTRADAMUS! SHOW THIS WORTHLESS PIECE OF HUMAN TRASH YOUR MYSTICAL FURY!" Oracle said as Nostradamus waved his wand, making a giant torrent of elemental energy shoot into the former noble, making him crumple as he fell over from the onslaught as Sumi landed next to Oracle and the two bowed to one another and spoke up.

"With the grace of a gymnast..." Sumi said as Oracle spoke up.

"...and the mettle of a former shut-in..." Oracle said as the two turned to the former noble and spoke up at the same time in unison.

"WE NOW STRIKE YOU DOWN! BEGONE!" Sumi and Oracle both said together as a giant bolt of lightning dropped down from Necronomicon, electrocuting the former noble until he exploded into black mist, ending the battle and the Showtime as a stunned Mona spoke up.

"Whoa! That was insane, you two!" Mona said as Draconis spoke up.

"For sure! Not to mention, you both looked totally badass out there sticking it to that elitist bastard! I'm so proud of you both!" Draconis added as the battle ended. From the ensuing EXP gain, Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 56, while Fox hit level 59. Surprisingly, the level-up gave Seth the passive skill 'Fortify Spirit', as Mona spoke up.

"HA! Another tool for our mission!" Mona said approvingly as Seth acquired 'Fortify Spirit'. After the battle, the defeated noble slumped over and said nothing as Panther did a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"Okay! We got the letter of introduction! Only three more left!" Panther said as she turned to the former noble and spoke up.

"Were you asking Shido for mental shutdowns too?" Panther asked the former noble, who nodded and spoke up.

"That's correct. Contrary to past methods, gaining wealth by lineage alone is quite difficult these days. That's why I begged to be allowed onto Lord Shido's ship. In return for introducing wealthy nobles to him, I requested he enact mental shutdowns for me." The former noble explained as Fox spoke up in realization.

"I see. How interesting. So this system of introductions is taking place in reality as well." Fox said as the former noble nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. Lord Shido is extremely cautious about the passengers he chooses." The former noble said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"I see. So he's screening potential associates to find wealthy people who won't betray him at all." Queen said as Mona spoke up in understanding.

"And that's why the passengers are wearing masks. He isn't deceived by people's outward appearances." Mona said as Fox looked at Panther and spoke up.

"In any case, Panther, I'm impressed. Your acting skills have developed quite strongly since our nude incident." Fox said as Sumi and Oracle both exchanged confused looks and mouthed 'nude incident?' under their breath as Panther and Draconis glared at Fox and spoke up.

"Not helping, Fox!" Draconis rebuked Fox as Panther spoke up.

"STOP BRINGING THAT UP!" Panther said in embarrassment...

(Meanwhile, in the real world, inside of Shido's office with Shido)

"And just for clarification, you aren't hiding anything from me, are you?" Shido warily asked the person who he was on the phone with. The person, who happened to be the same former noble the group had just fought, spoke up on the other end.

"Good heavens, no. Everything is as written in the reports." The former noble said as Shido spoke up.

"Good. I hope you remember the conditions for our arrangement. Support me as best you can, understood?" Shido demanded of the former noble, who nodded as he spoke up on the other end.

"Yes, of course. After all, I am thankful for your aid, Mister Shido. I'll call in some favors from some old acquaintances and take part in the birth of 'Prime Minister Shido'." The former noble said as Shido frowned and spoke up.

"So you say, but let me make myself clear. I'll have you step down if I catch wind of any slack on your end. Are we clear?" Shido asked as the former noble chuckled nervously and spoke up.

"Eheh, eh, crystal. I'd rather not meet the same fate as those I've eliminated thus far." The former noble said as Shido nodded and spoke up.

"Heh, good." Shido said approvingly to the former noble...

(Back in Shido's Palace, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Draconis, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Sumi)

"Nice! We have two letters now. Just the TV station and IT company presidents left, and then the cleaner after them." Mona said as Draconis spoke up.

"True, we still have 3 letters remaining to get. But I feel as if we should keep our guard up even after getting all of them, in case Shido springs a trap on us at that point." Draconis said warily as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Well said, Draconis. Let's see here. According to the map, one of them is apparently at the slots, and the other doesn't leave his room? Heh, well, the map says there's an entertainment hall up ahead. Maybe the slots are there?" Panther suggested. Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Seeing for ourselves will likely be the quickest way to find out. Let us proceed onward." Fox said wisely as Sumi spoke up.

"Agreed, Fox-senpai. The sooner we get these letters, the sooner we can secure the Treasure route." Sumi said sagely as Joker nodded approvingly while the group kept moving. After defeating more Shadows, Mona hit level 59. After retracing their steps, the group found another door near where they'd fought the former noble, going thorugh it to another hallway, in which Oracle quickly sensed a new Safe Room.

The group then quickly entered the safe room, which added the 'Upper Starboard Hallway' to Joker's fast-travel list. After the group left the Safe Room, they continued down the hallway a little bit, until they all stopped and, in several puffs of smoke, everyone aside from Oracle turned into a mouse once more. Panther blinked at this and spoke up.

"Hey, look at this! Ah, we turned into mice again!?" Panther said. Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Seems that way. I guess that means there's a Shido statue here too. How troublesome." Queen said as Fox smirked before speaking up, ignoring the warning glare Draconis gave him, half-expecting what Fox said next.

"Indeed. Hm, I suppose in this case, my ad-mice would be to pro-squeak cautiously." Fox said as Draconis aimed an irate glare at Fox before he rolled his mouse tail up like a newspaper and started lightly whipping it against Fox's nose and speaking up irately.

"No! BAD FOX! This is no time for terrible puns! At least go by one of the others if you're going to keep cracking puns, otherwise expect a bop on the nose from my tail when you crack a pun! That is one thing I do not tolerate." Draconis said bluntly as Oracle nodded her agreement from nearby. She then spoke up.

"Dammit, Inari. Why did YOU have to be the one who cracks the puns!? I half expected that to be Joker, hence his codename." Oracle said flatly as Fox spoke up once more.

"Oracle, my ad-mice would be-OW!" Fox said, his utterance of 'OW!' being in response to Draconis whipping his tail over Fox's nose again, harder this time. Noir winced as she saw this and spoke up.

"Um, I believe she heard your pun the first time, Fox. And given his reaction, so did Draconis. Honestly, I didn't think he was in such a testy mood though." Noir said as Draconis spoke up.

"Yes, well, let's just say this infiltration has been a slight source of unease and potential anxiety for me, and as such, I'm just eager to get it over with so that it's not hanging over my head. And the fact that I keep having a gut feeling like something's going to go wrong near the end of it isn't helping matters." Draconis said honestly to Noir, who nodded and spoke up.

"Ah, I see. In that case, your reaction is rather understandable, if a bit reminiscent of Akechi-kun. Anyways, can we focus on the task at hand?" Noir asked as the group kept moving. After walking forward a ways as mice, Fox spoke up.

"An idea has dawned on me! Oh! This aroma I smell is heavenly. I wonder though, could it be!?" Fox asked as he looked at a nearby cage, where sure enough, there was a huge chunk of cheese inside of the wide-open cage. Fox then spoke up while standing in front of the cheese..

"It is! It's cheddar cheese I smell! The cheese is beckoning me!" Fox said as Skull spoke up in surprise.

"Oh damn, are you serious, Fox? Cheese? I can't even control myself for some reason." Skull said as he headed towards the cage to join Fox as Mona groaned and spoke up.

"Hey, wait! You idiots! How could you fall for such an obvious traaa-aaaaaaah, I can't stop myself! Save some for me!" Mona said as he rushed towards the cheese while Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"Dammit, I get we got turned into mice, but does that REALLY mean we instantly become addicted to cheese? That's so cliche. Also, how is it you and Sumi haven't said much since becoming mice, Joker?" Draconis said as he turned to Joker and Sumi, the former of whom spoke up.

"We're just observing for now. Not really a lot to be said, in my opinion." Joker said as Sumi nodded and spoke up, making Draconis blink at the sight of Sumi's usual ribbon somehow still finding a way to be present in her mouse form as she spoke, even if in this case it was shrunk down and tied to her tail.

"Heh, what Joker-senpai said! Also, I figured you were still annoyed with Fox-senpai's bad puns and didn't want to risk angering you." Sumi said as Draconis spoke up.

"Sumi, you couldn't anger me. I might be pissed at Fox's crappy puns, but I'd never be annoyed at you. Never be afraid to speak your mind with me, Sumi." Draconis said reassuringly to Sumi, who smiled and nodded before she and Joker followed Fox, Skull and Mona to the cheese, where Queen, Panther, Noir, and even a reluctant Draconis all also joined in partaking of the cheese, Noir speaking up as she did so.

"Oh, my! Oh no, it's luring us in, everyone!" Noir said as Panther blinked and spoke up.

"Wha-? You too, Noir!? Hey, Queen, aren't you gonna say anything about-?" Panther went to ask Queen before being cut off as Queen spoke up excitedly.

"Thanks for the food!" Queen said gratefully as she also dug into the food. At that point, both Draconis and Panther gaped at this and spoke up at once.

"QUEEN!?" Panther and Draconis both said in surprise. Panther frowned and spoke up.

"What the-? Even the usually reserved Queen had some!? Hey! Leave some for me, you guys!" Panther said before dashing towards the cage as Draconis spoke up.

"Seriously!? This is SO cli-aw, screw it! Make room for me!" Draconis said as he filed into the cage, right as the cage closed on a group of stunned mice.

As the camera re-focused, it showed the group stacked in the cage, where the order went, from top to bottom: Sumi, Noir, Draconis, Queen, Mona, Fox, Skull, Joker and Panther. Skull then frowned as he spoke up, annoyed at being squished into the corner of the cage.

"We're at max capacity here! Hey, don't get your mouth all over it! We're sharing!" Skull said as Sumi blinked at this and spoke up.

"Umm, we're sharing one piece of cheese? With each other!? Is it bad I can easily see this ending with at least some of us at each other's throats?" Sumi said uneasily as Fox spoke up.

"No, not really. It just makes you wise, Sumi. That said, yes! Cheese, glorious cheese! More cheese, please. Is there any more cheese left!?" Fox said as an annoyed Draconis glared down at him and spoke up.

"Unless Joker, Panther, and Skull somehow missed a few crumbs. probably not. Pretty sure those three got most of it between them. And speaking of things between places, GET YOUR PAW OFF MY EFFING THIGH, FOX!" Draconis said as he felt Fox's mouse paw pressed against his outer right thigh, as well as Fox's tail wrapping around his back right paw. Panther chuckled sheepishly as she spoke up.

"Eh, sorry about that, Draconis. It's funny, though. We knew it was a trap but we walked right in anyway like the fools we are. Crap. Aaaaaand it doesn't open from the inside." Panther said as Draconis huffed and did the mouse equivalent of crossing his arms in indignant annoyance at his current predicament, shortly before a familiar voice could be heard giggling as she spoke up.

"Aw, you look so adorable like that, Draconis. Also, I shouldn't ask, but I will anyway. So, did the little meese enjoy their feast?" Oracle said before she opened the cage and the group fell out, managing to land far apart as Skull gave Oracle a grateful look while speaking up.

"Owww, that hurt. But thanks, Oracle. I dunno how much longer I could stay cramped in there." Skull said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"And now you see why I always say Oracle is an absolute god-send. And it's not just because her looks are outright divine most of the time." Draconis said as Fox huffed and spoke up while glaring at Draconis.

"Oh, come on! How come you smack ME for making puns, yet you can crack corny jokes like that!? That's not fair!" Fox said in a whiny tone. Draconis smirked and spoke up while briefly sticking out his tongue playfully at Fox in a rare instance of childish immaturity, ignoring the giggling from Oracle at his antics as he spoke.

"That's where you're wrong, Fox. Is it a joke if I'm stating facts?" Draconis said sagely. Oracle nodded and spoke up, while smiling at Draconis' brief moment of immaturity.

"Draconis isn't exactly wrong, you know." Oracle said as Skull spoke up.

"ANYWAYS! Moving right along, we're all grateful for you saving us, Oracle. But jeez, who knew cheese could hypnotize? I seriously had no control of myself there." Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed, nobody was able to stop themselves, not even Draconis. It was simply too delectable." Fox said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"You're lucky I'm stuck in this mouse form right now, Fox. Otherwise I'd totally be flipping you off for that bald-faced lie. I could've stopped myself. I just decided to go along with it, since as they say, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.' So there." Draconis said, somehow managing to immaturely stick his tongue out at Fox in a mixed smug and arrogant manner, getting amused giggles from Panther, Oracle, and Sumi for his efforts. Fox chuckled and spoke up.

"I'm sure you would do just that, Draconis. But anyways, let's move on. I must say though, the sight of all eight of us gorging ourselves, as mice, on a single piece of cheese in a cramped cage? What a spectacle." Fox said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"But, was that cheese we just ate, and if so, was it even safe to eat?" Queen asked as Mona spoke up wisely.

"I don't think we have to worry about that, at least. Or at least I didn't sense any danger from it." Mona said as Noir spoke up.

"Mona-chan's right. I actually feel somewhat refreshed having eaten that." Noir said as Draconis smiled at Noir and spoke up.

"True that. I do feel a bit recharged after that meal. Thanks for having the foresight to grab a chunk for the both of us, by the way. Very smart of you, Noir." Draconis said gratefully as Noir smiled and nodded while speaking up.

"You're welcome, Draconis." Noir said happily as Mona spoke up at that point.

"Hmm, I see. If that's the case, then I vote that we have ourselves a nibble if we spot any more cheese! Anyways, now that we're fed, let's get moving!" Mona said as Sumi nodded and spoke up.

"Good idea, Mona-senpai. Those remaining three letters won't seize themselves, after all." Sumi said wisely as the group kept moving. After sneaking around and eliminating a patrolling Shadow, Oracle hit level 61 while Joker and Draconis hit level 60. From the levels, both Oracle and Draconis got new moves, with Thailog learning the passive skill 'Null Elec', and Nostradamus learning the heavy-tier Elec skill 'Ziodyne'. Draconis then smirked as he spoke up.

"Sweet! Even after just evolving, my Persona continues to grow! And as he does, he grows ever closer to being unstoppable! Mwehehe!" Draconis said as Oracle stuck her tongue out while she spoke up.

"First of all, don't be a dork, Draconis. Second of all, that's MY line! That said, nice! Nostradamus' power is even more high-voltage now!" Oracle said as Draconis chuckled while Thailog and Nostradamus acquired 'Null Elec' and 'Ziodyne' respectively. At that point, Joker spoke up.

"Nice! I leveled up!" Joker said as Sumi smiled coyly and spoke up.

"Yes, you did. Congrats, Senpai!" Sumi said sweetly before shutting Joker up by kissing him on the cheek, giggling at how red his face got afterwards. Draconis grinned as he spoke up.

"Aha! That's a new way to shut him up! Good find, Sumi!" Draconis said approvingly as Joker huffed and playfully stuck his tongue out at Draconis in a rare childish moment, amid giggles from the girls.

After the group got back to their normal forms, they kept exploring the maze. After some time had passed, including having to navigate back where they were at one point after Joker detoured to the Velvet Room to deal with a Fusion Alarm, the group eliminated more Shadows, causing Skull to reach level 59. After Mona eliminated a group of Shadows with his All-Out Attack, the ensuing EXP gain brought Queen and Noir to level 59. As a result of the level up, Johanna acquired the heavy-tier Nuke skill 'Mafreidyne', making Queen smile as she spoke up.

"That's a new skill! Let's try it out!" Queen said as Johanna acquired 'Mafreidyne'. After beating another stronger Shadow, the EXP gain brought Panther to level 59, and leveled up two of Joker's Personas in the forms of 'Seth', who hit level 58, and 'Lachesis', who hit level 49. After defeating more Shadows, Fox and Mona hit level 60. After moving through a very long maze, the group finally found the way out and came out onto what appeared to be a beach deck as Mona spoke up.

"Hm. All right, it seems like we managed to reach the back deck." Mona said as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"Hm!? Look." Fox said as the group saw what looked to be a commando-styled Shadow approaching. Skull then spoke up.

"Hey! What the fu-?" Skull said as Draconis spoke up at the same time, unintentionally censoring Skull's sentence when he spoke.

"HOLY CRAP, THAT THING LOOKS TOUGH!" Draconis said, his eyes wide. Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed, Draconis! Unfortunately, that seems to be a Shadow too. Be careful, guys." Oracle said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"He looks way tougher than the other ones we've faced thus far. You think they're tightenin' security?" Skull asked as Mona spoke up with a nod.

"Probably. It wouldn't be surprising. We've taken down two targets, after all. Let's proceed forward cautiously." Mona said as Sumi nodded and spoke up.

"Right! I trust your judgement, Mona-senpai!" Sumi said as the group kept moving. After beating some Shadows, Skull hit level 60. After smacking some more Shadows around, Oracle hit level 62. After beating another strong Shadow, Joker and Draconis hit level 61 while Noir hit level 60. Joker spoke up at that point.

"With this power, I become ever stronger!" Joker said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Heh, nice. You actually changed it up a bit, Joker. Guess you didn't want it getting stale for Sumi. Good stuff." Draconis said approvingly as Sumi cutely pouted and spoke up.

"Oh, shut up, Draconis! You say that like I don't always enjoy seeing this playful and smug side of my boyfriend." Sumi said, making Joker laugh as she cutely but childishly stuck her tongue out at Draconis, who also laughed and spoke up.

"Heh, nice to see you can be playful after all, Sumi. But maybe don't steal Oracle's schtick while doing so, yeah?" Draconis said as Oracle demonstrated why Draconis called it her 'schtick' by sticking her tongue out childishly at Draconis as she spoke up.

"You have no room to talk, Draconis! You do that too!" Oracle rebuked Draconis with a smirk. At that point, Noir gained the healing skill 'Amrita Shower', making her smile as she spoke up.

"Oh, look! A new move!" Noir said as Draconis nodded approvingly and spoke up.

"Awesome, a group full-heal for status! Very good skill to get, Noir!" Draconis said approvingly as Milady acquired 'Amrita Shower'. After the battle, Oracle spotted a nearby Safe Room, which the group immediately ducked into. Joker then had the 'Back Deck' added to his fast-travel list. After finding a door on the opposite side of the deck, Joker went to open it, but a voice from behind stopped him.

"Yo, stop right there." The group heard as they wheeled around as one in time to see a man in a dark crimson pinstripe suit with white stripes and black dress shoes look at the group and then speak up.

"I'm talkin' to you guys. Come over here for a sec." The man said as Panther gasped and spoke up.

"Wait, hold up. Does he mean us?" Panther asked as Sumi spoke up.

"I think so, Panther-senpai." Sumi said agreeably as Oracle shuddered and spoke up.

"Ohhh, this isn't good! He looks super dangerous! I don't wanna get involved, even if he's just some old cognitive thing!" Oracle said as Draconis patted her on the shoulder reassuringly and spoke up so only Oracle could hear.

"Cheer up, Oracle. That guy does look intimidating, but I think between myself, Fox, Skull, Joker, and Mona, we could probably take him if we had to. Granted, I don't know that I like the implication that Shido seems to have ties to the mafia, given the fact that that guy looks like something out of a mob movie. All he needs is a tommy gun to complete the old-school gangster motif he's got going." Draconis said wisely as Oracle smiled and nodded as the man frowned and spoke up.

"What're you punks over there mumbling on about? I hear you've been makin' quite a mess of things in here." The man said as Mona spoke up in fear.

"Eep! Don't hurt us! W-We're totally not making a mess, we swear! Who are you anyway!?" Mona asked as the man huffed and spoke up.

"Hmph! Never mind that. I'm the one askin' questions around here. Now, drink some salt water and reflect on what you did." The man said before turning to some nearby Shadows as he kept speaking.

"I'm leavin' this to you guys. I don't got the time to waste on little punks like these." The man said to the Shadows as a wide-eyed Skull spoke up.

"Salt water!? Does that mean what I think it does?" Skull asked as a commando Shadow appeared in front of him and he spoke up in surprise.

"Gah! Whoa, hold on a sec!" Skull said as Oracle spoke up warily.

"Look out, here they come!" Oracle said warily as Joker attacked the Shadow to start the fight. However, the fight ended up being a joke, as Joker was able to knock them both down with one giant burst of light energy from his 'Moloch' Persona, after which he eliminated the enemies with his All-Out Attack. The ensuing EXP gain brought Queen to level 60. After the fight, Fox panted a bit as he spoke.

"Ohh, that was close. W-We emerged victorious." Fox said as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Tch! That wasn't funny, dammit! They were totally tryin' to kill us!" Skull said as Sumi nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed, Skull-senpai! Probably because we took out two of the targets already, but even then, that's still not cool." Sumi said while pouting and cutely crossing her arms as Noir spoke up.

"I think Sumi's right. It may be because we caused a scene at both the restaurant and the pool. Somebody has to clean up the mess." Noir said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"That ain't right, though! In both cases, we were the victims! Especially with that dirty rotten bastard at the pool! He's lucky that Fox and Skull held me and Mona back, otherwise we would've probably torn him apart with our bare hands for putting his dirty hands on Panther." Draconis said huffily as Mona nodded his agreement before Noir spoke up.

"True, you two are rather protective of us, I've noticed." Noir said before her eyes widened in realization as she kept speaking.

"Wait a second, though. 'Clean up the mess'?" Noir asked as Oracle gasped in understanding and spoke up.

"Ohhh, that's why they call him the 'cleaner'! It's 'cause he mops up any trouble that shows its face! That should make him pretty easy to find though. We just gotta disturb the peace somehow." Oracle said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"True, but I somehow doubt that it's gonna be as easy as you yelling out 'Skull, go piss off the police!' like you did during the previous Palace this time, Oracle. Though to be fair, that was pretty funny when you did that out of nowhere, if only because of how glorious Skull's face was when you did it. No offense, Skull." Draconis said as Skull spoke up.

"Nah, I get it. But no, I'm not pissing anyone off! Besides, even I know that's a bad idea while we still have 3 other letters to find!" Skull pointed out as Queen smiled and nodded approvingly to Skull's response as she spoke up.

"Very well observed, sweetie! You're learning! Well done! But, back on topic, Skull is right. If we were to heed Oracle's suggestion and disturb the peace to draw the cleaner's attention, that would have an adverse effect on us finding the other letters of introduction. As such, let's leave him until we've gotten the other two letters and hurry over to the other two first." Queen said decisively as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough. In that case, our next target should be the TV station president in the entertainment hall ahead." Fox said as Oracle smiled and spoke up.

"All right! Let's go, Joker and Draconis!" Oracle said eagerly as Joker and Draconis nodded before the group kept moving. After barely outlasting a strong Shadow, Joker's 'Lachesis' Persona hit level 50. After that, Queen spoke up as the group reached the lower part of the hall.

"I see. It seems that this must be the entertainment hall, just like we expected." Queen said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Then the slots-loving TV president should be here. Let us search the area for him." Fox said as Sumi nodded and spoke up.

"Good idea, Fox-senpai! He's gotta be here somewhere." Sumi said approvingly as the group kept moving. After eliminating some Shadows, Panther hit level 60. After heading down more steps, Oracle spotted a new Safe Room, which the group entered and added the 'Entertainment Hall' to Joker's fast-travel list. After jumping and defeating another Shadow, Fox hit level 61. After fighting more Shadows, Mona hit level 61. After finding more steps and going down them, Noir spoke up.

"Hey! Look at all these slot machines." Noir said as Oracle chuckled and spoke up.

"Mwehehe! Nice find, Noir! Maybe we'll find that TV station prez we heard about previously somewhere around here." Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"Good thinking, Oracle. I think he'll probably be near the slots, hence his being the 'slots-loving TV company president'. But that's just a guess." Draconis said as Noir spoke up.

"That makes sense, though. In that case, why don't we try searching for him?" Noir said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Let's do it, then. Sooner we do that, sooner we have our third letter of introduction!" Joker said decisively. Oracle cheered as she spoke up.

"All right! This place isn't too big, so spotting him should be easy. Be careful if you find him though!" Oracle said as the group searched around, eventually finding an important-looking man at one of the slot machines. At that point, Noir spoke up.

"Isn't the man sitting over there at that slot machine one of them?" Noir asked. Panther nodded and spoke up.

"I think so. He's the president of a TV station, isn't he?" Panther asked as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"That's right. From what I was able to gather from the nearby guests, he gives letters of introduction to executives of companies who are willing to sponsor his programs. That's a difficult condition to meet for us, though." Queen said as Skull cricked his shoulder and spoke up.

"In that case, wanna just beat it outta him?" Skull asked as no one answered him. After a brief, but awkward silence, Noir spoke up.

"Wait. Let me handle this." Noir said as the others looked at her in surprise as Skull spoke up.

"For real? But what if he tries something on you?" Skull asked as Draconis spoke up.

"He wouldn't dare. For one, the rest of us would be nearby and able to swarm him in no time flat. For another, I feel like he's not fool enough to make a scene in a gambling area." Draconis said wisely. Mona smiled at Noir and nodded as he spoke up.

"I'll allow it. You've got this, Noir." Mona said. Noir turned to smile at Mona as she spoke up.

"Yes, Senpai!" Noir said, making Draconis and Sumi both facefault as the latter spoke up after Oracle and Joker helped their respective boyfriend/girlfriend to their feet.

"Since when do you call Mona-senpai 'Senpai', Noir-senpai? I thought I was the only one who used that term?" Sumi asked in surprise as Oracle laughed and spoke up.

"She does that because she's gotten fond of Mona's constant simping for her. I guess at least he's not always simping for Panther anymore." Oracle said as Mona glared at Sumi and Oracle while Noir walked over to the TV President and spoke up.

"Excuse me sir, but might I get a letter of introduction from you?" Noir asked the TV station president, who scoffed as he spoke up.

"A letter of introduction? But you're so obviously a child." The TV Station president said as Noir spoke up.

"Perhaps so, but let me introduce myself. I am Haru Okumura, daughter of the president of Okumura Foods. I believe we sponsored you as well." Noir said as the TV station president gave her a surprised look and spoke up.

"Oh, you're her? It's true that I'm quite indebted to President Okumura. He funded us extremely well, after all. However, it looks like he got a little carried away. My condolences." The TV Station president said as Noir's breath caught in her throat at the mention of her father's death. Unbeknownst to Noir, the masked figure watching from above frowned at the TV station president's rather tactless mention of Noir's father, having to stop himself from aiming a sniper shot at the TV station president's head, but otherwise kept observing for the moment. The TV station president kept speaking at that point.

"Regarding his exploiting management to further his own agenda, Mister Shido asked me to defend him as much as I could. I even threw some extra security his way, but there were limits to what I could do. The damage almost reached up to Mister Shido himself. President Okumura had to be cut off." The TV Station president said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"Cut off, you say?" Noir asked as the TV station president nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. It seems he didn't just cast him off his ship, but he also used him to trap the Phantom Thieves." the TV station president said as Noir frowned while he kept speaking, applauding thin air as he spoke.

"Bravo, Mister Shido. Truly a nasty maneuver." the TV station president said as Noir sighed and spoke up.

"You're right, sir. It was a nasty maneuver indeed. And I can't say my father didn't deserve it to some extent. That said, won't you please give me a letter of recommendation? Once our company recovers, I will arrange for us to cooperate with you in a sponsorship role." Noir said as the TV station president scoffed and spoke up.

"You're the daughter of the late president. Do you really have the authority to do that? Your employees probably resent you for what your father put them through. Oh well, that's not important. I'm in your father's debt, after all. I can repay SOME kindness to his daughter." the TV station president said as he gave Noir a letter of introduction, making her grit her teeth but smile as she spoke up.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you very much for this generosity." Noir said sincerely. At that point, the TV station president spoke up once more, his words angering Noir.

"But my, your father truly was a fool." the TV station president said while he kept speaking as Noir gasped.

"He could've lived a life of luxury if only he'd done what he was told. You know, I'm the one who broadcast the moment of his mental shutdown. Our ratings shot up 'cause of that!" the TV station president said, laughing maniacally as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"How dare you!? Stop it." Noir said as the TV station president frowned and spoke up.

"Hmm?" the TV station president said as Noir spoke up, shaking with rage.

"How could you talk about my father's death like that?" Noir asked as the TV station president scoffed and spoke up.

"Hm? That's just business. Actually, if you like, we could get you in a documentary. 'Overcoming death to rebuild a family company' would make for quite the eye-catching title, yes? Also, you're so cute you might just get good ratings." the TV station president said tauntingly as Noir growled and spoke up angrily.

"I will NOT forgive you for that! You had better apologize to my father!" Noir said angrily as the TV station president advanced on her as Mona spoke up from nearby.

"Time to save her!" Mona said as the group charged at the shocked TV station president, who spoke up.

"Are you all the Phantom Thieves!?" the TV station president said as he shifted forms into a Hanuman and summoned backup in the form of two Garudas as the fight began! After spending the first few rounds figuring out the opponent's weaknesses, which would be Elec for the Garudas and Ice for the TV station president. Joker, Fox and Skull nodded as they summoned their Personas while Mona tagged out for Noir.

"SETH/GOEMON/SEITEN TAISEI! ATTACK!" Joker, Skull and Fox called out as Seth and Seiten Taisei loosed a torrent of lightning to destroy the Garudas, while Fox knocked down the TV station president with a Bufudyne, but broke formation from the subsequent Hold Up so he could Baton Pass to Noir, so she could finish off the TV station president. At that same point, Mona spoke up from the reserves.

"Heh, shall we finish him off, Noir?" Mona asked as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"Yes. Let's end this man!" Noir said as Mona nodded and the two spoke up.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Noir and Mona said as their Showtime began!

"Time to dispense some justice!" Noir said as she leapt into the air as Mona chuckled and spoke up.

"And that's my cue! TRANSFORM!" Mona said as he turned into the Mona-Bus, in time for Noir to land on top of him, rocket launcher in hand. As the two drove past the stunned TV station president, Noir grinned ferally and spoke up as she loosed some rockets at the enemy.

"You've been bad! Time to punish you!" Noir said as the rockets exploded in the TV station president's face as the Mona-Bus crashed into him to turn him into black mist, leaving a stunned Mona on the ground as Noir gasped and spoke up.

"Oh! MONA-CHAN!" Noir said as she raced to the stunned not-cat's aid, ending the Showtime, as well as the battle. From the ensuing EXP gain, Skull and Noir hit level 61, Joker and Draconis hit level 62, and even Joker's 'Seth' Persona got a level-up, going to level 59. Joker smirked as he spoke up.

"Heh! It's a step forward!" Joker said as Draconis smirked while he saw that Thailog had acquired the mid-tier healing skill 'Mediarama', making him grin and speak up.

"NICE! About time I got a serviceable group healing skill! Let's freaking go!" Draconis said happily as Thailog acquired 'Mediarama'. After the battle, the defeated TV station president slumped over wordlessly as Noir smiled and spoke up.

"Okay! We have the third letter of introduction!" Noir said before turning to the TV station president and speaking up.

"I assume as part of the media, you have knowledge about quite a few different topics. We will not take your life, as long as you share the knowledge you kept from the public." Noir said as the TV station president sighed and nodded while speaking up.

"Very well. Remember that infamous Kaneshiro guy? The one from the mafia who ended up on the news a while back? Well, the money he was gathering all went to Shido-san." the TV station president said as Queen gasped and spoke up.

"Shido and Kaneshiro were connected?" Queen said as the TV station president nodded and spoke up, surprising Fox with what he said next.

"Indeed, and not just them. Shido also had connections with that old man Madarame, as well. His counterfeit business, along with Kaneshiro's mafia, aided Shido-san quite a lot financially." the TV station president said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"Ah, I understand now why Madarame did what he did." Fox said as Skull growled and spoke up, glaring at the TV station president as he spoke.

"Hey, you were forcin' the news to be about Akechi and Shido all the time, right? I'm sick of 'em! Oh, wait. This guy's not a real person. Tellin' him ain't gonna do shit for us!" Skull said as Noir spoke up resolutely.

"Come on, we have to take down Shido himself!" Noir said decisively as the rest of the group nodded...

(Meanwhile, at the same time, in the real world, at the TV studio with Akechi)

"I never would have imagined that their leader would commit suicide. Akechi-kun, did you perhaps anticipate this curious turn of events?" The male newscaster asked Akechi, who shook his head in the negative and spoke up.

"Oh, certainly not to this extent, no. But it IS important to note that he was the mastermind behind the recent commotion. Getting captured must have wounded his pride irreparably. Such things happen often to insurgent leaders." Akechi said as the female newscaster spoke up.

"I see. On another note, according to the police, the whereabouts of the other members are still currently unknown. Considering they no longer require testimony from the leader, the investigation will be hard to-" The female newscaster said, being cut off mid-sentence as Akechi spoke up.

"May I butt in for a second?" Akechi asked as the male newscaster spoke up cheerfully.

"Of course." The male newscaster said agreeably as Akechi frowned and spoke up.

"The Phantom Thieves may have laid low since then, and well they should, but they must not be excused! For all we know, they could have been using this time to install a new leader to possibly try and pick up where they left off when their original leader was captured and forced to take his own life to save his associates. And I don't care if they come after me! For the victims of their evil deeds, and for their families scattered across the country, I WILL capture the remaining Phantom Thieves! NO MATTER WHAT!" Akechi said, almost raising his voice as he spoke his last three words, sitting down to applause as he kept speaking with a sheepish look on his face.

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to get so worked up." Akechi said as the male newscaster spoke up with a smile on his face.

"Wow, no wonder they call you an ace detective of justice! What passion! Oh, I know. How about we use this opportunity to poll the audience? Those who believe the detective of justice will annihilate the Phantom Thieves, press your buttons now!" The male newscaster said as the number behind him flashed for a few seconds, before stopping as a big '50' came up on screen for Akechi and the newscasters to see as the male newscaster spoke up.

"My, it seems that everyone in the audience agrees! Well, looks like you can't back down now." The male newscaster said to Akechi, who did a closed-eye grin while waving his hand as he spoke up.

"I will do the best I can to live up to everyone's expectations. Ah! Oh, but I do have to study for my college entrance exams. I might not be able to promise that I'll take them down right away, but I will bring them down eventually!" Akechi said as the audience laughed at his humor while he frowned and started speaking up in his head.

"Tch! None of these people knew that I was an undesirable child. I wanted people to rely on me more than anything. I wanted to be needed by at least someone. I devoted myself to my studies, acted as an honor student, and made my name as an ace detective. And thanks to the Nav app and the Persona bestowed upon me by the gods, I have a means to do just that. Moreover, I managed to dispose of any who got in my way, with one exception.

Amamiya-kun the younger is lucky that Shido-san wants to take him out personally, or I'd have already ended him by now. Though it took me some time to finally do so, in the case of my most recent conquest. Now, all that remains is to tell him." Akechi mused as his musings were interrupted by the male newscaster speaking up.

"But still, wasn't their leader's suicide a let down for you, given how long it took to apprehend him? I think if it were me, I would've collapsed from the shock." The male newscaster said as Akechi spoke up.

"True, it was something of a let down. And it did make me feel somewhat dizzy when the news of the suicide broke. Just a little, though. Perhaps my mind was worked up due to the major task I had undertaken prior to that. Hmm." Akechi said, at the same time that a random phone went off in the audience, making the male newscaster frown and speak up.

"HEY! Who is that!? If you don't turn off your phone, the Phantom Thieves might change YOUR heart!" The male newscaster said as the audience laughed while Akechi spoke up in confusion as his eyes went wide as a thought occurred to him.

"Wait, did you say a phone!?" Akechi said, his eyes narrowed in fury when a realization came to him as the male newscaster spoke up.

"See? Even Akechi-kun's face has stiffened up." The male newscaster said as Akechi frowned and spoke up warily, surprised that he was caught in a rare moment of unguarded surprise.

"A-Ah, sorry about that." Akechi said smoothly before schooling his features into a closed-eye grin as he spoke up.

"I'm not bothered. Just make sure to turn it off when you go to the movies!" Akechi said, to the gales of laughter, all while he was soundly cursing out a certain group of wanted fugitives in his head...

(Back in the Metaverse, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Draconis, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Sumi)

"Hm. Excellent, on to the next one. Who else remains?" Fox asked as Oracle spoke up.

"We're leaving the cleaner for last, so we just got that IT president guy left." Oracle said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"We don't have any clues about him yet though, do we? Either way, let's proceed onward. We still haven't gotten a full grasp of this ship's layout." Queen said as the group kept moving. At that point, the group ducked into the nearby Safe Room, where Skull spoke up.

"All right, let's take a break." Skull said as Joker nodded his agreement, signalling for the others to get comfortable while they caught their breath after the recent battle they'd had...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! I know this only had the first three letters of introduction in it, but that was done intentionally! The other two letters, as well as the sequence of events that happen after the fifth letter is gotten, will probably all be in the next chapter! And fair warning, next chapter probably won't be a fun one to read for anyone reading this story that's a fan of either Draconis or Crow. But especially so for Draconis fans. But I'll leave that at that for now to keep people guessing!

That said, thanks to anyone who's read this far into the story, as you rule! We're about I'd say anywhere from 3-5 chapters, 6 tops, from the end of Arc 7, and from there all that will remain is Arc 8, which will be the penultimate Palace of Royal, and then Arc 9, where all the Royal-exclusive content really starts! Thankfully I've gotten enough of the requirements met to unlock the third semester!

Granted, I think at this point I might not be able to get ALL of the Confidants to MAX rank, but I'll get as many of them maxed as I can. Ideally, I want to at least get the remaining Phantom Thieves (e.g. Crow, Sumi, Mona, Noir, Oracle, Queen, and Fox) to MAX Rank so I can have their Tier 2 and 3 (YES, Royal added Tier 3 Personas for the Phantom Thieves!) Personas available for the final Palace.

Some of them, like Mona and Crow, will auto-hit MAX rank through the story, while the others (Fox, Noir, Oracle and Queen) are all between 2 and 4 ranks from MAX rank, so I can probably get them all to MAX rank, but I make no guarantees on any others getting to MAX rank outside of the handful who get there through story (e.g. Igor, Crow, Mona), and the ones that are 2 or less ranks from hitting MAX rank (Kawakami, Takemi, Hifumi). Some others who are 3 ranks from MAX (Mishima, Queen, Fox, Oracle) might get there. But the handful that are still at Rank 6 and below (Noir, Ohya, Shinya, Iwai, Sumi, Chihaya) are debatable at best if I get any of them to MAX rank, but I'll try my best.

So yeah, there's a preview of stuff still to come! So keep an eye out for the next chapter!

Also be sure to keep showing this story support, whether it be in the form of favoriting it, following it, or just leaving a review with your thoughts/feedback/opinions on the story, or even sending that information to me via a PM. I appreciate the support either way. And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

CONFIDANT RANKS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 78

FOOL (Igor/Prison Master) - Rank 9

MAGICIAN (Morgana/Mona) - Rank 9

PRIESTESS (Makoto/Queen) - Rank 7

EMPRESS (Haru/Noir) - Rank 6

EMPEROR (Yusuke/Fox) - Rank 7

HIEROPHANT (Sojiro/Boss/Coffee Daddy) - Rank MAX (10)

LOVERS (Ann/Panther) - Rank MAX (10)

CHARIOT (Ryuji/Skull) - Rank MAX (10)

JUSTICE (Akechi/Crow) - Rank 8

HERMIT (Futaba/Oracle) - Rank 7

FORTUNE (Chihaya/Fortune Teller) - Rank 5

HANGED-MAN (Iwai/Weapons Dealer) - Rank 6

DEATH (Takemi/Back-Alley Doctor) - Rank 8

TEMPERANCE (Kawakami/Becky) - Rank 8

DEVIL (Ohya) - Rank 4

TOWER (Shinya/Skilled Gamer) - Rank 4

STAR (Hifumi) - Rank 8

MOON (Mishima) - Rank 7

SUN (Yoshida/Man Of The People) - Rank MAX (10)

JUDGEMENT (Sae/Prosecutor) - Rank MAX (10)

FAITH (Kasumi/Sumi/*REDACTED*) - Rank 5 **MAX**

COUNCILLOR (Maruki/Doc) - Rank MAX (10)

WORLD (Kusa/Draconis) - Rank MAX (10)

**ALL CONFIDANTS UNLOCKED!**