Ren: Time to start the show!
Ann: Just like that?
Ren: Yeah. I mean We all know the score, no sense in dragging it out. Besides…Something tells me something big is coming and we need to prepare for it.
Giorno Giovanna: Then let's get to it Gang-Stars!
Ryuji: EH?!
Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Nineteen
[Opening Scene –Shujin Academy (Daytime)
Theme of Shujin Academy: Want to be Close from Persona 3]
"Good morning! Come on, hurry and up and get to class!"
Ren and his group of friends walked towards Shujin Academy's gate, and to their annoyance, they saw and saw Kamoshida at the entrance, waving at the students with an exuberant grin on his face.
"Oh god," Ann groaned out with a scowl.
"Relax," Shiho said, despite a scowl appearing on her face.
"There are six of us, counting Morgana, to his one. If he tries anything, we can stop him," Ryuji whispered to everyone, who nodded in agreement.
The minute the group got to the gate, Kamoshida stopped and stared at the group, his grin melting away.
"Good morning, students," he said with a smug tone in his voice.
"Good morning Kamoshida-sensei," Ren said with an overly mocking, happy voice.
"Nice weather today, isn't it?" Haru noted.
"Better be careful, though. A fair chance of asshole may try to rain on some parades," Ann said with an innocent smile, which made Shiho giggle, Ryuji smirk, and Kamoshida scowl.
"That admirable behavior all of you are showing won't do any good once you're all expelled, trash," Kamoshida hissed out.
"We'll see Kamo-chan," Ren said with a cheeky smile, which caused rage to fill Kamoshida's face, but at the sight of so many students, he merely waved them in, his hate-filled eyes staring at them as they all passed.
"Wow, that pissed him off. Nice job, Ren," Ryuji noted with a grin as he slung an arm around Ren's shoulders.
"I learned from the best Ryuji," Ren added with a grin on his face before the two shared a fist bump.
"Bromance," Ann said to Shiho and Haru, both of which rolled their eyes with a smile on their faces.
"Ah! Amamiya-san! So glad I could catch you," Makoto's voice suddenly said from their left, which prompted Ann and Shiho to tense up, with the former giving a deep glare, which only Haru noticed.
"Hey Niijima-san, what's going on?" Ren asked.
"Can we meet in the student council room in a few minutes? I wish to talk to you, and I've already cleared it with Kawakami-sensei," Makoto said.
"Yeah, no problem," Ren said with a nod.
"Good. Thank you…" Makoto told him, nodded to the group, then walked away.
"I wonder what dear old Niijima-san wants with you, Ren," Ann said, but Ren could hear the anger in her voice but decided not to comment on it for now.
"Must be about the stabbing," Ryuji offered. "I mean, she does have your journal too. So the meeting could be about that."
"I forgot all about that," Ann said with surprise. "She has your journal, Ren."
"Yeah. We've been so busy dealing with everything that she kind of escaped our line of sight," Ren said with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "How troublesome…"
"She knows about the Palace, King Kamoshida, and about you, me, and Morgana, but she doesn't know about Ann, Shiho, or Haru," Ryuji told him with a hushed tone. "I don't know, but she could be a thorn in our side in stopping him…"
Ren narrowed his eyes, and suddenly, a familiar voice echoed within his mind.
"Johanna!"
Ren smirked and said, "I have an idea, but it's pretty risky…Just leave her to me."
It was then the first bell rang out, and Ren said, "Alright guys, stay safe today. We'll meet at lunch."
[Theme of Meeting: Time Castle from Persona 2: Innocent Sin]
"I see you are doing well after the stabbing. I am glad," Makoto said as she stared at Amamiya with a small smile.
"You know me, can't keep a good student down," Amamiya replied with a grin on his face.
"That they certainly can't," Makoto replied as she eyed him down.
It was strange to her that despite looking near death that night, he looked as if he was one hundred percent now. 'Maybe he had his Persona heal him,' Makoto thought with an inward smirk.
"So…I heard about your expulsion, along with Takamaki, Suzui, Mishima, Sakamoto, and Okumura. I can't believe Kamoshida wants to get rid of all of you," Makoto commented, deciding to start light.
No sense in giving up all she knows yet.
"Yeah. In Ryuji's words, "He's a real cock-biting asshole," which I agree with," Amamiya said with a grin, which made Makoto frown at the words, despite feeling her cheeks warm faintly from the charming grin.
"R-Right. Well, Sakamoto's wording of him aside, I am a little concerned about your dislike about Kamoshida," Makoto said. "That day when we overheard him talking to Ann, you showed your immediate dislike of him. Then the incident in the gym, and finally the night I found you bleeding out, you believe Kamoshida to be this villain."
"I do. I told you how I felt about the jerk the other day when we first met Niijima-san," Amamiya replied.
"You did, but that was before the stabbing, the incident with Suzui-san, and your impending expulsion," Makoto replied. "I wanted to ask you something…You have only been here a short time, and already, you're risking going to jail. Don't you care about your future?"
Amamiya was quiet before he said, "I can say that I do."
"Then why? Why embroil yourself with all of this? You could have kept your head down and just served out your time here without any issues, and yet you threw yourself into the bonfire. Why?" Makoto asked.
"I told you, back at Gori-"
"No!" Makoto interrupted as she stood up, her hands slamming against the table beneath her. "I don't want to hear about your student president nonsense. I want to hear it from your heart. Why?" Makoto asked heatedly.
[Theme of Joker: Joker from Persona 2: Innocent Sin]
The room was quiet for a moment, and Makoto suddenly felt embarrassed for her outburst. She hadn't meant to attack him like that, but something about his upcoming answer made her blood boil.
"My heart?" Ren asked with a laugh. "I was inspired by someone to protect those who needed to be protected. When she died, I made a promise always to be the shield for those feeling weak and helpless. Just like she did. And as I grew, that promise became who I am," Amamiya answered softly.
Amamiya removed his glasses and looked to Makoto, and for the first time, Makoto could see the raging storm of emotions behind his storm-gray eyes. "Back in my hometown, everyone in my school knew this, which gave me the moniker "Shield of Gorin." It didn't matter what the issues were; I always stood up for those being bullied, disrespected, and humiliated daily. Until that night, it backfired on me."
She watched as Amamiya leaned back in his chair and said, "I saw a woman being pressured by a man, and I stepped in. He injured himself, called the police and when they came, I tried to tell them the truth, but instead, the woman sided with him and well, the rest is history…"
"I went from my own room that I had since I was a kid to staying in the attic above a coffee shop. My parents want nothing to do with me. My friends abandoned me, and the girl I could see a future with betrayed me and broke my heart. I lost everything…." Amamiya continued, his voice soft, but she could hear the subtle sadness within it
"Ren…" Makoto breathed out slowly.
Amamiya lifted his hand and said, "When I first showed up here, I did intend to do as you said. But seeing Kamoshida walk around acting like a king abuses those under his power and degrades them, both physically and sexually sickened me to my core!"
Makoto wasn't prepared to hear him raise his voice. As quick as the anger spiked, it faded away as Amamiya continued with, "Because, despite it all, I refuse to allow that incident to change who and what I am."
"I am a shield to protect the broken and voiceless, and I will do all that I can to protect this place from him and from all that help him, even if it costs me everything." Amamiya then stood up from his seat and placed his glasses back on his face.
And just like that, the storm had faded from Amamiya's eyes, revealing a kindness in them, but Makoto couldn't tell if this was real or just a mask he placed on him.
"And now that you know that, what do you plan to do?" Amamiya asked. "Will you stand by and allow Kamoshida to continue to wreak havoc on the schoolmates we are here to protect, or will you stand up and stop him with me?"
"I…" Makoto began, but then she looked down. "I don't know…"
"It's okay to be afraid of what could happen," he told her with a smile. "I will never blame you for stepping back. But if you do, whatever happens to Kamoshida, don't interfere with it. He deserves the justice that is coming for him, and you will see that soon enough," Amamiya told her.
"And what is it you plan to do?" Makoto asked him. "Does it involve this Palace? These Personas that you and Sakamoto say you wield?"
There was a beat of silence before she heard him reply, "I don't think you'll get the answer that easily from me, Niijima-san," Amamiya told her softly, a hint of a smirk on his face.
"So it is true…Everything that you wrote in your journal?" Makoto asked.
"Again, you won't get the answer out of me that easily…You'll need to try harder than that. If you're up to the challenge," Amamiya said with a challenging tone in his voice, which took Makoto off guard.
"I see…Thank you for answering my question Amamiya-san," Makoto said, unable to find any more words to say to him.
"Anytime. I better get out of here. Kawakami-sensei will have my head if I'm late again," Amamiya said before he bowed and walked past her.
When she heard the door open, she heard him say, "Oh, Niijima-san, before I forget, you can keep the journal. I do not need it." And with that, the door closed, leaving Makoto alone in the room.
She then turned back to the door and smirked.
"You just keep getting more interesting, Amamiya Ren…"
[Theme of Team Meeting: Zodiac from Persona 2: Innocent Sin]
"You let her keep it?" Ann exclaimed in surprise.
Despite the looming threat of expulsion, the teens decided that meeting on the roof would be a good idea. Shiho was a little apprehensive, but she swallowed down that fear and joined with them in the end.
"I did…" Ren said.
"But that could put us at risk," Haru said. "Doesn't that worry you?"
"Not at all," Ren said. "Trust me, but I'm working on it."
"I may not think too kindly of Niijima-san, but If Ren-kun says to trust him, we should. After all, he hasn't been wrong yet," Shiho offered.
"Very true," Ryuji said. "I trust his gut on this one."
Ann scowled, but she nodded as well.
"Thank you for trusting me," Ren said sincerely. "So with us going to the Palace tonight, we should start preparing," Ren said as he paced on the roof of the Shujin.
"The first thing we'll need is medicine. There's no telling how tough going through the Palace will be, so we should be safe than sorry," Shiho said.
"But over-the-counter shit won't help at all," Ryuji said.
"Oi Ren! Didn't we meet a doctor a few nights ago at LeBlanc?" Morgana asked.
"Oh yeah, that cute punk doctor," Ren replied. "I forgot about her."
"Whoa-whoa-whoa. Cute punk doctor?" Ryuji repeated. "How cute we talking?"
Ren opened his mouth but saw an amused Haru, a curious Ann, and an oddly serious Shiho stare at him and immediately replied, "Um, honestly about as cute as all the other females I've met since I've got here. It must be something in the water."
Ann giggled while Shiho blushed, and Ryuji smirked.
Haru leaned over to Ren and whispered, "Nice save…And thank you."
"Anytime," Ren replied with a smile, but he let out a long sigh of relief inwardly.
"So we'll go there and figure out how to get her to help us. Meanwhile, we should also check out this cool place after school. It's where I got Ren, Morgana, and I those nifty fake guns; we should get you guys equipped with them too. It should help us get other weapons and stuff," Ryuji said.
"Awesome, I'll head there with you after school," Ren replied.
It was then the group heard the bell ring.
Ren said, "Alright, gang, school resumes. Remember, keep out of Kamoshida's sight and keep a low profile. Despite our expulsion, we are good little students, and we must act accordingly."
"Understood, Leader!" The group chorused in unison before they all blinked.
"That was weird," Ryuji said.
"Yeah…" Ann replied.
"I hope that doesn't become a thing," Morgana said.
Ren merely smirked
[Scene Change: Shibuya – Untouchable Airsoft Shop (Afternoon)
Theme of Untouchable's: Layer Cake from Persona 5]
"Here it is. Looks pretty legit, eh?" Ryuji asked with a proud smile.
"This place is really tucked away from the public," Ren noted as he eyed the store curiously. "Whoever owns this place must like it that way."
"I bet. So um, now that we're here, you know anything about military stuff?" Ryuji asked.
"Um, not at all," Ren replied.
"Well, I guess worst comes to worst; we can just ask the shopkeep what they recommend for Ann and Shiho. Come on, let's get in there," Ryuji said with a grin.
The minute the pair walked into the store, Ren was almost taken aback by the sheer volume of model guns that sat in the place, along with various body armor and military ads. It was almost overwhelming, but it was kind of neat as well.
Behind the glass counter with a magazine in his hand was a surly looking middle-aged man with gray hair, faint stubble, sideburns, and earrings; a tattoo of a gecko is on the left side of his neck near the back.
He wore a gray hat with yellow ear defenders, a black turtleneck sweater, a long gray coat with a red peace symbol on it, blue jeans, and dark boots, and he had a lollipop in his mouth. "Whoa," Ryuji said out loud.
"Right?" Ren asked.
"You punks lookin' for a recommendation?" The man asked, his gruff voice catching their ears.
"S-Sure?" Ryuji questioned as he looked to Ren, who shrugged.
The man snorted and said, "I dunno, just buy whatever looks interestin' to you."
"Some customer service," Ryuji muttered to Ren, who smirked in reply.
"Hmm, Fine. Whadda want? An automatic? A revolver?" The man asked.
"What do you think Ann would want?" Ryuji asked Ren.
"Probably something like a submachine gun?" Ren replied.
"Hrmm, you both sound like amateurs," the man said with an amused smirk. "Listen here. This is an enthusiasts shop. My regulars would be pissed if I let some casual punks like you two hang around here."
"Oi! I'm not some casual! I was just in this place last week buying some shit," Ryuji said.
The man gave Ryuji a once-over and said, "Huh, can't remember you."
"Ugh, you bastard," Ryuji grumbled out.
The man smirked once again. "Wouldn't be the first time I was called that. Won't be the last," The man said before he looked to Ren and asked, "And you? Lookin' for somethin'?"
"A model of a submachine gun and maybe one of a sniper rifle?" Ren asked.
"Heh, When you say submachine gun, what are you thinkin'? A Thompson M1921? A UZI? A Heckler and Koch MP5?" The man asked.
"The first one," Ren said.
"Heh, going for the gangster classic. Alright, what about the Sniper rifle? We have a Mk 21 2013 model, An M24 SWS 1988 model, or an accuracy international AWM 1996 model?" The man asked.
"The second one," Ren replied.
"Heh, good choice," The man said before he reached down and tossed the two models on the table. "Altogether, that'll come out to 11,600 yen."
"Jeez…" Ryuji said before he looked to Ren and asked, "Wanna go half on it? 5,800 and 5,800?"
Ren smiled and nodded and placed the money in the man's hands before Ren grabbed the weapons and said, "I'm going to go talk to that doctor, and then after that, we'll all meet up back at the school."
"Gotcha. I'm going to buy a few more things here," Ryuji said.
Ren nodded and walked out and made his way back to the main street of Shibuya, but as he did, there was a faint glow of purple energy in the shape of a door that appeared briefly before vanishing.
[Scene Change: Shibuya – The Blue Butterfly (Evening)
Theme of the Blue Butterfly: Butterfly Kiss from Persona 5]
"Alright, so if I remember correctly, she is right up the road from LeBlanc's, so all we need to do is find her office," Ren said to Morgana, who sat in his bag with a thoughtful look.
"Did she even mention the name of the place?" Morgana asked.
"Nothing but her name," Ren replied with a frown.
"Maybe we should ask Sojiro-san?" Morgana asked.
"I don't want him too involved in this if I can help it..." Ren muttered. "Let's just ask around and see if we can find her that way."
And for the next ten minutes, Ren asked anyone he came by for the mysterious clinic until he finally got the answer.
After walking around for five-minutes, The pair found themselves in front of the clinic, which had a small sign that read "The Blue Butterfly Clinic" on top of the door.
"The Blue Butterfly Clinic…Kinda nice," Morgana said. "Now that we're here. How can we get her to give us some medicine?"
"Eh, we'll wing it. Seems to be our best option all the time," Ren said with a shrug.
"A thief should never "Wing it" as much as we do," Morgana said glumly. "But whatever, let's do it, to it."
Ren walked through the doors and found himself in a reasonably small waiting room, and to his surprise, he found the cute punk doctor sitting at the reception booth with a bored expression. "Oh…Hello," Ren said with a friendly smile.
The woman, who had been observing the punk rock magazine in front of her, gazed up at Ren and said, "Ah, it's you. The injured fighter from LeBlanc."
"You remember me?" Ren asked.
"I seldom forget those that drool over me," The woman said dryly, which caused Ren's face to heat up slightly. "Those injuries you had before look to be clear so, what are you here for today?"
"Well…Recently, I was stabbed in my side," Ren began as he lightly touched his wounded side. "And while it's healing somewhat, the pain has been increasing, and the doctors decided not to give me any medicine in fear of addiction."
Ren rolled his eyes at this and said, "So I was hoping you can check me out and see if I can get some from you."
The woman stared at him for what seemed to be a lifetime and a half before she shrugged and said, "Fine. Head to the exam room to your right."
Ren nodded and walked into the next room, and sat down on a chair. A few seconds later, Doctor Takemi walked into the room and sat down, and for the next ten minutes, she examined his side while asking him various questions, and when it was done, she said, "Hm…Your wound seems to be healing nicely but, some pain relievers should help out. Unfortunately, I still need to restock those…"
"Damn…I really needed them…" Ren muttered with a frown.
The woman smirked and said, "Is that right, storm-eyes? And even with that injury healing along, I bet you think you should have a year-long supply of them too."
"Storm-eyes?" Ren asked with a flustered tone.
"Your eyes are gray like a thunderstorm. Easily your best characteristic," The woman replied. "I'm not as dumb as I look, you know. I'm guessing you're really here because you heard those rumors about me, huh?"
"You did say not to come here unless I was injured, and here I am," Ren answered with a confused look. "Other than that, I've never heard of any rumors. Just came to get medicine."
The woman chuckled and said, "Either that or to drool over me again."
"H-Hey!" Ren exclaimed with a flustered look.
The woman laughed.
"Alright, alright, no more teasing. Tell you what, you seem pretty earnest, and judging from the wound, you didn't cause it yourself. I'll prescribe you some medicine but the only medication that will help you recover from that wound. Sound alright?" Doctor Takemi asked.
"That sounds great…Thank you," Ren replied.
"Good. This is my private practice and all the medicine I dispense from my own formulas. You've likely seen them being sold at various hospitals around Tokyo. It's your responsibility to take care of yourself, so stop by anytime if that's okay with you."
"That's great. Again, thank you, Doctor Takemi," Ren said.
"Tae is fine," Tae replied with a wave of her hand. "Now, let's do it."
Ren opened his mouth to talk, only for a suit-wearing man to walk into the room, causing the pair to look at him.
"Doctor Takemi Tae," The man said.
Ren exchanged a looked with Tae, both wearing an expression of "What the hell?" on their faces.
"Um…Hello, What are you here for?" Tae questioned. "Cold, Stomach Ache, Athlete's foot? Because whatever it is, you'll need to take a number seeing as I am with a client currently," Tae said.
"Enough of this!" The man suddenly exclaimed. "You're the only one who could have developed that type of medicine!"
"Um…I have no idea what you're talking about…" Tae said as she shoot Ren a look of annoyance.
"Don't play dumb with me, especially with his boy here," The man hissed angrily "You made a drug so potent, it can give a person unlimited power."
"Who does he think you are? Emperor Palpatine or something?" Ren asked with amusement, which made the man's face glow in anger while Tae snorted in amusement.
"Last I saw, I don't have those abilities so that's all news to me," Tae said before she waved the man off and said "Now please go so I can continue with my client and his medical needs."
"Developing experimental drugs, medicine and herbal remedies violates all health regulations," The man said angrily. "It must be true that you're attempting to create a super stimulant! Don't you know a drug like that will only become a social issue?!"
"You are really persistent," Tae noted with an bored expression on her face. "You know that right? Well let me clue you in on something, I'm just a quack."
"Well regardless, the police may not be taking action but I imagine the media will soon pick up on it. You are such a sickening person, trying to ruin my reputation once again. You're a disgrace to the medical community!" The man shouted.
"Okay that's enough," Ren said as he suddenly stood up and faced the man down and to his amusement, the man was slightly shorter than him, prompting the man to look up at him. "You barge in here uninvited and then hurl insults at my doctor during my time. You need to step out of here."
"Or what?" The man asked with a sneer. "You gonna hit me punk? If you even attempt to touch me, I'll sue you for everything you've got."
Ren's eyes grew cold as at those words.
They were too close to the words that man said that night.
"Damn Brat, I'll sue!"
"Leave…" Ren warned as his eyes narrowed.
The man took a step back and looked to the side of Ren at Tae and said, "I won't be responsible for your criminal actions. Dispose of that "medicine" immediately and resign!" and with those words, he quickly ran out of the room, leaving Ren and Tae along once more.
"Kid…You didn't have to do that," Tae said. "But I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Well, I know I didn't have to, but he was very annoying," Ren said with a smile.
"He was. Now let's get your medicine going, and for sticking up for me even though you didn't have to; I'll give you half off-price," Tae told him as she pulled out her briefcase full of medication.
Ren grinned before that familiar inkling came over him.
"I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Death Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…"
[Scene Change: Palace of Lust (Outside)
Theme of Palace of Lust: King, Queen and Slave from Persona 5]
"Alright guys, we're all here for one reason, getting to Kamoshida's treasure, so let's do this quick," Ren said.
"This'll be fun, our first official outing as a team," Shiho said with an excited smile.
"This will be fantastic," Ann said.
"Well guys, good luck in there, and when it's over, come back to my place. I've already asked Sojiro-san, Shiho's parents, and Ryuji's mom, and they gave the okay for you guys to stay over again," Haru said.
"Thanks, well, let's make this quick so we can crash at Haru's and enjoy the rest of our night," Ren said.
"Yes Leader!" The group exclaimed before they ran into the castle, with Haru standing at the entrance of the portal.
"Good luck guys…" Haru murmured as she clasped her hands together in front of her chest with a worried look on her face.
[Theme of Palace of Lust: King, Queen and Slave (Another Version) from Persona 5]
"Oh fuck me, that was tough," Joker said as she sat down on a chair in the safe room.
Panther and Skull sat in the chairs on the right side of the table while Morgana and Lioness sat on the left side, all of them looking as weary and exhausted as Joker felt.
Thanks to Pixie, Arsène, and a few more Personas that Joker was able to pick up, the group managed to traverse the entire tower.
Now, the group of five sat in the final safe room that sat right outside of King Kamoshida's throne room. "We made a shit ton of progress, Joker," Skull panted out. "Made it to the fucking throne room."
"I must say, you guys are pushing yourselves. It's admirable, but we still have fourteen days. We didn't need to push through it in one day," Mona told them with a worried but proud tone.
"The quicker we defeat Kamoshida, the better off we'll be in the end. If that means pushing ourselves to the limit to stop him, we will," Lioness said with dark determination in her eyes. "The way that bastard had that room…All those pictures of Ann and I…There is no way I could stop now."
Joker watched as a blanket of rage-filled Skull's eyes before he stamped it out and said, "Heh, that room alone invigorated us."
"True, but now that we found the throne room, we should continue so we can hatch the final part of our plan," Panther said.
"Alright, Panther, Mona, heal us up. It's time to go back out there," Joker commanded.
The pair nodded, and after a flourish of healing energy, the group walked out of the safe room to start their final push.
The teens ran down the hall until they reached a statue of a schoolgirl in a volleyball costume. With Skull getting some assistance from Joker and Panther due to his knee, each teen leaped up the figure onto the second platform.
Once on the platform, the teens leaped over to another platform, then jumped onto an opening on the second floor of the large throne room where King Kamoshida sat.
"We're in," Skull murmured before the group quickly rushed to the railing to see the good king sitting on his throne with an angered expression on his face as he faced down two rows of his soldiers.
"And there is the asshole now," Panther hissed out angrily. "With a ton of his ass-kissing soldiers to boot."
"How have you not captured the intruders yet?!" King Kamoshida demanded.
Kneeling in front of him was a knight in golden armor. "I apologize, my liege, but these thieves are truly powerful…" The knight said. "All opposition we threw at them was met with defeat."
"I don't care for excuses. I want them dead. No, I want the men dead—the woman. I want them alive! And I want that to happen now!" King Kamoshida shouted angrily.
"Yes, my lord!" The Golden Knight said before he and several other knights rush out of the room.
"Should we attack now?" Lioness asked.
"Not yet," Joker said. "Not until we get eyes on the treasure. Come on, let's keep moving."
The group nodded and quickly but silently crept down the row until they reached a large door and slowly crept inside of it and silently walked down the hall until they reached another large, sturdy door.
"This door's pretty promisin'. Let's head inside," Skull said with excitement as he pushed the doors open, only for all of them to gasp in shock. In the room were loads and loads of gold. Gold vases, gold coins, the works!
But what caught Joker's eyes was the glowing orb that floated in the middle of the room.
[Theme of Treasure: Tranquility from Persona 2: Innocent Sin]
"That must be it…" Joker said as he walked inside the room, with his team following suit.
Mona ran past Joker and stood on a tipped-over golden vase and said, "Hehe, that's the treasure all right. We finally found it."
"This thing is the treasure?" Lioness asked. "Out of everything in this room, this floating ball of light is it? How interesting."
"It's too weird not to be it," Panther said.
"Now, hold on, you guys. I was planning on telling you all more once we got this far. Simply finding the Treasure isn't enough. We'll need to make it materialize before we can steal it. Otherwise, it's just like this. A big ball of beautiful light," Mona said.
"And how do we do that?" Skull asked as he leaned on the vase Mona stood on and stretched out his bad knee with a pained grunt.
"Desires have no physical form by nature, so we'll need to make the real person aware that their desires are, in fact, a Treasure that can be taken. Once they're conscious that their desires might be stolen, the Treasure will finally show itself," Mona explained.
"Okay, fair explanation, but how the hell do we pull that off?" Panther asked with a frown.
"We warn them. Tell them, "We're going to steal your heart." And then boom! We're off to the races," Mona replied with a smirk.
"So we're going to send a calling card?! That's totally what a Phantom Thief would do!" Skull exclaimed.
"It's like we're real life, in the world thieves!" Lioness said excitedly.
"Right?! It's totally awesome!" Skull exclaimed. "So let's give it a shot then!"
"Let's just hope it works," Mona said with a grin before he leaped up in the excitement and summed up with, "Our infiltration route is secure. Let's pump out a calling card and then come back and take this bad boy for our own!"
"It took so long to get to this point…We can finally stop Kamoshida for good," Panther said with a hopeful smile on her face as she turned to Lioness. "We can make him atone for all he's done to not only us but to everyone!"
"I still can't believe, and I won't," Lioness coldly said. "Not until he says it himself…"
"Smart," Mona said. "Once we do this, there's no turning back once we send out the calling card," Mona said.
[Theme of Palace of Lust: King, Queen and Slave (Another Version) from Persona 5]
"Good, then let's get out of here so we can finish this," Joker said before the group quickly left the treasure room, re-entered the throne room, and then escaped back into the hallway outside the throne room and began to make their way to the safe room.
Only to see a Golden Knight and three guards standing in the hallway near the throne room door.
"Fuck…" Joker said.
"Hehe, who knew you all made it this far," The knight snarled. "Unfortunately, this is where it all ends for you thieves!" The knight said before it, and his soldiers exploded, revealing A War-Hungry Horseman and three Brutal Cavalryman.
"Now to bring you all to our lord!" The War-Hungry Horseman exclaimed before he dashed forward.
Rain: And that is the end of this chapter. The reason I skipped through the majority of the palace is because I'm sure we've all beaten it but I also wanted to get them finding the treasure quickly because after this, there is Madarame's Palace and a new Palace just for this fic alone.
So the next chapter will start with the next battle, which will be their toughest before King Kamoshida himself and then the Calling Card will be sent so until then…
Bruno Buccellati: Arrivederci!