Persona 5: The Phantom Files

by sithlorde1988

Will cover the events of Persona 5 Royal, with the sequel set to cover 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!

66. Into The Casino! Crow's Gambit part 5

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Phantom Files! I will try to keep having chapters up as needed, but they might become more spaced out between updates since my laptop screen went out on me. Luckily, my brother's letting me use his laptop to type this update, so I should be able to somewhat keep my pace up, but just in case, I'm going to probably space out my updating pace to once every 4-5 days, maybe even once a week, since I don't know how often he'll let me use the laptop for updates.

Similarly, my posting pace for new chapters might space out a bit more to one every two weeks since I do have a good-sized backlog built-up for this story, but once my birthday comes, I'll hopefully get myself a new laptop so I don't have to keep leaning on my younger brother for his to use it for these chapters. But believe me when I say I have no intention of letting this story die, nor any of my other stories.

Granted, I could've recently posted a one-shot for Saint Patrick's Day (it's presently 9:39PM at night on March 18th as of the time I type out this start-of-chapter A/N), but didn't since I couldn't think of a good fandom to base the one-shot around, since I don't think any of the Persona games gives an indication of whether or not Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated or not in-game. So yeah. Might think about an Easter one-shot, probably a Mario one-shot, but we'll see what happens.

Speaking of Mario, who else is excited for the Super Mario Bros movie that Illumination made? I'm legit excited to see Jack Black kill it as Bowser, not to mention Chris Pratt's portrayal of Mario. And of course, let's not forget Seth Rogen as DK. Stoner DK, anyone? Just kidding, but for real it'd be hilarious in my opinion.

But back on the subject of this story, we're getting closer to the end of Arc 6, though there's still a handful of chapters left for it yet. Debating on if I'll end the arc with Joker getting cuffed and arrested (AKA the event that happens at the very start of Royal), or if I'll include the final interrogation in Arc 6 too. Might use it to start Arc 7, but we'll see. While I'm thinking of it, I had a reader suggest I split the Strikers adaptation off into its' own story. I'm still considering it.

I might, at some point down the line, put it to a poll to see if the readers agree. I know the summary of the story says 'will cover the events of Persona 5 Royal AND Persona 5 Scramble/Strikers', but AKANOS recently (and by recently, I mean recently as of the point I typed this start-of-chapter A/N) reached out with the idea to split the story into two separate stories, considering how radically different the gameplay is between Royal and Scramble/Strikers. And to be honest, he might have a good point saying that. We'll see what happens, though. But anyways, let's get on with the disclaimer, yeah?

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form (barring the OC Kusa/Draconis, along with the recurring lesser OCs Slim, Kyori, Lumine, Mimille and Akira, all of whom are also made and owned by sithlorde1988) and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus, Sega, and to a point Koei Tecmo, so all credit to them!

Talking about the Persona series as a whole, I recently finished playing through Persona 4 Golden. Great game, right up there with Royal in my opinion, though in all fairness Golden does have a lot fewer flaws than Royal, even if Golden also has the MUCH quirkier cast of characters. The Investigation Team, for the most part, is pretty good, though I legitimately think Teddie is a bit of a creeper. I mean, he freaking asked the main character's seven-year-old cousin to 'shoot off rockets of love' with him (his EXACT words, might I add!) during a fireworks show, with said cousin's dad nearby. Talk about your brazen and shameless flirts.

**SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD FOR Persona 4 Golden. Read this next section at your own risk since it's rife with spoilers, and those who don't want to be spoiled can skip ahead to the part marked **END OF SPOILER ALERTS** to skip the spoilers.**

But Teddie, and possibly Chie, aside, the others were pretty good. If I'm being honest, I had a hard time choosing between Yukiko and Rise (the Priestess and Lovers social links respectively) for who to pair Yu (or the protagonist of Persona 4 Golden) with, before I ultimately opted for Rise, and have not regretted that choice since! Granted, one could probably successfully argue that either Ai, Ayane, or Marie (the Moon, one of the two Sun and the Aeon social links respectively) are viable choices too.

Maybe Margaret (Empress) too, but that's a big maybe. However, I will fight anyone who tries to pair Yu with either Nanako (Justice) or Sayako (assuming I have her name right, she's the Devil social link).

Really, a surprisingly high number of Golden's social links are females. I think from what I recall the only male Social Links in Golden are Adachi (Jester/Hunger), Yosuke (Magician), Teddie (Star), Kanji (Emperor), Daisuke and Kou (Strength), Naoki/Saki's brother (Pretty sure Naoki is Saki's brother's name, but he's apparently Hanged-Man, or the only Social Link I didn't actually get in my playthrough), Shu (or was it Sho? Either way, the kid you tutor as another night-time job, who is Tower), Ryotaro Dojima (Yu's uncle and the father of Nanako, and Hierophant), and Fox (literally called Fox, though I'd be apt to call him Hokage in my headcanon, and is implied to be male as far as I'm aware, is also the Hermit).

The rest are females, aside from the Fool and Judgement social links, which, like Persona 3, are just the group you work with as a whole, and are ranked up automatically throughout each game's story, along with one 'other link' that you don't actually rank up that you get in the hidden final boss fight with *REDACTED* if you hit all the requirements to unlock the true ending (which as someone who's actually done it, let me say, HOLY SHIT! THAT ENDING WAS SUCH AN EFFING PAIN FOR ME TO UNLOCK!).

**END OF SPOILER ALERTS**

So yeah, now that I'm done dropping potential spoilers for Persona 4 Golden (and Persona 3/Persona 3 Portable to an extent) in this A/N, let's get on with the chapter, yeah?

Chapter 66- End of the Prep Week! Back to Sae's Palace! Crow's Gambit part 5

(At Leblanc, in the evening with Ren and Morgana)

As Ren sat on his bed pondering his options, he eventually decided to go get a Fortune arcana Persona so he could go hang out with Chihaya and get her ready to rank up if she wasn't ready already. After getting the needed Persona from the Velvet Room, he headed over to Chihaya's booth where she spoke up.

"Oh, hello there. Amamiya-kun the elder, be honest with me. Are you suuure you're going to be okay? I can sense it just by looking at your face. The 'death' aura is emitting a strange light right now. Please be careful, would you? That said, well then, what would you loke to do today, Amamiya-kun the elder?" Chihaya asked Ren, who spoke up.

"I figured we'd do a verification test since I have to keep up my end of our deal." Ren said as he noted that his bond wasn't ready to rank up. Morgana then spoke up.

"So, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna hang out with Chihaya?" Morgana asked Ren, who smiled and nodded as he spoke up.

"Yeah, I'll hang out with her. If nothing else, I can get her closer to a rank up." Ren said so only Morgana could hear, before nodding to Chihaya and speaking up.

"Let's hang out, Mifune-san." Ren said politely. Chihaya smiled and spoke up.

"Yes! Okay, heeere we go, Amamiya-kun the elder." Chihaya said as she gave Ren a mystified look, making him decided he'd go along with her readings until she was satisfied, noticing the sparkling blue notes that went up over her head, signifying she was ready for a rank-up in the nearish future. After a bit, he got up to go back to Leblanc, at which point Chihaya spoke up.

"Goodbye! Well then, see you around." Chihaya said as Ren nodded and headed back to Leblanc to get comfortable and lay down for the night...

(The next morning, between trains to school, with Ren, Kusa, and Morgana)

"Well, another day, another yen, eh Kusa?" Ren said to Kusa who nodded before speaking up.

"True that. Oh look, Haru's coming." Kusa said as Haru walked over and nodded to Ren and Kusa with a smile as she spoke up.

"Oh, my! Good morning, Ren-kun, Mona-chan, and Kusa-kun. The Phantom Thieves are all over the newspapers and television. We're outlaws now." Haru said as Kusa frowned before speaking up.

"True, but that's only because we got set up by whoever had your dad killed, most likely Black Mask. But I agree that us being outlaws is messed up." Kusa said sagely. Haru nodded as she spoke up.

"Good point, Kusa-kun. We have to clear our name, for my father too. So, I'd like to make some progress. Why don't we go to the Palace today?" Haru asked as Ren spoke up with a frown.

"Ah-ah. No need to get impatient, Haru. We're going to go back in tomorrow, since today is the final day of the prep week. You can wait one more day, can't you?" Ren asked Haru, who nodded as she spoke up.

"Yes, I can wait. I'm sorry for rushing you, Ren-kun. I'm just worried about Mako-chan. There's a lot to think about when the target is someone close to you." Haru said as Kusa smiled before lightly putting his hand on Haru's shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze before he spoke up.

"That's fine, Haru. I can totally relate. I felt the same way when we found out one of our previous targets was Futaba. You can ask Ren here, and he'll vouch for how on-edge I was for most of that Palace. In the end, however, everything worked out. As such, I have faith everything will work out here as well. But I understand your frustration.

And just so you know, before he was destroyed, your father's Shadow asked me to take care of you, which I told him I would do, since you really are like the older sister Ren and I never had since Ren was our mom's first-born and I was the second-born. But also, you can be something of a mother figure as well at times." Kusa said honestly to Haru, who smiled as she spoke up.

"Aww, thanks Kusa-kun. That's sweet of you to say. Anyway, I hope it goes well. Let's give this our all." Haru said as Ren and Kusa nodded before they continued the walk to school in silence...

(That morning, in class with Ren, Ann and Morgana)

"Oh, no. This country's been getting dangerous here lately, and peace had been our only redeeming feature. The Phantom Thieves should target somewhere bigger, more global-not this tiny island country. Like for example, oh, I don't know, the casino city of Las Vegas or something. It was like a dream when I went there previously, to be honest.

Hehe, I might not look like it, but I'm good at card games. The four suits of cards all symbolize something. By the way, Mister Amamiya the elder. Look at this." Chouno said to Ren, who gave her his full attention as he spoke up, even though he found it hard to believe Chouno could be good at card games. Chouno then held up a picture of the four different aces in a deck of playing cards as she spoke up.

"How about you? Clubs is a club, and hearts, well we'll get to that later. So, what does a spade represent?" Chouno asked Ren, who thought about it, then smiled as he recalled one time he and Kusa played cards, where Kusa had waxed poetic a bit about what each suit represented, letting him confidently speak up to give the answer.

"This is it! The answer is that a spade represents a sword." Ren said confidently. Chouno nodded approvingly and clapped as she spoke up.

"Excellent! The spade is a sword. Almost looks like one if you squint, right? And the heart is the Holy Grail. The heart was originally drawn as a cup." Chouno said as she showed the picture again but with words on it this time. The words read 'Sword-Knight, Holy Grail-Saint, Gem-Merchant, Club-Peasant' and were under the aces of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs, respectively. Chouno then kept speaking.

"They say the suits also represent classes of people. The rulers of the Holy Grail are clergymen. However, there are cards that belong to no class. In other words, they have no suit." Chouno said as the usual murmurs about Ren's intelligence ensued. Morgana even chimed in as usual to praise Ren for getting the answer right, leading to Ren's Knowledge getting a needless boost. Chouno kept speaking at that point.

"The only card without a suit is the joker. Some theories say it originates from the Fool in tarot decks, but no one knows where it really came from. However, both are trump cards that can bring about unexpected effects. How you use them is critical." Chouno said as Morgana smiled and spoke up so only Ren could hear.

"You heard her, Joker. Pretty good name, if I do say so myself. I kinda wish I'd given myself a cooler name, to be honest." Morgana said as Ren nodded but didn't rebuke the not-cat for referring to him by his Metaverse code name outside of the Metaverse as the rest of class passed uneventfully...

(After school, with Ren and Morgana)

Ren looked at Morgana and spoke up, seeing the not-cat about to speak up.

"I know what you're about to say, and not yet. We need at least one more target before I share our current batch of targets with the others. Hang in there a while longer, okay?" Ren said to Morgana, who nodded as Ren checked his chats, noticing he had a private chat from Yusuke which he opened.

"I'm watching people in Shibuya right now. I thought it might get the creative juices flowing. I must say though, I have had quite the hard time concentrating given our current situation. Anyway, are we meeting ip today? I am ready at any time. Let me know if you need anything." Yusuke sent as Morgana spoke up.

"Seems like Yusuke hasn't gone home yet. Wanna go see him for a bit?" Morgana asked Ren, who thought about it and nodded as he spoke up.

"Yeah, I probably should. Haven't ranked him up in a while." Ren said before opening up the chat to send a response to Yusuke.

"We're on our final day of this prep week, so we're not meeting up today, but probably tomorrow. That said, I think I'll head over your way since we've not really spent time together in a while." Ren sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"OK. I'm in the underground passage." Yusuke sent as Ren nodded and headed to the underground passage. Once there, he approached Yusuke and smiled as he spoke up.

"Hello, Yusuke." Ren said as Yusuke smiled slightly and spoke up.

"Ah, Ren. What do you plan on doing today?" Yusuke asked as Ren spoke up.

"Well, for starters, I thought I'd have you duplicate this 'Charge' card I found with this blank card here." Ren said to Yusuke, who nodded as he spoke up.

"Very well, Hand me the cards. I will spend the rest of today working on it. Come back tomorrow or later to retrieve it." Yusuke said as Ren spoke up again.

"Good. That said, I was also thinking we could hang out, since we've not done so in a bit." Ren said to Yusuke, who blinked and spoke up.

"Why? Are you sure we have time for that, Ren!? What is your goal here?" Yusuke asked as Ren spoke up.

"Slow down, Yusuke. I just want us to spend a bit of time together, that's all. Plus we're on the final day of the current prep week anyways, so no reason not to hang with you." Ren said. Yusuke thought about it before nodding as he spoke up.

"Hm, good point Ren. You are correct. A nice break is necessary at times. You know, I would not have expected my slump to be so stubborn or tough to overcome. I will have to take some extreme measures. Please Ren, I will need your help again. Could you join me?" Yusuke asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up with a smile.

"Absolutely, Yusuke. I got your back, man." Ren said. Yusuke smiled as he spoke up.

"Truly? I am in your debt! I owe you one, Ren. It seems the answer may have been right under my nose the whole time. You will see soon enough. Follow me." Yusuke said as Ren shrugged but nodded and followed Yusuke. To Ren's surprise, he and Yusuke found themselves outside of the now-empty atelier that used to belong to Madarame before his heart was changed and he went to jail. Yusuke then spoke up.

"Hm, this place has not changed in the slightest since I left it." Yusuke said as Ren spoke up.

"I agree, Yusuke. It feels somehow nostalgic being here." Ren said agreeably. Yusuke nodded his agreement as he spoke up.

"Indeed it does. I haven't come back here since I moved away, some several months ago. Ugh, the truth is, despite my best efforts to convey the meaning of the heart, I am no closer to understanding it. Such a troublesome roadblock never presented itself to me while I was living here that I can recall. As you know, I spent most of my young life in this very house. That is why we have come now.

I wish to reevaluate myself within its decrepit walls. By coming to this place, I may be able to rekindle the passion for art I once held. The passion of an inquiring mind on the hunt for pure beauty, or for enlightenment, before I learned of Madarame's foul nature." Yusuke said, trying to open the door, only to frown and speak up when it wouldn't budge.

"Hm? It won't open. No, this can't be right. I surely left it unlocked. Wait, what? How could this be? The door has jammed!? Hm, well, I suppose it was quite an old door to begin with. It had begun to rust even while I was a pupil here. It seems now it has finally broken." Yusuke said as Ren spoke up.

"Hm, it's broken, you say? Is it possible to fix it? If so, we should get it fixed, don't you think?" Ren said. Yusuke frowned as he spoke up.

"That is a nice idea, but I am unfortunately not the owner of the house. I cannot call a locksmith. I wish I could fix it myself, truth be told. But I struggle with mechanisms as complex as this. I do not have the steady hand required to mend them." Yusuke said as Ren thought about it, deciding that with his current level of Proficiency, he thinks he can fix the door. Yusuke saw Ren's pensive look and spoke up.

"Hm? Oh! Ren, you are capable of fixing it?" Yusuke asked, continuing to speak after Ren nodded.

"Truly? You never cease to amaze me, Ren." Yusuke said as Ren stepped forward and managed to easily fix the door, to Yusuke's surprise, making him smile as he spoke up.

"Shall we head off? Let us head inside." Yusuke said as Ren followed Yusuke inside, where he spoke up after looking around at the empty house.

"I see. Of course the police confiscated everything after Sensei was arrested. You know, I lived here not long ago, yet it feels almost like the distant past at this point if I'm being honest. Being here has brought back memories, though. Whenever I acted out of line, I was made to sit calmly in this corner. Ah, and over here was a bookshelf, filled to the brim with various tomes. It contained art compilation books for the most part, but there were a few manga tucked away as well here and there.

At times I would take a break from my art to hide and read them for fun. This is also where we would gather to eat when the atelier still had a large pupil count. Sensei is particularly fond of salty food, so we ate a lot of salty food. Ugh, Sensei? Am I still calling Madarame by the Sensei honorific? What am I saying? Why do I still treat him as my mentor? How long will I allow him to control my life?" Yusuke asked Ren, who spoke up.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. That said, you're not looking so good, Yusuke." Ren said in concern. Yusuke frowned and spoke up.

"My apologies, Ren. I am merely a little confused at the moment. The truth of the matter is, I used to paint in this room all the time, and I did it simply for the joy of painting. No matter what I took as my subject, my hands would move of their own accord to capture its essence with grace and skill. But back then, I only saw the superficial beauty of the world. I could not see the grime beneath. After learning the truth behind Madarame's actions though, everything changed.

I strove to fight back against the newfound ugliness I saw, sought to display my talent to those who had mocked me previously, and so on. I needed to do whatever it took to validate my artistic ability, I thought. And in that search for meaning, darkness took hold of me. How could this be? Ultimately, I began to emulate that which I had so deeply despised in Madarame.

Ah, that's right! You know, Boss told me something very interesting with you that one night at Leblanc when we had coffee together the next morning. He said, while looking me in the eyes, he didn't believe Madarame took me in for my skill alone. I suppose now that I think about it, there would be no way to know whether or not I would have been talented. Tell me, Ren, why do you think Madarame decided to take me in?" Yusuke said to Ren, who spoke up.

"I could say it was maybe because he was sympathetic, but I doubt he knew what that meant. But to be honest with you Yusuke? I couldn't possibly tell you why he took you in. Sorry about that." Ren said honestly. Yusuke nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Agreed. It is possible he was sympathetic at one point, but you make a fair point. That may be something only Madarame himself is privy to knowing. Though perhaps even he doesn't know the answer to that question. Hm, I suppose we'll never know. Still, even after learning the ugliness of his true nature, a part of me still believes n my former mentor. I simply cannot come to terms with the stark dualities presented to me, Ren. The humble house and that loathsome Palace he had. The kind teacher and the fiendishly deceptive artist. Or, more importantly, the man who acted like a father of sorts to me, and the monster who let my mother die after a seizure.

Truth be told, it seems even the workings of my own heart are inexplicable, Ren. What, then, of my search for pure beauty?" Yusuke asked as a voice could be heard from outside, making Ren and Yusuke both blink from surprise as they went quiet to hear the voice speak.

"Hello? Is someone in there? I'm coming in." Yusuke and Ren heard as Yusuke frowned and spoke up.

"This is a problem! Hm? Could that be the police!?" Yusuke asked Ren, who shrugged as an older-looking gentleman with silvery-grey hair, silver-framed glasses similar to Ren's, a grey suit jacket worn open over a black dress shirt and black tie with yellow polka dots, khaki jeans, and black dress shoes. The old man smiled at Ren and Yusuke as he spoke up.

"Ah. I was wondering who could have been in here, to be honest." The old man said as Yusuke blinked in recognition and spoke up.

"Hm? You're the man I saw before! Are you the man from the exhibition?" Yusuke asked the man, who nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Thank you for our conversation back there. More importantly though, why are you here? i couldn't help but otice the door was open on my way home from work. Are you perhaps still caught in your slump?" The old man said to Yusuke, who blinked and spoke up.

"Yes. But how do you know about that?" Yusuke asked the old man, who smiled as he spoke up.

"You'd be surprised. I know a great deal about you, Yusuke-kun. You've made a name for yourself by patterning your work after the beautifully detailed 'Sayuri', after all. But that painting at the exhibition was, bluntly put, quite different from that. Have you been trying out new styles?" The old man asked Yusuke, who blinked at this and spoke up.

"Not really? Moreso, I'm trying different things to try and find a muse to get better at art, while also learning to understand the heart." Yusuke said as the old man spoke up.

"I see. If you'd like, I can advise you. Materials, themes, et cetera. You seem as though you could use a helping hand right now." The old man said to Yusuke, who blinked and spoke up.

"I have no idea what to say to that." Yusuke said as the old man walked up to him and spoke up while looking around.

"Most of your painting was done while living in this residence, correct? Your current lack of patron must be what is holding you back. Please, take my card. I've made a living investing in promising young artists like yourself, Yusuke-kun." The old man said as he offered a business card to Yusuke who read it aloud.

"Huh. 'Director of the Japanese Art Support Foundation, Mister Akio Kawanabe'? Is this correct? But, if this is correct, why have you chosen me? You criticized me so harshly back at the exhibition." Yusuke said to the now-named Kawanabe, who nodded and spoke up.

"That's correct. And to your question, I chose you because I feel you have talent. Now, my foundation can provide you with an environment that will allow you to focus on developing your skills. If such a lifestyle interests you, we can talk further at a later date. As for today, I have business I must attend to, sorry to say. But I hope to hear from you soon." Kawanabe said as he turned and left, at which point Yusuke looked at Ren and spoke up.

"Yes. The Japanese Art Support Foundation, it says. Hm, my opportunity may have finally arrived, Ren. And it was all literally because you opened that door for me today. Thank you. Hm, it seems good luck is simply a characteristic of yours. You have my thanks, Leader." Yusuke said as Ren spoke up with a laugh.

"You're one of the few who says I have good luck. Most people say I have sporadic luck, whether it be good or bad. Even Kusa once described my luck as 'good, but when it blows? It blows hard.', so it's nice to hear you tell me I have good luck, Yusuke." Ren said as he smiled, feeling as if his bond with Yusuke was growing ever deeper. At that moment, the 'Emperor' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'V' becoming a 'VI' to signify that his Emperor Confidant link with Yusuke had reached Rank 6.

As a result of the rank up, Yusuke had gained the power of 'Harisen Recovery', making it so he had the chance to cure status ailments inflicted upon party members, much like every Phantom Thief aside from Queen, Joker and Oracle could do. Afterwards, Yusuke spoke up.

"Shall we return home, Ren? I must be going now. I'd like to think on this some more." Yusuke said as Ren nodded and the two left the empty atelier before going their separate ways as Yusuke spoke up once more.

"See you. Farewell." Yusuke said as Ren headed back to Leblanc, where the phone rang as he got to the doorstep, making him blink as he answered it.

"Hello?" Ren said as he answered his phone, smiling as he recognized Yusuke's voice on the other end.

"Hello? I apologize, Ren. I lost my composure today. The emotions I felt in that house still remain within me to this day. I do think it's a good thing that I was able to realize all this. By the way, that gentleman we saw earlier, Kawanabe, was it? What's your impression of him?" Yusuke asked Ren, who spoke up.

"Honestly? I was confused by his offer, and wary of what his motives could be. But at the same time, he had a certain dignity to him." Ren said as Yusuke spoke up.

"I concur. I had no idea he was the director of art support, but he definitely had a certain presence to him. And he was even able to instantly pinpoint my weakness. He certainly is no ordinary individual. As someone with neither a home nor a patron, I couldn't ask for a better offer, to be honest. On top of that, I may be able to find a way out of my slump once I Can fully focus on drawing. In any case, this deserves serious thought. I may come to you for advice again." Yusuke said as Ren nodded and hung up the phone. Once he headed inside, Ren did a crossword that was on the table of a booth for a needless Knowledge boost. Ren then spoke to Sojiro.

"Hi, Boss. How's business?" Ren asked as Sojiro spoke up.

"Not bad. I never imagined things would turn out like this, to be honest, Ren. I took in one hell of a pair of kids, didn't I?" Sojiro asked Ren, who nodded, knowing that Sojiro was referring to him and Kusa. After this, Ren checked his chats, seeing chats from Kawakami, Ohya and Akechi. Ren then opened the chat from Akechi, curious what Akechi was messaging him for.

"Are you free right now? I think we should talk. It's time we establish something important." Akechi sent, at which point Morgana spoke up, having read the chat over Ren's shoulder.

"There's something Akechi's not telling you, Ren. Even so, are you gonna go see him?" Morgana asked Ren, who nodded.

"Yep. I might as well see what he wants. After all, he is a Confidant of mine, is he not?" Ren pointed out sagely before sending a response.

"As it so happens, I am indeed free tonight, Akechi-kun. If you need to talk to me, I'm more than happy to oblige. Assuming you're waiting in the usual spot, I'll be there ASAP." Ren sent as Akechi smiled and sent a response.

"Thanks. Then I'll be waiting in Kichijoji." Akechi sent as Ren nodded and went to meet Akechi in Kichijoji, unaware of Kusa walking back to Leblanc right as Ren left, blinking in confusion at the sense of urgency in Ren's movements, and making a snap decision to discreetly tail Ren from a distance...

(In Kichijoji, with Ren, Morgana and Akechi)

After getting to Kichijoji, Ren wasted no time in approaching Akechi, who was standing out in front of the Jazz Jin.

"Good evening, Akechi-kun." Ren said as Akechi smiled and nodded as he spoke up.

"Good evening, Ren. I've been waiting for you. Hey, do you have time? I want to talk to you about something if you do. It'd be best if we went somewhere where there aren't many people around. How about, let's say, inside of Mementos? It's out of the way, and with any luck, nobody can get in our way there." Akechi said as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"He wants the two of you to go to Mementos alone, Ren? Well, you guys are strong enough that you should be fine, but if you go, be ready for anything, I guess." Morgana said as Ren smiled at Morgana and nodded.

"Thanks for the advice, Morgana. I'll be very careful, as I'm sure will Akechi-kun." Ren said to Morgana, giving him a light pat on the head before turning to Akechi and speaking up.

"Let's get going then. I'm willing to accompany you to Mementos if you'd rather talk there." Ren said to Akechi, who smiled and spoke up.

"Thank you. Then let's head to Shibuya." Akechi said as Morgana spoke up.

"Akechi just wants to go with you, right? Then I'll be waiting outside. But seriously Ren, be careful!" Morgana said to Ren, who nodded understandingly, neither of them aware of Kusa hearing the entire thing from nearby and frowning, but trusting Ren to handle himself, while deciding to head back towards Shibuya on his own, just so he could be nearby and ready to jump in at a moment's notice if Ren needed backup...

(A short time later, in Mementos with Crow and Joker)

"Well, this place should do nicely for our purposes, don't you agree, Joker?" Crow asked Joker, who frowned and spoke up.

"It is rather nice and works, but why are we in Mementos?" Joker asked in confusion, also unsure how it pertained to whatever Crow wished to discuss. Crow pulled out a gun and gave Joker an unreadable look as he spoke up while pointing the gun he'd pulled out at Joker.

"This. Remember what I told you? If you ever won against me using my right hand, I'd take you on with everything I've got." Crow said to Joker, who spoke up in confusion.

"I thought you meant in pool, but this makes sense to a point as well. I take it this means you want to fight?" Joker asked uneasily. Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly. Your insight allowing you to determine my dominant hand, your quick wit, and most of all, how fast you've grown, both as a man and as a person. You've exceeded my expectations in every way. Thus, I've built up this urge to duel you without holding anything back." Crow said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"I see. That makes sense, Crow. I wasn't expecting we'd duel like this, but if that's truly what you want, then let's do this. I have no intentions of holding anything back though, so let's both give this everything we've got!" Joker said to Crow, who gave Joker a closed eye grin as he spoke up.

"Thank you for indulging my selfish request. No need for pleasantries at this point, correct?" Crow said before extending an arm outwards and glaring at Joker as he kept speaking.

"Let's go!" Crow said as the battle started! Crow spoke up with an appraising glance at Joker.

"You won't be able to defeat me unless you actually fight with lethal intent. Now, show me your true skills." Crow said to Joker, who nodded. At that point, Joker and Crow traded attacks back and forth, the former cycling between Agidyne, Psiodyne, and using his gun to shoot at Crow, who threw a mix of Megaton Raid, Kouga and Eiga at Joker, who shrugged off Eiga, deflected Kouga at Crow and tanked the Megaton Raid fairly reliably. After nailing Crow with an Agidyne, he smirked and spoke up.

"Nice, Joker. How fascinating." Crow said before firing a Megidola at Joker, who winced as the attack connected for solid damage. The two then continued trading attacks back and forth for a while longer, until Crow winced and spoke up after yet another Agidyne hit him, laughing as he spoke.

"Haha, not bad. This was not expected." Crow said while picking himself up off of the ground, where he'd landed after the last Agidyne knocked him off his feet briefly, as the match ended. Afterwards, Crow spoke up with a wince.

"Ugh, impressive. No wonder you're the leader of the Phantom Thieves. You've caught up to me on this front already, too, haven't you?" Crow said as Joker spoke up.

"I'd ask if that's all you got, but I'm not stupid enough to think that's the case. Clearly you've got a lot more in you. So my question then becomes this. Do you want to keep going, Crow?" Joker asked Crow, who smiled and spoke up.

"I'd like that, Joker, but I'd better not. If we went any further, we'd both go beyond the point of no return, wouldn't we? In all honesty, I'd love to see just how far we can go, Joker. Besides, I feel like we'll have a better chance to further test our mettle against one another later on. But for now, we have an important mission coming up. Until that's finished, you're a vital ally to me." Crow said as he walked over to Joker and looked him in the eyes as he spoke up.

"That said, we're done here. Let's go." Crow said to Joker, who nodded as he left Mementos with Crow...

(Back in Shibuya, at the Station Square, with Akechi and Ren)

"Once again, I've learned something new about you today. As allies fighting alongside one another, your strength is truly reassuring. In all honesty, it's the point that I'd be relying on you in a pinch." Akechi said as Ren spoke up with a slight smile.

"I'd say the same for you to be honest, Akechi-kun." Ren said honestly to Akechi, who smiled as he spoke up.

"Is that so? Well, that would please me greatly. I'm sorry I asked you to indulge me, but I do feel a bit better now." Akechi said as Ren nodded agreeably, feeling like his bond with Akechi had grown still deeper. At that point, the 'Justice' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'VII' becoming a 'VIII' to signify that his Justice Confidant link with Akechi had reached rank 8, though there were no new skills gained for the rank-up. Afterwards, Akechi spoke up again, fixing Ren with a serious look while he spoke.

"By the way, about that duel we had just now. If we had fought to the end, do you see yourself winning?" Akechi asked Ren, who nodded as he spoke up.

"I definitely wouldn't lose. But then, I think you'd say the same thing if I were to redirect your question back to you, wouldn't you Akechi-kun?" Ren said. Akechi nodded as he spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Ren. That said, I had a feeling you'd say that. I'm going to be entirely honest with you right now, Ren. I hate you." Akechi said as Ren blinked at this but nodded, having a feeling that this was the case while Akechi scowled at Ren before he kept speaking.

"Your deft handling of your unfortunate circumstances, your uniqueness, your ability to surpass me. If I'm being honest, all these irritate me. As such, you're the one person I refuse to lose to." Akechi said as Ren spoke up with a nod.

"I had a feeling you'd say that, Akechi-kun. Level with me. You really hate losing, don't you?" Ren asked. Akechi nodded agreeably before giving Ren a surprised look while he spoke up.

"Without a doubt. Even I was unaware that it was this severe. I'll let you have this win today, Ren, but next time, I WILL be victorious. Let this be my proof." Akechi said as he took off one of his gloves and threw it at Ren, who caught the thrown glove and pocketed it before he gave Akechi a confused look as Akechi kept speaking.

"There's a tradition in the West to throw one's glove at their opponent when demanding a duel. Should the opponent also accept the glove, the duel is also accepted." Akechi said as Ren nodded, speaking up without hesitation.

"Very well, Akechi-kun. In that case, I accept." Ren said decisively. Akechi shook his head in surprise but smiled as he spoke up. *1*

"Make certain that you never forget, I am the one who will defeat you." Akechi said to Ren, who nodded as Akechi spoke up with a closed-eye grin.

"Ah, look at the time. Let's call it a day for now." Akechi said as Ren nodded before heading back to Leblanc to lay down for the night, unaware of Kusa following him back inside until Kusa came up stairs and laid down as well, both getting comfortable for the night...

(The next morning on the train to school with Kusa, Ren and Morgana)

"Hey! Ah, we were all able to grab seats today! Why don't you read something until we get there, Ren? I'm sure Kusa can keep himself busy." Morgana said as Ren nodded and pulled out his copy of 'Night Skies' to read, reading it to himself while Kusa pulled out his phone to do some private chatting.

"Hm. This says 'Leave the noise of the city behind and find refuge in the calming wind and starry skies.' Interesting." Ren said as Morgana spoke up agreeably.

"Wow! Ikebukuro is mostly known for its skyscrapers. I never realized they have a planetarium there as well. I guess they keep it exciting by doing things like hiring famous actors as tour guides. Still, in any case, it's not the kind of place you'd visit alone. I recommend taking someone." Morgana said as Ren nodded and quietly finished reading Night Skies. When he finished, Morgana spoke up once more.

"Oh! So, you've finished reading 'Night Skies'. The planetarium in Ikebukuro is probably the closest one to here, so that's pretty convenient." Morgana said as Ren's map was marked with the location of 'Ikebukuro Planetarium' so he could fast-travel there later. Morgana then spoke up once more.

"It'd be fun to go with someone. Just don't fall asleep while they project the constellations, okay? Oh, we're almost at the station. I'd say that was an efficient use of your time." Morgana said as Ren nodded and the rest of the ride passed uneventfully...

(Later that morning, in class with Ren, Ann and Morgana)

"Let's get started with class. How far did we go last time?" Chouno asked as the intercom came on and a familiar voice spoke up over it.

"Well, is this on? Testing, testing! Miss Chouno, please come to the faculty office at once." The intercom said as Chouno frowned and spoke up.

"What's going on? What could this be? I'm off to the faculty office, so make sure you study on your own." Chouno said as Morgana spoke up.

"Kawakami's been kind enough to give us this free time, so we'd better put it to good use." Morgana said as Ren nodded.

"Agreed." Ren said, before using the time to make 3 Lockpicks and 3 Smokescreens for the trip to the Palace. He also got a needless Proficiency boost for his efforts. After he stopped, Chouno re-entered the room and spoke up.

"Dammit! What could that have been about? Well, let's resume class." Chouno said as Morgana gave Ren a closed-eye grin and spoke up.

"Yup. Phew, that was close. Kawakami helped us get a good chunk of free time though!" Morgana said as Ren nodded and the rest of class went uneventfully...

(That afternoon, in another class with Ann, Ren and Morgana)

As Ren and Ann sat in class, their phones buzzed to signify a group chat with Ryuji, Kusa, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, and Akechi, with Haru sending the first response.

"Hey, why don't we try asking Futaba-chan to look into the culprit behind the psychotic breakdowns?" Haru sent as Ann sent a response.

"That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?" Ann sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Hm, I suppose Futaba's ability to process information is truly world-class, after all." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Damn you're smart, Haru!" Ryuji sent as Kusa sent a response at that point.

"Good idea, Haru. Too bad Taba already thought of it." Kusa sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Right. I already tried." Futaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"You did? Did you find anything?" Ren sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Mm-hm. I know so much now, it's hard to make heads or tails of it. Suspicious people appear, then they disappear. It's been that, over and over again." Futaba sent as Makoto sent a response.

"So they are manipulating information to keep anyone from reaching the truth, it seems." Makoto sent as Kusa sent a response.

"That was the conclusion that Taba and I reached as well, Makoto. Nice to see we're on the same page here." Kusa sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Yeah, what Kusa said! Well, also, there's one thing I know for sure. Whoever we're going against now is more dangerous than we can possibly imagine." Futaba sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Agreed. But I'll protect you to the best of my ability, Taba. However, that said, I notice Akechi's not said a word thus far. Maybe he's just busy, but I find it surprising he hasn't chimed in at least once with his opinion." Kusa sent as Ren put his phone away and the rest of class passed uneventfully...

(After school, with Ren and Morgana)

After running up to the rooftop to harvest the Moonlight Carrots he'd had Haru plant, getting 2 'Moonlight Carrot' items for his troubles, Ren decided to go take a walk and see if he could find Kusa, eventually finding him walking out of his classroom alone, wincing as he noticed the just-visible hint of a bruise on one side of Kusa's face, making Ren frown at Kusa and speak up.

"Dang, you okay Kusa? That looks like it hurts." Ren said, pointing to the bruise on the left side of Kusa's face, making Kusa frown slightly at the question before he spoke up.

"Oh, you mean that mark on my face? Suffice it to say karma came back to bite me right on the metaphoric ass for when I slapped Ryuji in the face the day I stormed off. On an unrelated but still pertinent note, do NOT piss off Kasumi! She has a mean backhand on her, which can, and more than likely will, knock you right on your ass if you're not ready for it." Kusa said as Ren blinked before frowning as a realization hit him while he spoke up.

"Wait, don't tell me. Did Kasumi slap you, Kusa?" Ren said, surprising Kusa by looking like he wanted to laugh slightly. Kusa frowned, but nodded as he spoke up.

"Yeah, she did. I can't say it wasn't deserved to a point, though, since it was kind of a lash-out by her since she asked for our opinions on some rather painful stuff. However, I cannot go into details on said stuff since Kasumi swore both of us to secrecy. Sorry about that, Ren. But I assume you didn't seek me out just to ask about me getting backhanded across the face, Ren. What's up?" Kusa asked Ren, who spoke up.

"I was hoping you'd help me gather the others at the hideout, since our prep week is over." Ren said. Kusa nodded agreeably before smiling as he spoke up.

"Can do. Lemme shoot off a quick group chat to the others to gather at the hideout, then we can head that way ourselves, assuming Morgana's chilling in your bag as he quite often is." Kusa said as Morgana poked his head out of Ren's bag on hearing his name mentioned and smiled before he spoke up.

"Yep, I'm here too." Morgana said with a nod as Ren and Kusa headed to the hideout after the latter sent a group chat summoning the others to the hideout...

(At the hideout, with Akechi, Ren, Ryuji, Haru, Yusuke, Futaba, Kusa, Ann, Makoto, and Morgana)

"Thank you all for gathering here. As you might have surmised by now, today marks the end of our prep week. As such, we will now be heading back into Niijima's Palace. Hopefully you all made the fullest use of your prep week and got ready for the Palace, yes?" Ren said as the others nodded, before Ryuji spoke up, looking like he was holding back a snicker as he spoke, pointing at Kusa's left cheek which had a visible bruise on it in the shape of part of a palm from where Yoshizawa had backhanded him previously while he spoke.

"Yo, if it's not too personal of a question, why does Kusa have a freakin' bruise on one side of his face?" Ryuji asked as Futaba and Kusa exchanged a wince at the question before the latter sighed and spoke up.

"Honestly? That's a long story. And beforehand, let me apologize in advance to the ladies present in the room for what I'm about to say, but there's not a better way to describe what happened. That said, I got it after Ren's girlfriend quite literally bitch-slapped me off my feet the other day. I was more stunned by it than hurt, even though the hit apparently knocked me out for a short time, according to Taba.

Moral of the story? Don't underestimate Ren's girlfriend, as she has a mean backhand on her. But I figure that's just my karma for when I did that to you, Ryuji. So I'm not mad at her for slapping me. If anything, I respect her for standing up for herself." Kusa said with a wry smile, even though he also winced slightly at the memory of how swiftly he'd been knocked onto the couch next to Futaba after getting backhanded by a pissed-off Kasumi. Ryuji and Yusuke both winced and nodded as the latter spoke up.

"I see. Your advice is duly noted, Kusa." Yusuke said as Ryuji spoke up.

"That sucks though, Kusa. At least you seem to be okay, so it's not as big of a deal?" Ryuji said as Kusa nodded and Ren spoke up.

"Anyways, back on topic, are we ready to resume our infiltration of the Palace?" Ren asked as the others nodded. Morgana spoke up.

"Okay, let's go!" Morgana said as the group entered the Metaverse...

(In Niijima's Palace, with Fox, Crow, Queen, Joker, Noir, Skull, Panther, Draconis, Mona, and Oracle)

"Heh, let's begin. I look forward to this." Crow said as the others nodded and kept moving. After returning to the Safe Room the group had left off on, Joker walked over to Queen and spoke up.

"You all right, Queen? You look like you've got something on your mind." Joker said to Queen, who spoke up.

"Honestly, kinda nervous about this Palace. After all, this is my sister's Palace. What if we mess up and damage her while changing her heart?" Queen asked as Draconis spoke up with a reassuring smile.

"Relax, Queen. I can understand how you feel. I felt the same way when we took on Oracle's Palace, as you might recall. But I also recall someone told me then that we just had to keep the faith and trust that things would work out for the best, which they ultimately did in the end, even if it was a bit of a close call for how it ended." Draconis said as Skull nodded and spoke up while smiling at Queen.

"Draconis is right, Queen. Besides, we're not going to screw this one up. We won't let anything happen to your sister, especially if we can prevent it. So just relax and trust that everything will be okay, babe." Skull said as he gently hugged Queen comfortingly, being careful of the spikes on her shoulders while hugging her, ignoring the amused smiles on Oracle, Panther and Joker's faces at the cute display between the two. Crow frowned at this and spoke up.

"As touching as this all is, didn't we come here with a job to do?" Crow asked bluntly as Draconis spoke up.

"We did, but that doesn't mean we can't take a bit of time to make sure everyone's feeling up to the task, Crow. Try to have a bit of tact, man." Draconis said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Truth, Draconis! Way to come off like a total dick, Crow." Skull said before turning to Queen as he kept speaking.

"Sorry about him, Queen. I don't think he's used to being on a team yet. Are you all right?" Skull asked Queen, who smiled and nodded as she spoke up after kissing Skull on the cheek in gratitude.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit better now, thanks Skull. And well, to be honest, at least Sis is seeing people as actual humans here. That's somewhat of a relief, I suppose." Queen said as Joker nodded and walked over to the door and spoke up.

"I suppose we should keep going before Crow gets any more annoyed." Joker said, giving a teasing grin to Crow as Queen spoke up, ignoring the unimpressed glare that Crow gave him as he listened to Queen speak.

"Got it. Let's get back to work." Queen said as the group continued their infiltration of Sae's Palace. Once outside the Safe Room, Queen spoke up.

"Hm, we'll need to somehow get the elevator moving." Queen said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"And for that, we will need a member's card." Crow said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Where're we gonna get one though? There's not too many places we can go right now." Skull pointed out as Crow nodded before he spoke up.

"Good point, Skull. Hm, thinking about it, I doubt we will find one simply lying on the ground in the main hall. I suggest we head for the back room." Crow said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Huh? The back room? But why?" Mona asked as Crow gave the not-cat a closed-eye grin and spoke up.

"I will explain later. In any case, let's try to find an entrance." Crow said as the group kept moving. The group tried a door on the other side of the room, only for Mona to shake his head as he spoke up.

"No good. It doesn't look like this door is going to open, even if we try breaking it down." Mona said as the group kept moving. The group then downed some Shadows, after which Joker called for an All-Out Attack, which ended up cutting to a still of Crow doing a little jig/break-dance as the shocked Shadow turned to black mist behind him while he spoke up.

"And that is the taste of defeat!" Crow said as he did a sort of dab in front of a banner that read 'My Sole Interest Is Uncovering The Truth' over a sun-like circle behind Crow as the battle ended. The ensuing EXP gain brought Panther to level 44 and Joker's 'Hua Po' Persona to level 11. The level up gave Hua Po the 'Tarunda' skill as Noir spoke up.

"That skill looks useful! Well done!" Noir said as Hua Po obtained 'Tarunda'. After beating more Shadows, Hua Po reached level 13 and gained the 'Resist Forget' and 'Maragi' skills as Draconis spoke up.

"Heh, not bad Joker. That's two skills in one fight! Impressive." Draconis said as Hua Po obtained both 'Resist Forget' and 'Maragi' while the battle ended. After that, the group proceeded through the nearby door as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. It seems this is the back room." Fox said as Crow did a closed-eye grin and spoke up.

"Then let us check around. We may find something useful." Crow said with a grin as Joker and Draconis exchanged a skeptical look but both nodded their agreement. Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Like what?" Panther said as Oracle chuckled at that point and spoke up to Draconis' slight surprise.

"Mwehehe, ah I get it, Crow. You mean like some kinda customer data terminal." Oracle said as Crow nodded with another closed-eye grin and spoke up.

"Haha, I am glad you're so quick to understand. Though even if I were to find such a terminal, there is nothing my meager skills could do about it, as loathe as I am to admit that fact." Crow said as Skull and Draconis exchanged amused grins as the latter spoke up.

"Did we both hear that right, Skull? Did Crow just admit that his skills have limits?" Draconis asked as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, that's what I heard, Draconis. Too bad our phones don't work so well for anything other than the Meta-Nav, since I'd have loved to have taken an audio clip of Crow admitting that his skills aren't perfect." Skull said as Draconis grinned while speaking up.

"Ah, but that's where Oracle comes in handy. I'm sure she found a way to get that recorded. But in all seriousness, don't worry about it, Crow. You don't have to do this alone after all." Draconis said reassuringly to Crow. Oracle smirked as she spoke up.

"As usual, Draconis is right. That's where I come in. Leave it to me!" Oracle said as the group kept moving. After a bit of navigating, the group discovered another Safe Room, which they then headed into as the 'Staff-Only Area' was added to the fast-travel list. Joker then saw that Fox, Noir, Draconis and Mona all looked like they had stuff to say, so Joker walked over to Mona and spoke up.

"What's up, Mona?" Joker asked Mona who did a closed-eye grin and spoke up.

"Hey! Hey! Since we're in a casino right now, that means they have to be keeping some pretty good stuff in the back room!" Mona said as Joker nodded before walking over to Noir and speaking up.

"You look like something's bothering you, Noir. What's up?" Joker said as Noir spoke up.

"Hm. I'd hoped we could make a beeline for the Treasure, but it doesn't look like we'll be so lucky." Noir said as Joker nodded and walked over to Draconis and spoke up.

"Is it me, or does it seem like Crow's a bit on edge?" Joker asked Draconis so only the two of them could hear. Draconis shrugged and spoke up.

"I dunno. Your guess is as good as mine on that, Joker. But I do notice he seems to be less edgy when he's working with Noir. I could be wrong, but maybe he's into her?" Draconis guessed as Joker spoke up.

"Perhaps, but that's their business to figure out, though I think we can both agree that Crow would probably easily take Noir's fiance in a fight." Joker said as Draconis grinned and spoke up.

"For sure. I'd even put good money on Crow in that fight." Draconis said with a smirk as Joker walked over to the door. Fox saw this and spoke up.

"Hm? Done already? All right, back to work." Fox said as the group kept moving. After taking out a group of Shadows with Oracle's All-Out Attack, Mona hit level 45 and gained the healing skill 'Samarecarm', making Mona grin as he spoke up.

"Now, I'm even more charming!" Mona said as Draconis spoke up.

"You're also becoming one of our best healers, Mona! I think you're the first one outside of Joker to gain a spell that fully revives a defeated party member. Well done." Draconis said with a nod of respect as Zorro acquired 'Samarecarm'. After that, the group headed to some nearby stairs, only to leap back out of sight as they glimpsed the tough-looking Shadow at the top of the steps. Skull gaped as he spoke up.

"Whoa, crap! That thing really doesn't want anyone gettin' past here, huh guys? You wanna try attackin' it?" Skull said as Queen spoke up.

"Or we could always find another route. We may be able to sneak around it and avoid any fighting. What do you want to do, Joker? We'll go with whatever you decide." Queen said as Joker thought about it and spoke up.

'What alternate route would we find if we avoided that fight? No, I think we have to fight it, if only since it might be the most direct way to proceed. And I think Crow, for one, would prefer we get this done as expediently and/or efficiently as possible." Joker said as Fox nodded and spoke up while Crow merely nodded approvingly.

"Very well, it seems you have resolved to fight that thing. Then let us break through its defenses!" Fox said as Joker nodded, subtly signalling for Noir and Panther to tag out with Mona and Draconis, making it so that Joker, Crow, Draconis and Mona were on the front lines as the group charged the Shadow to start the fight. After a manageable, if slightly drawn-out, battle, the two Shadows were defeated, dropping a 'Security Keycard', as the ensuing EXP gain lifted Skull, Queen, Noir, and Fox to level 45. From the level-up, Queen acquired the passive skill 'Nuke Boost', making Queen smile as she spoke up.

"Nice! My Persona has learned a new skill!" Queen said with a smile as Johanna acquired 'Nuke Boost'. After the battle, Joker scooped up the dropped 'Security Keycard'. Skull blinked at this and spoke up.

"Hm? Hey, it dropped something, I think. Isn't this some kinda keycard?" Skull asked uncertainly. Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"That's correct, Skull. But I don't recall seeing any locked doors yet? Odd." Draconis said as Mona spoke up.

"Either way, it might help us open stuff up further in. We should probably hold onto it for now." Mona said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Then let us be grateful for its existence and proceed onward." Crow said as the group kept moving. After going through some more doors, the group found a gated off door with a keypad next to it, at which point Mona spoke up.

"We can't get through here." Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"I noticed. There's an authentication device next to it though. Let's try using the keycard from earlier." Queen said as Joker slid the keycard into the authentication device and the bars retracted, opening the door. Panther did a closed-eye smile as she spoke up.

"All right! It's open!" Panther said happily. Queen nodded as she spoke up.

"Great. Now we'll be able to get through here, Joker." Queen said agreeably as the group kept moving. After going through the door, the group found a vent that they crawled through to eventually wind up in a computer room where Oracle chuckled and spoke up.

"Oooh, there's a terminal in here! I should be able to use it to get into the customer database!" Oracle said as Panther did a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"Okay then, let's hurry up and take that guard down!" Panther said as the group kept moving. After approaching the Shadow, Crow spoke up.

"Are you ready? Shall we do this, Joker?" Crow asked Joker, who nodded and spoke up.

"Let's go." Joker said decisively. Crow nodded agreeably and spoke up.

"Yes! Very well then. We shall defeat it at once!" Crow said as Joker ambushed the Shadow to start the fight. As the group whittled down the 'Auspicious Pachyderm' as it was called, Noir looked at Mona and nodded.

"Shall we, Mona-chan?" Noir asked Mona, who nodded as he spoke up.

"Let's do it, Noir!" Mona said as the two nodded.

"IT'S SHOWTIME!" Mona and Noir said as Noir spoke up to start the Showtime.

"You've been bad!" Noir said as Mona spoke up.

"And that's my cue! TRANSFORM!" Mona said as he turned into his Mona-Bus form as Noir hopped onto the roof of the Mona-Bus and pulled out her grenade launcher, taking aim at the Shadow before firing a missile out of the grenade launcher, to the shock of the Shadow, who could only gape as the missile smacked right into its face, exploding and reducing it to black mist as Noir posed with a smirk.

"And that's adieu!" Noir said before gasping as she saw Mona laid out motionless on the ground after having crashed into the Shadow and speaking up in concern.

"Oh! Mona-chan!" Noir said as she raced to Mona's side to end the battle. From the ensuing EXP gain, Joker, Draconis, Oracle and Crow all hit level 46, while Panther hit level 45. Joker smirked as he spoke up.

"Heh, it's a step forward!" Joker said as he leveled up. After the battle, Mona blinked as he looked at where the enemy had been standing before speaking up.

"Hm? The enemy dropped some cards!" Mona said as Crow smiled and spoke up.

"Ah, aren't those what we're looking for?" Crow asked as he looked the cards over before he kept speaking in surprise.

"Oh, I see. There are no names on them. They'll be unusable if they remain unregistered." Crow said as Oracle chuckled and spoke up.

"Mweheheh! I can handle that!" Oracle said as she scooped up the cards and walked over to the terminal before typing at it for a bit before speaking up.

"Okay, first registration completed! I wasn't sure what name to give it, so I just thought of a random one: Taro Tanaka." Oracle said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"That's way too simple! Aren't they gonna figure that out?" Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"Probably better than what I'd have come up with at least." Draconis said with a shrug as Oracle blinked and spoke up.

"First of all, you suggested names like 'Benedict Judas' and 'Master Bates', Draconis. I doubt you were taking the fake name bit seriously at all." Oracle said as she heard Joker and Skull chuckle at the second name suggestion, before both of them subtly fist-bumped Draconis for his choice of joke names as Oracle blinked and spoke up.

"Um, but that said, they already know what we look like, and that we've intruded into the Palace, but then again, it's prolly better to be safe than sorry." Oracle said as she went back to the terminal a moment later, eventually returning with a new card in hand.

"Okay, the fake name for this card is a little more elaborate this time: Shinji Nakanomatsu." Oracle said before handing a map to Joker as his phone flashed the words 'NEW MAP!' on its screen while Oracle kept speaking. *2*

"I also found a map of the casino. Joker, you can hold on to this card and the map. Don't lose them, 'kay?" Oracle said as Joker accepted the two items from Oracle, who kept speaking.

"Hm, and as for the Taro Tanaka card, what to do with it? Hmm, let's see here. Crow. Get rid of it next time you see a garbage can." Oracle said to Crow, who blinked in confusion at the request and spoke up, ignoring Joker and Draconis both grinning at Oracle bossing Crow around as Crow spoke up.

"Hm? Why me?" Crow asked as Oracle spoke up.

"These kinds of chores always fall to the newbie." Oracle said as Draconis grinned, wisely not pointing out that this was false, since as far as he was aware, neither Oracle nor Noir had had to do any such chore when they were the 'newbies' of the group. Crow's face fell, however, as he spoke up.

"Is that so? Oh." Crow said as Draconis smiled at Crow and spoke up.

"Cheer up, Crow. Think of it as earning your stripes, as it were, with us. Also, these things have a funny way of building character where one least expects it." Draconis said wisely as Crow smiled and nodded before speaking up.

"Good point, Draconis. Thanks for the pep talk." Crow said as Skull blinked and walked over to a nearby vent as he spoke up.

"Look, I found the perfect exit. Let's hurry up and get outta here." Skull said as Panther spoke up with a smile.

"Good point, Skull. We can also use that elevator now, right?" Panther asked the others as Queen spoke up after looking at the map over Joker's shoulder.

"According to the map, it would be quicker to use this path, than to go back the way we came. Come, let's hurry on." Queen said as the group kept going while Crow stopped to look at the terminal, picking up the discarded 'Tano Tanaka' card. Crow then spoke up.

"Now let us return to the elevator." Crow said as the group kept moving. Joker went to duck into a seemingly empty room only to have to backflip out of sight as he saw men in suits inside talking, guards if Joker had to guess. He then hid to eavesdrop on the guards.

"Yeah, that guy's willing to spend tons. Make sure he keeps losing." The arrogant guard said as the merciless guard spoke up.

"And the guests at number 48 and number 92? I'd say it's about time they hit a huge loss as well." The merciless guard said as Mona spoke up.

"Ah, I see. Looks like this is were they keep surveillance on the casino. Let's go elsewhere before they can see us." Mona said as Joker nodded and the group kept moving. After beating some Shadows, Mona hit level 46. After beating more Shadows, Queen and Noir hit level 46. Eventually, the group got back to the elevator, where Panther spoke up.

"So if we scan that member's card, the elevator should work, right?" Panther said as Joker tried the 'Shinji Nakanomatsu' card and in a short period a mechanical voice spoke up from the elevator.

"Authentication complete. You can now access the following floors: The Standard Floor. The Members Floor." The mechanical sounding voice said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"It didn't say nothing about the one for the manager, did it?" Skull asked as Crow nodded with a grin and spoke up.

"Yes, that's true. Well, the floors we have access to are limited by player ranking. That must mean the members floor is the highest we can go for now." Crow said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"That's true. It's impossible to mess with the data on the card too. It's nothing like the ones I've seen before." Oracle said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"So we can't go directly to the manager's floor, can we? In that case, what exactly should we do?" Noir asked uncertainly as Crow smiled and spoke up.

"That's easy, Noir. Our first move should be to head upward. Either way, we have no more business on this floor." Crow said as Joker turned to the elevator as the mechanical voice spoke up once more.

"Please select your desired floor." The mechanical voice said as Joker hit the button for the 'Members Floor'. The elevator then opened up as the group filed into it. After the elevator stopped, the group saw a lot of slot machines and the like scattered around, but what they weren't prepared for was the welcoming committee of Niijima's Shadow and two men in suits. Queen gasped as she spoke up.

"Sis!" Queen said as Skull pumped a fist as he protectively stared down Niijima's Shadow and spoke up.

"You wanna just get this over with right now, huh? That makes this easy. Bring it on." Skull said as Niijima's Shadow scoffed at Skull and spoke up.

"Do not speak to me as though you are my equal. I am the manager of this casino, as well as its number-one player. At the moment, you lack the qualifications to fight me." Niijima's Shadow sneered at the group as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Qualifications, you say?" Draconis said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. It would seem she looks down on us." Fox said as Crow glared at Niijima's Shadow and spoke up.

"And what if we would like to battle you, no matter what?" Crow asked Niijima's Shadow, who huffed and spoke up.

"I had to win time and time again in order to reach my number-one rank. If you want to face me, you must continue to win as well." Niijima's Shadow said as the group blinked and Noir spoke up in confusion.

"Continue to win?" Noir asked as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Correct, Noir. It must have to do with the fact that this place is a casino." Crow said as Niijima's Shadow smiled and spoke up.

"Correct. Do you have the confidence to win?" Niijima's Shadow asked as Queen huffed and spoke up.

"We might just pull the rug out from underneath you if you aren't careful." Queen said defiantly while glaring at her sister's Shadow. Niijima's Shadow huffed and spoke up.

"I don't expect much from you vermin. But, if by some chance you manage to keep on winning your way up to me? I'll be waiting." Niijima's Shadow said as she and her guards vanished in a flash of light, reappearing inside the elevator which headed upward as Mona spoke up.

"This is different from our prior opponents. She'd rather scheme than defeat us with brute force, which is interesting." Mona said as Oracle spoke up in awe.

"It's going up, isn't it?" Oracle said as Fox spoke up in surprise.

"I wasn't expecting to come all the way to a Palace only to end up gambling in order to reach its ruler." Fox said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"Well, this will certainly be interesting, given I usually make it a point NOT to gamble if I don't have to. After all, I don't expect Joker's luck to be conducive to maintaining an extended winning streak. No offense, Joker." Draconis said as Joker spoke up.

"None taken, Draconis." Joker said as Panther walked over to a slot machine and frowned as she spoke up.

"I've never done anything like this before. What about you guys?" Panther said as she stood by a slot machine. The others mostly shook their heads, aside from Draconis who spoke up.

"I've gambled once or twice before, but not with real money, since I believe that gambling is the bitter enemy of a frugal man." Draconis said as Mona sighed and spoke up with an approving nod.

"Looks like this is going to take longer than expected." Mona said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"We don't got time to waste!" Skull said in annoyance. Crow smirked as he spoke up.

"No need to worry. Leave this to me." Crow said as Queen looked at Crow in surprise and spoke up.

"You know how to do this?" Queen asked Crow, who nodded as he spoke up.

"I'm well-informed on what it takes to win. In any case, we need to hurry and change her heart. If she acts recklessly, both her chances of promotion and her reputation as a prosecutor will drop greatly. Sae-san didn't use to be like this, did she?" Crow asked as Queen frowned and shook her head before she spoke up.

"My sister must have lost her sense of justice because her desires became distorted at some point." Queen said as Crow spoke up with an unreadable look on his face.

"Do you think there was a particular event that triggered her Palace's creation?" Crow asked as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"I do. I believe it's related to my father's death. My sister took on all the responsibilities of dealing with it herself. Trying to earn a living wage, gain a promotion in a male society, and uphold justice at the same time while raising me. Those things may have weighed her down and led to the distortion within her heart." Queen said as Crow frowned and spoke up.

"I see. My apologies, but we don't have time to be sentimental. The longer we wait, the more people will learn about us. The investigation will advance as well. Hence, we must infiltrate this Palace as quickly as possible." Crow said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"True. She did challenge us to reach her, after all. Niijima's Treasure must be at her managerial base of operations. Either way, we have to get there!" Mona said as the group nodded before Panther spoke up.

"Hm. Let's review our situation. So, what exactly do we need to do?" Panther asked as Crow gave a closed-eye grin and spoke up.

"It should be quite clear. We must play in the casino and win. Customers are divided into the different floors based on the rank of their play. If we wish to enter a higher floor, we will need to increase our rank." Crow said as Oracle spoke up with a nod.

"Yup, yup! So that means we gotta win and gain the right to head up. And as I mentioned earlier, a different kinda member's card is used depending on your rank. We'll have to obtain a card for the high limit floor somewhere around here." Oracle said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Ugh, for real!? What a pain!" Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"I agree. But I think we don't have a choice here. For now, we'll have to play it Niijima's way. But I'm sure we'll turn the tables on her sooner, rather than later." Draconis said as Crow spoke up with a smile.

"I concur, Draconis. Why don't we begin by walking around this floor? That should be a solid approach for gathering intel." Crow said as the group kept moving. The group quickly located a nearby Safe Room and went in, at which point the 'Members Floor' was added to Joker's fast-travel list. After a bit, Joker looked around, seeing that Crow, Panther, Fox, and Oracle all appeared to have things to say, so he started off by walking over to Crow and speaking up.

"Sorry if we're not going as fast as you'd like. We make it a point to take our time at times and make sure we get things done right. But hopefully having you around will make that process even more efficient." Joker said as Crow nodded approvingly.

"Understandable. That said, got a minute? Don't worry, I've deduced a way for us to 'win.' I'll share the details later." Crow said with a grin as Joker just nodded and walked towards Panther, not sure he liked the way Crow said 'win'. Joker walked over to Panther and spoke up.

"You all right? You seem a bit bothered, Panther." Joker said as Panther smiled and spoke up.

"I'm okay. So, Niijima's Shadow forced us to get a card so we'd have no choice but to gamble? Pretty sneaky of her." Panther said in a mix of respect and annoyance as Joker nodded and walked over to Fox. Joker then spoke up.

"Holding up all right there, Fox?" Joker asked Fox, who nodded as he spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"So much gambling, Joker. If I win, I'll treat myself to an extra-large beef bowl." Fox said as Joker smiled and spoke up.

"Good idea, Fox. Maybe we should make that our next party once we change Niijima's heart?" Joker suggested as Fox nodded agreeably while Joker walked over to Oracle and spoke up.

"Something wrong, Oracle? You've got a rather serious expression on your face." Joker said as Draconis spoke up from nearby.

"She's probably contemplating how to get us to the Treasure faster, if I had to guess. She seemed rather frustrated that she couldn't mess with the data on the card." Draconis said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly, Draconis. If only we could overwrite the card, we'd be at the Treasure already. Hmph, guess they're smarter than I thought they were. Oh well, that just makes this more interesting. Mwehehe." Oracle said with a smile as Joker nodded and walked towards the door of the Safe Room. At that point, Skull spoke up.

"Ah, ready to continue? Okay, let's go!" Skull said as the group kept moving. As the group advanced towards the doors on the far side of the room, one having dice over the entrance, and the other a set of triple 7's not unlike the ones on most slot machines, Joker saw a gift box and made to raid it, when the voice of a Shadow Dealer from nearby caught his attention.

"Um, excuse me, sir. You haven't completed your registration yet. Come this way." The Shadow Dealer said as Crow frowned and spoke up.

"Hm, it seems we have no choice but to do as he says. Let us go." Crow said as the group kept moving towards the registration counter. Once Joker approached the registration counter, the Shadow Dealer spoke up from behind the glass.

"Welcome to the members floor. We received word of your coming." The Shadow Dealer said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"So all of this is going according to her plan, hm? I cannot help but feel we're being manipulated here." Fox said as Draconis nodded his agreement before the Shadow Dealer spoke up once more.

"First off, we would like to extend a welcome gift to you." The Shadow Dealer said as he added 1,000 chips to the 'Shinji Nakanomatsu' card the group had. Panther gasped as she spoke up after the group's card changed to show they had a 1,000 chip credit on the card.

"For real!? He's just giving them to us!?" Panther said in shock as Crow spoke up with a smirk.

"Perhaps this is a show of confidence. It seems she truly has no intentions of losing." Crow said as the Shadow Dealer kept speaking.

"Now, to the left of the counter is the dice game area, while to the right are the slots. Please head to whichever strikes your fancy. Oh, and by the way, we believe beginners will find the dice game more suitable to their tastes. Furthermore, please allow me to present you with this. It's a map of the members floor. Please accept it." The Shadow Dealer said as Joker accepted the map of the members' floor while Noir spoke up.

"Um, that means we should probably start with the dice game, if it's more suitable for beginners, right?" Noir asked as the Shadow Dealer spoke up.

"Ah, one more thing. Casino coins can be exchanged for prizes at this very counter. Please feel free to ask more about this service." The Shadow Dealer said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Prizes? What kinds of things can we get?" Mona asked, getting approving nods of agreement from Joker and Draconis as the Shadow Dealer spoke up to answer Mona's question.

"Our most desired prize is a member's card for entry into the high limit floor. However the price of exchange for this item is 50,000 coins." The Shadow Dealer said as the group gaped at this before Draconis let out a low whistle of appreciation at the price before speaking up.

"Dang, she's not making it easy on us, is she? Still, between Crow and Oracle, I think we can figure out a way to get our hands on 50,000 coins quickly enough." Draconis said confidently as Crow smiled and spoke up.

"Agreed. Also, I see, that makes sense. I believe I have figured out Sae-san's intent behind this." Crow said as he turned to Joker while he kept speaking.

"Do you have a moment, Joker? She wants us to obtain that card by winning coins in the casino." Crow said as Fox blanched and spoke up.

"That's absurd! 50,000 coins!?" Fox asked in skeptical disbelief as the Shadow Dealer chuckled and spoke up.

"We also allow players to borrow coins if need be, up to the current total on their card." Crow said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"I don't wanna do that! Owin' cash to a weird-ass casino in someone's head is way too weird!" Skull said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Oh well, not much to do about it now, Skull. Besides, standing around here won't get us anywhere. So, should we head to this dice game?" Mona asked as Crow spoke up.

"Actually, do you mind if I speak to you all beforehand? There is something on my mind." Crow said as he kept speaking.

"Dice games, slot machines, all the classic staples of a casino in one place. That said, it would not surprise me in the least if all the games here were somehow rigged." Crow said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"You think she's cheatin'!?" Skull asked as Draconis spoke up.

"It wouldn't surprise me if she was rigging the games so she could win, to be honest. I vaguely recall Queen once mentioning that her sister craves victory at any cost, so I could see her stacking the deck, so to speak, to ensure she wins time and again, hence her 'number-one player' status. But I could be wrong." Draconis said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Well reasoned, Draconis. I'm impressed. And remember Skull, this is a courthouse in the real world. As Draconis just pointed out, Sae-san is quite particular about 'winning', especially so here. And to compound that, defendants in Japan are prosecuted at a 99.9% success rate, meaning defendants are nearly always found guilty." Crow said as Draconis and Joker frowned while Panther gasped and spoke up with a slight frown.

"What!? How can a rate like that really be possible? Are all those verdicts accurate?" Panther asked. Draconis spoke up with a scoff.

"Hardly. If all of those verdicts are accurate, then we all heard Mona say that Skull's better than him. And with all apologies to Skull, I don't see that happening any time soon, if ever. Also, no offense to Mona either." Draconis said as Crow chuckled at Draconis' response and spoke up.

"Very apt observation, Draconis. And to your question, Panther? No, they're not ALL accurate. The investigators are merely human." Crow said as Skull and Mona ignored Draconis' mention of them while Panther spoke up.

"Then, in that case wouldn't that suggest that the system, possibly much like this casino, is rigged?" Panther asked, causing Crow to chuckle as he spoke up.

"You are not the first to point out the rigged nature of the system. The prosecution is nigh-unbeatable. That's why cases of false accusations cause such a stir, after all. They are exceedingly rare." Crow said as Draconis frowned at this but just nodded his agreement with Crow's assessment, wisely not pointing out that Joker could be considered an exception to that given his circumstances. Skull frowned as he spoke up.

"But it's total bullshit gettin' arrested even when you're not guilty!" Skull said angrily as Crow nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Indeed. And if we do not hurry, the Phantom Thieves will fall victim to a similar fate." Crow said as Draconis shook his head and spoke up.

"That's a good point, Crow. However, consider this: The Phantom Thieves also cannot afford to let ourselves lose. As such, what we have here is a clash of egos, where eventually one will fold before the other. In other words, we have to have faith that we won't fall victim to said similar fate." Draconis said confidently as Queen nodded her agreement and spoke up.

"Exactly, Draconis! We're going to win this, no matter what." Queen said as the group kept moving. Eventually, after raiding the gift boxes next to the entrances on either side of the room near the registration desk, the group gained an additional 200 coins on their card, 100 per raided box. The group then entered the Dice Game area, at which point Fox spoke up with a frown.

"Hm, so this is the dice game area, it seems. Ugh, what a distasteful place." Fox said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"I feel you on that, Fox. I feel as if a casino could potentially leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth. Also, I like to not go near games of chance if I can help it, at least when I'm around Joker. When I'm on my own, I might try my luck to a degree from time to time, but in very carefully controlled moderation." Draconis said as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Y-Yeah, I guess that's true, Fox. That's not really how a normal high schooler would describe it though, I think." Panther said as Queen spoke up.

"True. In any case, we should proceed further in." Queen said as the group kept moving. After raiding a gift box for 200 more coins, and heading towards one side of the room, the group found a vent, at which point Mona frowned and spoke up.

"How suspicious. This seems to lead somewhere, if I had to guess. Should we check it out, Joker?" Mona said as Joker nodded as the group crawled through the vent, emerging in a different room, at which point Noir frowned and spoke up.

"Um, is this the back room?" Noir asked as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Yup. Super convenient, don'tcha think? Anyway, based on what Crow was saying, the games in here are all totally rigged." Oracle said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Oooh, so we're gonna catch 'em in the act! I guess that's easy enough to do. C'mon, let's get to it!" Skull said as the group kept moving. After a bit of navigating, the group found an empty room further in that had only a locked chest in it, which Joker used one of his 21 Lockpicks to open, retrieving a 'Baccarat Knuckle' from it. Queen looked at the 'Baccarat Knuckle' as she spoke up.

"Oh, this is a weapon. And one that looks like it performs better than what I have now-would it be all right if I tried using it?" Queen asked as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"By all means, Queen. If it will make you stronger, go ahead." Joker said agreeably as he handed the Baccarat Knuckle to Queen, who smiled as she tried it out, only to find it fit perfectly.

"Thank you, Joker. Ah, this is great." Queen said as the group kept moving. After defeating a strong Shadow, the ensuing EXP gain brought Fox and Skull to level 46, while Oracle reached level 47. After another battle with some Shadows, the EXP gain from the fight brought Joker, Draconis and Crow to level 47. Joker grinned as he spoke up.

"All right! Level up!" Joker said as his level increased. At the same time, the level-up allowed Crow to access the high-level Bless skill Kougaon, making Crow speak up.

"Everyone! I've learned a new ability!" Crow said as Draconis spoke up while Robin Hood acquired 'Kougaon'.

"Indeed you have. Well done, Crow. Now you and Joker are on the same level in terms of Bless power. I'm impressed." Draconis said as the battle ended. After beating more Shadows, Panther reached level 46. As a result of the level-up, Panther acquired the heavy-tier Fire skill Agidyne, making Panther smile as she spoke up.

"HA! I've got a new power!" Panther said as Carmen acquired 'Agidyne'. After beating some Shadows, Joker's 'Hua Po' Persona reached level 15 and acquired the passive skill 'Burn Boost'. During a fight against an 'Auspicious Pachyderm', Crow got downed by a Critical, after which the enemy swooped down on him and dragged him away, holding him as he taunted the others.

"take a look at this. If you wanna save 'em, gimme a good old 'Chewing Soul'!" The enemy said as Joker winced, seeing he had no Chewing Souls available, and regretfully spoke up.

"Sorry to say, I can't meet your demands." Joker said while giving Crow an apologetic look. The enemy frowned and spoke up.

"Man! Ooh, so cold. You're gonna ditch your friend? Well, it ain't my problem if they hate ya for it, I suppose." The 'Auspicious Pachyderm' said as he struck Crow down ruthlessly, to the shock of the others.

"Anyways, well then, time to get back to business." The enemy said as Mona then revived Crow with 'Samarecarm', and after a bit, Joker destroyed the enemy with a well-placed Agidyne from his 'Unicorn' Persona. After the fight, the ensuing EXP gain brought Mona to level 47. Afterwards, the group found a Safe Room nearby, which they darted into as Noir spoke up.

"I didn't know there was a Safe Room around here." Noir said in surprise as the 'Dice Game Area' was added to Joker's fast travel list. After looking around, Joker noticed that Queen, Mona and Draconis all seemed to have stuff to say, so he started by walking over to Queen and speaking up.

"You gonna be all right, Queen?" Joker asked Queen, who nodded as she spoke up.

"I'll be fine, but thanks for asking, Joker. That said, so she's number one, huh? We really need to open Sis's eyes." Queen said decisively as Joker nodded his agreement and walked over to Mona and spoke up.

"You look like something's bothering you, Mona." Joker said to Mona, who looked at Joker and nodded as he spoke up.

"I've been thinking about it, and we're not getting anywhere until we get our hands on one of those cards for the high-limit floor. Let's work on that first." Mona said as Joker nodded before walking over to Draconis, who was as usual leaning on the wall next to a giant metal container with a handle, that had 'Winner Take All' written on it in fancy script near Oracle, and spoke up.

"Quite a lot of card-hunting, don't you think?" Joker asked Draconis, who nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. And a lot of gambling to boot to accompany said card-hunting. I didn't think we'd ever have to do that for a Palace, but I guess it is what it is. Oh well, guess we just gotta go with the flow on this one. But I think to be safe, you should leave most of the gambling to those of us who have solid luck. Not saying you don't, just that your luck can turn on a dime, as we've seen first-hand. Whereas the likes of myself, Oracle, Panther and even to a point Skull all have pretty consistent luck.

So maybe just leave the gambling to us, and maybe Crow, since I feel like he's going to be extra-motivated to help us, given his friendship with the target. So we could use that to our advantage if necessary." Draconis said contemplatively, making Joker nod his agreement as he headed to the door of the Safe Room. At that point, Oracle spoke up.

"Oh, ready to keep moving? They're not on to us yet, so it's a good idea. All right, let's roll!" Oracle said as the group continued their infiltration of Niijima's Palace. After defeating a Shadow that was in the way, the EXP gain of the fight brought Noir and Queen to level 47, and Oracle to level 48. After beating some Shadows, Fox and Skull reached level 47 while Joker and Draconis hit level 48. From the level up, Skull obtained the Physical skill 'Deathbound', making him grin as he spoke up.

"Check out THIS new skill!" Skull said eagerly as Draconis spoke up with a genuinely impressed look on his face.

"Nice, Skull. Not often do we find multi-target Physical skills, so that's actually a very helpful skill you just got. Well done." Draconis said to Skull as Captain Kidd acquired 'Deathbound'. In addition to that, Fox gained the Physical skill 'Deadly Fury', which to Draconis' surprise was a severe strength Physical attack. Fox grinned and spoke up.

"A new skill! I'd like to try this out soon!" Fox said eagerly as Goemon acquired 'Deadly Fury'. After navigating through a few more hallways, the group eventually emerged into a room with a flashing display through a window, and a Shadow standing at a monitor, making Oracle smirk as she spoke up.

"Boop boop! It's just like we thought. The calculations for their rigging are up on the monitor now." Oracle said as Draconis just shook his head, not at all surprised that the casino's games were rigged. Queen then spoke up grimly.

"So this is the cheating control room, is it? What should we do, Joker?" Queen asked as Joker spoke up decisively.

"Let's strike. We're not gonna be able to advance if we can't beat that thing, and I don't think we feel like doubling back yet again to prepare." Joker said as Crow nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Understood! Very well. Let us dispatch it swiftly." Crow said eagerly as the group charged into battle. After smacking the Shadow around for awhile, Joker called for an All-Out Attack which Mona obliged with, smirking as he hopped onto a chair and whipped out a cigar, flicking it at the nearby Shadow, which twitched in shock before slumping over and dissolving into black mist as Mona spoke up smugly.

"Clean-up complete!" Morgana said as the battle ended. The ensuing EXP gain brought Panther to level 47 and Crow to level 48. The level-ups allowed Crow to gain the heavy-tier Curse skill 'Eigaon'. Crow smirked and spoke up.

"A new skill! Pretty good, right?" Crow said with a smug grin, as Robin Hood acquired 'Eigaon'. After the battle, Queen sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, I can't believe there's a facility like this being run in here, to be honest. Sis must really want to win if she's allowing a rigging operation in her own mental casino." Queen said as Draconis spoke up with a frown.

"Unfortunately, that's par for the course with a lot of casinos. Most of them are rigged as crap, and the ones that aren't don't usually stay that way for too long. So I'm not surprised." Draconis said dryly with an unimpressed shake of his head as Oracle spoke up.

"Agreed. C'mon, we should stop the rigging." Oracle said as Crow spoke up.

"Actually, I have a suggestion. Hold on a moment, I have an idea I'd like to discuss." Crow said as the group shrugged and took a seat to hear what Crow had to say. After everyone was comfortable, Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Whaddya wanna talk about?" Skull asked Crow, who smirked as he spoke up.

"I've devised an easier way of doing this whole thing. More simply put, I may have found a way to get all the coins we need." Crow said as Draconis and Oracle blinked at this, both sporting identical looks of surprise as Fox spoke up.

"All of them, just in here?" Fox asked as Panther blinked and spoke up in shock.

"Is that even possible?" Panther asked as Crow smirked before nodding as he spoke up.

"It is now. I've deduced how to win the games." Crow said as Draconis raised an eyebrow and spoke up.

"Oh really? You've figured out a way to beat the system and get us 50,000 coins?" Draconis asked skeptically, unsure that Crow wasn't playing the group. Crow nodded and spoke up, seemingly unbothered by Draconis' skepticism.

"Indeed. How about something like this? We will use the equipment here to our advantage to rig the game in our favor." Crow suggested as Skull frowned before speaking up with a look on his face that was a cross of impressed and annoyed.

"You can do that!?" Skull asked in shock as Oracle grinned and spoke up.

"Wait, this is a job for me! It'll be a breeze!" Oracle said happily as Draconis nodded approvingly and spoke up.

"True. You are one of the best in this group at hacking and the like. So there's really no one better suited to the task." Draconis said approvingly. Noir frowned and spoke up.

"That's all well and good, but cheating seems somehow wrong though, at least to me." Noir said as Draconis spoke up with an understanding smile on his face.

"Is it really cheating if we're tipping the scales to prevent the system from rigging the odds against us, Noir? It's basically cheating a cheater, so even though two wrongs don't make a right, in this scenario this is really just evening the playing field, so to speak." Draconis pointed out sagely. Crow nodded his agreement as he spoke up.

"Exactly, Draconis! You get it. The odds here are stacked against us. We would never win if we stuck to normal methods. We do not have any time to waste either. It would be best for us to focus on our objective." Crow said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"As much as I don't like saying this, you're right Crow. Changing my sister's heart is the ultimate goal here." Queen said as Crow looked towards Oracle and spoke up.

"I feel bad asking this, but may we borrow your expertise yet another time, Oracle?" Crow asked Oracle, who nodded before frowning as she spoke up.

"I'm game! But man, you sure give a lot of orders for a noob!" Oracle said as Draconis nodded before he smirked and spoke up.

"I think we can chalk that up to his time as a detective and being partnered with Queen's sister. Doubtlessly, that gave his ego quite the stroking, so it makes him believe he can give orders. But in this case, it's probably for the best that we go along with it for now. But he really should start remembering his place sooner than later." Draconis said sagely as Oracle nodded with a smile before turning to the monitor and getting to work. A short time later, she looked at Joker with a smile as she spoke up.

"Okay, I rigged one of the rooms in our favor, just like Crow said. The other rooms should at least be back to normal honest gambling now too. Anyway, I marked our special room on the map. Make sure you use that one!" Oracle said as Crow smiled and spoke up.

"Let us leave it at that then. Perfect. Now, let us head into the fray." Crow said as the group kept moving. Along the way, the group raided another gift box, getting 200 more chips put on their card as a result. Eventually, Joker found the room that Oracle had marked on the map and headed inside as a Shadow Dealer spoke up.

"Please enjoy this simple game in which you guess the total number that will appear on three cast dice. A correct prediction while three matching dice will triple it. Most importantly, matching sixes is a supreme victory! Regardless of what your initial bet was, the payout will be quintuple that! Standard buy-in for one game is just, hm? Wow, what a surprise! We are currently running a Grand Raise promotion! Both buy-in and payout are five times the normal amount! A single customer is limited to four plays!" The Shadow Dealer said as Crow spoke up confidently while looking at the others.

"There is no need to worry. We will most certainly win." Crow said as Draconis and Oracle exchanged stunned looks at Crow's confidence, the latter hoping her hacking worked as the Shadow Dealer spoke up once more.

"The buy-in is 125 coins! Would you like to play the game?" The Shadow Dealer asked as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, let's play the game!" Joker said confidently as the Shadow Dealer nodded and spoke up.

"Well then, please predict the total of the three dice." The Shadow Dealer said as Joker and Draconis exchanged a look and then nodded as the former spoke up.

"We'll take 'between 11 and 18', please." Joker said as the Shadow Dealer nodded and the dice were cast, eventually coming up triple 6's, to the Shadow Dealer's surprise and Oracle's relief as she and Draconis smirked at the outcome, the latter smiling reassuringly at the former as the stunned Shadow Dealer spoke up.

"Amazing, a supreme victory! Your payout is 625 coins! Would you like to continue playing?" The Shadow Dealer asked as the group saw that their card had 625 coins added to it. Akechi smirked and spoke up. *3*

"Of course." Crow said as the Shadow Dealer nodded and spoke up.

"Excellent, sir. Please predict the next sum!" The Shadow Dealer said as Draconis spoke up this time.

"Let's keep it on 'Between 11 and 18', if possible. I got a good feeling about that range." Draconis said confidently as the dice were rolled, and sure enough another triple 6 came up, making the Shadow Dealer's jaw drop as they spoke up.

"Oh my, another supreme victory! Your payout is 625 coins! Would you like to continue playing?" The Shadow Dealer asked as 625 coins were added to the group's card as Panther smiled and spoke up.

"You bet we would!" Panther said happily as the dealer spoke up once more, this being the group's third play of four for the promotion. *4*

"In that case, please predict the next sum!" The Shadow Dealer said as Queen spoke up this time.

"Keep it the same as before. 'Between 11 and 18', please." Queen said as the Shadow Dealer nodded and rolled the dice once more. Sure enough, as the dice landed, it was another triple 6, making the Shadow Dealer pout as they spoke up.

"What the heck? Another huge win!? Y-Your payout is 625 coins, as before." The Shadow Dealer said as another 625 coins were credited to the group's card before Oracle smiled and spoke up.

"We can play one more time, right? Let's keep it rollin'!" Oracle said eagerly as the Shadow Dealer winced and spoke up.

"U-Understood, ma'am, as you wish. P-Please predict the next sum, and hopefully it won't be another big win." The Shadow Dealer said as Oracle and Draconis both nodded and the former spoke up once more.

"Might as well let it ride on 'Between 11 and 18', if you would please." Oracle said politely to the Shadow Dealer who nodded and threw the dice, and once again it was a triple 6, to the Shadow Dealer's horror and shock as they spoke up.

"Four supreme victories in a row!? Th-That's impossible!" The Shadow Dealer said as Draconis grinned widely before he spoke up.

"Is it, though? Or is it just the case that every dog has their day, so to speak, once in a while?" Draconis said sagely as Skull spoke up eagerly after 625 more coins were added to the group's card, leaving them with 3,600 coins on their card.

"Hot damn! We got a shitton of coins in like, no time!" Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"Too bad we couldn't just bet our payout on each successive roll to get the quintuple payout added to it. We could've made so many more coins if we did that. Pretty sure if I did the math in my head right, we'd have ended up with a bit over 390,000 coins after four straight supreme victories, but it is what it is I guess." Draconis said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. But it'd have probably tipped them off something was amiss if we'd have done that, so it's for the best we didn't get to 'quintuple or nothing' after each win. That being said, we've got what we need-our next move's up to you, Joker." Crow said as Skull spoke up in confusion.

"I thought we were done winnin' here. Wanna go somewhere else?" Skull asked as the group kept moving. Eventually, the group headed towards the exit of the Dice Game Area, intending to head on over to the slot machine room, but Panther spoke up as the group reached the exit, a closed-eye smile on her face while she spoke.

"Woo, we won a lot! That was fun!" Panther said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"Have we reached our goal?" Fox asked as Crow spoke up with a wince.

"Unfortunately, it still may not be enough." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Our card says we only have 3,600 coins. I believe that Shadow at the reception counter said we needed 50,000 coins for that high-limit card, so we're not even a tenth of the way to our goal. In other words, we've got a ways to go." Draconis said conversationally. Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Are you seriously planning on taking every last coin that's in here?" Mona asked as Crow laughed and spoke up.

"Ahaha, it was a joke. However, it would be nice to have a little more coinage on hand, would it not? All of you can wait right here. Except for Skull and Draconis, that is. I would like the two of you to come with me." Crow said as Draconis and Skull exchanged confused looks as the former spoke up.

"Why us, specifically?" Skull asked as Crow spoke up smugly.

"Because I am the 'brains' here, am I not?" Crow asked as Skull spoke up uncertainly.

"Huh? Oh, sure." Skull said as Draconis shook his head and spoke up.

"Hold that thought, Skull. Crow? Let's get something clear here. We'll help you, but you are NOT the 'brains' here. Just because you have a lot of insight into our current target doesn't mean you become the 'brains' of the group automatically. That's something you have to earn. Ask Queen, and she'll tell you that she had to work her way up to being the 'brains' of the group after she joined. It's not just a spot you can waltz in and claim for yourself." Draconis said rebukingly to Crow, who just nodded as Mona spoke up.

"Draconis makes an excellent point. But I suppose now isn't the time to quibble over such things. In any case, time to see what he's made of." Mona said as Draconis and Skull nodded before walking off with Crow, the former having a wary look on his face behind his mask as he went. Once the three were gone, Fox looked at the remaining Thieves and spoke up.

"He was right, wasn't he?" Fox said as Noir nodded, an eager smile on her face as she spoke up in an excited and impressed voice.

"That was amazing! It was like magic!" Noir said as Panther did a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"Right!? I could totally get addicted to this!" Panther said happily as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Don't even joke about that, Lady Panther! Back on topic, where are Draconis, Crow, and Skull?" Mona said as the aforementioned trio walked back over, Crow smiling gleefully as he spoke up.

"We're back. Sorry about the wait." Crow said as Skull frowned at Crow from where he and Draconis were hauling a huge sack of coins between the two of them. Queen looked at the sack in shock and spoke up.

"Whoa, that sack is huge." Queen said as Skull panted and spoke up.

"So effing heavy. Am I right, Draconis?" Skull asked Draconis, who nodded as he spoke up.

"For real! I didn't think we were being asked to help Crow carry a huge sack of coins when he asked us to come with him. Come to think of it, how many coins are even in this sack anyways?" Draconis asked in curiosity, only for his question to be answered moments later as 3000 coins were added to the group's card, bringing their total up to 6,600 coins, making Draconis frown and speak up in annoyance.

"Oh, come the eff on! Skull and I did all that work lugging this huge frickin' sack in here, and all that was in it was 3,000 coins!? I was hoping it was at least 10,000! What a gyp!" Draconis said as Skull fist-bumped Draconis and spoke up.

"Truth, man!" Skull said as Panther spoke up in shock.

"Even so, amazing work you two! We managed to get our hands on 6,600 coins thanks to your efforts." Panther said in surprise. Crow spoke up while Oracle lightly hugged Draconis for all she was worth.

"We still have a long way before we reach our goal though. Now then, on to the slot machines." Crow said as the group kept moving, unaware of Draconis and Skull exchanging a nod that only they saw, along with Oracle and Queen. After a quick dash across the hall, the group entered the 'Slot Room', at which point a Shadow stood near the entrance, where it spoke to the group.

"Welcome to the Slot Room. Here you will be playing a game that requires you to match the patterns on the rotating wheels." The Shadow said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"No. We're here to make money, not play your games!" Queen said as the Shadow chuckled and spoke up.

"Oh, I am well aware of that. Though to be perfectly honest with you, I've been granted permission to kill every last one of you here." The Shadow said as it charged into battle with the group, at which point Joker regained some SP thanks to Maruki's 'Mindfulness' skill tripping. The group proceeded to make short work of the Shadow. The ensuing EXP gain helped Queen, Noir and Mona reach level 48, while Oracle hit level 49, and two of Joker's Personas gained level ups in the forms of 'Unicorn' who hit level 50, and 'Thoth' who hit level 41. The level-ups allowed Queen to gain the support skill 'Marakukaja', making Queen smile as she spoke up.

"A new skill! Let's try it out!" Queen said as Johanna acquired 'Marakukaja'. In addition, Oracle gained the passive skill 'Subrecover SP' for Necronomicon, making her smirk as she spoke up.

"Behold! The new me!" Oracle said as Necronomicon acquired 'Subrecover SP', while Draconis spoke up.

"Nice one, Oracle! About time we gained a proper SP regen skill! Very much a needed get for the group!" Draconis said approvingly. After the battle, Fox spoke up.

"It looks like we should get used to that. After all, it appears as though these interferences are unavoidable. We must be ever-vigilant." Fox said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Wait, why didn't the guests around us react to that battle?" Panther asked as Crow spoke up.

"It is probably due to Sae-san's perception of the other people in the courtroom. Perhaps as she sees it, they only care for their own victory, while ignoring the needs of others." Crow said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"You're right. That reaction is certainly different from what we saw on the lower floor. I wonder if that trend grows stronger the higher up you go in the court system." Queen said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"It is possible. In any case, we can now freely access the Slot Room. We should go look around. We should be hopeful for the best, although I doubt we will find a fair fight waiting for us in this scamming casino." Crow said as the group kept moving. Once they proceeded into the Slot Room proper, Skull spoke up in surprise.

"Whoa! Dayum, this is a crazy number of slots, yeah?" Skull said as Crow nodded.

"Indeed. However, I would expect they're all rigged to prevent us from ever winning." Crow said as Mona spoke up sagely.

"I see. Then should we deal with that first?" Mona asked warily as Crow shook his head and spoke up.

"No, I believe it would be prudent to examine this slot area further. Casinos hold their higher-limit slots somewhere in the back. If we were going to circumvent their trick, would it not be more efficient to do so on those?" Crow asked as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"That's a rather bold suggestion, Crow. And to be honest? I love it. The tried-and-true 'high-risk, high-reward' approach. It might just work." Draconis said approvingly as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"True, but that's assuming we'll even be able to solve the problem." Queen said as Crow smiled and spoke up.

"I trust in your ability to handle such a matter." Crow said confidently as Draconis spoke up.

"True. And if all else fails, we can have Oracle work her magic to try and find us a solution." Draconis said confidently. Skull blinked and spoke up.

"A-Aight, let's go look for that sweet, sweet slot machine!" Skull said as both Oracle and Draconis winced at Skull's word choice, but neither called him on it as the group kept moving. After beating a trio of strong Shadows and pocketing a small mountain of yen, the ensuing EXP gain brought Fox to level 48. After beating another strong Shadow, the ensuing EXP gain lifted Joker, Crow and Draconis all to level 49, and Skull to level 48. Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Excellent! I leveled up!" Joker said as his level increased. Joker saw what he thought to be a Safe Room, only to be surprised on opening the door to see a guard in the room speaking on a radio, ducking backwards out of sight to listen in.

"Yes, as expected, that guest is throwing in lots of money. Let him feel like he's on a winning streak, then make him lose big in the final round." The security guard said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Tch, they're tellin' the dealers how to rig the games, aren't they?" Skull asked as Draconis nodded, having been swapped out for a near-depleted Crow prior to that point. Crow then spoke up from nearby.

"We anticipated as much, Skull." Crow said as the group kept moving. After taking some stairs downwards, the group stopped at what appeared to be a terminal, at which point Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Hey, isn't that a terminal? Can you mess with it and figure out how they're cheating, Oracle?" Panther asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Wellll, I could, but this one's on standby. Uh, basically I'm gonna have to activate it remotely from a main terminal somewhere else." Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"So, in other words, we have to find this main terminal so you can work your magic, Oracle? Seems easy enough, right guys?" Draconis asked the others, who all nodded with the exception of Crow, who smiled understandingly as he spoke up.

"I see. So this one is useless unless we can access the main hub. Oh well. We should at least commit this place to memory for now." Crow said as the group kept moving. After defeating another Shadow, Panther reached level 48. After grappling up to an out-of-the-way ledge, Crow blinked and spoke up.

"Oh? If I'm right, we've found what you referred to as a 'Will Seed'. If I'm right, let's appropriate it." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"A Will Seed? If so, about damned time we found one of those!" Draconis said approvingly. As the group marched in to seize the seed, they were surprised to see they'd found the 'Green Jealousy Seed', making Draconis and Joker exchanged shocked looks as the latter spoke up.

"Wait, green? Isn't it usually red first!?" Joker asked as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"That's correct, Joker. Which means we missed the red one somewhere, probably in the 'Dice Game Area', since I noticed there were parts of that area we didn't explore when I checked the map after we got here, to try and find a Safe Room." Draconis said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Aha, the first Will Seed is ours. Don't mind if I do, Sae-san." Crow said eagerly as the group kept moving. After finding a nearby vent, the group crawled through it, dropping down a ledge they emerged onto and walking through the nearby door to enter another room with cards raining down all around the room, making Skull blink as he spoke up in shock.

"Hot damn, look at all these freakin' machines!" Skull said as Crow spoke up.

"This must be the main hall of the slot room." Crow said as the group saw a massive slot machine in the back as Panther spoke up in surprise.

"Whoa! That one back there is huge! We gotta go check it out, Joker!" Panther said as the group kept moving. While battling a strong Shadow, Panther and Fox nodded to one another as they spoke up.

"No one hurts our friends! Let's do it, Fox!" Panther said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed, Panther. How do you want to do this?" Fox said as he and Panther spoke up as one.

"IT'S SHOWTIME!" Fox and Panther said in unison as they launched their Showtime.

"En garde! Come, we must bring grace to this battle!" Fox said as Panther smiled and used her whip to lift some tiles up while she spoke up.

"The sharper the thorns!" Panther said as Fox smiled and unsheathed his sword while speaking up.

"Beauty...is deadly!" Fox said as he epically re-sheathed his sword while the Shadow twitched from the sudden onslaught of blows rained on it, before eventually slumping over and dissolving into black mist with one last muttered 'Fools!' as it was destroyed, summoning three more Shadows in its place. The group then dispatched the Shadows with Mona's All-Out Attack, ending the battle. The ensuing EXP gain from the battle brought Mona and Noir to level 49. The level up gave Mona the high-tier healing skill 'Diarahan', making Mona grin as he spoke up.

"Now, I'm even more charming!" Mona said as Draconis spoke up.

"Sure, Mona. We'll go with that. Nice job on the new skill, by the way." Draconis said approvingly as Zorro acquired 'Diarahan'. After the fight, the group approached the giant slot machine, as Skull spoke up in shock.

"C'mon, man! Holy shit, this thing's freakin' huge! One play costs, what!? It costs 5k!?" Skull asked in shock. Panther spoke up.

"It seems that way. Wait, all cherries will win you 5,000 coins, BAR gets you 10,000, while a 777 gets you 50,000!? Whoa! That'll get us all the coins we need in one fell swoop!" Panther said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"True, but that's if we can get the 7's to all line up. I doubt it'll be that easy, however." Joker pointed out sagely. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly, Joker! Assuming we can win, that is. If the reward's high, the risk will surely be high as well." Mona said as Crow spoke up.

"Do you have a moment? Either way, our goal here is to gain a member's card for the high-limit floor. It would make the most sense for us to utilize this slot machine in some way, shape, or form. However, that said, it won't be so easy." Crow said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Lemme guess, 'we will need to stop their cheating first'? There's no doubt this one's rigged too." Skull said rhetorically as Crow laughed and spoke up.

"Haha, I'm glad you understand. Now then, let us search the area. Hopefully, we will find something that can give us a little more information about this slot." Crow said as Oracle spoke up.

"There's prolly a terminal for info back behind the thing. Try looking there, Joker." Oracle said as the group kept moving. After defeating a Shadow that tried to stop them, the ensuing EXP gain lifted Queen to level 49 and Oracle to level 50. The level up gave Oracle a new skill for Nostradamus in the form of 'Marakukaja', making Oracle speak up with a smirk.

"All right, new skill! Woot-woot!" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up approvingly.

"Nice, another buff skill! We can use all of those we can get!" Draconis said with a nod as Nostradamus acquired 'Marakukaja'. After leaping up a ledge, Oracle and Joker found a terminal, making Oracle giggle excitedly as she spoke up, ignoring the smirk on Draconis' face as she spoke.

"Oooh, a terminal! I should be able to access all the slots in this area from here. Mweheheh, very nice. Let's see what we've got here." Oracle said as she looked through the terminal before turning to Joker a short time later as she spoke up.

"Oh wow, they're going really hard on this whole cheating angle. We wouldn't have won a penny here." Oracle said as Queen spoke up.

"Um, do you think you'll be able to disable their rigging of it?" Queen asked as Draconis spoke up.

"Surely she can pull it off. I would be shocked if she couldn't, to be honest." Draconis said. Oracle gave Draconis an appreciative smile as she spoke up.

"You're correct, Draconis. I can disable it, just not from this terminal. It looks like there are multiple different-colored panels throughout this area. Out of those I'll need the red and green ones. I should be able to control things from there." Oracle said as Queen spoke up.

"Do you know where we can find them though?" Queen asked Oracle, who smirked as she spoke up.

"Uh, you know this is me we're talking about, right Queen? I can predict where they might be. One's most likely near the entrance to this area. The comm link ran all the way out there. The other should be back in the staff-only area, inside of it somewhere. That's all I can figure out." Oracle said as Crow spoke up.

"Hm, the entrance to the slot area, eh? And somewhere back in the staff-only area as well." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Wait, come to think of it, didn't you mark a couple of terminals on our map for later reference earlier, Oracle? Maybe those are the ones you need?" Draconis asked warily as Mona spoke up before Oracle could answer Draconis.

"I guess we'll just have to go looking for them! Let's hurry up and get this done fast!" Mona said as the group kept moving. After defeating more Shadows, Fox hit level 49. The level up gave him the buff skill 'Masukukaja'. Fox smirked as he spoke up.

"A new skill! I'd like to try this out soon!" Fox said as Goemon acquired 'Masukukaja'. After heading out the way they came, they found a panel, as Mona spoke up.

"Oh, that's it! Aw, wait a second. Never mind. This panel's blue." Mona said as Skull spoke up.

"We gotta find the red one and the green one, yeah? So, like the basic food colors or something?" Skull said as Queen winced and spoke up.

"What is that even supposed to mean, Skull? Come on, let's keep moving." An uneasy Queen said as the group kept moving. After checking their map, Joker noticed the part of the Staff-Only Area that the group had originally missed and fast-traveled back to find it. After a bit of traveling, the group found another gated-off doorway deep in the staff-only area, where Panther spoke up as Joker examined a panel next to the gated-off doorway.

"A gated-off area? Maybe we can use that security key we found earlier?" Panther suggested as Joker tried the card and the doorway was unbarred, thus the group proceeded to the room behind the doorway, as Skull spoke up.

"Hey wait, I think that room has a Will Seed in it! Let's get it!" Skull said as Draconis nodded approvingly.

"Good, the second Will Seed! Those were found rather fast! Granted, there's still one left to find, so we're not quite done with them." Draconis said sagely. The group then proceeded through the door after Joker cut the tape blocking the group from proceeding, marching into the room to seize the 'Red Jealousy Seed' from its pedestal, making Draconis frown in confusion as he spoke up.

"Wait, jealousy? Wouldn't this place be Envy?" Draconis asked uneasily, getting shrugs from the others. Crow then spoke up.

"Good point. Either way, this is our second Will Seed. This is going rather well so far." Crow said as the group kept moving. On a whim, Joker fast-traveled back to the entrance of the Palace, after being told there was a Fusion Alarm in effect while ducking into a Safe Room. While in the Velvet Room, Joker fused quite a few new Personas, including a Seth with 'High Counter', as Caroline and Justine had requested of him. He then approached the twins to check on his penal labor as Justine gasped and spoke up.

"Ah, could it be? Is that Persona a Seth with the skill 'High Counter'?" Justine asked in surprise as Ren took a seat on the floor of his cell as Caroline spoke up in a shocked voice.

"Oh, that's it! That's the Persona we asked for! You really made it!?" Caroline asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. It was far from easy, but I managed to get it done in the end thanks to some resourcefulness, and of course with the help of the privileges you and Justine afforded unto me to this point, so it's at least partly thanks to the two of you that we're at this point right now." Ren said honestly. Caroline blinked and spoke up.

"Wow. The inmate with all those pitiful Personas actually managed this?" Caroline asked as Ren blinked but said nothing, figuring he could be lenient with Caroline since she was shocked by his success with the request he'd been given. Caroline cleared her throat as she kept speaking.

"Hmph, very well. I guess I can compliment you this time." Caroline said as Justine smiled at Ren and spoke up.

"Well done, Inmate. You have far exceeded our original expectations. This may not be a proper thing to say to an inmate, but you have done extraordinary work." Justine said as Caroline crossed her arms before surprising Ren by smiling at him as she spoke up.

"You're a real handful, but I gotta give you some credit." Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"And as for the next task we will assign to you, Inmate? There is nothing. You have fulfilled every duty available to you. As the ones who rule over power, our role is now-Oh! Rule over? Did I say rule over power? Why did I say that? Unh, what is this? A voice is echoing, yet I can clearly hear it in my head!" Justine said as Caroline looked at Justine in concern as she spoke up.

"Justine?" Caroline said as Ren frowned and spoke up.

"Are you okay?" Ren asked in concern. Justine nodded as she spoke up.

"I-It is nothing. It's just my head, that's all. Urgh! These memories, they belong to the one who first wrote this list. It was me, I think? Or was it us? Just explain to me. What are we?" Justine asked as Ren spoke up.

"Since you're clearly okay, did you remember something?" Ren asked. Justine started panting at that point before she spoke up.

"My apologies, Inmate." Justine said as Caroline gave Justine a soft but concerned look while she spoke up.

"Don't worry. This has happened to me too." Caroline said to Justine before marching over to Ren's cell and slapping the bars with her baton and speaking up angrily.

"Inmate! This is all your fault for not keeping your mouth shut!" Caroline rebuked Ren, who blinked in surprise as Justine spoke up.

"Caroline, do not shift the blame onto him. It's not his fault." Justine said as Caroline huffed and spoke up.

"Ugh, fine. I hope you know you're a real handful, Inmate!" Caroline said before turning to exchange a nod with Justine and then turning back to Ren as she kept speaking.

"But, since you've worked so hard to this point, fine. I'll grant you that privilege. Heh, we've really gone soft, huh?" Caroline said as Justine gave Caroline an unreadable look and spoke up.

"Perhaps we have, but is that really a bad thing? Or perhaps you are too embarrassed to admit how much his concern pleased you?" Justine said to Caroline who blinked before she spoke up huffily.

"No! Anyway, we're gonna give you a great ability this time! You're gonna cry tears of joy when you get it! And, um, Inmate? There's no doubt you're a problem child, but honestly? We're both real impressed that you conquered all the trials we put forth." Caroline said as Justine smiled and spoke up.

"Indeed. You hold a surprisingly great potential." Justine said as Caroline gave Ren a determined look before she spoke up.

"So, that said, fight. I'm sure you'll be able to accomplish anything you put your mind to. And you'd better put a stop to the ruin, okay!?" Caroline said as Ren spoke up.

"I'll do my very best to stop it. In the meantime, I hope I can continue to count on you two supporting me like you have been thus far?" Ren said. Justine and Caroline nodded, the latter speaking up.

"But of course. And, Trickster, if that is what we're meant to call you? I believe in you. Prove to us that you can reach the truth." Caroline said as Justine nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. We will be waiting for you, Ren Amamiya." Justine said as Ren smiled, feeling a strong bond with Caroline and Justine, almost as if their bond had reached peak closeness. At that point, the expected voice spoke up in his head.

"I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast turned a vow into a blood oath. Thy bond shall become the wings of rebellion and break the yoke of thy heart. Thou hast awakened to the ultimate secret of Strength, granting thee infinite power." Ren heard in his head as the 'Strength' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'IX' becoming an 'X' as his Strength Confidant link with Caroline and Justine had reached Rank 10, or MAX Rank.

As a result of the rank-up, Caroline and Justine conferred the boon of 'VIP Treatment' to Ren, making it so that the cost of the Special Treatment he'd been granted previously was reduced. From there, the words 'FUSION UNLOCKED' appeared, as Ren got a notification on his phone that he was now allowed to fuse 'Zaou-Gongen', the most powerful Persona of the Strength arcana. Afterwards, Justine spoke up once more.

"Be careful not to lose focus." Justine said as Caroline spoke up.

"Exactly. You're still in rehabilitation until you can get out from behind the bars. Got that, Inmate!?" Caroline said as Ren nodded and stood up. After that, he returned to the others, and they resumed their infiltration, quickly finding a terminal near the entrance of the Slot Area. Mona frowned and spoke up as the group examined the panel.

"Hm? Look! Isn't this one of the control panels we want!?" Mona asked as Oracle smiled happily and nodded.

"Oooh, it definitely is! I never thought it'd be tucked back here." Oracle said as she went to work on the terminal, before it eventually shut off and Oracle spoke up again.

"All right! 'Kay, just finished disabling it." Oracle said as Panther spoke up eagerly.

"Good, that means we just need to find the green panel now. Let's go!" Panther said as the group kept moving. After taking out a group of Shadows with Mona's All-Out Attack, the ensuing EXP gains brought Joker, Draconis, and Crow to level 50, Skull to level 49, and Joker's 'Thoth' Persona to level 42. Joker smirked and spoke up.

"All right! Once more, I've leveled up!" Joker said as Draconis shook his head fondly and spoke up.

"Of course you have, Joker. Well done." Draconis said. From the level ups, Skull gained the passive skill 'Elec Boost', making him grin as he spoke up.

"Hell yeah! A new move!" Skull said as Oracle spoke up.

"Not bad, Skull. Very impressive." Oracle said approvingly as Captain Kidd acquired 'Elec Boost'. On top of that, Draconis managed to gain the buff skill 'Marakukaja', to his surprise, as he spoke up.

"Oh hey, get a load of Smaug's new power! Not bad! The fact that it's literally the same skill Oracle just got on Nostradamus is totally a coincidence, I'm sure." Draconis said as Oracle smirked and spoke up.

"Uh-huh, sure it is Draconis. And that's not a sign we were meant for one another or anything." Oracle playfully teased Draconis, who just agreeably nodded as Smaug acquired 'Marakukaja'. Surprisingly, Crow also gained a new skill in the form of the passive skill Attack Master. Crow smirked as he spoke up.

"A fine skill, isn't it?" Crow asked as Draconis spoke up.

"Indeed it is, if a bit low-tier for when it's getting learned. But well done just the same, Crow." Draconis said agreeably as Robin Hood acquired 'Attack Master'. After knocking down a trio of Shadows, Joker called for an All-Out Attack, which Draconis obliged with by smirking at the downed Shadows before pulling some throwing knives out of his pocket and hefting them at the stunned Shadows, pinning them to the nearby wall.

From there, Draconis smirked before hefting two more knives and stretching back before lunging forward at almost blinding speeds, speeding back and forth through the stunned Shadows, before eventually coming to a halt where he'd started and expertly sheathing the knives in his pocket as the Shadows all slumped over into black mist as Draconis did an epic hero pose while he spoke up.

"Hmph! You were good, but not good enough. Score one more for the Phantom Thieves!" Draconis said, dipping into a dab as he posed under the words 'The dragon has judged you, and you were found unworthy. Begone!' while the battle ended. After that, the ensuing EXP gain from the battle brought Panther to level 49. Not far from where the group defeated the Shadows, they found the green control panel behind a ledge, prompting Queen to smile happily as she spoke up.

"All right! There we go. This is the other control panel we need. Oracle, you're up again!" Queen said as Oracle nodded and walked over to the green control panel as she spoke up eagerly.

"Gotcha! We'll be done after this." Oracle said agreeably as Crow spoke up with a small smile on his face.

"Ah, but hold on." Crow said as the others turned to face him, Skull and Draconis frowning as the former spoke up.

"C'mon, what now?" Skull asked as Crow spoke up while looking directly at Oracle.

"How about this? Oracle, would it be possible to also tamper with the average win percentage for the slot machines?" Crow asked as Queen and Draconis exchanged impressed looks as Queen spoke up.

"Ah, I get it. So you want to take advantage of the system, just like we did for the dice game." Queen said as Crow nodded, giving her a closed-eye grin while speaking up.

"Essentially. My aim here is the giant slot machine." Crow said as Panther gasped and spoke up with a shocked look on her face.

"You mean the one that's 5,000 coins a play!? I don't know if that's really possible! After all, rigging a machine that size is probably going to be difficult to pull off, even for Oracle." Panther said as Draconis spoke up conversationally.

"Not necessarily true, Panther. It will be tough, yes, but if anyone can pull it off, it's Oracle. She's one of the most gifted hackers I've ever seen, so I have faith in her pulling it off." Draconis said confidently. Oracle smiled at Draconis sticking up for her as she spoke up with a laugh.

"Mwehehe, is that a challenge? Oooh, sounds like fun to me. Just gimme a sec." Oracle said as Draconis smirked at Oracle's response while she went to work. A short time later, Oracle gave a triumphant grin as the green panel shut off and she spoke up.

"Job's done! I disabled all the cheating mechanisms in the area. The giant one's still only on an 8:2 ratio, though. There's honestly no guarantee it'll work properly." Oracle said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"Does that mean it will miss two times out of ten? That's somewhat concerning to be honest." Noir said as Draconis smiled and spoke up.

"True, Noir. It's not a sure thing. But I think 80% odds are still pretty good, all things considered. And Oracle did an outstanding job to even get us those odds. So I'm okay with those odds. Besides, I believe we can pull it off." Draconis said sagely. Crow nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Agreed, Draconis. It should be fine. I'd take those odds any day of the week. Besides, nothing the Phantom Thieves do can ever be truly considered risk-free, after all. I understand your concerns, Noir, but if we want to succeed, we simply have no other choice but this." Crow said as he gave Noir his best charming grin while trying to reassure her, not seeing Skull, Joker and Draconis all just shake their heads behind him as he spoke. Panther frowned and spoke up.

"True, but even so, what if it misses and we lose everything? What then?" Panther asked. Mona spoke up.

"I know it seems risky, Lady Panther, but you have to have faith it will work out. Besides, if all else fails, we can always try to have Skull and Draconis find more coins for us like they did before." Mona said as Draconis and Skull groaned but nodded as Queen spoke up.

"That sounds like a sound argument to me, Crow and Mona. Very well, let's leave this to Joker then." Queen said decisively as Skull spoke up.

"Oh, by the way, we already know where we're goin'. You wanna head there now, Joker?" Skull asked Joker, who thought about it and nodded as he spoke up.

"Yeah, let's head straight there. I think we've explored this area enough for the moment." Joker said agreeably as the group warped back to the giant slot machine. After Joker walked up to the giant slot machine, Panther frowned and spoke up.

"R-Right. So all cherries will get us 5,000 coins, BAR gets us 10,000 and a 777 gets us 50,000 coins. Sounds like we want that 777. That said, I-I wonder if we'll actually manage to score that 50,000, to be honest." Panther said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"She's right. There's a 20% chance the rig might not work, and even if we win, it might not be enough." Mona said as Crow nodded and spoke up while looking at Joker.

"I concur, Mona. This is a big gamble, Joker. Are you sure about this?" Crow said as Joker spoke up.

"Leave it to me." Joker said as Draconis spoke up, nodding to Joker as he spoke up.

"I know I give you crap about your luck a lot Joker, but I have faith that it'll pull through for us here, so good luck." Draconis said with an agreeable nod. Joker then spun the slots at that point. Eventually, the first 7 came up as Panther spoke up.

"Huh, a 7. Are we gonna do this?" Panther asked, as at that moment the second reel stopped on a 7 as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? Two 7's? Did it actually work? Are we about to win big?" Fox asked as the last slot stopped on a 7 as Panther's jaw dropped slightly and she spoke up in shock.

"For real!? Ahhhhhh! That's it! A 777!" Panther said as Draconis smirked at Joker, lightly clapping him on the shoulder in a manly fashion as he spoke up.

"Heh, hell yeah Joker! That's how you do it! Congrats, bro! You hit the jackpot! All hail Joker, lord of the slots!" Draconis said with a smirk as he lifted Joker's arm up as if declaring him the winner of a fight, to the amusement of Skull and Oracle. Crow did a closed-eye smile as he gave Joker an appraising look before he spoke up while looking to where Joker and Draconis exchanged triumphant fist-bumps.

"Ah. 50,000 coins, hm? I'm impressed. You truly are special, Joker." Crow said as chips started raining from the machine, eventually making a small pile of them pool out onto the ground in front of a shocked Joker, while Draconis smirked at Crow and spoke up.

"I could've told you Joker's special, Crow. Why else would he be unanimously agreed upon to be our leader?" Draconis pointed out to Crow with an amused grin. Before Crow could answer Draconis' question, Skull blinked in surprise and spoke up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's too many coins!" Skull said in surprise as a customer's voice could be heard from nearby.

"Hey, doesn't that sound like a jackpot to you?" A customer could be heard saying as another nearby customer spoke up in shock.

"What!? Who got it?" The other customer said in a mix of shock, surprise and slight frustration as Crow spoke up to get the group's attention.

"Hey! It is no surprise the customers are reacting to this commotion. We should leave for now." Crow said as Panther blinked and spoke up in surprise.

"Oh? But what about the coins!?" Panther asked as Queen spoke up knowingly.

"Those are just for show. The actual coin total, if I had to guess, has already been added to our card." Queen said as Crow got a contemplative look on his face as he spoke up.

"Hm, I wonder if we will be able to use that slot machine again in the future if needed?" Crow asked as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"Hm? You wish to win us more coins? I'm pretty sure we have enough." Fox pointed out calmly. Crow looked at Fox and spoke up calmly.

"Hm, yes. Granted, more is always better than less. Then again, I suppose we are already good to go." Crow said as Mona smiled and nodded before speaking up.

"That's right, we are good to go. We have 50,000 coins now! Let's go exchange them for a member's card to the high limit floor!" Mona said as Panther looked at Joker while speaking up.

"Do you want to go right back to the counter, Joker?" Panther asked Joker, who nodded as he spoke up.

"Yes, we might as well head straight there, since I sense some of us are a bit worn out from the Shadows we've had to deal with thus far." Joker said decisively as the group warped back to the counter. Joker then approached the counter and exchanged 54,670 coins for the 'High-Limit Card', a 'Soma', and a 'Bead Chain', at which point Noir smiled and spoke up.

"Oh, thank goodness! We finally have the card! Let's do our best on the next floor as well!" Noir said as Crow did a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"Agreed, Noir! I hope I was able to contribute in some meaningful way. Come, let us head over to the elevator." Crow said as the group kept moving. Joker then headed into the nearby Safe Room to address the team.

"We'll head into the next section shortly, but first I think we've earned a bit of a breather so that we can swap out the front lines a bit and recharge before we press on." Ren said as the others nodded, getting comfortable as they let themselves rest for a bit while recovering from what they'd done thus far...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! However, because of my much more restricted access to a laptop in that the screen went out on my laptop, basically taking my laptop out of commission. Fortunately for me, my brother lets me use his laptop at night to work on this chapter for a few hours. As a result of this turn of events, I had to split this chapter up over the course of the last five days. (For reference, it's presently 11:17PM at night on March 22nd as of the point I'm typing this end-of-chapter A/N) So yeah, my updates might start becoming more sparse to compensate for the increased gap in chapter typing.

But I'm hoping to keep it at one chapter uploaded per week for now, so that I can hopefully have my backlog help keep this story alive until August, when I have my birthday, and can hopefully see about getting a new laptop of my own for my birthday since my current laptop is basically on retired status since the screen more or less went out on it. So yeah, that happened. But rest assured, this story will not die!

I won't let that happen! Nor will I let my other stories die, though most of them might go on minor hiatuses until I get a new laptop since I don't think having multiple stories going at once is a good idea when I have only so much time to work on stories a day. So yeah, sorry about that, but it is what it is.

On the other hand, we're getting closer to the end of Arc 6. Next chapter will be the main 'roadblock' of the sixth Palace, at which point the group will briefly leave to do something and then return to finish securing their route to the Treasure. Ideally, if I can pull it off, next chapter will be the securing of the Treasure route, and then chapters 68 and maybe 69 will be the covering of the time between the securing of the Treasure route and the sixth Palace Ruler fight and sixth calling card.

From there, I might have the arc end with Joker being cuffed and arrested, much like how Royal/vanilla Persona 5 started, hence the 'coming full circle' that was mentioned at the end of Arc 5 and start of Arc 6. And then Arc 7 would begin with a certain very pivotal sequence of events that can either allow you to proceed to the next part of the story, or possibly forcibly end the game with a bad ending and make you have to start over from the beginning if you mess your answers up. Not sure if I'll make that the start of Arc 7 or the end of Arc 6. I'm open to hearing reader opinions on the subject in reviews. Keep in mind, however, that I reserve the right to ignore any overly hateful or flame-worthy reviews I see.

But yeah, thanks to all who've followed this story, put it on their Favorite Stories list, and followed/favorited me as an author. The support means a lot to me, since it tells me I'm at least doing something right with this story. So feel free to leave reviews with your opinions/thoughts/feedback/constructive criticism on the story, or you can even PM me with said info, I take either form of input. So feel free to make your opinions heard, provided said opinions aren't too inflammatory or rude. And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

NOTES

*1*- This line by Ren is one of two 'recommended' responses you have to give Akechi during his Confidant link at various points. If you give both answers, at a later point, there'll be another point where you can select a certain response to unlock additional dialogue for a later point in the game. The other recommended answer to give Akechi is 'But you're my rival', which you have to give during Akechi's rank 7 cutscenes near the end of said cutscenes.

Just for the sake of covering formalities, shout out to Trasce over on GameFAQs, for making the 'Crossword/School/Confidant Answers Guide' that I found this information in, so all credit for this information goes to them, along with my thanks for making such a helpful guide! Not sure if they read this story, but might as well throw this in here to cover the off chance that they themselves do read this story, or that someone they know might read it. Not trying to claim this information as my own at all whatsoever.

*2*- Not 100% for sure on this, but pretty sure that both of the fake names Oracle picks for the cards are references to Persona 3/Persona 3 Portable, where one of the main characters is named Shinjiro, but is often called 'Shinji' for short by his friends, and where a guy named Tanaka not only runs a shopping program on I believe Sundays, but is also apparently a Social Link you can get in that game. However, I never got his social link when I played through Persona 3 Portable myself, probably because I also never got the Hermit social link either as I was unaware of how to get it when I played it originally.

I only found out how to do it after the fact while watching a playthrough of Persona 3 Portable on YouTube. Granted, I dunno if that Tanaka's first name is 'Taro' or not, but it could be for all I know. And if so, then that was a very subtle reference to slide in by the devs, and I give them kudos for making that reference.

*3*- I personally feel like they could've done this part so much better. Granted, I like the idea of reversing the rig so that instead of being rigged against the Phantom Thieves, the table is rigged slightly against the house. That said, I feel like they could easily have let you 'double or nothing', so to speak, with your winning payout for each subsequent play, continuing to multiply your winnings by 5 with each successive win, up to 4 times, where I believe I figured out that the payout after four successive wins at a 5x payout multiplier for each win is around 158,125 coins.

For reference, the bet for one play on the special promotion is 125 coins and a 'supreme victory', which is triple 6's, multiplies that by 5 for 625 coins on the first win, with that total multiplying by 5 each time thereafter if you can bet the winnings on the next play. So if someone wants to actually sit down and do the math to fact-check that estimate of mine and make sure it's right, feel free to correct me in the reviews if my math is off, and I'll not only acknowledge it in a future A/N, but I'll also give whoever does it a shout-out as well!

*4*- As I said in *3*, you could so easily have made the million coins you needed without the help of a certain event that happens nearer the end of the sixth Palace, but because the game doesn't let you 'quintuple or nothing' your bet like they should've done, you only win like 3,125 coins in total. Kind of a let down, if you ask me, but I suppose the devs have their reasons for doing it that way, namely plot convenience. Oh well, still allowed to have an opinion, am I right?

CONFIDANT RANKS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 66

FOOL (Igor/Prison Master) - Rank 9

MAGICIAN (Morgana/Mona) - Rank 9

PRIESTESS (Makoto/Queen) - Rank 5

EMPRESS (Haru/Noir) - Rank 1

EMPEROR (Yusuke/Fox) - Rank 6

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

LOVERS (Ann/Panther) - Rank 9

CHARIOT (Ryuji/Skull) - Rank 9

JUSTICE (Akechi/Crow) - Rank 8

HERMIT (Futaba/Oracle) - Rank 4

FORTUNE (Chihaya/Fortune Teller) - Rank 3

STRENGTH (Caroline and Justine/Twin Wardens) - Rank MAX (10)

HANGED-MAN (Iwai/Weapons Dealer) - Rank 3

DEATH (Takemi/Back-Alley Doctor) - Rank 7.5

TEMPERANCE (Kawakami/Becky) - Rank 5

DEVIL (Ohya) - Rank 3

STAR (Hifumi) - Rank 5

MOON (Yushima) - Rank 6

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

JUDGEMENT (Sae/Prosecutor) - Rank 6

FAITH (Kasumi/Sumi/Yoshizawa) - Rank 5 'MAX'

COUNCILLOR (Maruki/Doc) - Rank 9

WORLD (Kusa/Draconis) - Rank 7

YET TO BE UNLOCKED: TOWER