A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Phantom Files! Hm, I don't seem to have much to say this time around, so let's get the disclaimer out of the way while I'm thinking of it.

Disclaimer: I, sithlorde1988, do not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form (excluding the OCs Kusa/Draconis, Somasi/Slim, Kyori, Akira, Lumine, Mimille, Minako, Sinocard, the Malefactor, and any other OCs that might appear, all of which are made and therefore owned by me, unless otherwise stated), and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus, Sega, and to an extent, Koei Tecmo ((albeit only insofar as it pertains to certain spinoffs (e.g. Strikers, the Arena games, the Dancing games, etc)), so all credit to them!

Before we proceed, quick shout-out to the guest reviewer who left a review on the last chapter with more information on how Satanel's NG+ accessibility works specifically, as it was information I was un-aware of.

Among this information is the fact that you have to be level 95 to be able to summon it, meaning you literally won't be high-enough level to do it until the third semester, unless you have an obscene amount of yen to burn and access to the 'Special Treatment' perk given by Caroline and Justine at i think it's Rank 5 of the Strength Confidant link, which lets you summon higher-level Personas if you pay a certain amount of yen.

To recap how 'Special Treatment' works, the cost of summing a higher-level Persona is partially dependent on the difference between Joker's level and the level of the summoned Persona. As an example, a level 29 Joker has to pay a bit over 50,000 yen to summon a 'Unicorn' Persona, who is level 39. But despite being a rather early-game Persona for its' summoning level, Unicorn can carry you quite a ways into the game once you summon it if you build it up enough. I say this from experience, as I used a 'Unicorn' Persona for most of Royal after summoning it.

However, if 'Special Treatment' is used in an 'Advanced Fusion' (e.g. Seth), the cost is also added on to the cost of the Personas summoned from the 'Inmate Registry', or Persona Compendium as other Persona games call it. So some late-game summons can run upwards of a quarter of a million yen if attempted at a low-enough level. However, the max-level perk granted from the Strength Confidant link, 'VIP Treatment', lower the cost of 'Special Treatment' quite a bit. Just some useful info that I felt like sharing. And thanks for your review, guest reviewer!

With that done, on with the chapter! I'll try to have a longer A/N after the chapter, so keep an eye out for that! Now on to chapter 89!

Chapter 89: Mementos, Seeds, and More! Reality Check part 4

(Mementos, Path of Da'at, Area 11 Safe Room, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Crow, and Violet)

After the group had a bit of time to catch their breath and rest, they kept moving. While driving around, Violet spoke up.

"Sometimes people walk up to me and ask me to show them a standing split." Violet said as Joker frowned at this, not liking the implications of Violet's words. Panther spoke up before Joker could voice his objections, though.

"I could technically do one, but I'd need something to balance on." Panther said as Crow and Skull, in a rare moment of agreement, smirked before the former of the two spoke up.

"Oh? You mean like the time you almost stumbled, and you had to use poor Mona's head to balance your chest? I recall Joker got a pretty good chuckle out of that from what he told me." Crow said with an amused smirk, his smirk widening slightly at the twin glares Joker got from Mona and Panther as Violet spoke up.

"Really, Crow-senpai? Did you have to throw Joker-senpai under the bus like that?" Violet asked as Crow spoke up.

"Probably not, but I agree with Joker that Mona's face when he realized his little head was the only thing keeping Panther upright, even if he was supporting her by the chest, was hilarious. Kind of like the look you had on your face when Oracle face-planted into your cleavage earlier." Crow said, making Violet flush prettily at the reminder of Oracle's face landing in her cleavage as Joker frowned at Crow and spoke up.

"Okay, that was unnecessary, Crow. I don't mind you taking shots at me, but kindly don't take shots at Violet, yeah?" Joker said, as Crow merely shrugged while the group kept moving. A short time later, Joker hit level 84 while running down Shadows, making him smile as he spoke up.

"With this power, I move a step closer to being unstoppable." Joker said as he leveled up, making Crow smirk and speak up.

"Impressive. Congratulations." Crow said as Joker's level went up. After running over more Shadows, Joker's 'Unicorn' Persona hit level 77 and Noir hit level 85. After a bit, Mona spoke up.

"Listen. It's not that I look like a cat. Cats just happen to look like me." Mona said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Uhhh, how is that not the same thing?" Skull asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Basically, it's a question of does Mona imitate a cat, or do cats imitate Mona? And the short answer is it works both ways. Sure, cats can't turn into a tour bus, but Mona doesn't seem to land on his feet as often as most cats do, so it's a pretty even split." Oracle said as the group kept moving. After running down another Shadow, Queen hit level 85, while two of Joker's Personas leveled up in the forms of 'Chimera', who hit level 78, and 'Mara', a fairly recent acquisition of Joker's, who hit level 74. The level ups gave 'Chimera' a new skill in the form of the heavy-tier Ice skill 'Mabufudyne', making Panther speak up.

"Oh, that looks so strong!" Panther said as Chimera acquired 'Mabufudyne'. Additionally, 'Mara' acquired the support skill 'Charge', which prompted Violet to speak up.

"Heh, that's quite the skill. Well done, Joker-senpai!" Violet said as Mara acquired 'Charge'. After hitting another Shadow, both Panther and Violet hit level 84. A short time later, Fox hit level 85 off of another destroyed Shadow. After a moment, Fox spoke up.

"After this, I feel I should see about acquiring a grappling hook of my own for everyday use." Fox said as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Right? I bet they're super-difficult to get the hang of, though." Panther said as Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Depends on the grappling hook. Some, like the one Mona made me, are easy to use, provided you've got a strong enough wrist for it. Others are a bit difficult to use, but it varies from hook to hook." Joker said as the group kept moving. After hitting Shadows on the next floor, Joker's 'Quetzalcoatl' Persona hit level 80, while Mona hit level 84. After hitting another Shadow, Joker's 'Mara' persona hit level 75, Crow hit level 84, and both Oracle and Skull hit level 85. After beating some Shadows, Joker's 'Yoshitsune' Persona hit level 92. From the level up, 'Yoshitsune' learned the passive skill 'Elec Amp', making Violet smile as she spoke up.

"Ah, that's a nice skill. Congrats on the new skill!" Violet said as Joker smiled while 'Yoshitsune' acquired 'Elec Amp'. After running more Shadows over, Joker hit level 85 and Noir hit level 86. Joker smirked and spoke up.

"All right! My level grows!" Joker said as Violet spoke up.

"And there's more of the typical over-confident Joker we know. Good job, Joker-senpai." Violet said as Joker's level increased. After hitting more Shadows, Violet hit level 85 and Queen hit level 86. On the next floor, Mona blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? I can sense our target somewhere in this area! Let's scour this floor for them!" Mona said as Oracle spoke up.

"Way ahead of ya, Mona! I'll send you all the results of my scan." Oracle said as her 'Mementos Scan' ability activated, giving the group a detailed map of that floor. After hitting a Shadow, Joker's 'Chimera' Persona hit level 79 and Fox hit levle 86. From the level ups, 'Chimera' gained the passive skill 'Ice Amp', making Queen smirk as she spoke up.

"Nice. Let's see that in action soon, okay?" Queen said as Chimera acquired 'Ice Amp'. After hitting another Shadow, Panther hit level 85. After hitting another Shadow, Mona hit level 85 and Skull hit level 86. As the group moved about, Panther spoke up.

"I dunno why, but sometimes attacking with a whip is just so exhilarating, you know?" Panther said as Skull gulped and spoke up.

"Um, uh, y'know what? It doesn't matter." Skull said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"If I had to guess, I think Panther might secretly have a dominatrix kink in her, which is both impressive and surprising if true." Crow said with a smirk as the group kept moving. After hitting another Shadow, Joker's 'Unicorn' Persona hit level 78 while Crow hit level 85. Not long after, Oracle hit level 86 off of a destroyed Shadow. After hitting another Shadow, Joker's 'Mara' Persona hit level 76 and learned the medium-tier Physical skill 'Brain Buster', making Noir smile as she spoke up.

"Oh, a new move!? Congratulations!" Noir said as 'Mara' acquired 'Brain Buster'. After a bit, Mona found the portal that the group dove through to find the last target, at which point Oracle spoke up.

"Ah, finally! We've found our last target of the current batch! It's Asakura's Shadow." Oracle said as Noir spoke up.

"He's acting like he owns the place." Noir said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"True. If I recall the briefing on this guy correctly, he's a producer in the world of entertainment, destroying the dreams of young girls, correct?" Fox said as everyone nodded before Panther growled and spoke up.

"Yup! What a jerk! I can't let this go! I'm going, even if you try to stop me!" Panther said as Skull spoke up.

"Okay then! No one's gonna stop you Panther, so calm down! Let's go!" Skull said as the group approached Asakura's Shadow, who spoke up as he saw the group approach.

"Aha! Ah, the Phantom Thieves? Did you come to ask me to manage you?" Asakura's Shadow asked as Panther spoke up.

"Yeah, right! Just what are you doing to these girls!?" Panther asked as Asakura's Shadow spoke up.

"Oh, you're getting the wrong idea. I'm just allowing them to promote themselves. They don't understand that you have to pay a price to survive in this cutthroat industry. By the way, you guys seem like you're pretty popular. Why don't I be your producer? If I manage you, you could become household names in show business." Asakura's Shadow said as Queen sighed and spoke up.

"Don't be stupid. We're the ones who'll be managing you." Queen said as Asakura's Shadow frowned and spoke up.

"Tch! Don't get so full of yourselves, you amateur cosplayers! Fine, I'll make sure you're all blacklisted!" Asakura's Shadow said before shifting forms into the form of what Joker immediately recognized with a shudder as a 'Mara', having recently acquired such a Persona while running over Shadows in the Mona-bus. At that point, Panther spoke up.

"Whoa! Here we go!" Panther said with a smile as a fight began. As the fight started, Asakura's Shadow spoke up.

"Hahaha! If you want to make your dreams come true, but don't have the talent to make it happen for whatever reason, all you gotta do is listen to what I say!" Asakura's Shadow said as the fight started. Crow just frowned at the enemy before turning to Joker and speaking up.

"Do we really have to waste time on this weakling, Joker? Why don't we just end him now? Up for it?" Crow said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Sounds good to me, Crow!" Joker said as he and Crow spoke up as one.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Joker and Crow said as their Showtime started! As the two raced forward, Joker extended his grappling hook to zipline towards the enemy while Crow sprinted towards it. After a bit, Joker spoke up.

"CROW! CUT HIM DOWN TO SIZE!" Joker said as Crow nodded while speaking up.

"Gladly!" Crow said before glaring at Asakura's Shadow and speaking up.

"TIME TO GET YOUR JUST DESSERTS, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Crow said as he started hacking furiously at Asakura's Shadow, eventually stopping as Asakura's Shadow slumped over, right as Joker flipped down to land by Crow, firing a bullet from his pistol that hit through the mid-section of Asakura's Shadow, making it slump over and dissolve into black mist as Joker and Crow spoke up.

"You learn your lesson, you great big dick!? What goes around..." Joker said as Crow smirked and spoke up while he finished the sentence.

"...Comes around! Good riddance to pathetic scumbags like you!" Crow said as he and Joker walked away like badasses while the Showtime and the battle both ended. From the ensuing EXP gain, Joker's 'Quetzalcoatl' Persona hit level 81, Joker, Panther, and Violet all hit level 86, and Skull, Fox, Queen, and Noir all hit level 87. Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Excellent! Power courses through me!" Joker said as Crow spoke up.

"I get that ending that scumbag was a rush, but don't get cocky, Joker." Crow said as both Violet and Oracle booed the terrible pun from Crow while Joker's level increased. After the battle, Asakura's Shadow reverted to normal as he spoke up.

"Wow, I'm ashamed. Ugh, for real? Are you telling me that the way I've been doing things is not only unprofessional, but that it's been wrong the whole time?" Asakura's Shadow said as Joker spoke up.

"It's totally wrong. I mean, come on! You were forcing young girls to give themselves up to you, just to advance their own careers! They shouldn't have to do that! Their careers should advance purely on their merits and talent, not on if they're willing to spread their legs for you. After all, a real man respects women! Only cowards make girls sleep with them!" Joker said rebukingly. Asakura's Shadow spoke up with a nod.

"Okay, I get it." Asakura's Shadow said remorsefully as Panther spoke up with a slight smile.

"You've done whatever you wanted and caused a lot of damage. What do you plan to do about it now?" Panther asked as Asakura's Shadow spoke up.

"Not sure. For starters though, I'll apologize to the girls who I manage. I'll do something to show them my sincerity." Asakura's Shadow said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Hm? Sincerity? How!?" Panther said as Asakura's Shadow spoke up.

"I apologize. That said, I'm not sure exactly what. I-I'll have to think about that. But I'll try to make up for all I've done wrong, no matter what." Asakura's Shadow said before fading away to return to his true self, leaving behind the bud of his Treasure, which Joker seized to get the 'Immortal Vest' armor. At that point, Panther frowned and spoke up towards where Asakura's Shadow had been standing.

"You'd better keep your word! If I ever hear another bad rumor about you, you better be ready for us. Okay!?" Panther yelled as the group's phones pinged to signify that the Mementos request 'The Head Honcho in Showbiz' was now marked as 'REQUEST COMPLETED'. Joker then turned to leave as Crow spoke up.

"This is amazing, Joker. Still, it's no less than what I've come to expect from the Phantom Thieves. So, what now? Are we going to keep exploring?" Crow asked as Mona spoke up.

"For reference, that was the last of our current targets, so there are no more targets in this area. What's our next move, Joker?" Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"We keep exploring. At this point, we might as well map out the rest of this area, maybe see if we can solve the mystery of what Mementos and Maruki's Palace have to do with one another." Joker said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Understood. Since it'll undoubtedly help in our mission, I'll accompany you." Crow said as the group headed back to the portal to get back into the Mona-bus. After eliminating a Shadow on the next floor, Joker's 'Chimera' Persona hit level 80, while Mona and Crow hit level 86. After hitting another Shadow, Oracle hit level 87. From the level up, Oracle's 'Saruman' Persona gained two new skills in the forms of the heavy-tier Curse skill 'Eigaon' and the high-tier healing skill 'Diarahan', making Oracle smirk and speak up.

"Woot, woot! Two for the price of one, everyone! Check my new moves out!" Oracle said as Crow groaned and spoke up.

"Oracle, that was terrible. And here I thought Joker was the worst at bragging." Crow said as Joker and Oracle both stuck their tongues out at Crow childishly, making the others all laugh at the childish display along with the stunned look on Crow's face as 'Saruman' acquired both 'Eigaon' and 'Diarahan'. After ascending the stairs to the next floor, the group found themselves in an area labeled on the map as the 'Cognitive Control Room'. The group blinked as they saw the massive array of cables, monitors and other high-tech devices as they moved forward. After a bit, the group reached the end of the hall, where Skull spoke up.

"Whoa. The hell is this place? There's tons o' computery stuff all over." Skull said as Oracle spoke up.

"This place is the central data hub. This room's most likely where the data sent over from the Palace goes." Oracle said as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"Hey, what's that on the screen?" Panther asked as Crow spoke up.

"Various locations within Mementos, it looks like. I presume this is less about surveillance and more about looking for targets, though." Crow said as Joker frowned and spoke up.

"Targets, you say? I assume you mean more people for Maruki's Shadow to target with his actualization powers?" Joker asked. Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Very good. Think about it, Joker. While all sorts of unnatural events may be taking place in Maruki's reality as we speak, he can't be in every place at once. However, that doesn't mean that every human's wish has already been granted." Crow said as Queen spoke up with a nod.

"True. That's a good point. After all, I recall neither yourself, Joker, or Violet were put through an actualization. And, if I had to guess, I'd say Draconis also avoided that fate. Furthermore, if everyone's wishes were already made into reality, there wouldn't be any requests on the Phan-Site." Queen said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, exactly. But there's good reasons why the three of us you just listed were unaffected. First of all, Joker, though he might not look it, has a very high natural resistance to mind-manipulation tactics and brainwashing. As for Violet, my theory is that because Maruki had already actualized her into thinking she was her sister Kasumi for so long, she couldn't be under a separate actualization without breaking the original one. And finally, I refuse to be anyone's pawn, so of course I would resist his powers.

But let's get back on topic. Therefore, Maruki is likely choosing certain targets with this system, then affecting each one individually. Probably using the same method as when he made Violet's Persona go berserk that one time." Crow said as both Joker and Violet winced at the reference to their short-lived clash after Maruki had tried to persuade Violet to leave Joker's side and stay at his side, so that he could let her live as Kasumi forever. Violet shuddered at the memory as she spoke up.

"Wha? Why are you using me as an example, Crow!?" Violet asked in confusion. She then kept speaking.

"And from what I can remember, Maruki's Shadow summoned these things that look like tendrils, and they grabbed me rather roughly before holding me up in the air." Violet said before blinking at the cables and speaking up in a mix of unease, realization and wariness.

"Wait, don't tell me. Are these cables the same as those tentacles?" Violet asked as Joker frowned and spoke up.

"Good question, Violet. They could be the same. After all, they 'look like tendrils' to me." Joker said. Fox nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Indeed, Joker. If I had to guess, I would assume these are the 'something' Maruki's Shadow is using to affect the minds of others with his actualizations. Such as Violet here, for example." Fox said as Crow nodded approvingly before he spoke up.

"Yes, that hypothesis explains much of what we've seen if it were found to be true. Maruki's Shadow is extending these cables from his own Palace, tunneling into the depths of Mementos with them. And in so doing, he's spreading his influence from the same place the Holy Grail once occupied. That allows him to grant the 'wishes' of any people he may discover once they've fallen under his influence." Crow said as Skull scoffed and spoke up.

"Psh, screw that. If Draconis can stand up to his plans, so can we." Skull said as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"Well said, Skull-kun. Mmhm! This won't last much longer now that we're here!" Noir said as Oracle spoke up.

"'Kay, but I'm the one who has to do the actual hacking, though. Also, I bet if I look carefully enough, I can get a detailed schematic for Maruki's Palace from here, maybe see if I can identify where that hidden passage to the detention level might be. If we can figure that out, we can have part of our group head down and try to rescue Draconis when next we go into Maruki's Palace, while the rest keep infiltrating." Oracle said as she walked over and typed a few commands into the keyboard on the control panel, prompting a mechanical voice to speak up.

"Authorizing. ACCESS BY CONSULTATION SUBJECT CONFIRMED. TEMPORARILY SUSPEND DATA RESEARCH STREAM?" The mechanical voice said as Skull blinked and spoke up.

"Eh? Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Skull asked with wide eyes. Panther spoke up with a shrug.

"Not sure, but well, the displays are showing parts of Mementos, right? I guess we can suspend something here?" Panther said as Joker spoke up.

"The only way to know for sure is to try. Gotta try to find out, after all." Joker said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Yup, true that Joker! You got it, big bro! I like the way you think!" Oracle said as she typed a bunch of commands into the keyboard, making the mechanical voice speak up once more.

"COMMAND ACCEPTED. RESEARCH DATA STREAM SUSPENDED. RETRACTING PIPELINES NOW. TO RESUME DATA STREAMING-" The mechanical voice said as Skull cut it off by speaking up.

"Yeah, go ahead and shut up now. We ain't resumin' shit." Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"Be that as it may, does this bring us any closer to stopping Maruki's Shadow?" Fox asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Hm, not sure. All we did was suspend the data sharing. Stopping Maruki's Shadow is a whole other story. I don't think this'll interfere with his effect on Mementos." Oracle said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"What? Then what good does suspending the data stream do us?" Queen said as Oracle spoke up.

"Plenty. For starters, according to this console's output, all the cable-tendrils are retracted now. Possibly including someplace in the Palace that was blocked before? Also, it allowed me a good look at the Palace's layout, and I found what could be a service passage behind a locked door in a part of the Palace we've not been to, possibly the one we need to reach the detention level?" Oracle said as Noir spoke up with a nod.

"Good point, Oracle-chan. Either way, we won't know unless we check it out for ourselves. What say we head back to the Palace next?" Noir asked as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, we've done what we can here. Next on our agenda: A return to Maruki's Palace, and hopefully the rescue of our missing teammate!" Mona said as the group nodded and returned to the entrance so that Joker could handle the Fusion Alarm that had tripped while the group was mapping the rest of the Path of Da'at. After tending the Fusion Alarm, during which time Joker itemized some more ultimate weapons, such as Mona's ultimate slingshot and Draconis' ultimate staff, Joker headed to the exit of Mementos, at which point Mona spoke up.

"Ah, Joker. We did everything we needed to. Wanna call it a day?" Mona asked as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, we're done here. As for the flowers, we'll take that many L's since I don't feel like going back to find Jose." Joker said decisively as the MetaNav spoke up from his phone.

"Now returning to the real world from Mementos. Thank you for your hard work." Joker heard from his phone as the group exited Mementos...

(That evening, at Leblanc with Ren, Morgana, and Sojiro)

"Yeah? Oh, you're home. The weather's getting colder. Make sure to keep warm when you sleep." Sojiro said as Ren nodded before his phone went off with a private chat from Ann, which Ren opened up.

"Arihara made a post on the Phan-Site. He told all the girls the truth. And he's giving back all the money he took from them, too. I don't know how he'll atone for the ones he hurt, or the ones he drove out of school, though." Ann sent as Ren sent a response.

"True, but on positive side? No more victims, though." Ren sent as Ann sent a response.

"Yeah! That's definitely something to be happy about. I guess this mission got me thinking about Kamoshida stuff again. Kamoshida was so popular. even though he was abusing his power to get whatever he wanted. At the time, even if it was wrong, I felt like I didn't have a choice but to go along with it. So when it looked like Arihara was manipulating the girls in the same way as Kamoshida, well, I dunno. I guess a little bit of the rage came flooding back. Kind of embarrassing, in hindsight. Sorry about that." Ann sent as Ren sent a response.

"Don't worry about it, sis. No one's judging you for any outbursts you may have had back there. After all, we both know someone who's had far worse outbursts than yours. Sure, he's missing right now, but my point still stands." Ren sent as Ann sent a response.

"True. Thanks, Ren. Kusa might be missing for now, but now that our path forward might be unblocked, nothing's stopping us from finding and rescuing him." Ann sent as Ren put his phone away while Morgana spoke up, having read the chat over Ren's shoulder.

"Hmhm! I'm glad to see Lady Ann's happy. Her smile makes everything worthwhile, if you think about it." Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"You do realize it's just text, right Morgana?" Ren asked in confusion. Morgana frowned at that and spoke up.

"Hey! Wha-Shut up! I can see it in my head, all right!?" Morgana said as Ren nodded, patting Morgana on the head as his phone went off, this time with a private chat from Futaba, which Ren opened up.

"There's been this streak of weird posts on the Phan-Site. 'My mom is acting weird.', 'I'm so lonely and hungry.', 'Can she not see me?', 'She doesn't answer me.', 'The house is so cluttered and disorganized.', 'It's such a mess now.', and so on." Futaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"Seems like it's worth looking into to me. Too bad we didn't get this request before today, but this can be the start of the next batch, if I can fit in one more Mementos run before our deadline that is." Ren sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Mwehehe. I figured you'd say that, so I grabbed some extra info in advance! It says the smartphone's registered owner is 'Kuniko Kagami'. The kid's gotta be making the posts using her mom's phone. I already checked the name with the Meta-Nav, and there's a hit. I think it's safe to assume that this mom is neglecting her kid." Futaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"Good work, little sis. Nice to see you taking initiative and not just moping around over Kusa's continued absence from our lives." Ren sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Heheh. Nah, I didn't do much, big bro. Except for, y'know, everything. I just think a kid should never have to feel like she doesn't matter to her mom. I want to bring her back to her senses. Let's discuss this more at the hideout, okay?" Futaba sent as Ren put his phone away and Morgana spoke up with a frown, having read the chat over Ren's shoulder.

"Well, if we've already got a hit in Mementos, we can't just ignore it. And from the sound of the posts, the victim here is just a little girl whose mom seems to be at best neglecting her, and at worst outright abusing her. Clearly, there are still lots of people out there who need our help. Let's see what we can do for them!" Morgana said as Ren nodded, at which point the group's phones, excluding the still-missing Kusa's, pinged to signify the receipt of the Mementos request 'A Small Cry for Help'. At that point, Ren's phone went off yet again, this time with a group chat from Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, Akechi, and Sumire, with Haru sending the first response.

"I can't believe what's become of Mementos, you guys. His power truly is tremendous." Haru sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Truth! I didn't even think Mementos went that far down! The place is friggin' huge!" Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"Far up, more like. I lost track of how long we spent on those stairs today." Ann sent as Futaba sent a response.

"I know, right!? That place is not made for a gamer physique like my own." Futaba sent as Sumire sent a response.

"That's fair, Futaba-senpai. Maybe it's obvious, but when your legs and feet get tired, stretching always helps. And it might be good to massage your pressure points, too." Sumire sent as Ann sent a response, followed closely by a response from Ren.

"Whoa, the athlete knows her stuff!" Ann sent as Ren's response came through.

"Yes, Ann. Sumire sure does know her stuff. I should know. I seem to recall someone giving a command during the King's Game that all couples had to go into a side room and get massages from one another. And damn, Sumire has magic hands. I don't think I've ever been as relaxed as I was that day. Granted, I think her hands might've wandered a bit, but that's her right as my girlfriend." Ren sent as a red-faced Sumire sent a response.

"REN! Don't tell everyone about that! That's private. Besides, we both know that Futaba-senpai is probably waiting for us to rescue Kusa-kun before having him massage her. Hee hee, I could see that being a tactic she'd pull." Sumire sent as Futaba sent a response.

"You have no room to talk about knowing what you want from your boyfriend, Miss 'Mixed Oral and Fingering'! And yes, I heard that conversation! Need I remind you that nothing said in that attic is private from my bugs? Mwehehe!" Oracle sent as Ren sent a response.

"Little sis, I know we had a talk recently about you practicing more restraint." Ren sent as Makoto cut in with a response.

"Yes, well, as much as this is probably interesting, let's stay on topic. And speaking of practicing, did you say that you're going straight to practice after this, Sumire?" Makoto sent as Sumire sent a response.

"I'm actually just about to start my training, yes!" Sumire sent as Futaba sent a response.

"HOW!? Where does all that stamina even come from, Sumire? Heh, not that I hear Ren complaining about it. Mwehehe." Futaba sent as both Ren and Sumire sent the same 'SHUT UP, FUTABA!' response while Akechi sent a response.

"Well, it's your call. Just don't go tiring yourself out. If you waste all your energy out of combat, you're not just useless. You're a liability." Akechi sent as Ren and Sumire sent responses close together, Ren's coming through first.

"Wow, Akechi. You're as blunt as ever. But you do have a point. Don't overdo it at practice, Sumi. We don't want you wearing yourself out needlessly." Ren sent as Sumire blushed at Ren's usage of his pet name for her before sending a response.

"R-Right. Thank you for your concern, Ren-senpai. Then I'll make sure not to push myself too hard!" Sumire sent as Ren put his phone away before Morgana spoke up.

"Yup! We'll, we'll have to get back to infiltrating the Palace next time. I hope our path isn't blocked still, since if it is, I have no idea how we'd go about unblocking it. And I think we can both agree that time is most definitely of the essence here if we're to both stop Maruki's Shadow and ideally rescue Kusa." Morgana said as Ren nodded. After considering his options, Ren decided to use his night to buy more stuff from Tanaka's Shady Commodities, after which he used the rest of his time to craft some infiltration tools, as he'd not done so in a while. After he finished, Morgana spoke up.

"Heh, you're definitely getting better. I can tell just by watching you." Morgana said as Ren nodded, feeling his Proficiency get a needless boost from the crafting. Morgana then spoke up.

"Nice! I saw that, Ren. The way you used your hands just now? You did great!" Morgana said as Ren's Proficiency was given another needless boost. Afterwards, Morgana spoke up.

"Well then, it's late. Okay, let's go to bed!" Morgana said as Ren nodded and laid down after changing into his pajamas, getting comfortable for the evening...

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

"Ugh, hrrm. Dang, it's crowded as always, isn't it Ren?" Morgana asked as Ren nodded from where he was standing with Morgana hiding in his bag as the two listened to the Train News, which mostly just waxed poetic about how Japan was changing for the better through its economy. Afterwards, Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"Hm. Everyone's faces look so calm for some reason. But this happiness can't be real, nor can it last." Morgana said as Ren nodded, gritting his teeth as he spoke up so only Morgana could hear.

"No, it can't. And I think we both know exactly who to 'thank' for this 'happiness'. And once we secure his Treasure route and save our brother, that's just what we'll do." Ren said resolutely, only just keeping himself from cursing Maruki's Shadow under his breath as the rest of the train ride passed uneventfully...

(On the walk to school, with Ren and Morgana)

As Ren headed towards Shujin, he was stopped by Ryuji walking over and speaking up.

"Sup? Yo." Ryuji said as Ren smiled and spoke up.

"Heh, this is so nostalgic, Ryuji. But real talk, what's wrong?" Ren said, smiling as he'd had a flashback to when he and Kusa had had a similar run-in with Ryuji, back when they'd first met him. Ryuji smiled as he spoke up.

"Heh, true. Hard to believe it was only a few months ago we first met. But in all seriousness, Well, y'know, er, how do I put this? Eh, never mind for now. So, Ren, be honest. You got time later? There was somethin' I wanted to talk to you about. If you're free, I mean." Ryuji said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Sure thing, bro. I can't guarantee it'll be right away, since we have so much other shit to deal with. But once I've got some free time, I'll definitely make it a point to hear you out." Ren said as Ryuji smiled and spoke up.

"Sweet, thanks! It was definitely worth waiting around for you, for this alone. Oh crap, is everyone else already at school!? We gotta book it, Ren!" Ryuji said as Ren swore and nodded as the two hurried to class...

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

"Y'know, I was cleaning my room the other day and I found a collection of stories that I bought when I was a student. You've all heard of 'The Restaurant of Many Orders' by Kenji Miyazawa, right? It was aimed at children, but even when you read it now, it really pulls you in. Speaking of, one of Kenji Miyazawa's strengths is is sense of naming fictional lands in his stories. 'Ihatov' is the most famous among them. This place is loosely named after the author's hometown. Okay, now, let's see here. Ah, how about you, Amamiya-kun?" Kawakami said as Ren looked up on hearing his name as Kawakami kept speaking.

"Answer this question. Where do you think the fictional land of 'Ihatov' is named after?" Kawakami asked as Ren blinked, before smiling as he recalled the answer from one time he and Kusa had talked about books together when they were younger, allowing him to speak up with confidence to give the answer.

"This is it! The answer is Iwate." Ren said. Kawakami clapped approvingly as she spoke up.

"Impressive, Amamiya-kun the elder. Way to go! Yup, that's correct. 'Ihatov' is Kenji Miyazawa's fantasy world, or more simply put, his utopia. A utopia is an ideal world, separate from our own world." Kawakami said as the typical mutterings about how smart Ren must be to have known the answer ensued, complete with some students questioning if they should ask to borrow Ren's notes. Morgana smirked as he spoke up.

"Wow, nice going, Ren! You must really be on a roll if you were able to get that right so confidently!" Morgana said as Ren's Knowledge got a needless boost. At that point, Kawakami spoke up again.

"Your own little paradise, huh? It'd be amazing if that actually existed. Just think, all the booze and meat you want! How cool would that be? Oh, but then I'd be fat. And perpetually hung over. You know what, maybe things aren't so bad as they are." Kawakami said as Morgana spoke up.

"Hm. Kawakami is pretty realistic, wouldn't you say?" Morgana asked Ren, who nodded as the rest of class passed uneventfully...

(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, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, Akechi, and Sumire, with Yusuke sending the first response.

"About the actualizations Maruki spoke of before." Yusuke sent as Haru sent a response.

"Hm? Did something happen?" Haru sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"I think so. One of my fellow artists no longer works in the medium." Yusuke sent as Haru sent a response.

"Oh! You mean they gave up painting?" Haru sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Yes and no. To be more precise, their entire history and existence as a painter are no more." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"For real!?" Ryuji sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Wow. Actualization sure is some spooky stuff, to be sure." Futaba sent as Ann sent a response.

"But doesn't that mean that Maruki's Shadow just killed their dream?" Ann sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Not at all. In this reality, they have apparently always been in archery. And they're quite skilled as well, from what I've gathered." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Seriously? But out of all things, why archery?" Ryuji sent as Akechi sent a response at that point.

"Good question, Sakamoto. I don't know the exact reasoning, but it was most likely Maruki's judgment call. He pried into your associate's cognition and concluded archery to be the best fit for them." Akechi sent as Makoto sent a response.

"I see. So that's what Maruki considers 'salvation', eh?" Makoto sent as Akechi sent a response.

"Precisely. He probably concluded that the arts were just generating suffering for them and disagreed with it. I suppose he thought this would be a safer path?" Akechi sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Hm, interesting. Now that you mention it Akechi, they did say before that they were stuck in a terrible slump not unlike the one I was stuck in previously." Yusuke sent as Sumire sent a response.

"True, but if they change paths like this, doesn't that mean all of the effort up until now is just, I dunno, wasted?" Sumire sent as Akechi sent a response.

"Good point. If I had to guess, I'd say Maruki believes that protecting people from their pain must matter more than their lost efforts. From his point of view, of course." Akechi said as Ren scoffed and sent a response.

"Of course. Psh. He calls it a utopia, but if you ask me? I think, and apologies up-front to the ladies for what I'm about to say, but it's warranted. That said, he might call it a utopia, but in my opinion, it's nothing more than hell. What a hellhole Maruki's made." Ren sent bluntly. Akechi blinked at the coarse, if apt, response from Ren before he sent his own response.

"Well said, Amamiya-kun the elder. I couldn't have put it better myself. It's so pretentious, it's nauseating. And I know Kusa would agree with me if he weren't being held captive right now." Akechi sent as Ren put his phone away, rather than view the ensuing texts talking about Kusa. At that point Morgana huffed and spoke up, having read the chat over Ren's hands.

"Ugh. Throwing away your life to live in blissful ignorance? While I can see how it might appeal to some, I believe you'd never agree with it. And yeah, I could never live like that either." Morgana said as the rest of class passed uneventfully...

(After school, in class with Ren and Morgana)

As Ren pondered his options, he headed to the Station Square to check his lottery ticket, only just remembering he had one to check. To his surprise, he'd won 2,000 yen off of a 3,000 yen ticket when he checked it. He then used that to pay for most of the next ticket, being told it would be checkable on 1/21. After that, Ren considered his options before deciding to gather the team to head back into Maruki's Palace, deciding that the sooner they secured the Treasure route, the better. So decided, he sent off a group chat to summon the others to the hideout, which was met with a chorus of affirmative replies...

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

"Um, so I take it we're going to the Palace today, right? Since we're able to presumably move forward now." Ann said as Futaba spoke up.

"Nope, just a maybe for now. Can't be absolutely certain yet." Futaba said as Haru sighed and spoke up.

"Hm. I hope we can get through safely, you guys. But what if something happens?" Haru asked as Yusuke spoke up.

"We won't know until we try. Whatever the case may be, we should go in and check. The atmosphere of the real world is beginning to change, and not for the better. We cannot afford to wait much longer." Yusuke said as Akechi spoke up.

"Yes, I agree with you, Kitagawa. But ultimately, the decision is up to Amamiya-kun the elder, as our leader." Akechi said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Well said, Akechi. As it happens, I summoned you all here for just that purpose. I do have other things I could be doing, but I believe that securing a route to Maruki's Treasure, and hopefully rescuing Kusa in the process, takes priority right now. So the sooner we do that, the sooner we can allow ourselves to focus on other things and start our prep period for what I would guess to be our final battle as Phantom Thieves. As such, let's get back to infiltrating Maruki's Palace. Any objections?" Ren said as no one raised an objection. At that point, Akechi spoke up.

"Very well, then let us go." Akechi said as the group entered the Metaverse...

(Inside of Maruki's Palace, with Crow, Queen, Violet, Panther, Mona, Oracle, Noir, Fox, Skull, and Joker)

"Let's go! The sooner we ascertain our situation and if we can proceed, the better." Noir said as the group nodded, heading back to where they'd left off. After making their way back to the room they'd left off in the last time, the group blinked in surprise as they saw that the cables that had barred their way forward previously were no longer present. Noir blinked as she spoke up.

"Oh! Look! The cables are gone!" Noir said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Rather fortuitous that we tried out the console we found in Mementos yesterday. Now we can proceed." Fox said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. But let us proceed with caution. We have no way of knowing what to expect going forward. So everyone keep their eyes open." Joker said. Violet nodded, giving Joker a closed-eye smile for the first time in a bit as she spoke up.

"Yes! Okay! Let's go, Senpai!" Violet said as the group kept moving. After beating some Shadows, Joker's 'Arsene' Persona hit level 48. While exploring, the group found an empty side room with seemingly nothing in it other than a guard Shadow and some searchable objects. Or that's how it seemed on first glance, but when Joker used his 'Third Eye' skill, he found a drawer glowing, which he examined to find a paper inside that he read.

"Date: Feb. 2 'Tomorrow is Rumi's birthday. I'll be meeting her parents tomorrow as well for dinner. My hands have been shaking an awful lot lately. Will they let their daughter marry a low-level researcher like me? Now I'm getting even more anxious than I was before. When I told Rumi how nervous I'm getting, she just laughed and said I think too much. She may not have understood my problem, but I do so love her laugh.

I don't think I'll be able to sleep with my nerves like this, but I need to lie down anyway. I've been getting the worst headaches lately for some reason. I might be pushing myself too hard for this thesis. I just really want to be in top form tomorrow. I know this diary was originally just for research notes, but now I hope I can look back at it with Rumi someday and feel nostalgic.' Heh" Joker read as Violet blinked and spoke up.

"Um, Joker-senpai? What could this be, I wonder? A diary of some sort, perhaps?" Violet said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Hm. Looks like it to me. Judging from what's written inside, it's most likely Maruki's diary, though I have no clue why he'd have it in his Palace of all places." Crow said as Fox spoke up.

"True, but it seems like he has written about things in the past, but it looks like they are only fragments of them at best." Fox said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Doesn't look like it has any meaning to it either. Eh, not sure if it'll come in handy for the investigation or not, but let's hold on to it and see if we can find other ones." Mona said as Joker nodded before the group kept moving. After defeating some Shadows, Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 66. After moving around a bit, Oracle spoke up.

"Hmm? Hang on, Joker, and let me check that door out." Oracle said as she inspected the door before she kept speaking.

"Uh-oh. That door's security looks super-strict, and there isn't even an ID scanner on it that I can see. Let's take a closer peek!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and inspected the door, at which point a mechanical voice spoke up.

"Security lock currently engaged. Please answer the following security authentication question: What did Takuto Maruki lose in exchange for the power to rewrite cognitions?" The mechanical voice asked as Skull gasped and spoke up.

"Gaaah, it talked! Ahem, sorry. But that's not the part that matters now. What's it talkin' about, Doc losin' something? Is this some kinda riddle?" Skull asked as Oracle spoke up.

"That's a security question, like when you reset a password. And only the one person's supposed to know the answers. That's how you end up with private information being used like a key." Oracle said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"I see. So, we need information on Maruki's life to proceed, eh? Well, this is his own Palace. I'd bet we'll find some clues to the answer if we look around thoroughly enough." Mona said with a closed-eye smirk on his face. Skull nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"All right, let's go! If that's the plan, then let's get to clue huntin'!" Skull said as the group kept moving. While clearing out the Shadows in the area the group was in, both Noir and Queen hit level 88, while Violet hit level 87. While looking around, Joker found another side room that had a vent in it, which the group crawled through to find another room that appeared to be a surveillance room, or a gaming room, depending on how you took the vast collection of cases on a shelf behind the group, all while an older CRT TV, not unlike the one in the attic of Leblanc, was currently on and glowing. Skull then spoke up.

"Yo, what's up with this room?" Skull asked as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Good question, Skull. The entire Palace has been rather bizarre, but this room is rather strange in its own way." Crow said as Oracle inspected the TV and spoke up.

"A CRT TV, huh? Talk about old-school. Then again, I have no room to talk, given that I know two people who have a CRT TV in the attic they live in." Oracle said, giving Joker a knowing look that he just returned with a nod. Oracle then kept speaking.

"But enough of teasing Joker. We're looking at this TV. Oh, look! It's even got a built-in VCR. You don't see that anymore." Oracle said as Skull crossed his arms and spoke up.

"Hmm, a built-in VCR, eh? Maybe we've gotta watch some TV, first?" Skull guessed. Panther scoffed and spoke up.

"Pfft! I highly doubt that." Panther said as Fox looked at the table before blinking as he spoke up.

"Actually, I wouldn't be so sure on that, Panther. There's a chance he's right. There appears to be a tape by the VCR." Fox said, pointing to where a VHS tape sat next to the CRT TV, making Crow smirk as he spoke up.

"I see. Well, it appears we don't have any choice but to watch the tape, do we? Of course, it could possibly just be a trap." Crow said as Joker shook his head in the negative and spoke up.

"No. You could be right, Crow, but I don't think so. I feel like if Maruki's Shadow wanted to trap us, he'd have a far more elaborate way of doing it, possibly like what he did to Draconis. That said, let's watch the tape. We've got nothing to lose, and it's not like we're any closer to bypassing that lock." Joker said as he walked over and inserted the VHS into the TV, at which point a bunch of whirring ensued as Panther spoke up.

"Nothing's happening." Panther said as Noir blinked and spoke up.

"Not necessarily. It's making some strange noises. Could it be broken?" Noir asked as Violet spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"Hm. I wonder. Do you think we should try whacking it?" Violet asked, not seeing the slightly shocked look Joker had behind his mask at how much Violet's question reminded him of Draconis in that moment, since he could easily picture such a thing being his little brother's response to faulty electronics. Mona winced and spoke up before Joker could voice his thoughts, however.

"Uh, please don't whack the machinery, Violet. Even if it worked, what if it broke it worse, and we end up unable to proceed as a result?" Mona said. At that moment, the tape started playing, making Queen gape and speak up.

"Oh, it's playing! Let's stay on guard, everyone." Queen said as the tape started playing.

(Flashback, undisclosed time and location, with a younger Maruki)

"How are you feeling today, Rumi?" A younger Maruki asked the brown-haired woman laying on a hospital bed in front of him, a woman who he'd identified as Rumi with his previous question. When Rumi made no move to reply, Maruki kept speaking.

"Sorry I came empty-handed today. I've just been so busy with the research lately. I haven't had the chance to pick up any part-time work to make some spending money. Oh, I know! I'll buy you flowers the next time I come. Do you remember that wildflower field we used to go to, back in high school? You really loved it there, didn't you? Oh, or would you prefer it if I bought you some snacks instead? Which should I bring, sweet or salty? I know you like both, so maybe it won't matter which I bring?" Maruki asked as he gazed into Rumi's piercing red eyes as he kept speaking.

"But I'm not just here for a social call. Actually, I have some news for you today. So, first, I've finished my paper. The other thing is that they finally caught the culprit. He's in police custody now. You don't need to worry anymore." Maruki said as Rumi spoke up.

"Ugh. Th-They caught him? That's good!" Rumi said, eliciting a nod from Maruki as he spoke up.

"Of course, that doesn't mean everything's over and done with, but things are going to proceed as they ought to." Maruki said as Rumi gave a barely audible 'Huh.' in response. Maruki kept speaking as he looked at the window where the sun was setting.

"My 'cognitive psience' is the study of people's hearts, and how they guide people's views of the world. Everyone comprehends the world in a different way, depending on their cognition of things. So basically, if one could tap into a person's 'cognitive world', so to speak, one would even be able to alter how that person views reality, in every way. Or at least, that's what my paper's all about. Heh, here I am, going way over your head with this stuff just like always, eh Rumi?" Maruki said, getting another barely-audible 'huh' in response from Rumi. Maruki kept speaking at that point.

"But anyway, I've recently met someone who thinks my research could be fruitful. If everything moves forward as planned, they may even fund my work. At that point, I'd be the first professional 'psientist' in the world. My goal is to find a way to stop crime by putting my research into action. Many of the criminals in this world are deluded to the point of seeing everything through a distorted lens, so to speak.

That said, if I could change their cognitions, it would stop them from committing crimes before they even considered them. And if I were to succeed, then the things that happened to you would never happen to anyone else again." Maruki said as Rumi gave off another barely-audible 'huh' in response. Maruki then gently took Rumi's hand in his own as he spoke up.

"I want to save you, Rumi. No, not just you. I want to save the whole world with my cognitive psience! Well, if nothing else, at least I know your family would appreciate it, Rumi." Maruki said as Rumi spoke up at that point, actually saying words Maruki could hear.

"Taku...to..." Rumi said as Maruki looked up in surprise and spoke up.

"Rumi! It's me. Are you all right? Can you talk?" Maruki asked as Rumi spoke up again.

"Takuto... Fa...mily..." Rumi said as Maruki spoke up.

"Oh!" Maruki said before Rumi shot up bolt upright in her bed and grabbed her head as she spoke up.

"My family! Dad, where are you? Mom! No, no! Please! Please, don't go! Aaaaaaaaah!" Rumi said as she started thrashing around, prompting Maruki to shoot to his feet and try to calm her as he spoke up.

"Rumi!? Rumi! It's okay, you're safe. Calm down, please." Maruki said as Rumi kept thrashing around as she spoke up, seemingly not hearing Maruki.

"Give them back! Give me my mom and dad, now!" Rumi said as Maruki winced and spoke up.

"Ugh. Rumi!" Maruki said before he felt everything around him pulse as a voice echoed in his head.

"Do you want power!?" Maruki heard as he felt a migraine come on as he spoke up.

"Guh! These migraines are painful. Grr, dammit, this sucks." Maruki said to himself before turning to face Rumi as he kept speaking.

"Don't worry, someone's coming to help!" Maruki said. A short time later, Rumi was calmed and asleep as a doctor spoke to Maruki.

"Thank you for your quick thinking. I believe it was most likely a post-traumatic episode. Memories of the incident must have resurfaced due to some sort of stimuli, like certain imagery or phrasing." The doctor said to Maruki who blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? Phrasing, you say?" Maruki asked. Another time skip later, Maruki was sitting by the bed of a now-asleep Rumi as he spoke up.

"I'm so sorry, Rumi. Your current condition, it's all my fault. Deep down, I knew that I could end all crime across the world, but even if I did, it still wouldn't bring your family back. What you truly need is to be set free from that horrible tragedy, if possible. But, how can I do that?" Maruki said as he felt his head throb again as he heard the voice from before.

"You must seek me." Maruki heard as he groaned and rubbed his head before he kept speaking.

"Nngh! What in the-? What was that!?" Maruki said as he blinked on hearing Rumi mumble in her sleep.

"Takuto, are you there? Please, if you can hear me, stop this suffering I'm going through. I don't want to remember anymore. I want to be able to forget." Rumi said as Maruki winced and spoke up.

"Ergh! Forget? Ugh, I wish I could do something to help you with that. Oh! But wait, maybe I can? But altering a subject's cognition, or more simply put, by changing their heart, any related trauma is eliminated." Maruki said as the voice from before spoke up more insistently.

"You must seek me!" Maruki heard, as he punched his leg lightly and kept speaking.

"So, by that logic, it's clear to me. All that pain and suffering. Not just Rumi's, but everyone else's suffering. It can all be undone!" Maruki said as the voice spoke up once more.

"Seek me out. I am that which manifests thought itself. I shall echo your blasphemous fury with reality so that we may together change the world, one way or another. Now, call me forth!" Maruki heard, and this time he heeded the voice, looking at Rumi as he spoke up.

"Yes, whoever you are. I'll do it. I don't care who you may be, all I know is that I can't do it alone. Please, whoever you are, lend me your strength! Please, I beg you! Help me to save Rumi's life!" Maruki said as several pulses were felt, and a flash of light later, Maruki blinked and spoke up.

"What was that!? Rumi! Are you okay!?" Maruki asked as Rumi's eyes slowly fluttered open as she looked at Maruki and spoke up.

"Who's that? Who are you?" Rumi asked as Maruki gasped and spoke up.

"Rumi, it's me!" Maruki said as Rumi spoke up with a smile.

"Um, you seem sweet and all, but I'm really sorry. I can't lie. You're nice, but I don't know who you are." Rumi said as Maruki blinked and spoke up.

"Rumi? What do you mean?" Maruki asked as Rumi spoke up.

"I've just gone through surgery to treat my condition. Ever since I was born, I've been unwell. I lost my parents when I was young, so I live with my parents in the countryside now." Rumi said as Maruki blinked and spoke up.

"When you were, I'm sorry, did you say when you were young?" Maruki asked before blinking as he spoke up.

"You can't be serious. It's me, Rumi! Don't you remember me?" Maruki asked as Rumi spoke up in confusion.

"Um, no offense, and I really am sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about, sir. Well, I'm going to be discharged from here pretty soon, now that I've finished my last round of surgery. I can't wait to see my grandparents again and show them how well I've recovered." Rumi said as Maruki spoke up.

"This is unreal. Were her memories actually revised? Wait, could it be? Was that voice really a divine intervention?" Maruki said to himself as Rumi gave Maruki a concerned look and spoke up.

"Um, I might not know who you are, but I still have to ask. Are you all right?" Rumi said as Maruki spoke to himself, not even registering Rumi's question.

"That's absurd, though! How could something like-Oh! I mean, yes I'm fine. It's nothing. I'm just glad you're doing better now." Maruki said before muttering under his breath.

"She remembers nothing of the incident. So, for Rumi, everything she knows is different now." Maruki said to himself as Rumi spoke up.

"By the way, I meant to ask. What are you doing in my room? And how do you know my name?" Rumi asked as Maruki looked over in shock and spoke up.

"Oh. Well, I'm, uh, how do I put this? Ah, I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone else." Maruki said as Rumi spoke up.

"Oh? Another person?" Rumi asked as Maruki spoke up.

"Yeah, my, uh, my girlfriend's name is Rumi, too." Maruki said as Rumi smiled and spoke up.

"Really? That's so nice to hear." Rumi said as Maruki nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, it is." Maruki said in an almost-somber tone, making Rumi tilt her head to the side and speak up.

"Huh?" Rumi asked as Maruki chuckled and spoke up.

"Don't worry about it. Heh, looks like I really messed up finding the right room, didn't I? I really am sorry to disturb you." Maruki said as Rumi spoke up.

"Um, that's fine. So, I know this might sound odd, but if you'd like to meet again sometime, I wouldn't mind." Rumi said as Maruki spoke up.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll have to decline. I'm sorry. I'm going to be getting busier than ever soon, so I don't believe we'll be meeting again." Maruki said as Rumi frowned and spoke up.

"Really? But, what about your girlfriend?" Rumi asked as Maruki leaned back and spoke up with a sigh.

"She's not around anymore. She's unfortunately passed away. That's why I won't be coming here anymore." Maruki said as Rumi gasped and spoke up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Um, who did you say you were again?" Rumi asked as Maruki got up and spoke up.

"It's not important. I hope you feel better soon, Rumi. And I know the people who care about you wish the same." Maruki said as he turned and left the room...

(Flashback end, back in the present with Crow, Noir, Violet, Queen, Fox, Skull, Panther, Oracle, Mona, and Joker)

After the tape ended, Panther gasped and spoke up.

"That was, albeit a younger version, that was Maruki, right?" Panther asked as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was." Mona said as Crow spoke up with a frown.

"Yes, well, based on what we've seen, we can surmise that Maruki's memory was somehow on that videotape." Crow said as Violet frowned and spoke up.

"True. But the way that woman was acting at the end of the tape? It's odd, but that's just how it went for me, too, from what I can recall." Violet said as Queen spoke up.

"So he rewrote her cognition somehow." Queen said as Crow spoke up, having a thought.

"I could be wrong, but considering what he was saying in the video, that might have been the moment when he first awakened to his ability." Crow said as Violet spoke up.

"I see. I'm not sure, but could Maruki possibly have wanted us to watch this memory?" Violet said as Mona spoke up.

"Eh, I don't think that's the case, Violet. If nothing else, it would contradict his whole need for security and protection. It's possible that this is just an old memory he tried to bury in his unconscious mind." Mona said as Crow spoke up.

"True. Still, if this actually occurred, and I have no doubt that it did, there's no mistaking it for a trivial memory. This is clearly important to Maruki." Crow said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. Whether for good or bad, it appears that this incident is what led Maruki to his current mission to save the world and bring happiness to the masses." Fox said as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"You're right." Noir said as the group kept moving. After defeating another Shadow while exploring the area, Joker's 'Macabre' Persona he'd acquired recently hit level 78, while Joker himself hit level 87 and Fox hit level 88. Joker smirked as he spoke up.

"Good. With this power, I can become an even stronger leader!" Joker said as Violet spoke up.

"I like that you're taking this seriously, but wasn't that almost a bit somber, Joker?" Violet asked as Crow spoke up.

"No, it was professional is what it was." Crow said as Joker's level increased. From the level-ups, Joker's 'Macabre' Persona got the passive skill 'Ali Dance', making Mona smirk and speak up.

"Oh! An impressive skill." Mona said as 'Macabre' acquired 'Ali Dance'. After beating some enemies, Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 67. After beating more Shadows, Joker's 'Arsene' Persona hit level 49 and Skull hit level 88. After traveling through a vent in the room Joker came to, the group found a set of ledges they hopped across to find a door wrapped in vines. After exchanging a nod with Mona, Joker walked forward to chop the vines down and walk into the room, where he found the 'Red Sorrow Seed' on a pedestal, making Joker blink as he spoke up.

"Huh, wasn't expecting that. Oh well, it's irrelevant. One Will Seed down, and two to go." Joker said as he pocketed the 'Red Sorrow Seed'. Violet blinked and spoke up.

"So that's what a Will Seed looks like up-close on its own. Huh, gotta say, it looks kinda creepy." Violet said as the group kept moving. After a bit, the group found themselves back at the authentication door, where Crow spoke up.

"Same question as before, eh? Well, we know the answer now after watching that video, don't we Joker?" Crow said before he kept speaking.

"Or at least, I assume you know as well? If so, you can do the honors." Crow said as Joker nodded and turned to the door as he spoke up.

"The answer is his lover." Joker said confidently. At that point, the door seemed to process for a bit before the lock disengaged and the door opened as the mechanical voice from before spoke up again.

"Correct. Authentication complete. Disengaging lock." The mechanical voice said as Skull grinned while fist-bumping Joker as he spoke up.

"Aw yeah! Nailed it!" Skull said as the group moved forward into the new area, only to blink as there was a path in the road, which made Fox blink and speak up.

"Wait, hold a moment. What is this?" Fox asked as he found a blueprint on the wall, causing his and the others' phones to flash with the 'GOT MAP!' notification. Fox then kept speaking.

"Oh? This appears to be a floor plan of the Palace. It's quite thorough, and unfortunately, it seems that we still have a long way to go." Fox said as Panther gasped at reading the name of the Palace.

"What? 'Maruki Cognitive Psience Laboratory'!? What the heck?" Panther asked as a wide-eyed Skull gasped and spoke up.

"FOR REAL!? This Palace is a lab!?" Skull asked as Crow just sighed, shook his head, and spoke up.

"Skull, Skull, Skull. You are an absolute fool, aren't you? You really hadn't figured that out yet? Given Maruki's past and the Palace's appearance we've seen so far, it wasn't difficult to deduce." Crow said as a flustered Ryuji huffed and spoke up.

"Sh-Shuddup! This place is just so weird that I didn't bother thinkin' about it yet!" Skull said before turning to Joker as he spoke up, ignoring the simultaneous groans from Mona, Crow and Oracle at what he said next.

"You get me, don't you, Ren!?" Ryuji said as Joker huffed and spoke up.

"Speak for yourself, Skull. Also, CODE NAMES! Remember?" Joker said bluntly. Skull sweatdropped at Joker's response before speaking up.

"No way. For real?" Skull said as Crow looked at Joker and spoke up.

"Do you have a moment? A Palace's appearance is based on what its ruler thinks of someone or something. In Takuto Maruki's case, he must think of this stadium as a laboratory." Crow said as Skull spoke up.

"Yeah, I get that part, Crow. But why the stadium, of all places?" Skull asked as Violet spoke up.

"Um, good question, Skull-senpai. Oh, wait a minute. That reminds me of something I heard a while ago. Before starting construction on the stadium, there were apparently plans to build some kind of research facility. I wonder, could it have anything to do with that, by chance?" Violet asked as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, it's possible. But for now, we should focus on progress in the Palace rather than trying to answer questions." Crow said as the group kept moving. Once they went through the nearby door, they looked at the large amount of open space and blinked as Violet spoke up.

"Wow. Lots of open space in here, isn't there? Oh, look! A door on the other end! Let's check it out." Violet said as Skull spoke up.

"Ah, I get it. Doesn't this look like some kinda research facility to you now?" Skull asked as Mona spoke up.

"Kinda. How suspicious. The further we progress, the more we see the Palace for what it truly is, and the closer we get to our goals. Let's keep up the infiltrating. As the group crossed the hall, Joker constantly scanning around in case the Malefactor decided to ambush the group again, Oracle eventually located a safe room which the group entered. As a result, the 'Research Ward' was added to Joker's fast-travel list. Joker then headed back to the Velvet Room to handle a Fusion Alarm that had tripped.

After the Fusion Alarm, during which Joker itemized Noir's ultimate grenade launcher and fused a few new Personas while strengthening his existing ones, Joker headed back to meet the others in the Research Ward safe room. On his return, Joker saw that Fox, Noir, Queen, and Violet had stuff to say. Joker started off by walking over to Fox and speaking up.

"Hey there, Fox. What do you make of this Palace so far?" Joker asked as Fox spoke up.

"So you inquire as to my opinion? I see. It's okay so far. That said, so the cognitive beings here are people who wish to attain happiness through Maruki's research, it seems." Fox said as Joker spoke up.

"Indeed. Actually, since I have you here, would you be willing to take this blank card and this 'Debilitate' Skill Card, and use them to make a duplicate of the 'Debilitate' Skill Card?" Joker asked Fox, who nodded and spoke up.

"Ah, so you wish to make use of our deal? Very well. Hand me the cards. Heheh, it's too easy! Truly, you never bore me, Joker! And, voila! Another masterpiece, beautifully executed! Your skill cards, Joker." Fox said as he handed Joker the duplicated 'Debilitate' skill card back with the original. At that point, Joker walked over to Noir and spoke up.

"What's up, Noir? You've not really said much since we got here." Joker said as Noir blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, I've just been thinking, that's all. That said, it seems like we still have quite a ways to go. We can always head back if it gets too dangerous, though." Noir said as Joker nodded and walked over towards Queen before speaking up.

"You seem bothered, Queen. Something up?" Joker asked as Queen turned to Joker and spoke up.

"Joker? Don't tell me we're going to try and clear this place in one day?" Queen asked as Joker spoke up.

"We're not going to try and clear it, Queen. If anything, our goal here at minimum is to secure the Treasure route if possible today. If we can find and save Draconis while doing so, that's just the icing on the cake." Joker said as Queen nodded and spoke up again.

"I see. Fair enough. Also, saving people's lives through a lifetime of research, if we believe that video? Huh. I never thought this sort of thing could be a distorted desire." Queen said as Joker spoke up.

"I think anything, if focused on enough, could be a distorted desire. Let's take your determination to save Eiko for instance. Had things not played out the way they did, there's a definite chance it could've been a distorted desire if worked on long enough." Joker said as Queen merely blinked and nodded while Joker walked over to Violet and spoke up.

"Hey there, beautiful. How're you holding up?" Joker asked, smirking at the subtle hints of red on Violet's face as she spoke up.

"Um, well, I'm okay. Thank you for asking. But in all seriousness, so the stadium turned into a laboratory just due to his cognition? It's so odd to learn things like that can really happen." Violet said in surprise as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"You've not seen anything yet, Violet. Compared to some of the shit the rest of us have seen, this is relatively mild by comparison. Well, minus the whole he has Draconis captive bit. That part's a new one for us, for all intents and purposes." Joker said before walking to the exit of the Safe Room. As he went to exit, Queen spoke up.

"Ah, are we continuing? Roger. Let's go. We're counting on you, Joker!" Queen said as the group kept moving. After eliminating a Shadow in their way, Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 68, while Panther hit level 87. After a bit of exploring, the group found a staircase which they walked up to reach the next floor, at which point Oracle spoke up.

"Joker! Hang on a sec, big bro! That room's giving off a unique reading compared to the others in the area. For all we know, it might be like the video room we found. Will you try checking that out? It could turn up some clues. Although, it looks like it doesn't open from this side, so we're gonna have to go the long way around." Oracle said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Oracle. It may not be a direct route to the Treasure, but it's definitely something. We should make that room our goal for now as we progress. After recruiting the mighty 'Hastur' as a new Persona, Crow and Mona hit level 87, and two of Joker's Personas leveled up in the forms of 'Arsene' and 'Seth', who hit levels 50 and 69 respectively. After eliminating a strong Shadow, Oracle and Violet both hit level 88. After eliminating some tough Shadows, Joker's 'Macabre' Persona hit level 79 while Noir hit level 89. After moving up another staircase, the group was stopped short as they spotted another door with a holo-lock, making Skull speak up in surprise.

"Oh, look. Isn't that another one of those doors. Deja effing vu, am I right?" Skull said before he kept speaking.

"Regardless, what do you wanna do? Might as well check it out for now, right?" Skull asked as Joker nodded and inspected the lock, at which point a familiar mechanical voice spoke up.

"Security lock currently engaged. Please answer the following identity authentication question: What was missing that caused the research into cognitive psience to be shut down?" The mechanical voice said as Skull blinked and spoke up.

"Yeah, uhhh, sorry. I got no clue. Again." Skull said as Violet spoke up.

"That's okay, Skull-senpai. Guessing the answer to a question this specific is pretty tough, to be fair. I don't know what we'd even guess. But what if we go to the room that Oracle-senpai pointed out to us? Maybe we'll find the answer or some kind of hint in there." Violet said as Mona spoke up with a nod.

"Yes, that sounds good to me. Let's find a way into that room!" Mona said as the group headed downstairs, where both Joker and Mona promptly groaned as they noticed a side door to the same room that they'd been barred from entering before. After checking it, their groans intensified when the side door easily opened up. After bemoaning their incompetence briefly, the group stepped inside the room, where another CRT TV sat on a table. Violet frowned and spoke up.

"Yep, about what we figured. Another video, like the one we watched before. Wonder what it is this time?" Violet asked as Mona spoke up.

"Good question, Violet. Normally, I don't like the idea of spying on somebody's past, but we clearly don't have a choice in the matter. If watching this is our ticket forward, then that's what we're doing." Mona said as Joker put the tape in as it started...

(Flashback start- unknown time and place, with a younger Maruki and Shibusawa)

"Dammit! Just hearing it from you's pissing me off, man! You've come so far, Takuto! What problem could they possibly have now!?" Shibusawa said as Maruki spoke up with a frown.

"That's what I want to know! I tried negotiating in person with the professor and the investors, but they simply wouldn't listen to me. Their exact words were, 'Due to the lack of concrete evidence, all further research and funding into the field of cognitive psience will cease.' In other words, they told me it's already over and done with." Maruki said, sighing as he shook his head and kept speaking while looking at Shibusawa, the two presumably empty beer bottles to one side with two glasses next to Shibusawa going unnoticed as Maruki spoke.

"But, why now of all times? When they first saw my paper, they were positively beaming with excitement!" Maruki said as Shibusawa frowned and spoke up.

"I see. And the research lab in Odaiba you told me about, they're not going through with that anymore?" Shibusawa asked as Maruki spoke up with a dry chuckle.

"Yep, that dream's dead as a doornail, I'm afraid. Aw, dammit all! To hell with their 'concrete evidence'! How are we supposed to get any evidence if we can't perform the research first!? If we can change the cognition of trauma victims, their suffering can be eliminated with ease, or at least that's my theory. Still, who knows how many people could be saved with this research if it was funded and backed? How much more obvious could its benefits be?" Maruki asked as Shibusawa frowned and spoke up.

"Level with me, Takuto. So, in your honest opinion, do you really think the lack of evidence is the reason they shut it all down?" Shibusawa asked Maruki, who winced and spoke up.

"Urgh. I'm not sure, to be honest. It makes absolutely no sense to me. After all the time and money spent on it, to just cut off my research because it wasn't all proven effective immediately, as if that's possible with something like this!? And even if that WAS the result of some kind of conspiracy, what could I do about it? It's not like I have any proof." Maruki said as Shibusawa spoke up.

"I see. That sucks, man. But the question here becomes this. So, what're you gonna do now? The sponsors have backed out, so I doubt the college is gonna let you keep using their labs for your research." Shibusawa said as Maruki frowned and spoke up.

"To be honest with you? I'm done with that college. They have nothing for me at this point. I'll look for work elsewhere while I keep fleshing out that research paper. Eventually, I'll prove the existence of the cognitive world beyond any doubt. Once I've done that, no one will be able to complain." Maruki said as he grabbed one of the previously thought-empty beer bottles, and revealed that it was in fact not empty when he popped the top and took a long drag off the top. One time-skip later saw Maruki slumped over on the table alone, moaning after the fifth bottle was placed in front of him, mumbling to himself.

"Rumi, I hope you're doing well at least. I swear I'm going to do it. I have the power now to do it, even if it cost me my life with you as a result. So I'm going to rescue everyone from their pain and suffering, no matter what! I don't care how long it takes me to do it. It's going to happen." Maruki said as the memory ended at that point.

(Flashback end, back in the present with Crow, Queen, Fox, Panther, Noir, Skull, Oracle, Mona, Violet, and Joker)

"I see. So that was another of Maruki's memories, then?" Noir asked as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, I believe so. It seemed to be a much more recent memory than the first one we saw, though. After all, this one clearly happened after the first one." Queen said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"True. Also, I believe I recognized the guy talking to Maruki in that memory. If I'm right, that's the guy who treated me and Maruki to a meal at the buffet once before Maruki left Shujin. I think Maruki called him Shibusawa-san if I recall right?" Joker said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, that's what he called him in that memory just now, also. Still, his research was cut off out of nowhere." Oracle said as Crow spoke up.

"So, to sum up what we know so far, after the incident with his girlfriend, he progressed in his research to harness cognitive psience as a healing practice of sorts. However, his research was shut down, and his career along with it. All he had left was his resolve to prove his research valid, then use it to save people from their suffering. Unless I'm mistaken, that seems to be the message delivered by the videos we've found thus far." Crow said as the others nodded and looked down as Violet spoke up with a frown.

"That sounds accurate, Crow-senpai. But still, poor Maruki. It must have been his dream to prove his research. More than that, to use said research to save people here at his laboratory." Violet said as Crow scoffed and spoke up.

"Tch. If that sounds good to you, then would you prefer we just turn around and go home?" Crow asked Violet as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"Crow, that's enough! You know damned well that isn't an option. Or do I have to remind you of why ELSE we're here besides securing the Treasure?" Noir said pointedly. Skull nodded and spoke up while rotating his shoulder.

"Yeah, Noir's right. We are here to secure the Treasure route, but we're also here to try and save Draconis if we can. So if anything, we've got to pull out all the stops to win this one." Skull said as Violet nodded and spoke up.

"Good point, Skull-senpai. Well, the vote was unanimous, out of those of us present at the time of the vote. Obviously, one of us was unable to vote at that time." Violet said as the group nodded solemnly and kept moving. After eliminating a tough Shadow, Queen hit level 89 while two of Joker's Personas leveled up in the forms of 'Seth' and 'Gabriel', who hit levels 70 and 83 respectively. The level-ups granted 'Gabriel' the high-tier healing skill 'Salvation', making Fox smirk and speak up.

"Heh, well done on the new skill!" Fox said respectfully as Gabriel acquired 'Salvation'. After eliminating a really strong Shadow, the ensuing EXP gains bought Joker's 'Seth' Persona to level 71, Joker himself to level 88, and both Skull and Fox to level 89. Joker spoke up at that point.

"Not bad, another level up! My strength grows with my level!" Joker said humbly as Violet nodded approvingly and spoke up.

"Nice one, Joker-senpai. That's a good level-up line, I think." Violet said with a shy smile as Joker's level went up. After using Skull's 'Insta-Kill' ability to destroy a weak Shadow, Panther hit level 88. After navigating up another flight of steps, clearing out a bunch of Shadows, and crawling through a vent, the group arrived at a cracked window, prompting Joker and Skull to exchange a smirking grin as the former hauled back and shattered the window with one well-placed kick of his trusty boot. Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Hell yeah! Let's call you Joker the Window Slayer now!" Skull said as Violet and Crow both huffed but said nothing as the group saw a Will Seed door in front of them on landing, making Crow smirk and speak up.

"Hm, I see. So one of HIS Will Seeds is right here. Well, since we're here, let's take it off of his hands." Crow said as Joker nodded, sliced open the door, and marched forward to seize the 'Green Sorrow Seed' from its pedestal. Crow smirked as he spoke up at that point.

"Heh, that's already our second Will Seed. If I recall what I was told of them correctly, that leaves just one more to find. We're progressing rather well, all things considered." Crow said as the group kept moving. After going through a nearby door and cutting across the subsequent hallway, the group found themselves back at the locked door from before, where the mechanical voice reminded them of its question.

"Security lock currently still engaged. Please answer the following identity authentication question: What was missing that caused the research into cognitive psience to be shut down?" The mechanical voice asked as Joker smirked and spoke up.

"This is it. The answer is evidence." Joker said, remembering that from the video the group had just watched. As before, the lock hovered for a bit before disengaging as the mechanical voice spoke up again.

"Correct response. Authentication complete. Disengaging lock." The mechanical voice said as Violet spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"YES! It opened!" Violet said as Mona spoke up with his own closed-eye smile.

"Let's get moving, Joker!" Mona said as Crow huffed and spoke up.

"Oh, come on, all these questions have been about Maruki so far. Is the next question going to be 'What's Maruki's favorite snack' or something?" Crow asked as Joker and Violet exchanged a wince, somehow doubting that Crow was right on that guess as the group kept moving. After going down a couple of hallways, the group found themselves in a room with a lot of chairs and a counter, behind which two Shadows could clearly be seen addressing patients, making Fox frown as he spoke up.

"Hold a moment. This is quite the change in environment. Where are we now?" Fox asked as the group listened in to a nearby receptionist answer that same question for another patient.

"This is the Psychological Exam Room. We conduct psychological tests so that we can offer patients the happiest and most ideal realities. If you are interested, please proceed down the hall and through the door to access the information panel." The receptionist Shadow said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"An exam room? Like in a hospital exam room?" Panther asked as Noir spoke up with a frown.

"Perhaps? What an odd place. Um, but the Shadows here aren't attacking us. Don't they want to stop us?" Noir asked as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. Strange as it may be, they do not seem hostile to us at all, Noir. Furthermore, I confess myself curious as to what this 'exam' entails. Joker, perhaps we can talk to these Shadows and gather some useful information." Fox said as Joker thought about it and spoke up.

"Makes sense to me. But if the path behind them is the exam room, what's that door behind us for?" Joker asked as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Good question, Joker. Let me check this schematic here." Oracle said, pulling up the schematic from before, and blinking at what she saw as she spoke up.

"What the crap!? If this is correct, this schematic says all that awaits beyond that door is a 'room of suffering and anguish'? Am I the only one who thinks that sounds suspiciously like a detention level?" Oracle asked as Joker blinked and spoke up.

"You could be right, Oracle. But if so, how do we investigate it while not derailing our mission to secure the Treasure?" Joker asked as Oracle thought about it and spoke up.

"I think, if I'm right, we might have to split the group into two teams for a time. One team will move forward to take the exam and try to scout out the way forward, and the other will try to get into that door behind us and see if it leads to that detention level or not. If it does, that might just be our ticket to finding Draconis. If not, well, better that not all of us find out the hard way." Oracle said with a resolute nod as Joker nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Agreed. If there are no objections, I propose we split the teams up as follows: Team A, which will handle the exam, shall comprise of myself, Crow, Noir, Fox, Skull, and Queen. Meanwhile Team B, or the team headed down to the detention level shall be made up of Panther, Mona, Oracle, and Violet. And since Oracle's our usual navigator, I further propose that while Oracle's off with Team B, we would ask that Crow, if he agrees, will step in as Team A's navigator. Any objections?" Joker asked.

No one voiced an objection, so the needed tagouts were made so that Skull and Fox joined Joker on the front lines of Team A, while Mona, Panther, and Violet joined Oracle in Team B. At that point, Joker looked at Violet and Oracle in particular as he spoke up.

"Be careful, you two. I trust you two to handle yourselves, but don't do anything reckless trying to save Draconis, if he is down there. If all else fails, don't be afraid to ask Panther and Mona for help, since that's what they're there for. Work together, you four. I believe you can find him." Joker said before turning to kneel so he was looking Mona in the eyes and spoke up with a serious expression.

"Mona, I'm counting on you, little bro. Watch over Panther, Oracle, and Violet until you all can either find Draconis down there, or until the four or possibly even five of you reconvene with the rest of us. For reference, assuming we can ace this exam, I'll try to activate a few Safe Rooms for you guys to use to catch up quicker. If you can find him, I know Draconis can use fast-travel points rather well. Good luck, you four." Joker said as he took turns hugging each of the girls for good luck.

Afterwards, he smiled at the girls before patting Mona on the head, getting nods from the four aforementioned Phantom Thieves as they headed off on their mission, while Joker's group walked over to speak with the receptionist, serving as a distraction for Team B to slip through the door after Oracle hacked it open. Joker then spoke up to get the receptionist's attention.

"Excuse me, might this be the reception desk for the Psychological Exam Room, by any chance?" Joker asked politely as the receptionist Shadow nodded and spoke up.

"That's correct. Wait, I recognize you. You are the Phantom Thieves, I assume? Normally I capture any intruders, but this area is free to any who wish to enter. I will grant you entrance to the Exam Room, should you so desire." The receptionist Shadow said as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"Hm. You say you're allowing intruders to proceed? How odd." Fox said as Crow spoke up.

"They must be awfully confident in their 'exam' techniques. Well, at any rate, such progression should work in our favor for the time being. Still, we should make sure we get our act straight for this." Crow said as the receptionist Shadow spoke up.

"So, what'll it be? Depending on your reply, we'll have to respond accordingly in kind." The receptionist Shadow asked as Joker spoke up.

"Where did those people we saw in line ahead of us go, if you're allowed to say?" Joker asked. The receptionist Shadow nodded to the question and spoke up.

"Ah, I see. So you are curious about our facilities. Very well. This is the lobby for the Psychological Exam Room where we determine if patients are mentally sound or not. We find the flaws and potential issues in a patient's heart that even they might not be aware of." The receptionist Shadow said as Crow spoke up.

"Well? And what exactly comprises these examinations?" Crow asked as the receptionist Shadow pulled up a portrait of the nearby room, which was split into two sections, a red section and a blue section. The receptionist Shadow then spoke up again to answer Crow's question.

"Beyond that hall lies the special exam room. There, each patient answers three simple questions. Once in the room, simply touch the Information Panel to begin the process. Listen to the question and choose the elevator that corresponds with your answer. Please refrain from returning to the previous level until the exam is over, though." The receptionist Shadow said as each of the previous patients was shown going up a different elevator, with one going up Elevator A (the blue section's elevator) and Elevator B (the red section's elevator). The receptionist Shadow then kept speaking.

"Treatment will be recommended depending on the patients' diagnoses, which will of course vary from patient to patient, for the most part. But this treatment, just like every other step of the process, has been designed with the patient in mind. Do not worry. If no abnormalities are found after the exam's completion, then you will be presented with a small gift. For the sake of your own happiness, we ask that you answer all questions with honesty." The receptionist Shadow said as Queen spoke up.

"Um, excuse me? So, if I have this understood correctly, all we have to do is choose the answer we believe to be correct." Queen said as the receptionist Shadow nodded to confirm her guess, making Queen keep speaking.

"I see. Although I'm a bit hesitant to find out what they mean by 'treatment', truth be told." Queen said as Joker's MetaNav buzzed with a comm from Oracle who spoke up.

"We heard everything from my MetaNav. Basically this exam should be a simple process. First they examine a person's heart, find their pain and regret, then distort their cognition to eliminate said pain and regret. Basically, this is just the Palace version of what Maruki does in real life." Oracle said as Panther's voice replaced hers.

"W-Wait! Buuut, if the group taking the exam makes a mistake, does that mean they're going to have their cognitions changed?" Panther asked as Oracle's voice took over once more.

"That's probably confined to the real world. Here, they probably mess with people's heads some other way. Like, maybe they hook you up to some machine and just go 'BZZZZZT'!" Oracle said as Skull spoke up.

"Hey! Don't scare me like that, Oracle." Skull said as Queen spoke up.

"Well, whatever form his treatment takes, I'm sure we want no part of it for ourselves. After all, if the fact that Draconis might be being held down in the detention level as we speak is any indication, no doubt this treatment is something quite counter-intuitive to our mission." Queen said. Oracle then spoke up.

"Good point, Queen. Right now, me, Violet, and Panther are relaxing in the Mona-Bus, which Panther is driving as the oldest of us, while we head down this long flight of steps we found. If I'm right, these will head straight down to the detention level. However, I fully expect their to be guards when we reach the bottom, so me and the others will be prepared for a fight." Oracle said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Good thinking, Oracle. After all, standing around here attempting to imagine it won't do those of us in here any good, though. Let's take the exam and see where we wind up. Oracle, keep your comms open so Joker can keep you updated on our location at all times. And good luck on your mission." Queen said as Oracle spoke up.

"Roger! Hear ya loud and clear, Queen. Good luck on the exam! For now, Team B over and out." Oracle said as she closed the comms channel for now and Joker's group kept moving.

(For reference, these are the split up groups: Group A- Joker, Fox, Skull, Crow, Noir, Queen. Group B- Oracle, Violet, Panther, Mona)

After being given the clear to head to the Exam Room, Crow spotted a Safe Room, which the group entered, adding the 'Exam Room' to Joker's fast-travel list. Once in the exam room proper, Joker's comms went off again, this time with Panther being the one to speak.

"Umm, we know you're in the exam room, Joker. If we recall what was said before, that receptionist told you to start with the Information Panel, right? I'm guessing it'll be right in front of you." Panther said as Joker spoke into the comms.

"Yup, it's right where you said it is. Now to handle this first question. Keep the comms open in case we have to pick your brains for some of the questions, Panther." Joker said as Panther spoke up.

"Got it. Good luck, bro. Group B signing off for now." Panther said as Joker ended the comm and Group A kept moving. Joker walked forward to touch the Information Panel, at which point a friendly voice spoke up from the panel.

"Hello, patients! Here is your first question. One day at school, you see that your good friend is being led astray by a group of scary people! You want to help your friend out, but if you fight them alone and lose, you could easily get hurt. If you go look for a teacher, there would be no danger to you whatsoever. But if you don't succeed in time, your friend would most likely get hurt. Which would you do in this situation? Would you either a)Go after your friend, or b)Go get help? Once you've made your decision, please take the corresponding elevator! Thank you!" The friendly voice said as Joker took a step back to open his comms up and speak into his earpiece.

"Group B, come in. Did you guys hear all that just now?" Joker asked as Panther spoke up.

"Yup, heard every word. But, huh? Neither answer is wrong though, if you think about it." Panther said as Oracle spoke up.

"Yeah, but this is a medical exam, Panther. Not a school one. They're trying to figure out whether or not you need treatment. So, if I had to make an educated guess, I'd say try and think like Maruki for this, and pick the one he's likeliest to pick?" Oracle said as Panther spoke up.

"I see. So they have to try and figure out which one Maruki would pick? Ooh, this is gonna be hard for them. Luckily for the four of us, we're exempt from that with our mission." Panther said as Mona spoke up.

"That's understandable, Lady Panther. It's hard to be sure of anything whatsoever right now. After all, while the four of us get to go explore an unmarked section of the Palace, the others have to try and put themselves in Maruki's shoes. Joker, if you can hear me, I suggest asking some of the other patients in the exam room, if there are any. Granted, they'd only be cognitive beings, but regardless, they still have to take the exam just like we do. Perhaps they can give you some insight into which one to pick?" Mona said as Oracle spoke up.

"Right, right! I'm with Mona on this one. Besides, if you try and fail, at least you gave it a shot. Although, I'm not opposed to you lot plowing your way through the whole exam, but it might be counter-intuitive to do so in case you have to fight Shadows short-handed if you get it wrong. Also, if you refuse that treatment regimen, whatever it is, they're not gonna take that lying down. Best case, you have to re-take the exam until you get it right. Worst case, they try to separate you guys and then capture you like they did Draconis. But real talk? I advise that you be ready to fight if it comes down to it!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Got it. I'll let you four get back to your mission. Group A signing off for now." Joker said as he ended the comm chat for now and Group A kept moving. Joker and Skull spotted some patients near the 'B' elevator, at which point they walked over as Skull spoke up.

"Hey, you got a sec?" Skull asked one of the patients, who appeared on first glance to be a reserved man. The reserved man spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, yes, how can I help you?" The reserved man asked as Joker spoke up.

"We were wondering if you'd decided which answer you were going to pick for the test question." Joker said. The reserved man blinked and spoke up.

"Ah. I, uh, chose 'B'. This is sort of embarrassing, but I'm never on the helping side in these sorts of things. Someone always has to help me. I just don't have the courage to confront somebody." The reserved man said as Skull spoke up.

"Hmm. So you're the type to ask others for help. I mean, that ain't wrong or anything, but don't you ever think to yourself, 'I wanna help them'?" Skull asked as the reserved man spoke up.

"Of course I do. But even if I had the courage to step in, I might not be able to actually help out at all. If that's the case, it's probably best if I go get help from someone else. If nothing else, that way, success is much more likely." The reserved man said as Noir spoke up.

"Yes, I see. So it's your consideration for others that made you choose 'B', yes? Well, thank you for your time." Noir said as the reserved man nodded to Noir and spoke up.

"You're very welcome, ma'am. I hope my explanation was of assistance." The reserved man said as he walked over to the elevator and kept speaking.

"Now, if you would excuse me, I must be on my way now." The reserved man said as he took the 'B' elevator up while Group A kept moving. As Joker saw another group by the 'A' elevator, his comms turned on as Mona spoke up.

"Joker, it looks like you found a group by the 'A' elevator. Maybe try asking one of them for their input?" Mona said as the strong-willed man next to Joker looked over and spoke up.

"Hm? Hello there. You guys are dressed awfully fancy, aren't you? It doesn't look like you're here for an examination." The strong-willed man said as Joker spoke up.

"Have you chosen an answer yet, sir?" Joker asked the strong-willed man, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yep, I have. And that answer is definitely 'A'. If someone needs my help, I'm doing what needs to be done." The strong-willed man said as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"Oh? So decisive. Is there a reason you didn't even hesitate?" Fox asked as the strong-willed man spoke up.

"You want to know my reasoning for choosing 'A'? Oh. Well, hm. Very well. Normally, I wouldn't share this with someone I just met, but, I was in this exact situation in the past. The difference is, that time, I just acted like I didn't see anything and went on my way. I let my fear control me. Heh, pretty pathetic of me, right? I've regretted it ever since. So I've decided from now on, I'm going to help people in need no matter what happens to me." The strong-willed man said as Panther spoke up.

"Oh. Yeah, I can understand that. Stuff like that can make you feel totally horrible if something happens to the person and you could prevent it from happening." Panther said as Skull spoke up.

"True. Even if it ends up hurtin', it's still better to go with whatever choice you won't regret later. I'm onboard with your logic, sir! 'A' sounds like the right answer to me." Skull said as the strong-willed man nodded and spoke up.

"I see. Nice to see people agreeing with me. Thanks. Welp, that's the reasoning for my answer." The strong-willed man said as he got into the elevator and spoke up.

"Okay, I'm gonna go on ahead. See ya!" The strong-willed man said as he took the elevator up. After he was gone, Queen spoke up.

"Well, now we know both sides of the story." Queen said as Skull spoke up.

"That's true, babe. But neither one's exactly wrong, right? I kinda get where they're both comin' from." Skull said as Queen spoke up.

"That's all well and good Skull, but what matters here is which one Maruki thinks is wrong. Why don't we collect our thoughts somewhere and talk out our answer? That way we can let Group B, assuming they've been able to hear everything thus far, also chime in with their opinions so it feels like a real group effort." Queen said as Skull noticed a room off to the side and spoke up.

"Hey, how 'bout that empty room over there?" Skull said as Joker nodded and led the group to the empty room in question as they sat around the table in that room, Joker opening up a comm chat to Group B as he spoke up.

"Group B, come in. This is Joker. We've gotten info from people supporting each of the answers. Now we're going to pool what we know and try to figure out the answer that Maruki would pick. I figured I'd let you also have the chance to weigh in with your thoughts if you so chose." Joker said as Mona spoke up.

"Makes sense to me, Joker. You said you're in an empty room? Perfect. Let's use that to our advantage while we sort out your next step. On our end, we're still driving down a flight of steps. And I think we're gonna be driving down them for a while longer, so we've got plenty of time." Mona said as Joker nodded, gesturing for the rest of Group A to have a seat around the table with him, which they did as Mona kept speaking.

"Are you all seated? Good. All right, let's figure this out." Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"So, after some investigating, I think they use this place to test patients' mental states with a questionnaire. If they find any abnormalities, they will force treatment right away. And while I'm unsure of what exactly said 'treatment' is, I suspect we should avoid if if we can, just to be on the safe side." Queen said as Noir spoke up.

"Um, I see. So, if Maruki thinks we're fine as we are, we get to skip the treatment?" Noir asked as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, most likely. That said, it may not be easy, but we'll have to try to think like Maruki whenever coming up with our responses." Crow said as Skull winced and spoke up.

"Um, sorry, Joker. But to be honest? I ain't any good at this kinda stuff. The questionnaire's all yours, dude." Skull said as Mona spoke up.

"Well then! Okay, let's think of how to handle the first question. What should your group do, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"To start with, let's review what we know, so we have that fresh in our minds while making our choice." Joker said as Mona spoke up.

"Very good. All right. Whose story do you want to discuss?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Let's go in the order we got our intel. So, we'll start with the reserved man's story." Joker decided. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Right. Now then, he's the one that chose 'B', which was Go Get Help. He said there's a chance he wouldn't be able to help his friend alone, so he'd rather find a way to increase the odds." Mona said as Skull spoke up.

"I get what he's sayin', but it still bugs me somewhat. It's like he's just runnin' away from his problems or something." Skull said as Noir spoke up.

"Yes, that's true, Skull-kun. But it's not as if his sole priority was avoiding getting hurt. I wonder what Maruki would think about it if he'd heard that guy's response." Noir said as Panther spoke up at that point through Joker's headset.

"Good point, Noir. Ah, but remember what Maruki said on his last day at the school? He said it's okay to escape your problem if it becomes too painful to handle. So do you think he'd consider this situation the same thing?" Panther asked as Mona spoke up.

"Good question, Lady Panther. I guess that's about it for this one. Anyone else have something to say?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Well, since we've covered the reserved man's story, let's move on to the strong-willed man's story next." Joker decided as Mona spoke up.

"Fair enough. Now then, he's the one who chose A, which was 'Go After Your Friend'. He said he'd help any person he might see who's in trouble." Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"True, but he also said that he had turned a blind eye in a similar situation in the past, as I recall. Likely, his regret is the main reason he would intervene in the future." Queen said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. Hmm, standing up to evil to help your friend certainly seems like the right thing to do." Fox said as Crow spoke up.

"That's true, Fox. However, while that would be correct if this were basked on overly simplistic ideals, the fact remains that this choice is rather obviously based on what Maruki's viewpoint would be. You might find the man's stance admirable, and to be frank, I'm sure most of us also feel that way. However, can we be sure Maruki would do the same?" Crow asked as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Right you are, Crow. The risk factor is what bothers me about this choice. After all, you would likely be hurt if you ended up failing. We have to consider Maruki's thoughts about that." Queen said as Panther spoke up

"Yeah, that's true. Maruki wants everyone to find their happiness, so that means that maybe he wouldn't pick A?" Panther guessed as Mona spoke up.

"Hm. Well, I guess that's about it for this one." Mona said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"I agree. Well, now that we've gone over what we've learned, I guess all that's left is to pick our answer." Joker said. Mona spoke up.

"Yup, I agree. Okay, let's come up with an answer based on what we've heard. As Crow pointed out before, it really comes down to how Maruki would think about it." Mona said as Fox spoke up.

"Right. Risking yourself to help your friend, or taking the time to find dependable help. To be honest, determining which choice is incorrect is quite difficult." Fox said as Queen spoke up.

"Well, that's a good point, Fox. And neither choice guarantees your friend's safety, if you think about it. Neither option seems any more successful than the other when it comes to helping your friend out." Queen said as Skull frowned at this and spoke up.

"Hm? Whaddya mean, babe?" Skull asked Queen as Crow cut in and spoke up.

"Do you have a moment? Your friend may end up hurt no matter which answer you choose, so that isn't the deciding factor here, just to be clear. The issue is that you may end up getting hurt. That's what we have to base our decision on." Crow said as Skull spoke up.

"Uhhh, that's true, I guess. Great, Joker! You've really got this!" Skull said as Mona sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh. I guess he's done thinking it over. But we should have enough information to make a wise decision. That part's up to you, Joker." Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"I see. Well, I guess there's not much more to say for now. Let's end our discussion here, for now. I think I have a good idea of what to pick for the question. Hopefully things go well for you on your end. And hopefully Oracle and Violet have more to say next time." Joker said as Mona spoke up.

"Right! They're focused on the task at hand, so they likely didn't have much to say anyways. But back on topic, I guess we're done here." Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Right. So I guess that's a good place to let you go. Group A signing off for now." Joker said as he closed the comm call and Group A kept moving. After a bit, Joker walked onto Elevator B as Crow spoke up.

"Ah, I see. So our final answer is B, then?" Crow asked Joker, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, it is. It might be a coward's answer, but then again we all know that Maruki is a bit more prone to the coward's approach, given his reluctance to fight us himself before. So I believe he would likely have picked B as well, since he seems the type to go get help rather than confront the problem head-on." Joker said as the group took Elevator B up, and when they reached the next floor, an electronic voice spoke up over an intercom.

"No abnormalities detected in query response. Please proceed to the next room." Group A heard over the intercom as the reserved man from before turned and saw Joker, walking over to the group and speaking up.

"Oh, you too, huh? They're calling this an exam, but all we're doing is walking along this one path." The reserved man said as Mona spoke up while opening up a comms chat with Joker's group.

"Hm. No bad news so far, eh? I guess that really was the right answer." Mona said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"So it's better to just run from some shit than to try an' help? I don't buy that at all." Skull said as Queen sighed and spoke up.

"Maybe it means Maruki believes it best to find a way to avoid being hurt." Queen said as the reserved man spoke up.

"Nice running into you here, again. Actually, you can have this. They were passing them out to everyone in here, but I got more than I need." The reserved man said, handing Joker a 'Stronger Lift S' item. The reserved man then kept speaking.

"That said, it appears we've yet to finish the exam, though. If you'll excuse me, I'll head on to the next room." The reserved man said as he walked off, at which point Mona cheered and spoke up.

"YES! One down, two to go! All right everyone, let's keep it up! Group B signing off for now." Mona said as he closed the comms chat on his end while Group A kept moving after Joker closed the comms chat on his end. Once in the next room, Noir spoke up.

"Hm, we made it. The second question appears to have three possible answers, though. All right, then. Let's find out what we're dealing with this time." Noir said as Group A kept moving. Joker then walked over to inspect the Information Panel as the friendly voice from before spoke up.

"Good to see you again. Here is the second question. You have a personal dream that you really, really want to come true. You've worked so hard to achieve it, and you've come so far, but it's just not coming to fruition. It's causing you a lot of grief, but if you were to give up now, all of your hard work is sure to be for nothing! Which would you do in this situation? Would you: A)Keep up the hard work, B)Do whatever it takes, or C)Give up for a new dream? Please be honest about your feelings as you consider your answer. Thank you!" The friendly voice said as Fox spoke up.

"Hmm, I see. We don't know enough to make a decision. We should gather information." Fox said as Mona spoke up after opening up another comms chat with Joker.

"All right. Let's go around and get info from these folks like we did last time. Group B signing off for now." Mona said as he closed the comms chat and Group A kept moving. After a bit, Joker walked over to a dedicated woman near elevator A, who spoke up on seeing the group.

"What can I help you with?" The dedicated woman asked Joker, who spoke up.

"I'd like to hear your opinion on this question, if possible." Joker said to the dedicated woman, who nodded and spoke up.

"Right. The people here are pretty chatty, aren't they? Not that I mind, of course. About the question? I suppose I'm going with 'A: Keep up the hard work.'" The dedicated woman said as another comms chat was opened up, but this time it was Violet who opened the chat as she spoke up.

"Um, so does that mean you have a dream already?" Violet asked as the dedicated woman spoke up.

"Yeah, I guess you could say so. You probably wouldn't be interested in hearing all that, though." The dedicated woman said as Joker spoke up.

"Yeah? Try us." Joker said simply as the dedicated woman nodded and spoke up.

"Very well. I'm a musician, or at least I aspire to be, but I'm still at the point where I can only play out on the street. I work a part-time job so I can afford lessons. In my spare time, I'm always recording demos or practicing. Whenever I come up with something I like, I send it out for potential auditions. Despite all that, I'm just not getting anywhere. Maybe I really don't have the knack for it after all." The dedicated woman said as Violet spoke up over the comms chat.

"No! But, but, you can't give up! Working hard towards your dream is healthy!" Violet said as the dedicated woman smiled and spoke up.

"You're right, of course. Thank you, whoever you are. I was just being hard on myself for a moment there. After all, when I come home from work and lie down in my bed by myself at night, I just get so worried about everything. When things are going badly, I start to break down and ask myself, 'How much longer can I do this?' But in the end, all I can do is believe in my ability. I love music so much, and I have no intention of quitting." The dedicated woman said as Violet spoke up once more.

"Thank you so much for sharing your story with us! I hope you make it big soon!" Violet said as the dedicated woman walked over to the elevator and spoke up.

"You're welcome. See you. Ugh, I can't believe I just admitted all that to complete strangers like that." The dedicated woman said as she went up the 'A' elevator and Joker spoke up.

"Thank you for your input, Violet. It seemed to reassure that lady a good bit to hear what you had to say. Welp, back to it. Group A signing off for now." Joker said as he closed the comms chat and Group A kept moving. After a bit, Joker found a group hanging out near the 'B' elevator and walked over to them, making an energetic guy speak up on noticing Joker.

"Whao, don't you guys look crazy? Are you cosplayers or something? Those look like they took forever to make! That is just so awesome! Will you drop in on my stream sometime? Huh? Whaddya say?" The energetic guy said as Mona opened up a comms chat and spoke up.

"Y-Yeah. What the heck is with this guy, Joker? He's so pushy for some reason." Mona said as Joker ignored him to focus on the energetic guy as he spoke up.

"We'll think about it. But out of curiosity, what sort of stream are we talking about?" Joker said, making the energetic guy smirk as he spoke up.

"Oh! Interested, are you? Well, I'm glad you asked! All right, I should start at the beginning so everything makes sense." The energetic guy said as he started babbling about himself. Oracle then spoke up from the comms chat.

"Ugh! You just HAD to ask, Joker. Now he's probably not going to shut up." Oracle said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"True. Hey, you. What answer did you pick for the question?" Joker asked the energetic guy, who spoke up.

"Oh, uhh, right. The question. You want me to tell you what answer I picked? Then I'll do just that!" The energetic guy said as he kept speaking.

"So, I know it's probably not the answer for everyone, but I'm gonna choose 'B)Do whatever it takes.' I started streaming so I could strike it rich! With how streaming's blown up, if this goes well for me, then I'd really be swimmin' in it, ya know what I mean?" The energetic guy said as Fox spoke up.

"Hm. So you're doing it for the money, and nothing else?" Fox asked as the energetic guy spoke up.

"Pretty much. Buuut, it hasn't been as easy as I hoped it would be. I posted videos every day, but my view count never went anywhere. But then, I found the mother lode! There was a video someone uploaded where he just bashed on this celebrity so bad, it was ruthless to watch. And not only that, but his view count was through the roof! That's when I knew what I had to do to make it! From then on, I switched over to solely posting bash vids. And lo and behold, my view count started to shoot up!" The energetic guy said as Oracle spoke up from the comms chat.

"Mmm, I see. Oh, so he's flame baiting, or more simply put, saying outrageous stuff just for the attention. Sort of like how Skull used to always talk about being a Phantom Thief for the recognition and fame." Oracle said as Skull spoke up with a frown.

"Did you have to bring THAT up? That was the old me, Oracle. But never mind that for now. Sooo, all this stuff you're goin' on about so much? Basically it all boils down to you talkin' shit about other people for money, yeah?" Skull asked as the energetic guy spoke up.

"Haha, you really nailed it there! People hate on me night and day in the comments. Heck, they even point me out on the street now! But I'm not doing anything illegal or anything, and that's better than what I could've ended up in! I walked away from my job because the stress was killing me, but then I became a real burden to my parents for a while as a result. But, if I'm a famous streamer, I can make enough to survive AND pay my parents back, right? Right!?" The energetic guy said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"Hm. I don't know how I should feel about all this. On one hand, you spread negativity, but on the other, it's not entirely for personal gain that you do it." Queen said as the energetic guy spoke up.

"Heh, are you guys gaining an interest in me? Maybe we can come up with some kind of collab together-" The energetic guy said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just go already." Skull said as the energetic guy walked over to the 'B' elevator and spoke up.

"All right, I'm out. Subscribe to my channel, okay!?" The energetic guy said as he took the 'B' elevator up as Joker kept speaking.

"Finally, he's gone. Sorry about getting him going earlier. But that leaves one answer to check. Group A signing off for now." Joker said as he closed the comms chat and group A kept moving. After a bit, Joker saw a large group gathered by the 'C' elevator, and approached them, drawing the attention of a dispassionate student who spoke up.

"Hmm? What do you want?" The dispassionate student said as Joker spoke up.

"Did you decide on an answer for the question?" Joker asked as the dispassionate student spoke up.

"This? Does it actually matter? I'm pretty sure it won't make a difference. Well, if I have to choose, I'm going with 'C)Give up for a new dream'. I mean, the other ones apply even less to me than that one." The dispassionate student said as the comms chat opened up again as Panther spoke up.

"Hm? What do you mean? Don't you want to make your dream come true?" Panther's voice asked from Joker's headset as the dispassionate student spoke up.

"Whoa there, hold on a sec. That's, like, for people who have big dreams, right? Besides, trying hard isn't actually gonna solve anything. Why wear yourselves down to nothing over some dream? It'd be a lot simpler to just choose an easier dream." The dispassionate student said as Fox spoke up.

"Yes, well, I personally believe that pursuing something is a wonderful thing to do. But, I suppose it all depends on the person." Fox said as the dispassionate student nodded and spoke up.

"Prolly, yeah. That makes sense. As for me, I got tired of doing stuff like that, so I just quit. If I had a dream I actually cared about, it might be different for me. But I don't have anything like that. Failing after trying your hardest always hurts the worst. That's what it all boils down to, ya know?" The dispassionate student said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"So, he's avoiding dreams that might not come true because it's easier? It's not the worst advice, but still, I disagree with his logic. After all, we know someone who didn't do that, even when he was hurt by his own failures. So I feel like pursuing that line of thinking is a bit disrespectful to him." Mona said as the dispassionate student walked over to the 'C' elevator and spoke up.

"Aren't you guy's taking the elevator? If not, then I'm gonna go ahead." The dispassionate student said as he left on the 'C' elevator. After he was out of sight, Violet spoke up over the comms chat.

"Umm, that was kind of depressing, to be honest. But anyways, I think we've heard all sides of the situation. Perhaps we should gather somewhere to discuss it." Violet said as Joker spoke up.

"I agree. Perhaps this floor has an empty room we can use, like the previous floor did. But for now, I'm going to close this chat so I can try and find us a place to compare notes and make our decision. Until then, Group A signing off." Joker said as he closed the comms chat on his end as Group A kept moving. After heading back down the hall towards the 'A' elevator, Joker noticed an empty room and led Group A inside, before opening up a comms chat.

"Group B, can you hear me? This is Joker. I've found us another empty room to use for our discussion, if you're free to chime in." Joker said as Mona spoke up.

"You found another empty room, Joker? Good, that's another place we can use." Mona said as Group A had a seat at the table before Mona kept speaking.

"Well then, let's think of our answer for the second question. What should we do, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Like before, let's review what we know first so we can try and get more insight into the correct choice." Joker said. Mona spoke up again.

"All right. So, which story did you want to discuss first?" Mona asked Joker, who spoke up.

"Let's start with the dedicated woman's story first, since we spoke to her first." Joker decided. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Got it. The dedicated woman, as I recall, was the one who chose 'A)Keep up the hard work'. She said she's gonna keep trying until she makes it." Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"Yes, that's right. She said she loves music so much, she's going to keep pushing herself until she succeeds." Queen said as Violet spoke up.

"That she did. Now, I don't want to be presumptous, but at the same time, I don't think Maruki would deny somebody the pursuit of their dreams." Violet said as Crow spoke up.

"True, but she isn't succeeding in her dreams, or at least not to the degree she desires. As she said herself, she does worry over it a great deal. If Maruki considered that to be harming oneself, would he see that as the right choice?" Crow asked as Mona spoke up.

"Good point, Crow. Well, I guess that's all we can get out of that answer. Who do we cover next, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Well, since we talked to him next, let's cover the energetic guy's story next." Joker said. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Okay, the energetic guy it is. As I recall, he's the guy who chose 'B)Do whatever it takes'. He said he planned to strike it rich by uploading intentionally controversial videos on social media." Mona said as Skull spoke up.

"Uh, I mean, he said he was doin' it to help his parents and all, but I don't think talkin' shit about others is the best way to do that, to be honest." Skull said as Oracle spoke up.

"Agreed! Even if he's got issues to deal with, that's not something you use to make money. Also, flame baiting for attention is just too crappy." Oracle said as Queen spoke up with a frown.

"Hmm. What do we think Maruki's take on this would be, though? It's ethically wrong, so I'm fairly certain he wouldn't approve of it." Queen said as Noir spoke up.

"True, and what's worse is that it doesn't just hurt others, either. It also damages the psyche of the person being negative as well. Even if he claimed it's doing him good, I don't think this is the right answer.' Noir said as Mona spoke up.

"True. Well, I guess that's all we can get out of that answer. So, that just leaves the dispassionate student, right Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Correct. I don't agree with his stance, but we still have to cover it. So let's go ahead and cover the dispassionate student's answer." Joker said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. He's the one who chose 'C)Give up for a new dream.' if I recall correctly. He said he doesn't have any particularly big aspirations." Mona said as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, that's true, Mona-chan. He said he disagreed with the other two options more than that one." Noir said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"True, but not only that, he said pushing oneself to succeed isn't worth it. I suppose I understand where he's coming from, but I can't agree." Fox said as Panther spoke up.

"Right? He said going after an easier dream is better than getting hurt by trying to succeed and failing. I guess he prefers things easy-going." Panther said as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"Hm. Indeed he does. But if one lives in fear of injuries, nothing good can come to fruition. Throughout the history of art, creators faced their-" Fox said as Oracle cut in by speaking up.

"Yep, got it, that's a 'no' vote from Fox. Moving on!" Oracle said as Mona spoke up.

"Well, I guess that's all we can get out of that answer. So, what next, Joker?" Mona asked Joker, who spoke up.

"Well, now that we've recapped all three answers, now we figure out what answer we ourselves will pick." Joker said. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Got it. So the question is, what do you do when you're working hard but still can't make your dream come true? Let's try and think from Maruki's point of view." Mona said as Violet spoke up.

"Um, okay. Well, in that case, Maruki isn't just caring, he's willing to speak up when something's not right, too. When one of the higher-ups at the school threatened my honors status over my tournament results a couple months ago, Maruki had my back the whole time. So, I don't think he would be okay with using a method that would bring harm to somebody else." Violet said, as Noir spoke up before Joker could do more than growl at the reminder of the day in question, as that day had been a particularly rough one all-around for Violet as he recalled.

"Yes, that's true, Violet-chan. Even now, he's trying to save everyone by giving us a reality where we're all happy, even if he's using questionable methods to do it." Noir said as Mona spoke up.

"With that in mind, that would leave us with either 'A)Keep up the hard work' or 'C)Give up and find a new dream'." Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"Well, if the last question is anything to go by, the correct answer's the one where you don't risk hurting yourself. It may help to bear that in mind." Queen said as Violet spoke up.

"That's true, Queen-senpai. But still, that's a tough choice. Keep pursuing the dream or give it up. Neither one seems entirely painless, so which one would hurt more?" Violet asked as Mona spoke up.

"What now, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Now, we go give our answer. I think I know the right answer now, even if I don't personally agree with it since it's a bit of a coward's answer." Joker said. Mona spoke up.

"Right! I think we got all the information we'll need, but are we sure we have the right answer? Sure, let's wrap that up for now." Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Very well. Group A, signing off for now." Joker said as he ended the comms chat and Group A kept moving. Joker then led his group to the 'C' elevator and walked onto it, at which point Crow spoke up.

"Ah, so we're opting for the 'C' elevator this time, then?" Crow asked as Joker spoke up.

"Yep. It might be a coward's way out, but as we've already established, Maruki's not above taking the coward's path from time to time. If nothing else, both Violet and Draconis serve as living examples of this." Joker said bluntly as he pushed the button to activate the elevator, carrying the group up into the next room, where the electronic interface from before spoke up.

"No abnormalities detected in query response. Please proceed to the next room." The interface said as Violet opened up a comms chat and spoke up.

"Mmm. I guess we were right again, but to be honest? I'm not sure how I feel about that. I agree with Joker-senpai that C is the coward's path." Violet said as Joker smirked and nodded his approval with a quiet chuckle, but given the fact the dispassionate student turned to face Joker and walked over, Joker wasn't quiet enough. The dispassionate student then smiled slightly at Joker and spoke up.

"Oh, you too, huh? Who wants to get all serious about stuff, am I right?" The dispassionate student said as Fox spoke up.

"Just to be clear here, it's not that we agree with you, so much as we were just trying to avoid the wrong answer." Fox said as the dispassionate student frowned and spoke up.

"Hm? What do you mean, 'wrong answer'? There's no right or wrong answers here. Don't get so stressed over this. those guys seem like they know what they're doing. Ooh, I know! Wait, let me give you this before I go." The dispassionate student said as he handed Joker a 'Harder Core S' item before he kept speaking.

"Here you go. They handed them out just a second ago, but I don't need it. See you around, cosplay kids." The dispassionate student said as he left. At that point, Violet spoke up with a frown.

"Wait, so Maruki thinks people should just give up on their dreams?" Violet said as Crow scoffed and spoke up.

"Psh, that's so simplistic. More accurately put, he thinks people shouldn't cause themselves pain in pursuit of dreams. Or at least, something to that effect. This exam is likely intended to filter people who are inclined to do such a thing. At any rate, contemplating the completed questions is nothing but a waste of our time." Crow said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed, Crow. Let's move on to the next question. Good luck getting your mission done, you guys. Group A, signing off for now." Joker said as he closed the comms chat and group A kept moving. Once in the next room, Group A looked around and gasped as Skull spoke up.

"Gah! One, two, three, four, what the shit? Aw, man, we got FIVE choices this time? My brain can't take this shit anymore, you guys. Can we just pick a random elevator and be done with this shit?" Skull said as Queen smiled at Skull and spoke up kindly.

"I understand how you feel sweetie, but we can't give up before we've even tried. Come on, let's see what our question is." Queen said as Joker nodded and Group A kept moving. Once the group found the Information Panel, Joker touched it as the friendly voice from before spoke up.

"Welcome back yet again! Let's move on to the third question. You've gained the power to steal people's hearts! Thoughts, emotions, information, and more. You can steal all of it from anyone in the world! Not only that, you can use this power without fear of ever getting caught! In this scenario, which sounds closest to what you would do? Would you: a)Steal something valuable, b)Never steal anything, c)Steal my own heart to heal, d)Steal evil hearts to fix society, or e)Steal the one I love's heart. Please follow the previous procedure to answer this question. Thank you!" The friendly voice said as Skull blinked and spoke up.

"Wha? What the hell? Is this question about us? Well, obviously, it's D! Let's roll." Skull said as Mona opened up a comms chat and spoke up.

"SKULL! Actually USE your brain! You're not even trying!" Mona said as Crow spoke up.

"Hm. So, the conditions this time are that we won't be caught, and we can only choose one use for our ability. We should bear those in mind as we consider our answer. Assuming you have a mind in the first place, Skull." Crow said as Skull blinked before speaking up, making both Queen and Joker groan at what he said next.

"Hey! Raggin' on Mona ain't cool!" Skull said as Mona spoke up at that point from Joker's headset.

"No, no, no! Yeah, thanks Skull, but uh, to be honest? I don't think I was the one being insulted there. I think that was aimed at you." Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"True. Well, I guess let's go about gathering info for now. Fortunately, I believe this is the final question, so this should be the last time we have to do this. Group A, signing off for now." Joker said as Group A kept moving after he closed the comms chat. While looking around, Joker noticed one of the shelves was climbable, so the group climbed it, ziplining to the beams above where Joker guided the group through a vent into an open room, where Mona opened up a comms chat and spoke up.

"Hm. This place you're in, isn't it an empty location?" Mona said as Noir gasped and spoke up.

"Yes, but never mind that, Mona-chan! Look! Outside the window! That's where that elevator leads, right?" Noir asked as Crow spoke up dryly.

"Obviously. And well, they DID call it an 'Exam Room', last I checked. Tch! They could very well be monitoring the psychological state of every 'patient' in the room." Crow said as Panther gasped and spoke up.

"WHAT!? You mean they might've been spying on you guys this whole time!? That's so creepy, it's not funny." Panther said as Mona spoke up.

"Hmph, 'Creepy' is right! I just wish there was some way we could benefit from this whole set-up." Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Well, for starters? If we can figure out which elevator leads to that room, that's one less answer we have to look at. But back to work for now. Group A signing off." Joker said as he ended the comms chat and Group A kept moving. After eliminating a Shadow in the room Group A eventually arrived in, Mona hit level 88 while two of Joker's Personas leveled up in the forms of 'Arsene' and 'Norn', who hit levels 51 and 57 respectively. The level-ups gave Joker's 'Norne' Persona the high-tier healing skill 'Samarecarm', making Crow speak up at that point.

"Not bad, Joker. Another addition to your repertoire!" Crow said as Norne acquired 'Samarecarm'. After the fight, Skull noticed a Shadow in the nearby window and spoke up.

"Hey, look, a Shadow. That must mean that whichever elevator that is, that answer's also not the one we want. So if we can figure out which elevators those are, we've narrowed our answers down from five possible to three." Skull said as Joker hit a button to listen in to the conversation behind the window as a heartbroken woman spoke up.

"I've always been popular with me. I never had a problem getting a boyfriend before. But the person I loved the most would never look at me. Then one day, I saw him with someone who I figured was his girlfriend, and I was brokenhearted. So I thought that maybe, if only I could steal his heart, everything would be better." The heartbroken woman said as the Shadow in a lab coat spoke up.

"I see. That must have been very difficult for you. However, I'm sorry, but that's not the ideal reality. The ideal reality is one where every single person is happy, so as such, such self-centeredness as yours has no place there. Happiness gained by depriving others of their own is, in actuality, unhappiness. You, too, can become happy, though." The Shadow in a lab coat said as Oracle spoke up over the comms chat.

"Hmm. I don't think this answer is the right one. For reference, she clearly went with 'E)Steal the one I love's heart'." Oracle said as Panther spoke up.

"Right. 'Happiness gained by depriving others of their own is unhappiness in and of itself'? I have no idea what he means by that." Panther said as Joker spoke up.

"He means that it's not true happiness if it's gotten at someone else's expense, or at least if it's gotten at an innocent person's expense it's not. But back to it. Group A signing off." Joker said as he ended the comms chat and Group A kept moving. After retracing their steps to get back to the room with the Information Panel, Joker led the group to a confident-looking woman near the left-most part of the room, who spoke up on seeing the group.

"Man, you all look so tense. Did you come here to become happy, too?" The confident-looking woman asked as Joker spoke up.

"Heh, good guess. That's about right." Joker said. The confident-looking woman nodded and spoke up.

"That's fair. I mean, everyone wants to be happy, right? I know I do." The confident-looking woman said as the comms chat opened up and Panther spoke up.

"Umm, have you decided your answer yet, by chance?" Panther asked the confident-looking woman, who thought about it and spoke up.

"Not yet, but hmm, that might work. After thinking about it, I'd pick whatever would get me the most money. I know stealing isn't the best behavior, but we all need money no matter what, yeah? I work in fashion retail. My dream's to open my own boutique one day in the future. And that's not something I'm going to be doing without money. I know that for sure." The confident-looking woman said as Violet frowned and spoke up.

"I see. So that means that you'll choose 'A)Steal something valuable', then?" Violet asked as the confident-looking woman spoke up.

"Mhmm. I'd probably do it if I was actually able and no one would find out. But I mean, that's totally impossible! It's fine to fantasize about stuff like that, you know?" The confident-looking woman said as Queen spoke up.

"Hm. So she would wish to fund her dream if there were no risks involved, it seems. I suppose we should consider what Maruki's stance on that would be." Queen said as the confident-looking woman headed to the 'A' elevator and spoke up.

"Oh, right! I meant to mention this before. About your outfits? Um, how should I phrase this? Clothes are the biggest part of a first impression, and I think you should probably put more consideration into yours." The confident-looking woman said as she left on the 'A' elevator, after which Joker spoke up.

"Hmph, good riddance to her. Also, we can consider this answer, but I feel like it's likely not the right one. But let's keep looking for info. Group A signing off for now." Joker said as he ended the comms chat and group A kept moving. Eventually, Joker led the group to a group near the 'B' elevator, where a composed man saw them and spoke up.

"Hello, are you all here for the exam as well?" The composed man asked as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, that's right. We're going around asking how others intend to answer the questions. Have you come to a decision yet?" Noir asked as the composed man spoke up.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm going to go with 'B)Never steal anything'." The composed man said as Joker spoke up.

"I see. Tell me, are you happy right now?" Joker asked the composed man, who spoke up.

"Hmm, well, I suppose you could say that. I have a wife and a daughter. We're not exactly wealthy by any definition, but we're happy as we are. And if I ask for too much, I'll wind up losing something in exchange for the excess gains. And I just wouldn't do anything that could bring harm to my family." The composed man said as Noir spoke up in surprise.

"I see. You must care quite a bit for them." Noir said as the composed man spoke up.

"That's right. But then again, it could also be just plain old cowardice on my part. That could explain why I still haven't gotten any promotions yet." The composed man said as Skull spoke up.

"Uh, family's important n' all, but don'tcha wanna, like, do something big with your life?" Skull asked as the composed man spoke up with a laugh.

"Hah, maybe when I was little. But even then, I wouldn't have asked for much. I have my family, and that's good enough for me." The composed man said as Crow spoke up.

"I see. So, he cares for his family and doesn't want much else out of life besides them and their happiness? It's not a bad way to live. It doesn't do anyone any harm, and on top of that, there aren't any big risks or dangers involved. If those are all the relevant factors, then this guy seems to be on the level. But it all depends on what Maruki would think, yes?" Crow asked as Joker, Noir, and Skull all shrugged while the Composed man walked over to the B elevator as he spoke up.

"Well, I'm gonna get going. I hope you all find an answer you agree on." The composed man said as he left on the 'B' elevator. Group A then kept moving. At that point, Joker led the group to a nearby empty room, where he gathered Group A at the table before he opened up a comms chat with Group B and spoke up.

"Group B, can you hear me? Come in, Group B. This is Joker." Joker said as the comms call was answered by Mona, who spoke up.

"Mona here. We hear you loud and clear. All right, third question. Now, this time, we have a bunch of choices to go through, so let's be nice and methodical about it." Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Let's review what we know so far." Joker said decisively. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"All right, then. Whose story would you like to discuss first?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Even though I think we can agree her answer isn't right, let's get the heartbroken woman's story out of the way first." Joker decided. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Very well. As we know, she chose 'E)Steal the one I love's heart'." Mona said as Oracle spoke up at that point.

"True that. And we all saw how that one just ends up in treatment time." Oracle said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed, and I believe that's the correct reaction. I have no tolerance for people forcing their will onto others like that." Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"Agreed. That should take care of that person. Who are we discussing next, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Since we saw her first of the remaining two, let's discuss the confident-looking woman next." Joker said as Mona nodded.

"Very well. She's the one who chose 'A)Steal something valuable', if I recall right." Mona said as Violet frowned and spoke up.

"Hmm. She aspires to have her own store someday from what she said. She said if she wouldn't get caught, she might do it so she can make her dreams come true." Violet said as Fox spoke up.

"Hm. I can relate to her problem to some extent. It seems one can never have enough money. With enough money, I could buy all the art supplies I need, and what's more, I could even stop cultivating daikon sprouts." Fox said as Violet winced and spoke up.

"Um, Fox-senpai? I have some questions about how you actually survive day-to-day with the way you live." Violet said as Queen sighed and spoke up.

"Never mind that for now, Violet. We'll fill you in later about that." Queen said as Mona spoke up.

"Yes, well, anyways, moving on! So, that's the gist of that person." Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Very well, in that case, on to the last person, which would be the composed man." Joker said. Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Right, him. He chose 'B)Never steal anything'." Mona said as Noir spoke up.

"Um, he said he doesn't want much besides his family. He said he's happy enough being with them." Noir said as Mona spoke up.

"Well, if he's happy, doesn't that make it a good answer to Maruki?" Mona said as Skull spoke up.

"Maybe, but there was something about how he said it as well. He said it was 'good enough', right?" Skull asked as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"That's a good point, Skull. He may be happy, but I don't know if that alone would suffice for Maruki or not." Noir said as Mona spoke up.

"That about sums up that person, I'd say. Anything else?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Normally, this would be where I'd ask what answer we're going with, but it seems we're not in agreement at this point. For what it's worth, I agree with Skull's answer of D. Granted, B could be right too, but I feel like Maruki's not the type who would just settle for something. He'd likely believe that's not 'true' happiness. But then again, I dunno that there is a right answer, per se, this time." Joker said as Mona spoke up.

"Right! All right, I guess we're done here." Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Yup, for now at least. Group A signing off." Joker said as he ended the comms chat and group A kept moving. Joker led the group to elevator D, where Crow spoke up.

"You're backing Skull's guess? But we've not found someone who chose that elevator to learn about it. I suppose in the end, it's your call what we choose, but think about it. So, is D our final answer?" Crow asked Joker, who nodded and spoke up.

"It is. I feel like it's the best choice, not just because it aligns with the Phantom Thief way, but because I feel like Maruki would be most apt to agree with anything that makes as many people happy as possible. And even if a change of heart might be painful at first, if done right, it will eventually bring happiness to all involved. So yes, our final answer is D." Joker decided as he hit the button to activate the 'D' elevator. The group headed up the elevator, and were unsurprised to find a Shadow waiting as they got off. The comms chat opened up as Panther gasped and spoke up.

"W-Wait! A Shadow!? Wait, does that mean we got it wrong?" Panther asked as the electronic interface spoke up to answer Panther's question.

"No abnormalities detected in query response. Examination complete. We have determined that your heart is whole. Please proceed to the upper level. May you enjoy your wonderful new reality free of worry and strife." The electronic interface said as Joker approached the greeter Shadow in a lab coat, who spoke up.

"Congratulations on completing the exam! We received notice from the reception desk. No abnormalities in your results to speak of? Great! It appears your hearts are happy and fulfilled. Welcome to your new life." The greeter Shadow said as Violet spoke up with a sigh over the comms chat.

"Whew, I guess we passed without them finding any abnormalities, then? What a relief." Violet said as Skull spoke up.

"True, but, what's he mean, 'fulfilled'? He doesn't even get that we just picked all the answers we knew they'd wanna hear!" Skull said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"Shut up, Skull! They don't need to know that." Queen quietly rebuked Skull. The greeter spoke up at that point.

"As a welcoming gift, please allow me to heal your aching bodies. Also, please accept this small token of our gratitude for your coming here." The greeter said as he healed the group and handed Joker a 'Bead Chain', which he accepted gratefully. The greeter then kept speaking.

"Now, please make your way to paradise, which is just beyond the gate." The greeter said as he dissolved into a spray of pink mist, rather than the usual black. At that point, Mona cheered and spoke up.

"YES! Nice! That went rather well. Let's keep that up!" Mona said as Joker nodded and kept speaking.

"Agreed. But the important thing is that we're through on our end. Now it's up to your group to finish your end so our groups can meet up again later on, preferably with our missing teammate back among us. Group A signing off for now." Joker said as he closed the comms chat and Group A kept moving. After going around the corner, the group paused as they saw the patients going through a blue screen of sorts, making Panther gasp as the comms chat opened up and she spoke up.

"FOR REAL!? What the heck? They're just passing through that weird wall of, um, what even IS that!?" Panther asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Whoooa, so sci-fi!" Oracle said as Crow spoke up.

"Tch. Well, had we failed the psychological exam, they would have 'treated' us then and there, I'm sure. But since our answers were satisfactory, I suppose we were brought to this passageway instead." Crow said as Joker spoke up.

"True. Let's head on in, I guess." Joker said. Panther spoke up at that point over the comms chat.

"R-Right. Uhh, okay, just, y'know? Be careful." Panther said as Joker walked over to the screen and tried to walk through, only for the interface to speak up as the screen flashed red.

"Abnormal brainwave pattern detected. Access denied. Please report to the Counseling Room for further instructions." The interface said as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"WHAT!? Who're you callin' 'abnormal' here!? We passed your stupid test an' everything!" Skull said as Oracle spoke up over the comms chat.

"True. Buuuut, we weren't answering honestly. We're gonna be seen as abnormal no matter what, considering we're here to stop Maruki and all." Oracle said as Skull spoke up.

"Wait, hold on. WHAT!? But that means we can't get past here no matter what! Agh, dammit! I'm findin' a way past this thing even if it kills me!" Skull said as Joker spoke up.

"No need for that, Skull. We'll find a way. Group A, signing off for now." Joker said as he closed the comms chat and Group A kept moving. Joker then spotted a vent, that he led the group through, and when they emerged, they found themselves in an empty room, with a door at the end, that Joker took the group through to find a room with a lot of people waiting nearby. Skull spoke up in shock.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's with these guys!?" Skull asked as the comms chat opened up again and Oracle spoke up.

"Whooooa, look at those freaky machines they're wearing!" Oracle said as Crow spoke up.

"I see. Well, we came here from the Exam Room, so it makes sense we'd end up here. And it logically follows that this is the Counselling Room, and those people are likely being given 'treatment'." Crow said as Skull gasped and spoke up.

"THAT's what 'treatment' is!? It sure as hell don't look like it to me!" Skull said as Oracle spoke up.

"Eh, don't sweat it too much, Skull. They're all just cognitive beings, after all. Let's just keep moving. Group B, signing off." Oracle said as Joker closed the comms chat and Group A kept moving. After moving around the room, Joker spotted a side path, which he took the others down, finding a Safe Room that he led the others into, adding the 'Counselling Room' to his fast-travel list. After proceeding forward, Joker's group found another room with a CRT TV in it, prompting Skull to speak up.

"Hup, another TV, eh? Looks like we're in for another movie." Skull said as the comms chat opened up and Violet spoke up.

"That would be true Skull-senpai, but there's no tape in the player, at least for right now." Violet said as Crow spoke up.

"Hm. No doubt we'll need to find one in order to proceed. Let's start looking." Crow said as Joker's group kept moving. As the group headed forward, they found some strong-looking Shadows patrolling the area around the room, making Skull gape and speak up.

"Holy shit, they're tough! Hey, those are some scary-lookin' Shadows, so let's make sure we don't get caught, yeah?" Skull said as Oracle spoke up over the comms chat.

"Hm, interesting. I used Prometheus to run a scan, and it looks like we've got Shadows patrolling the area around where you guys are. Meanwhile, our group is close to reaching the bottom of the stairs finally. Make sure no one sneaks up on your group while you hunt down that videotape. Meanwhile, our group has the job of eliminating any guards we find while scouting out this detention level to try and find Draconis. So on that note, we're gonna cut the chat here. Until later, Group B signing off." Oracle said as Joker closed the comms chat and his group kept moving. After jumping one of the strong Shadows, Fox managed to hit the enemy with Bufudyne and freeze it. At that point, Crow ran forward and spoke up.

"MY TURN! COME, LOOOOKKKKIIIIIII!" Crow called out as he summoned out Loki, who nodded and swung his sword at the enemy, hitting it with a powerful 'Technical' strike that downed it on the spot. At that point, a Hold-Up was initiated, at which point Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Hm, this enemy might be weak enough to finish off with an All-Out Attack. And I don't think we've seen your All-Out Attack since you rejoined, so would you do the honors, Crow?" Joker asked as he called for the All-Out Attack. Crow nodded and cackled as he spoke up.

"GOOD! I LIVE FOR THIS!" Crow said as the All-Out Attack was initiated, with Joker, Crow, Fox, and Skull all swinging their weapons at the downed 'Fafnir' for all they were worth until the screen cut to a shot of Crow slashing wildly at the enemy until it exploded into black mist, at which point he spoke up eagerly.

"YES, YES, YES! MOOOORRRREEEE! SUCH GLORIOUS DESTRUCTION! THOSE ENEMIES WERE TOO WEAK!" Crow said as he posed like the maniac he was, the screen pulling up a backdrop that was a solid mix of silver, black, and grey with a badge appearing behind Crow, on which you could clearly see the words 'I DECIDE THE TRUTH' on it in large silver writing, along with white slash marks in the shape of a picture frame, signifying the end of both Crow's All-Out Attack and the battle.

From the ensuing EXP gain, Crow hit level 88, both Violet and Oracle hit level 89, and three of Joker's Personas leveled up in the forms of 'Macabre', 'Norn', and 'Seth', who hit levels '80', '58', and '72', respectively. After eliminating more strong Shadows, Joker's 'Norn' Persona hit level 59, and both Queen and Noir hit level 90.

After looking around, Joker saw a box on a shelf in the room his group was in, making Crow speak up.

"Ah, you look as if you've found something, Joker. Let's take a look at what's inside, shall we?" Crow said as Joker opened the box and pulled out a 'Cleaning Spray' item, making Crow snarl as he spoke up.

"Gah, that's worthless! It's not the tape we're after at all! Let's keep searching!" Crow said as Group A kept moving. After eliminating more strong Shadows, Fox hit level 90 and two of Joker's Personas leveled up in the forms of 'Norn' and 'Seth', who hit levels 61 and 73 respectively. After looking around another room, Joker found another page like the one he found much earlier in the Palace, which Crow took and read for the group.

"This is dated June 3rd, eh? Let's see what we have here. 'My thesis is progressing, bit by bit. The more research I perform, the more I recognize the dangers of cognitive psience. It's definitely contributed to my suspicions over my research being shut down. No matter what, I must complete my thesis as soon as possible. My biggest problem is my lack of research subjects.

If only I could find some hint about the cognitive world, about this power I've received out of nowhere. I'm not giving up, funding or no funding. I WILL complete my thesis. I WILL save everyone.' Pah, what drivel! If anything, this just confirms that Maruki's out of his mind. Shall we keep going?" Crow said as Joker nodded and the group kept moving. After eliminating more Shadows, Joker's 'Gabriel' Persona hit level 84, and Joker himself hit level 89. Joker smirked as he spoke up.

"Not bad. My skills continue to grow as I level up." Joker said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"That was actually pretty good, Joker. Stick to that line. I like it." Crow said as Joker's level increased. After insta-killing a Shadow, Panther hit level 89, Skull hit level 90, and two of Joker's personas leveled up in the forms of 'Macabre' and 'Norn', who hit levels 81 and 62 respectively. While clearing out enemies in another room, Mona hit level 89, while two of Joker's Personas in the forms of 'Norn' and 'Seth' leveled up, hitting levels 63 and 74 respectively. After another failed attempt to seize the VHS yielded a 'Relax Gel', Joker found a third box in the locked room, at which point Skull spoke up.

"Huh, looks like a box. Wanna open it?" Skull asked as Joker nodded, reaching into the box and seizing an 'Old Videotape', making Skull grin as he spoke up.

"Ohh yeah! Ah! Got it! Now to go watch the thing." Skull said as Crow spoke up.

"Indeed. That's the key to our moving forward, I'm sure. Let's get back to that TV room. After eliminating another strong Shadow, Noir hit level 91, Violet hit level 90, Crow hit level 89, and three of Joker's Personas got level-ups in the forms of 'Arsene', 'Norn', and 'Seth', who hit levels 52, 64, and 75 respectively. After making their way back to the TV room, the comms chat opened up as Panther spoke up.

"Well, it seems you guys got the tape you need. I wonder what you'll see this time. Can't stay on the line to watch, we're just about to hit the bottom of the staircase. Group B signing off." Panther said as Joker ended the comms chat and Fox spoke up.

"Whatever it is, I'll wager this much: It won't be pleasant. Regardless, we should watch it sooner rather than later." Fox said as Joker nodded and popped the tape into the VCR, where it started playing...

(Flashback start-an undetermined time between her sister's death and her transfer to Shujin, with Sumire and Maruki)

"So, you're Sumire Yoshizawa, huh? I'm Doctor Maruki. I'll be your counselor. First of all, thank you for coming to see me." Maruki asked as Sumire looked up with an unreadable look as she spoke up.

"Come to see you? Oh, uh, yes. I did come for that, didn't I? Sorry, just been through a lot. But thank you for seeing me, Doctor Maruki. Um, to be honest? I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what to discuss, really. I only came here today because my parents wanted me to." Sumire said as Maruki nodded and spoke up.

"Oh, that's fine. So, do you wanna just chat until our time's up, then?" Maruki asked Sumire, who frowned and spoke up.

"Chat, huh? Hmm." Sumire said as Maruki nodded and spoke up with a smile.

"Of course. It's not really possible for us to talk about things you don't want to discuss, anyway. I've also got some sweets and some salty snacks there, so feel free to help yourself." Maruki said as Sumire winced and spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, yes, so you do. Thank you so much." Sumire said in a very clearly somber and detached tone, as if she'd much rather not be there if her parents hadn't asked it of her. Maruki noticed the look on Sumire's face, after which he thought about a conversation topic, and once he came up with one, he spoke up.

"So let's start with, hm, let's see here, ah! How about, what'd you eat for lunch yesterday?" Maruki asked as Sumire winced and spoke up.

"Mm." Sumire said as she couldn't really find a reply for Maruki, who was unbothered by it as he kept speaking.

"I'll go first. The other day, a friend of mine gave me a ton of apples. I've grown tired of just eating them by themselves, so yesterday I thought, why not try using them as a meal ingredient? So, I tried making an apple dish for lunch, but that didn't turn out so hot as it turns out. What do you think I ended up making?" Maruki asked as Sumire spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but I honestly have no clue." Sumire said as politely as she could manage. Maruki shrugged off the response and spoke up.

"Shrimp in chili sauce, with apples. You know how sweet-and-sour pork can have pineapple in it? I was going for that, but I don't quite think I got it right." Maruki said as Sumire spoke up.

"Hm. Sounds like it didn't work out for you. Apples do make for good ingredients, though. If you grate them, you can make a surprisingly versatile sauce. I use it in plenty of my food. It's pretty nutritious and good for digestion." Sumire said as Maruki looked surprised at this before he spoke up.

"You cook, Yoshizawa-san? I'm impressed that you care so much about nutrition. You must really be on top of things." Maruki said as Sumire winced and just grunted in response. After a moment she spoke up.

"It's not that impressive. I'm just active, that's all. I'm a gymnast. My coach has told me more than once to be conscious of everything I eat." Sumire said as Maruki spoke up with a nod.

"I see. That's very interesting. Since you brought up gymnastics, how's practice been going for you? Has it been rough lately?" Maruki asked as Sumire winced but spoke up with a polite nod.

"It has been rough lately, yes. What I mean to say is, it's nothing that I can't handle. But it's still not going well. I don't even know what I want to do anymore." Sumire said as Maruki gave her a sympathetic smile and spoke up.

"Aw, that's too bad. I'm sorry to hear it, Yoshizawa-san. Even so, do you enjoy gymnastics?" Maruki asked as Sumire frowned and spoke up.

"To be honest? I'm not even sure of that. My, umm, my older sister and I made a promise. We'd both compete and win the biggest gymnastics awards in the world. But that's no longer able to happen. She unfortunately passed away. She protected me from a car because I stupidly ran out into traffic without thinking because I was angry with her. Yet, despite that, she still threw herself in the path of the vehicle to save me.

And in the process, my selfishness led to Kasumi's death. Subsequently, as a result of my selfish actions causing her death, I stole Kasumi's dream away from her. I'm sorry, but I can't do it anymore. I can't just go on like this like nothing's happened knowing that I'm the reason my sister no longer has the chance to fulfill her end of our shared promise. If Kasumi were here instead, I know she'd make her dream come true for sure. Only Kasumi could have done it. No matter how long I try to compete, I know it's not going to change anything for Kasumi. I'm sorry you had to hear all that." Sumire said as Maruki smiled and spoke up.

"It's fine, Yoshizawa-san. There's no need for you to apologize in here. If there's something you need to get off your chest, please do so." Maruki said as Sumire spoke up with a polite nod.

"Very well, Doctor. If you insist. Sometimes, I can't help but think things would've been better if I were Kasumi Yoshizawa. After all, as much as I might wish it were otherwise, just wishing to make her dream come true does nothing for her in reality." Sumire said honestly as Maruki frowned and spoke up.

"I see. Making dreams come true, huh? That's an interesting way to look at it. And, well, I don't think your train of thought is strange at all, Yoshizawa-san. In fact, wanting to become somebody else isn't necessarily an entirely bad thing." Maruki said as Sumire frowned and spoke up.

"You mean that? Do you really think so?" Sumire asked, seeming a bit less detached and slightly intrigued. Maruki nodded and spoke up.

"I know so. Everyone is capable of changing themselves, Yoshizawa-san. Your imagination's the only limit. That's why, if you aspire to be more like another person, it's actually possible. Thought exercises like, 'Would that person do this?' or realizations like, 'That person wouldn't do that', and so on? These sorts of thoughts can lead people to change themselves in ways that more closely mirror the target person." Maruki said as Sumire gave a soft gasp of surprise at Maruki's words. Maruki shook his head and spoke up.

"No matter. Let me help start you off, Yoshizawa-san. Can you still imagine what your sister was like?" Maruki asked Sumire, who nodded and spoke up, her eyes slightly closed as she spoke up.

"Yes, Doctor. I can." Sumire said as Maruki spoke up.

"Good. If your sister were in your shoes, what do you think she'd do?" Maruki asked as Sumire spoke up with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Well, for starters, she wouldn't cry. If she had time to do that, she'd just practice more instead. Doctor Maruki? I know it's probably unorthodox and even unrealistic, but I want to become Kasumi." Sumire said as Maruki nodded understandingly as he spoke up.

"Yes, Yoshizawa-san. I know. And, I'm sure you can, too. Just, never give up on that dream, and always believe in yourself." Maruki said as Sumire nodded, closing her eyes as the room flashed briefly, and when it was done, Sumire spoke up once more.

"Oh!" Sumire said as Maruki smiled at her and spoke up.

"How about it? Are you feeling any better now?" Maruki asked as Sumire nodded, now giving Maruki a closed-eye smile as she spoke up.

"Yes, I feel much better! I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me! You're amazing, Doctor!" Sumire said as Maruki chuckled and spoke up with a smile of his own.

"Haha, it's no big deal, Yoshziawa-san. Still, it seems like my counseling approach does some good after all." Maruki said as Sumire leaned down to open her bag, reached into it, pulled out a red ribbon, took off her glasses, and used the ribbon to tie her hair back into a ponytail, turning to give Maruki a pretty closed-eye smile as she spoke up.

"All right! I'm not sure how to put it, but somehow I feel like I've been reborn all over again." Sumire said as Maruki spoke up.

"Really? I'm very glad to hear that. Feel free to drop by again sometime should anything come up. We can even just have a chat, like today." Maruki said as Sumire nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, I will keep that in mind. Thank you. Then we could pick up where we left off talking about-Hmm, odd." Sumire said as Maruki spoke up in surprise.

"Is something the matter?" Maruki asked. Sumire nodded as she spoke up.

"Not really. It's just, now that I think about it, I'm not any good at cooking. I don't know why I said those things earlier to you. My younger sister's the one who was really great at it." Sumire said as Maruki gave her his own closed-eye smile as he spoke up.

"Mmm. That's right, 'Kasumi Yoshizawa'." Maruki asked Sumire, who blinked as she spoke up.

"Um, yes? What is it?" Sumire asked, somehow thinking that she was being addressed. Maruki smiled and spoke up.

"Oh, nothing. I'm so glad I was able to help you. Good luck with your training." Maruki said as Sumire spoke up, and had it been anyone else listening but Maruki, they'd have found what she said next more than a little odd.

"Right! I'll do my best! For Sumire's sake and mine!" Sumire said as the video ended at that point...

(Back in the present, in Maruki's Palace with Crow, Queen, Noir, Joker, Skull, and Fox)

"Was that what I thought it was?" Noir asked as Joker nodded and spoke up, even though he was visibly shaking, though the others were unsure if it was anger or sadness he was shaking with as he spoke.

"Yes, Noir. It was. That was the day Violet first met with Maruki for therapy. Only, that went WAY beyond what a conventional therapist would do. Or was I the only one who realized what that man did to her that day?" Joker asked as the others blinked as Crow spoke up.

"You're referring to how he manipulated her into thinking she was Kasumi, aren't you Joker?" Crow asked gently as Joker nodded, his eyes narrowing as he spoke up.

"Exactly. But I wouldn't just call it manipulation, Crow! That man violated Violet's mind and convinced her she was her dead effing sister! That's probably about as close to mind-rape as you're gonna get right there! And yet he claims he was helping her! And yes, it is true that to an extent, he did ease her suffering, but he chose arguably the worst way to do so.

That sort of relief is going to be temporary at best. And it'll only make the suffering that much worse when it resurfaces, as you and I saw for ourselves when Violet's true identity was revealed. Grr, damn that man!" Joker said before he threw his head back and yelled at the top of his voice, not caring who heard.

"DAMN YOU TO HELL, MARUKI! YOU USED VIOLET'S MIND AS YOUR OWN PLAYTHING, YOU SICK EFFING BASTARD!" Joker yelled loud enough that it was a safe bet that you could hear him all the way down on the detention level of Maruki's Palace. Crow smirked at Joker's reaction and spoke up.

"Heh, what do you know? Joker might have a more intense rage than I do. Impressive. But let's get that reigned in for now, I think. After all, you wouldn't want to scare Violet by screaming like that. It's not her fault that Maruki basically used her for his research. And he'll get his for that soon enough, I promise you that." Crow said as Joker eventually got himself under control and nodded as he spoke up, smiling at Crow.

"Y-Yes, you're right. Sorry for losing it like that, everyone. But now maybe you get an idea of how seriously I take Violet's happiness and well-being. It's probably close to, if not more, serious than how serious Draconis takes Oracle's well-being and happiness." Joker said as the comms chat opened up and Violet spoke up.

"What was that? We heard that yell from all the way down here. What could've set Joker-senpai off like that?" Violet asked as Crow spoke up with a smirk.

"Oh, just watching a video of a certain someone we know having their first counseling session with Maruki. Ring any bells?" Crow asked as Violet winced and spoke up.

"Ah, yes. So you found a video of my counseling session with Maruki? That would explain why we heard Joker-senpai calling Maruki what he did. It was just after my sister had passed away, so I was in a rather fragile and vulnerable state at that time. And from that moment on, until a few days ago, I lived my life really believing I was Kasumi." Violet said as Fox spoke up, seeing Joker trying to calm himself.

"I see. It was all due to the rewriting of your cognition, or rather, his 'actualization', as we've started calling it?" Fox said as Joker spoke up.

"It is an actualization, but in Violet's case, I still maintain that what Maruki did was less actualization and more mind rape." Joker said bitterly as Panther spoke up over the comms.

"Wow. That's the first time I've heard that sort of bitterness in your voice, Joker. Okay, but changing the subject, I've been wondering about something. So, while she was under that actualization, it was only Violet who believed that she was Kasumi, right? I assumed that someone in your family or one of your friends would've noticed you going by the wrong name right away, Violet." Panther said as Violet spoke up.

"Well, I can certainly remember being called 'Kasumi' by everyone else, too, now that I think about it." Violet said as Oracle spoke up.

"It might be more accurate to say that you misheard or misunderstood the name you were being called. Like, everyone kept callin' you 'Sumire', but your cognition made you hear it as 'Kasumi'." Oracle said as Skull spoke up, not seeing Joker wince at what he said next.

"So that's why nobody thought it was weird, including her folks and herself, that whole time? Damn, that's crazy." Skull said as Joker winced and spoke up sheepishly.

"Um, about that? That's not entirely true. If we're being fully honest here, Violet's parents knew the truth the whole time. But they chose to play along because they thought it was just her way of coping with the death of her sister. It was only this past month that they started realizing how serious Violet's actualization really was. As for me, I legitimately believed she was Kasumi due to having seen that as her name in her Shujin Academy pocketbook the day she introduced herself to me at the clean-up." Joker said honestly, making Queen and Skull's jaws drop while both Violet and Panther gasped over the comms chat. Crow then spoke up.

"Well, as enlightening as Joker's little confession is, it's clear that this must be part of the whole 'salvation' nonsense that Maruki's trying to pull over on us." Crow said as Fox spoke up.

"That's true. However, I believe that memory may have been kept here in video form because he truly does wish for Violet to be happy with life." Fox said as Joker huffed and spoke up.

"Hmph. Probably the only part of what he did that I agree with, is his desire to help Violet. Oh well, at least she's back to herself now, I suppose." Joker said as Violet winced and spoke up.

"Joker, I didn't realize you were that devoted to me? Also, I admit, I really did feel saved in that moment when I became Kasumi, even if it was only an actualization Maruki put me under. But at the same time, I ran from my life as Sumire and took a coward's way out. I can only imagine how disappointed Kasumi must have been that entire time I was pretending to live as her.

All that doing that accomplished was dishonoring the sacrifice she made for me. But even though I'm genuinely grateful for what Maruki did for me that day, I'm done running from my past and my pain. If you all can face it head-on and be brave about it, then so can I. Anyways, we're not here to reflect on my past. We're here to save Draconis and secure the route to Maruki's Treasure, right? So let's get going." Violet said as Mona spoke up.

"Violet! Oracle! Panther! We're at the bottom! Time to get off the phone and get to work!" Mona said as Oracle spoke up.

"Guess it's time for us to get to work too. Good luck, you guys! Group B signing off." Oracle said as Joker ended the comms call and Group A kept moving. At that point, Joker took the group back to the closest Safe Room, or the 'Counseling Area' Safe Room so the group could regroup a bit while pondering their next move, hoping as they did so that Group B would have the same success they did. What Group A was unaware of was the presence of the massive foe that was blocking their path to the next lock...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! Hard to believe we're coming up on 90 chapters typed out for this story! If the story can stretch a little longer, it'll hit 100 chapters! And I have a one-shot in mind to type out if this story does get that far, so be excited for that, since it may or may not involve the Phantom Thieves having a run-in with a certain 'side mode' that I've not really touched on as yet in this story that was added in for canon Royal as it was absent from the vanilla (or original) version of Persona 5. But back to talking about this story.

We're almost at the halfway point of Arc 9. I'd say probably one to two more chapters, maybe three, and we'll be there. Then again, one could argue we're already there, since two of the three Will Seeds for Maruki's Palace were covered in this chapter. So if nothing else, odds are high that the Treasure route will get secured in the next chapter, or if not next chapter, then it'll probably be in the chapter after next at the latest.

Additionally, the next chapter will be one that hopefully many fans of Kusa/Draconis will enjoy a great deal, since he will probably feature rather prominently in it. So that's something to look forward to, yeah? I hope I have people excited for it!

That said, thanks to everyone who's been following this story and putting it on their Favorite Stories list, since it means a lot that you like this story that much. And also, thanks to everyone who's left a review on the story so far, even if sometimes I go several chapters in a row without any reviews.

As a real quick aside for anyone who's interested, I do have a Discord server that I use to discuss my stories. Let me know either by PM or in a review if you're interested, and I'll shoot you a reply with a link to it. I wasn't using it for a bit since my old laptop went out on me a couple months ago (or around the point I was still typing out Arc 6), and I can't really access Discord without a laptop. I had my little brother's laptop in the gap between my old laptop going out and the one I got this month arriving, but he had his own Discord keyed to it, so I wasn't able to use his laptop for my Discord.

But now I can use it again, so I'm more than willing to add people to it if they want to discuss fanfiction on it, or even help out with planning of various stories, whether they be the last bit of this story (which by the time this chapter goes up, there's a 50/50 shot I'll be close to done typing the story out, since I currently have a 7-chapter backlog of typed out chapters that I'm leaning on so I have chapters to upload during periods where I'm away and not able to work on the story, as has happened a couple of times during this story), the eventual sequel this will get, or any of my other stories. I always welcome reader input as it lets me get even better as a fanfiction writer!

So don't be shy about leaving a review, or even PMing me, with your thoughts/opinions/constructive criticism/feedback on this story, as I enjoy hearing what my readers have to say. And if you do so as a guest reviewer, don't be surprised if I answer your review in a future chapter's start-of-chapter A/N, since that's typically how I respond to guest reviewers, as they lack an account to PM a reply to, and I like to reply where I can to my reviewers, even if it's just a short review. I always try to leave a response to reviews, even if it's just to thank the reviewer for their time. But either way, I appreciate all the support I've been getting on this story! And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

CONFIDANT RANKS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 89

FOOL (Prison Master/Yaldabaoth) - Rank MAX (10)

MAGICIAN (Morgana/Mona) - Rank MAX (11)

PRIESTESS (Makoto/Queen) - Rank 9

EMPRESS (Haru/Noir) - Rank 8

EMPEROR (Yusuke/Fox) - Rank MAX (10)

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

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

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

JUSTICE (Akechi/Crow/Black Mask) - Rank MAX (10)

HERMIT (Futaba/Oracle) - Rank MAX (10)

FORTUNE (Chihaya/Fortune Teller) - Rank 7

STRENGTH (Lavenza) - Rank MAX (10)

HANGED-MAN (Iwai/Weapons Dealer) - Rank 7.5

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

TEMPERANCE (Kawakami/Becky) - Rank 8.5

DEVIL (Ohya) - Rank 6

TOWER (Shinya/The King/Skilled Gamer) - Rank 4

STAR (Hifumi) - Rank MAX (10)

MOON (Mishima) - Rank MAX (10)

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

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

FAITH (Sumire/Sumi/Violet) - Rank 5

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

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

MAXED OUT LINKS: FOOL, MAGICIAN, EMPEROR, HIEROPHANT, LOVERS, CHARIOT, JUSTICE, HERMIT, STRENGTH, STAR, MOON, SUN, JUDGEMENT, COUNCILLOR, WORLD

LINKS NOT MAXED OUT YET: PRIESTESS, EMPRESS, FORTUNE, HANGED-MAN, DEATH, TEMPERANCE, DEVIL, TOWER, FAITH