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!

71. Crow's Gambit Finale: Coming Full Circle

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Phantom Files! Pretty crazy that this chapter will more than likely be the beginning of the end for Arc 6, and potentially the setup for the start of Arc 7! I think I underestimated how semi-short Arcs 7 and 8 could be. Either way, Arc 6 should still be at least 10 chapters in length! As for Arc 7 and/or Arc 8, I make no promises. Before we start the chapter though, let's hit up the disclaimer, per site requirements and routine!

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form (aside from the OCs Kusa/Draconis, Slim, Kyori, Mimille, Lumine, and Akira, all of whom are made and thus owned by sithlorde1988), and the actual credit for owning the Persona series belongs to Atlus, Sega, and to an extent Koei Tecmo, so all credit to them!

That said, on with chapter 71!

Chapter 71- Plans, Calling Cards, and Surprises! Crow's Gambit part 10

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

After Ren and Kusa went upstairs with Morgana, Kusa smirked and spoke up.

"That was a rather productive run we just had, wasn't it? Sure, we ran into that little snag near the end with that cheating scumbag, but other than that, I think we got a lot accomplished." Kusa said with a rare smile on his face as Ren spoke up.

"Agreed. Unfortunately, since as you just pointed out, we did do a Mementos run, we'll have to stick to doing stuff in the cafe tonight. But I suppose that gives us a good excuse to finally watch that movie I rented a couple months ago. I think it was called 'Mouse M.D.', if I recall correctly?" Ren said as Kusa spoke up.

"Oh, the one on the table? Yeah, that's what it's called, all right. Taba and I watched part of it one night while you and the others were in Hawaii. It's okay as movies go, but I don't mind watching the first half over again if you want to see it, Ren." Kusa said as Ren thought about it and nodded as he spoke up.

"Yeah, let's do that. Much simpler than having to clean or cook." Ren said as Kusa nodded agreeably before walking downstairs to make some popcorn for him and Ren to share while they watched the film as Ren got the movie player set up. After a bit, Kusa walked back upstairs with a bowl of popcorn in hand that he set down on the TV tray that Ren had found and set up for their use as Kusa took a seat in the chair next to Ren.

While doing so, Kusa wasted little time in gently setting Morgana on his lap so the not-cat could also watch the movie, at which point Ren hit the 'play' button and started the movie. Morgana smirked as he watched the film from on Kusa's lap, while Ren and Kusa paid attention to the film, which was a story about a renegade mouse doctor saving the lives of his fellow mice for a living. Morgana then chuckled and spoke up after a bit.

"Oh, wow! This doctor's got quite an attitude, but I guess he has the skill to back it up." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"True. He kinda reminds me of Ryuji a bit, if Ryuji were able to be a doctor. Mostly in that they both have tons of attitude." Kusa said as Ren grinned and spoke up.

"Be fair, Kusa. You know that guy just as easily could be you given you have an attitude like his a lot. And like him, you have the skills to back your attitude for the most part." Ren said with an amused smirk as Kusa shrugged before nodding as he spoke up, blue sparkling music notes going over his head as he spoke.

"You're not wrong, Ren. However, if that guy was me? I think we both know he'd be a lot more foul-mouthed. Or have you not seen how much more I've been swearing since we moved out here?" Kusa said rhetorically with a laugh as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough, Kusa. And watch, probably because I said that, I'm probably gonna get whooped by you when we play darts tomorrow night." Ren said as Kusa blinked and spoke up.

"Oh yeah, we did make plans to do a game of darts together tomorrow night, didn't we? To be honest, why don't we do that and then get dinner afterwards, possibly at that beef bowl place you work at, or if not there, then the Big Bang Burger? Just a thought." Kusa said as Ren spoke up.

"That's certainly do-able, Kusa. We'll see what happens." Ren said as Morgana spoke up.

"Back on topic, I agree with Kusa about that doctor. Also, he may not be the friendliest doctor, but deep down, the only thing he cares about is treating his patients. And who knows? Maybe you learned a thing or two about Kindness by watching this drama." Morgana said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"Is this actually a drama, Morgana? I find it odd that every single movie Ren's rented thus far has been a drama of some sort." Kusa said as Ren shrugged before pumping a fist as he felt his Kindness get a sizable, if unneeded boost from the combo of watching 'Mouse M.D.' and the bonus he gets from 'The Craft of Cinema'. Afterwards, Morgana spoke up.

"Be that as it may Kusa, and yes it was a drama, it's starting to get late. As such, let's start heading to bed soon, okay? After all, we've got a couple busy days ahead of us the next two days." Morgana pointed out as Ren nodded and got comfortable for the evening, as did Kusa, who laid down on the sofa with Morgana as the two dozed off for the night...

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

"Oh, hey! The three of us were able to get seats today! Why don't you find something to read until we get there, Ren? And Kusa can probably occupy himself with his phone, probably by private chatting with his girlfriend or something." Morgana said. Kusa and Ren nodded, the former getting his phone out for a private chat while Ren dug through his bag to see what books he had left.

Ren grimaced as he saw he only had two books left to read in 'Fishpond Spotter' and 'Batting Science'. After thinking it over, Ren decided to pull out 'Fishpond Spotter' to read, figuring it couldn't hurt to learn about fishing in case he ever decided to give it a go. Ren smirked as he flipped open 'Fishpond Spotter' and read from it.

"Hm, interesting. This says, 'Experience the wonder of the great outdoors right in this very city!'. What's this location?" Ren said as Morgana looked over Ren's shoulder at the book before speaking up.

"Hey! Oh, you mean Ichigaya? Wait, this is a train station in that picture, right? When you look at the photos, it looks a bit like the station's in the fishing pond a bit. This kind of place might not be everyone's cup of tea, but you could have fun on your own if you had to." Morgana said as Kusa looked up from his private chat at the mention of fishing, an intrigued look on his face while he spoke up with a nod.

"Oh, you're reading about fishing spots, Ren? Good stuff, good stuff. I haven't been fishing in a hot minute. I think the last time I went was when Dad took us a couple years ago. Good times. Granted, I wasn't very good at it then, but maybe if I practice, I could get better at it now. We'll see what happens though." Kusa said with a genuine smile, all while Ren nodded and finished the book. After a bit, Morgana spoke up.

"Ah, I see. So, you've finished reading 'Fishpond Spotter'. There are a few fishing ponds in the city, but it seems that 'Ichigaya' is the most famous one." Morgana said as Ren nodded while his phone was marked with the location of 'Ichigaya Fishing Pond' so he could fast-travel there at his leisure. Morgana smirked as he spoke up at that point.

"Heh, I bet it'd be nice to just go alone for some relaxing fishing. Why don't you try it at some point, Ren?" Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"Maybe I will. But who says I have to do it alone? Maybe I might want to invite someone to go with me?" Ren said bluntly as Kusa spoke up with a smirk.

"That's a fair point if that's true, Ren. Hell, if nothing else, maybe when things die down a bit, you and I can take a trip there and have a fishing day, just the two of us. Think about it. You, me, a boat on the water, and no background commentary from the others. Could be fun, yeah?" Kusa said with a smile as Ren nodded.

"I agree, Kusa. We should definitely make a plan to do that sometime down the line. If nothing else, we can always arrange for Morgana to hang out with Futaba while we do that." Ren said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"That's certainly an option. I could probably talk Taba into watching Morgana for us if it came to that. So it sounds like we want to plan a fishing trip for the two of us at a later point then?" Kusa said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Yep, sounds good to me. Maybe we can even invite Boss along if he can get the day off from his cafe. Might blow his mind to try and include him on that." Ren said as Kusa nodded agreeably and spoke up, blue sparkling music notes going over his head as he spoke.

"True, that's an idea, Ren. Besides, for all we know, Sojiro could be an accomplished fisherman. Who knows." Kusa said in amusement. Morgana spoke up at that point, pointedly ignoring Kusa referring to Sojiro by name while he spoke, figuring it was probably unintentional.

"Whatever you two decide, make sure you bring me some fish back if you catch anything, okay? Oh wait, we're almost at the station. That was fast. I'd say that was an efficient use of your time, you two." Morgana said as Kusa and Ren nodded, the former blinking as he quickly sent a private chat before putting his phone away, recalling he'd left Futaba on read when he and Ren got into a discussion about fishing. After that, the rest of the train ride passed uneventfully...

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

"Good morning, class! Now then, please open your textbooks. Today we'll be learning about trigonometric functions. Sine, cosine, and tangent. This is where a lot of people aren't able to keep up. Why would you panic just from seeing a graph? I don't get it. A complicated formula gets condensed down to a single line eventually. Isn't it simple and elegant? All of them have distinctive shapes that stimulate the imagination.

Now then, Amamiya-kun. Take a look at these graphs." Usami said as Ren sat up to give Usami his full attention as she kept speaking while holding up a graph that had two arrows in the middle, one going left-to-right, and the other bottom-to-top, along with two circles along the right side of the square that was drawn around the arrows, the littler one having a moon drawn into it along with a backwards 'C'.

"Give me an answer. Do you know the name for this graph? Your hint is 'Snails', Amamiya-kun." Usami asked Ren, who frowned at the misleading hint, but spoke up, knowing the answer anyway thanks to Maruki showing him a similar graph in one of their sessions.

"This is it! The answer is cochleoid." Ren said confidently. Usami smiled and clapped approvingly as she spoke up.

"Precisely! That's correct." Usami said before showing a picture of four different graphs, the one she'd previously shown being on the top right where it was labeled as 'LIMACON OF PASCAL', along with three other graphs labeled as 'ARCHIMEDAN SPIRAL', 'FOLIUM OF DESCARATES', and 'DEVIL'S CURVE' respectively, while she kept speaking.

"Don't you think it looks a bit like a snail's shell? There are many other graphs with amusing names. For example, a devil's curve is called that because it looks like a Chinese yo-yo called a diabolo. There's nothing particularly diabolical about it otherwise." Usami said as the usual murmurs ensued about Ren's intelligence, complete with a grinning Morgana speaking up to praise Ren for getting the answer right, even with a misleading hint. Ren smiled and nodded as his Knowledge got a modest, if unneeded, boost. At that point, Usami kept speaking.

"Some people may think of math as an enemy like a devil, but those people are just bad at math. Mind, that's just my opinion. Back on topic though, it's not just speculation, but rather fact. Surprised? But, there's research that suggests that people who excel at math have higher incomes. If you're shooting for a high salary, sometimes you need to be willing to fight demons." Usami said as Morgana sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, really? Honestly, I feel like fighting demons would be easier than trying to understand graphs like that, don't you think Ren?" Morgana said as Ren nodded agreeably before the rest of class passed uneventfully. However, once Ren went to leave class to get lunch, he was pleasantly surprised to see Kasumi approaching him, smiling at him as she spoke up.

"Oh, Ren-senpai! Hi there! I'm glad I found you. Honestly, there's something I'd like to discuss with you. As such, would you mind if I joined you for lunch?" Kasumi asked Ren, who smiled and nodded as he spoke up.

"Not at all. Of course I wouldn't mind having you join me for lunch, Sumi! Are you kidding me!? I'm not gonna turn down a chance to have lunch with my girlfriend." Ren said, making sure to keep his voice down while he mentioned the part about Kasumi being his girlfriend. Kasumi gave Ren a rather cutesy closed-eye smile as she spoke up happily.

"Thank you, Ren. Glad to know you remember that. I know we've not hung out as much as we should recently, but I think we can agree that it's both our faults for being busy. That said, shall we get going?" Kasumi said as Ren nodded and Kasumi kept speaking.

"All right, let's head to the roof." Kasumi said as Ren nodded and guided Kasumi up to the roof, where the two found seats and sat down to eat, Kasumi smiling and speaking up after a bit.

"Brr. It's starting to get rather cold, isn't it? That said, sorry to bring you here, but this was the most private place I could think of on school grounds. And I think we'll end up needing the privacy, since what I want to discuss is something that I oughtn't really bring up around other people. That said, let me just come right out with it. Ren-senpai, be honest with me on this. Are you still planning to continue on with Kusa and the others as the Phantom Thieves?" Kasumi asked as Ren frowned and spoke up.

"That's a difficult question, Sumi. But you deserve an honest answer. Yes, we plan to continue what we're doing. Granted, at the moment, we have a deal of sorts with Akechi-kun where in exchange for his co-operation in helping us with our latest target, we have to 'disband' after changing the target's heart. However, between us? I think that Akechi's trying to lay a trap for us, and Kusa and I are working with Futaba to set a counter-trap for him to fall into. So to your question, yes we are, but at the same time we might have to briefly give the impression of disbanding. Why do you ask?" Ren said to Kasumi, who blinked at this but nodded and spoke up.

"Well, at least you're being careful. And to be honest, Ren? Lately, I haven't been hearing any positive gossip about the Phantom Thieves. Despite how much people cheered on your cause, even though they knew nothing about you or your friends, or even your brother, they cheered you on. Even so, all they do now is speak ill of the Phantom Thieves! I know it's not my place to say this, considering I turned down your kind offer to join your ranks and all, which to be honest, I'm grateful that you extended it.

For now though, I'm weighing my options, but I might end up re-evaluating my decision at some point soon, so I'll let you know if I change my mind, assuming the offer's still open. But that said, this change in attitude from the public is simply awful. They're doing the exact same thing to you all that they did to me, Ren. And I don't know if I can handle seeing people vilify and persecute you and the others like they tried doing to me.

I love you so much, and it hurts to hear people putting you and your friends down, knowing that they're wrong, but not being able to do much about it. I don't know if I'd be able to keep going if I were in your position, Ren. Yet, you're still going to keep at it? Why, Ren? Why keep doing such thankless work?" Kasumi asked Ren, who smiled at Kasumi as he spoke up.

"Sumi, can I be honest with you right now?" Ren asked as Kasumi nodded and Ren kept speaking.

"We're still going partially because there's unfinished business to attend to. Also, I'm aware of what people are saying about the Phantom Thieves. However, all of us have recently had to take a very hard look at ourselves individually and realized we were getting way too caught up in fame and popularity. Even Kusa admitted he lost himself a bit at one point.

But now we're agreed that we have to keep going, not because it's going to get us recognized or respected, but because it's the right thing to do, and we owe it to those who can't help themselves to keep changing the hearts of scumbags. I'm sorry that it's causing you pain as my girlfriend, but I love that you don't buy into what you hear, Kasumi.

That's one of the things I respect and admire about you. And to what you said before, the offer's always going to be open for you. I won't lie to you. I'd love to have my girlfriend on the team, but I won't pressure you into it. You said you didn't want to join before, and I understand and respect that decision. I will always have your back, Sumi. No matter what you decide, or where our paths take us.

I want you to know, I love you Kasumi. And I will always love you. So never doubt that I'm here for you, now and always." Ren said honestly to Kasumi as he leaned forward to kiss her on the lips lovingly, making Kasumi squeak cutely in surprise before she let herself return the kiss briefly before pulling away a few moments later, very red-faced. Kasumi blinked as she spoke up after a bit.

"Mm, I always forget how amazing of a kisser you are somehow, Ren-senpai. But I love that about you, that you can keep leaving me breathless after we kiss. But back on topic, you say there's unfinished business? I see. So there's something left you guys have to do." Kasumi said as Morgana spoke up for the first time since Ren and Kasumi had come out onto the rooftop for lunch.

"Yeah, that's right. Ren and I, along with the others, are on the trail of possibly cornering the person behind all the mental shutdowns. To try and get more dirt on him, we have to change the heart of the prosecutor in charge of bringing in the Phantom Thieves. I won't lie to you, Yoshizawa-san. It's gonna be a rough battle. But don't worry about us! There isn't even a one in a million chance that my Phantom Thieves could ever lose!" Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"YOUR Phantom Thieves? I think you mean OUR Phantom Thieves, Morgana! Or did you forget that you, me, and Kusa all work together to lead the team? Granted, you and Kusa are more co-second in commands for now, but you two are still important to the team." Ren said with an amused smirk. Kasumi smiled at Morgana and Ren as she spoke up with a giggle at what she viewed as the not-cat's bold claim.

"Ah, I see. You seem to know what you're doing, Morgana-senpai. But I agree with Ren that you're being a bit bold to call the group 'your' Phantom Thieves. Not to mention, I'm sure Kusa would be both highly put-out and slightly amused to hear you say that. But let's get back on topic. Well, I won't stop you. However, in exchange, could I ask a favor? Or rather, could you promise me something?" Kasumi asked Ren, who gave Kasumi an intrigued look as he spoke up.

"I'm listening, Sumi. What did you have in mind?" Ren asked Kasumi agreeably as Kasumi smiled and spoke up.

"Good. Once things settle down, I'd like you to join me somewhere so we can go have some fun together." Kasumi said as Ren spoke up with a smile.

"So you want me to take you out on a date then, is that it? Heh, consider it done! Just so you know, you only had to ask me, Sumi! I promise, once things are settled more, I'll take you on a date, wherever you want to go. I'll even leave Morgana with Kusa so that it's just the two of us on the date. I am your boyfriend, after all, so it's basically my job to make you as happy and content as I can possibly make you.

I'll admit I've probably not been doing the best job of that lately, and I apologize for that, but it's been rather busy for me lately. I'm just grateful you're patient enough to be able to wait for things to settle down before wanting us to go on more dates, Sumi. Hell, I look forward to taking you out on dates when things are settled." Ren said with a smile on his face. Kasumi gave Ren a really adorable closed-eye smile as she spoke up.

"Perfect! Then it's a deal, Ren! Hee hee! I'm already beginning to look forward to it. So with that said, please be careful out there, Ren." Kasumi said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Of course. After all, I have to keep myself safe and out of trouble so I can keep our promise. I'm not going to be the sort of boyfriend who makes a habit of breaking promises to you, Kasumi. You deserve more consideration and respect than that." Ren said as Kasumi gave Ren a closed-eye smile again and spoke up.

"Thank you. Oh, but I plan to keep my other promise I made with you as well. You know, the one about physical training. I know, why don't we train tomorrow?" Kasumi suggested as Ren gave her a surprised look, making her blink as she spoke up.

"Oh, um, is that too sudden? Maybe we should train the day after tomorrow, then?" Kasumi suggested as Ren and Morgana exchanged winces as the latter spoke up.

"The day after tomorrow? Uh, but that day's when we have to go after our current target to change her heart. Maybe we can arrange for sometime next week, assuming all goes well? Give you both a reason to get through the next few days and all, yeah?" Morgana said. Ren gave Kasumi an apologetic look as he spoke up.

"I'm sorry Sumi, but Morgana's right. The next two days are kind of booked for me, so maybe one day next week would work better?" Ren said, trying not to hurt Kasumi's feelings, but also not wanting to lie to her either. Kasumi winced at this, but nodded her understanding as she spoke up.

"Oh, right. Mm. I see. Urgh." Kasumi said before gasping as the bell rang to signify the end of lunch, making Kasumi gasp and speak up.

"Ah! I haven't eaten yet!" Kasumi said as she hastily began eating her meal before looking at Ren as she spoke up.

"C'mon, Ren! You need to eat too! You have to keep your strength up for the days to come! I don't want my boyfriend collapsing on me because he didn't keep himself fed and healthy! I love you too much to lose you this soon, Ren!" Kasumi said as Ren smiled and nodded while Kasumi kept speaking.

"Also, no one wins a fight on an empty stomach, you know!" Kasumi said as Ren nervously sweat-dropped as he finished his lunch with Kasumi. Unbeknownst to Ren, Kasumi, or Morgana, Kasumi wouldn't have to rush her lunch, as her and Kusa's afternoon class was canceled because Hiruta had to go home early for various reasons, nor that Kusa had taken advantage of the chance to handle some unexpected business...

(That afternoon, in the nurse's office, with Maruki and Kusa)

"Okay, I'm here, as you asked. So, why'd you ask me to come here, Doc?" Kusa asked Maruki after having a seat in the nurse's office. Maruki smiled as he spoke up.

"Ah, glad you could come, Kusa. I summoned you here for a couple of different reasons. Firstly, as you might know, tomorrow is my final day here at Shujin, so I wanted to have you come in for one last session to see how things are going for you, and also to have a chance to pick your brain a bit about my research, as I know you recall agreeing to help me a bit with it the last time we spoke." Maruki said as Kusa nodded agreeably and spoke up.

"Ah yes, that's right. I do recall agreeing to help you with that. Sorry I've not done more to live up to that recently, but things have been rather busy for me here recently. So, what's this research you wanted my help with?" Kusa asked Maruki, who smiled and explained his research in detail to Kusa, or as much detail as he could cram into a summarized version of an explanation. Kusa nodded after hearing the explanation and spoke up.

"Ah, I see. So, you're doing research into the intricacies of the human heart, are you? Very impressive, Doc. If you can figure that out, you could help a lot of people. Not sure how I can help with that, but if there's a way I can help, I'll do what I can. After all, you've been kind enough to give me these counseling sessions, so I figure the least I can do is help you out in return. But I will agree that it's bitter-sweet, knowing your tenure here will be over tomorrow.

As much as I was leery and/or iffy of you at first Doc, you're actually a pretty stand-up guy, all things considered. I actually want to apologize for being so harsh to you when we first met. Despite that first impression, you're an intelligent man. But you're also very resourceful and wise, and I respect that about you." Kusa said honestly as Maruki smiled before speaking up.

"Thank you, Kusa. That means a lot to me. I'll be honest with you though, some of this research might have to be off-campus since it involves running a series of tests to determine a few things, and I doubt we can do it in one singular day. But we can discuss the particulars more later on, if you're agreeable to swapping contact info with me. For now, let's just say I believe you'd make a valuable test subject for my research, if you're willing to assist with a few different tests. How about it?" Maruki asked Kusa, who thought about it before smiling and nodding as he spoke up.

"You know what, Doc? Why not. I'm in. I'll help you out where I can. Oh, but crap, isn't it almost time for afternoon class?" Kusa asked as Maruki smiled and spoke up.

"Funny you should mention that. Your homeroom teacher had to go home sick, so your afternoon class is canceled, meaning we have extra time to chat if you want." Maruki said as Kusa shrugged and nodded agreeably as he spoke up.

"Hm, fair enough. Oh, but listen to this, Doc! Since we last spoke, the school dance went amazingly well for both myself and Ren! So much so, we both managed to get ourselves girlfriends! To my surprise, even Ryuji got a girlfriend. But that's between us for now. But back on topic, I'm glad you asked me to join you today, since I had honestly been thinking of coming in at least once more before you left to thank you for your help.

And to be honest with you Doc, for as much as I was reluctant to do these sessions at first, I do feel like they've helped me a great deal, not just to get my temper in check, but to also start really taking a hard look at myself and identifying the problem areas I need to change about myself. So I'm grateful to you for that, Doc." Kusa said as Maruki smiled and spoke up.

"I'm glad to hear that the dance went well, Kusa. And well done landing your crush. Just make sure you cherish every moment you have with her, as you never know when fate will try to break you two apart, like it did for me and my girlfriend, Rumi." Maruki said as he explained to a confused Kusa the story of how his ex-girlfriend had lost her parents in a break-in robbery before being attacked herself on the suspect's way out, all while Maruki himself could only watch in horror. Kusa gave Maruki a sympathetic smile as he spoke up.

"Wow, that's rough, Doc. I'm sorry to hear that that happened to you and Rumi. I hope she's doing okay, though. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if that ever happened to Futaba. How is Rumi, anyways?" Kusa asked Maruki, who winced and spoke up.

"Honestly? She's laid up in a hospital bed to this day, in a medically-induced coma. She doesn't even remember me, much less our relationship. But it might be for the best, since she doesn't need to remember a weak boyfriend who couldn't help her when she needed it the most." Maruki said bitterly. Kusa frowned as he spoke up.

"Doc, you are not weak! I refuse to believe that for one second! You're a strong man! If you weren't, would you be willing to come and serve a tenure at a fluster-cluck of a school like Shujin Academy? It takes a strong man to come into a place of controversy and scandal and be able to do their job without even flinching. I respect you for that, Doc." Kusa said as Maruki nodded and spoke up.

"Thank you, Kusa. I appreciate your words. Unfortunately, school's almost out for the day. Hm, I know. I tell you what, Kusa. Why don't you join me for lunch tomorrow? It'll be you, me, and probably one other person I plan on inviting. But I won't say who, just to keep it a surprise. Agreed?" Maruki said to Kusa, who nodded as he spoke up.

"Agreed. And fair enough, Doc. I do have things to do after school anyways, so it's probably for the best that we cut things here. Thanks for making time for me today, though. I appreciate it." Kusa said before smiling as he got up and spoke up.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Doc." Kusa said as he got up and left the office, leaving a smiling Maruki behind, who chuckled before speaking up ominously.

"Heh, perfect. Now to get the samples I need, so I can start the final preparations for Operation Malefactor. And if all goes to plan, I can finally achieve my dream while making the world a better place in the process." Maruki said mysteriously to himself...

(After school, in class with Ren and Morgana)

"Well, this is it, Ren. Tomorrow, we send the calling card. Make sure you handle all your final preparations today, since I don't think you'll have much if any prep time tomorrow." Morgana said as Ren nodded and looked at his options. After looking the map over closely, Ren blinked as he saw a new icon appear on the map in Akihabara labeled 'Gamer King'. Ren thought about it and wondered if that could be the same gamer the group was looking for. He then decided to fast-travel to Akihabara with Morgana, right as Kusa caught up to Ren and joined him and Morgana in fast-traveling to Akihabara.

After arriving in Akihibara a bit and looking around, Kusa and Ren eventually found the arcade and went inside, in time to hear some people nearby speaking up.

"Whoa! Who's that kid? He's amazing." One spectator could be heard saying as Kusa and Ren looked over and saw a kid, not older than 10 or 11 if Kusa had to guess, who was wearing a blue and white varsity jacket buttoned up with yellow stripes on the collar, blue jeans, blue and white shoes, and a red snap-back hat with the words 'GET SMOKED' on the front in yellow lettering, dual-wielding twin Gun About controllers expertly. The loud spectator next to the first spectator that spoke then took the chance to speak up.

"Don't you know anything? That's the King." Ren and Kusa heard as they managed to get a spot leaning against a crane machine near the King, the latter of the two blinking at the name mentioned. At that point the first spectator spoke up in understanding.

"Oh, right. I've heard about him. He's just a little guy, huh? Must still be in grade school, which makes his skills that much more impressive. Wait, hold up. He's dual-wielding? Is that even allowed?" The first spectator said as the loud spectator next to him spoke up with a nod.

"Heck yeah it's allowed! He's playing two opponents all by himself. And it's STILL too easy for him. I think the last time he was truly challenged was when that one player 'K.F.D.' was playing. Now that player was talented! I think that's the only person the King's actually lost to from what I've heard.

Unfortunately so, 'K.F.D.' had to step away from the Gun About scene for unexplained reasons earlier this spring. Too bad, too. I bet he could've dealt with that cheater easily enough." The loud spectator said as Kusa blinked at the mention of his old Gun About handle, realizing that this was in fact the same 'King' he'd tag-teamed with before in Gun About. Kusa found himself shocked at how young the King actually was, but also found himself impressed at the skill on display. The King sighed and spoke up.

"Phew. I guess that's that." The King said as he finished a match. The first spectator spoke up in awe and shock.

"What a monster. I don't want to face him in a game of Gun About, that's for sure." The first spectator said as Ren turned to Kusa.

"So it IS the same gamer you remember. I wonder if he'd actually have good tips for defeating that cheater?" Ren asked Kusa, who shrugged and spoke up.

"It's possible, at the least. But remember what I said about his people skills? It all depends on how generous of a mood he's in as to whether he'll help you or not." Kusa said as Ren spoke up.

"Good point. I wonder if he'd be open to negotiations?" Ren asked Kusa, who shrugged and spoke up.

"Not sure. Only one way to find out, though." Kusa said as Ren nodded and the two walked over to The King, who blinked as he heard the two approach and spoke up in an unfriendly tone.

"Oh? And what do you two want?" The King asked as Ren spoke up.

"I'd say let's play a game, but I don't think I'd stand a chance against an expert like yourself. In that case, I'd like to know if you'd be willing to teach me some tricks." Ren said to the King as Kusa scoffed and spoke up.

"Oh yeah, that's really how you negotiate with a pro like The King, Ren." Kusa said before turning to the King and speaking up.

"So you're 'The King', then? Not gonna lie, from what I've heard of your voice, I expected someone a bit older. But I'm not gonna judge you on your age, since you're wicked skilled with those controllers. Didn't think you were this young when we tag-teamed together that one time for a tournament two years ago." Kusa said as The King blinked and spoke up.

"You, in the ponytail. Your voice sounds vaguely familiar to me, but I can't figure out why. As for you in the glasses? Nah, not feeling it. Sounds like too much work. Don't take it personal, though. I turn everyone down these days. Well, almost everyone. I remember agreeing to help a gamer called 'K.F.D.' and he was insanely good at Gun About. We ended up winning a tag-team tournament together, not long before he had to step away from the Gun About scene. Anyways, later." The King said as Ren spoke up with a frown.

"I understand that, but there's this invincible player that's cheating that I need to get better at Gun About to be able to stop." Ren said as Kusa spoke up.

"Eh, if he can't help you, he can't help you. Not much we can do about it, Ren. Though I feel like the King I remember was at least open to helping others. Sure, I might have intimidated him with my skills, but I would think it was obvious what 'K.F.D.' stands for. Granted, I didn't get the sense that The King here was into martial arts, so he probably isn't familiar with my handle of 'Kung-Fu Dragon'. So I guess I can't be too surprised that he doesn't want to help you, Ren." Kusa said as The King turned a wide-eyed gaze onto Kusa and spoke up.

"Wait, what!? Are you saying YOU'RE 'K.F.D'!? I wouldn't have guessed that. But it explains why you had to step away from Gun About, if you had to move out here with this guy. Also, you say there's an invincible player? You mean that guy who cheats, right? I've heard of him. To be honest, it really makes me mad when he does that, since he disrespects the sanctity of Gun About when he cheats. But I don't care. I can still beat him in the end, so I don't really care. Just forget about him." The King said. Ren frowned as he spoke up, now slightly annoyed.

"Be that as it may, I was raised not to let the bad guys win." Ren said firmly as Kusa just groaned at Ren's response. Surprisingly, rather than get annoyed, The King chuckled and spoke up.

"Oh, is that right? You sound like the Phantom Thieves. So, you're saying you wanna beat the cheater? You seem like a nice guy, but to be honest? I'd advise that you just give up and let it go. Is it really worth the stress of training to beat some lousy cheater at Gun About?" The King asked Ren, who shrugged as Kusa spoke up.

"Huh, that's rather jaded and bitter advice from the champ of Gun About. Have you really gotten that cynical in just a few months?" Kusa asked The King with a frown. The King turned to Kusa and spoke up.

"Yes, well, there's not a lot of good gamers left to challenge me now, especially now that you're not playing anymore. So all I can do is keep playing over and over to keep sharp. That said, the Phantom Thieves are really cool, aren't they!? Are you guys fans of theirs, too? Have you ever met them?" The King asked as Ren spoke up.

"Yep. We saw their first success." Ren said as Kusa laughed and spoke up.

"Don't under-state it, Ren. They came to our school after that success for a bit." Kusa pointed out wisely. The King laughed and did a closed-eye grin as he put his fists together while speaking up.

"Ha ha ha! Oh, you mean at Shujin Academy? Yeah, that was pretty awesome! But, um, that first calling card wasn't nearly as cool as the ones after it. Whoever that Draconis is, they're a very gifted writer. That being said, I could probably help you, but to be honest? Teaching you how to play Gun About won't be easy, partly since I have no idea of your skill level, plus I don't usually tutor others on it. And not only that, but what do I get out of helping a potential noob to learn the ways of Gun About? Aside from possibly seeing that cheater ended, not a dang thing." The King said as Ren spoke up.

"Please help me, King. I'll do anything." Ren said humbly, making Kusa blink in surprise at the rare display of humility by Ren. Kusa spoke up, seeing the confused look on The King's face and deciding to intercede before Ren could alienate The King further.

"What he means to say is are you willing to potentially cut a deal with him? Say, you teach him how to play Gun About, and in return, he not only defeats that invincible cheater, but also gets him yanked from the Gun About scene, and on top of that we figure out a way to introduce you to the Phantom Thieves." Kusa said as The King groaned and spoke up.

"Ohh. Geez, you're really persistent. I'm just a grade schooler, y'know. How about this, then? As K.F.D. over there pointed out, I wanna get to know the Phantom Thieves." The King said as Ren gave The King a shocked look as The King kept speaking.

"It's probably impossible, but if you can help me do that, then I'll teach you how to play. Well, whaddya say? Is it a deal?" The King said as Kusa and Ren exchanged skeptical looks before Ren spoke up.

"I'll see what I can do. I think we can help you out potentially, but I make no promises, since the Phantom Thieves I know of have rather busy schedules these days." Ren said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"That's true. Some of them are busy with jobs and school. But we might be able to get some of the less-busy Thieves to do a meet-and-greet." Kusa said as The King blinked and spoke up.

"Uh, wait. What? You're not gonna say no!? Well, if you really want to learn Gun About THAT much, then I guess I don't have a choice, do I? Phew. I thought for sure you were just gonna give up when I mentioned the Phantom Thieves. Wow, I didn't see this coming at all. But the Phantom Thieves hide their true identities, right? Are you sure I can get to know them?" The King asked as Ren spoke up.

"You'd be surprised how fate works sometimes, King. That said, what's your name? Or is your actual name 'The King'? Because I doubt that's your real name." Ren said as Kusa spoke up.

"I'm quite sure that's just a gamer-tag, Ren. But that's up to him if he wants to give his real name out or not. But I suppose if he gives his real name to us, we should return the favor, since fair's fair." Kusa said. The King blinked at Kusa and Ren as he spoke up.

"Hm? What? You're gonna tell them my name? Fair enough, I'll tell you. My name's Shinya Oda." The now properly-named Shinya said as he kept speaking.

"Hey! Tell the Phantom Thieves my name, and have them post it somewhere only they'd be able to access. That'll be good enough as an autograph and proof that they know my name." Shinya said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough, Oda-kun. We'll get on that. And since we keep our word, I'm Kusa Amamiya, and the guy next to me's my older brother, Ren." Kusa said as Shinya turned to Kusa in shock as he spoke up with wide eyes.

"Wait, WHAT!? You're Kusa Amamiya, as in Kusa 'Kung-Fu Dragon' Amamiya? I knew you were good at Gun About, but I didn't think you were also good at martial arts, too!" Shinya said in surprise. Kusa sweatdropped as he spoke up.

"Ah, I see you do follow martial arts. Yes, that's my nickname. But I try not to broadcast it, lest I get swarmed by the media. Though to be honest with you, I've actually kinda enjoyed keeping a low profile the last few months. Suffice it to say, stuff came up that forced me to drop off the radar for now. But I intend to return eventually, both to martial arts and to Gun About." Kusa said sagely as Shinya nodded while Ren walked away so Morgana could speak to him.

"Hm. So he wants proof that you really know the Phantom Thieves, huh? How do we do that?" Morgana asked Ren, who shrugged and spoke up.

"Not sure. I was thinking we could get Futaba to hack someplace only she can and post our logo for Shinya to see. But that's just my idea." Ren said as Morgana nodded.

"That could work. After all, we need something credible for this kid to believe us. And if I recall correctly, didn't Futaba say she hacked into Gun About's server or something once?" Morgana said as Kusa walked over and spoke up.

"Correct, Morgana. She hacked into the servers a couple different times. Good recollection." Kusa said as he nodded approvingly. Morgana spoke up.

"In any case, I vote we should discuss this with Futaba. She might have a good idea." Morgana said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Good idea. Taba usually is pretty smart with her ideas. So I think she'd be able to help us out, if only in the field of brainstorming credible ways to make Oda-kun believe us." Kusa said as the trio decided to go find Futaba. Not surprisingly, the trio found Futaba hanging around in front of Leblanc. Futaba looked up as she saw Ren and Kusa walk over, smiling as she spoke up.

"Oh hey, it's Ren and Kusa, together. What's up?" Futaba asked as Kusa spoke up.

"Simply put? We found The King, but Ren here hit a bit of a snag in attempting to negotiate with him, and we figured we'd get your input on how to handle said snag." Kusa said as Futaba smiled and spoke up.

"Mwehehe! You found the King already? No surprise there. So, did he tell you how to take down that cheater?" Futaba asked as Morgana spoke up.

"No, not yet. He did say he'd help us, though. But he had a condition for his help: that we introduce him to the Phantom Thieves. However, as you might realize, we can't just give ourselves away. So, that's where you come in. Maybe you could hack into the Gun About server and do something?" Morgana suggested as Futaba blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? I could do that, but we won't be able to get in touch with him that way if I do." Futaba said as Ren spoke up.

"We don't have to get in touch with him, Futaba. You just have to leave evidence of your hacking, so he can see that it's the Phantom Thieves." Ren said as Kusa spoke up.

"And you're the best person for the job, Taba. Which is why we came directly to you, oh revered and lovely goddess of the hacking and tech arts." Kusa said smoothly. Futaba flushed at Kusa's complimenting her before she spoke up.

"That'd be easy Ren, but is he really gonna believe that?" Futaba asked as Morgana spoke up with a nod.

"Hm, okay. I'll pair that with writing a calling card saying that we're going to steal the Gun About home page." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"Morgana? I respect you and all, but are you even able to write in your current form? You should just tell me what you want to say, and I'll write it." Kusa said. Morgana blinked and nodded while speaking up.

"Fair point, Kusa. We'll write it together. And Futaba? After that, you'll need to leave evidence that the Phantom Thieves hacked into it. If you do that, then The King will have no choice but to believe it was really us." Morgana said as Futaba smiled and spoke up.

"Hmhm! Oooh, this sounds like fun. I'll put our logo smack dab at the top of the front page." Futaba said as Morgana smirked and spoke up.

"Perfect. While you do that, the three of us will go see The King." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"Exactly. Try not to work yourself too hard doing that, Taba. After all, you need to save some energy for tomorrow, since that's the promised day of the calling card and all." Kusa said wisely as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"That's very good advice, Kusa. And Futaba, we'll let you know before we talk to him, so wait for our word to start the hacking." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"And by 'we'll let you know', Morgana means I'll probably private chat you to let you know when to start the hack, so be prepared for that." Kusa said as Futaba smiled and spoke up.

"All right, you can count on me." Futaba said as she quickly kissed Kusa before the trio of Kusa, Ren, and Morgana returned to the arcade to see The King again. Once back at the arcade, Ren walked over towards Oda, as Morgana spoke up so only Ren and Kusa could hear.

"Hey! The fake calling card is ready for use. Should we ask Futaba to do the hacking?" Morgana asked Ren as Kusa nodded and subtly sent Futaba the signal via private chat to start the hack while Ren spoke up.

"Yes, since Kusa is probably already doing so, let's contact her." Ren said. Kusa pulled up a group chat with Ren and Futaba, the latter of whom had already sent a response.

"I'm ready whenever." Futaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"Go ahead and start. We're leaving it to you to pull this off, Futaba." Ren sent as Kusa sent a response.

"But don't feel pressured at all, Taba! Just do your best." Kusa sent. Futaba smiled and sent a response.

"Mwehehe! It'll be fine! Leave it to me! OK, I'm hacking into the server now." Futaba sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Good luck." Kusa sent as Ren and Kusa put their phones away and Morgana handed Ren the fake calling card as Oda spoke up.

"Any progress with the Phantom Thieves?" Oda asked as Ren pulled out the calling card and handed it to a surprised Oda, who blinked as he took it and spoke up.

"Calling card? Is this for me?" Oda asked as he read it.

"Huh? HUH? Ohh, there's something written on it. Let's see here. 'To the honorable Gamer King, Shinya Oda, thanks for your support. Please continue to help those in need, as it is a trait that we, the Phantom Thieves, both admire and respect in others. This card serves as a promise to you from the Phantom Thieves. We're going to post a secret message, just for you, on the game's official website. So look forward to it. -Warmest regards, The Phantom Crew.' Ohhh. Is this true? Is this for real? I mean, you can probably just buy one of these cards at the store these days." Oda said as Kusa spoke up while Ren fished out his phone.

"That's true, Oda-kun. Anyone could buy one of these cards. However, can just anyone match this writing style? I doubt that. Also, take a look at what Ren's trying to show you." Kusa said as Oda took the phone and blinked as he looked at the screen and spoke up.

"The official Gun About website?" Oda asked before gasping as he saw the familiar logo on the front of the site and gasped as he spoke up.

"Whoa, no way! The mark of the Phantom Thieves! They hacked the site! Just like they did on Medjed's site!" Oda said as Ren put his phone away while Kusa spoke up.

"Y-Yeah, just like that. Good memory, Oda-kun." Kusa said as Oda smiled and spoke up.

"Which means only one thing. You were able to contact the real Phantom Thieves! No way! How'd you do it?" Oda asked as Ren spoke up.

"Through a secret exchange of sorts, or a bulletin board if you will." Ren said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"What he means to say is we have our ways, Oda-kun. But he's not wrong to say it was a bulletin board, since the Phantom Thieves have a public forum that an ally of theirs runs where people can post requests for the Phantom Thieves. And considering my girlfriend goes to school with the hacker of the group, it wasn't a difficult task to get her to convince them to hack the site for you, Oda-kun." Kusa said. Oda smiled and spoke up, clearly impressed with the answer.

"Oh, I see. That's so cool! So they want to remain anonymous, then? Considering the target they have on their backs right now, I don't blame them for wanting to be smart about how they do things. But still, wow! I can't believe they sent me a message like that! To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from you, Amamiya-kun the elder, but you're actually pretty cool. But then, given your younger brother is the Kung-Fu Dragon, I shouldn't be surprised that you're a cool guy." Oda said as Kusa spoke up in embarrassment.

"Don't put me on such a pedestal, Oda-kun. It's not that big of a deal that I'm so skilled, really. I'm just as human as anyone else. After all, I don't think you like people making too big of a deal of you, do you? So it's basically a case of 'treat others the way you'd want to be treated', if you will." Kusa said as Oda nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough, Amamiya-kun the younger. I wish I was able to talk with them or something, though, to be honest. But in any case, you fulfilled your end of the deal. And as I'm a man of my word, I will fulfill my end and teach you how to shoot, Amamiya-kun the elder." Oda said as Ren nodded while Kusa decided to lean back with the crowd to watch as Ren and Oda started a game of Gun About, the latter speaking up.

"Okay, first lesson. Once you stop them from moving, you gotta hit their weak point right away. You should be able to inflict a lot of damage to the cheater this way. And with that, let's get started." Oda said as the two started playing, Oda quickly wincing at how badly Ren was doing, while he spoke up.

"Ugh, c'mon! You gotta aim, Amamiya-kun the elder." Oda said as Ren sweatdropped and started trying to improve his aim, only for Oda to huff and speak up rebukingly.

"What the!? No, no, no. You're just stopping their movements by doing that." Oda said as Ren tried changing his approach, only for Oda to groan and speak up in annoyance.

"Ugh! YOU BASTARD! No! Not like that! Are you taking this seriously!? You gotta focus on your second shot!" Oda said as Ren winced, noting idly that Oda is almost like a different person when he gets mad, before also noting that his instructions are precise, but almost spartan-like at the same time. A nearby spectator spoke up.

"Wow, the King's swearing up a storm today, isn't he?" The spectator said as a loud spectator spoke up from nearby.

"Ugh, that's what happens when he teams up with another player." The loud spectator said as Kusa spoke up.

"Yeah, that's usually true. However, in this case, that other player is my older brother, who's not that experienced with Gun About. So I'm just hoping he keeps up enough that The King doesn't give up on him." Kusa said as the spectators nodded their agreement, the loud spectator speaking up.

"Fair enough. This is also why everyone usually just watches him from a distance most of the time." The spectator said as Kusa nodded while the rest of the game played out uneventfully from there. After the game, Oda looked at Ren and spoke up.

"Well, that wasn't bad. All right, looks like you kinda got the hang of it. I think with a bit of practice, you'll be able to beat that cheater now. Oh, and um, sorry about before. You see, I have a bad habit of swearing when I get all worked up during a game. So sorry about that." Oda said as Ren shook his head and spoke up.

"Don't worry about it, Oda-kun. Kusa over there swears a lot himself when gaming, so it's nothing new for me. So don't worry about it. But I appreciate the apology, just the same. Awfully considerate of you, to be honest." Ren said as Oda nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, no problem, Amamiya-kun the elder. But, to be honest? I think you have a lot of potential. More than most people! But considering your younger brother is 'K.F.D.', or one of the best players to ever play Gun About, I'm not that surprised. If you want, next time we have a chance, I can teach you a few other moves too! I have the ultimate trump card. So tell me more about the Phantom Thieves!" Shinya said as Ren spoke up.

"It's a deal, Oda-kun." Ren said as Kusa smirked from nearby as he watched Ren and Oda interact, the former smiling as he felt as if he'd struck a deal with Oda...

(Fast forward to the interrogation room, with Sae and Joker)

"Well, according to the reports, it seems your skill at handling a gun is quite impressive. Either you taught yourself, which I doubt, OR you had a capable coach by your side for the whole process. Either way, answer me this: Where did you learn how to handle a gun!?" Sae asked Joker, who winced at the question...

(Back in the present, with Ren, Morgana, Kusa, and Oda)

As Ren shook hands with Oda, he heard the expected voice in his head speak up.

"I am thou, thou art I...Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity. With the birth of the Tower Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power..." Ren heard as a new card appeared in his mind's eye, this one with the word 'Tower' on the front, and an 'I' under the word 'Tower', signifying that his new-found Tower Confidant link with Shinya was at rank 1.

As a result of the newly-forged bond, Ren awakened to the power of 'Down Shot', allowing him to knock down an enemy with a special shot once per infiltration. Afterwards, Oda's phone went off, making him frown as he spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, it's earlier than usual today. Right, I gotta go. See ya later!" Oda said as Ren nodded, feeling as if interacting with Oda had made his heart grow, making him feel as if his Kindness had increased, despite it already being maxed out. Sure enough, his Kindness got a sizable, if unneeded, boost. After that, Ren headed out of the arcade with Kusa, just as Oda followed the two out and spoke up.

"Hey! Amamiya-kun the elder! I'm so glad I caught you. Hey, we should exchange IDs. It's not like I'm here every day, so you'll need to be able to keep in contact with me to know exactly when I'm available." Oda said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough, Oda-kun. Call me when it's game time." Ren said as Oda smiled and spoke up.

"Whoa! Looks like we got a real gamer over here." Oda said before he and Ren exchanged contact info and he kept speaking.

"And done! There, I got it. I'll hit you up when I've got time to train you in Gun About. And on that note, bye! See you later, Amamiya-kun the elder. And nice to finally meet you in person, Amamiya-kun the younger." Oda said to Ren and Kusa who smiled and nodded as Oda left at that point. The two then headed back to Leblanc together, at which point Morgana spoke up.

"Well then! Tomorrow's the day, you two. Let's be sure we're ready for it." Morgana said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. We'll need to make the most of our time tonight then." Kusa said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly! Once you send that calling card, there's no turning back. Make sure you finish preparations tonight." Morgana said as Ren and Kusa nodded. After a bit, Kusa looked at Ren and spoke up.

"Well, I guess since there's no time like the present, shall we make good on the plans we made the other night?" Kusa asked Ren, who blinked then nodded.

"Ah that's right! Tonight's our darts game! I nearly forgot about that!" Ren said as he and Kusa headed to Kichijoji, where Ren paid 800 yen for the two to play a game of darts, which Kusa smirked as he spoke up.

"Nice, just the two of us! Since we're both not that experienced, let's not go too high in difficulty. Maybe let's try 501, just for a bit of a mid-level challenge, so as to be challenging, but not overly challenging? Could be a good test of our skills." Kusa suggested as Ren nodded and the two got ready to play, Kusa smirking as he spoke up.

"You're up first, Ren. Try to do your best!" Kusa said agreeably before high-fiving Ren to tag him in for his turn.

(Start of Ren and Kusa's darts game. Target score: 501)

Ren nodded before taking aim and hitting two bulls and a triple 20, dropping the remaining score to 341. Ren smirked and spoke up.

"Good enough, Kusa? Now it's your turn to show your stuff." Ren said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Right! Leave it to me!" Kusa said agreeably before high-fiving with Ren as he tagged in for his turn. After looking at the board carefully, Kusa took aim and hit a bull and two triple 20s, leaving the remaining score at 171. Ren smirked and spoke up.

"Not bad, Kusa. I think we'll clear this yet." Ren said as Kusa high-fived Ren to tag him in for his turn. After looking the board over cautiously, Ren took aim and hit three double 20s, leaving the remaining score at 51 as Kusa smiled and high-fived in for his turn.

"All right, my turn again! Oh, hold up. We're actually able to close out here!? Nice. Hopefully I can clutch this out for us." Kusa said as Ren smiled and spoke up.

"Just relax, Kusa. You've got this for sure! I believe in you, bro." Ren said with a smile as Kusa returned the smile and walked up to take his turn while speaking up.

"Thanks, Ren! Glad to hear you believe in me! I'll give it my best shot!" Kusa said as he took his turn, aiming carefully before turning to face Ren and hitting an impressive triple 17 without looking to close the two out exactly at 0 points.

(End Ren and Kusa's darts game)

"Hell yeah! 0 points right on the dot! We freaking rule as a team, Ren!" Kusa said happily as Ren nodded, noting the subtle glowing of green sparks around Kusa as Kusa's Baton Pass rank jumped all the way to Rank 3, or MAX Rank. Ren nodded and spoke up.

"That we do. We could play a competitive game too, but then we wouldn't have enough time to get dinner too. And I do have plans to hang out with Mishima-kun after this to follow up on our trip into Mementos the other night, so we do have that to keep in mind." Ren said as Kusa nodded understandingly. Kusa then spoke up.

"Fair enough. Let's go get a quick meal from the beef bowl shop then, and I'll go find some place to keep myself busy while you hang out with Mishima-kun." Kusa said as Ren nodded and the two went to the beef bowl shop, where the two sat down after placing their orders and Ren spoke up.

"So, this is it. Tomorrow's the big calling card day. And the day after, we finally confront Niijima-san the elder's Shadow. Nervous, Kusa?" Ren asked Kusa, who spoke up.

"Honestly? A bit. I might have mentioned this before, but I really do feel as if Akechi-kun is up to something, so I think we need to be cautious when we head in to fight Niijima the elder's Shadow. Fortunately, Taba and I have been cooking up a plan to keep Akechi-kun guessing. But we have to keep it to ourselves so that he doesn't see it coming until it's too late. So I do hope you can forgive me for keeping my cards close to my chest in this case." Kusa said as Ren nodded understandingly and spoke up.

"Not a problem at all, Kusa. I get you're trying to be smart about this, and I understand that perfectly. I just hope we all get out of there in one piece. I can't shake the feeling like things are gonna go wrong for at least one of us when we go to the Palace. I hope I'm just being paranoid, though." Ren said as Kusa smiled, sparkling blue music notes going up over his head as he spoke up.

"I can relate, Ren. If you recall, I felt that way as well for most of Taba's Palace. But I think as long as we're careful, we'll be fine. However, I do advise we exercise caution with Akechi-kun, just to be safe. Between us, Taba said she saw some suspicious correspondence on his phone when she got ahold of it, so she's suspicious of him." Kusa said wisely as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough. I like that you're being wary about this. Makes me glad that Morgana and I decided to make you the one to be leader should something happen to me that I'm unavailable to lead the team. So as such, you need to start learning to act like a leader, Kusa. I know you have the capability to lead the team in a pinch, if you can keep your temper in check. But I have faith you'll be a great leader.

So please Kusa, whatever you do, make sure you don't pick fights with anyone, even Akechi-kun. And I know that the last part is really asking a lot of you, given how much you distrust him. But, I do have to say, I did get the sense you're starting to be less hostile towards him these days." Ren said as Kusa smiled and spoke up while more blue sparkling notes went up over his head while he spoke.

"Yes, well, for as much of an arrogant, self-assured, and unapologetic dick as Akechi-kun can be at times, he has proven his worth as a warrior several times since joining, and he's also impressed me with his wit as well if I'm being honest. But Taba had a point when she said she thought he was picking up on things a bit TOO quickly. Also, I don't know who Akechi-kun thought he was kidding when he acted like he was shocked by Morgana talking the day of the panel.

We all know, or at least those of us who were at the TV studio do, that he's been able to understand Morgana for way longer than that. However, unless we can get him to slip up and give us proof that he's behind the mental shutdowns, assuming I'm not right in my theory about him being Black Mask, we can't do more than let things play out. After all, we can't accuse Akechi of anything without solid proof." Kusa said wisely. Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Quite right. But I think we'll figure things out soon enough, with any luck." Ren said agreeably as Kusa winced and spoke up.

"Right. But, um, can I be honest with you about something, Ren?" Kusa asked as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Sure. What's on your mind, little bro?" Ren asked as Kusa smiled fondly at Ren referring to him as 'little bro' while sparkling blue music notes went up over his head before he spoke up.

"Honestly, I realize I've been kind of a prick to you a lot recently, and I wanted to apologize for it. I've just been tense about this upcoming fight, and worried that things could go wrong at some point in the process. So really, it's just me taking out my anxieties on you unfairly, which I really am sorry for doing. It's just that ever since we formed this group, I've gradually started to feel like I was part of something meaningful, and in a group where people wanted me around for who I am as a person, and not just who I'm related to.

No offense to you Ren, but to be honest, sometimes I feel like some of the group just wants me around because I'm your little brother. And it may or may not have made me a tad bit resentful of you as a result, since before coming here, it was feeling kind of like you tended to take the spotlight without trying to, and that kind of hurt me. But now, I can see that you don't mean to do it, and I'm just being overly sensitive. But even so, that's not okay for me to do that to you. So I'm going to promise you something, here and now.

I will do my best to stop being so resentful of you and try to accept that our friends are friends with me for me, and not just for the fact I'm your little brother. Granted, I know both Futaba and Morgana appreciate me for who I am, and not just because I'm related to you. But the others make it hard to tell at times, especially Makoto and Ryuji, who both seem like they tend to be closer to you than to me, which is understandable since you are closer to their age.

However, even then, I don't like that I get that way around the others. So I am going to make a conscious effort to be more approachable and try to live up to my role as second-in-command. After all, I want the others to feel like they can rely on me if the time ever comes, God forbid, that you're not able to lead us and I have to step up in the interim. And most importantly, I want you to feel you can trust me to be able to keep the team going.

Because believe it or not? I am very much serious about doing my best to be a meaningful part of the Phantom Thieves, Ren. But also, I want you to be able to feel you can rely on me if you need to. I know we're closer than we were when we came here, but I do still feel a certain sense of slight divide between us, and I'd rather not have that divide be there if possible." Kusa said honestly as Ren smiled and spoke up.

"Kusa? I'm happy you were able to open up to me about all this. I had a feeling you were resentful of me, but I didn't think you were that insecure about your place on the team. You do realize that you're vital to this team in a way that only you're capable of, right? So in a sense, you're indispensable to the group! So don't doubt that we want you around, Kusa. I'm sorry you feel the way you do, though.

I should've been able to notice this myself, so that's on me for not doing a good job as your older brother. Sorry. Let's try to be more open with each other moving forward. And most importantly, let's both do our best to make sure we get through this mission together, and keep the Phantom Thieves strong going forward!" Ren said as Kusa nodded and shook hands with Ren, leaving Ren to feel a sense of both intense resolve and a deepening in his bond with Kusa.

At that point, the 'World' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'VII' becoming a 'VIII' to signify that his World Confidant link with Kusa had reached Rank 8. As a result of the rank-up, Kusa awakened to the power of 'Endure', making it so that like most of the other Phantom Thieves, Kusa was able to endure a singular piece of otherwise mortal damage and survive it with 1 HP remaining. Afterwards, Kusa smiled and spoke up.

"Thanks, Ren. I'm glad we had this talk. I feel a bit more confident now about our mission. Hopefully, we both make it through this. But for now, let's do our best to focus on the task at hand, which is tomorrow's calling card." Kusa said with a smile as Ren nodded and the two finished their beef bowls before Ren paid the tab and the two went outside as Kusa spoke up.

"Welp, as enlightening as this conversation with you has been, I'm heading on over to Taba's to spend a bit of time with her while the getting's good. Be safe, Ren! See you at Leblanc!" Kusa said as he walked off, leaving Ren alone with Morgana as he fast-traveled to Akihabara to see Mishima...

(In Akihabara, with Ren and Morgana)

Once Ren got to Akihabara, Ren approached Mishima, who looked up and spoke up as he saw Ren.

"Oh, Amamiya-kun the elder. Hello there. Oh, right. Do you think we can talk about what happened last time again?" Mishima asked Ren, who thought about it as Morgana spoke up from in Ren's bag.

"Ah, so Mishima wants to talk? What's it gonna be, Ren? Are you going to spend time with Mishima?" Morgana asked as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. I feel like I owe it to him to hear him out given how the last time ended." Ren said as he turned to Mishima and spoke up.

"Mishima-kun? I'd be happy to talk with you, if you want to talk." Ren said agreeably. Mishima smiled and nodded while speaking up.

"Thanks for your concern. I want to go somewhere I can talk to you alone, Amamiya-kun. How does the park sound?" Mishima asked. Ren nodded agreeably as the two headed to Inokaishira Park, where Mishima sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh. H-Hey, um, to be honest? I've been thinking a little bit about Akiyama-kun since last time." Mishima said as Ren spoke up.

"So have I, to be honest. And honestly? I really don't wanna change his heart. I don't think he's really done anything to deserve it." Ren said honestly. Mishima blinked as he spoke up in surprise.

"Huh!? W-Well, actually, to be honest? I was just gonna say the same thing. I mean, going after him wouldn't even help you guys get famous. It'd practically be pointless." Mishima said as Ren blinked and spoke up in surprise.

"Mishima-kun, you still care about fame? I'm shocked." Ren said as Mishima blinked in surprise as he spoke up.

"Huh!? Wait, what? How'd you know about that!? Oh, right. I get it. Of course a thief who steals hearts would see what's going on in the depths of my psyche. That's common sense. You know, I first started the Phan-Site so I could spread your message of justice to the world, Amamiya-kun the elder. But before I knew it, the only reason I wanted to help you guys was so I could get more famous myself.

Though maybe that's always been the real reason I helped you guys out. I don't know, though. I thought I was doing it out of respect for you guys and what you do. Yet deep down, I think I really just wanted to show the world I'm more than some stupid zero. Look where that got me though, in the end. I'm just a selfish loser clinging desperately to your popularity for dear life. I don't deserve to work alongside the valiant Phantom Thieves. That sucks, but well, thanks for everything! Bye!" Mishima said as he tried to run off but tripped partway out of the park and took a rather painful fall to the ground. Mishima winced as he spoke up.

"Owwwwww, that smarts." Mishima said as Ren ran over to Mishima and helped him up.

"Oof. Man, I totally ate dirt, didn't I? I'm such an idiot, though. Hahaha, geez. I can't even run away right, can I? Ugh. You know, working alongside the Phantom Thieves has made me feel like I myself can change the world somehow. But it's only ever been you guys with that power. Meanwhile, I'm still just as powerless as always. That's the truth, whether I like it or not. Hahaha, funny, right? I wonder if there's really any way a pathetic guy like me can help you out, even after all I've done?" Mishima said as Ren thought about it before smiling as he spoke up.

"I think there is. Maybe the Phan-Site? I know it's not the most popular these days since the Phantom Thieves got set up for that Okumura guy's death, but I hear they're working to clear their names, so if you keep the site running, maybe we'll all have our day of vindication." Ren suggested. Mishima blinked and nodded as he spoke up, sparkling blue music notes going up over his head while he spoke up, a determined look on his face while he spoke.

"Wait, you're right! That's it, Amamiya-kun the elder! My special power lies in running the Phan-Site behind the scenes! I don't want it to be about public relations anymore, though. First and foremost, that site needs to be a safe haven for people in serious trouble. After all that happened to me with Kamoshida, I know how hard it can be to speak out against injustice these days. So, with that said, as long as there are voices crying out to the Phantom Thieves, I'm gonna help them be heard." Mishima said as Ren nodded approvingly, feeling as if Mishima's motivation seemed to be growing stronger.

At that point, the 'Moon' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'VI' becoming a 'VII' to signify that his Moon Confidant link with Mishima had reached Rank 7. As a result of the rank-up, Mishima had awakened to the ability 'Phanboy', which greatly increased the EXP earned from battles. Afterwards, Mishima kept speaking.

"But at any rate, we should just forget about going after Akiyama-kun, okay? I'm still worried about some of the rumors I've heard about him, but I'll do some more research. By the way, he's not as bad a guy as he pretends to be. Apparently, he's super sweet to his girlfriend. Heh, can you imagine that? They've been talking about getting married even since back in middle school. And you know, I'm honestly kinda jealous." Mishima said as Ren smiled and spoke up.

"Mishima, cheer up. I'm sure you'll meet a nice girl someday. Just be patient and keep the faith." Ren said as Mishima nodded and spoke up.

"Right. It's getting late, isn't it? I should probably let you get home so you don't miss curfew." Mishima said as Ren nodded and stood up to go home, at which point Mishima spoke up.

"Anyways, be safe getting home, and I'll see you later, Amamiya-kun." Mishima said as Ren headed back to Leblanc, where his phone rang as he got to the doorstep and he answered it, having a good guess as to who it was.

"Hello?" Ren said as he heard Mishima's voice on the other end.

"Hello. Oh, Amamiya? I thought you should hear this. Apparently, that thing I mentioned about Akiyama-kun turned out to be true. It wasn't just some rumor. I found a post on the Phan-Site by a girl who I assume is Akiyama-kun's girlfriend. It says she's worried because her boyfriend's been hanging out with some sketchy guys. Acting strange, too. It seems like enough evidence to make him a target, but I"m gonna look into this a little further, just to be safe." Mishima said as Ren spoke up.

"Kind of worrying to be honest, Mishima-kun. But I'm glad you're doing your due diligence now." Ren said honestly. Mishima spoke up agreeably.

"Right? Of course, I've still gotta dig up the evidence, but that shouldn't be too difficult. That said, we can't ignore any cry for help on the Phan-Site! Haha, I'm shocked. Even I didn't realize the Phan-Site meant this much to me. Thanks, Amamiya. For helping me get here. Heh heh, we're getting sappy in here, aren't we? Okay, let's keep up the good work! Bye!" Mishima said as Ren hung up the phone and headed inside with Morgana to get comfortable for the evening, smirking at the sight of a smiling Kusa curled up on the sofa, Morgana carefully hopping on top of Kusa to stretch out for the night as the trio dozed off...

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

Kusa and Ren blinked as they heard a pair of girls talking in front of them, going quiet to listen in.

"Hm, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? Oh, was today the day? It just totally snuck up on me. Um, are you all right? I, uh, how do I put this? I know you went to see him every single day you could." The laid-back girl said to her depressed friend, who spoke up in a sad voice.

"How can he be gone, though? I feel so sick. There were still so many things I wanted to talk about with him, and now I likely won't get the chance to unless I decide to start arranging to have sessions with him outside of school. Why can't he stay forever, though? What am I supposed to do now that he's gone?" The depressed girl said as her laid-back friend sighed and spoke up.

"Jeez, you're really into him, aren't you? Man, you're a really serious case. But it seems like you aren't alone. He was pretty popular with the girls." The laid-back girl said as Ren and Kusa blinked, both realizing that the girls were likely referring to Maruki, making both exchange a somber nod as they remembered this was the last day of Maruki's tenure at Shujin, and both continued the walk to school with their minds on the other pressing task for the day ahead...

(A bit later on, at Shujin with Ren and Morgana)

"I guess I better get headed to class, Ren. I'll see you after school then?" Kusa said as Ren nodded and Kusa took off to head to class. Right as Ren was about to do the same, he heard his name called out and turned to see Maruki approaching him.

"Ah, Amamiya-kun the elder. Good morning. I know this is last-minute, but if it's possible, could you come and see me during lunch today? You see, I wanted to touch bases with you one last time before I left Shujin. And, full disclosure? If you come, I've arranged for another to join us as well for the meal, so I figured I'd put that out there ahead of time." Maruki said as Ren spoke up.

"Eh, why not? I'm free for lunch. If this had been yesterday, I might have had to turn you down since I quite enjoyed the lunch I had with my girlfriend. But I'm free today, so sure." Ren said honestly. Maruki smiled as he spoke up.

"Glad to hear it, Ren! I wanted to discuss something with you, since it'll be our last chance to do so here." Maruki said as Ren blinked and spoke up.

"Wait, last chance? What do you-? Oh, that's right, you're leaving Shujin today, aren't you?" Ren said, wincing as he recalled that this was Maruki's final day of his tenure at Shujin. Maruki sadly nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, that's right. My time here at Shujin is coming to an end today. It's quite the sad affair. I do have a farewell speech to give the school at morning assembly, but I'd like to speak with you individually afterwards, while we have lunch with the other person I asked to join us. I won't say who it is, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to see them. Considering the occasion, lunch is on me. I'll have something special waiting for you, so you look forward to that. Well, I'll see you later!" Maruki said as he walked off to get to class...

(Later that morning, in the assembly hall with Haru, Makoto, Ryuji, Kusa, Kasumi, Ren, Ann, Morgana, and Maruki)

"So it's true? Doctor Maruki's really leaving Shujin today." A female student standing near Kusa said sadly as the group stood in the assembly, curious to hear Maruki's farewell speech that Ren mentioned to the others. A black-haired male student nodded and spoke up from on Kusa's other side.

"It's already been half a year, huh? That sure went by fast." The black-haired male student said as the vice principal spoke up at the front of the room.

"Thank you for listening. And finally, we would like Doctor Maruki to share a few last words with the student body. Well, Doctor? If you will, take it away." The vice principal said as Maruki walked up to the mic and cleared his throat before speaking up.

"Ahem! Good morning, everyone. As the vice principal has mentioned, today marks the end of my tenure at Shujin Academy. Over the past several months, I've come to learn about all sorts of conflicts that you students have faced this year. Troubles with romances, with studies. In fact, some of you have financial issues that are awfully similar to my own in many ways." Maruki said as laughter rang out from the students as Maruki kept speaking.

"But before I leave you, I want to offer you a final piece of counseling. If your situation ever becomes to painful to endure, remember this. It's okay for you to escape your problem." Maruki said as Kusa quietly scoffed at this, not agreeing with Maruki's advice but also not speaking out against it as Maruki kept speaking.

"I don't want a single one of you to think that an unfair reality you've been forced into is the only one that you have to live. Um, what I'm trying to say is this. Even if your life is full of worries, it's best for you not to obsess over them. Your existence in this world is an amazing miracle. You deserve to spend your days in happiness. I'll keep on rooting for all of you to have the best lives possible, even after I'm long gone." Maruki said, going for a bow but once again smacking his head on the mic, fully expecting the almost-inaudible groans that came from both Ryuji and Kusa at this, but just smiling fondly at the throwback to his introduction to Shujin as he kept speaking.

"Sorry about that. That was unintentional. Heheh, oops. I guess things don't always pan out like you expect. Well, that's it. Before I give the mic back to the vice principal, I'd like to thank you for having me here this year. Good luck to you all!" Maruki said before walking off the stage, where he found himself surrounded by students wanting to thank him, and even a few crying over the end of his tenure.

From a distance, the group looked on in a mix of shock, surprise and slight horror, Kusa and Kasumi both wincing as they heard a particularly vocal female bawl out Maruki's name rather tearfully. As the female cried, Kusa just shook his head, feeling like the female in question was going a bit far over a school counselor, but also conceding that some of the students probably got closer to Maruki than others. After a bit, Makoto sweatdropped and spoke up.

"Um, so yeah. I wanted to thank him personally for what he's done for the school, but looking at that crowd, I think it may be best to hold off on that for a bit." Makoto said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, probably better we let the Doc say goodbye to his many fans first so there's not a crowd when each of us approaches him to thank him. Though I can wait to do so, since he invited me to join him for lunch today, apparently as a way to do a final check-in before he leaves Shujin. He did mention he was going to have someone else joining us, but he didn't say who, oddly enough. But I don't mind sharing lunch with whoever it is." Kusa said with a shrug, not seeing the shocked look on Ren's face as he realized what Maruki was doing. Haru nodded with a smile as she spoke up.

"Well said, Kusa-kun. And Makoto? Mm-hm. I doubt we'd be able to get a word in edgewise anyhow." Haru said as Kasumi and Kusa chuckled, both not having heard the word 'edgewise' be used in awhile as the group headed back to class...

(At lunch, in the nurse's office with Ren and Maruki)

"Thank you for coming here, Amamiya-kun the elder." Maruki said as Ren nodded and spoke up, noticing that the table was set for three while he spoke.

"No problem, Doc. Not to be rude, but didn't you say you asked someone else to join us? I only see the two of us, yet the table is set for three." Ren said as the door opened up and to his surprise, Kusa walked in and spoke up with a smile.

"That would be because that 'someone else' he mentioned is me, and I got held up a bit having to dodge around the insanely long lines of students hoping to see the Doc while he's still here. The foot traffic outside is a nightmare, though. Gotta say, I'm not surprised that Doc figured having us both join him for a meal would be a good idea. It's an interesting idea to be sure." Kusa said as he sat down next to Ren while Maruki chuckled and spoke up.

"Well put, Kusa. Also, for the duration of this, can I call you by your first name, Amamiya-kun the elder? That way I don't have to keep saying 'Amamiya-kun' when there's two of you in here." Maruki asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up.

"That's okay with me, Doc. It's probably easier on you anyways." Ren said agreeably as Maruki nodded.

"That it is. Thank you for being understanding, Ren. That said, since this is about to be my last meal at Shujin, I've brought the best lunch ever. These tempura bowls are from a restaurant I've been curious about since I first came to the school. I'd always passed on it due to the price, but today is special! Not only that, but I ordered the deluxe bowls for the three of us!" Maruki said as Ren and Kusa exchanged shocked looks and the former of the two spoke up.

"Ooh, this looks fancy. Thanks for treating us both, Doc." Ren said politely. Maruki shook his head as he spoke up.

"Nonsense, Ren! I should be the one thanking you. And probably Kusa as well to a lesser extent, but enough about that. Let's eat!" Maruki said as Ren and Kusa nodded and opened up their tempura bowls, and surprisingly enough the bowls smelled really delicious, even to Kusa, who isn't really a big fan of seafood. Maruki smirked and spoke up.

"Ooh, wow. This aroma's really triggered my appetite, to be honest. Too bad I can't see anything now." Maruki said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Same here." Ren said agreeably as Kusa smirked and spoke up.

"That's because, unlike me, the two of you have to wear glasses. The life of a four-eyes must be a rough one at times. Um, no offense meant to either of you, since you're both cool." Kusa said, giving Maruki and Ren a sheepish look as he finished speaking, realizing that 'four-eyes' is considered an insult to some who wear glasses. Ren and Maruki both waved off the comment, affirming that no offense had been taken as the three dug in to their meals with gusto. After the three had finished eating, Maruki smiled at Ren and spoke up.

"I'm so glad I splurged on that. Upscale dishes like that really do taste incredible. I wish I could just get lost in this bliss forever." Maruki said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. And I'm not even a fan of seafood for the most part, yet I quite enjoyed that meal." Kusa said honestly as Ren chuckled.

"There's a first time for everything, Kusa. Well, for the most part anyways." Ren said wisely as Kusa and Maruki both chuckled at this, both Ren and Kusa ignoring the annoyed hiss coming from the not-cat hiding in Ren's bag as Maruki spoke up.

"Agreed, Ren. Well, now that we've finished our food, let's get down to business. First off, I have quite big news." Maruki said as Ren and Kusa exchanged shocked looks as Ren spoke up.

"Oh, yeah? And what might that be?" Ren asked as Maruki smiled and spoke up.

"I'm about to tell you both. My paper's done." Maruki said as Kusa blinked and spoke up.

"Your paper? You were writing a paper, Doc?" Kusa asked in surprise as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah. Basically, that paper is part of what his research is about. And I know he told you about that, so I don't feel bad mentioning that in front of you. Also, congrats on finishing it, Doc." Ren said. Maruki smiled and nodded.

"Thanks! I've mentioned this before to you both, Ren moreso than Kusa, but this is truly thanks in large part to your help, Ren. Granted, you were helpful in putting the finishing touches on it, Kusa. And Ren, had you not shared your experiences and insights with me, this paper never would have been completed. Please, allow me to express my gratitude to you once more as a most helpful student of Shujin, Ren. And to you, Kusa, for being an interesting source of inspiration that I never would've imagined possible." Maruki said as Ren and Kusa both smiled at the praise from Maruki, only to gasp at what he said next.

"And let me also praise you both for the help you gave me, not just as students or inspirations, but as friends, and as Phantom Thieves as well." Maruki said, making Ren gape at Maruki while Kusa almost choked on his water when he heard the words 'Phantom Thieves' come from Maruki's mouth. However, Ren recovered first and spoke up.

"I'd ask what you mean, but we all know you're a smart man. So I'm instead going to ask how you figured that out, assuming this wasn't a ploy to trick us into confirming your hunch." Ren said warily. Maruki smirked and spoke up.

"Now, now. There's no need to be obtuse or afraid. Why don't you take a look at the title of my paper over there?" Maruki said as Ren and Kusa both glanced at the title, both their eyes going wide as they saw the title read 'Interpreting reality through cognitive psience and the alteration of reality via external influence.', making Kusa gasp as he spoke up.

"Wh-What the hell!? I knew you were studying cognitive psience, but external influence? Does that mean what I think it does, Doc?" Kusa asked in surprise as Maruki smirked and spoke up.

"Perhaps it does, Kusa. But that's for me to know and you two not to find out, unfortunately. Anyways, changing the subject. You know, the Phantom Thieves' act of changing hearts is rather reminiscent of cognitive psience in practice. They infiltrate a 'reality' that exists solely for their target. A reality wholly separated from the one the public recognizes. By accessing that world, they gain the means of permanently altering their target's cognition. That is what I hypothesize as being the 'change of heart' you induce in your targets." Maruki said as Ren blinked but smiled as he spoke up.

"Gotta say, I'm impressed, Doc. You know your stuff." Ren said as Kusa spoke up.

"Perhaps so Ren, but never mind that. The fact that Doc knows anything about us is kind of a potential security risk, since while I think we can trust him to not sell us out, I don't like the idea of leaving the safety of our group up to chance." Kusa said with a wary frown. Maruki smiled and spoke up.

"Relax, Kusa. No one would probably believe me if I did try to turn you guys in anyways, not that I would. Your secret's safe with me. And Ren, to be honest? Well, I did pour my heart and soul into this research for a number of years. And to be entirely honest, it was all the way back in April that I first happened upon proof of what you guys do. When I first came to the principal here about providing counseling to you students, I happened to make a most unexpected discovery. I actually witnessed the moment when the two of you came out of an 'individual's reality' like I mentioned." Maruki said as Kusa and Ren blinked at this but nodded. Maruki kept speaking at that point.

"Thought so. You both suddenly appeared in the back alley near the school, if I recall right. Also, I believe Sakamoto-kun and Takamaki-san were with you two? I also noticed that Takamaki-san appeared to be extremely exhausted." Maruki said as a flashback played of Ann thanking Morgana, Kusa, Ryuji, and Ren. Maruki then kept speaking.

"And it wasn't long after that scene that Mister Kamoshida had his change of heart. Beyond what I witnessed, I had also been told that you four were closely affiliated with Mister Kamoshida in some way. At that point, I was already half-convinced you were involved. I was almost certain that Mister Kamoshida's change of heart was provoked by the four of you." Maruki said as Kusa spoke up warily.

"If that's true, why keep quiet, Doc?" Kusa asked as Ren spoke up.

"More to the point, what's your game here?" Ren asked as Maruki stroked his chin in thought before speaking up to answer the questions that Ren and Kusa asked.

"Hmm, well, how to put this? To be honest, I've been researching cognitive psience ever since I was a grad student. For years, I've been attempting to directly interact with an individual's cognition so I can help address their pain and despair. I had some results, but for certain reasons, this research has never been acknowledged in academia. Despite that, I continually pursued evidence that my hypothesis is correct.

It was during that time that I happened to come across the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts', or the 'Phantom Crew' as their calling cards called them, fresh from a mission. My heart began to dance at the sight of you. I thought to myself, maybe I could complete my research if I were to have your assistance. That's why I approached you and your group of friends in the first place, Ren." Maruki said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"Huh, imagine that. I was actually right the whole time. I had a feeling you had an ulterior motive for seeking us out, Doc. Not that I can blame you, since your motive is a good and pure one as far as I can tell. Still, why wait until now to tell us?" Kusa asked as Ren nodded his agreement to Kusa's question while Maruki spoke up.

"Good question, Kusa. I hadn't mentioned any of this until now because, well, to be honest? I didn't want you to take it the wrong way and suspect my motives. But it seems that was a failed ambition from the start given you were able to easily figure me out, Kusa. But I think that's everything I'd kept from you this whole time. That said, does that change your opinion of me?" Maruki asked as Ren and Kusa shook their heads and Kusa spoke up.

"Nah, we still think you're a good guy overall, Doc. A bit self-serving and mysterious perhaps, but a good guy nonetheless." Kusa said honestly as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"What Kusa said. But I think there's a more important question to be asked here. I know you said no one would believe you if you were to try and turn on us, but if you were to find someone who'd believe you, I have to ask. Will you rat us out, Doc?" Ren asked bluntly. Maruki chuckled and shook his head as he spoke up.

"Absolutely not, you two! Why would I do that? I like to think of myself as someone who wouldn't sell out people to whom I owe so much." Maruki said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"All right, that's totally fair, Doc." Kusa said as Ren gave Maruki an unconvinced look while Maruki kept speaking.

"If you don't believe what I'm saying Ren, you're free to change my heart as you like." Maruki said as Ren and Kusa shook their heads in unison, the latter speaking up.

"Not gonna happen, Doc! The only reason we'd have to come after your heart would be if you end up distorted and/or a major threat to yourself and/or others. Ideally, we'd rather not change the heart of a close ally like you. And given you're keeping our secret, I think we can consider you an ally in our cause, am I right Ren?" Kusa said as Ren nodded his agreement while Maruki spoke up.

"Good, glad to hear it. Thanks to the two of you, I finally know what I need to do from here. I'm going to stand up to our current reality. I swear I'll use my research to make our world a better place. Though, it'll likely be through different means than how the Phantom Thieves reform members of society." Maruki said as Kusa spoke up with a frown.

"True, but Doc, keep in mind that we all define justice differently." Kusa said as Ren spoke up.

"I'll do my best too, Doc." Ren said honestly. Maruki smirked and spoke up.

"Good point, Kusa. And Ren, is that so? That's good to hear, indeed. You both have a strong moral compass, never losing sight of your own definitions of justice. I'm more grateful than ever to have met such incredible young men like yourselves, Ren and Kusa." Maruki said before standing up and walking over to extend a hand out to Ren while he kept speaking.

"Although, to be honest, it's not like this is the last time we'll see each other, Ren and Kusa. Still, thank you both for everything up to this point." Maruki said as Ren and Kusa both shook hands with Maruki as the former of the two heard the expected voice in his head speak up.

"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 the Councillor, granting thee infinite power..." Ren heard in his head as the 'Councillor' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'IX' becoming an 'X' to signify that his Councillor Confidant link with Maruki had reached rank 10, also marked as 'MAX Rank', confirming that his Councillor Confidant link with Maruki had been maxed out.

As a result of the maxed-out link, Ren was awakened to the power of 'Wakefulness', which was an upgraded Mindfulness that increased the amount of SP recovered for Ren. After that, the words 'FUSION UNLOCKED' showed up on screen in front of the 'Councillor' card before Ren got a notification on his phone that he was now able to fuse 'Vohu Manah', or the strongest Persona of the Councillor arcana. Afterwards, Maruki smiled and spoke up.

"I'm going to follow the path that I believe in. I sincerely hope that one day, at the end of that path, I'll be able to aid the two of you as well. Yes, even if one or both of you were to consider it to be meddling in your affairs." Maruki said as the bell rang to signal the end of the lunch period, making all three wince as Maruki spoke up.

"Whoops, looks like we're out of time. We'll meet again though, right?" Maruki asked Ren and Kusa as Ren spoke up.

"I'm sure of it, Doc. We'll definitely meet again." Ren said as Kusa spoke up with a nod.

"Yeah, definitely. After all, you said something about needing my help with other aspects of your research recently, and I did agree to that, so if nothing else, we'll see each other again towards that end." Kusa said agreeably. Maruki smiled at the two and nodded as he spoke up.

"That's right. And yes Kusa, I did say that. I'll probably get in contact with you later down the line to arrange the particulars of that, so keep an eye out for that." Maruki said as Ren and Kusa nodded, turning to leave as Maruki spoke up again.

"Hey, Ren!" Maruki said as Ren and Kusa exchanged confused looks as the former turned to face Maruki, who shook his head and spoke up.

"Um, no, it's nothing. Best of luck to the three of us! See you guys around!" Maruki said as Ren and Kusa nodded, both leaving the nurse's office together...

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

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

"The Phan-Site's on fire as usual. Anyways, tomorrow's finally it! I hope everyone remembers!" Ryuji sent as Futaba sent a response.

"The date of our plan? Of course we remember." Futaba sent as Ann sent a response.

"That means we're sending out the calling card today, right?" Ann sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Yes, I do believe today was the day we agreed on with Akechi-kun for sending the calling card." Kusa sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"That's correct. Today is our only option. The police have yet to actually make a move, but I am certain we have reached our limits." Yusuke sent as Haru sent a response.

"That's true. Also, we wanted to wait as long as possible to make Makoto's sister panic, thus ensuring her Treasure appears. Do I have that right?" Haru sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Yes, that's right. Taking that into account, today would be the best and only option. We can speak in more detail about this after school." Makoto sent as Ryuji sent a response at that point.

"All right, see y'all at Leblanc!" Ryuji sent as Ann and Ren put their phones away and the rest of the school day passed uneventfully...

(After school, at Leblanc with Morgana, Makoto, Akechi, Ryuji, Ren, Yusuke, Futaba, Kusa, Ann, and Haru)

"Boss said he reserved the place just for us. We're free to drink as much coffee as we want." Ann said as Kusa spoke up.

"Within reason, yes. Keep in mind Ann, Ren and I have to brew the coffee we drink, and Boss also asked we not touch his rarer coffee beans if we can avoid it. So as long as we can abide by that, then you're correct." Kusa pointed out gently as Futaba smiled and spoke up.

"Fair. But you and Ren brew such good coffee though. Mwehehe! Not as good as Sojiro yet, but still pretty good." Futaba said. Ryuji smirked and spoke up.

"True, but ain't this place always empty, though?" Ryuji said as Kusa and Ren both glared at Ryuji for his comment, the former speaking up.

"Hey, watch your mouth, Ryuji! It is not always empty! Sometimes, Boss just has slow days! Plus, if it wasn't empty, how useful would this place be as a hideout?" Kusa pointed out as Ren nodded his agreement.

"Exactly, Kusa! Also, be aware that what you just said is very rude, Ryuji. You're gonna be lucky if either myself, Kusa or Futaba don't tell Boss on you." Ren said teasingly. Futaba nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly, Ren. And everyone here is a witness to what Ryuji just said." Futaba said as Ryuji's jaw dropped and he spoke up.

"Wha? I-I was just jokin', that's all." Ryuji said as Kusa spoke up.

"Be that as it may Ryuji, you really do need to try and think more before you speak. You're a good guy, but the amount of times you speak without thinking is really mind-blowing. I think if you actually put your mind to it, you could be so much more tactful than you currently are. So try to better yourself, please." Kusa said as Haru awkwardly spoke up to change the subject.

"Um, we're supposed to be discussing where we should send the calling card, not teasing Ryuji-kun about his lack of respect for Leblanc and Boss." Haru said shyly but firmly. Ann spoke up at that point.

"Good point, Haru. But, considering how big the hype's gotten, she'll prolly think it's just a big prank, won't she?" Ann asked as Akechi spoke up for the first time in awhile.

"True. I could always put it on Sae-san's desk. People know me there, so I could gain access easily." Akechi suggested as Futaba and Kusa exchanged worried looks while Morgana spoke up.

"Um, that's not a good idea, Akechi. If you're the only one who can get in there, it'll be easily traced back to you." Morgana said as Makoto frowned and spoke up.

"Hm, in that case, I'll do it. I can just tell her it came for her in the mail. That would be the least risky method. No matter what she asks, I'll tell her I don't know anything." Makoto said firmly but resolutely as Kusa and Futaba exchanged wide-eyed looks of concern as Futaba spoke up.

"But Makoto, that's risky still. What if your sister tries guilt-tripping you into letting something slip?" Futaba asked as Akechi turned to Ren and spoke up.

"You're our leader, Ren. So this will be up to you. Should we leave the calling card to Makoto?" Akechi asked Ren as Ren spoke up.

"Yeah, I trust her with it." Ren said agreeably as Kusa spoke up.

"It's still a very risky plan, but I trust Makoto to not fold under pressure if her sister starts grilling her about the card. And right now, we cannot afford to distrust one another. We have to be able to rely on one another to get things done. Otherwise, we're going to have a hard time functioning going forward, I fear." Kusa said honestly. Ann winced as she spoke up.

"Is that plan really the only way?" Ann said as Kusa spoke up.

"Well, it's this or somehow sneaking Morgana in to drop the calling card in Makoto's living room, which would be harder since I doubt he's ever been to Makoto's house, much less that Makoto's house is pet-friendly. No offense to you Morgana, but your current form is easily mistakable for a pet. Just saying." Kusa said as Morgana just did the feline equivalent of a shrug, not really being able to refute Kusa's point, at the same time that Makoto did a closed-eye smile while Ryuji spoke up.

"Kusa, relax. I have faith in Makoto. She's a level-headed, smart, impressive woman. I think she can handle this." Ryuji said honestly as Makoto smiled wider and kissed Ryuji on the cheek before speaking up.

"Thank you for the vote of support, sweetie. And everyone, don't worry. I'll be okay. I've already traversed far more dangerous ground than this." Makoto said as Kusa blinked but nodded as he spoke up.

"That's true. You did put yourself on the line when you first joined so we could track a mob boss to his hideout to find his Palace, so if you can handle that, you can easily handle your own sister. I believe in you, Makoto." Kusa said agreeably. Makoto smiled at Kusa and spoke up, ignoring the looks of confusion on Haru, Futaba, and Akechi's faces at the mention of the mob, while the latter of the three shrugged it off and spoke up.

"We will leave it to you then, Makoto. Thank you for agreeing to this. I will need to step up my game as well to make up for it, since I should be contributing more as the new guy." Akechi said with a closed-eye grin. Yusuke nodded and spoke up.

"Very well. We will enter from in front of the courthouse. Does six o'clock in the evening work for everyone?" Yusuke asked as Ann spoke up.

"Yup, got it." Ann said as Haru spoke up with a smile and a nod.

"Same as always." Haru said with a nod while Kusa crossed his arms and spoke up.

"Makes sense to me, but I feel I must stress this. We have to take all due caution with this target. After all, this target could make or break our futures. If we mess this up, it's not just game over for our career as Phantom Thieves, but very possibly game over for our freedom too! And I, for one, have no desire to see the inside of a jail cell if I can avoid it. So we cannot leave anything to chance!" Kusa said emphatically as Morgana grinned and spoke up with a nod.

"Well said, Kusa! In that case, let's get ready for tomorrow! Dismissed!" Morgana said as the meeting was adjourned, before cutting to a shot of Morgana in the attic with Ren as he spoke up.

"Okay! Tomorrow's finally the day. All that's left is to carry out the operation that Makoto outlined earlier. Anyway, now we just need to hand it over. As long as we can get it to Niijima, the rest should handle itself for the most part." Morgana said as Ren nodded his agreement...

(That evening, at the Niijima household with Sae and Makoto)

Sae frowned while looking at the calling card in her hands that Makoto had handed her, eventually speaking up warily.

"Hm, what's this? Is this a calling card!? This says, 'To the Madame Sae Niijima, one who has committed the great sin of jealousy and envy. It has come to our attention that you have lost yourself amidst your frankly worrying obsession with success. While success is a fine thing to strive for, in your case, you take it entirely too far. For its sake, you are even willing to promote injustice as justice, just for the sake of success.

As such, your continued misdeeds leave us with no choice. Prepare to have your heart stolen and changed! We're coming for you, Sae Niijima! And believe us, this is one change of heart that we will NOT fail! -Yours, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, aka the Phantom Crew.' Is this for real!?" Sae said in a mix of outrage and surprise as Makoto winced and spoke up.

"I dunno. I found it in our mailbox when I got home, Sis." Makoto said as Sae scoffed and spoke up.

"Outrageous! To think that they would send me one. Me, of all people!" Sae said as she crumpled up the calling card while she kept speaking.

"They brand me a criminal and plan to change my heart? What nonsense! They only care about disposing of those who are an inconvenience to them! Fine, so be it! I'll just have to catch them first!" Sae said angrily as Makoto spoke up uneasily.

"And when you do catch them, you're going to interrogate them, right? In some kind of underground room, was it?" Makoto asked as Sae blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? Why do you ask?" Sae asked Makoto, who blinked and spoke up.

"O-Oh! No reason! I just remembered you mentioning something like that before when you spoke about your job." Makoto said as Sae nodded and spoke up.

"That's right. It will be in a special interrogation room underground. My time will be limited, but I will do whatever it takes to make them divulge their secrets!" Sae said firmly but resolutely as the screen cut to a shot of Shadow Sae, who smirked and spoke up.

"Let's do this fair and square!" Niijima's Shadow said as her Palace's security level shot way up. At that point, Sae spoke up.

"I should probably be getting back. It's late, but I should contact the director and let him know about this calling card, since he asked me to contact him should the unexpected occur. That said, I expect things will calm down a little once this case is over. Once that happens, since we don't spend enough time together, why don't we go on a trip to some hot springs? Just the two of us." Sae suggested as Makoto gave Sae a surprised look and spoke up.

"Sis, are you actually trying to be nice? Um, I-I'm on your side! I won't let anyone do anything to you!" Makoto said in an almost tearful tone, surprising Sae as she heard Makoto seem to break down, walking over and smiling at Makoto before speaking up with a chuckle.

"Heh, what an odd girl you are, Makoto." Sae said as she pulled out her phone while Makoto spoke up.

"Oh, do you need to make a call?" Makoto asked. Sae nodded and Makoto kept speaking.

"I'll head up to my room then." Makoto said as she left the room, at which point Sae dialed a number on her phone and spoke up when someone answered on the other end.

"Hello? I'm sorry for calling so late. This is Niijima. There's something I need to inform you of about the case." Sae said before listening to the voice on the other end and nodding as she spoke up.

"Correct. I received a calling card from the Phantom Thieves. It was addressed to me directly and-" Sae said, before being cut off mid-sentence as the voice on the other end spoke up, making Sae's eyes widen at what she heard as she spoke up.

"What!? Stand by!? And you've transferred command of the investigation to someone else without telling me!?" Sae asked as the voice on the other end spoke up making Sae frown as she spoke up.

"No, of course not. There's no problem. Yes, I get it. I understand. I'll remain on standby until further instructions, then. Please excuse me." Sae said as she hung up her phone and looked dismayed...

(Back at Leblanc, with Ren, Kusa, and Morgana)

"Forget about going out tonight. We need to prepare for tomorrow." Morgana said to Ren and Kusa, who nodded as their phones went off to signify a group chat with Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, and Akechi, with Makoto sending the first response.

"Sorry for the wait. I believe it went well. And Kusa, you did a fantastic job with this card! I think that's the first time I've ever seen Sis' jaw dropped in shock." Makoto sent as Kusa and Haru sent responses close together, Haru's coming through first.

"Thanks, Mako-chan. It's all going according to plan, then." Haru sent as Kusa's response came through.

"Aw, it was nothin'. Plus, some of the credit belongs to Taba, since she helped write it. Some of the more dynamic parts, specifically the ending bit, were her idea. She's got quite a creative mind on her. Maybe she and I should collab on a story or something sometime." Kusa said as Futaba sent a response.

"Mwehehe! What can I say? I've got a very creative mind." Futaba sent as Akechi sent a response.

"Be that as it may, we need to be serious here! So, it has finally come to this. I actually feel somewhat nervous." Akechi sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"That's understandable, but don't freak out so much that you screw up, all right?" Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"You're one to talk, Ryuji." Ann sent as Akechi sent a response.

"I ask that you go easy on me. Well then, see you tomorrow." Akechi sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Hold on a sec! Crow, go over the operation again before you leave." Futaba sent as Akechi sent a response.

"Ignoring you calling me by my code name, it is just as we discussed earlier, is it not?" Akechi sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"This battle will decide our future. We must ensure we're fully prepared beforehand." Yusuke sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Exactly, Yusuke! Like I said earlier, we cannot afford to leave anything about the operation to chance. So Akechi-kun, please just humor Taba. She's making sure we're all on the same page here." Kusa sent as Akechi sent a response.

"Ugh, very well. Our objective is stealing Sae-san's Treasure. We will meet at the courthouse at approximately 6 P.M." Akechi sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Good! Wanna give us one last word before we go, leader?" Futaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"Yes. First and foremost, even if this is seemingly our final job, let's still be as careful as possible. After all, if we mess this up, we might not have futures to look forward to, since our lives could be over. But I'll let Kusa handle the actual pep-talk here, since he's our second-in-command, so it falls to him to help raise the morale." Ren sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Thank you, Ren. Like our leader said, we have to take this seriously! I know we all have our differences, but now is not the time to let those define and divide us! Now, more than ever, we need to come together as a team, in order to ensure we have the best possible odds of success tomorrow. And to that end, let us be prepared to throw most of, if not all of, the tricks in our arsenal at our target! This is one target that failure is NOT an option on! Let us therefore do our best tomorrow!" Kusa sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Well said, Ren-kun and Kusa-kun! We'll be relying on the two of you to lead us well tomorrow." Makoto sent as Akechi sent a response.

"What a stirring and frankly charismatic speech by Amamiya-kun the younger. And what a wonderful, trusting relationship you all have. I will do my best in this as well." Akechi sent honestly as Ren and Kusa put their phones away, at which point Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"All right! I agree with what Kusa said earlier. We can't afford any mistakes, especially not this time. Tomorrow's a big day for us all, so let's make sure we give it our all!" Morgana said as Ren and Kusa nodded their agreement. After considering their limited options, Kusa and Ren decided to finish watching 'Mouse M.D.' with Morgana, as Kusa made more popcorn while Ren put the movie in and got things set up. Once Kusa came back upstairs with the popcorn, Ren set the bowl on a third chair he'd set up between himself and Kusa, while Kusa gently set Morgana in his lap so the not-cat could watch the movie as well.

Once everything was ready, Ren pressed play to start the second disc of 'Mouse M.D.'. As Kusa and Ren watched, they grinned at the story, which showed that though he faced opposition from his peers, the doctor mouse held fast to his convictions. Morgana smirked as he spoke up.

"Hm. He's a stubborn one, that mouse. Kind of like a certain pair of brothers I could name in this room." Morgana said as Kusa laughed and spoke up.

"You're not wrong, but at the same time, I'd like to think Ren and I are getting less stubborn than we used to be." Kusa said in amusement as Ren spoke up.

"Agreed, Kusa. Plus I think we made something of a breakthrough last night, so I'm both curious and excited to see how things proceed from here on for us." Ren said in agreement as Kusa smiled and nodded, blue notes going up over his head as he spoke.

"Same, Ren. And Morgana? I don't think you've got room to talk about stubbornness when you were so stubborn you refused to tell us you were hurting until it literally came to a head in the most awkward manner possible. So don't call us stubborn, please." Kusa said as Morgana shrugged and spoke up.

"Eh, fair enough, Kusa. I'll give you that. But back on topic, you've gotta admit that even if the mouse doctor is stubborn, he solves the problem every time." Morgana said as Ren and Kusa nodded, the former smiling as the trio finished the movie. Afterwards, Morgana spoke up.

"Oh! So we finished watching 'Mouse M.D.', huh? Nice. Maybe you learned a thing or two about Kindness from watching this drama, Ren." Morgana said to Ren, who shrugged as his Kindness got a sizable, if unneeded, boost, the boost being further boosted by the bonus multiplier Ren got from finishing 'The Charm of Cinema'. Morgana then kept speaking.

"Let's go and return the finished DVD soon, Ren." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm sure Ren will get to that when he has a chance, Morgana. Of course, this all assumes everything goes well tomorrow. Let us all do our best and hope nothing goes awry." Kusa said uneasily as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Good point, Kusa. Either way, it's starting to get late. Let's head to bed soon, okay guys? We've got a big day tomorrow." Morgana said as Kusa nodded his agreement along with Ren, as the two got comfortable for the evening before laying down on the sofa/bed respectively, Morgana curling up happily on Kusa as the trio dozed off for the night...

(The next day, after school, in the hideout with Kusa, Futaba, Morgana, Yusuke, Haru, Ryuji, Ren, Akechi, Makoto, and Ann)

"The day has come at last. Are you all prepared?" Haru asked the group as Akechi spoke up.

"First things first. What ended up happening with the calling card, Makoto?" Akechi asked Makoto, an intrigued look on his face. Makoto looked at Akechi and spoke up.

"I showed it to Sis last night. She took it from my very own hands the moment I showed it to her." Makoto said as Futaba gave Makoto a look that was a mix of sympathetic and anxious.

"Makoto, are you okay?" Futaba asked as Kusa spoke up reassuringly.

"I'm sure she's fine for the most part, Taba. A bit shocked from having the card snatched right out of her hand, but otherwise fine." Kusa said comfortingly as Yusuke nodded and spoke up.

"Good point, Kusa. And Makoto, I understand how you feel, but you mustn't be so downtrodden." Yusuke said as Ryuji nodded and frowned while speaking up.

"Yeah, Yusuke's right. This is important. If we screw this up, we're done for. There's way more than losin' the place we belong that's ridin' on this. We could even lose our lives here, y'know." Ryuji said as Makoto got a determined look on her face as she spoke up.

"It will be all right. I want to save my sister, no matter what." Makoto said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Perfectly understandable, Makoto. And we want to do our best to help make that happen, so I think we're agreed on that." Kusa said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Right. Is everyone decided?" Morgana asked as Ann spoke up with a nod.

"Mm-hm! All's well that ends well!" Ann said resolutely as Morgana spoke up firmly.

"True. So much has happened since we first started up this group. Honestly, you guys have become quite the reliable team. All right, Joker! This is the Phantom Thieves' final heist! Give us the signal!" Morgana said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Ignoring you using code names outside of the Metaverse, I agree. That said, if everyone's ready, let's do this! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Ren said decisively as the group headed into the Metaverse...

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

After the group entered the Palace, they wasted little time making their way to the Treasure room, only to be surprised when there was no Treasure where they expected it to be. Skull gasped and spoke up.

"WHOA! Huh!? Where's the Treasure!?" Skull asked as Draconis' eyes narrowed in suspicion, but before he could say anything, the voice of Niijima's Shadow could be heard speaking over the intercom.

"Heh, I see. It seems you came, just as I had planned." Niijima's Shadow said as Mona's eyes widened and he spoke up.

"Wait, what!? As she planned? Did she plan on us coming for her Treasure!?" Mona asked as Fox gasped and spoke up in realization.

"No, could it be? Was the Treasure put on display to lure us here!?" Fox asked as Noir spoke up in realization.

"Hm, if so, then that's why we could faintly see its shape before." Haru said as Niijima's Shadow spoke up once more over the intercom.

"Mmhm. First off, allow me to compliment you. I never expected you would be able to make it this far and reach me here." Niijima's Shadow said over the intercom with genuine amazement as Crow spoke up with a huff.

"Be that as it may, we would much rather have the Treasure than your words of praise. Where did you hide it?" Crow demanded as in response, a door opened up at the top of the stairs and the voice of Niijima's Shadow spoke up once more.

"Heh, very well then. Come. We shall put an end to this once and for all." Niijima's Shadow said over the intercom as Crow spoke up.

"Hm, interesting. It seems as though she wants us to pursue her at this point." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"I thought the same, Crow. But I also feel like this is a trap. Still, if we want that Treasure, we won't have any other choice but to spring it." Draconis said wisely as Skull spoke up.

"Agreed, Draconis! Dammit, she's mockin' us with this shit! Let's go after her!" Skull said as the group kept moving towards the now-open door. After heading through the door, the group found an elevator, at which point Crow spoke up.

"Joker, do you have a moment? This elevator will most likely take us to Sae-san's location. Is everyone ready to go?" Crow asked as Joker spoke up.

"Of course. We're as ready as we're gonna be." Joker said as Draconis spoke up at that point, giving Crow an unimpressed look while he spoke.

"What sort of question is that supposed to be, Crow? Why would we have come this far if we weren't ready to give all we have for this mission?" Draconis asked Crow in a disappointed voice, surprising Joker with the amount of disappointment he could hear in Draconis' voice. Mona smiled as he spoke up.

"YES! In that case, let's keep going! All right then, let's go!" Mona said as Queen spoke up in a determined voice.

"Sis, hang in there. I'll protect you, no matter what it takes." Queen said resolutely as Skull gently hugged Queen comfortingly, careful not to impale himself on her spikes as he did so while speaking up.

"Queen, we'll save your sister. So relax, and let's make sure we do this thing right." Skull said reassuringly to Queen as the group took the elevator down to a new part of the casino, where all they could see was lights, confetti and an oddly green carpet. At that point, a monitor flashed to life behind the group, making them turn as one to face it while Niijima's Shadow came up on screen and Crow spoke up.

"What kind of game will it be this time? No matter what you bring out, we will emerge victorious." Crow said firmly. Niijima's Shadow huffed and spoke up.

"How naive! You're making a grave mistake if you think you have me cornered. I only guided you here because this place allows me to fight to my heart's content." Niijima's Shadow said on the monitor. Queen winced and spoke up at that point.

"Sis, what have you become?" Queen asked in disbelief as Draconis spoke up firmly.

"She's become a warped, distorted shadow of her actual self! What we're looking at is the side of your sister that is consumed by her determination to win at any cost, probably brought on from being put in the position of head of your family at such a young age. Not saying that her actions are justified at all, but that I can understand how she might feel, having to basically look after a sibling out of nowhere.

Granted, in her case, it was for a very sad reason, unlike with Joker and I. With us, it was just effed up circumstances that led to me having to look after Joker, but I've come to terms with that by now. But I can't imagine that your sister's Shadow has had any such chance to find peace with her circumstances, and that's just sad, Queen." Draconis said sagely as Niijima's Shadow gave Draconis a look that was a mix of shocked, impressed and pleased while she spoke up.

"Hm, well put, guy in the dragon mask. You're exactly right. When my father died in the line of duty, I hated his killer from the bottom of my heart. Dying to uphold justice sounds virtuous, but the ones left behind have to clean up the mess! Can you imagine the hardships I had to endure!?" Niijima's Shadow said as Draconis spoke up.

"I can, in fact. Granted, for you, they were probably far more exacerbated since you had to practically raise your sister after your father died. Whereas I, by comparison, merely had to take up an overseer-type role for Joker. But I can relate in a way to what you're going through, since like you, my father chose to not be around, and left me to have to accept the consequences of that, even when it meant having to uproot my life not once, but twice! So yes, I can easily imagine the hardships you had to endure, though I'd bet they're also even worse than I'm imagining, so in that aspect at least, you have my respect and understanding." Draconis said as Crow scoffed and spoke up.

"Please. Don't be so sure, Draconis. I doubt that's even it at all. And perhaps I had even overestimated her. I thought her reasoning would have been more noble somehow." Crow said derisively as Draconis turned to Crow and spoke up.

"Oh yeah? And how can you make something like having your dad's absence, or in Niijima's Shadow's case, his death, a noble reasoning to turn to such an ignoble lifestyle? That's kind of a lofty line of thought, Crow." Draconis said sagely as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Never mind that, you two! Look at Niijima's Shadow! She's lost control of herself, it seems." Oracle said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"This is wrong, though." Noir said as Niijima's Shadow spoke up while giving the group unimpressed looks, with the exception of Draconis, who she gave a curt nod of respect even while she spoke.

"While I am impressed with the logic used by the one in the dragon mask, I must still stop you all! Justice cannot yield to evil! I must win, no matter what!" Niijima's Shadow said as Draconis spoke up.

"There's one problem with that logic, Niijima-san the elder! How is what you're doing at all justice!? Sure, your profession is a noble and respected one, but you're not using it for just purposes! If you weren't so consumed by your determination to succeed and thoughts of revenge on your father's killer, you'd have realized you're being used as a pawn!" Draconis said as Crow scoffed and spoke up.

"Regardless of if you're right or not, Draconis, in the end? This is nothing more than self-righteousness that Sae-san's Shadow is using to justify her actions." Crow said as Niijima's Shadow huffed and spoke up.

"Perhaps you're right, guy in the dragon mask. But there's one way to know for sure. All we need to do to determine who is right is to pit our ideals against one another on the field of battle! Now, why don't we begin?" Niijima's Shadow said as she snapped her fingers and the panels near the group flipped up to reveal that the area the group was standing on was in fact one gigantic roulette wheel. At that point, several of the group spoke up.

"What!?" Mona said as Haru spoke up in shock.

"Eek! The floor is changing!" Haru said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"The floor? Wait! Is this what I think it is!?" Fox asked. At that point, the rest of the panels shifted away, confirming that the group was standing on a roulette wheel. After that, Niijima's Shadow spoke up once more.

"Indeed. A clash of brute strength is simply uncalled for on this stage." Niijima's Shadow said as she suddenly appeared on the wheel behind the group, all of whom turned to face her as Crow spoke up in a mix of horror and surprise.

"Oh! What is she intending?" Crow said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Enough! I don't care if you are the Shadow of Queen's sister! No more coins or playin' games! We ain't followin' your damn rules!" Skull said angrily to Niijima's Shadow, who smirked confidently as she spoke up.

"Oh, you will. There is no room for interrogation." Niijima's Shadow said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Very well. Let's suppose we do go along with your rules for this, Niijima-san the elder. What's to say you haven't rigged this game in your favor the way you tried to rig the Battle Arena, the House of Darkness, and pretty much every other challenge we've had to overcome thus far in this Palace?" Draconis asked Niijima's Shadow, frowning as he crossed his arms while giving Niijima's Shadow a disapproving look.

"Patience, my dragon-masked adversary. You will know soon enough." Niijima's Shadow said confidently as her form flickered between her current form and a more monstrous form, to the horror of the group. Queen gasped as she saw the flickering and spoke up in horror.

"Um, what was that!?" Queen asked as Draconis spoke up.

"If I had to guess? That's probably her monster form, primed to be revealed when she fights us!" Draconis said wisely as Niijima's Shadow nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Now, if you're set on doing this, come at me!" Niijima's Shadow challenged the group as Queen looked at her sister's Shadow in horror before blinking as she felt a gentle hand patting her on the shoulder, seemingly unbothered by the spikes there, making her turn in surprise to see Crow patting her on the shoulder as he spoke up comfortingly.

"It'll be all right, Queen. You'll save her, right?" Crow asked Queen, who blinked before nodding affirmatively. After that, Mona looked at Niijima's Shadow before speaking up while addressing the group.

"All right everyone, this is it! Be on alert, since anything could happen here!" Mona said encouragingly as the fight began! As the fight started, Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Good luck to you, Phantom Thieves! May the best player win!" Niijima's Shadow said as Oracle spoke up to try and pep the group up.

"All right, let's do it!" Oracle said as Joker, Crow, Panther, and Draconis nodded from the front lines with Fox, Skull, Queen, Mona, and Noir nodding from nearby where they watched and were ready in case they needed to be tagged in. For the first round, the group attempted to gauge her affinities, to neutral success. After the first round, Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Here we go! May the best player win!" Niijima's Shadow said as she snapped her fingers and the roulette wheel started spinning, the giant monitor above her flashing the words 'BET HP' on screen. Oracle gasped and spoke up.

"Wait! What the-!?" Oracle asked as Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Confused? Let me explain! Now, let us play a game of roulette. The stakes will be, fittingly enough, our lives." Niijima's Shadow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Our lives!? What is this, fricking Russian Roulette? Talk about living dangerously!" Draconis said sagely as Niijima's Shadow chuckled and spoke up.

"Very funny. But no. It's not Russian Roulette. Such a thing is prohibited here. Of course, to be clear, acts of violence are forbidden here. One must follow the rules." Niijima's Shadow said as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"What!? We already told you, there's no way we're gonna follow your rules anymore!" Oracle said as Niijima's Shadow cackled and spoke up.

"Oh, really!? That's fine by me. Such troublesome people will just face the penalty by default, then." Niijima's Shadow said as Oracle spoke up.

"Oh, no! There's a penalty for not following the rules!? What should we do?" Oracle asked as Draconis spoke up.

"For now, we follow the rules. But eventually, we'll turn the tables so we can take her down." Draconis said decisively. Joker nodded before having his 'Unicorn' Persona attempt a Psiodyne to further gauge the affinities of Niijima's Shadow, forgetting as he did so that there was a rule against violence. Niijima's Shadow chuckled at Joker's actions and spoke up.

"Ah, I see! So you've broken the rules. In that case, it's time you be penalized!" Niijima's Shadow said as she made a torrent of coins rain down on Joker, hitting him for near-fatal damage, as both Draconis and Oracle gasped and spoke up.

"JOKER!" Draconis and Oracle cried out in unison as the latter spoke up further.

"Wait, what!? THIS is the penalty!?" Oracle said as Niijima's Shadow nodded and spoke up.

"That's correct. Those who cannot follow rules are not to be tolerated. That is simply how society operates." Niijima's Shadow said as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Ngh, I see. I guess we should follow the rules, then. Kinda gonna need our lives to be able to keep doing what we do." Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"No worries, Oracle. We'll just heal Joker up real quick, then shift to a more defensive strategy for the time being." Draconis said decisively. After Crow and Panther healed Joker, Draconis kept to his word by taking a defensive stance as Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Hmph, that's better. You will predict which pocket the ball will fall into. Now, the time has come for our first round. Choose where you will place your bet!" Niijima's Shadow said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"I'm almost positive she's going to try and cheat, but even if we bring that up, she'll just ignore us. We should go along with the game for now, and try to gain evidence on her methods of cheating." Mona said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed, Mona. That can be Oracle's job for now. As our navigator, she's well-equipped for fact-finding. And if it comes to it, you and Crow can protect her while she gathers evidence while Panther, myself, and Joker keep playing the game for the time being." Draconis said decisively, stepping into his role as second-in-command. Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Well said, Draconis! I agree." Crow said as Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Well? How will you bet?" Niijima's Shadow asked as Joker thought about it and opted, for the safer, lower-return bet while gathering evidence, so that any potential losses incurred would be slightly minimized. Joker chose to bet on the black pockets as Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Oh? Have you made your decision! Then let's see the results!" Niijima's Shadow said as the ball rolled, and started to slow down before coming to a halt seemingly on a black pocket, only for a gleam of light to happen and the ball to slide over into the nearby red pocket, making the bet a loss, causing the word 'LOSS' to flash under the group's feet before a series of red wisps hit the group, damaging them all and allowing Niijima's Shadow to sap 100 HP from each of the in-battle Thieves, making Mona frown as he spoke up in disbelief.

"We lost that one! Have you figured anything out, Joker?" Mona asked Joker, who exchanged a look with Draconis before both nodded as Joker spoke up.

"I most certainly have, Mona." Joker said as Mona looked at Joker in surprise before speaking up.

"Really!? How is she doing it!?" Mona asked Joker as he chuckled and spoke up.

"Heh, it's rather obvious if you looked closely at that roll." Joker said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Exactly. I saw a gleam of light before that ball landed. Clearly, there's a lid on whatever pockets we bet to ensure that we lose." Draconis said sagely. Mona blinked before nodding his understanding and speaking up.

"I see, that does make sense. I think you two are right! It did seem like the ball floated for a split second there, to be honest." Mona said as Crow scoffed and spoke up.

"Tch! How humiliating, to be bested by such a simple parlor trick. Just as well that Draconis has such a keen eye for detail, it seems." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Heh, thanks, Crow. I'll take that as a compliment, assuming that wasn't a back-handed insult." Draconis said with a smile as Oracle spoke up.

"Whether that was a compliment or an insult, that's not important! Let's catch her in the act so she can't talk her way out of it! Have someone snipe the pocket when that glass lid appears! Joker, you're in charge of choosing who's gonna be the sniper!" Oracle said as Fox spoke up with a frown.

"Ugh! How dare she make such fools out of us? This is unacceptable!" Fox said in annoyance as Joker and Draconis looked at each other.

"We need to send someone to expose her trickery, Draconis. Should I send someone to do it?" Joker asked as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed, and I think we both know who it has to be." Draconis said agreeably as Joker nodded his agreement. Both Draconis and Joker turned to look at Crow as one, making him blink as he spoke up.

"Oh? You're sending me? If so, so be it! I won't miss the mark!" Crow said as Draconis nodded before smiling wryly at Crow while he spoke up.

"Yep, it has to be you, Crow! You're our best marksman, as much as I don't like admitting that. So it's up to you." Draconis said decisively as Joker nodded his agreement. Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Very well! Watch and learn! THIS is how it's done!" Crow said as he leapt away to prepare his shot. At the same time, Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Time for Round 2! May the best player win!" Niijima's Shadow said as the monitor flashed and the 'BET HP' changed to 'BET MONEY' as Oracle spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, the stuff on the monitor changed. Now we're betting money instead of our lives. That must mean the betting changes every time somehow." Oracle said as the roulette started spinning, while Oracle spoke up from inside Necronomicon.

"Support's on the way!" Oracle said as she hit a button on Necronomicon's controls and hit the group with a beam of energy that gave some HP back to the group. After that, Joker remembered the penalty and had everyone assume defensive stances, which the group complied with. At that point, Oracle spoke up from inside Necronomicon, looking at Joker and Draconis as she spoke.

"OK, the sniper's in the designated spot. All that's left is to wait for the next roulette spin." Oracle said to Draconis and Joker, who nodded as Crow got into position, pointing his gun and preparing to take the shot after the next spin started. Niijima's Shadow spoke up at that point.

"Very well, it's once again time to make your bet! Well, how will you bet?" Niijima's Shadow asked as Joker opted for a higher-risk, higher return bet, and bet the middle 12 pockets, or Pockets 13 through 24. Niijima's Shadow chuckled and spoke up.

"I see. Hopefully your prediction will be correct this time. Heh heh." Niijima's Shadow said as the spin started and Crow prepared his shot, taking aim and firing right as the ball hit the lid, shattering the lid and making it land right on target, making the word 'WIN' flash on the wheel along with a catchy little 'you win!' type jingle playing as Niijima's Shadow gasped in shock before throwing away a lot of money as she spoke up.

"WH-WHAT!?" Niijima's Shadow asked in shock as Oracle chuckled and spoke up.

"Heh, we got her! Joker!" Oracle called as Joker nodded before he and Draconis led Crow and Panther into a Hold Up, holding up Niijima's Shadow as Oracle huffed and spoke up.

"What was that about fair and square!? You were totally cheating!" Oracle said as Niijima's Shadow scoffed and spoke up.

"Nnh, no, how could this be? How could you win that bet? Ngh, this is impossible!" Niijima's Shadow said while shaking as Oracle spoke up.

"You coward! What're you so shocked for!? Say something!" Oracle said as Niijima's Shadow glared at Oracle and spoke up.

"Shut up, you brat! SHUT UUUP!" Niijima's Shadow said angrily before shifting forms into a more monstrous form, specifically that of a female demon with pointed chest armor and hands that were replaced by a gun for one hand and a sword for the other, making Oracle gasp and speak up.

"Ugh! What the-!?" Oracle called out in surprise as Niijima's Shadow scoffed and spoke up.

"Cheating!? Unfair!? Silence! This is MY world! I AM the law! I am everything! No one in this world deserves to win, except for ME! If you still dare to defy my justice, then prepare to be totally crushed!" Niijima's Shadow said as Oracle shuddered and spoke up.

"No! So this is her true nature, then!?" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"Seems that way, Oracle. But then, I always suspected she was warped and distorted, so this just proves it. It's unfortunate, though. Had things been different, I feel she could've made a very valuable ally to our cause, with that strong sense of justice she has." Draconis said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Well, in any case, we're finally back to a normal fight at this point. Good luck, Joker! Do your best!" Oracle said as the roulette flashed and the icons changed from normal roulette panels to panels with the various elements on it, including every element from Agi all the way to Megido. Crow gasped as he spoke up.

"What the!? The roulette panels changed?" Crow asked as Draconis nodded while Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Little punks!" Niijima's Shadow said as Oracle spoke up.

"Careful! She's way more powerful than she was before! Don't underestimate her!" Oracle said as the group started trying to determine the weakness of Niijima's Shadow, who spoke up after the roulette was spun and landed on a Garu panel.

"My justice has revealed to me the truth. That truth being that I must judge evil like a furious tempest!" Niijima's Shadow said as the group kept determining her affinity. After a bit, the roulette spun once more, this time landing on a Bufu panel as Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"My justice has revealed the truth to me once more. This time, I must judge evil with an icy heart!" Niijima's Shadow said as she launched a Bufu-attribute attack at the group, downing Panther. Oracle spoke up.

"Careful! She's gearing up for an ice attack!" Oracle said wisely as Joker nodded and spoke up. After the group spent a few rounds figuring out her affinities, discovering in the process that she had no weakness to speak of, Niijima's Shadow spoke up.

"Only victory matters! To guarantee it, you have to be willing to do anything! Doesn't might naturally make one right?" Niijima's Shadow asked as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"Not likely! While that is a true saying, might does not always make right! I learned that lesson the hard way recently! I, too, thought I was mighty and unstoppable, but then I had a certain masked opponent of mine give me a brutal reality check by swatting me aside like I was nothing as they proceeded to brutally gun down Kunikazu Okumura's Shadow in front of me in cold blood. I have no idea who they are behind that mask, but if I ever find Black Mask? He and I have a rematch coming! While I thank him for helping me to see the truth of my previous arrogance, that's not going to excuse how massively he humiliated me that day.

My point in saying this is that you need to wake up! You might think that might is what makes right, and that this is the only way to ensure your success, but in the end, all you're doing is hurting yourself, and more importantly, you're hurting your sister! Do you think she enjoys watching you destroy yourself just to make a better life for the two of you!?" Draconis said to Niijima's Shadow sincerely, ignoring the shocked looks on the faces of Crow, Joker and Queen at his admission about how Black Mask had given him a reality check. Niijima's Shadow looked at Draconis in surprise as she spoke up.

"Is that true? Even so, it changes nothing! Whether it's hurting me or not, I can't turn back now! No matter what happens here, I need to keep winning!" Niijima's Shadow said as Oracle scoffed and spoke up.

"Psh! What kinda logic is that!? It's about time you came to your senses!" Oracle said before using Active Support to give the party more HP as Panther dodged another Punishing Hail from Niijima's Shadow. After Joker and Panther took advantage of her lack of Agi resistance to pelt Niijima's Shadow with Agidyne attacks, Niijima's Shadow frowned and spoke up as she pointed her gatling gun at the group.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Niijima's Shadow said as she fired a barrage of bullets at the group, Draconis quickly using Smaug to deflect the bullets harmlessly, the few that weren't deflected by Smaug being repelled by Fox through his 'Counterstrike' skill and hitting Niijima's Shadow as Draconis winced as he felt the shots hit Smaug, but smiled as Smaug healed itself easily. After a few rounds of pelting Niijima's Shadow with attacks, Crow and Draconis exchanged looks and nodded as Draconis spoke up.

"I hate doing this, but it seems like the only way we're bringing Niijima's Shadow to her senses is to bring her down! Crow, shall we deal the final blow to her?" Draconis asked Crow, who smirked and nodded.

"Draconis? I couldn't agree more! I think it's time we show off our trump card!" Crow said, confusing everyone present except for Draconis, who chuckled and nodded.

"Well put, Crow. I think you know what time it is then?" Draconis said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Naturally. Ready, Draconis?" Crow asked as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"As I'll ever be, Crow!" Draconis said as Crow nodded and the two spoke up together.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Draconis and Crow said, both ignoring the fact that most everyone else on the battlefield's eyes were comically wide in surprise as their Showtime started.

"Crow! Take aim at the target!" Draconis said as Crow nodded, aiming his gun at Niijima's Shadow as Draconis smirked and hefted a giant piece of paper at the wall behind Niijima's Shadow, who had just noticed that the battlefield was replaced by, of all things, a dartboard!

Before she could do more than gasp at the scenery change, though, the paper Draconis tossed covered up the dartboard and showed an outline big enough to cover Niijima's Shadow, who could only blink as a flurry of knives from Draconis saw her pinned fast to the paper by her hands and feet, the knives suddenly turning into restraints which ended up pinning her wrists and ankles carefully to the paper with almost uncanny levels of precision. After that, Crow smirked and pointed his beam gun at Niijima's Shadow while speaking up.

"Any last words before we do away with you, Sae-san?" Crow asked tauntingly as Niijima's Shadow shook her head fearfully, at which point Crow smirked and pulled the trigger, shooting right above the head of Niijima's Shadow, confusing her and making her look away as Crow and Draconis hefted their blades and nodded to one another before stretching back and surging towards one another at almost blinding speeds, seemingly clashing weapons with one another in the air, before both landed on the ground unharmed.

Afterwards, Crow and Draconis nodded to each other before each of them mock-bowed to one another before standing up and smirking as a confused Niijima's Shadow frowned before groaning as she looked down in time to see her torso split open with torrents of black pouring from her stomach as she gasped in horror and slumped to the ground, gasping in horror at the blows that rained down on her body before slumping over motionlessly while Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Perfection. Target neutralized, Draconis." Crow said smugly as Draconis spoke up with an amused grin.

"Naturally. Did you expect anything less, Crow? After all, we're the most accurate people I know. Of course we're gonna hit our mark. Now to get the next one!" Draconis said as he and Crow smirked and fist-bumped one another as they both walked off in satisfaction while the Showtime ended, at which point Niijima's Shadow frowned and spoke up.

"NOOO! This cannot be! I, I, I! I failed!? WHY!?" Niijima's Shadow said in frustration as she crumpled over and fell forward face-down to the ground where she laid motionlessly, ending the battle. From the massive influx of EXP that ensued from the battle, Mona, Skull, Queen, Crow, Fox, and Noir all hit level 54, while Draconis and Joker hit level 55, Oracle hit level 56, Panther hit level 53, and three of Joker's Personas in Unicorn, Thoth and Lachesis leveled up, Unicorn hitting level 56, Lachesis hitting level 47, and Thoth hitting level 46. Joker smirked as he spoke up.

"Heh, with this power, I become a stronger leader!" Joker said. From the level-ups, a ton of new skills were gained. To start, Johanna gained the high-tier healing skill 'Diarahan', making Queen smile as she spoke up.

"Ooh, that's a new skill! Let's try it out!" Queen said as Johanna acquired 'Diarahan'. Next up, Milady learned the passive skill 'Gun Boost', making Noir smile as she spoke up.

"Oh, look! A new move!" Noir said happily as Milady acquired 'Gun Boost'. Next, Crow learned the high-tier healing skill 'Samarecarm', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"Ooh! With this, I can contribute even more!" Crow said smugly as Robin Hood acquired 'Samarecarm'. Surprisingly, that wasn't all, as even Draconis gained a new skill in the form of the rare passive skill 'Almighty Boost', making Draconis grin as he spoke up.

"Oh, hey! Look at that! Smaug got a buff to his Almighty fury! Let's go!" Draconis said eagerly as Smaug acquired 'Almighty Boost'. After the battle, Niijima's Shadow shifted back to her normal form, looking up at the group with a defeated look.

"So I've lost to you. It seems you were right, in the end." Niijima's Shadow said as Queen walked forward to kneel so that she was looking Niijima's Shadow in the eyes as she spoke up.

"Sis!" Queen said as Crow blinked and spoke up in confusion.

"Um, Queen? That's only just her Shadow. Why are you so upset over beating her?" Crow asked as Panther and Draconis frowned at the question before the former spoke up in annoyance.

"Quiet!" Panther hissed at Crow in annoyance, getting an approving nod from Draconis as he focused on the interaction between Queen and Niijima's Shadow. Crow winced as he spoke up.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Crow said apologetically as Skull spoke up.

"OK, while Queen has her moment with her sister's Shadow, we'll go grab the Treasure." Skull said, giving a significant look to Fox and Draconis, who both nodded as the former of the two went with Skull to get the Treasure as Niijima's Shadow blinked and looked at Queen, speaking up in surprise as she recognized Queen's voice.

"Wait, that voice. Makoto?" Niijima's Shadow asked in surprise as Queen spoke up softly, looking at her sister while nodding.

"I don't think it's wrong to bring light to evils which can't be judged by law. That's all the Phantom Thieves have been trying to do too. But these aggressive investigations? Twisting the truth for your own personal gain?" Queen said while shaking her head.

"Sis, this isn't you! Please, Sis! You have to think back to the feelings you had when you first wanted to be a prosecutor. Think about your justice, Sis." Queen said as Niijima's Shadow blinked in surprise and spoke up.

"Hm? My justice, you say?" Niijima's Shadow said in confusion as Queen spoke up, trying desperately to bring her sister's Shadow to her senses.

"Try to remember how you used to be, Sis, before you turned into this distorted shadow of yourself I see now." Queen said sadly. Niijima's Shadow blinked at Queen and spoke up in surprise.

"What do you mean, how I used to be?" Niijima's Shadow asked as Noir spoke up sadly.

"Niijima-san the elder is so warped. She's just like my father was before we changed his heart, or tried and failed to change it. I wonder, what caused them both to change like this?" Noir said sadly. Crow frowned as he spoke up, giving Noir an impressed look from the question she asked as he spoke up.

"That is a good question, Noir. Hm, let's think about it. Even though their own desires were the cause, succumbing to such distorted thoughts is strange to fathom. I wonder, is there another reason they don't know of?" Crow asked as Draconis blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? You mean, like some sort of hidden motivation they themselves are unaware of? Or perhaps something manipulating them to do what they did? It's certainly plausible enough, Crow. But I dunno. I feel like they acted pretty well of their own volition in their respective situations. Granted, in Niijima-san the elder's case, I think we can concede she had a bit of pressure to do what she did, likely the promise of a reward hanging over her head to spur her to do things she wouldn't likely do otherwise. I think most of us can relate to acting out of a sense of desperation, given that we've been backed into a corner at least once since we started doing what we do." Draconis said wisely. At that point, Fox and Skull came back, the former speaking up.

"Guys! We've found it!" Fox said triumphantly as he and Skull came back in, the latter holding a briefcase in one hand as Crow spoke up.

"The investigation will now be able to proceed. The suspicions against you will be lifted as well. This deal we made, while unexpected, was a great experience for me." Crow said as Joker nodded before Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Actually, Crow, that reminds me. I've been wondering about something ever since you cut that deal and joined up with us. How is it that you, an ace detective with known ties to the police, aren't also under suspicion for being one of us? So wouldn't there also be suspicions against you that will be lifting too?" Draconis asked warily, making Joker and Mona give Draconis surprised yet impressed looks at his question, not having thought of that themselves. Crow smiled at Draconis and spoke up.

"Great question, Draconis. Once again, you impress me with your keen intellect and sharp eye for observation. To answer your question, I don't think anyone knows I'm part of this team, so no one would have reason to suspect me. Not even Sae-san likely would suspect me of being a Phantom Thief. And that's another thing I find both ironic and slightly humorous. To think that I, a detective, would act alongside the Phantom Thieves, and even find myself somewhat getting along with most of them, and finding myself genuinely impressed with some of them, is both incredible and at the same time mind-boggling to consider." Crow said as Joker spoke up.

"I'd ask if you want to continue that, but I think we both know the answer to that question. So, it's back to your real work now, is it Crow?" Joker asked with a wry grin. Crow nodded his agreement.

"Yes, Joker. That is correct. And, per your end of our agreement, you all shall end this Phantom Thieves business, as we agreed. That was part of the promise, after all. Don't forget." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Oh, we won't forget. You kept your end of the promise, so we'll keep ours. I have to say, I'm impressed at how useful you turned out to be to us. And, to be honest? I also am impressed with how talented and formidable of a fighter you've proven to be. I think I could even go so far as to consider you a worthy adversary, should such a thing ever end up coming to pass. So consider me impressed, Crow." Draconis said, surprising the group by complimenting Crow while giving him a genuine smile and a nod of respect as Crow spoke up.

"The feeling is more than mutual, Draconis. It's almost a shame our deal ends here, though. I think, had we had longer to work together, I might have even thought about almost considering you something of a close friend." Crow said honestly, to Draconis' surprise. Mona then spoke up at that point.

"All right, as touching as this scene of mutual respect and acknowledgement is, we don't need to stay here any longer!" Mona said before turning to Queen as he kept speaking.

"Queen? Are you all right?" Mona asked Queen, who nodded as she stood up with a wry smile and spoke up.

"I am. Let's go." Queen said as she stood to leave, but at that point, Oracle gasped and spoke up.

"Huh!? Enemy readings! When did they show up!?" Oracle said as Draconis' eyes widened and he swore under his breath as he spoke up.

"Was this the bad feeling I'd been getting the last couple of days? Everyone! Let us proceed with caution and not panic!" Draconis said decisively as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough! Either way, they're gathering outside!" Oracle said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Shit! Are you serious, Oracle!? Don't tell me this is what I think it is!?" Draconis said, his eyebrows furrowed in suspicion as Skull blinked and spoke up.

"It's a trap!? For real!? The effing hell's going on!?" Skull asked as Fox spoke up in horror, his eyes widening noticeably behind his mask while he spoke.

"Never mind that! Look at those numbers!" Fox said as Panther frowned and spoke up in concern.

"This doesn't look good, does it?" Panther said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"We defeated the Palace ruler and even stole the Treasure, yet the Shadows are still restless as ever. It doesn't make any sense, no matter how you slice it. What's going on here?" Mona asked as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"I hate to say it, but I think we got played here. After all, what other reason would there be for enemies to be gathering out there in THAT great of numbers!?" Draconis said, jabbing a finger towards the visible monitor next to the group, which showed dozens of Shadows gathering nearby. Oracle blinked as she saw the monitor and spoke up.

"Good point, Draconis. Wait, there are more coming!? This'll be dangerous if we don't do something!" Oracle said as the group heard the hint of what could be garbled enemy transmissions, making Oracle frown and keep speaking.

"Huh?" Oracle asked as Mona jumped up and down as he spoke up.

"Never mind that! We need to go now! Those guys in black suits are almost here! We'll surely be doomed if we get surrounded!" Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"True. Not to mention, a team this large would be discovered immediately. We had best split up for an escape, as loathe as I am to suggest that. Although, we'll need someone to act as a decoy while the rest of us escape. Oh, but no, that's too dangerous." Queen said as Draconis spoke up at that point.

"Exactly, Queen! Not to mention, whoever takes that job is basically agreeing to run the equivalent of a suicide mission to buy the rest of us time to escape! Are any of us willing to take that risk to save the others?" Draconis asked uneasily. When he saw Joker getting a contemplative look, he groaned and shook his head, having an idea of what Joker was thinking, and when Joker spoke up a moment later, he confirmed Draconis' thoughts.

"Go, everyone. We don't all need to get caught here! And besides, isn't it a leader's job to protect his friends!? Get out of here and let me handle the decoy job!" Joker said selflessly, making Mona, Oracle, and Draconis all exchange stunned looks while Queen looked at Joker and spoke up.

"Wait, what!? You're volunteering to take on the decoy job, Joker!? Are you seriously planning on distracting them by yourself!?" Queen asked as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"That's right. Besides, out of us all, even though I'm the leader, I'm the most expendable since we have a perfectly capable second-in-command who can step in should something go awry here. So I have no hesitation in putting myself on the line for you guys." Joker said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Joker? While that is true that I'm more than prepared to step up and lead the team if I have to, that doesn't mean I want to see you putting your damn life on the line, you fool! I appreciate your selflessness, but surely you don't have to do it alone?" Draconis said, a rare look of concern on his face. Surprisingly, Skull spoke up at that point, coming to Joker's defense.

"I understand your concerns, but I trust Joker. Let him do it, Draconis and Queen. Joker may be quiet, but once his mind's made up, he's not gonna take no for an answer, as you especially should know by now, Draconis." Skull said gently but firmly. Draconis gritted his teeth but nodded his understanding, as did Queen, before Skull walked over and handed the briefcase to Joker while he patted him on the shoulder and spoke up.

"Don't worry, Joker! I'm sure you ain't gonna die. It's you we're talking about here." Skull said as Draconis winced and spoke up.

"Skull, that's exactly the point! It's Joker we're talking about here! While he is our most adaptable and resilient member, he's also the one most prone to sudden swings of bad luck!" Draconis said, before turning to face Joker and speaking up, a rare worried look in his eyes as he looked Joker in the eyes while speaking up.

"Joker! I'll trust you to handle this mission solo, but so help me, you'd better come back to us in one piece! I refuse to be the one who has to tell Kasumi that her idiot boyfriend got himself killed by being a selfless fool, Joker! You hear me!? So don't screw this up! That said, good luck. The rest of us will be waiting for you when you get done." Draconis said sincerely before continuing to speak.

"And, Joker? Don't take too many unnecessary risks playing decoy. I might give you shit a lot, but dammit Joker, you're my brother and I love you! So you better make it out of this!" Draconis said before clapping Joker on the shoulder in a manly fashion before stepping back to stand with Oracle, ignoring the shocked looks that the females all exchanged at the rare display of genuine concern from Draconis. Noir then spoke up somberly.

"I agree with Draconis on this, Joker. Don't do anything reckless, okay?" Noir said as Panther then spoke up.

"Joker! Draconis pretty much already covered what I wanted to say, but I'm going to add one thing. I'll never forgive you if you don't make it back." Panther said as Mona then spoke up.

"Joker, you'll make it back. I know it. Besides, we still haven't fulfilled our deal, remember?" Mona said as Oracle spoke up worriedly.

"Oh no! Even more are coming!" Oracle said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"Alas, this truly is a painfully reluctant parting!" Fox said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed, Fox." Draconis said as Crow spoke up at that point.

"I concur. It seems we had better get out in a hurry." Crow said as Queen frowned before nodding as she spoke to Joker.

"Joker? Take care, and we'll see you later." Queen said as the others nodded and fled while leaving Joker to start the distraction ploy.

(A short time later, in a different part of the casino)

As many of the casino-goers were gathered at the tables gambling, one of the casino-goers palmed his hand over his chips as alarms started ringing and some looked like they wanted to grab their chips and run, but someone could be heard yelling 'Leave it! Leave it!', as most of the casino-goers looked around in panic and alarm for the cause of the alarm bells, before a silhouette could barely be seen darting around the room, making some casino-goers gasp as some saw what appeared to be a shadow leaping from beam to beam above them, and one casino-goer gasped and spoke up as he looked up.

"Oh! There's something here!" The casino-goer said as a trio of men in suits walked into the room and looked around. After a bit, the camera panned to show the silhouette leaping deftly from beam to beam, before eventually coming to a stop on top of a chandelier, as the camera panned up to reveal the silhouette as belonging to a smirking Joker, the briefcase tucked casually away under one of his arms as he smirked down at the men in suits. At that point, one of the men in suits gasped and looked up, seeing Joker and speaking up while pointing towards Joker.

"Hey! Up there!" The man in a suit said as one of his fellow suit-clad men pulled out a cell phone and spoke into it.

"He's here. Move in immediately!" The man said into his phone as Joker smirked and leapt away to start his escape, knowing he'd drawn the suit-clad men's attention safely off of the others. At that point, he heard Mona's voice over his comm channel.

"Good! Now get running!" Mona said as Crow spoke up at that point.

"And we should do the same while Joker has the enemy distracted! This is our only chance of escape, after all!" Crow said as Oracle spoke up at that point.

"Stay calm! You can get away now!" Oracle said as Queen spoke up at that point.

"We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end." Queen said as the group picked up another garbled enemy transmission and listened to it.

"...suspects...not...confirmed...hold...your...positions..." The group heard as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Hm? That was odd. What was that, I wonder?" Oracle said as Mona spoke up.

"Don't worry about us. Just concentrate on getting away, if only so the rest of us don't have to deal with Draconis having potential apoplexy if you don't pull it off." Mona said teasingly as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"Sh-Shut up, Mona! That's not a joking matter, you know! But he's right. Go on, Joker! Get out while you can! I believe in you!" Draconis said. Mona then kept speaking up.

"But I must say, showing yourself above that crowd earlier was an excellent move. Nice work as always, Joker." Mona said firmly as Panther then spoke up while Joker started his escape.

"Heh, I bet Skull wouldn't pull it off this smoothly." Panther said as Fox spoke up with a smirk.

"Agreed, Panther. And Skull, this happens because you have no sense for aesthetics." Fox said as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Shut up, Panther! And no one asked you, Inari! At least I don't have Draconis bustin' my balls right now!" Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"That's because I've learned not to be a dick to you all the time, Skull. Besides, I think I have more important things to worry about considering my effing brother's out there playing the hero to buy the rest of us time to escape because he's just that sort of selfless and noble fool!" Draconis said dryly as Joker kept running. After a bit, he found some agents waiting for him as he went to make a turn. One of them spoke up.

"There he is!" An agent said as Joker saw another path to his left, at which point Oracle spoke up over the comms.

"Dammit, Joker! Just run! Get out of there!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and kept moving. He heard the others speaking up over comms as he kept going.

"Okay, good. The enemy's focus is on him. Looks like the rest of us can slip safely away." Mona said as Noir spoke up next.

"Mmhm. Everyone remember where we're meeting up?" Noir asked as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"Isn't that MY line, Noir? But yes, I think we remember." Draconis said as Oracle spoke up at that point.

"Try and relax, Draconis. Joker will be fine. And to Noir's question? No worries. I can guide you all if you forgot." Oracle said as Joker kept moving. After Joker climbed a ledge, he found himself surrounded by Shadows, who started trying to take monster forms, making him smirk as he moved to rip the mask off the closest Shadow to try and initiate combat, even as he heard Panther speak up over comms.

"Nice! Take 'em down, Joker!" Panther said as Draconis spoke up.

"Panther, let him focus! He's got it under control! We need to keep moving and take advantage of the opportunity he's giving us!" Draconis lightly yet half-heartedly rebuked Panther, deciding to focus on taking charge of the group rather than focus on his worry for Joker as Joker turned to the Shadows as they formed into one large Shadow as a fight started. Surprisingly, Joker's 'Arsene' Persona materialized out of nowhere and spoke up.

"I am Arsene, another you that exists within your heart. Ah, we meet once again. You have progressed well through your recollections. Last spring, you awakened to this furious power to save not only your friend, but your younger brother as well, from certain death. Now, use that power once more, and defeat the enemies before you!" Arsene said as Oracle spoke up over comms.

"Comparing power levels with the enemy's. Yeah, I sense no threat here. Get 'em, Joker!" Oracle said as the fight started. The fight lasted a short time as Joker tore through the Shadow with ease using his 'Unicorn' Persona. After the enemy was destroyed, Arsene reappeared and spoke up.

"Your fate will soon be determined, Ren Amamiya. Recall everything to the best of your ability. Remember the bonds you have forged with your friends over these last few months. If you are fated to continue past this point, then we shall surely meet again someday. Until then, farewell!" Arsene said before vanishing as Oracle spoke up over comms once more.

"Good! You defeated them with ease! Now pull out before their backup gets here!" Oracle said as Mona spoke up at that point.

"Good. You defeated them with ease. Sorry for taking your line there though, Oracle." Mona said as Oracle spoke up.

"It's fine, Mona. Oh, no! More of them!? Be careful!" Oracle said to Joker, who nodded as he ducked the attacks of some freshly-spawned Shadows before deftly leaping up some ledges to an area above, where an open door awaited as Oracle spoke up.

"Joker, behind you! Go straight through there!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and darted up the stairs behind him, at which point Oracle spoke up again.

"You should be able to get out that way! Hurry!" Oracle said as Joker nodded while Skull spoke up.

"Dude, can he even hear us!?" Skull asked as Draconis spoke up.

"I'm sure he can hear us, Skull. Even if he doesn't always answer us, that doesn't mean he's not listening. That said, keep going Joker!" Draconis said as Oracle spoke up.

"What Draconis said, Skull. And don't worry, I'm picking up everyone's voices. Just go, Joker!" Oracle said as Joker made to keep moving, only for Oracle to speak up once more in confusion.

"Hm? Wait a sec! What the- I'm getting a weird reading heading your way!" Oracle said as unseen to her, Mona and Draconis exchanged a wry smile and a nod, both having a vague idea who the weird reading might be. Oracle frowned and kept speaking up.

"But never mind that for now! C'mon, run!" Oracle said seriously as Joker nodded and kept moving. After a bit, Joker heard Skull comment over comms.

"Tch, figures. We get away from one group of men in suits, and then a whole bunch more show up." Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"That's just the way it is sometimes. Let's keep moving." Draconis said gently as Joker kept moving. As Joker entered the next room, he saw an agent run past the nearby window and swear as he spoke up.

"Where'd they go!? Damn it!" The agent said before speaking into his phone.

"I can't confirm the intruder's location." The agent said as he kept moving while Joker did the same. As Joker turned the corner, he stopped as Oracle spoke up.

"Hm, wha!? Joker! Up ahead! Stop!" Oracle said as Joker spotted an agent looking around while Oracle kept speaking.

"This is bad! Hide, Joker!" Oracle said as Joker hid behind a nearby crate as asked while Oracle kept speaking.

"Joker, you'll never get away if you just keep fighting. Hide in the shadows, and sneak past when you have an opening!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and kept moving, nimbly slipping from one hiding place to another as he heard an agent speak up.

"Hello? Hey, are you sure he came in from this way? Yes? Understood. I will continue the search!" The agent said as he darted past Joker while Oracle spoke up.

"All right! Now's your chance! Make a run for it!" Oracle said urgently as Joker nodded and kept moving. After a bit, he saw another agent, making Oracle groan and speak up over comms.

"Ugh! How many of them are there!?" Oracle said over the comms while Joker hid as Crow's voice could be heard over the comms at that point.

"Hm? Everything okay? The security level might rise if you take too much time, Joker. Same with you, Oracle." Crow said as Oracle huffed and spoke up.

"I know, I know! I'm looking for another route. Just hang on, Crow!" Oracle said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Crow, can you kindly not give Oracle a hard time, please!? She and Joker are both doing their best to pull this off so the rest of us can escape, so a little gratitude from you would be nice right about now." Draconis said irately to Crow, making Joker smile at the sound of his brother stepping up to lead the team. Oracle then spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, perfect timing. Joker, look up!" Oracle asked as Joker did as asked, blinking as he saw a grapple point above him while Oracle spoke up.

"You see that up there? Can you use that thing and just fly over there?" Oracle asked as Joker nodded and grappled his way up to a ledge above as Oracle spoke up.

"All right! Now go straight from there, and you should be home free!" Oracle said happily as Joker nodded and kept moving. As he got to the next room, Oracle spoke up once more.

"Joker, stop! I'm getting another reading! It's an enemy, right behind you!" Oracle said as Joker blinked and leapt nimbly away as more Shadows spawned in, making Oracle frown as she spoke up.

"Crap! Even you can't take on this many-Huh!? Joker! That weird reading from earlier's closing in on you too!" Oracle said, being cut off mid-sentence as she exchanged a worried look with Draconis, who to her surprise just gave her a knowing smile after exchanging a knowing nod with Mona. Joker blinked but frowned as he found himself surrounded, just before footsteps could be heard, followed by a familiar voice that Joker never expected to hear in the Metaverse after the last time he heard it.

"Hold it! I'll end this right now." Kasumi said as she stepped forward and brandished a rapier challengingly as she advanced towards where several Shadows had Joker surrounded as Oracle blinked and spoke up.

"Wait, what the crap!? Joker, it's her! She's the weird reading I've been getting!" Oracle said as Kasumi smirked and tossed her rapier forward, expertly plunging it straight into the chest of the Shadow closest to Joker, making him give her a look that was a mix of shocked and amused as Kasumi then used her gymnastics training to nimbly dodge and/or side-step the attacks of the Shadows who tried to rush her before pulling out a sawed-off shotgun and aiming it at the nearest Shadows, blasting them with gunfire as she strode towards an impressed Joker and spoke up after taking out most of the Shadows surrounding him.

"Senpai. No, Joker. My weak self relied on you so much before, from the day we met, all the way to the day you and Mona-senpai saved me. But that ends today." Kasumi said boldly as she strode forwards to kick her rapier free of the Shadow who's chest it was embedded into, making it fly up into the air, flipping a few times before landing right in her outstretched hand as she smirked and stood with Joker while speaking up determinedly.

"Let's do this, Senpai!" Kasumi said resolutely as Joker grinned while the battle started! A confused Oracle then spoke up.

"Wait, what? The enemy readings have decreased?" Oracle said in confusion as Mona then spoke up.

"No way! Draconis, isn't that-!?" Mona asked as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, it is! But never mind what she's doing here for now! The important thing is that she appears to be giving Joker some backup! Let's worry about keeping ourselves moving and trust her to have Joker's back! And if you think about it, Mona, there's no one I trust more to have Joker's back than her." Draconis said with a relieved smile as the Shadows attacked Joker and Kasumi, the latter of whom smiled at Joker as she spoke up.

"Well, well. It's been a while since we last fought side by side, Joker! But this time? It's MY turn to come to YOUR aid, Joker-senpai! Let's win this!" Kasumi said as Joker nodded his agreement as the fight started! Joker wasted no time in using Lachesis to knock the enemies down as he and Kasumi held the enemies up while Kasumi destroyed the enemies with her All-Out Attack. After the fight, Kasumi smiled at Joker and spoke up.

"I think that was it. That's the last of them, right?" Kasumi asked Joker, but Oracle spoke up over comms before Joker could speak up.

"I genuinely have no clue what just happened, but I take it you're okay?" Oracle said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Of course he's okay, Oracle! Joker just got saved by the person he'd most want to have his back in that situation! Kind of like how I was happy when you and I first fought side-by-side! Besides, it's gonna take more than some noob-tier Shadows to knock off Joker, even in a group! My bro's kinda like a cockroach in that respect. He's surprisingly tough to defeat in combat! Even I had a difficult time when I challenged him that one time! So let's not underestimate him, Oracle." Draconis said as Oracle huffed and playfully shoved Draconis while speaking up.

"Okay, first of all, ew! Why did you have to compare him to a cockroach, of all things, Draconis!? Second of all, are you implying that that weird reading is his girlfriend!?" Oracle asked Draconis, ignoring the gasps of surprise from the others at this reveal. Oracle then blinked and spoke up.

"Wait, never mind that for now! Bad news! Enemy backup's headed your way! You need to book it Joker, right now!" Oracle said as Kasumi smiled at Joker and spoke up.

"Please go, Joker! I'm going to make it harder for them to track you down. Besides, you still have something you need to do as a phantom thief, right?" Kasumi asked as Joker spoke up after stealing a kiss from his girlfriend for luck.

"That's right, Sumi. Right now, I'm buying the others time to escape, then I have to try to shake my pursuers so I don't get captured trying to buy the others time to escape! But I promise you, I will get away, and come back to you in one piece! After all, we have our other promise to fulfill, and I mean to keep it!" Joker said as Kasumi smiled and nodded, turning to walk off as she spoke up, cheeks slightly pinking from how boldly her boyfriend had just kissed her.

"Very well. Then I won't stop you, Joker. Since I'm not a member of the Phantom Thieves, I'm not in a position to interfere at this time." Kasumi said before leaping up to a nearby ledge and speaking up once more.

"However, Joker, please don't forget the promise we made, okay? Be safe, and never forget that I love you!" Kasumi said as she leapt away to distract the enemy back up as Oracle spoke up insistently over the comms.

"Joker, you need to get outta there! Go go go!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and made to keep moving as Oracle kept speaking.

"All right, let's do it! Go up the stairs at the beginning of the path! Just a little more, so hang in there!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and headed up the indicated stairs. Once up the stairs, Joker looked around for pursuers, seemingly finding none, so he kept going. As he kept moving, he darted behind a window, looking over to see that the window led to a room filled with enemy agents trying to track the group. Joker frowned and swore as he heard one of the agents speak up.

"I can confirm! He's not alone! There are others in this area! Find them and kill them all!" The agent said as Draconis swore over the comms and spoke up.

"Shit! They're on to us! Run for it! Joker, try your best to get out of there safely and then meet back up with us at the pre-established gathering point we decided on prior to this. The rest of you, move it! We're getting the hell out of here so that Joker's sacrifice isn't in vain if the worst happens! Now go!" Draconis said as the others nodded and started fleeing, Joker doing the same as he darted past the window and towards the next set of stairs, not seeing one of the men in suits stop as he saw Joker going up the stairs, and signalling to his comrades that Joker was nearby as Joker ascended the stairs, the men in suits in hot pursuit.

After a bit more running, Joker emerged through a door to an alcove above the casino's entrance, seeing no way forward save for a tiny bit of square scaffolding leading towards a stained-glass window on the opposite side of the room, something Joker surmised to be his only way out of the casino. Oracle frowned as she heard Joker groan and spoke up over the comms.

"Something wrong? The exit should be up ahead." Oracle said as Joker spoke up with a frown.

"Hm? You mean through there, Oracle? You do realize that's a stained-glass window and you're asking me to potentially dive through it to escape, right!?" Joker asked Oracle as Noir winced and spoke up.

"Nnh, I'm sorry, Joker. But that's just how it is." Noir said sadly as Oracle spoke up.

"Afraid so, Joker. After that commotion, the bottom floor's-" Oracle said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"-completely closed off. Hey, can you make it, Joker!?" Panther said as Draconis spoke up at that point.

"He'd better do his best! He promised he'd get out safely! Dammit, Joker! I really don't feel like having to explain to Mom why she has to possibly arrange the funeral of her eldest son! Or did you think for even a second about Mom would feel if you died when you decided to play hero!?" Draconis said sadly, surprising Oracle and Panther with the sheer frustration and sadness in his voice. Joker touched his communicator that was in his ear and spoke up after a moment.

"Of course I did, Draconis! Give me more credit than that! And if the worst does happen, then you can tell Mom I'm sorry for leaving you and her this soon, but I'd rather die knowing I was able to give you all a chance to escape than to live knowing I didn't do everything in my power as leader to keep my friends, no, my family, safe!" Joker said sincerely to Draconis before swearing as he heard an agent's voice behind him.

"Over there!" Joker heard, turning around to see the men in suits approaching him, guns raised. One of them spoke up.

"Give it up! There's nowhere to run!" The man in a suit said before Joker thought about it and smirked as he leapt onto the small ledge, to the surprise of the men in suits, and started dashing nimbly towards the stained-glass window, smirking at the men in suits as he spoke up.

"Heh, see ya!" Joker said confidently before turning and diving headfirst through the stained-glass window, to the horror of the casino-goers, many of whom audibly screamed as Joker flew through the window and did a graceful swan dive in mid-air as Oracle huffed and spoke up over comms.

"Heh, what a show-off." Oracle said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"That he is, Oracle. But that's Joker for you. He's a total ham most of the time, but he really is a good man despite that. Let him have his moment for now, since he's making that sacrifice so we can get out of here!" Draconis said as Panther spoke up.

"That may be true, Draconis, but it doesn't excuse him putting himself in danger! And Joker! You're so reckless. You know that, don't you?" Panther asked Joker, who nodded as he gracefully hit the ground and did a side tumble out of the way of the falling glass, making good use of the training he'd gotten from his girlfriend as he got an unreadable look on his face while watching the glass fall before standing and turning to start his escape, only to be shocked as he found himself blinded by the glare of searchlights going off right in his face, instinctively putting a hand out to shield his eyes from the brightness of the lights. Oracle gasped as she spoke up.

"What!? Enemies, here!?" Oracle said as Crow put a concerned look on his face while speaking up, despite internally smirking as he spoke.

"What's wrong!?" Crow asked as Oracle spoke up again.

"These readings are so massive, but that's not right! It can't be!" Oracle said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"What happened!?" Skull asked as Queen spoke up next.

"Could it really be an ambush!?" Queen said as Mona spoke up desperately.

"Joker, can you handle this!?" Mona said as Fox spoke up in horror.

"Joker!" Fox said as Noir gasped and spoke up in shock.

"Oh, no! Joker!" Noir said as one of the enemies spoke up.

"Capture him!" Joker heard as he heard more enemies speak up.

"Let's go! Go, go, go!" Another enemy said as a larger group of enemies charged after Joker, who dashed towards the nearby ladder to try and get to higher ground to navigate a potential escape, only to be shocked to see another group of enemies at the top of the ladder waiting for him as even more swarmed the area below him. Joker only had time to gasp in horror before he found the butt of a rifle slammed full-on into his face, making Joker gasp in horror as he plunged down towards the swarm of oncoming enemies, to the horror of the others who were watching from nearby in a safe hiding place.

Joker hit the ground with a muffled grunt of pain. At that point, he heard several voices yelling, 'Go, go, go!", and a different voice yelled out, 'Stop struggling!', before Joker found himself surrounded with his hands pinned behind his back, grimacing in a mix of pain and frustration at failing to get away. One of the enemies spoke up.

"Make way! Suspect secured!" The enemy unit said as another man walked up and smirked at Joker while he spoke up in a mocking voice.

"Heh, didn't expect to find some kid." The man said before kneeling down so Joker could see him as he lifted his head up and spoke up mockingly.

"You have your teammate to thank for this. You were sold out." The man said before letting Joker's head hit the ground, Joker's expression turning to one of horror as he realized that the Phantom Thieves had been betrayed. Before he could do more with this reveal than vainly struggle to get free, an enemy spoke up.

"Suspect confirmed! Cuff him!" The enemy unit said as Joker found himself handcuffed, hoisted to his feet, and man-handled to the back of a waiting police car, to the horror of his concealed teammates, who could only watch in horror from near the exit to the Metaverse as Joker was led away in a squad car. Draconis frowned as he saw Joker driven away, sighing as he turned to his teammates, a somber but resolute expression on his face as he spoke up.

"Dammit! Our worst fears have been realized! Joker's been captured! We have to get to the exit point! We'll regroup later and discuss our options then! For now, let's get out of here and go home while we can." Draconis said sadly, giving Crow an unreadable look while guiding the group to the exit, gently wrapping an arm around Oracle as the group left, though not before turning to where Joker had last been seen and whispering one last sentence under his breath, a stray tear hitting the ground while he spoke.

"Joker, please, if you hear this? Stay safe, brother. And do your best to come back to us. Godspeed to you, and I pray you come back to us safely. I love you, brother." Draconis said under his breath before leading the others out of the Metaverse, the mood among the group a somber one in light of the apparent fate of their leader...

(elsewhere, unknown location with Joker)

Joker frowned as he found himself forced to take various mug-shots while being booked into prison. Joker sighed as he did as told, one thought running through his mind at that moment as a tear fell from his eyes.

"Draconis, please, do a good job leading the team in my absence. And I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you. Take care of Kasumi, Futaba and Sojiro for me. Kasumi, please understand that I did this out of love for everyone. I love you." Joker thought sadly as he resigned himself to his fate of likely doing prison time, but smiling slightly as he knew he'd saved the others from the same fate. With that thought in mind, Joker braced himself for the start of his potential new reality as the cameras kept flashing to take his mug-shot...

END OF CHAPTER AND OF ARC 6: CROW'S GAMBIT

A/N: Yep, I ended it on a cliffhanger, sort of! Couldn't resist! Also, I kept true to my word, since the last of Ren's Confidants was unlocked right at the end of Arc 6, and I said earlier on that I'd ideally like to have all the Confidants unlocked by the end of Arc 6. Well, I am a man of my word, so there we go. More importantly, things have now finally come full circle for Joker, as he nears the end of his recounting of his journey.

The next chapter will show the 'final interrogation', along with the start of arc 7, tentatively titled 'Joker's Last Surprise' for now. But that title is both subject to change and open to suggestions from the readers. But just be aware that arc 7 will have a LOT of big reveals and surprises in it, partly given whose palace is in Arc 7, and because of certain boss fights that occur in said Palace.

That said, thanks to everyone who's been following this story and putting it on their Favorite Stories list, as the support means a great deal to me! And also thanks to those who've reviewed the story so far and/or PM'd me to give feedback and/or ask questions about the story, as I enjoy hearing from readers, since it shows that people are taking an interest in this story, which is really all that a fanfiction writer can ask for, that their readers enjoy the content and find themselves immersed in it!

The fact I'm getting this much support on a Persona story in particular is extra insane, since I was worried going into the story I wouldn't be able to do the plot of Persona 5 Royal, never mind the plot of Persona 5 Strikers, adequate justice when adapting it, but I'd like to think I've done a passable job at it thus far. So yeah, thanks to all of you for your support, and hopefully you'll continue to support the story. And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

CONFIDANT RANKS AS OF THE END OF ARC 6

FOOL (Igor/Prison Master) - Rank 9

MAGICIAN (Morgana/Mona) - Rank 9

PRIESTESS (Makoto/Queen) - Rank 6

EMPRESS (Haru/Noir) - Rank 3

EMPEROR (Yusuke/Fox) - Rank 6

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

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

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

JUSTICE (Akechi/Crow) - Rank 8

HERMIT (Futaba/Oracle) - Rank 6

FORTUNE (Chihaya/Fortune Teller) - Rank 4

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

HANGED-MAN (Iwai/Weapons Dealer) - Rank 4

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

TEMPERANCE (Kawakami/Becky) - Rank 6

DEVIL (Ohya) - Rank 3

TOWER (Shinya/The King) - Rank 1

STAR (Hifumi) - Rank 7

MOON (Mishima) - Rank 7

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 MAX (10)

WORLD (Kusa/Draconis) - Rank 8

**ALL CONFIDANTS UNLOCKED**