(Author's Note)
SO, not exactly at the start of September, but it was certainly a lot faster this time... right?
We're 23 favorites away from 1k... When did this happen?
OH RIGHT. I ALMOST FORGOT! WHICH ONE OF YOU DID THIS!? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!? WAS I JUST SUPPOSED TO STUMBLE UPON THE PAGE MYSELF!?
For context, Professor Joker now has a TV Tropes page! WHEN-!? I mean, HOW-!? Ugh... In all seriousness, whoever set that up and contributed to it, THANK YOU. I found it by ACCIDENT, and I actually cried reading through it. Getting a TV Tropes page for one of my stories was never really... something I ever thought about, or thought would happen, so the fact that Professor Joker has one now is just... I means a lot. A whole lot more than I really thought it might've.
Okay, enough about that, let's get onto Reviews!
To Pecan Crisp: Thanks for the notice. I like to think most of my written errors are caught before the chapter goes up, but sometimes it's not... perfect.
To Masterx01: I'll be honest and agree that some of the earlier chapters were a bit rougher around the edges regarding the points you've made, but I think as the story progresses I've gotten better at properly showing how it affects them.
To Luckenhaft: HA! A fun mental image, so thanks for that laugh.
Thank you to everyone else who left a review. They really mean a lot to me and really help get my motivation going to write stuff for this story. If you have the time, please leave a review. I like to hear what you guys think about what I'm working on.
Speaking of, one last note. I'm debating making something of a... Side-Story to Professor Joker. It's Non-Canon, and wouldn't have a dedicated schedule or anything. Just something I would write on the side if inspiration for that ever came up. Essentially, the idea is to take key points in the story of Professor Joker, and then see what would happen if our resident Phantom Thief constantly felt the urge to put his own foot firmly into his mouth.
If "Professor Third Option" (Name is being workshopped but I like the idea) is something you guys would be interested in seeing, let me know!
And with all that said, let's get on with the story. I hope you enjoy, because this one is one of my favourites!
(Play Singularity - P5 Strikers)
"That's Monica." Joker said.
"...Well, good work team!" Rokuó said, clapping his hands together. "We did it!"
"Yeah, we're not even close to being done." Mona refuted with a shake of his head.
"Well I know that much." Rokuó replied with a nod. "Seriously though, her distortion is clearly placing her as a Prisoner. That's as concerning for everyone else as it is to me, right?"
"It's very concerning. Distortions of self depreciation like this aren't normal for a Palace, and even then, the last one we went through of that kind still had the Ruler be… well, a Ruler." Mona noted.
"Well, crap." Rokuó stated.
"Can she hear us?" Mana asked, looking closer at the bars. "We've been pretty loud so far."
"I don't think so… Joker?" Rokuó turned to the leader of the thieves.
"She can see us." Joker said, eyes locked onto the Shadow's. "But she hasn't done anything to show she can hear us."
"Well, there's one possible solution to that." Rokuó said, before looking over at Mana.
"...Why me?" The girl asked, looking up at the deer with narrowed eyes.
"Cause it didn't work when I did it already." Rokuó said with a shrug.
"Fine." Mana said with a light scowl, before moving her hands up to cup around her mouth. "Hello! Can you hear us!?"
The shadow stayed still, electing a grunt from Rokuó. "Well, so much for that idea."
"So she can't hear us then." Mona noted. "I don't see why she wouldn't be able to."
Joker narrowed his eyes and activated his third eye. The bars in front of him lit up white, and various ethereal chains were wrapped across the front of the bars, each connecting to the three keyholes on the front of the bars. Behind the bars was a straight sheet of translucent red energy. "Well, that's definitely not safe." Joker noted. "Don't try and reach through the bars, there's some kind of field behind it. Looks dangerous."
"Your third eye?" Mona asked, looking up at the thief.
"Yeah." Joker nodded. The thief looked down at the floor and picked up a stray rock off the ground. He tossed it up into the air before throwing it at the space between the bars.
The rock flew straight through the gaps of the bars, but as it continued its course, it suddenly disintegrated as it made contact with the wall of energy. The wall became visible, shimmering in the air as the energy rippled out like water as the rock collided with the wall. "Dangerous indeed…" Mana said with a breath.
"Note to self, look over the handbook again. Your third eye might have been undersold in it…" Rokuó stated as he crossed his arms.
"We can figure that out later. Right now we need to find a way to get through this door." Mona said, crossing his arms. "Joker. How are we for restoratives?"
"Medicine is lower than last time, working on that with Manuela. But I have enough coffee that we should be able to mitigate that with your healing." Joker said, placing a hand to his chin. "If we play our cards right, we might be able to get this door down in this run. If not make considerable progress…"
"Well, let's check the map for now. Is there anything by the entrance we should look into?" Rokuó asked.
Joker opened the Metanav, opening the map of the Jail. "Here, take a look." He said turning the phone so the Deer could look at it.
"There's a few rooms around the entrance, but they're relatively small. Might have some treasure hidden in them though." Rokuó said. "Up ahead splits into three paths, and if I was a betting man-"
"Which you are." Mana deadpanned.
"-Then it's likely that they will lead to the keys that open this door."
"Personally, I would rather use our energy forging a path ahead than using it to backtrack." Mona said, crossing his arms. "We don't know what to expect, and if it's anything like our usual excursions, these keys are probably going to be guarded."
"We're moving on ahead. We'll deal with whatever stands in our way when we get to it." Joker said, stepping away from the cell. "Let's go."
"So, which door are we starting with?" Rokuó asked, looking at the three doors the path splits off to. "Left to right?"
"Maybe, but there's no telling we'll encounter stronger foes behind one compared to another." Mona said. "Best case would be to pick one and go from there."
"I don't suppose your third eye would be able to point us in the right direction?" Mana asked Joker, glancing over at the thief.
Joker opened his third eye for a moment, letting the shift of colors flash before returning to normal. "Worth a shot." He noted with a shake of his head.
"Nothing, huh?" Rokuó replied with a sigh.
Joker took in a breath before turning to the door on the left. "We'll start with the left door for now. Whatever's on the other side doesn't matter." He said, walking up towards the door on the left. He grabbed the handle and twisted it, opening the door to reveal a hallway on the other end. "We're clear to keep moving."
The thieves walked into the hallway, the door slowly swinging closed behind them. Joker glanced around at their surroundings. "This is different."
"Agreed. There's no jail cells here." Mana noted. "It's a lot… colder here though, right?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah…" Rokuó noted, eyes narrowing as he caught sight of something on the right wall. "Hey, look at these."
The thieves slowed to a stop at the Deer's insistence, looking up at the set of four paintings hung on the wall. "Paintings?" Mana blinked, tilted her head to the side.
"They look a bit bare to be called as such." Rokuó noted, crossing his arms as he looked at the paintings.
Various white splotches coated each of the paintings on the wall, clearly drying overtop whatever had once been visible. Joker narrowed his eyes. "Is that Garreg Mach in the background of that one?" He asked, pointing at the image in the middle right.
Rokuó and Mana's eyes opened wide as they looked at the painting in question. "I think it is…" The witch said. "Wait, this is the courtyard of the Officer's Academy classrooms…"
"It is?" Mona asked, looking over at the painting.
"Hey, look at this one. Isn't this the library?" Rokuó asked, motioning to the painting to the right.
"It would explain all the books." Joker said with a nod. "Something doesn't feel right about all this though. What about the other two?"
"This one is… of a cell?" Mana said, motioning to the painting on the far left. "It actually looks similar to the ones here…"
"This one I'm not too sure of, maybe a tent?" Mona added, pointing to the painting on the middle left.
"No, that actually looks like a wagon with a tarp over it." Rokuó said, pointing at the edges visible on the painting. "It's oriented weirdly, as the wood is on the left side of the portrait while the cloth is on the right."
"...Is there anything to glean from this?" Mana asked, looking over at Joker. "The splotches aren't going anywhere, and because of that there's not much we can learn from this."
"Not entirely. This is still Monica's subconscious, so it would stand to reason there's a reason for this." Mona said as he crossed his arms.
"...What if they're memories?" Joker asked, looking back at the paintings. "Like with Oracle's Palace, where we had to solve the puzzle in order to see the murals that made up her repressed memories. Maybe it's like this as well?"
"Could be. But her's were scrambled, not blotched out…" Mona noted with a grumble. "We should keep moving. The end of the hallway is just up ahead."
With the exception of Joker, the other thieves turned and started walking down the hallway. The teen paused for a moment to look a bit closer at the wall, eyes landing on the scratch marks hidden lightly under the painting frames. "What the…? Joker!"
Joker turned back to look at his team to find them standing in front of the door. He ran up behind them, eyebrow raised behind his mask. "What's wrong?"
"The door's locked." Rokuó noted, motioning to the doorknob that refused to turn. "And there's this plaque stuck to the door."
"Plaque?" The thief asked, looking at the door and the words etched on the attached plaque. "The path of memories will open the way?"
"Well, isn't that cryptic." Mona noted with a shake of his head.
"...Wait, didn't you compare the paintings to memories?" Mana asked, looking up at Joker.
Joker nodded slowly, before his eyes widened as he turned and ran down to the four paintings, the other thieves quickly following behind. "The path of memories… Rokuó, can you take that painting off the wall?"
"Let me try…" The deer said as he grabbed either end of the leftmost painting and pulled. He let out a grunt of exertion as he let go, shaking his arm out. "It won't budget…"
"Let me try something then…" Joker said, reaching over to the painting in the middle. He gripped the sides of the painting and pushed upwards, forcing the painting to slide up the wall, scraping it in the process and adding to the faint scratch marks. "They're stuck to the wall, but they can be shifted around. We need to find the right order."
"Not giving us a lot to work on there though." Mana noted. "Most of the paintings are painted over."
"But the main surroundings aren't. And that might be just enough." Morgana noted. "If this is Monica's memory… Maybe these paintings are of her kidnapping?"
"So we rearrange them in such a manner that it makes sense in that context?" Rokuó asked, looking over at the paintings. "Then it would only make sense…"
The deer quickly got to work moving and shifting the paintings around, before clicking the last painting down into place. "Like this!" Rokuó finished, looking at his work.
There was a sudden flash from all four paintings, and the sound of the door at the end of the hall clicking open echoed down the hallway. "It worked!" Mana said. "How'd you figure out the order so quickly?"
Rokuó smirked and motioned to the four paintings in front of him. "The courtyard is clearly in the day, so that would be a terrible time to try and kidnap someone, so clearly it was the moment before. The library would be a better place to stage it, it's more secluded. And as I said earlier, that looks like a cart, and if it's Monica's memory, then it'd make sense the perspective is weird if she was on her side during it. And the cell has to be the last one because… well, where else would it go?"
"Facts and logic, my favorite." Joker deadpanned with a wry smile. "Right. Shall we check out what's on the other side?"
The thieves turned and headed to the door once more, which opened without fuss now that it was no longer locked. What they were met with on the other side was a large open tower, all along the walls various more paintings spiraled up the sides. At the very center of the tower was a pedestal, a lone key floating an inch above it.
"...This is a trap." Rokuó stated, arms crossed. "There's no way it isn't."
"Unfortunately, that should still be the key we need." Mona noted, shaking his head. "I'm more curious about these paintings. Are these more Memories?"
Mana turned and looked over at one of the paintings closest to the door. "They're painted over as well…" She muttered.
"Not all of them." Joker noted, craning his neck up to look at some of the paintings higher up the wall. "It's mainly the paintings that are closer to our level."
"It could be that a painting's elevation is related to how recent the memory is." Mona guessed. "But that brings up its own problem."
"Which is?" Mana asked.
"That Monica is forgetting. Either due to short term memory loss…" Mona's explanation stopped short as the tower suddenly began to shake.
(Play Tension - Persona 5)
Up on the second layer of paintings, there was a bright flash of purple as strange runes etched into existence overtop of one of the unmarked paintings. The runes glowed and shook for a moment before disintegrating, leaving behind a white splotch overtop of the once clean painting.
"...Or something malicious." Mona finished with wide eyes.
"That… what kind of runes were those?" Mana asked, the witch's eyes almost frantic.
"You don't recognize them?" Rokuò asked, turning to look at the girl.
The witch shook her head. "No! They were… Just wrong!"
"...Let's go. The key's right there." Joker said, walking over towards the pedestal.
The thief looked down at the key and grabbed it. There was a moment of silence, before a sudden flash of white swept across his vision as information seeped into his head. As if the blinding light wasn't doing enough to disorient the thief, he was quickly assaulted by a torrent of noise. Words and intent mixing together to form a cacophony of sounds that was almost unintelligible, with one exception.
"So, is this the vermin you're using for your experiments?"
"Indeed. It is an untapped vein of knowledge just waiting to be explored, and it is just the subject we need. Besides, we'll have no need for it's mind when the time arrives. It would be wasteful to not use as much as we can before throwing it out in the trash."
"-oker! Sensei!"
It was the sense of touch that returned first, as the thief felt a hand firmly land on his shoulder. The intrusion of sounds dissipated to reveal the previously drowned out calls of concern from the other thieves. Sight returned soon after, Joker looked down at the key sitting in his palm.
"Joker, are you still with us?" Mana asked, stepping up next to the teen.
"Yeah… Sorry. I wasn't prepared for… that." Joker said, looking over at Rokuó as the deer took his hand off the thief's shoulder.
"What even was THAT, exactly?" Rokuó asked.
"A memory? Maybe. It was sounds mostly…" Joker replied, shaking his head. "It wasn't anything good."
"We can discuss whatever it was later at a safe room." Mona said, getting nods from the others. "Come on, let's get going."
"What!? Impossible!"
At once the thieves dropped into their combat stances, weapons poised at the booming voice that suddenly echoed through the room.
"Something is blocking my reach of it's memories… a mental defense system perhaps? Strange one only activated now. Well, this should be able to handle it…"
"What does it mean by that…?" Mana whispered.
"Nothing good!" Rokuó hissed.
"That voice…" Joker muttered, eyes wide. "From the memory?"
Mona shot a look over at the thief before he snapped his head back to look at the door out of the tower. The thieves watched as purple runes rapidly etched overtop of the entrance, creating a wall of energy that blocked their escape route.
"Get ready!" Joker shouted, narrowing his eyes as dozens of Shadows burst to life around the group, surrounding them.
(Play Keeper of Lust Scramble - P5 Strikers)
"Allow me! NYX!" Mana screamed, ripping her mask away with a flourish as her Persona burst to life behind her. "Burn them to cinders!"
"With pleasure!" Nyx shouted, bringing her arms forwards as flames ignited across her palms. "Agi!"
The flames burned bright as they were launched off into the air, coming down like rain atop of a group of Sprites that had just materialized. The Shadows instantly began to panic, their bodies catching fire as the flames smashed against them. There was a blur of color as Mana rushed up towards the group, swinging her quarterstaff wide in an arch that smashed through each Shadow.
Mana let out a breath as the group fell, glancing up as she righted her stance. Her eyes widened as a group of Pansers lunged at her, only to be sent flying back from a blast of wind.
"I got you!" Mona shouted, Mercurius floating confidently behind the feline. "Let's hit 'em again, Garu!"
The wind swelled up once more, battering against the armored teddy bears with feverish speed. One unlucky shadow was launched up, flipping helplessly in the air from the attack.
"Mind if I take this one for a spin?" Rokuó asked, leaping through the air as the thief grabbed onto the out of control Panser. The deer flipped once to right himself and planted both feet down on the Shadow as they approached the ground.
Rokuó smirked as he landed, using the Panser to cushion his descent as the thief grinded the bear's face against the floor. He reached up to his mask and tore it off, summoning Robin behind him as he slid towards another group of Shadows. "You're up, Robin!"
"Zio!" The tactician yelled, the pages of his tome flipping wildly as electricity danced across the book. He threw his hand forward, shooting the bolt of lightning at the group of Shadows ahead.
The lightning smashed into the Sprite at the front of the group, shooting through it as the electricity bounced off of it and onto the other Personas nearby. Rokuó felt his grin widen as his Persona returned, kicking up off the Panser into a backup. The deer spun around midair, eyes locking onto the sight of the slowly dissolving Panser bowling the group of Shadows over, rendering them all destroyed.
The deer landed into a stumble, hand gripping his rapier tightly as he turned to look at Joker. "Sweet Seiros…" Rokuó muttered to himself as he watched his teacher dismantle the group he had engaged.
Joker was like water, easily slipping past the various swings from the group of Risen attacking him. When an opening presented itself, he took it, grabbing onto the hair of the one in front of him and jumped. He pulled as he flipped over, swinging the Risen off the ground and smashing it into the floor. In that same instant he pulled out Daredevil with his other hand and aimed at another Risen that was getting close, firing a bolt that immediately pierced its head and destroyed it. The teen aimed down at the shadow he had disoriented and pulled the trigger again for good measure, destroying it as well.
Joker stood up, looking back at the other two Risen rushing at him with a wry smirk. "Who wants to see what the newbie can do?" He asked aloud, grinning outright at the chorus of agreements he received from his Personas. "Alright then! Come, Satyr!"
The Spearman erupted from azure behind the thief, polearm at the ready as the Persona rushed ahead. "Shall we dance!?" It roared, stabbing through the closest Risen with ease before it spun around and kicked out with one of its legs, bashing its hoof into the other Shadow's face.
Joker narrowed his eyes and ducked to the side as a wave of curse flew past where his head had been moments previous. He glanced at the source and found a lone Succubus aiming another blast at him. "Satyr, deal with those two!" He ordered, dashing to the side to avoid another round of curse magic as he circled around the Succubus.
"Ooh, she's good!" The Succubus from within Joker said with a smile as the thief dodged the repeated barrage of curse magic. "However~!"
The thief narrowed his eyes and spun around as he dashed once more, building the necessary momentum to fling out his grapple hook at the Succubus. Joker grabbed the line and pulled, dragging the Succubus down to his level as he summoned Paradise Lost.
"He's better~" The persona finished as the thief, cleaved through the Shadow as it unwillingly flew towards him.
"Well, that was fun." Satyr said as he jogged back over to the thief. "We should do this again sometime."
Joker glanced up to his Persona with a raised eyebrow before looking over at the remaining Shadows. "Well would you look at that! It IS my lucky day!" The Persona said, rushing down to the center group with Joker in tow.
"Don't leave us out of this!" Rokuó shouted, rushing in alongside the other thieves.
The Shadows shared a look of concern at that moment as the thieves all rushed them together. Mana ripped her mask off and threw her arm out, eyes blazing. "Agi!"
Nyx reared her arm back before throwing it at the group in the center, the flames crashing against the group with enough force to disorient them.
"Now's our chance!" Mona shouted as the four thieves leapt at the opening, decimating the Shadows in their moment of weakness. "All Out Attack!"
Mana swung her quarterstaff down against the head of one Shadows with enough force to send her airborne. The witch swung her arms out to either side of her as she landed in a crouch, summoning orbs of curse magic and fire magic that danced harmlessly above both of her hands. The thief smirked as the shadows burst behind her, a glint shining in her eyes. "What? Is the CHILD too much for you!?"
(Play Triumph - Persona 5)
"Nicely done!" Mona said, walking up to the Witch. "Not bad for your first finisher."
"That… just sort of slipped out." The witch replied, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.
"You get used to it." Joker said with a nod before he looked back over at the door. The runes began to flicker before going dark, vanishing from sight along with the wall blocking their exit.
(Play Suspicious Person - Persona 5)
"By the accursed Fell Star! No… it is only a minor setback. This is a delicate process, after all. I will simply return to this once I have seen to my other duties. Perhaps all I need is time for the walls to weaken once more…"
The thieves stood silently amongst themselves as the voice faded. Joker narrowed his eyes, before turning to look at Rokuó and Mona. "I think he's gone."
"Good riddance…" Mana said with a shudder.
"Accursed Fell Star… Does that ring any bells for either of you?" Mona asked, looking at the two Fódlan natives.
"None that I can remember…" Rokuó shrugged, glancing at Mana. "What about you? Read anything that mentions a Fell Star?"
"No, the term is… new." The witch replied with a sigh.
"Great, another unanswered question…" The house leader said with a groan.
"Even so, we're one key down now." Joker noted, holding up the key he had grabbed earlier. "We should go unlock the first lock."
Mona nodded, looking at the other thieves. "You heard him, let's get moving."
(Play Singularity - P5 Strikers)
There wasn't a lot of pizzazz when the key was slotted into the lock, nor when it was unlocked. The key twisted against the internal mechanism, a solid click ringing out as the lock simply detached from the chains, crumbling to dust along with the key as the two fell to the ground.
"Well, I see we won't be using that key again." Mana said as the four watched as the dust spread out over the stone floor. "Anything look different now?"
"The barrier is still up, but it isn't as harsh of a glow now…" Joker said, deactivating his third eye. "Which is good. Means the locks are connected to the barrier as well."
The thieves turned away from the locked gate and walked back down the hallway. Rokuó narrowed his eyebrows in thought before he turned to look at Joker. "So we all agree that this is much worse than we thought, right?"
"Yeah. And everyone thinks she just ran away." Mana replied, looking down at the floor.
"It's worse than that." Mona began, eyes narrowed in concern. "Whoever kidnapped her is able to directly affect her unconscious on a level just shy of what we're able to operate at. This is an entirely unprecedented scenario."
"Whatever magic that's causing this… it's not good." Joker stated with narrowed eyes. "We need to find where she is in the real world, as soon as we can."
The thieves came to a stop at the end of the hallway, staring down the two doors that had yet to be opened. Joker walked up to the door in the middle, pushing it open without issue as he walked past it with his team.
"I think we have another fight on our hands." Rokuó said, looking around at the wide open area before them.
The door swung shut behind them with a bang, the sound echoing across the room as dozens of Shadows burst to life in front of them. Mana shot a look at Rokuó, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "What? I was right!" The deer said, drawing his rapier.
"Focus!" Mona shouted, pulling his slingshot out.
(Play What You Wish For - P5 Strikers)
"Let's clear a path!" Joker shouted, rushing towards the Shadows with the others. The thief felt the familiar weight of Paradise Lost form in his hand and swung, clashing against the armored gauntlets of a Panser. "Mona, you and Rokuó focus on support! Mana, you're with me on damage output!"
"Right!" Mana replied as she pulled her left arm back. She flicked out three throwing knives into her off hand and then threw them out at random at some of the Shadows that were moving too close to Joker. "Come, Persona!"
Nyx charged out with dark magic at the ready. The Persona swung her arm down at the floor, sending a surge of curse energy bursting out from the ground on a group of ill prepared Shadows. "Eiha!"
The shadows were launched up into the air as the curse magic battered them. Their airtime was short lived as they came under fire from both Mona and Rokuó as the two sniped the shadows out of the sky with their ranged implements.
Rokuó glanced back over to Joker and ripped his mask off, summoning his Persona as he pointed at the leader of the thieves. "Robin, give him a boost!"
"Tarukaja!" The tactician shouted, hand outstretched towards Joker as energy surged up around the thief.
"Thanks for the assist!" Joker shouted, batting aside the Panser's block before he swung and cleaved the bear's head clean off. The thief reached a hand up to his mask and swapped his equipped persona with a flash of Azure before ripping it off. "Angel!"
Joker threw his arm out at the last remaining Shadows, a group of Oozes that were barely hanging on from a continued assault from Mana. "Ravage them!"
"Kouha!" The persona raised its hand upwards, a ball of light forming rapidly within its grasp before it threw it down at the Shadows. The orb smashed against the floor in the center of the group and exploded out, disintegrating the remaining Shadows on contact.
(Play Triumph - Persona 5)
Mona nodded to himself as he walked up to Joker. "That was quick." The cat said, looking over at Rokuó and Mana. "They're getting a real hang of things."
"I'll say. I think Mana might get a bit of whiplash once we take on a more traditional metaverse fight though…" Joker replied with a nod. The teen raised his head up a little bit and raised his voice to get the other thieves' attention. "How's everyone feeling?"
"A bit sore, but otherwise fine." Rokuó noted, glancing over at Mana. "I think she's a bit worse off though."
"I'm fine…" Mana said, breathing a bit deeper than previous. "I just… need a moment."
"Hey, don't go underselling your condition. If you're running low on fumes we need to know." Mona said, walking over to the witch.
"Right, I… sorry." Mana said with a grimace. "I just don't want to hold up the mission."
"You aren't, and don't be." Joker said, walking up to her. "We're keeping an eye on each other's backs for a reason. If you're running low on SP, I have something to help with your reserves."
"You do?" Mana asked, eyes wide.
"Didn't you read the pamphlet?" Rokuó asked with a tilt of his head. "They've been at this long enough, they figured out a few different ways to recover our reserves."
"Right, including ol' reliable here…" Mona began.
"Coffee." Joker said, holding out a thermos to Mana. "Drink up. If anyone else needs some, let me know."
"I think I'll be fine for now. Mona, how about you?" Rokuó asked.
"I have a bit higher reserves than either of you, so I'll be fine for a while without needing a top up." Mona said, crossing his arms.
"Here." Mana said, handing back the now empty thermos to Joker. "I'm good to go. That works wonders."
"Thank the public's cognition that coffee gives you energy." Joker noted, putting the thermos away. "Everyone ready? Let's keep moving."
(Play Singularity - P5 Strikers)
"You know if the circumstances were different, I'd think you'd be in heaven here, Mana." Rokuó said to the witch as the thieves looked out at the library that they had entered.
"If the subject matter was to taste, I wouldn't even dispute that." Mana replied, eyes wide.
"Why a library though. If it's keeping with the Prison theme, I could assume it's because the guards would have such a place to rest?" Mona placed a hand on his chin in thought. "But if that's the case, then why would Monica have seen it? If she could move around in reality, even under heavy supervision, then her Shadow would reflect it…"
"...It's where it all started." Joker noted as he walked over to a bookshelf. "Every bad thing that's happened since her kidnapping. It all started when she went to the library, where she was likely kidnapped…"
"I think there's some credit to that. This is certainly not pleasant stuff…" Rokuó stated as his eyes scanned the open book in his hands. "Same with you, Mana?"
"It's like every fear has been recorded down onto paper, including whatever events that led to it forming." Mana replied with a shudder. "This library is probably where the more intense trauma is kept…"
"So now it's books, instead of the earlier paintings…" Mona mused. "Joker, I'm going to go look for the door heading further in. Think you can find anything with your third eye?"
"I can give it a shot." The thief replied with a nod, activating his third eye as his partner ran further into the library. He glanced over to the other thieves and raised his voice. "Yell if you need help."
"Yeah, you stay careful too." Rokuó said, nodding at the teen as he put the book he was holding back onto the shelf.
Joker looked up at the nearby bookcases, walking by various different books. Not every book had a title, some were seemingly just empty. Others were simple passing worries, while there were a few thick tomes that the teen was hesitant to look inside of.
"Hm…" Joker narrowed his eyes at the speck of gold that shone past the aisle he was walking down from the next. He circled around and walked up to the book pressed firmly between two others.
Applying Aid for Arrow Wounds
"Well, that's not a pretty mental image…" Joker muttered to himself as he reached for the book. His hand gripped the spine and pulled lightly on the book, a mechanical clicking ringing out as the thief pulled the book further out.
There was a much louder click that sounded as the book ceased movement, coming to a stop on a diagonal as a nearby bookshelf slid back to reveal a staircase in the floor. "Found something!" Joker shouted, keeping his eyes focused on the opening.
"What'd you find?" Rokuó asked, running up to him.
"Secret passage, staircase, torture chamber, take your pick." Joker replied with a shrug. "I'm heading down to take a look. Are you alright with backing me up if things go sideways?"
"So little faith, Joker." Rokuó said, placing a hand against his chest in faux pain.
"I'll take that as a yes." The teen replied with a smile as he began to walk down the stars. As the two thieves reached the bottom, they were met with a small room, a single locked chest positioned at the center. "Well, would you look at that…"
"What, a trap?" Rokuó asked, raising his eyebrow at Joker. "This feels trapped."
"So little faith, Rokuó." Joker shot back with a smirk, walking over to the chest as he pulled out his Eternal Lockpick. "Watch and learn. Even a trapped chest…"
There was a twist of his wrist and a tug from his hands as the lockpick slipped into the lock and expertly undid the lock. The thief smirked, pulling the lock off as he quickly checked the interior for traps with his third eye before swinging the lid open with a flourish. "Can't contend with a master."
"That was impressive." Rokuó noted, walking up next to the thief as he peered over the teen's shoulders at the chest's contents. "You need to show me how to-Woah…"
"I'll say. This looks better than the one you're currently using…" Joker noted as he reached down and lifted the hand crossbow out of the chest. "Here, give me your old one and take this."
Rokuó nodded, passing his leader his old crossbow in exchange for the new one. "Huh, it feels a bit heavier…"
"Uncomfortably so?" Joker asked, slipping the old crossbow away.
"No, it's definitely manageable. It feels better balanced, actually…" The deer noted with a nod as he put away his new crossbow.
"That's good to hear. Come on, let's see if the others found anything else yet." Joker said, turning around to walk up the stairs.
"I'd say we have." Mana said to the two thieves from the top of the stairs. She looked over to Mona and nodded at the cat when Joker and Rokuó surfaced.
"The exits at the other side, and was locked until Mana found a few books that needed to be switched around." Mona noted, earning a smile from the witch. "I think there's a safe room connected to the next room as well. It feels like one."
"Well, that's convenient." Rokuó replied.
"It may also be something to worry about." Joker noted, sharing a nod with Mona as the cat led them to the door. The teen placed his hand against the wood and pushed, easily forcing the door open to reveal a small room.
The room was barely lit, only the shallow light from torches that petered on the edge of extinguishing offered any substantial light. At the center of the room was a single table, the second key floating just above it. Joker glanced to the right, looking at the other door connected to the room, watching as it shimmered in place.
"Safe room. Mona, here. Get it registered in the Nav while I grab the key." Joker said, handing his partner his phone.
"Will do. Be right back." Mona said, running over to the safe room.
"Hey… Are you sure you should grab this one? The last one put you a bit out of commission for a minute." Mana asked, looking over at the teen.
"Not like we have much of a choice." Joker replied with a shrug. "Besides, I'm more prepared for what's going to happen."
"We'll keep an eye out then." Rokuó said with a wry smile. "Just fill us in when you're back, yeah?"
Joker nodded as he walked over to the table. He reached out and grasped the key, mentally preparing for whatever information was about to hit him.
It was only thanks to that second of preparation that he wasn't sent tumbling over as his head was rocked by a torrent of emotions, both good and bad in nature. An idle note the teen was able to think was that the emotions all felt tied to the same source.
And as the torrent slowly subsided, a familiar voice echoed in his skull.
"How's my favorite Prisoner doing? Still crying for daddy, or did it only take the night to realize even he wouldn't be able to do anything?"
"Want to know what's fun about that? Even if he wanted to help, he wouldn't be able to. Which is just perfect, since that fact is just tearing him up inside right now as well. Oh, did I not mention that? He knows. And if he steps out of line or doesn't comply… well, we said he'd never find your body, but I think we both know he won't be either way…"
Joker let out a gasp of air as the memory ceased, returning his focus to the present. "...I would love nothing more than to put a name to those voices right now…" The teen stated, eyes glaring at the key in his hand.
"Joker? You okay?" Rokuó asked.
"I'm fine, but unfortunately, Monica's father isn't." The teen said, turning to look at the other three thieves, Mona having seemingly returned during his experience. "They're holding Monica hostage to make him do… something. But they have no intention of actually holding onto their promises of keeping her unharmed."
"How low can you get?" Mona asked aloud, anger clear on his face. "Well, right now there's nothing we can do about that. What we can do is get the last key to talk with Monica."
"Right. And then we should be able to talk with Monica's Shadow." Rokuó said, before narrowing his eyes. "Whether that will be good or bad is up for debate though…"
"Just in case then, here." Joker said, taking out three silver balls from his pocket. He passed one to each of the other thieves, getting confused looks from the new recruits but recognition from Mona.
"Vanish Balls?" Mona looked up at Joker, getting a nod in response. "Good thinking, it'll give us an opening if a fight is too much to handle."
Joker looked over at Rokuó and Mana and waved them over as he made way to the door back to the Library.
Dust fell to the ground as the second key unlocked the next lock, adding to the pile left behind from the first key and lock. The thieves looked up at the gate, the air tense.
"...The last door, any idea what we should expect?" Rokuó asked, looking over at Joker and Mona.
"No clue. I was expecting to put up a fight for the second key, but we didn't. The only reason we had to fight for the first one was due to that voice…" Mona replied with a shake of his head. "We should prepare for combat all the same though. There's no telling what we might have to face further in."
"Actually, I think I might have an idea." Mana spoke up, taking out a rolled up sheet of parchment. "I found this on our way back out of the library. I would have brought it up sooner, but we were trying to keep an eye out on our way here."
The witch pulled the sheet open, revealing another map. Joker pulled out his phone and opened the Metanav, taking a quick photo to add the new additions.
The room in front of them, behind the gate, had another passage heading further in. Wherever it lead wasn't included on the map however. The rooms that made up the different paths from the split were present as well, and from a cursory glance, it showed that the thieves hadn't missed another room on either of the first two.
What was concerning was the hall past the last door, as it curved to the right to lead into a large room with no exits. "Well, that bodes well." Joker deadpanned, putting his phone away. "We're likely going to have to fight for the last key…"
"We luckily didn't encounter any resistance on our way back, so we should be good to go energy wise." Mona stated, before turning to face the rest of the thieves. "But just to be safe, Persona!"
Mercurius burst to life behind the cat and flipped in the air, summoning a cloud of green energy that seeped into the four thieves. Rokuó glanced down at his arm and watched as a shallow cut closed up like he had never been injured to begin with. "Well, that's handy."
Joker looked over at his teammates, before nodding confidently as he stepped away from the cage. "Let's go."
(Stop Music)
"It's… empty." Mana said, looking around at the large arena the four had walked into. There were no bleachers, no waiting crowd, but the floor was smooth. It was deliberate, how perfectly smooth it was. No stray rock to trip up fighters, no hold to lose your footing over…
"It can't be. This is the only place we haven't been yet in the split. The third key has to be here." Mona said, crossing his arms.
"So, where's the key then?" Rokuó asked, walking further into the arena, eyes narrowed as he gripped his crossbow.
Joker glanced up at the ceiling, eyes widening as he snapped his head back down towards Rokuó. "Rokuó, get back!"
"What!?" The deer exclaimed, looking up just in time to catch the sudden shine of the blade swinging down towards him.
The blade sliced down, cleaving through empty air as Rokuó was yanked back towards the group by Joker, grapple hook attached to the deer's back.
"Oh? You're pretty quick for Vermin…" The woman holding onto the blade remarked, standing up from the crouch they had landed in. Bright orange hair swayed widely down to the base of her neck, bangs hanging idly over one eye. High heels clicked against the ground as she adjusted her posture, the three tails of fabric trailing behind her, almost floating off the ground.
"A Shadow?" Mana asked, eyes wide as Rokuó stood up.
"No, it's a cognition!" Mona replied, weapon already drawn.
Joker reeled his grapple hook back in, warily scanning the form of the woman before them. "Be careful." He said to the other thieves, activating his third eye to see the heavy red glow emanating from her. "She's strong…"
"Fast too…" Rokuó nodded, gripping his crossbow tighter.
"Well, aren't you a flatterer?" The woman said, rolling her eyes. They weren't the glowing yellow of a Shadow's, but a distinctly bold orange. "And here I was worried the vermin didn't know their place."
Joker raised his head lightly and tilted it to the side in mock confusion. "Aren't you cold? I'd imagine wearing the scraps left behind from a swordsman training dummy wouldn't be the most comfortable thing."
The woman froze, eyes locked firmly onto Joker as the cognition seemingly attempted to process the statement. "H-how… DAR-!"
"Or do you just get off on that sort of thing? Seems likely considering the dominatrix gear you're sporting." Joker, continuing the age old adage of "foot in mouth", said without worry as he walked to the side, putting distance from his teammates that were staring at him with wide eyes. "But hey, I'm not one to judge. Everyone has their kinks."
The cognition stared at the thief, bewildered beyond comprehension. Rokuó, who also seemingly had no concept of self preservation, muttered just loud enough for the entire room to hear. "Well, she certainly looks edgy enough to be a training dummy…"
(Play Blooming Villain - Persona 5)
Joker narrowed his eyes, Paradise Lost bursting into his hand in a flash of azure flames as the cognition screamed, dashing at the thief with barely a moment to react. 'F-fast!' Joker thought, body tense as he brought his sword up to block. The pressure immediately slammed against him, forcing him to hold the flat of the blade to keep him upright.
"Oh, you're not that bad on the eyes either. For Vermin, anyway." The woman noted with a crazed look in her visible eye. Joker glared and swung his sword to the side, forcing the cognition off him as he reached up to his mask.
"Persona!" The thief shouted, summoning Satyr in front of him. "Lunge!"
The cognition's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the Persona, expertly twisting her body to minimize the damage the Spearman dealt as the polearm struck.
The woman hissed in pain as the spear sliced her side. She moved in the instance that Satyr raised his arm back and swung, striking against the Persona's chest, sending Joker and Satyr back a foot.
The sound of the projectile cutting through the air was the only real warning for the cognition, as a hail of crossbow bolts flew down at her. She flipped her grip of her sword out of her previous reverse handling of it and swung, batting all but a third of the bombardment to the side.
Rokuó let out a short cheer as the remaining third found their mark, stabbing into the cognition. "Got her!" He said, putting away his crossbow and summoning his rapier.
"Let's go!" Mona shouted, charging at the woman with his rapier.
"Hm? What kind of monster cat are you?" The cognition asked, head tilted as she flipped into the air, the crossbow bolts that had found their mark falling out as she reached the apex of her jump. The woman smirked and spun, swinging her sword down onto Mona's with a level of force that sent the thief sliding back.
"Joker, are you alright!?" Mana asked, running up next to the thief.
"Yeah." The teen nodded, standing up as Satyr returned. "Try not to engage physically. Mona, Rokuó and I might be able to force her back, but I don't think you will be able to."
"So it's Joker?" The woman asked, turning to look at the thief. "I wasn't aware a comedian could be this capable with a blade. I think I'll actually enjoy watching you bleed."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Rokuó exclaimed, thrusting at the woman with his rapier. Each thrust and swipe was blocked, evaded or countered with ease by the cognition, who seemed to be on the verge of laughing at the annoyance present on Rokuó's face.
Mana charged to the side, pulling her mask off as she pointed the end of her quarterstaff at the cognition. "Nyx!"
The witch spun her quarterstaff around herself as curse magic built up along the end of her staff. "Eiha!" Mana shouted, slamming the end of the staff onto the floor as Nyx mirrored the same with her hand behind the witch.
Rokuó leapt back, using the force from one of the cognition's strikes to further his momentum away from the incoming attack. The woman looked down for a moment as the energy surged to the surface, suddenly finding it violently exploding out underneath her.
Joker pulled out Daredevil and began to unload upon the cognition before the smoke from the curse spell had even passed. Sparks flew through the air in rapid succession, broken pieces of crossbow bolts flying out in time.
"Tch!" Joker leaped back, Paradise Lost swinging out in front of him to block the sudden attack from the seemingly unbothered cognition. "You're just FULL of energy, aren't you?"
The teen flipped into a handspring and pushed off to right himself, coming to a stand with barely a moment to bring up his sword to block another attack. "Mona!"
"Right!" The cognition paused, glancing to the side just in time to avoid the sudden swing from Mona's scimitar as she stepped back. "Joker! With me!"
"Right!" Joker replied, moving up with Mona as they charged the cognition. The woman narrowed her eyes, her movements speeding up as she blocked and dodged as many attacks as she could.
The cognition let out a gasp as the pommel of a third blade slammed into her stomach, courtesy of the angelic Persona floating just behind Joker, who's mask had just finished burning up in the azure flames. "Now, Kouha!" The thief shouted, locking his blade with the cognition's.
"Out of our way!" The Persona roared, throwing its palm out towards the cognition, launching the blast of energy point blank.
"You-!"
An explosion of dust coated the battlefield, giving Joker and Mona a chance to leap back towards Rokuó and Mana. Joker returned Angel and looked over at the cloud, sword held tight in his hand.
"Is… is that it?" Mona asked, breathing deeply.
"...No, it's not." Joker replied, third eye blazing as he watched the cognition walk out of the cloud of dust with barely a scratch.
"She's… She's barely injured!" Rokuó said, eyes wide.
"Do you really think vermin would be capable of defeating me?" The cognition asked. "At the very least, you're putting up a better fight than the Prisoner. Sparing with her gets so boring now that she's accepted she can't win…"
"What?" Mona gasped, eyes widening. "Joker! It's just like with the hacker!"
The teen narrowed his eyes at the cognition, his knuckles white from how tightly he was gripping his blade. "So, Monica's cognition of her is that she can't be beaten in martial combat…"
"What? But… how do we win against that?" Mana asked, looking over at her seniors.
"That's just it, you can't!" The woman laughed. "I would never lose to vermin like you, after all."
"We need a plan!" Rokuó shouted. "We need that third key!"
"Third key…" Joker muttered, before his eyes widened as he caught sight of something, a small glint of gold present through the cloud of red hanging over the cognition. The teen deactivated his third eye and looked over at Mona. "Mona, I have a plan. Hang back and supply ranged support with the others. On my signal, use the Vanish Balls to get yourselves out."
"...Joker, are you sure?" The cat asked, looking back up at the thief.
"I am. We can't win in hand to hand combat, but that doesn't mean we can't still do this." Joker replied, looking over at the cognition.
"Do either of you two mind filling us in here?" Mana whispered.
"Follow Mona's lead, both of you." Joker said, taking a step forward. "We're taking that key."
"Key? Oh, this one?" The cognition asked, adjusting her belt a touch to let the key dangle a bit more freely in the open. "I'm afraid you need to beat me for it, after all, it's the key to the prisoner's cell."
"Then that's what we'll do." Joker said, mask flashing blue as he switched Personas once more. The teen charged forwards, crossing blades once more with the cognition as the two clashed.
Strike after strike blocked and redirected, any attacks that did land were shallow at best. Joker's face was focused, determined, not a hint of doubt present as he pushed forwards.
"Hey, where'd this all come from!?" The cognition asked, eyes narrowed as she tried to put the thief on the backfoot. "You know you can't kill me!"
Joker merely smirked, stepping to the side as a hail of projectiles from the other thieves flew down at the cognition. The woman growled, batting away multiple bolts and throwing knives with her blade. "That's just distracting!" The woman shouted, before cutting into a silver ball, throwing up a cloud of smoke around her, obscuring her vision. "And that's just annoyingly distracting!"
Joker rushed in, swinging through the smoke at the cognition. The woman's eyes widened, quickly raising her blade to block the incoming strike. Metal clashed against metal, and using the sudden stop of momentum, Joker leaned forwards towards the cognition. "Mona! NOW!"
The thief reached out and grasped around the cool metal of the key, before pulling it and ripping it off of the Cognition's belt. At the same time, the thief rolled his body with the motion to the left to increase his wind up before throwing it out of the cloud of smoke towards his team.
"No!" The cognition roared, shoving the thief to the side as she charged through the smoke cloud, dispersing it as she tried to intercept the key's trajectory.
"Rokuó, grab it!" Mona shouted, pulling out the Vanish Ball Joker had passed out earlier.
"Right!" The deer nodded, running towards the still airborne key.
"I won't let you!" The cognition roared as she ran, before suddenly lurching forwards as her momentum came to an abrupt stop.
"And neither will I!" Joker exclaimed, mask bursting into flames as Arsene came to life beside him. The Persona and thief grabbed onto the grapple hook line that Joker had cast out a moment prior and pulled. The added strength from the Persona was just enough to send the cognition airborne as they launched her away from her goal. "Mona! Get out of here now!"
"Rokuó!" Mona shouted, looking over to the deer.
"Got it!" The deer shouted, grabbing it out of the air before going quiet, eyes staring off into space.
"I got him!" Mana said, running over to the deer. "Nyx!"
The persona burst to life before Mana and picked up Rokuó, turning to give a nod to the witch as the two ran back over to Mona. "What about Joker!?"
"He's got this." Mona said with a nod, before throwing the Vanish Ball onto the ground, surrounding the thieves in a flash of smoke and white light.
Joker kept his eyes on the cognition as she stood up, weapon ready to defend himself and halt her if she attempted to run after the others.
"What… where did…?" Joker spared a glance behind him to see the fading cloud of smoke, revealing an empty space where his teammates had been moments prior. "How… How did Vermin like you…!?"
Joker turned to look back at the cognition, eyes burning holes into hers. "I likely wouldn't be able to defeat you in combat. But winning was never a case of killing you. I just needed the key." He replied, rolling his neck lightly. "But considering it worked… She stole the key once, didn't she? Just once, but enough that her cognition changed. And when there's something to be stolen, no one can stop me from stealing that if I wanted to."
"You… I will end you." The cognition said, a feral grin forming on her face as her eyes widened in bloodthirsty glee. "Oh… I promise you that, Joker…!"
A shiver ran up the thief's spine as the words echoed through the room. "Sure. Give it your best shot. Here or in reality. But I will give you one warning." Joker said, eyes narrowed as he pulled out another Vanish Ball. "You'll die trying."
The thief threw it down onto the ground and leapt back, quickly making towards the door to escape.
The cognition reeled from the sudden flash and smoke, and once the diversion faded, smiled. "And he didn't even get my name… Oh well, not like I'll be using it when he sees the real me."
(Play Singularity - P5 Strikers)
"Guys!" Joker shouted, running down the hallway towards the other thieves. The three sat against the wall, clearly catching their breath. "Are you all okay?"
"We're fine. How about you?" Mona asked, looking up at the teen.
"Sore and tired." Joker said with an exhausted huff. "But I'll manage."
"That's a relief…" Rokuó said with a sigh. "That was stressful… I was worried you'd go catatonic when you threw the key at us."
"It's not instantaneous, so I knew if I was fast enough I could avoid it… Well, I hoped anyways. You on the other hand…" Joker noted, placing his hands in his pockets. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Mana got me out without issue and all I could really understand was the quote unquote spars that Monica was forced into…" Rokuó replied.
Mana stood up. "While I want to yell at you for going off assumptions, that can wait. We have the last key, let's use it."
"Right. Rokuó?" Joker turned to the deer, holding a hand out to help him to a stand.
"Let's do this." Rokuó replied, grabbing the outstretched hand and pulling himself to a stand. The deer walked over to the last lock and inserted the key.
The key and the lock disintegrated with a twist, more dust joining the pile on the floor. The chains wrapped around the cell gate crumbled and slid away, leaving the cell door unlocked.
Joker glanced up and activated his third eye. "The barrier is gone." He noted, taking point as he moved to the door. "...Let me talk to her. I think we should avoid overcrowding her, it might be a bit much for her Shadow."
"We'll come in after if there's a problem." Mona said, looking over at the other two thieves.
"You sure?" Mana asked, eyebrow raised.
"I… Yeah." Joker nodded as he turned to the cell and pushed the door open. He stepped into the room and took a breath. "...I had one day, and the hope that I'd make it out. You've had it so much worse, haven't you…?"
The former inmate walked down towards the Prisoner in the far cell, steps light as he came to a stop in front of the cell. There was no door, just a cage, and it's inhabitant.
"...Who are you?" The voice sounded exhausted, but not hoarse. Joker looked down at the Shadow, noting the manacles clamped down around their wrists and ankles.
"Joker." He replied, crouching down so he was eye level with the Shadow. "You're… Monica, right?"
"I am." The Shadow replied. She tilted her head slightly, disheveled hair dripping to the side with the motion. "Joker… Is your name? How did you get here?"
"I opened the outer gate using the keys I… stole." The teen replied.
"You stole them? How? You defeated her?" The Shadow asked, eyes wide.
"Your cognition of her made a victory through combat impossible. As I said, I stole it." Joker replied. "Who is she?"
"One of the people keeping me locked up here. She's known as Kronya." The Shadow said, eyes narrowed. "She keeps an eye on me, taunts me… You stole the key… And you got away with it?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" Joker replied with a smile. "...I want to help you. I want to get you out of here."
"You can't… I'm trapped here. This is where I'll die." The Shadow denied, shaking her head.
"Maybe here, but not in reality." Joker said, getting a wide eyed look from the Shadow. "Do you know where you're being held?"
"...I-"
The Shadow let out a groan, hunching over as the chains glowed a light purple. "They're… experimenting again…" The Shadow said through gritted teeth.
"Are you alright?" Joker asked, gripping one of the cell bars with his hand.
"I-!"
The shadow let out a gasp, before her head lulled forwards. There was a second of silence as Joker stared at the Shadow with concern before her head slowly raised.
(Play Regret - Persona 5)
"H-huh…?" It was not the ethereal yellow that greeted him as he stared into the prisoner's eyes, but instead a dull red. "I'm…"
Monica locked eyes with Joker. The thief's breath was stuck in his throat as he stared not at a shadow, but what seemed to be the real person.
"...Am I… dreaming?" Monica asked, eyes wide. Her voice was hoarse, seemingly even more exhausted than her Shadow's was. "Are you… real?"
"...Monica, is it?" Joker asked softly, earning a small nod from the girl. "...I don't know how much time I might have, or if you'll remember this, so I won't waste time."
The thief stuck a hand through the bar towards Monica. The girl looked at it like a drop of water in a desert and slowly moved towards it. She reached out and gripped his gloved hand with both of hers tightly, as if the thief would suddenly vanish.
"...They're warm…" Monica whispered, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
"Monica." Joker began, locking determined eyes with her almost broken ones. "Do you know where they've taken you?"
"I think… They mentioned Count… Rowe? I think we're somewhere in his territory… I'm not sure, it's all so… fuzzy now…" Monica whispered.
"...Thank you." Joker said. "...I'm coming to save you. I just need you to hold out until then. Can you do that?"
"I…" Tears poured freely from her eyes. "I can't… I can't give myself that hope…"
"...I understand." Joker said. "So I'll give you that hope myself when I reach you. For now… are you tired?"
"I'm so tired…" She said with a wet chuckle.
"Then let me show you that I can help." He said, reaching up to his mask. 'Succubus, can you…?'
'I can, Trickster.' Succubus replied, quietly summoning herself behind the thief as his mask quickly burst to flames. "Dormina…"
Monica's eyes drooped before slowly closing. Her breaths were calm, almost peaceful. Joker slipped his hand out from Monica's grasp and stood up, turning around as Succubus returned.
The thief walked over to the rest of his team. "You okay, Joker? It looked… a bit intense there for a moment." Rokuó asked.
Joker nodded, before addressing the group fully. "We're done here. We have everything we need." He said, eyes narrowed. "She's somewhere within the vicinity of Count Rowe's territory. All we have to do now is find out where, and save her."