A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Phantom Files! Real quick, before we hit up the disclaimer, let me hit anyone reading this A/N with a quick bit of an update about a poll I mentioned in the end-of-chapter A/N in chapter 93. I forgot to put that poll on my profile at the time I posted that chapter, but I've since posted it on my profile, so you can vote on it now. Apologies to anyone who tried to vote on it but couldn't find it to do so. That's my fault for not checking my settings when making the poll. Luckily the poll will be up until the end of the month, so there's still loads of time to vote on the poll!

You can vote for up to 3 of the options on the poll, and the top two vote getters will be the ones I give heavy focus on next, so consider this your chance to weigh in on what I do next after this story is over, since after this chapter is posted, there will only be two chapters left to post before the story is finished. So we're getting close to the end of the story. I will confirm that the next chapter (Chapter 95, not this chapter) is the final chapter of this arc, however.

Other than that, I feel like there's not a lot else to say right now, so I think let's just cut to the disclaimer, yeah?

Disclaimer: I, sithlorde1988, do not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form (excluding the OCs Kusa/Draconis, Asuk/Sinocard, Somasi/Slim, Kyori, Akira, Lumine, Mimille, Minako, the Malefactor, Momoe, and any other OCs that show up in the story, 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 a point Koei Tecmo (though that mainly only extends insofar as the various spinoffs of Persona, like Strikers, the 'Arena' games, the 'Dancing' games, and the 'Q' games, and possibly both Tactica and Phantom X? Not sure if those last two are spinoffs or not, but if they are, then I include them as well) so all credit to them!

That being said, I suppose let's cut to the chapter! Keep reading after, since I'll likely have a longer A/N then, so keep an eye out for it! Now on with the chapter, and what will likely be the final Mementos run of the series! Here's chapter 94!

Chapter 94- Final Request Run! Exploring Mementos, and possibly final preparations? Reality Check part 9

(In the lower level of Leblanc, with Kusa, Akechi, Haru, Makoto, Sumire, Ryuji, Yusuke, Ren, Morgana, Futaba, and Ann)

"Well, not much point putting it off, yeah? Let's head on into Mementos and get these final requests dealt with." Ren said confidently after getting the group's attention. Ann nodded and spoke up.

"Right! Let's see, how many targets do we have this time? 7 of them? Should we get going?" Ann asked as Ren spoke up.

"Yup, let's go. Sooner we get these dealt with and dusted, the sooner we can focus on any other prep we have left for facing Maruki's Shadow." Ren said wisely. Ann nodded and spoke up.

"Okay, let's go!" Ann said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"I agree! Let's do this! Time to cut loose and bust a few heads! And if we happen to put the fear of God into our targets in the process? The way I see it, that's just a very pleasant added bonus on top of all the hearts we're about to change." Kusa said wryly as Akechi smirked and spoke up.

"Well said, Amamiya-kun the younger. Let's break them!" Akechi said as the group headed into Mementos...

(At the entrance of Mementos, with Crow, Oracle, Draconis, Panther, Fox, Joker, Skull, Queen, Mona, Noir, and Violet)

"Let's get to work! How was that, everyone? Did I sound at least somewhat cool?" Noir asked as Crow spoke up.

"Not bad, Noir. Not exactly stirring, but a good effort just the same." Crow said as Joker spoke up.

"True. Before we get started, though, I want to address the front lines. For this first stretch of Mementos at least, I want Draconis, Crow, and Violet up front with me, with the rest of you ready to be our backups at a moment's notice." Joker said as the others nodded and the needed tagouts were made so that Crow, Violet, and Draconis were up-front with Joker while Skull, Mona, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, and Noir were on backups. After getting into the Mona-Bus to explore the first area with a target in it, the group moved around for a while until Fox spoke up.

"To save time, I try to take inventory of all my food-based expenses and try to get them all at once to cut back on travel time." Fox said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Um, wouldn't a round trip to and from the grocery store cost more than just having it delivered?" Panther asked as Draconis spoke up.

"It depends on the store, and on how much Fox is getting. If it's a large amount, then you'd be right. But if it's just a small amount, it'd be easier to go out and get it himself. But I'm impressed Fox is trying to better his financial skills. Well done, man." Draconis said as the group kept moving. After a bit, Crow spoke up with a smirk.

"So some of you think I'm frightening when I fight, eh? Well, you're just going to have to get used to it." Crow said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"True. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but now I'm okay with it. Besides, it's not like I've not seen a scary temper before. Or need I remind you that my boyfriend is Draconis?" Oracle said as Draconis flushed at that and spoke up.

"Y-Yes, well, let's not bore Crow with the details of that, yeah? Also, I wouldn't say you're frightening when you fight so much as a complete and utter badass, Crow. Why else would I agree to do a Showtime with you, other than it being a matter of necessity and highly convenient? And if anyone's frightening at times when they fight, it's freaking Mona! I mean, come on. The guy turns into a freaking tour bus and literally runs over Shadows. I don't think we can even keep an accurate count of how many Shadows Mona's ran over by now. So take that how you will." Draconis said wisely as Mona frowned at that and spoke up.

"To be fair, Draconis, I'm also our transportation, so I get a bit of lee-way on running over Shadows, especially since you all get stronger for it. So shut it." Mona said bluntly as Draconis nodded and the group kept moving. After a bit, Queen spoke up in a sheepish-sounding tone.

"I had the weirdest dream the other day. I was at school, but I was wearing my Phantom Thief outfit." Queen said as Noir spoke up with a giggle.

"Hee hee, I bet the teachers' heads would explode if they saw you dressed like this!" Noir said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Too true, Noir. Hey, Queen? Out of curiosity, was you wearing your Phantom Thief attire in that dream done on a dare from Skull, do you remember? Because I could see you being dared to do it by your boyfriend and you accepting to make him happy. You two seem to love each other enough for something like that. Also, I could see Skull instigating those of us who go to Shujin into making a statement by showing up to school in our Phantom Thief attire.

However, that being said, I also think people might confuse us for some sort of gang if we did that. Especially if they saw Crow's attire, since his outfit screams both 'badass' and 'don't fuck with me!', at least in my opinion." Draconis said as Crow merely nodded his agreement while Queen spoke up.

"I'm not sure, Draconis. My instinct is to say no, though? I don't think I'm the type to do things on a dare?" Queen said with a shrug as the group kept moving. As the group moved around, Fox spoke up.

"I must admit to being curious about Mona's Western-style sword. Such a unique and intricate design." Fox said as Noir smiled and spoke up.

"Right? It's so neat how no two of us use the same weapon, despite how many of us there are." Noir said as Draconis spoke up.

"I dunno about that one, Noir. You're right, but at the same time, I feel like one could argue that there's at least some similarities between the weapons Fox and Crow use, as both are more or less two-handed swords, even if Crow's is technically also considered a sawblade of sorts. Also, Joker's melee weapon is extremely close to what I use for a ranged weapon, so there's that similarity as well. And if you think about it, Oracle and I have close to the same weapons, so we walk a very fine line between using similar weapons, and having some slight unintentional overlap in our weapon choices. But that's just my opinion." Draconis said as Violet nodded and spoke up.

"That's true, Draconis. But at the same time, you and Joker-senpai are brothers, so you're allowed a bit of similarity in your weapon choices on that basis, I think. Same for if you and Crow-kun would have had similar weapon types, since you two are half-brothers as well." Violet pointed out with a smile and nod. Draconis nodded as the group kept moving. Right after that, Mona spoke up.

"True. Hm!? Oh, I can sense the target just up ahead through this portal! Joker, should we head in after it?" Mona asked as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Let's do it. No sense in holding back. Let's go." Joker said as Queen drove the Mona-bus through the portal, where the others were ejected as the Mona-bus shifted back to Mona. After everyone got to their feet Oracle spoke up.

"Aha, there it is. Chairman Fukurai's Shadow." Oracle said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Heh, well he looks super shady, if nothing else." Skull said wisely. Fox nodded and spoke up.

"True. Well, he's selling useless rocks and those brainwashing seminars to his followers, right?" Fox said as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Right! If we let him go on like this, so many more people will end up unhappy!" Panther said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Let's go and strip this wolf of his sheep's clothing." Queen said with a frown as Skull and Draconis exchanged looks of surprise before nodding as the group charged towards Fukurai's Shadow, who laughed tauntingly at the group as they approached before he spoke up.

"Hahaha! You don't want sadness and tragedy in your life, do you? Pay me and I can save you! Give me your money or you'll suffer grave misfortune! You could even die!" Fukurai's Shadow said as Joker and Draconis both scoffed, the former speaking up while glaring at Fukurai's Shadow.

"Shut up and stop scamming people, Fukurai!" Joker said bluntly as Draconis nodded his agreement, but Fukurai's Shadow spoke up before Draconis could add his opinion.

"Yeah, right. You sure are naive. People really believe this Holy Stone will save them if the Maiden predicts bad fortune! Even if it doesn't actually work, what does it matter if it makes them happy? People want to be deceived! Don't you see? They're all desperate to stay safe!" Fukurai said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"So freaking what!? Who cares about that? That's no justification for scamming people out of who knows how much money, as well as manipulating your own followers to perform horrendous acts all for the sake of making money! Do you know what they call people like you!? Con artists, bastards, and conniving assholes! That's what they call you!" Draconis snapped as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"He's right. Regardless of how you justify it, what you did is still a crime, Fukurai." Joker said wisely to Fukurai's Shadow, who huffed and shifted forms into what Joker recognized as a 'Baphomet', before speaking up.

"Shut up, shut up! Don't you get in the way of me giving sublime salvation to the masses!" Fukurai's Shadow said as a fight began! At the start of the fight, Fukurai's Shadow spoke up.

"Payback time, kid! Are you sure you want to defy me? Misfortune will befall you!" Fukurai's Shadow said as Joker huffed and spoke up.

"Oh, shut it already!" Joker said as the fight began! Joker then smirked and spoke up.

"Actually, you seem like a good target to try this out on. So let's see how much pain this inflicts on you, Fukurai. SHOW YOURSELF, RAOUL! UNLEASH YOUR RIGHTEOUS FURY ON THIS SCUMBAG!" Joker said, summoning forth his newly-transformed 'Raoul' Persona, who nodded and smirked before speaking up.

"As you wish, Trickster. YOU THERE! HAVE A TASTE OF MY POWER!" Raoul said before waving a palm and making a large blob of Curse energy shoot out and slam into Fukurai's Shadow for good damage as Mona spoke up.

"Hey, Joker. Want me to jump in for some damage?" Mona said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Go for it, Mona!" Joker said as he high-fived Mona, who smirked and turned into his Mona-Bus form, hitting Fukurai's Shadow for Critical damage and downing it. However, before Joker could call for the All-Out Attack, Crow spoke up.

"Hold that thought, Joker. If possible, Draconis and I would like to take this scumbag out." Crow said as Joker spoke up.

"Tempting, but no. He's not worth you or Draconis' wrath, Crow. Save that for the harder targets. For now, EVERYONE GO IN FOR AN ALL-OUT ATTACK!" Joker said as the whole group nodded, rushing in to attack the downed 'Fukurai's Shadow' with all their might, as the screen cut to a shot of Joker tightening his glove and speaking up.

"Heh, not bad, but not nearly good enough. Alas, all things must end eventually, and you are no exception, Fukurai! THE SHOW'S OVER!" Joker said as he tugged on his glove while Fukurai's Shadow slumped over to end the fight. After the battle, Fukurai's Shadow returned to normal and spoke up.

"Dammit, this sucks! I lost. Maybe I'm naturally a loser. Just a dumb country bumpkin destined for nothing but failure. To be honest, I was going to join a vocational school when I first came to Tokyo, but I ended up getting scammed before I could do so. I spent all that money on what I thought was tuition. I was all alone, hopeless in the city, with nothing. The police just laughed in my face when I reported it to them.

They said to me, 'Those ads are obvious scams. You were dumb enough to fall for them?', which pissed me off. And that's why I vowed to not let myself get tricked like that again. I won't be a victim anymore. If it ever happened again, I'd be the one doing the deceiving!" Fukurai's Shadow said as Joker spoke up.

"And after you deceive them, then what? Surely you can't possibly be content running around with such things on your conscience, Fukurai?" Joker asked Fukurai's Shadow, who blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? Y'know, I dunno. I never really thought about it much. I guess when it comes right down to it, I really am just a dumb guy after all. Hahaha, wow. Haha, I am a fool. But even so, the Maiden's powers are real. That's why I brought her on. I'm the only one guilty of lying. And I took advantage of the two of us happening to meet again. I've been wanting to apologize to her for a while for that. I'm so sorry, Chi-chan. I don't deserve to have someone like you in my life." Fukurai's Shadow said as he faded away to return to his real self, leaving behind the bud of his Treasure, which Joker seized to get a 'Prophet's Hand' weapon, which looked to be for Queen.

Joker then frowned, idly wondering if 'Chi-chan' was supposed to be Chihaya's nickname of sorts. Joker shrugged, figuring it didn't much matter either way since Yuichi Fukurai seemed to be a changed man. Joker decided he should report this to Chihaya if he had the chance after this run. At that point, the group's phones pinged to signify that the Mementos request 'Debunking the Psychic!' had been marked as 'Request COMPLETED!', confirming that they'd finished that request. Joker then spun on his heel and turned to leave, at which point Draconis spoke up.

"Heh, that was easy. So what now, Joker? With that target out of the way, should we keep exploring, do you think?" Draconis asked as Mona spoke up.

"That's an option. I'm picking up on another target in this area still. So, what's the plan, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"We are going to keep exploring this area for that target, but first we need to briefly duck back to the entrance so I can take care of something that cropped up while finding this first target. But I'll try to keep it quick so we can get back to the target hunt sooner rather than later." Joker said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Sure. It's important to know when to back off, after all." Mona said as the group returned to the entrance for a quick break while Joker tended to a Fusion Alarm that had popped up during the first bit of the target hunt. After the Fusion Alarm, in which Joker managed to successfully itemize Violet's ultimate gun and Mona's ultimate scimitar, as well as strengthen some of his Personas, including giving a generous stat buff to his 'Raoul' Persona, Joker returned to the target hunt.

Once he did so, the group eventually wound up finding the second target on the second-to-last part of the area the previous target had been in. Once through the portal, Oracle spoke up once the group had left the Mona-bus, which was now just Mona again.

"Aha, it's the Shadow of that Ohya journalist's boss." Oracle said as Skull spoke up.

"Heh, he looks so suspicious." Skull said as Joker huffed and spoke up.

"Of course he did. We're talking about the bastard who's trying to work Ohya to death, not to mention the fact he called Lala-chan a bitch in front of myself, Ohya, and Lala herself." Joker said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"He did what!? How dare he!? We respect women around here, dammit! We are not failing to change that guy's heart." Draconis said huffily as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. As to his other crimes? Well, he is obstructing a news investigation to keep some incident hidden under the proverbial rug." Fox said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"True. And then people died in that incident. He should be ashamed to call himself a journalist." Queen said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Ugh, what a jerk! I'm with Draconis on this. We'll have to make him see the truth!" Panther said as the group advanced towards the Shadow of Ohya's boss, who laughed at the group and spoke up while frowning as he focused on Joker in particular as he spoke.

"Yeah! You, I know you. Are you that kid who was hanging around Ohya? Screw you guys. Snooping around together where you shouldn't be, and then pretending to date to throw me off the trail. I thought you told Ohya you have a girlfriend?" The Shadow of Ohya's boss, who Joker now recalled was called Honjo, said as Violet gasped at this reveal and spoke up with widened eyes.

"Wait, WHAT!? Since when did Joker-senpai pretend to be dating Ohya-san!?" Violet said, her eyes wide as Joker groaned, swore under his breath at Honjo blabbing about Ohya basically making him pretend to be her boyfriend in front of Violet, and spoke up.

"I meant to tell you about this, but forgot. I had to bail Ohya out of trouble once by pretending to be her boyfriend, but I told her afterwards not to expect it to happen anymore, since I'm committed to you, and you alone, Violet. So please don't be mad at me for this?" Joker said contritely, cursing Honjo's Shadow in his head for blowing the whistle on Ohya claiming he was her boyfriend before he could tell Violet himself. Violet huffed before speaking up while looking at Joker through narrowed eyes, the frustration plain to see in her expression as she spoke.

"This better be the only other time I hear about this, Joker! You know how I feel about that, dammit." Violet said, pouting as she refused to look at Joker. Honjo's Shadow smirked at this and spoke up.

"Oh, what's this!? You didn't tell your girlfriend there about that!? Oops, did I just cause trouble in paradise for you, kid!? Too bad! That's just a taste of what I'll do if you don't back off! What'll happen if this draws negative attention to me from the higher-ups!? Stop meddling around!" Honjo's Shadow said as Joker huffed and spoke up.

"Shut up, Honjo! What happened to journalism, you asshole?" Joker snapped as Draconis spoke up with a glare.

"What Joker said! What you've done is beyond fucked up! And you're gonna be lucky if I don't kick your ass myself after putting Joker's business on blast like that!" Draconis snapped as Honjo's Shadow scoffed and spoke up.

"Shut up, you brats! Don't talk like you know anything, you infantile children! You're making me look bad! You must not care about dying if you oppose me! Just obey those with power if you want to live!" Honjo's Shadow said as he shifted forms into what Joker eventually recognized as a 'Take-Minakata', before the fight started!

As the fight started, Honjo's Shadow spoke up.

"Too late to apologize now! I'll show you how society really operates, you brats!" Honjo's Shadow said as the fight began. Joker glared at Honjo as he spoke up.

"You want a taste of my wrath! Then let me give it to you! RAOUL! SMITE HIM!" Joker said as Raoul appeared, waved a palm, and made a powerful torrent of Fire energy wash over Honjo's Shadow, massively damaging him as he staggered backwards, gaining back a little bit of SP with his 'Invigorate 3' skill and huffing as he spoke up.

"Is that the best you can do!?" Honjo's Shadow taunted as Violet stepped up and spoke up.

"Not even close, you bastard! Now it's my turn! DANCE, VANADIS! CUT THIS SCUM DOWN!" Violet said as she summoned her newly-evolved 'Vanadis' Persona, who nodded and waved her palm, making a rain of swords materialize and all drive themselves into Honjo's Shadow, blasting him for a 'Critical' hit and high Physical damage as he groaned and slumped over before speaking up.

"How could this be!? How dare you defeat me!? Ugh!" Honjo's Shadow said as he crumpled to the ground, ending the battle. After the fight, Honjo's Shadow reverted to its normal form and spoke up.

"I didn't have a choice! Dammit, dammit, dammit to hell! What was I supposed to do in my situation? I can't oppose the higher-ups. It's easier not to rock the boat." Honjo's Shadow said as Draconis glared at him and spoke up.

"Bullshit! That's little more than coward's talk, is what that is. You could always stand up for what's right. You're just a coward with no honor if you'd let your associate take the fall for you." Draconis rebuked Honjo's Shadow, who winced but nodded as he spoke up.

"Heh, maybe you're right. Regardless, mass media is just another corporation, really. Passion for journalism won't pay the bills. It's useless, just useless to chase after your ideals like a fool." Honjo's Shadow said as Joker huffed and spoke up.

"Not to Ohya-san, it isn't. She chases after her ideals all the time, even while dealing with the frankly unrealistic quota you forced upon her to try and silence her! Quite frankly, if you ask me? You're gonna owe both Ohya-san AND Lala-chan one hell of an apology after you return to your real self." Joker said bluntly as Honjo's Shadow nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, you're right. Heh, she's really incredible. No matter what people say to her, she'll never give up on finding the truth, even if she's doing it on her own. Truth be told, I found her naive passion to be so annoying. It reminds me of all that pain I felt in the past. Back in the past, before I gave up. Before my passion rotted away and my wife cheated on me out of nowhere. But that's still no excuse. I'll go back and do my best to make amends. Farewell." Honjo's Shadow said before fading away to return to his real self, leaving behind the bud of his Treasure, which Joker seized to get an 'Invigorate 3' Skill Card.

At that point, Joker noted that Honjo's Shadow had disappeared. Joker figured if he had time left before the appointed day, he could consider fitting in a trip to Crossroads to check in with Ohya. Afterwards, the group's phones pinged to signify that the Mementos request 'Fighting for Truth in Journalism' was now marked as 'Request COMPLETED'. Joker then spun on his heel and made to leave when Crow spoke up.

"Heh, all this raw anger and power I can feel from both you and Draconis is amazing, Joker! Then again, I expected nothing less from the leaders of the Phantom Thieves. Well, what now? Do you want to keep exploring?" Crow asked as Joker spoke up with a nod.

"Yes, I do. We're almost at the end of the current area, and I think the next area has a target in it if I'm correct, so may as well keep going from here. Plus, I've fallen a bit behind in collecting stamps for Jose, so this seems like a good opportunity to try and make up for lost time a bit." Joker said as Mona spoke up.

"Joker's right. Also, there are no more targets in this area, so we can definitely move on from here. What's the next move, Joker?" Mona asked Joker, who spoke up.

"As I said, let's keep going. If nothing else, I'll probably need the longer ride to hopefully get Violet not to be pissed off at me for what that son of a bitch let slip about Ohya basically strong-arming me into pretending to be her boyfriend once. I planned to tell Violet about it eventually, but kept forgetting. And it was before she and I got together, technically. But that's still not fair to her that I did it at all. Sorry, Violet." Joker said, giving Violet his best apologetic look as Crow spoke up.

"Ugh, keep that disgusting crap to yourself, Joker. We don't need to see you groveling to your girlfriend during a Mementos run, you know." Crow scoffed as Draconis laughed and spoke up.

"Calm down, Crow. After all, you can't tell me you wouldn't have reacted the same way Joker did if you'd been in his position and it'd been Noir who Honjo's Shadow put your business on blast in front of. So try and cut Joker a bit of slack, yeah?" Draconis said gently but firmly as Crow sighed and nodded his understanding before he spoke up.

"Fine. I'll back off. And understood, Joker. I'll accompany you." Crow said stiffly as the group kept moving. After a bit, Oracle spoke up while the group rode around inside the Mona-bus.

"Oh, right. This MMO I'm playing online is really addicting and fun, but it's in English. Does anyone wanna play it with me?" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"You know I'll play with you. But don't be too surprised if I end up fighting a few dozen people if they get too friendly with you." Draconis said as Noir spoke up.

"That sounds like you, Draconis-kun. And Oracle-san, you play this online? Does that mean you get into arguments with the other players?" Noir asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Nah, I usually leave that to Draconis. Something about hearing a dude's voice coming from a female avatar usually scares off most people rather quickly." Oracle said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"True. I think it's the fact that more often than not, I threaten to sic my boys on them if they don't back off of you. And I don't think any of them want to see Joker or Crow, if not both of them, coming in a dark alley. That's a recipe for a bloodbath and/or nightmare right there, if not both." Draconis said with a dry smirk which Crow returned as the group kept moving. After running down a bunch of Shadows in the Mona-bus, both Joker and Draconis hit level 91. Joker then spoke up.

"Not bad. I leveled up, and my power grows ever stronger." Joker said as Crow and Draconis both nodded to Joker's words as Crow spoke up.

"Very nice, Joker. Not too braggy, but still very professional. That's probably gonna be a winner for me as far as your level-up lines go." Crow said as the group kept moving while Joker's level increased. After a bit, Queen winced and spoke up.

"Ugh, why is it that even though I've stopped being a doormat for adults, people still call me a teacher's pet?" Queen asked in annoyance as Draconis spoke up.

"Eh, screw them if they think that, Queen. They're just salty-ass haters who're probably jealous of you. And honestly, they're lucky Skull didn't hear them, since I'd put good money that he'd likely try to fight them if he heard that, since you're his girlfriend and all." Draconis said as Skull grinned and fist-bumped Draconis while speaking up.

"Truth, man! No way in hell I'm gonna let some assholes insult my girlfriend like that! However, I'll probably drag them off school grounds before fighting them, just to avoid getting myself or Queen into trouble. I'm at least smart enough to know not to threaten Queen's permanent record, after all." Skull said as Queen shyly smiled and spoke up after kissing Skull on the cheek.

"Thank you, sweetie. I'm happy you'd defend me like that. And Draconis, you're not wrong either." Queen said as Mona spoke up.

"He's really not, even if I don't think most of us would use the words he does at times. That said, ignore them. You're doing an amazing job as a Phantom Thief." Mona said reassuringly, getting a smile and a pat on the dashboard from Queen as the group kept moving. While moving around after an uneventful Fusion Alarm, Mona hit level 91. After a while, Fox hit level 92 off of a destroyed Shadow. Not long after, Joker's 'Odin' Persona leveled up to level 92 off of a destroyed Shadow. While moving around, Queen spoke up.

"Hm, I was hoping to read a certain book, but it's out of print. Anyone have an idea of where I might find a copy?" Queen asked as Fox spoke up.

"Perhaps Book Town? I recall finding an out-of-print art book there once. So you could try there?" Fox said as Queen nodded and the group kept moving. After a bit, Queen once again spoke up with a smile.

"Actually, now that I think about it, does anyone wanna learn how to drive? This is as good a place as any to get practice, since we're here." Queen said as Oracle spoke up in an excited tone.

"Oh, that never even crossed my mind. Ooh, now I wanna try driving Mona!" Oracle said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"You'll probably be good at it. But if there's time after, I might take next go at practicing, if only to show people that I'm just as able to drive as Joker is." Draconis said as Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Don't overlook any chicanes this time, Draconis. I think we scared the crap out of Mona, Panther, and Skull when I brought that up before." Joker said as Draconis huffed and spoke up, ignoring the giggles he could hear from both Violet and Oracle at how adorably he was pouting while he spoke.

"Shut up, Joker! First of all, it was in my effing blind spot! Secondly, I was only like 11 or 12 when I did that, so clearly I've gotten at least somewhat better since then. Sheesh." Draconis said as Oracle giggled and patted Draconis on the shoulder before speaking up, careful not to hit any of the spikes on his shoulder pads, which to be fair, were far less plentiful than the spikes on Queen's shoulder pads, as she spoke.

"Cheer up, Draconis. They can't give you crap about that forever. And I seem to recall Panther telling me once about a time that Skull literally crashed a bumper car into a wall with no other cars around." Oracle said as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Shut up! I was still learning how to drive it on that occasion. And if Panther was going to tell that story, she should've included the part where she was riding shotgun and failed to tell me I was near a wall until I crashed. So it's just as much her fault as it was my own." Skull said as Panther spoke up.

"Hey! I was on the phone with Shiho at that time, so I couldn't exactly talk and focus on the road at the same time, Skull." Panther said in her own defense as Draconis laughed and spoke up.

"Heh, I could see you doing that, Skull. But don't feel bad. We all make mistakes, man. Besides, I bet you're at least better at driving than Crow-kun is." Draconis said, turning to give Crow a wink to non-verbally convey that he was just teasing to cheer Skull up, getting an understanding nod from Crow as Skull spoke up.

"Heh, truth! Then again, I bet he's actually a really good driver. Maybe we can let him take a turn driving Mona one of these times?" Skull suggested as Joker and Mona both winced and the former spoke up.

"Uhh, let's not, unless it's not a time when his Black Mask side is in control, otherwise we might have to get Mona washed from all the Shadows that end up splattered on him from Crow's bloodlust-fueled driving." Joker said as Crow shrugged and spoke up.

"Hey, I'm not going to apologize for being myself, Joker. I own my bloodlust. And you have no room to talk. How many times have you crashed Mona into Shadows when you drove?" Crow said pointedly to Joker, who huffed but merely nodded to concede Crow's point as the group kept moving. After a bit, Panther winced and spoke up.

"Oh, right. Last night, I had a dream that I was driving Mona, and a psychotic chocolate bar started chasing me around trying to eat me." Panther said as Noir and Draconis turned wide-eyed looks of shock onto Panther, followed shortly after by Violet, as Noir spoke up.

"Um, maybe you should lay off the sweets for a bit? Otherwise, you might have the same dream again, Panther." Noir said as Draconis spoke up with a look of horror on his face.

"Seconded! And why would you have a dream about a psychotic chocolate bar of all things!? That's absolute blasphemy to all chocolate lovers everywhere. Also, I think Violet also agrees with me, given I saw her looking indignant at your choice of dream too. But she can correct me on that herself if I'm wrong." Draconis said, giving Violet a teasing wink as she huffed, crossed her arms adorably, and spoke up.

"Shut up, Draconis. I do agree that chocolate is not meant to be used for evil, but you didn't have to tease me over it." Violet said as Draconis spoke up.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was trying to make Panther feel better, if I can. But for real Panther, maybe ease off the chocolate for a while? I know I have no room to talk, given I'm probably a bigger chocolate addict than you are, but if you're having nightmares about it, it's a sign you need to cut back. After all, both Oracle and I have experience with having to ease ourselves out of bad situations in the past, so we can relate to that." Draconis said kindly as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Thanks, bro. I'll keep that in mind." Panther said as the group kept moving. After a bit, Queen spoke up.

"You know, the grappling hook seems pretty strong. But it's scary to think about what could happen if it were to break." Queen said as Mona spoke up with a smirk.

"Not gonna happen, Queen. After all, that thing's a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line Metaverse grappling hook." Mona said as Crow spoke up dryly.

"Uh-huh, and you're a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line Metaverse cat who turns into a tour bus, so you'd know." Crow said teasingly as Draconis sighed and spoke up.

"That is true, but do you really have to put it like that, Crow? You know how touchy he gets about being called a cat. The fact he might very well be one now is irrelevant and besides the point. And even if he is, he's OUR state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line awesome Metaverse cat." Draconis said bluntly, making the Mona-bus smile at Draconis' words, or at least come as close to smiling as a cat turned tour bus could do, while the group kept moving. After running over a strong Shadow, Crow hit level 91. After a bit Skull spoke up with a frown.

"Uh, does anyone got any good ideas on how to get to sleep at night? I've tried a few different things, but I'm runnin' out of ideas." Skull said as Noir spoke up.

"Well, I've heard that finding a mattress that conforms to one's body properly is essential to a good night's sleep." Noir said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"I dunno if you could pull this off Skull, but I've seen stuff online, or rather Oracle's shown me studies online, that suggest that an easy way to fall asleep at night is to have your girlfriend in bed with you. Of course those studies may or may not have been among a group of people who were more intimate with their boyfriends/girlfriends, if you catch my drift." Draconis said with a smirk, making both Crow and Joker groan as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Skull, only slightly flinching when both Violet and Oracle lightly smacked the back of his head as the former spoke up.

"Behave, Draconis! And that's Skull-senpai and Queen-senpai's business whether or not they try sharing a bed to help Skull-senpai sleep at night. Besides, I can attest from experience that one does sleep better with their lover in bed with them." Violet said, flushing slightly as she kept speaking.

"Let's just say Joker may or may not have been a good test subject to verify this, and leave it at that." Violet said sheepishly as Oracle chuckled and spoke up.

"Oho, what's this now? Violet and Joker are getting it on? Mwehehe! Bow-chicka-wow-wo-OOF!" Oracle said, the 'OOF!' being in response to Joker rolling his eyes and firmly karate-chopping the back of Oracle's head, making her flop over dramatically on impact. Unfortunately for both her and Draconis, she landed face-first on the closest object after doing so, which in this case was Draconis' lap, making Draconis blush but smile shyly as he gently patted Oracle on the head and spoke up uncertainly.

"Um, I guess she wanted head pats? I can oblige, if that's true. But dammit, Joker! Stop karate-chopping her head! What if you give her brain damage from doing that?" Draconis said as Crow scoffed and spoke up.

"Don't be an idiot, Draconis. Joker would have to hit your girlfriend way harder than he is to give her brain damage. So calm down." Crow said bluntly as Draconis frowned and spoke up after helping Oracle into a sitting position next to him.

"Fair enough. But my point stands. At least the last time he did it, it slightly backfired on Joker since she landed in Violet's cleavage, unless Skull was lying about that. And I bet Violet's face when that happened was glorious. Mwehehe." Draconis said as he found himself face-down on the floorboard a moment later after Violet huffed and leaned around behind Joker to lightly shove Draconis off his seat in response to his teasing comment, making Crow smirk and speak up.

"Wow, look at you, Violet. Going behind your boyfriend's back to strike down his little brother? Very savage. I approve." Crow said as three different voices spoke up to rebuke Crow at the same time, even if one of them was partially muffled by the fact that it was coming from Draconis, who was currently facedown on the floorboard of the Mona-bus.

"SHUT UP, CROW/CROW-SENPAI!" Draconis, Joker and Violet all rebuked Crow, who smirked and wisely stopped talking at that point as Oracle helped her boyfriend back onto his seat before leaning her head on his shoulder playfully as the group kept moving. After doubling back to the entrance to handle a Fusion Alarm that came up while hunting the next target, in which Joker finally identified the necessary Persona for, and used it to achieve the itemization of, Skull's ultimate shotgun, the 'Megido Blaster', the group kept moving. After running down more Shadows, Violet hit level 92. After riding around for a while in the Mona-bus, Violet smiled and spoke up.

"Y'know, fighting in the Metaverse makes for a pretty good workout, doesn't it?" Violet asked as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed it does. I always sleep easier after exploring the Metaverse." Queen said as Oracle spoke up.

"Uh-huh. And I bet Violet always sleeps easier when her Senpai notices her. Mwehehe." Oracle said as Violet flushed in embarrassment while Joker spoke up.

"Really, Oracle? Was that last remark necessary? Besides, you have no room to talk about that, since Boss has shown me ample photographic evidence that you're no better when it comes to Draconis." Joker said with a smirk as Draconis spoke up.

"Hey, is it Oracle's fault she can't help but sleep easier when I'm around? Can't blame her for being comfortable with me." Draconis said as Crow spoke up dryly.

"Ugh, so much romantic talk. Someone please, shoot me into the sun." Crow said as Draconis spoke up with a smirk. *1*

"Sorry, Crow. No can do on that. Besides, you kinda need to be down on earth still if you're going to ever find a nice girlfriend for yourself. That, and so you can keep asserting your dominance over Joker, which I know you enjoy." Draconis said slyly as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Heh, that's a good point, Draconis. Stomping Joker usually is a pretty easy mood booster. Uh, no offense, Joker." Crow said as Joker spoke up.

"Nah, it's fine, Crow. I feel the same way when I manage to beat you fair and square. Granted, it's not as often as I'd like, but it does happen." Joker said as the group kept moving. After a bit, Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Man, I had the weirdest dream last night. Yet, I can't remember a thing about it." Skull said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"What? At least remember something about your stupid dream before you bring it up!" Mona rebuked Skull as Draconis spoke up with a grin.

"Cut him a break, Mona. It's not his fault that dreams are crazy like that at times. Hell, that was how those constant nightmares I had about the Black Mask back before Shido's Palace started out. They were just these confusing-ass dreams of an engine room somewhere with mocking laughter taunting me. After a while, they then evolved to us confronting the Black Mask.

And it was only shortly before we went to Shido's Palace that they evolved again to the dream I had with Black Mask basically murdering Oracle in cold blood before I snapped, clashed swords with him, and quite literally lost my head for my troubles. So I can empathize with Skull not being able to remember his dreams. Sometimes dreams are just like that. Or other times, like with me, they're not worth remembering." Draconis said wisely, shuddering as he finished recalling his nightmare from back before getting separated from the group. Crow smirked slyly and spoke up.

"Aha, so my alter-ego was already the fuel of your nightmares even then, eh Draconis? Interesting. And here I thought you only dreamt about all the different ways you could have fun with Oracle. Or am I wrong to assume that's how the concept of a 'girl of your dreams' works?" Crow said as Draconis flushed in embarrassment, sputtered at that, and spoke up.

"Wh-What!? Sh-Shut up! Also, that's not how that works at all, Crow! Typically, the concept of 'girl of your dreams' is applied either as an abstract for a girl that you're hopelessly smitten with and/or unfailingly devoted to, or a literal reference to a girl you have dreams about, like Joker likely often does for Violet." Draconis corrected Crow, smirking at the audible huffs from Joker and Violet at his subtle dig at Joker, getting a nod from Crow as he spoke up.

"Ah, I see. My mistake then. But for what it's worth, I think I'd have had nightmares about your temper too, had I seen it for myself before that day. So don't feel bad that you had nightmares about my alter-ego." Crow said wisely as the group kept moving, even while Joker and Violet both agreed that paybacks on Draconis were in order. After a bit, the group found the portal for their next target, driving through it as the Mona-bus spat the others out before shifting to Mona in time for Oracle to gasp and speak up.

"Oh! Over there, you guys! Shadow spotted! Is she that gamer Shinya's mom?" Oracle asked as Queen frowned and spoke up with a wince.

"Could be. She looks like she would bite us if we even tried to speak to her." Queen said as Panther nodded and frowned while speaking up.

"Right!? I heard she's the definition of a helicopter parent. She's really selfish too." Panther said as Skull spoke up.

"That's bullshit, though! We gotta do somethin' about this! Kids really look up to their parents, you know?" Skull said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Right you are, Skull! Let's go, guys!" Mona said, getting nods from the others as they charged towards the presumed Shadow of Shinya's mother. As the group approached, the Shadow of Shinya's mom spoke up with a laugh.

"Hahaha! You can't survive in this cold, harsh world if you're too soft! No one will help a single mother! Everyone just looks at me coldly! Everyone is my enemy! I have to fight them! I have to smash them before they can smash me!" The Shadow of Shinya's mom said as Joker scoffed and spoke up.

"Whatever. Even if what you say is true, that doesn't change the fact that your actions are making your son suffer." Joker said as the Shadow of Shinya's mom scoffed and spoke up.

"Hmph! What do you know!? You don't know me! We have to be strong! We don't have a safety net to catch us if we fall! I'm just fighting for my own happiness! I don't want others to mock me anymore!" The Shadow of Shinya's mom said before shifting forms into what Joker recognized as a Dakini, before the fight began! As the fight began, the Shadow of Shinya's mom spoke up.

"Anyone who tries to get in my way, no matter who they might be, should die!" The Shadow of Shinya's mom said as the fight started. Joker wasted no time in speaking up.

"Hmph, let's do this then. COME! RAOUL! STRIKE THE ENEMY!" Joker said as Raoul nodded and waved his palm, blasting a burst of Curse energy at the Shadow of Shinya's mom, only clocking minor damage, followed shortly by similarly minor Bless damage from Cendrillion, after which Loki flew by and smacked the Shadow of Shinya's mom with severe-tier Gun damage, clocking a lot of damage.

Not long afterward, a heavy-tier tornado from Diego slammed the Shadow of Shinya's mom into the ground, after which the Shadow of Shinya's mother crumpled to the ground following a barrage of swords from Cendrillion, who ended the fight with a Swords Dance. After hitting the ground, the Shadow of Shinya's mom spoke up.

"Wha-!? How!? This is crazy! I can't believe I lost so easily." The Shadow of Shinya's Mom said as the fight ended. After the fight, she shifted back to normal and spoke up.

"I lost. I'm going to get everything taken from me again, aren't I? Society sees me as a loser. I've got no money. I have no reason to be proud of myself anymore. What the hell am I supposed to do now?" The Shadow of Shinya's mom said as Joker huffed and spoke up.

"No one's taking anything from you, ma'am. But you do need to wake up! Sure, you might not feel like you have much, but that isn't true! You have your son, after all. And he loves you a great deal, so much so that he was willing to get our help in changing your heart. So if you ask me, you're no loser at being a mother if you were able to raise that considerate and selfless of a son, even if he's still young and rough around the edges." Joker said wisely. The Shadow of Shinya's mom blinked at this and nodded.

"That's right. Shinya doesn't think I'm a loser. I have Shinya still. Yes, you're right. I realize that now. The greatest happiness I could ever have was with me this whole time. I have to be a good mother for his sake." The Shadow of Shinya's mom said before she faded away, leaving behind the bud of her Treasure, which Joker seized to get a 'Soma'. After that, Joker smiled, knowing Shinya's mom should have a change of heart soon.

Joker made a note to see if Shinya was available tomorrow to check in with so he could confirm that the change of heart was a success. After that, the group's phones pinged to signify that the Mementos request 'A Mother's Aggression' was now marked as 'Request COMPLETED.', confirming they'd finished it. At that point, Joker spun on his heel and turned to leave as Crow spoke up.

"Well done, Joker. You really put her in her place. So, what now? Do you want to keep exploring?" Crow asked as Mona spoke up.

"For reference, that was the last target for this area. What's our next move, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"Let's keep going for now, and try to get a few more stamps if we can, just in case. But once we hit the next rest area, I'm probably gonna need to bring us back to the entrance for a bit to look at stuff, and possibly re-assess our front lines. Agreed?" Joker said as the others nodded and Crow spoke up.

"I see. Very well, understood. I'll accompany you." Crow said as the group kept moving. After a bit, Violet smiled and spoke up.

"I think that everyone's outfits are amazing. But I can see with how they look that coordinating them wasn't a priority." Violet said as Skull spoke up.

"Eh, I personally think it's cool how they're all unique." Skull said as Draconis spoke up at that point.

"I get what you were trying to say Violet, but how would one coordinate outfits that are tailored specifically to each of us as we awaken to our Personas? Sure, you and Joker have rather similar outfits, if only in terms of color scheme, but the rest of us all had unique experiences that led to our outfits being what they are, aside from possibly Mona, since he was just created with his powers as far as I know. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever did get the story of his origins, but I suppose I can get that info later." Draconis said as the group kept moving.

After running over a Shadow, Queen hit level 93. After hitting more Shadows, Oracle hit level 92. Not long after, Noir hit level 93 off of yet another Shadow being run over. After a bit, Noir smiled and spoke up.

"Asakusa is such a wonderful experience. Each trip there is always a wonderful blend of the old and the new." Noir said as Panther spoke up.

"Right? Browsing the souvenir shops there is such a blast!" Panther said with a closed-eye smile while the group kept moving. After running over enemies in the next area, both Joker and Draconis reached level 92. Joker then smirked and spoke up.

"Heh, with this power, I become a better leader." Joker said as his level increased. After hitting another enemy, Mona hit level 92 while both Skull and Fox hit level 93. While fighting some Shadows a short time later, Violet looked at Joker and spoke up.

"Ready to try our move out, Joker-senpai?" Violet asked as Joker smiled and spoke up.

"For you, Violet? Always." Joker said as Violet spoke up with a smile.

"Good. Let's do this!" Violet said as Joker and Violet spoke up.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Violet and Joker said as their Showtime began. Violet smiled at Joker and bowed as she spoke up.

"Joker-senpai, if you would?" Violet asked as Joker nodded, carefully curling her in one arm before using the other to zipline towards the enemies, tossing Violet up into the air midway to the enemy, where she smirked, pulled out her rapier and started diving head-on towards the enemy, smiling as she saw a cognitive echo of her sister Kasumi waiting for her as they did a dance together, while Violet slashed at the confused enemy with her rapier repeatedly and spoke up.

"With the grace and boldness of the Yoshizawa sisters, we end you! BEGONE! Now, Joker!" Violet said as Joker nodded. At that point, she flipped towards a waiting Joker, who smirked and took aim before blasting a shocked Shadow point-blank with a bullet from his pistol, destroying it on the spot as Violet smiled at Joker and spoke up.

"We did it, Senpai! Flawless execution." Violet said as Joker nodded and proceeded to smugly twirl her in his arms, smirking at how she flawlessly dipped into a bow in Joker's arms, a closed-eye smile on her face that Joker had to use all his willpower not to kiss her for, holding his pistol in his free hand while dipping Violet, in case another Shadow crept up on them and he had to blast it.

At that point, both the Showtime and the battle ended as the enemy that Joker had shot dissolved into black mist. After the fight, the ensuing EXP gain brought Crow to level 92 and leveled up two of Joker's Personas in 'Yoshitsune' and 'Seth', the latter of which he got back for the first time in a while during a recent Fusion Alarm, the two reaching levels 95 and 80 respectively.

Not long after, Violet hit level 93 off of a destroyed Shadow. Shortly afterwards, Queen hit level 94 off of a defeated Shadow. As the group kept moving, the Mona-bus destroyed another Shadow, causing Noir to hit level 94 and Panther to hit level 93. Shortly after, Oracle hit level 93 off of a defeated Shadow. After running down a bunch more Shadows, a lot of level-ups ensued as Joker, Mona, and Draconis all hit level 93 while Fox and Skull hit level 94. Joker then spoke up.

"With this power, I become a stronger leader." Joker said as the group kept moving after his level increased. After a bit, the group found their next target in the third area of the Path of Da'at, driving through the portal to confront them. Once the group was out of the Mona-bus, Oracle spoke up.

"Look, that must be Kuniko Kagami! Let's change her heart, for her child!" Oracle said as the group ran up to Kagami's Shadow, which just stared at them as they approached. After a bit, Fox frowned and spoke up.

"Hey! Kuniko Kagami. You are the mother who doesn't properly care for her children, correct?" Fox asked as Kagami's Shadow finally spoke up.

"My children, you say? What do you mean? The Phantom Thieves are after me? I know what I've done is wrong, I really do. I know that you're right, but I can't accept it. Please, leave me alone now. I don't deserve to live after what I've done." Kagami's Shadow said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"Hm, something is wrong with her." Fox said as Queen spoke up in realization.

"I may have thought of something. Could this be what people call, if I have the term right, self-neglect? Not being able to sustain a normal life to the point where it's damaging to their health and well-being." Queen said as Oracle spoke up.

"That would track. I remember the request saying something about the room being messy! Huh!? So not only was she neglecting her children, but herself as well!?" Oracle said as Kagami's Shadow spoke up.

"Why wouldn't I? My father and mother died one after another recently. Then my husband died too not long afterwards. Everyone who supported me is dead now. I have no reason to live anymore, dammit!" Kagami's Shadow said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"Hey! That's not true. What about your child?" Queen asked as Kagami's Shadow frowned and spoke up.

"Hm? My child, you say? No, it doesn't matter. Leave me alone. I don't need anyone's help! My child would be happier to die with me! I have to take her with me when I die!" Kagami's Shadow said as both Draconis and Oracle gasped at this, the latter of the two growling as she spoke up.

"Urgh, that's wrong, and you know it! Joker, we have to stop her!" Oracle said as Joker and Draconis nodded before Kagami's Shadow spoke up.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Stay away from me! You're so annoying! I'll destroy you!" Kagami's Shadow said as she shifted forms into what Joker recognized as a Rangda, and a fight began. As the fight began, Kagami's Shadow spoke up.

"If you're not going to leave me alone, I'll have to destroy you all! I'll start off by eating all of you!" Kagami's Shadow taunted the group as the fight started. At that point, Joker, Draconis, Crow, and Violet all nodded to one another as they spoke up.

"COME FORTH, RAOUL!/DESCEND UPON THE BATTLEFIELD, MALEFOR!/COME! LOOOOOOKKKKIIII!/DANCE, VANADIS!" Joker, Draconis, Crow and Violet said as they summoned their respective Personas, for the first time since its evolution in the case of Draconis summoning Malefor, who spread his large imposing wings wide as he landed on the battlefield, making Joker blink at how easily Malefor dwarfed Seth and even Smaug in size as the large dragon landed behind Draconis. At that point, the group nodded and the other Thieves spoke up.

"SHOW YOUR MIGHT, DIEGO!/LET 'EM HAVE IT, SEITEN TAISEI!/KAMU SUSANO-O, STRIKE!/LET'S DANCE, HECATE!/CHARGE, ANAT!/DANCE FOR US, ASTARTE!/SHOW US YOUR MYSTICAL MIGHT, SARUMAN!" Mona, Skull, Fox, Panther, Queen, Noir, and Oracle all said in unison as they also summoned their respective Personas to join the fray. At that point, Raoul turned to the others and spoke up.

"Let us combine our powers to strike the enemy down!" Raoul said as the other Personas nodded and spoke up.

"RIGHT!" Loki, Malefor, Vanadis, Diego, Seiten Taisei, Kamu Susano-o, Hecate, Anat, Astarte, and Saruman said as they lined up to start their combo attack.

"I'll start us off! PSIODYNE!" Saruman said as he waved his wand, forming a sphere with purplish-pink energy as Astarte spoke up.

"My turn! ONE-SHOT KILL!" Astarte said as she fired her guns, adding a brown hue to the sphere, which grew in size as Anat spoke up.

"Time to charge! ATOMIC FLARE!" Anat said as she fired a burst of Nuke energy into the sphere which now glowed three colors while Hecate spoke up.

"Let's heat this up! BLAZING HELL!" Hecate said as she added a huge torrent of Fire energy to the sphere, which grew larger as Kamu Susano-o stepped up and spoke up.

"Now to add my touches to this! BUFUDYNE!" Kamu Susano-o said as he swung his sword, adding some Ice energy to the sphere, which continued growing as Seiten Taisei spoke up.

"GET WRECKED! ZIODYNE!" Seiten Taisei said as he waved his staff, adding a torrent of yellow energy to the sphere as Diego spoke up.

"TIME TO SHOW MY MIGHT! GARUDYNE!" Diego said as he fired a cyclone into the sphere, making it grow larger as Vanadis spoke up.

"TIME FOR ME TO DANCE! KOUGAON!" Vanadis said as she waved her palm, adding a golden burst of energy to the sphere which was pretty large at this point as Malefor smirked and spoke up.

"Let's heat it up! DRACONIC FLARE!" Malefor said as he breathed a torrent of white-hot flames into the sphere, making it gain a white hue as the Almighty attack was added to the sphere, making it still larger as Loki spoke up.

"HAHAHAHAHA! TIME TO SMASH THEM! LAEVATINN!" Loki said as he manifested a huge sword and swung it at the sphere, making it grow still larger as Raoul floated over it and spoke up.

"AND NOW FOR THE FINISHING TOUCHES! EIGAON!" Raoul said as he snapped his fingers and a giant blob of Curse energy flew into the sphere, making it glow all the colors of the rainbow after being the size of a vehicle as all the Personas spoke up in unison.

"TAKE THIS! PHANTOM ELEMENT BURST!" Raoul, Loki, Malefor, Vanadis, Diego, Seiten Taisei, Kamu Susano-o, Hecate, Anat, Astarte, and Saruman all said as they worked together and fired the massive sphere of energy at the enemy, which flew into Kagami's Shadow, before swallowing her in a massive explosion. When the Phantom Thieves could see again, they were surprised to see Kagami's Shadow still on her feet, albeit wavering a bit. After that, Draconis looked at Oracle and spoke up.

"I dunno about you Oracle, but I've had just about enough of her! Shall we put her down personally?" Draconis said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"I thought you'd never ask, Draconis! Let's get her!" Oracle said as she and Draconis spoke up in unison.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Oracle and Draconis said as their Showtime began! Draconis smirked as he walked over to Oracle, Malefor flying ominously overhead as he walked over. Draconis then spoke up.

"Oracle! You and Prometheus know what to do!" Draconis said as Oracle nodded before turning to Prometheus, who dropped a bomb in Oracle's hands, at which point Draconis spoke up.

"Oracle, toss it up! Malefor, light us!" Draconis said as Oracle and Malefor nodded, doing their parts as the bomb was tossed up and the fuse ignited as Draconis hefted his staff and held it like a baseball bat, waiting until the bomb started dropping towards him and speaking up.

"BATTER UP! HA! TAKE THIS!" Draconis said as he swung his staff at the bomb as it reached his eye level, hitting the bomb and launching it at Kagami's Shadow as Oracle chuckled and spoke up.

"Mwehehe, and now for the final touch." Oracle said before taking aim and firing her wrist laser at the bomb, making it detonate in the face of Kagami's Shadow as both Oracle and Draconis hefted their staves and slammed into the ground at the same time while both speaking up.

"HERE COMES THE BOOM!" Draconis and Oracle said as Kagami's Shadow could only blink before slumping over as Oracle spoke up.

"Mwehehe, that's what you get for being neglectful of your kids, as well as yourself." Oracle said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"For real! We don't tolerate that sort of behavior around here. Learn from this and do right by your daughter, dammit." Draconis said as both the Showtime and the battle ended. After the battle ended, Kagami's Shadow nodded and spoke up as she shifted back to normal.

"You're right, of course. Truth be told, when all of my family members started passing away, I didn't know what to do about it. I lost the will to do anything. I couldn't even get out of bed on some days, in spite of my best efforts. I was even annoyed by my daughter when she would talk to me at times. I wished for her death, as shameful as that is to admit to! Sometimes I scare myself! How could I think of something so horrible as my daughter's death!" Kagami's Shadow said as Joker smiled at her and spoke up.

"While that is pretty messed up, you haven't done anything yet. So it's not too late to change." Joker said, leaving unspoken the fact that he knew that none of the Phantom Thieves would ever do something so horrendous to their own children, if they ever became parents. Kagami's Shadow blinked at Joker, as she spoke up.

"Oh, that's true. You're right, young man. If it's not too late, I think I'll try to fix things. If I can. Right now though, I just want to go home and hug her. And as the first step, I'm gonna start changing by doing what I can." Kagami's Shadow said as she faded away to return to her normal self, leaving behind the bud of her Treasure, which Joker seized to get the 'Spiral Hell Ring'. At that point, the group's phones pinged to signify that the Mementos request 'A Small Cry For Help' had been marked as 'Request COMPLETED'. At that point, Joker turned on his heel and made to leave as Draconis spoke up.

"Well, shit. That was a rough one, wasn't it, Joker? But we got through to her in the end. Which is good, since I don't care who you are, no one deserves to go through what that little girl had to go through! I'm not too proud to say that I was literally restraining myself from either shaking some sense into Kagami's Shadow, or just being irritated at her. Hell, I think I might have even broken down and wept a bit had that gone on much longer, because that's how sad that whole situation was." Draconis said as Oracle smiled and spoke up while hugging her boyfriend.

"And yet, somehow that's the manliest thing I've ever heard you say, Draconis. I respect that you're not afraid to let your sensitive side show." Oracle said as Draconis nodded, patting Oracle on the head before speaking up.

"True. So, now what, Joker? Do we keep going?" Draconis said as Mona spoke up.

"That's an option. For reference, there are 3 targets left in this area. So what's the play?" Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"I think it's time to head back to the entrance for now, since I think I tripped a Fusion Alarm recently and wish to take advantage of that." Joker said as Violet spoke up.

"Understandable. We'll double back afterwards." Violet said as the group retreated to the entrance for the time being. After handling the Fusion Alarm, in which Joker strengthened Raoul while itemizing the 'Tantric Oath R' armor and Ann's ultimate SMG, the 'Gungnir', the group continued exploring. After eliminating a Shadow, Crow hit level 93 and Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 81. As the group rode around in the Mona-bus, Draconis spoke up.

"Is it just me, or does it seem like time seems to drag on when you don't want it to, yet it moves unbearably fast when you want it to slow down?" Draconis said as Violet smiled and spoke up.

"I get that. I've had that feeling more than once. Like how it felt like time dragged on forever the day I lost Kasumi, or it felt like time goes by too quickly when I spend time with Joker-senpai. That being said, I can relate to what you're saying, Draconis." Violet said, blushing afterwards as she realized she'd admitted to liking to spend time with Joker, who smiled and curled an arm around Violet before speaking up.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Violet. I feel the same when we're together." Joker said with a smile as he and Draconis cuddled their respective girlfriends close to them as the group kept moving. After running down a Shadow on the next floor, both Violet and Panther hit level 94. After destroying some strong Shadows, Noir and Queen hit level 95. After defeating strong Shadows, Oracle hit level 94. After running another Shadow over, a plethora of levels ensued as Joker, Mona, and Draconis all hit level 94, and both Skull and Fox hit level 95. Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Perfect! I leveled up." Joker said as Draconis spoke up.

"Eh, not bad, but I think your last couple of lines were better." Draconis said while Joker's level went up. After a bit, the group found the next target on the 13th part of the 'Path of Da'at', making Oracle speak up as the others got out of the Mona-bus before it turned back into Mona.

"Hey, that's-! All right, there's Anji Fuwa! Let's change his heart, for his family's sake." Oracle said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. And not just for their sakes either, but that of that idol too. I doubt she's at fault in this." Draconis said as the group charged at the target. As they approached Fuwa's Shadow, he spoke up.

"Lily-nyan is kind and loving. Lily-nyan is warm and beautiful. Who cares about anything else? All I need is my lovely Lily-nyan in my life." Fuwa's Shadow said as Skull grunted and spoke up.

"C'mon! Come on, man. You know that's not right, don't you!?" Skull said as Fuwa's Shadow blinked and spoke up.

"What!? O-Of course it's right! Spending money on her makes me happy! I'd do anything for her! Lily-nyan's smile is what I live for!" Fuwa's Shadow said as Oracle gasped and spoke up.

"NO! He's in no condition to listen. watch out, Joker!" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up with a huff.

"If that's the case, we'll have to make him listen." Draconis said as Fuwa's Shadow frowned, shifting forms into what Joker and Draconis both immediately recognized as a 'Unicorn', being as Joker uses that Persona a lot. At that point, a fight started. At the start of the fight, Fuwa's Shadow spoke up.

"ENOUGH PESTERING! The only person that complains about my hobbies is my wife, and that's more than enough! Just go away already!" Fuwa's Shadow said as Joker scoffed and spoke up.

"Shut up! RAOUL! SHUT THAT FOOL UP!" Joker said as he summoned Raoul, who nodded and waved his palm to blast a burst of Curse energy at Fuwa's Shadow, who slumped over after being downed by the super effective hit. As the group did a Hold Up, Fuwa's Shadow spoke up.

"H-Hold on! Let's be civil about this! If I'm gone, there's going to be one less otaku cheering for Lily-nyan! Surely we can talk this out? Just let me go, please? For Lily-nyan?" Fuwa's Shadow said as Skull spoke up with a huff.

"What the hell!? I get that idols are important and all, but that's not everything in life, right? We need to tell 'im that there're more important things in life. Here is the stuff we know 'bout him. 'He's got no place at home' and 'He wants to get involved with his kid's life, but he can't.'" Skull said as Fuwa's Shadow spoke up.

"I live to serve! The only person I want to protect is Lily-nyan! You understand me right!? My love for her!?" Fuwa's Shadow said as Joker spoke up.

"I do, but what about your family? How do you think they feel about it, specifically your kid?" Joker asked as Fuwa's Shadow huffed and spoke up.

"Oh? Who do you think you are!? Why do you have to bring up my family? Honestly? Family, huh? Truth be told, all I've done with my wife is argue recently. But that's not right. Forcing the kid to learn a shit ton of stuff for her own reasons? I told her it's too much. But she doesn't understand that. My words don't reach her heart. But not Lily-nyan! Lily-nyan always pays attention to what I have to say! She's the only one who listens to me!" Fuwa's Shadow said as Joker frowned and spoke up.

"You mean you don't talk to your kid? You might be surprised how understanding they are if you're honest with them." Joker said. Fuwa's Shadow blinked and spoke up.

"My kid, huh? How could I forget them? But it's irrelevant. I can't do anything now for them. All my money goes to her CDs, and if I have time, I go to the concerts. I rarely ever thought of my family. My wife was the one that stopped caring about me. So I decided to stop caring about her." Fuwa's Shadow said as Oracle spoke up.

"I see. And that's what got you into idols, is your belief that your wife stopped caring about you." Oracle said before turning to the others as she kept speaking.

"Well, he might think he stopped caring about his family, but we all know that's not the case. Tell 'im, Joker." Oracle said as Fuwa's Shadow spoke up.

"Besides words, I have nothing! My family doesn't need me, clearly." Fuwa's Shadow said as Joker spoke up.

"I call bullshit on that, sir! Also, if anyone thinks their family doesn't need them, it'd be your kid with how you AND your wife are acting." Joker rebuked Fuwa's Shadow, who winced and spoke up.

"How could I not have noticed!? Even me, you say?" Fuwa's Shadow said as the battle ended. From the ensuing EXP gain, Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 82. After the fight, Fuwa's Shadow spoke up after returning to normal.

"I'm a victim too, you know. Me and my wife were always arguing about how to raise our kid, and that's when I found Lily-nyan. Lily-nyan was always working hard and smiling. I felt like I was chasing that dream with her when she'd smile. I was using Lily-nyan to escape my stressful home life because she allowed me to dream again, if only for a time. Having a student point that out to me drove me nuts. I'm so pathetic, aren't I?" Fuwa's Shadow said as Skull spoke up.

"Maybe a little. But then again, now you know what you gotta do, right?" Skull said as Fuwa's Shadow nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed I do. I really messed up. As long as I deal with my family first and foremost, then I can chase after Lily-nyan!" Fuwa's Shadow said as Joker spoke up.

"I hope you can become an upstanding family man and an avid Lily-nyan fan. But do it in a way that's fair to your kid." Joker said wisely. Fuwa's Shadow smirked and spoke up.

"Hell yeah!" Fuwa's Shadow said as Skull groaned and spoke up with wide eyes.

"Aw, come on! So you're not gonna stop chasing her, then? Well, guess it's not a bad thing to have a hobby. But you should become a dad your kid can be proud of first." Skull said as Fuwa's Shadow spoke up.

"Hm, you're right. If it's not too late, I will try to make amends with my family! Thank you, for everything!" Fuwa's Shadow said as he faded away to return to his true self, leaving behind the bud of his Treasure, which Joker seized to get a 'One-Shot Kill' card. At that point, the group's phones pinged to signify that the Mementos request 'An Idol and A Unicorn' had been marked as 'Request COMPLETED.' Afterwards, Joker turned to leave as Draconis spoke up.

"Well then, that's another one down. Just two targets left. What's the plan now, Joker? Do we keep going and continue searching for those two targets?" Draconis asked as Mona spoke up.

"For reference, as Draconis just said, we have two targets left in this area. Okay, then what's our next move, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"We keep going, of course. The sooner we defeat these targets, the better off we all are." Joker said wisely as Mona spoke up.

"Sure, sounds good to me. We can make some more money while we're at it." Mona said as the group kept moving. After beating a strong Shadow, Crow hit level 94. After running down more Shadows, Panther hit level 95. After taking out some strong Shadows, a ton of level-ups ensued as Noir and Queen hit level 96, Violet and Oracle hit level 95, and the level-ups came with Oracle getting three new skills for her 'Saruman' Persona in the forms of the passive skills 'Curse Amp' and 'Divine Grace', and the high-tier healing skill 'Salvation', making Oracle smirk and speak up.

"Woot, woot! My skills continue to grow! Mwehehe!" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"True, but I think those were your last three level-up skills, so I think you maxed out your learnset, Oracle. Well done. I think other than one or two of Joker's Personas, that's everyone's learnset maxed out." Draconis said wisely as Saruman acquired 'Curse Amp', 'Divine Grace', and 'Salvation'. After beating more Shadows, Fox hit level 96. After another group of Shadows was defeated, Skull hit level 96, and Joker, Draconis, and Mona all hit level 95. Joker then spoke up.

"With this power, I continue to better myself as both a man and a leader." Joker said as Violet smiled and spoke up.

"Truth be told? I kinda like that line. Let's go with that?" Violet said approvingly as Joker's level increased. After eliminating more Shadows, Crow hit level 95. After a bit the group found their second to last target in 'Path of Da'at 15', driving through the portal and getting off of the Mona-bus as it turned into Mona in time for Oracle to speak up.

"There, that's Amasaki! Let's stop him for his brother's sake!" Oracle said as the group charged at Amasaki's Shadow. Once they approached him, Amasaki's Shadow laughed and spoke up.

"Haaaahaha! Dance, dance! Seeing these idiots get so upset by my video is incredible!" Amasaki's Shadow said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"The hell!? So you're Amasaki! You seriously don't give a damn about how much trouble you're causing your family?" Skull asked as Amasaki's Shadow blinked and spoke up.

"What? Trouble for my family, you say? Heh, you wouldn't understand. Haters are my motivation. You dumb or somethin'? MY parents and my brother are idiots too! They're just cowards who don't understand my fame! Come at me, bro! I'm gonna get even more famous when I defeat the infamous Phantom Crew!" Amasaki's Shadow said tauntingly as he shifted forms into the form of what Joker recognized as a 'Macabre', and the fight began! As it started, Amasaki's Shadow spoke up.

"Show some respect! Now, allow me to show you my popularity!" Amasaki's Shadow said as it summoned a 'Fused Ghost' to assist him. Oracle gasped at this and spoke up with widened eyes.

"Huh, what!? Looks like he's calling for backup! Is he seriously calling for reinforcements!? Be careful, Joker!" Oracle said as Draconis scoffed and spoke up.

"Let him call all the reinforcements he wants. Between myself and Crow, he's gonna need a freaking army to stop us!" Draconis said confidently as Crow nodded his agreement while the fight began! Crow and Draconis looked at each other and nodded before they spoke up.

"Time to show this fool our wrath! COME! LOOOOKKKIIIII!/DESCEND, MALEFOR!" Crow and Draconis said as they summoned their respective Personas while the others did the same. Draconis looked at Joker and spoke up.

"Joker! You and the others take out the reinforcements and leave Amasaki's Shadow to me and Crow! We mean to break this worm, painfully." Draconis said as Crow grinned eagerly, liking the sound of Draconis' suggestion as he spoke up.

"I agree with Draconis! I'm getting excited just thinking of all this exquisite pain we're going to inflict on this foolish fool! And I'm getting a warm, tingly feeling from all this excitement!" Crow said as Joker warily nodded and had the others focus their efforts on the Fused Ghosts as Amasaki's Shadow summoned them. Eventually, Amasaki's Shadow stopped summoning Fused Ghosts after taking enough damage, at which point Crow and Draconis grinned viciously as Draconis spoke up.

"Are you ready to make an example out of this bastard, Crow?" Draconis asked as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"I thought you'd never ask, Draconis. Let's do this!" Crow said as he and Draconis both spoke up.

"MWEHEHEHE! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Draconis and Crow said as their Showtime began. Crow took aim with his laser and shot at Amasaki's Shadow, backing him against the wall fearfully as Draconis spoke up, his throwing knives primed.

"Hehe, yes, just a bit more, Crow! And, perfect! Get back, Crow! This is about to be messy!" Draconis said as Crow leapt aside in time for Draconis to heft a handful of knives at Amasaki's Shadow, successfully shackling him to the wall by his hands and feet as the thrown knives became restraints. At that point, the wall turned into a giant target as Crow and Draconis grinned and spoke up.

"And now for the fun part! Ready, Draconis!?" Crow asked as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Indeed I am, Crow. Let's put this fool out of his misery." Draconis said as he and Crow nodded before brandishing their knives/sword and bowing to one another for effect as Crow spoke up.

"Very well, Draconis! EN GUARDE!" Crow said as he and Draconis rushed at each other and seemingly clashed weapons in mid-air, both landing on the ground unharmed moments later. As the group blinked in uncertainty, a few moments later, Amasaki's Shadow screamed as he looked down and saw numerous gashes open on his torso as he slumped over and passed out, at which point Crow spoke up.

"How pathetic. He only lasted a few seconds." Crow said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Queen's sister lasted longer than that when we first tried this move out. How sad for Amasaki's Shadow. Oh well, guess it's over now. Target neutralized." Draconis said as Crow nodded and spoke up as the two walked away like badasses.

"Indeed he is, Draconis. Indeed he is. I still say he was a pathetic waste of our time, though." Crow said as the Showtime and the battle ended. From the ensuing EXP gain, both Queen and Noir hit level 97, Violet hit level 96, and Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 84. After the battle, Amasaki's Shadow returned to normal as he spoke up.

"Hmph! I didn't have a choice! Seeing my view count get higher and higher like that? It just felt so good. I got so mad at my family for taking that enjoyment away from me." Amasaki's Shadow said as Draconis spoke up after walking over and lightly slapping Amasaki's Shadow across the face.

"That's not what happened at all, you fool! Your family saw you were heading down a path to pain and misery, and tried to step in for your own protection. Even your brother was worried about you. So quit being selfish and accept that you lost fair and square." Draconis said as Joker spoke up.

"Yeah, and then when you do, go apologize to your brother." Joker said. Amasaki's Shadow blinked, both at Draconis' slap and at the words that both Joker and Draconis had said to him, before speaking up.

"Y-Yeah, you're both right. I'm so sorry. I'm a horrible person. I punched my brother real hard, and said horrible things to my parents when all they were trying to do was protect me the best way they knew how. I'm sorry! I'm gonna apologize to everyone else, too. I can't keep being like this." Amasaki's Shadow said as he faded away to return to his real self, leaving behind the bud of his Treasure, which Joker seized to get an 'Eccentric Belt'. At that point, the group's phones pinged to signify that the Mementos request 'Fake-Man Show' was now marked as 'Request COMPLETED'. As Joker spun on his heel and made to leave, Violet spoke up.

"Well, that was a bit dark, but we got the request completed in the end. So with that done, what now, Joker-senpai? Do you want to keep exploring?" Violet asked as Mona spoke up.

"At this time, we have just one target left, both in this area, and overall. So what's the next move, Joker?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up.

"For now? We head back to the entrance so I can handle some stuff, then we go after that final target so we can take care of them. After that, I have a couple more things planned for us to do while we're here. Let's just say I was given some tips on optional battles we can fight to get stronger, and I think we're ready to give them a go while we're here. Though I'm not sure about one of them, since it may or may not involve seeking out a certain dangerous Shadow you warned us about when we first started exploring Mementos, Mona." Joker said as Mona's eyes widened and he spoke up.

"Wait, don't tell me-!? Are you planning on trying to face HIM!? If so, that's both very brave, and possibly very stupid of you!" Mona said as Violet spoke up.

"But in the end, Mona-senpai? It's Joker-senpai's choice as the leader. And I trust his judgement. So if he says we're heading back for now, then that's the end of that." Violet said confidently, making Joker smile at his girlfriend backing him up while the group headed back to the entrance. After going back to a previous rest area on the Path of Da'At to try and track their target, Oracle hit level 96 after defeating a Shadow. After running down a strong Shadow, Skull and Fox hit level 97. After taking out more Shadows, Joker, Draconis, Crow, and Mona all hit level 96. Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Well, it's a step forward." Joker said as his level increased amidst approving smiles from the others. After running down a Shadow on the next floor, Joker's 'Seth' Persona hit level 85, while Panther hit level 97. After running down a strong Shadow, Joker's 'Odin' Persona hit level 94. After a bit, Panther spoke up.

"I hate when people ask me to answer stuff in English for them, just 'cause I lived overseas for a time." Panther said as Oracle huffed and spoke up.

"Hmph? How do you even respond to that kind of ridiculous request when there's no right answer!?" Oracle asked as Draconis spoke up.

"She doesn't, usually. More often than not, her girlfriend would respond for her before she transferred away from Shujin. Since then, people have cut way back on that sort of request. Probably because they know she's close to me and Joker, and whether we like it or not, we have a bit of a reputation among Shujin's population for being 'delinquent transfer students', among other things.

As if I needed that to kick anyone's ass who messes with Panther. She's like my sister, dammit! Much as is the case for every female in this group excluding Oracle, who is obviously my girlfriend. So she knows she can lean on Joker and I if it gets too rough for her." Draconis said bluntly as Panther nodded and the group kept moving. A short time later, the group found a portal and Mona spoke up.

"Oh! Guys, I think we found the final target! Shall we go in after him?" Mona said as Joker nodded and Queen drove the Mona-bus through the portal, where the group was ejected as the Mona-bus shifted back to Mona, in time for not Oracle, but Noir to speak up.

"Say. Isn't that the target over there? So he's Nao Minamoto." Noir said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"Yep, that's him. He wants to die because he hurt his sister by accident once." Queen said as Draconis spoke up.

"Yeah, if you ask me? That sounds strongly like he's being consumed by his guilt, and his conflicting feelings towards his sister." Draconis said as Queen nodded and spoke up. *2*

"Draconis is right. Clearly, we can't leave him." Queen said as Oracle winced and spoke up.

"True. He does look like he's got the resolve of someone who wants to commit suicide. I'd know, as someone who was almost at that point before I joined the team." Oracle said as Draconis nodded, hugging Oracle as he spoke up.

"And all of us thank God each and every day that we were able to save you in time, Oracle." Draconis said as Oracle blushed and spoke up.

"R-Right. Joker! Be careful of this guy!" Oracle said worriedly as Joker nodded and led the group towards Minamoto's Shadow. As they approached, Minamoto's Shadow spoke up.

"Phantom Thieves, huh? So you really came. Good, you're here to take me out. Now I won't be able to hurt my sister ever again." Minamoto's Shadow said as Draconis spoke up.

"WHAT!? Hell no, we're not here to kill you, you dumbass! You say that your death will make it so you'll never be able to hurt your little sister again, but what of when your sister finds out you died!? Won't that hurt her to find that out? Also, that's a coward's way of thinking! I don't care if you hurt your little sister, you can't just run away from it! A real man owns up to their mistakes and does his best to make amends for them!" Draconis said as Queen spoke up.

"Draconis is right. We're not here to kill you. We're here to change your heart." Queen said as Minamoto's Shadow gasped and spoke up.

"WHAT!? Change of heart? No, I want you guys to kill me so I can't harm my sister anymore. Because it kills me to know I caused my sister pain! Because I care for my sister! And at the same time, I hate her! I hate my sister for getting in the way of my life! If it weren't for her, I could have gone to high school, graduated, and even gone to college! I could have hung out with my friends instead of working all the time! Maybe I could have joined a school club!" Minamoto's Shadow said as Skull growled and spoke up.

"What was that!? Think over it harder! There's still a part of you that wants to protect her, even if it means giving up your time, right!?" Skull said disapprovingly as Minamoto's Shadow nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, it's true. I love my sister. I shouldn't think these thoughts, I know. It's not true that I hate her. I care a great deal for her! I want her to have a different life than I do. Heck, I really want her to be happy with her life, even if she moves away from home and finds some lucky man to start a relationship with, things like that. N-No! That's not right! I hate her! I hate her guts!

W-Wait, no! That's not true! Just kill me, please! I want to die before I hurt her again, possibly even worse than before. Mom, dad, why? Why did you leave me like this to raise my little sister, and basically have to sacrifice any semblance of a social life to give her a good life? Why did you leave me!? Why won't you listen to me, dammit!? I told you guys to kill me!" Minamoto's Shadow said as Oracle gasped and spoke up.

"Look out! Security level? CRAZY! Watch out, Joker! He's attacking!" Oracle said in concern as Minamoto's Shadow shifted forms into what Joker knew to be a 'Yoshitsune', as the fight began. At that point, Minamoto's Shadow spoke up.

"You know, the Phantom Thieves are nothing if they don't listen to my request and kill me. Those who seek to wrongfully influence my sister deserve to disappear!" Minamoto's Shadow said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Even if that includes you yourself? Because I think the reason you're like this is that part of you truly, deeply loves your sister. And not just loves her, but loves her more than a brother should probably love their sister. But from what you've said, I don't think that's your fault. If you've truly had to give up any semblance of a social life, as you say, and only have your sister for company for so long, then it's to be expected that some part of you is going to take notice of her as a woman, even if she's related to you.

After all, it's inherently in the makeup of some, if not most, men to be attracted to women. And in your case, if the only woman around you on a regular basis is your own sister, then what other choice do you have than to start taking an interest in her, even if you know that interest to be both wrong and highly immoral? Granted, I can see that part of you also hates that you feel that way, hence the conflicting requests you spew. So I think you really do need a change of heart! And we're the ones to give it to you!" Draconis said as the fight began, ignoring the surprised looks on the faces of Joker, Crow, and Violet.

Violet found herself quickly relegated to support purposes after both of her attack types were revealed to be ineffective against the enemy, so she went about buffing the party and de-buffing Minamoto's Shadow. Mona then helped out by adding buffs to Crow every so often while Crow and Joker did most of the heavy damage dealing with Draconis, since it turned out the enemy had no resistance to Almighty moves. After a bit, Crow looked at Joker and spoke up.

"Joker! Let's put this pest out of his misery and end this!" Crow said as Joker nodded and the two spoke up.

"IT'S SHOWTIME!" Joker and Crow said as their Showtime began! Crow threw his head back and cackled as he spoke up.

"AHAHAHA! SO MUCH POWER! I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!" Crow said as he charged at Minamoto's Shadow, while Joker zip-lined over to him and spoke up.

"CROW! AIM FOR THE WEAK POINT!" Joker said as he flipped down and slashed at Minamoto's Shadow, staggering him as Crow charged in and started slashing furiously with his sword, cackling as he spoke up.

"Right! And as for you! YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! I LIVE FOR THIS! SO DIE, DIE, DIE!" Crow said as he slashed at Minamoto's Shadow with all his might, at the same point that Joker took aim and shot Minamoto's Shadow with a well placed bullet, smirking as Crow spoke up while the two turned and walked off like badasses.

"Not worth my time! PATHETIC!" Crow said as he and Joker walked off while Minamoto's Shadow slumped over, ending the Showtime as he spoke up.

"Oh, I get it now. That's right, I can't just up and die. I'm still needed in my sister's life." Minamoto's Shadow said as the battle ended. From the ensuing EXP gain, Queen hit level 98. After the fight, Minamoto's Shadow slumped over and spoke up.

"Huff, huff." Minamoto's Shadow said as Queen gave him a concerned look and spoke up.

"How are you feeling? Are you all right? Have you calmed down? It must have been hard to tell yourself that you hate your sister, even when it's a lie." Queen said as Minamoto's Shadow spoke up.

"Yeah, it really is. But it's not something I told myself." Minamoto's Shadow said as Queen blinked and spoke up in confusion.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Queen asked as Minamoto's Shadow spoke up.

"I mean that I refused to believe that some part of me felt that way about my sister. The more I refused it, the larger that feeling got, until it became monstrous and hard to control. Had you guys not come along, I might well have been consumed by it. And that's not fair, to me or to my sister. Also, feeling that way is childish of me. But now I can accept that part of myself and make peace with it." Minamoto's Shadow said as Queen blinked and spoke up.

"Oh? Does that mean that you've made your peace with your feelings? Also, does it mean that you really did hate your sister?" Queen asked as Minamoto's Shadow shamefully nodded and spoke up.

"Yes. Those are my true feelings. But, as the guy in the dragon mask said, it's also true that I love her. Both feelings were real." Minamoto's Shadow said as Draconis' eyes widened behind his mask before he spoke up.

"FOR REAL!? I mean, I had a hunch you had complex feelings for her, but I didn't actually think you loved her? Mind, that's not a bad thing if you do, as long as you don't take that love too far. And also, I think you should sit your sister down and try to talk with her and be honest with her about how you feel. You might be surprised at what she has to say on the subject.

Sure, it might be awkward for her to hear that you love her, but you owe it to her to tell her the truth, dammit. And I have confidence that she'll try to help you through this. And since you claim you hurt her, does that not also mean you owe it to her to be honest with her and not lie to her?" Draconis said bluntly as Joker spoke up with a nod.

"What my brother said. Also? No more wanting to die. We don't do hits in the Phantom Thieves. Besides, we aren't going to hurt your little sister by taking you away from her." Joker said flatly to Minamoto's Shadow, who smiled and nodded as he spoke up.

"You're right, both of you. Thank you. Even after I told you that I hate my sister, you still tell me that there's hope to make things work with her and reconcile with her. Maybe I sent out that request because those were the words I wanted to hear all along. And it's true that I probably can't be with my sister after injuring her, but even so, I'm so glad that I was able to feel that I love my sister again." Minamoto's Shadow said as Draconis winced and spoke up.

"Yes, well, as good as it is that you seem to be feeling better, I still feel I must warn you that it's your sister's choice on how she handles your admissions, and also her choice if she decides to feel the same way about you that you seem to feel about her. So no pressuring her into anything. And honestly, I think you should try making some other friends too, so that if your sister does turn you down gently, it won't be so devastating to you.

After all, we've only had this limited reaction with you, but I can tell you have the potential to be a great person if you apply yourself, Minamoto-san. So get back up and keep trying. And we'll be rooting for you to make things up with your sister." Draconis said with a smile as Minamoto's Shadow nodded and returned the smile while speaking up.

"Thank you, Phantom Thieves. I owe you one!" Minamoto's Shadow said as he faded away to return to his real self, leaving behind the bud of his Treasure, which Joker seized to receive 8 'Strength Up Ofuda' items. At that point, the group's phones pinged to signify that the Mementos request 'O My Young Sister, I Cry For You' was now marked as 'Request COMPLETED'. As Joker spun on his heel and turned to leave, Draconis spoke up.

"Well, I guess all's well that ends well for that guy? Also, incredible! I think we just finished the last of the Mementos requests! Great work, everyone!" Draconis said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"This is amazing! I expected nothing less from the Phantom Thieves, though. Well, what now? Do you want to keep exploring?" Crow asked as Mona spoke up.

"I can now confirm that we have successfully dispatched all our remaining targets. So what's our next plan, Joker?" Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Well, for now, let's head back to the entrance so we can re-charge and I can re-assess the front lines, since we might have to switch a few people out for this next battle." Joker said honestly as Crow spoke up.

"True. If nothing else, seems as good a time as any to call it a night." Crow said as the group headed back to the entrance. Once there, Joker fast-traveled the group to the Cognitive Control Room at the top of the Path of Da'At. Once the group reached their destination, Skull spoke up.

"We made it. I'll let you decide what we do going forward, Joker." Skull said as Joker spoke up.

"Right. Well, if that's the case, then let's proceed, since the first of the two optional battles I was told about is here. Once we deal with it successfully, then I can mention the other one, but I think Mona already has an idea who the other battle will be against." Joker said as the group nodded and kept moving. Once the group moved forward a bit, they were surprised to find Jose parked in the Cognitive Control Room. Once he noticed the group approaching, Jose looked up and spoke in a decidedly subdued tone.

"Oh, hey guys, didn't expect to see you here. Good job." Jose said in a subdued tone as Noir blinked and spoke up.

"Hm? Jose-chan, you seem kinda down." Noir said as Panther spoke up.

"Is something wrong?" Panther asked as Jose spoke up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry, pretty ladies." Jose said, either not seeing or ignoring the two pairs of twitching eyes from Mona and Crow at his rather blatant display of flirting with Noir and Panther. Jose then kept speaking.

"I know I sound subdued and even a bit down, but a lot's happened lately. Before I got here, I was able to drink so many flowers. That was all thanks to you guys. So I thought I was beginning to understand humans after that. But now, the more flowers I drink, the less I understand them instead." Jose said as Draconis chuckled and spoke up.

"Maybe that's because you drink flowers? Just putting it out there, but humans don't typically drink flowers." Draconis said gently. Joker blinked at Jose and spoke up.

"Draconis is right in what he said. But Jose, what do you mean, the less you understand humans?" Joker asked. Skull grinned and spoke up before Jose could answer Joker, either not seeing or ignoring the simultaneous facefaults his next question would get from Mona, Crow, Draconis, Oracle, Violet and Queen.

"Ohhh, I gotcha. It's like love, right? Y'know, puppy love?" Skull said as Fox blinked and spoke up.

"You understand his explanation? Skull, you surprise me sometimes." Fox said as Oracle scoffed and spoke up.

"Psh, as if! Skull, you know squat about love." Oracle said as Draconis spoke up with a sly grin.

"I dunno about that one, Oracle. Skull's dating the student council president of Shujin Academy, is he not? So I'd say he knows at least something to pull that off." Draconis pointed out wisely. Skull frowned at Oracle and spoke up.

"Shut up, Oracle! I know what I'm talking about! Pretty much! Also, Draconis is right! Would I have Queen as my girlfriend if I knew squat about love as you claim, Oracle?" Skull pointed out. Jose then spoke up, and when he did, Mona, Draconis, and Joker all had to stifle laughs at what he said next, even as the former of the three had to be restrained by Draconis.

"Boneface is right. I've learned about humans in a manner similar to falling in love. When you learn more about a subject, it's often more than unexpected. In fact, it's the exact opposite of what you liked about it. Just like with love." Jose said as Draconis grinned and spoke up.

"Ah, so it's sort of like the dynamic between Crow and Noir, then? For the longest time, Noir thought Crow was handsome, charismatic, and charming. I think she might even have carried a torch for him at one point. However, when the truth of his true nature came to light, those feelings were considerably diminished, though I think she still somewhat cares for him, even if she's likely conflicted on how to feel about him after what he did to her dad. Sort of like that?" Draconis said as both Crow and Noir glared at Draconis for using them as an example while Jose spoke up.

"Sounds accurate enough." Jose said as Skull spoke up with wide eyes.

"R-Right!? You see, Oracle!?" Skull said as Oracle just childishly stuck her tongue out at Skull in response while Jose spoke up.

"I want to learn more about humans, I really do. But I wonder if I'll learn what I need to about them just by keeping at it like this for a while." Jose said as Crow thought about it and spoke up.

"Good point. In that case, mind if I propose a simple solution? Why study humans at all? Why not just give it up?" Crow asked as Draconis spoke up.

"You would tell the kid to give it up. Might want to work on that, since I can't imagine any kid of yours would be very apt to go to you for a pep talk otherwise." Draconis said with a chuckle, as Skull high fived Draconis for his comment. Jose spoke up before Crow could even begin to tear into Draconis for his comment.

"I can't do that. I promised someone that I'd study humans." Jose said as Panther blinked at this and spoke up with wide eyes.

"Oh? Who'd you promise?" Panther asked as Jose's eyes widened slightly as he realized what he'd said and spoke up in a flustered tone.

"Err, sorry. Forget I said that." Jose said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"Yes, I can see how that would worry you, Jose. There are times where the truth seems to move further away from you, the more you strive to reach it." Queen said as Violet spoke up with a slight frown.

"He's not alone, you know. I've dealt with similar problems, so I can totally relate. I aim to handle them whenever the opportunity presents itself, though." Violet said as Joker smirked and spoke up while patting his girlfriend on the shoulder in a comforting manner.

"That's because you're so sweet, pure, and amazing, Violet. And if I have anything to say about it, you'll get that opportunity." Joker said firmly as Violet smiled at him and Jose spoke up.

"I really appreciate your help with this. So, I need an opportunity to further my studies of humans. Hm, I wonder? Oh, that's it! Could I ask you guys a favor? I'd like you to fight me." Jose said as Crow and Mona both smirked at this and Draconis spoke up with wide eyes.

"I don't think he means destroy him, you two. Granted, that's kind of a moot point to ask Crow not to go all-out in a fight. And Mona, I suppose you could call this overdue paybacks for all the times he flirted with Lady Panther in front of you. Still, that doesn't mean you get to kill him. He asked us to fight him." Draconis said as Joker spoke up.

"Indeed he did. And this attitude of yours is why you're on the front lines for that fight, along with Crow and Violet." Joker said as Mona pouted and spoke up.

"WHAT!? How come he gets to be on the front lines?" Mona said in a whiny tone as Draconis smiled and patted Mona on the head while speaking up.

"Probably because Joker knows I can keep myself in check rather easily. Though I almost think Joker should swap Crow out for you, since I feel like you're less likely to tear Jose apart than Crow is. No offense Crow, but you do have a lot of bloodlust in you." Draconis said as Crow shrugged and spoke up.

"Eh, it's not offensive if it's true. But still, I can hold back when needed." Crow said as Joker nodded before turning to Jose and speaking up.

"Fight you, you say? We can do that, but why do we have to fight you?" Joker asked. Oracle nodded her agreement and spoke up.

"Uh, yeah, I think you left out a step or three. I'm not following here." Oracle said as Jose smiled and spoke up.

"I've learned something from studying humans all this time. When humans suffer, they vent their emotions so they can move forward with their lives. And well, right now, I'm suffering. And the only people I can vent at are you guys for now. And the most common way to vent one's emotions, at least that I've seen, is to fight." Jose said as Skull's eyes widened before he spoke up.

"FOR REAL!? You wanna get physical here!? You can't just go and pick a fight with us outta nowhere!" Skull said in shock as Panther spoke up with a frown. *3*

"What do we do? I definitely didn't expect this to happen." Panther said as Joker spoke up.

"I kinda expected it. I was told we could find a strong opponent here. I wasn't told it'd be Jose, though." Joker said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Well, regardless of if we expected it or not, unless we fight him? I don't think we'll know whether or not this is his 'opportunity', as he claims. We simply have to decide if we're going to humor him." Crow said as Mona turned to Joker and spoke up.

"What do you think? Should we fight Jose?" Mona asked Joker, who thought about it and spoke up.

"I think we're as ready as we're gonna be, so let's fight him." Joker said decisively. Jose smiled at hearing Joker's decision and spoke up.

"Thanks. This may be sudden, but it can't be helped. Anyways, here I come!" Jose said as he backflipped into his car and drove up to the group as a fight started! As the fight started, Jose spoke up. *4*

"All right, I'm going to start venting now, you guys. So don't expect me to hold back!" Jose said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"The feeling's mutual, Jose. Let's fight this out, and may the best side win." Draconis said as the fight began. Joker, Draconis, and Crow smirked as they spoke up.

"LET'S DO IT! SHOW YOURSELF, RAOUL!/DESCEND, MALEFOR!/TO ME, LOKI!" Joker, Draconis, and Crow said as they summoned their Personas out, followed shortly after by Skull, Mona, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Violet summoning out Seiten Taisei, Diego, Hecate, Kamu Susano-o, Anat, Saruman, Astarte, and Saruman respectively. Joker looked at the others and spoke up.

"All right, here's the plan! Crow, you focus on debuffing the foe! Violet, you and Draconis alternate between chip damage and support where necessary! I'll focus mainly on damage! The rest of you, feel free to throw in chip damage where needed and/or use buffs if you can." Joker said as the group nodded and started going to work on their tasks. After a bit, Draconis looked at Jose and spoke up.

"Let's see how you like the heat, kid! IT'S TIME, MALEFOR! SHOW HIM YOUR WRATH!" Draconis said as Malefor nodded, landing in front of Jose and glaring as he breathed out a torrent of white-hot flames at Jose, who winced at the Almighty assault before staggering backwards and speaking up as Draconis walked back to the others.

"Ow, that smarts! That hurts more than I thought it would." Jose said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"What do you expect, taking a dragon's flame breath at pretty much point-blank range like that? It's impressive you didn't end up a blinking pile of ashes like in the cartoons, though." Draconis said with a smirk as Jose nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough. But, that's not all of your feelings yet, is it? We're just getting started. Try to keep up with me!" Jose said as the fight kept going. While the group kept throwing damage at Jose, Joker and Violet looked at each other as Joker spoke up.

"I know we've only used it the one other time before now, but what say we bust out our new skill on this guy, Violet?" Joker asked as Violet smiled and spoke up.

"Joker-senpai? I'd like nothing more. Let's get him!" Violet said as Joker and Violet nodded and spoke up in unison.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Joker and Violet said as their Showtime started. Joker looked over at Violet and spoke up.

"Shall we, milady?" Joker asked Violet, who smiled and nodded as Joker scooped her up bridal-style and ziplined up above Jose, priming his pistol as he and Violet peppered Jose with a barrage of gunfire, after which Joker tossed Violet up into the air and spoke up.

"Violet! NOW!" Joker said as Violet nodded and spoke up.

"Right! Time to smite this foe with grace and boldness!" Violet said as she dove down, rapier extended, smiling as she saw an image of Kasumi who also brandished a rapier as the two did an intricate dance of flurried rapier slashes at Jose, staggering him backwards as Joker took aim at Jose and fired a shot into the tire of Jose's car, clocking good damage on Jose as Violet landed in Joker's arms and spoke up.

"Heh, we sure showed him, eh Senpai?" Violet said, blushing slightly as Joker dipped her into a twirl, his pistol still in his free hand as he did so, silently daring Jose to say a word about his and Violet's Showtime, as the Showtime in mention ended. After it ended, Jose winced and spoke up.

"Huh? I'm starting to enjoy this more than I thought I would." Jose said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Yeah? It sounds like someone's starting to feel alive then! Which is good, since I live for combat!" Crow said sadistically as Draconis and Violet both winced behind him while Jose spoke up.

"Why, though? This hurts so much, but yet I find myself living for it. I'm actually enjoying it?" Jose said as Mona spoke up.

"It's called your instinct, Jose. You're starting to feel the rush of battle. But don't expect us to go easy on you, since you chose to pick a fight with us!" Mona said as Jose nodded and spoke up.

"You're right, Mister Cat! Oh wait, I need to focus. Here I come, folks!" Jose said as the battle resumed. Joker and Crow nodded to each other and had Raoul and Loki combine their strongest Curse attacks into a blob of super-charged Curse energy, which slammed into Jose for heavy damage as Oracle turned to Draconis and spoke up.

"Heh, wanna give this guy an old-fashioned boom?" Oracle asked Draconis, who smirked and nodded as he spoke up.

"Naturally. I was hoping you'd ask that, Oracle." Draconis said as Oracle spoke up.

"Mwehehe, so we're in agreement. Let's do it!" Oracle said as she and Draconis nodded and spoke up in unison.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Oracle and Draconis said as their Showtime started. Draconis looked over at Malefor and Oracle before speaking up as he primed his staff.

"MALEFOR! ORACLE! YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO! LET'S LIGHT THIS UP!" Draconis said as Oracle and Malefor nodded, the former having Prometheus drop a bomb into her hands as she tossed it up for Malefor to light the fuse on, Draconis pulling his staff up in a batter stance as he spoke up.

"HA! SWING, BATTER-BATTER! SWING! BATTER UP!" Draconis said as he swung his staff like a baseball bat at the falling bomb, connecting with it as it reached his eye level and hurling it towards Jose, whose eyes widened in shock as Oracle smirked and spoke up.

"Mwehehe, and now's the part where I add my personal touch to things. BOOM!" Oracle said as she took aim and fired a bolt from her wrist laser at the bomb, launching it right into Jose's face, where it exploded on impact, at the same time that Oracle and Draconis slammed their staves down and spoke up in unison.

"HA! HOW DO YOU LIKE US NOW!?" Draconis and Oracle said as Jose stumbled backwards from the impact, both him and his car visibly scorched by the explosion as the Showtime ended. Jose then winced and spoke up.

"I really understand how you feel now. Thank you." Jose said as he pulled out a flower drink and sipped it before speaking up.

"Ahh. Now, it's time to show you how I feel! THIS is what I've learned from studying humans! Time for you to witness my true feelings!" Jose said as the fight resumed! Jose then hurled up a ball of fireworks before throwing various elemental balls at the group, managing to scatter the backups, actually downing both Queen and Skull by chance with hits to their weaknesses, Draconis gritted his teeth at this and spoke up.

"Oh, so it's like that, huh!? I see how it is." Draconis said before turning to Mona and speaking up.

"Mona! You, Violet, and Panther get Queen and Skull back up! It's time we finish this guy!" Draconis said as Mona, Violet and Panther nodded before turning to Joker and Crow as he kept speaking.

"Joker and Crow? Let's combine our strongest skills to stall Jose while Mona and the girls get the others back up so we can use our group combo strike to finish this." Draconis said as Joker and Crow nodded, the three having their Personas throw their strongest moves at Jose to stall him. And once the combo hit for massive damage, Skull and Queen got to their feet as Draconis glared at Jose and spoke up.

"You're pretty tough, kid! But not nearly tough enough! And I think it's time you got a taste of the combined fury of the Phantom Thieves! READY, GUYS?" Draconis said as he turned to the other Phantom Thieves, who nodded at this and spoke up.

"READY!" Joker, Crow, Mona, Violet, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, and Noir said as all of them spoke up in unison.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Crow, Violet, and Draconis said as their group Showtime began! Draconis turned to face the others as he spoke up.

"Now, guys! Focus on your arcana and let's show this guy our power!" Draconis said as the others nodded and spoke up.

"RIGHT! ARCANA POWER, GO!" Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Crow, Violet, and Draconis said in unison as Joker spoke up.

"POWER OF THE FOOL!" Joker said as he fired a dark-red burst of energy into the formed sphere.

"POWER OF THE MAGICIAN!" Mona said as he fired a forest green blast of energy into the sphere.

"POWER OF THE HIGH PRIESTESS!" Queen said as she fired a dark blue burst of energy into the sphere.

"POWER OF THE EMPRESS!" Noir said as she fired a purple burst of energy into the sphere, which increased in size.

"POWER OF THE EMPEROR!" Fox said as he fired an aquamarine burst of energy into the sphere.

"POWER OF THE LOVERS!" Panther said as she fired a pink burst of energy into the sphere.

"POWER OF THE CHARIOT!" Skull said as he fired a yellow burst of energy into the sphere, which got bigger at this point. Crow sighed in irritation as he spoke up.

"Oh, come on! Do I really have to do this!? Ugh, fine! POWER OF THE JUSTICE!" Crow said as he fired a brown burst of energy into the sphere.

"MWEHEHE! POWER OF THE HERMIT!" Oracle said as she fired a light green burst of energy into the sphere.

"POWER OF THE FAITH!" Violet said as she fired a light-red burst of energy into the sphere which grew massive as Draconis stepped up and smirked before speaking up.

"AND NOW TO COMPLETE THE SPHERE! POWER OF THE WORLD!" Draconis said as he fired a dark-green burst of energy into the sphere which now glowed all the colors of the rainbow. Draconis then chuckled as he kept speaking.

"Good, it's ready! Here goes! HA!" Draconis said as he tossed a throwing knife into the sphere, which was absorbed into the knife as the blade and hilt extended until they were both the size of a two-handed sword, which Draconis easily hefted in both hands, glaring at Jose as he spoke up once more.

"And now, to show you the combined power of the Phantom Thieves! Here goes!" Draconis said, charging forward as he and the others spoke up in unison.

"HA! MAX ARCANA STRIKE, GO!" Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Crow, Violet, and Draconis said as the latter swung the two-handed sword at Jose, causing a wave of rainbow energy to fly forward, slamming into Jose and his car, sending the former flying into the seat of the latter where he landed with a crash, groaning as he slowly sat up as Draconis slammed the blade into the ground and spoke up.

"That was an impressive performance, but you lost in the end, kid! SURRENDER!" Draconis said as the Showtime ended with him and the others turning away as Jose spoke up.

"Urgh, that hurts. So, this is how it feels to lose? Not as painful as I thought it'd be. Well done." Jose said as he slumped over in the car, ending the battle. From the ensuing EXP gains, Joker, Crow, Draconis, Mona, and Oracle hit level 97 while Noir, Violet, Fox, and Skull hit level 98. Panther, oddly enough, didn't get a level up, nor did Queen. Joker then spoke up at that point.

"All right! With this victory, I've leveled up!" Joker said as Draconis spoke up.

"We'll allow you that one since this was a significant battle, Joker. But don't get too used to that." Draconis said as Joker's level increased. After the battle, Jose sat on the ground and groaned as he spoke up.

"Owwwww, that smarts. You guys really pack a punch. Still, good job all around. Sorry about that spontaneous decision to challenge you to a fight." Jose said as Joker spoke up.

"Understand how we feel now, Jose?" Joker asked. Jose nodded and spoke up.

"Oh, yeah. I understand that painfully well, hahaha. Also, Draconis' power is almost terrifying to behold." Jose said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Well, not to brag, but my powers were modeled after those of a Chaos Drake, so of course my moves will pack more of a punch than most." Draconis said as Crow spoke up dryly.

"Yet, you've still only managed to log one win against me, and even then, it was closer to a tie. We won't count the win you all got as a group since we're referring to single-combat wins. To this day, Joker is the only one of you to legitimately notch a win in that regard against me." Crow said as Joker smirked while Jose spoke up.

"Thanks to all of you, I-" Jose said as Oracle spoke up and cut him off.

"Ooh! Didja learn something new!?" Oracle asked, only to facefault with Draconis, Joker, Mona, Violet, and Crow a moment later as Jose spoke up.

"I'm pretty sure I understand humans less than ever!" Jose said as the entire group sweatdropped after the people who facefaulted got back up. Panther spoke up with wide eyes at that point.

"What are you saying?" Panther asked as Fox spoke up with a frown.

"Good question, Panther. Truth be told, I was anticipating he'd say the exact opposite of that at this point." Fox said as Violet smiled and spoke up.

"Yeah, I agree, Fox-senpai. Honestly, I was hoping things would end on a happy note here." Violet said as Queen spoke up with a frown.

"Well, this is an issue, isn't it?" Queen said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"I'm sorry we couldn't help you, Jose-chan." Noir said. Jose blinked and spoke up.

"Um, why are you sorry?" Jose asked as a wide-eyed Skull spoke up.

"Well, you did say you understand humans even less now, an' all that." Skull said as Jose spoke up.

"But that's great news." Jose said as Joker and Draconis exchanged confused looks as the former of the two spoke up.

"What do you mean by that?" Joker asked. Jose spoke up at that point.

"Simple. Humans aren't the easiest to comprehend. That's why they can get lost and look for other people they trust. Sometimes, they even try to accomplish the impossible with those people, just to say that they could do it. Kinda like you all just tried to do for me. Now I'm sure that's what it means to be human. So, it's impossible to learn everything about humans in such a short time. Although, it did make me realize just how much I love them!" Jose said as Crow spoke up.

"I see. So our assistance, would you say it was to your satisfaction?" Crow asked as Jose spoke up.

"Yup. I finally understand now, so I can go back to that person whenever I want." Jose said as Panther spoke up.

"Hey, Jose. If you can answer this, who's this person you keep mentioning? And while we're at it, who're YOU?" Panther asked as Jose spoke up in a flustered tone.

"I don't know what you're asking. I am me. I'm Jose, a boy who got a little smarter, because I met all of you." Jose said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Wait, so you're saying you got smarter from meeting Skull? That's a first. Usually people who meet Skull end up less smart for the experience, not more." Draconis said teasingly as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Shut up! I know I'm not the smartest of us, but still!" Skull said as Draconis spoke up.

"Relax, Skull. I was only teasing you. Sorry for hurting your feelings." Draconis said as Skull pouted and the others laughed before Jose spoke up.

"No matter who we are, we're always searching for our selves as a way of bettering ourselves. Just remember, there are more folks observing humankind than you might realize." Jose said, making Draconis, Oracle, and Joker all exchange wide-eyed looks, wondering if Jose was alluding to more beings like Yaldabaoth with his last remark. The latter of the three then spoke up.

"Um, who do you mean by that, Jose?" Joker asked warily. Jose chuckled and spoke up.

"Heh, it's a secret for now. You'll find out someday. Also, I have something for you, basically a little something to thank you for spending so much time helping me. Here. Take this." Jose said as he handed Joker a 'Star Water Tray' item. Jose chuckled as he kept speaking.

"Heheh, I see. This is so interesting. Oh, humans, such silly creatures. No wonder the others just can't leave 'em be." Jose said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Mona asked as Jose spoke up.

"Heh, don't worry. It's nothing. See ya, guys! Thank you so much!" Jose said before he looked at Joker and kept speaking.

"Oh, I hope you'll still help me collect flowers, too. Off I go! Good job!" Jose said as he got into his car, which sputtered as he drove off, making Draconis blink in surprise at it still being operational after all the punishment it took from his, Joker, and Crow's attacks. Queen then frowned and spoke up.

"I don't fully understand what just happened, but did that take care of his problem?" Queen said as Panther giggled and spoke up with a closed eye smile.

"Jose is so powerful. Also, he may be weird, but he sure is a cute lil kid! Hee hee!" Panther said as Mona facefaulted and spoke up with a sputter.

"Wha-Lady Panther!? I'm cute too, you know." Mona said as Draconis laughed and spoke up while patting Mona on the head comfortingly.

"Oh, Mona. I guess some things never change, do they?" Draconis said as the group laughed at the pout on Mona's face. After heading back to the entrance and shuffling around the group's equipment a bit, Joker spoke up.

"Right, now that we've defeated Jose, time to reveal the other fight I was told about. As most of you might recall, Mona warned us about a certain very powerful enemy that lurks in Mementos that is usually one to avoid. However, as strong as we are, I think we might be at the point where we're ready to actually test our might against them. So for our last bit of business in Mementos on this run, I propose we seek out and confront the one Mona previously called 'The Reaper'. I think we can beat it if we work together." Joker said as both Mona and Draconis' eyes widened at this, the former speaking up.

"WHAT!? Are you sure, Joker!? There's horror stories about that thing! I heard it even defeated Lady Lavenza once! So we need to not underestimate that thing if we are going after it! Everyone needs to bring their A-game for this fight!" Mona said as Draconis spoke up.

"Mona's right. I remember Lady Lavenza and someone she called Igor talking about the Reaper once. Supposedly, it's so tough that even most gods have a hard time against it, hence why it's confined to lurking inside Mementos. So we need to handle this fight with all due caution." Draconis said as the group nodded and headed into the first part of the Path of Chemdah, figuring it was a low-risk area to flush the Reaper out in. As the group rode around to seek out the Reaper, Mona spoke up.

"Heh, Joker looks so cool when he's using that grappling hook." Mona said as Skull spoke up.

"Right? That's the head of the Phantom Thieves for ya." Skull said as the group kept moving. After a bit, Violet spoke up.

"Ah, now that I think about it, a Phantom Thief's outfit is pretty representative of their rebellion, right?" Violet asked as Noir spoke up.

"That's right. Oh, but yours is pretty similar to Joker's, isn't it?" Noir asked as Oracle giggled and spoke up.

"Mwehehe! I think that's because, even back then, she was already head over heels for Joker but wouldn't admit it. After all, I think we all agree that Joker and Violet are the true power couple of the Phantom Thieves, as much as such pairs as myself and Draconis, Skull and Queen, or even Crow and Noir are all adorable as well." Oracle said as both Crow and Noir glared at her for dragging them into her remark while Draconis chuckled and spoke up.

"Be nice, Oracle. You know full well Crow and Noir are touchy about being used as examples, Crow moreso than Noir." Draconis said as Oracle pouted and spoke up.

"Ugh, fine. I'll behave." Oracle said with a pout as the group kept moving. After a bit, Noir spoke up.

"Ugh, my hands get all calloused when I work with my plants. But it comes with the territory in gardening, I suppose." Noir said as Mona spoke up.

"Huh. No fur, stubby nails? Man, being a human sure sounds rough. Make sure you take proper care of yourself, okay?" Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"You say that like being you isn't also rough, Mona. I mean think about it. You spent HOW long without your memories thinking you were a human and trying to get your true form? And even now, you still somewhat simp for both Noir and Panther. I'm actually both relieved and impressed your simping didn't extend to Violet and/or Oracle as well." Joker said as Mona smirked and spoke up.

"Yes, well, I am a gentleman. And I recall hearing through Oracle's bugs about a time that you and Draconis were yelling at Fox about something called the 'bro code' once? I'm not entirely sure what that is, but I intend to abide by it, and as you and Draconis are already dating Violet and Oracle respectively, I'm not about to try and hit on your girlfriends." Mona said as Draconis laughed and spoke up with a grin. *5*

"HA! That is such a load of crap, Mona. And you're a hypocrite if you say you don't go after other people's girlfriends, since you simp for Panther and Noir. And we all know Panther has a girlfriend already in Suzui-san, while it's an unspoken truth that Noir technically still has a fiance, even if there's probably another guy she'd rather be with." Draconis said, winking subtly at Crow as he spoke up, ignoring the unimpressed frown he got in response from Crow as the group kept moving. After a bit, Queen spoke up.

"I've been working on my grades so I can still attend college, even while doing work as a Phantom Thief." Queen said as Noir spoke up.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine. I need to step up my game so I don't get left behind while everyone else moves on." Noir said as Draconis spoke up.

"You? Get left behind? Never gonna happen, Noir. If nothing else, Joker and I won't let that happen to you, big sis. Plus, Mona would skin any of us who dare leave you behind, to say nothing of what Crow might do." Draconis said as Mona nodded approvingly and Crow merely huffed while the group kept moving. After a bit, Crow spoke up.

"The Shadows in this area behave differently from the way they usually do in a Palace, don't they?" Crow said as Oracle spoke up.

"They're kinda like wildlife in a way. They'd be almost cute if they didn't look the way they do." Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"Oracle, if you think Shadows look like wildlife, we need to consider making one of our group outings a trip to a zoo so you can see actual wildlife." Draconis said dryly as the group kept moving. After a while, Mona spoke up.

"Panther, I just noticed that we have matching tails!" Mona said as Noir spoke up.

"I wonder if her tail ever gets in the way?" Noir asked as Violet winced and spoke up.

"Umm, are your tails really matching if they're different colors, Mona-senpai? Just putting that out there." Violet said as the group kept moving. After a while of idling around, Mona's fur stood up on end as he spoke up in horror.

"Joker, be careful. I'm getting an ominous feeling from nearby. Proceed with caution." Mona said warily as Joker nodded, shortly before the group started hearing an ominous jangling sound, similar to that of chains being dragged around. After a moment, Draconis and Crow both turned around to look behind the Mona-bus, and their eyes widened at the sight of a very scary looking Shadow with guns that had an eerie red aura rippling from it. As if amplifying the creepy factor on the scary looking Shadow, the group saw chains trailing behind it as it slowly approached the group. At that point, Crow spoke up, his eyes widened slightly behind his mask.

"No way. Such power...is THAT the Reaper!?" Crow asked as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Correct, Crow, and it's coming right at us! Brace for impact!" Mona said as the Reaper slammed into the Mona-bus head on, throwing it backwards and ejecting the others from it as Mona shifted back to normal before Crow, Joker, Draconis and Violet moved out onto the front lines with the others as the showdown with the Reaper began! At the start, Draconis frowned while turning to face Joker as he spoke up.

"Joker! We need to take this fight seriously! Didn't you tell me that Raoul has a buff move in its arsenal!? If so, use it! Also, the rest of us need to start trying to prepare our buff, debuff and attack moves to hit this thing hard and fast!" Draconis said as Joker nodded and spoke up while turning to face the other Phantom Thieves.

"Right. Well!? You all heard Draconis! Let's do this!" Joker said as the others nodded, summoning their Personas as they took turns throwing their strongest attacks of their respective elements at the Reaper, the entire group's eyes widening when none of the attacks seemed to do more than superficial damage. Oracle gasped and spoke up.

"WHAT!? This thing has no weakness!? That can't be right, can it?" Oracle said as Violet spoke up.

"I think it can, Oracle-senpai! But we're able to hold our own against it, I feel." Violet said as Oracle nodded and the group kept throwing attacks at the Reaper. After a while, the Reaper took aim at Mona and fired a torrent of lightning at it, knocking him backwards onto his back. Draconis and Panther sprinted over to Mona's side as the former spoke up.

"Mona! Speak to me, man!" Draconis said as Mona spoke up.

"I'm okay. That was just a flesh wound." Mona said wearily as Panther chuckled fondly and used 'Diarahan' to try and patch up Mona's wounds a bit, which worked enough to get him onto his feet. At that point, Joker, Crow, and Draconis combined their strongest attacks to knock the Reaper backwards for good damage. As the Reaper started panting a bit, showing it was weakening, Crow turned to Joker and spoke up.

"Joker, I think at this point our only option is to start breaking out our Showtimes and hope that does enough damage to take this thing out! Are you with me?" Crow asked Joker, who nodded and spoke up.

"I am, Crow. Let's get him!" Joker said as Crow nodded and the two spoke up.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Crow and Joker said as their Showtime started. Crow cackled as he spoke up.

"AHAHAHA! I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!" Crow said as Joker flew past while zip-lining towards the Reaper, looking at Crow while he spoke up.

"CROW! AIM FOR THE HEAD!" Joker said as Crow nodded, rushing forward to slash at the Reaper's head while speaking up maniacally.

"I LIVE FOR THIS! AHAHAHAHA! EAT IT, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!" Crow said as he hacked at the Reaper repeatedly until Joker flipped down next to him, took aim, and blasted the Reaper in the torso with a single bullet before he and Crow walked off like badasses as Crow spoke up.

"Pathetic. That thing wasn't worth my time." Crow said as their Showtime ended. The Reaper then glared at Crow and Joker while struggling to his feet. The battle then resumed, with everyone giving it all they had, even if the Reaper occasionally landed a hard hit or two on the group, which was quickly patched up between Panther, Queen and Mona. After a while of trading blows with the Reaper, Fox looked at Skull and spoke up.

"Skull, shall we give this swine a taste of OUR special move?" Fox asked as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Hell yeah, Fox! Let's get 'em!" Skull said as the two spoke up.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Skull and Fox said as their Showtime started. Skull groaned as he had a seat on a counter in front of Fox and spoke up.

"Ugh, I'm runnin' on empty, man." Skull said as Fox smirked and spoke up.

"Not to worry! Behold! I pour my soul! INTO THIS BOWL!" Fox said as he grabbed a bowl and started throwing together the ingredients for a good ramen bowl, making Skull grin as he pumped a fist and spoke up while digging into his meal.

"Ha, what a master! Mmm, so good! I-eh?" Skull said, before glaring as he saw the Reaper peering into the door, pulling out his shotgun as he spoke up.

"I'M TRYIN' TO EAT HERE!" Skull said as he and Fox pelted the Reaper with their guns as Skull pulled a grenade from his pocket, pulled the pin and tossed it at the Reaper as he kept speaking.

"HERE YOU GO! MY TREAT!" Skull said as he tossed the grenade towards the Reaper, in time for one of Fox's rifle shots to catch it full-on, making it explode in the Reaper's face as it was pushed back and staggered, ending the Showtime. Draconis gritted his teeth as he saw this and spoke up.

"Dammit! For real though, how many Showtimes can that thing take!? I'm hoping not too many. I think so far, the only people not to use a Showtime are Mona, Queen, and Noir, and technically everyone's secondary Showtimes." Draconis said as Violet heard this, getting an idea as she turned to Oracle and spoke up.

"Oracle-senpai, let's break our move out, since it's one of the more powerful Showtimes in our arsenal. And if that doesn't take out the Reaper, we can fall back on Queen-senpai and Noir-senpai's Showtime, if we don't opt for one of Mona-senpai's Showtimes instead. Interested?" Violet said as Oracle smiled and spoke up.

"Y'know what? Sure. Let's do it, Violet! Time to put this jerk in his place!" Oracle said as she nodded and the two red-headed girls spoke up.

"HA! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Oracle and Violet said as their Showtime started. Violet rushed at the Reaper with her rapier in hand and slashed at him while speaking up.

"HA! TAKE THAT!" Violet said, slashing at the Reaper before backflipping off its torso towards Prometheus, where she was beamed up and replaced by Vanadis moments later, who fired several bursts of Bless energy into the Reaper point-blank before being beamed back up and replaced with Oracle, who smirked and spoke up, energy staff in hand.

"HA! TAKE THIS! HERMIT STAFF STRIKE!" Oracle said as she spun her staff around, jabbing the back end straight into the Reaper as she pole-vaulted away with it, only for Violet to beam back out of Prometheus at that point, rapier extended as she drilled towards the Reaper, hitting it for massive damage as she flipped away to land by Oracle, who took aim and hit the Reaper in the face with a shot from her wrist laser as she spoke up.

"HEH, THIS IS IT! WITH THE METTLE OF A FORMER SHUT-IN..." Oracle said as Violet spoke up at that point.

"AND THE GRACE OF A GYMNAST..." Violet added as both girls spoke up to finish the sentence.

"WE HEREBY END YOUR ACCURSED EXISTENCE! BEGONE!" Violet and Oracle both said as Saruman and Vanadis channeled a high-power torrent of mixed Bless and Elec energy, relentlessly striking the writhing Reaper, who let out one final shriek before falling forwards and exploding into black mist under the high-powered assault, ending both the Showtime and the battle as Violet and Oracle slumped over from the energy needed for the Showtime, being caught by their respective boyfriends. The large torrent of ensuing EXP brought Joker, Panther, Mona, Crow, Violet, Oracle, and Draconis all to level 98, and Noir, Fox, Skull, and Queen all to level 99. Joker smirked as he spoke up.

"That was one hell of a fight! And as a result, power courses through me!" Joker said as his level increased. After the battle, Mona spoke up while turning back into the Mona-bus so the others could get in.

"Wow, that was insane. I can't believe we beat the Reaper! Incredible!" Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Agreed. And with that, I think that's all the preparations I wanted to make on this final Mementos run, so let's head back to the entrance for now." Joker said as Mona nodded and guided the group back to the entrance of Mementos. Once there, Joker walked over to the door back to the real world as Mona spoke up.

"Oh? What do you wanna do, hm? Are we heading back?" Mona asked as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"We are indeed. I don't think there's anything left to do here, unless we want to go hunt the rest of the stamps and gather more flowers for Jose. And frankly, that sounds like a chore, since we might risk running into the Reaper again. And fighting it once was more than enough for me, since it actually pushed us pretty hard in that fight. And if I have any flowers, well they'll just have to disappear." Joker said as the others nodded their agreement as the MetaNav spoke up from Joker's phone.

"Now returning to the real world from Mementos. Thank you for your hard work." The MetaNav said from Joker's phone as the group started returning to the real world...

(That evening, in the lower level of Leblanc, with Ren and Morgana)

As Ren and Morgana walked back into Leblanc, his phone went off with a private chat from Futaba, which he opened up to read.

"The mom made a post on the Phan-Site! I guess she checked her history and found her daughter's posts. She apologized for everything. They're taking a family trip to an amusement park, too. She sounds more coherent than before, too. I think she's all better!" Futaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"Glad that worked out for the best." Ren sent. Futaba then sent a response.

"Yeah! I bet she got a nice big hug from her mom. Truth be told, I'm almost a little jealous. Uh, almost." Futaba said as Ren put his phone away and Morgana spoke up with a sigh.

"Ugh, heh. You'd think she'd be a little more honest with herself. But if you think about it, it's true that we'd never have fixed this without Futaba. If we'd just passed it off as a false alarm, who knows how much worse their lives would have gotten? Nice job by Futaba! She picked right up on that cry for help. She was kind enough to fight for them. That's how we saved that family." Morgana said as Ren nodded and saw he had another private chat, this time with Mishima, which he opened.

"That client who was asking to be killed took down the request! The siblings were going to be separated, but apparently not anymore? It seems his little sister spoke up. She was really against it, so in the end, the whole thing got called off. She's a little scared of him sometimes, but she still loves and appreciates him." Mishima sent as Morgana spoke up.

"Hey, isn't that the Minamoto request? Also, that's pretty much what the guy was saying in Mementos. I guess they really do have that sibling connection, huh? Assuming that Kusa's theory isn't accurate about it potentially going deeper than that, anyways." Morgana said as Ren noticed another response from Mishima.

"From now on, they'll be supporting each other, and they'll get help from grownups if they need it. It's all so moving, if you think about it." Mishima said as Ren sent a response.

"Agreed. I'm glad we saved them." Ren sent as Mishima sent a response.

"Yeah, seriously though. I'm so glad he posted on the Phan-Site! Anyways, nice work!" Mishima sent as Ren put his phone away and Morgana spoke up.

"Hm. So they ended living together, huh? I can't tell you if that's a good idea or not, but I think Kusa was actually able to get through to him after all. And as long as they can remember how much they care for each other, I think they'll be okay." Morgana said as Ren got another private chat, this time from Makoto, that he viewed.

"I saw the Phan-Site. I'm glad to see the change of heart helped things. Still though, this request got me thinking about my own situation. He and his sister, to be honest? They reminded me of the situation between Sis and I. I mean, she also tried to push me away. And she kind of hurt me with her words like how Minamoto hurt his sister physically. Well, never mind." Makoto sent as Ren sent a response.

"Their situation is a little like the situation between you and your sis, huh Makoto?" Ren sent. Makoto sent a response.

"I don't like to admit it, but I think you're right. It's okay if I have my problems with her, right?" Makoto sent as Ren sent a response.

"Sure, that's fine. Just be careful that you don't end up carrying deep feelings for your sis like Minamoto might for his sis." Ren sent teasingly as Makoto sent a response.

"Shut up, Ren. But for real, thank you, little bro. Seriously." Makoto sent as Ren put his phone away and Morgana spoke up.

"Mm. Right, I forgot. Makoto lives with her sister, too. It's just the two of them there for the most part, so I guess she's dealing with a lot herself. That said, she's acknowledged her own conflicting feelings, huh? This request really make us think about ourselves a bit, didn't it?" Morgana said as Ren nodded, before his phone went off with another private chat, this time from Ryuji which Ren read.

"That kid made another post on the Phan-Site. 'Mom and Dad aren't even gonna get divorced anymore!', he said. They sound so happy, man! I guess the mom and dad finally got to talkin' things out. The three of 'em have a little family trip planned next weekend." Ryuji sent as Ren sent a response.

"That's good news, I suppose. Hopefully the dad can go the whole trip without ducking off to see Lily-nyan." Ren sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Yeah. Glad we made a difference. If you've got a dad you can trust, one who really feels like family, well, that's gotta feel great. I know that both Kusa and Akechi don't have that luxury, and I guess if you think about it, neither does Morgana or Haru technically." Ryuji sent as Ren put his phone away as Mona spoke up with a closed-eye grin.

"Hm. Guess that's one family that we've saved. But I can't believe that dad was so far gone, though. We better watch our step around idols." Morgana said as Ren chuckled and spoke up.

"No need to worry. I could care less about idols. Sumire's the only sexy lady I need." Ren said smugly as his phone went off yet again, this time with a group chat from Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, Akechi, Sumire, and Kusa, with Ryuji sending the first response.

"Looks like AIMaask's deleted his whole video archive. But he's been putting up apology vids in their place." Ryuji sent as Ren sent a response.

"How's that going over, I wonder?" Ren sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Well, the haters still hate him, but it's not stirring shit up anymore than things already are. I think the apologies are making things at least a little better." Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response at that point.

"I saw another post on the Phan-Site too. 'My big brother apologized to the rest of the family', it said. He sounds happy." Ann sent as Makoto sent a repsonse.

"Wonderful! I'm glad everything turned out all right in the end." Makoto sent as Ren put his phone away and Morgana spoke up.

"Hey! Looks like he gave everyone a proper apology. That's great! Not that an apology is going to make things instantly better, but it's a start. Now it's up to him to make things right." Morgana said as Ren nodded and had a seat to ponder his options.

After a moment, Ren blinked as he recalled that Kawakami had offered to give him massages on occasion when he maxed out his link with her. Ren figured this might be a good night to test that out, since Morgana mentioned it letting him go out and do stuff despite having been in the Metaverse that day. Ren then got on the phone and called up Kawakami, who answered with a blink.

"Hello? Sadayo Kawakami's phone, Sadayo speaking." Kawakami said as Ren spoke up.

"Hi, Miss Kawakami. It's Ren Amamiya, from school. I was calling to take advantage of one of the perks you offered me when you graduated from being my maid. You said you give massages? I figured I could give that a try tonight, since I don't have much else going on." Ren said as Kawakami blinked and spoke up.

"You want a massage? Ohh, all right. But would it be all right if I go in my maid outfit? I might have quit my job, but it'd be complicated if a teacher visited her student for personal reasons, to say the very least. I can't get myself found out, you know. I hope you don't mind me dressing like this when I come to help you." Kawakami said as Ren nodded and went upstairs to wait for Kawakami to arrive.

When Kawakami got there, she came upstairs and told Ren to lay on his bed face-down, which he did. Not long after Kawakami knelt over Ren and started massaging Ren's back and shoulders. As she worked, Ren groaned, wondering how Kawakami was so strong, since he felt like his body is being kneaded with iron rods that were heated for extra impact. After Ren gave an involuntary moan, Kawakami spoke up.

"So? What do you think about the amount of force I'm using, Masterrr?" Kawakami asked as Ren spoke up.

"Oof, it's perfect. I don't know how you're so strong, but you have amazing hands. Maybe I should have you give Sumire lessons on how to do that so she can give me massages like this. Plus, that way she might be less apt to be jealous that you're giving me massages like this." Ren said. Kawakami smiled a closed-eye smile as she spoke up.

"Right? I'm a professional at this, after all. As for me giving Yoshizawa-san pointers? I'll think about it, but won't it be awkward for her to have another girl using her body to show her how to give massages? After all, it's not like I can use you as a practice dummy, right? I mean sure, she probably might not object, but is that really ethical/professional?" Kawakami said before smiling as she kept speaking.

"But you know, I have to admit something. You sure keep in shape, huh? I mean, your body is pretty fit. What the heck do you do to get it like this?" Kawakami asked as Ren spoke up after a moment.

"A lot of training? I also get workouts with Sumire every now and again, plus I occasionally train with Ryuji at running, so that's a good recipe for getting fit. Plus I use the beam above you to work out some nights." Ren said honestly as Kawakami smiled a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"So, do you feel a bit lighter now, Master?" Kawakami asked as Ren blinked, realizing as he stretched that his body really did feel lighter. Any fatigue he felt earlier is all gone now. Ren then spoke up.

"I actually do, Miss Kawakami. Thank you. But, um, maybe let's not make this a habit too much, out of respect for Sumire? I mean, I doubt you want your students accusing you of trying to steal their boyfriends from them, right?" Ren said as Kawakami nodded while Morgana spoke up.

"Ooh, looks like that was pretty effective. Oh yeah, since you're refreshed now, you can probably do something else before the night ends." Morgana said as Kawakami spoke up.

"Well, see ya later. All right, I'm heading home. Don't overwork yourself, okay? And I will see about giving your girlfriend lessons on giving massages if I can find the time, since you have a point that you should really be having her do that for you, out of respect for her." Kawakami said as she left Leblanc at that point. Afterwards, Ren sized up his options once more.

Once he did that, he saw that both Ohya and Chihaya were available to hang out with. Playing a hunch, Ren opted to rank up Chihaya after going and selling all the stuff he found during the Mementos run and made another nearly half a million yen to add to the small fortune the group had amassed during that day's run. Afterwards, Ren headed over to Shinjuku to see Chihaya, making her smile a closed-eye smile at him as she saw him sit at the booth seat.

"Oh, Amamiya-kun the elder! I've been waiting for you! Can we talk?" Chihaya asked as Ren spoke up with a nod.

"Of course we can. I came here to hang out with you, after all." Ren said honestly. Chihaya gave Ren another closed-eye smle as she spoke up.

"Good. In that case, please have a seat. Oh, sit down! Sit down! I have so much to tell you!" Chihaya said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"And I look forward to hearing it, Mifune-san. So I'll just have a seat now." Ren said as he sat in the seat across from Chihaya, who smiled and spoke up.

"Yes! Please sit down!" Chihaya said as Ren sat down, giggling as she kept speaking with a closed eye smile.

"Hee hee! Amamiya-kun the elder, I've been looking forward to seeing you! The chairman turned himself in! It's even shown up on the news!" Chihaya said as Ren spoke up with a smirk.

"I know, Mifune-san. The Phantom Thieves told me earlier." Ren said kindly. Chihaya giggled and spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"I expected nothing less, hee hee! It all happened so suddenly too. He confessed all of his crimes and apologized for them. The police came to question me after that, but they ultimately concluded that I'm innocent. Apparently the chairman took full responsibility for the ADP and admitted he was brainwashing all of its members. Oh and speaking of members, some of them said they've stopped using the Holy Stones because of my advice.

It was all the clients you've sat in with, Amamiya-kun the elder! Umm, you know, I never saw this as a possible outcome in my readings. Not only have the fates of the ADP members improved, but even my own has begun to shift ever so slightly. It's almost like this curse that's followed me ever since the villagers called me a monster all that time ago has passed." Chihaya said as Ren smiled and spoke up.

"It's because you're so strong, Mifune-san. You were able to change your own fate purely through your own strength of will." Ren said kindly as Chihaya's eyes widened and she spoke up in surprise.

"Me? You think I'm strong, Amamiya-kun the elder? Ah, right. I remember now. Strong conviction is the only way to change fate. Ah, that reminds me. My readings told me I would accomplish my objective with the aid of the Trickster, whatever that means. But you know? I'm not sure what exactly that was supposed to mean at all. It's such a mystery to me. That aside, the ADP is finished. Nobody else will be deceived.

Umm, oh yeah. I just realized something, Amamiya-kun the elder. Remember how I told you how the chairman knew I was a runaway? Well, I was wandering around the city with luggage at my side. Anyone could have figured that out, huh Amamiya-kun the elder? Hm!? I-I knew it! I know how fragile I was back then, but it's still embarrassing to think I let myself believe he was a psychic! But even so, I guess some men are good at knowing when a woman is vulnerable. Are you one of those men, Amamiya-kun the elder?" Chihaya asked as Ren blinked and spoke up.

"Are you asking me if I'm like those scumbags who don't respect women? If so, the answer is a resounding NO. I, like my brother, and basically my entire circle of friends, all respect women, of all ages." Ren said honestly as Chihaya smiled and spoke up.

"I see. The truth is, there's actually something else besides the chairman that I want to talk to you about. U-Um, how to put this? This is so embarrassing, you know. U-Um, Amamiya-kun the elder? Are you, by chance, interested in older women?" Chihaya asked as Ren smirked and spoke up.

"Hell yeah I am. I like women of all ages, within reason." Ren said honestly to Chihaya. whose eyes widened as she spoke up.

"Really!? Um, I-I mean, how interesting. Hee hee. Oh, sorry! If we have time to waste talking about nonsense like that, we have time to read fortunes, right?" Chihaya asked as Ren nodded, smiling as he could sense a strong resolve from Chihaya in that moment.

At that point, the 'Fortune' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'VII' on the card becoming a 'VIII' to signify that his Fortune Confidant link with Chihaya had reached Rank 8. As a result of the rank-up, Chihaya had given Ren the boon of 'Celestial Reading', which enables Ren to pay Chihaya to manually trigger a Fusion Alarm, and then have the chance of subsequent alarms be boosted until the end of the day the skill is used. Afterwards, Chihaya kept speaking.

"But you know, even though the chairman turned himself in, there are still some things left unresolved. Most importantly, the other members of the ADP are still confused as to what exactly is going on. So, you see, I need to set things straight. This is partially my fault, after all. Right then, the real battle starts now. Oh my, it's getting late. I should close up shop for today." Chihaya said as Ren nodded and got up to leave as Chihaya kept speaking.

"Going home? Good-bye! And good night, Amamiya-kun the elder." Chihaya said as Ren headed back to Leblanc, where the phone rang as he got to the doorstep and he answered it.

"Hello? Ren Amamiya's phone, Ren speaking." Ren said as he heard Chihaya speak up on the other end.

"Hello again, Amamiya-kun the elder. I've been doing a lot of thinking. I'm only a country bumpkin who ran from her hometown. What can I really accomplish on my own? And then I realized something. I could've easily ran away from the chairman, like I did back then in my hometown. But I didn't. I stood firm. And I think that's thanks to your influence." Chihaya said as Ren spoke up.

"Nah. It was all your own will, Mifune-san. As I said before, you have a far stronger will than you give yourself credit for. But if you say I helped, then I'll accept that." Ren said honestly. Chihaya spoke up with a smile.

"Nonsense. I'm not that strong of a person. I only got this far because I had you at my side. In other words, I think this was all part of our fate! That said, I'll do my best to give them hope. The same hope you gave me. I can't turn my back on the ADP members any longer. I hope you'll keep watching over me through it all. Well, until next time, Amamiya-kun the elder, farewell." Chihaya said as Ren hung up the phone and went inside to get comfortable for the evening, not even flinching as he felt Morgana sprawl out across his chest...

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

As Ren and Kusa went to change lines for the next train to school, Kusa blinked as he saw Akechi walk up and nudged Ren before speaking up.

"OI! Isn't that Akechi-kun, Ren?" Kusa asked as Ren turned and nodded as Akechi walked over and spoke up.

"Good morning, Ren and Kusa." Akechi said, but he kept speaking before Kusa could do more than blink at Akechi addressing him by his first name.

"Two days until the deadline, hm? I suppose that means our deal is going to be up soon as well." Akechi said as Ren spoke up.

"That's right, our deal was only temporary again, wasn't it? That's kind of unfortunate. Oh well, it is what it is. So, what will you do after that, do you think?" Ren asked Akechi, who chuckled and spoke up.

"Heh, I'm not obliged to tell you. That's not part of our deal. Anyways, never mind the future. Just focus on defeating Maruki for now. If we lose, a fate that is even more humiliating than death will be waiting for us." Akechi pointed out wisely as Ren nodded and Kusa spoke up.

"That's a good point, Akechi-kun. But you know, you don't have to be a stranger even after our deal is up. We can always still keep close contact, even if it's not to work together necessarily. I'd like to think we've both come to appreciate one another a great deal more over our time working together. Just think about it." Kusa said as Akechi merely nodded his affirmation to considering it and the three continued on their way at that point...

(After school, in the classroom with Ren and Morgana)

After running up to the rooftop to help Haru harvest the 'Moonlight Carrot' crop they'd planted together, Ren then had a seat in class to ponder his next plan of action...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! And despite what I thought when I started typing the chapter out, the Mementos run as a whole actually took around 80-90% of the total chapter length, so I was able to pad more of the chapter with it than I thought. Well, we're inching ever closer to the end of the story.

After this chapter, I'd estimate probably one, MAYBE two more chapters remain for Arc 9, before we get into Arc 10, or the final arc of this story, where the group deals with the last events of Royal, leading up to the bittersweet moment that the group has to say farewell to one another and part ways for a time.

That arc, if I had to guess, likely will be a similar length to Arc 8, so potentially 3-5 chapters in length, but that's a guess. But if I'm right, and I do manage to stretch 5 chapters out of Arc 10, that means that in theory, I could potentially hit chapter 100 just before the end of the story, which would be insane if I pulled that off, since I never thought I'd do a story that hits the triple digits in terms of total chapter count. So that's stuff to look forward to. But enough about that. Let's touch back on previewing the next chapter.

In the next chapter, the group finishes the last couple of days before Maruki's deadline, leading to some of the most intense and classic boss fights in all of Royal, at least in my opinion. And no, the fact that said fights have some of the most kick-ass final boss music ever in them has nothing to do with that opinion. Additionally, we'll see as many as 3 more Tier 3 Persona unlocks prior to the final boss fights, so there's all that to look forward to!

Also, thanks to all who keep following and/or favoriting this story, as your support is not only invaluable, but appreciated greatly! I never thought I'd get this much support on the story when I started typing it, and it blows me away each time I shatter another milestone (e.g. 35k views, or 50 chapters, or 2 million words, the latter of which should be hit by the time this is uploaded) since it's all stuff I never thought I'd hit.

So thank you all for the support! And feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM with your thoughts/suggestions/feedback/constructive criticism on the story, as that feedback all lets me further improve this and future stories I type. But also, I enjoy hearing from the readers, so don't be shy about reviewing the story and/or PMing me, as I appreciate the support either way! And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

NOTES

*1* - Ah yes, so typical of Crow to despise displays of affection. Incidentally, the line he uses to voice said displeasure? All credit for it belongs to the YouTuber Chaosinthesky13 (who also has a Twitch account of the same name for anyone curious about his work), who does some amazing playthroughs on YouTube/Twitch. Seriously, if you use either site, go check his stuff out. He has some pretty hilarious content!

And several of the ideas from this story (e.g. Sojiro's 'code name' of Coffee Daddy', the many utterances of 'we respect women in *insert place here*, and even this line here when Crow says 'someone shoot me into the sun'), all were lines that were actually said by him in his Persona playthroughs in particular, so he gets full credit for being an inspiration for this story, as well as being the original source of a lot of my unique commentary. So big time shout-out to him!

*2* - I'm not kidding when I say this, since I've played this game and can legitimately make this comparison. That being said, I seriously think the request with Nao Minamoto, where he has confilcting feelings towards his little sister? That request reminds me so much of the dynamic between the Mishima siblings in Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory that it's not funny. Hell, Ryuji (the older brother) makes so many sacrifices to keep his little sister Erika happy and healthy, it's insane.

And similar to Nao Minamoto, Ryuji had to basically step up and take care of his little sister Erika after their parents died in a car accident. Ironically, he also ends up hurting her at one point in Hacker's Memory, even if it's moreso emotionally/mentally than physically. So I think there's easily a lot of parallels there between this request and the dynamic of the Mishima siblings. Anyone else who's played Hacker's Memory and has seen this request can correct me on this if I'm wrong.

*3*- This fight with Jose is technically an optional fight that you can go an entire playthrough without doing, partly because you have to have collected at least 123 stamps from Mementos before you can challenge him, which is probably why I missed out on fighting him the first time I played through Royal, as I was entirely unaware it existed until AFTER I beat Royal the first time.

So I included it in this story since I figured I was at a high enough level to pull it off, and it seemed like a good way to pad chapter length and lengthen that final Mementos run. The fact that Jose drops a metric frick-ton of cash after beating him is just icing on the cake, in my opinion.

*4*- Probably not a necessary note, but I felt like pointing out that this fight with Jose, if you do it, is literally the only time in the third semester, outside of MAYBE the fight against Berserk Cendrillion, where the game gives you a battle with the vocal version of 'Rivers In The Desert' as the background music, which sucks, since that song legit rules!

Easily in my top 3 Persona 5 Royal songs ever, with the other two both being songs we've yet to encounter in the story. Suffice it to say, the third semester has some of the most legitimately kick-ass songs in all of Royal in it. To be fair, a lot of Royal's soundtrack is very much high-quality bangers, but the third semester has easily the most iconic tracks in all of Royal.

*5*- Heh, I couldn't resist having the Mona-bus make a reference to the 'bro code' here, since it was both highly ironic and low-key iconic he did so, given the fact that Mona is probably the guiltiest of any male Phantom Thief of shamelessly hitting on girls, whether they're single or not.

As I recall, he hit on both Noir and Panther pretty overtly in the vanilla timeline of Royal, and then he seems to slightly hint at simping for both Violet and Lavenza at different points, though not to nearly the extent that he simped for Noir and Panther. Also, I like to think he had a slightly close connection to Oracle as well, even if it was never really touched upon. But still, rather hilarious for Mona to hit on ladies like he does, am I right?

CONFIDANT RANKS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 94

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

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

PRIESTESS (Makoto/Queen) - Rank MAX (10)

EMPRESS (Haru/Noir) - Rank MAX (10)

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/Taba/Oracle) - Rank MAX (10)

FORTUNE (Chihaya/Fortune Teller) - Rank 8

STRENGTH (Lavenza) - Rank MAX (10)

HANGED-MAN (Weapons Dealer/Iwai) - Rank MAX (10)

DEATH (Takemi/Back-Alley Doctor) - Rank MAX (10)

TEMPERANCE (Kawakami/Becky) - Rank MAX (10)

DEVIL (Ohya) - Rank 7.5

TOWER (Shinya/The King/Skilled Gamer) - Rank 8.5

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 MAX (10)

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

WORLD (Kusa/Draconis) - Rank MAX (11)

CONFIDANTS MAXED OUT: FOOL, MAGICIAN, PRIESTESS, EMPRESS, EMPEROR, HIEROPHANT, LOVERS, CHARIOT, JUSTICE, HERMIT, STRENGTH, HANGED-MAN, DEATH, TEMPERANCE, STAR, MOON, SUN, JUDGEMENT, FAITH, COUNCILLOR, WORLD

CONFIDANTS YET TO BE MAXED OUT: FORTUNE, DEVIL, TOWER