"Gah...!" Viper leapt back as a Shadow attempted to attack her. In order to access the first Prison Keep, they needed Oracle to hack through the gate. As always, this took her a little time, and as always, this prompted a large mob of Shadows to try and stop them. "Why are there so many!?"
"They really hate it when we do this." Oracle said with a cheeky grin. "But you're going great! I just need like a minute tops!"
"Can't you work faster?" Viper complained. "I hate working on other people's time!"
"Is she always this pushy!?" Oracle wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Yes." Both Dragon and Panther responded at the same time. They were back to back, swinging their weapons in time with one another to knock back a group of Shadows. "I still think she was the worst person to get a Persona!" Panther commented.
"You're just jealous my outfit is way hotter than yours!" Viper shot back with an annoying smile.
"I really don't know how much more of this I'm willing to endure." Crow was getting annoyed with the constant arguing. Since he wasn't able to take his anger out on them, he instead opted to do so on the Shadows. His sword brimmed with Curse magic, and a simple slash created a black and crimson shockwave that tore through the enemy forces.
"It's our last one, just tough it out." Joker knew how Crow felt, but this was just the territory of a team as large as theirs. He pointed his pistol forward, releasing a large bullet that knocked the enemies backwards due to its power.
"We just need to work through it." Violet said with an uneasy smile.
"These things really like showing up in mobs." Wolf spun around while slashing the air in front of him. This prompted a gigantic shockwave to blast outward, cutting down a number of enemies in the process.
Fox took the time to defend Oracle from any stray shots. If a blast of magic was coming her way, he sliced it down with his sword. Oracle took note of this, giving Fox a thumbs up in response. "Thanks, Inari! Annnnd...done!" With one final press of the button, Oracle completely broke through the firewall protecting the Prison Keep.
With that done, all of the Shadows that tried to stop them vanished. "Nice work, Oracle!" Sophie beamed.
"Why were there so many..." Viper let out an exasperated breath. This Phantom Thief stuff was sweaty business.
"They tend not to enjoy it when we break their stuff." Dragon replied.
"But that was nothin'! Just a good warm up!" Skull was rotating his arm, eager for more. Since they were giving deep into the Jail, more was exactly what they were going to get.
"Now nothing can stop us from climbing that tower!" Mona smirked.
"Let's get going!" Noir nodded. This was the first time Wolf and Viper were seeing a Prison Keep proper, so they were staring at a large tower.
"We're climbing that?" Wolf let out a low whistle.
"This counts as my leg day." Viper stretched first, and they all ran up the Prison Keep stairs to get to the very top of the birdcage. There, the first core of Osaka Jail was waiting for them. "Is that it...?"
"Yup." Joker nodded and swiped the core. It materialized in the form of a dirty action figurine.
"Oh, no waaaay!" Oracle's eyes were wide as she stared at the action figure. "It's Zephyrman!"
"Uh...you mean like the keyword?" Skull tilted his head.
"So what does that mean? Sorry, I'm lost here." Wolf scratched his head.
"Me too. These words mean nothing to me so far." Viper chimed in.
"Jails house power sources that act as a symbol of the Monarch's power." Mona explained to the both of them. "We call them 'cores'. This is one of them."
"This little toy is supposed to power the cameras?" Viper was doubtful.
"That's how it works." Queen nodded. "It relates deeply to the Monarch."
"In Alice's Jail, one of the Cores was the magazine cover she was on. You know, the she beat you out on." Panther said with a small grin. She relished in Viper's annoyed expression.
"Regardless, he seems to like this Zephyrman enough to call himself a hero." Fox said.
"Even though he's clearly a bad guy." Sophie added.
"Laughable, if you ask me." Nobody did, but Crow was going to say it anyway.
"Now that we have this, the cameras should be shut off." Joker pocketed the Zephyrman figure. With one Prison Keep disabled, this only left two remaining.
.
.
With the cameras down, there was now little risk of them getting shot by the mounted guns. This allowed the group to move deeper into the Jail. The castle was still a ways away, and now, the next area they found themselves in was a large shipping area. "This is certainly a change of scenery. " Fox said while looking around at all the large containers. "It looks like some sort of storage warehouse."
"Guess the castle's still pretty far off." Wolf said with a slightly annoyed groan. Kyoto Jail took less time than this... "This is gonna take some serious patience."
At that moment, there was a loud, high pitched sound overhead. "Uhh...does anyone else hear that?" Panther asked while trying to locate the source of the noise. "It sounds like a plane, or something..."
"That's a train." Viper pointed out.
"She's right." Oracle confirmed. "There was a train station nearby. Maybe it'll have something to help us get around."
"Doesn't hurt to look." Dragon said. They'd start navigating the shipyard at this pace, which meant they had do some climbing along the way. But their progress within the shipyard was halted by a wall of infrared lasers that just so happened to be in front of the path to the train station. "What...?"
"Those are infrared lasers." Sophie explained. "I don't recommend trying to pass through them."
"But the station is right there!" Oracle whined.
"How are we gonna get passed these? Can't we leap over it?" Viper pointed at Dragon. "Your staff grows, just vault over it!"
"That is too risky." Dragon shook her head. "What if there are more? We might not be able to do that with all of them."
"I dunno about a damn thing about this stuff, but can't we just turn them off like the cameras?" Wolf suggested.
"That would be the best course of actions." Crow nodded.
"There's likely a Prison Keep that controls the power to these lasers." Queen surmised.
"It's what we're looking for anyway, so let's go find it." Noir said. They weren't going to make any progress just standing around, and the Prison Keep was on their list anyway. So they had to continue their way through the shipping railway area, which included sneaking along narrow ledges to progress forward.
"I'm too top heavy for this..." Viper mumbled. She felt like she would fall over.
"What do you think is all these containers?" Panther asked. There were so many, she was naturally curious what was inside.
"Judgin' from all the other shit lyin' around, I'd say it's prolly weapons or some kinda freaky machines." Skull guessed.
"It could also be food." Noir suggested. "I wonder what people from the future eat...?"
"Bet you it's some kinda nutrient jelly ration bar thing! That's the classic dystopian diet!" Oracle said that a little too excitedly, but she felt like her guess was pretty spot on.
"Ugh. That sounds gross." Viper nearly gagged at the idea. "Come to think of it, I'm probably the healthiest eater here."
"It's not easy keeping a diet." Violet added. She ate a lot, but everyone already knew that.
They continued on, but the direct path was once again blocked by another wall of lasers. "Another road block." Fox grunted. It felt like they were getting nowhere fast with all the laser walls getting in their way.
"We've really gotta do something about those." Mona shook his head. They really weren't going to make any progress if every corner they rounded had this. At least there was a path around. They weren't sure where it led, but anything was better than being stuck. Once they took the path to the side, they came across a yellow door.
"What's this?" Joker tilted his head. "It looks locked."
"I'm not seeing any kind of way to open it, either." Oracle observed the door closely, but she was unable to see anything. "Time to do what we do best, and find a secret passage!"
"I found something." Viper gestured to the air vent nearby with a confident grin. "I'm so good at this stuff already."
"Thank you, Viper." Dragon noticed it as well, but she decided not to take Viper's thunder. She had so much confidence going into this. They all had to crawl into the air vent one by one.
"...Feeling a bit too big for this." Wolf commented. As the largest body present, crawling through an airvent was an uncomfortably tight experience. He was able to squeeze through at the end of it, but he was really hoping they didn't have to do that too often.
Waiting for them on the other side was a red door, but they were also on the side with a switch. Violet took note of this. "Hey, there's a switch here? Should I pull it?" Nobody saw any issues with it, so she pulled the switch carefully. This prompted the red door in front of them to open. "Oh! It opened!"
"Could it be.." Queen stroked her chin. "Doors open with corresponding switches?"
"Color coded switches. That's an annoying mechanism, but it is at least easy to work around." Crow said. If they wanted to progress further, they were going to have to find these switches. All of this to shut down the infrared lasers. What an annoying work around, but at least they had a plan of action.
.
.
They were slowly making progress. Each colored door meant they could move forward. They found the next Prison Keep on their list, but access to it was blocked by a white door. So they had to find the corresponding switch before being able to access it. They were practically jumped every step of the way, but it wasn't enough to slow them down for very long. With a group as large as theirs, most enemy encounters were over before it could truly begin. Wolf's eyes narrowed a bit under his mask. "Damn, you kids sure have a lot of energy. My eyes are starting to hurt." All the neon lights they were encountering started to get to him.
"Is that so?" Fox tilted his head. "Your mask's design led me to believe you had built in sunglasses."
"Phantom Thieves are supposed to move in darkness. What could would sunglasses do?" Mona shook his head at the ridiculous notion.
Queen, however, could understand where Wolf was coming from. While the constant colors and lights didn't bother her too much, she felt the sentiment. "The lights are pretty blinding, though. Do you want to take a break?"
"My mask has shades built in. We could have matching masks, Wolf." Sophie offered, innocently.
Now he just felt like an old man. "Uh...I appreciate all the sentiment, but I think I'll be fine." Now Wolf felt like he had to tough it out.
They were able to find the white switch in question. Sophie was the one who pulled it, which unlocked all of the white doors preventing their progress. "And that's the last switch."
"Now we can finally make way to the Prison Keep." Joker said. It took a little while longer than they would've liked, but it finally felt like they were making progress once again. They returned to the first white door they saw and it opened, which allowed them to make their way up the second Prison Keep, where the next core was waiting for them. Joker swiped it and...
"Is that EMMA?" Queen asked.
"EMMA is the source of Konoe's power." Dragon tapped her chin. "I am not surprised it would be a core in his Jail. Truthfully, I expected it to be the last one we found."
"I'm beginning to wonder what the last core could be..." Fox had the same idea.
They'd find out soon enough. Noir looked back in the direction they came. It was off the beaten path to get to this Prison Keep. "Do you think those sensors are gone now?"
"Yes, they're disabled." Sophie confirmed.
"So we can finally head back. Thank goodness." Viper flipped her hair. "This goes well and beyond my normal workout routine."
Panther turned around, pointing in the direction of the container shipping railway. "Hey, I just got an idea. Do you think that can get us back faster?"
"No way, your brain actually works sometimes?" Viper was shocked by the highly competent observation by Panther.
"Hey, I'm good at this stuff!" Panther glared at Viper. Once again, Dragon had to break them up.
"Come on, you two..." Dragon sighed.
"I'm sure Konoe won't mind if we hitch a ride!" Oracle snickered.
.
.
With Panther's brilliant idea, they were able to speed their way back to the shipping yard in record time, and proceed onward into the next major area. When they stepped inside of the building, they could immediately tell what sort of place it was supposed to be. "This looks like an airport." Queen noted.
"The flight from Jouji bound for Abeno Hareas will be departing shortly." EMMA announced after a small bell played. "Those who seek an audience Lord Akira, please make your way to the airship."
"It said airship." Violet tapped her chin.
"It sounds like this could take us straight to the castle." Noir was hopeful.
Wolf, on the other hand, was cautious. "Maybe, but let's not forget that Konoe controls every inch of this place. Best not to get ahead of ourselves."
Everyone could agree with that sentiment. When they then opened the next door, they entered a large, long corridor. They were immediately ambushed by by a swarm of Lamia that filled the corridor. "Gah!?" Viper yelped in surprised.
"Oh, look, your friends are here...!" Panther said to Viper with a sweat drop. Those numbers were far more than she was expecting.
"An ambush!?" Dragon's eyes were wide. "They must be trying to prevent us from getting to the departure gate!"
"We're not going to be able to blow through all of 'em in time, will we?" Skull was willing to try, but even he could tell that with these numbers, they weren't going to have an easy time blasting through.
Queen quickly looked around for something they could use. It was then her eyes landed on numerous carts nearby. "Quickly, we can use those!"
"Good idea, Queen!" Fox nodded.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Viper waved her hands. "We're gonna ride those things?! Is that safe!?"
"Not very, but our options are limited right now." Sophie's answer did not help.
"Just hop on one!" Panther shouted.
With a groan, Viper did so, along with everyone else. "Mona, give us a push!" Joker said.
"You got it! Diego!" Mona summoned his Persona, and used that cast Garudyne in the form of a powerful twister behind them. This pushed all of the Phantom Thieves forward on their carts, allowing them to barrel through the wave of Lamia that attempted to impede their progress.
"Waaaaah!" Viper cried out.
"Hang on!" Queen was maneuvering her cart like she was actually on her bike, planting her foot on the ground to drift and slam into a few shadows along the way.
"Oh boy, oh boy..!" Violet was a little concerned, but it did remind her of snowboarding along in Sapporo Jail. It was fun, but also nerve wracking since they weren't going down a slope.
"Woohoo!" Noir cheered, happily mowing down the enemies in her path. Oracle was riding along with Noir, clinging to her tightly, afraid for her life. Because Noir was a little too happy doing this.
"This is crazy! This is crazy!" Wolf was also panicking a bit, the speed just a little uncomfortable for him.
"Hmph." Crow didn't say anything, but this was much faster than trying to brute force their way through. The Lamia did attempt to attack them, but they all just ended up getting steamrolled in the end. Once they rounded a corner, the enemies were no more, and the group could proceed ahead.
"Oh man, that was fun!" Skull grinned. "Not as fun as snowboarding in Sapporo, but still pretty kick ass!"
"You people are crazy." Viper said while leaning against Dragon.
"Don't get tired on us now. We're in the final stretch." Dragon smiled at Viper.
"Can I hold you the whole time." Viper asked.
"No." Panther answered while furrowing her brows.
"More importantly." Crow gestured to the door in front of them. "It seems we've arrived."
"Through here lies the airship departure gate." EMMA stated. "Those who have not surrendered their Desires will not be allowed entry. Airport staff, please present your Worker's Pass."
"Did you hear that? The departure gate's ahead." Oracle said.
"But we must surrender our Desires to pass." Fox shook his head. They'd never pass that way.
"So you can't pass unless your heart's been changed, huh? Doesn't sound like we'll be getting in." Mona said.
"Guess we don't have to choice. We'll have to find another way." Queen sighed. Just once, she would've liked things to be easy and straightforward.
"I'm sure we can just steal a Worker's Pass along the way." Dragon said.
"It's literally, always theft with you." Panther shook her head. Every time they were in this situation, Dragon was the first one to present this option.
"It always comes to that anyway. I've just steeled myself for the possibility." Dragon replied with a causal shrug.
"...Dragon is the last person I expected to be ready to mug someone at a moment's notice. I thought you were a Phantom Thief? Not a thief." Wolf commented.
"I like this side of her." Viper snickered.
"Maybe you're the reason she can be like this..." Panther groaned.
While they were talking, Noir glanced around, spotting another air vent close to the door. "Why don't we try going through here?"
"Another one?" Wolf let out a small sigh. Time for another tight fit. Everyone had to squeeze through the air vent and shift through the station quietly. They once again had to keep an eye out for any ambushes. The Lamia scare had them all on high alert as they delved deeper into the Jail. As they went through the Station, they could overhear constant praising of the hero, Akira.
"..." It made Crow sick to his stomach. Hearing people sing the praises of a twisted hero.
Before long, a Sentry Shadow appeared before the group, trying to halt their progress. "Hey! What are you doing here?! In the name of our hero, Akira, I will-!" And before that Shadow could finish speaking, Crow lunged forward, stabbing his sword through the Sentry's chest. "GH...!?"
"I've had it up to here with hearing about your false hero." Crow spat, venom dripping from each word. The Shadow was killed before it had a chance to retaliate, and Crow landed on the ground with an annoyed growl, already beginning to walk off.
"...Eesh." Viper said with a cold sweat.
"Don't worry, you won't have to get used to that." Joker said.
Dragon knelt down, smiling as she picked up a Worker's Pass. "See? I told you we'd retrieve it this way. This way, the door will no longer be an issue." They were already on the other side of it, but having the pass would prove to be useful...for about all of a few minutes. The next door they came across didn't accept the Worker's Pass. It was the door to the Departure Gate, their final destination. She swiped it once and...
"Entry denied. Insufficient access privileges." EMMA told her.
"Is this a joke!?" Dragon said with an annoyed frown.
"It's not working?" Violet frowned as well.
"Please surrender your Desires, or present your VIP Pass." EMMA went on.
"So much for that." Wolf grunted. They were so close, but once again, one annoying thing barred their progress completely.
"What the hell's a VIP Pass?" Skull scratched his head.
"If we get one, we should be allowed in!" Panther explained.
"But who would be carrying a VIP pass?" Sophie tilted her head. "I doubt we could just tell by looking. I also doubt just anyone would have one."
"If only we knew of a place where such individuals would gather." Fox closed his eyes.
For Noir, however, that kind of issue had an easy solution. "Well, if they're important enough to be called VIPs, maybe they're in the first class lounge?" She turned gesturing to the door at the furthest end of the corridor.
"That's it, Noir! I knew you'd know a thing or two about the high life!" Oracle snickered. "I've got a reading up ahead. Just past that corner."
"Let's figure it out." Joker nodded and led the way forward. When they did round it, they could see into the VIP Lounge, but it was barred off by some glass. But their target was up ahead, just...lounging, as one may expect. "Is that it, Oracle?"
"I bet this guy has a pass." Skull nodded.
"Oh, I think we can convince him to part ways with it." Oracle said with a sinister twinkle in her eyes.
"Hey, take it easy." Wolf shook his head. "This is less "phantom thieves' and more just...thieves."
"Gotta do what we gotta do!" Panther giggled.
"There's a lot of glass here, though." Violet tapped the glass in front of her. "We could go around and make a lot less noise..."
"There's no need to be concerned!" Noir said with a smile, taking a few steps back.
"...What is she doing?" Viper asked the others but they were just as confused as she was.
"Here I go!" Noir then sprinted forward, leapt into the air, tucked her body in...and crashed through the glass.
"YOU PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!" Viper yelped in surprise.
"Welcome to the Phantom Thieves!" Joker grinned at Viper's response, leaping in after Noir, the others following suit.
Naturally, the lone Shadow in the VIP lounge was incredibly confused and startled by this sudden intrusion. "What the!? What are you doing in here!? This is VIP only-!?" And Noir ended the encounter before it could even begin, her axe cleaving the confused Shadow in two, killing it instantly. There wasn't a need for a fight when they had the element of surprise on their side.
"If only everything could go this smoothly!" Noir smiled sweetly.
"..." Viper felt shiver crawl down her spine. Noir scared her like this.
"Yeah. Yeah." Violet placed a hand on Viper's shoulder. If Noir scares you, you're a member of the Phantom Thieves.
"Not gonna touch that." Wolf was pretty unnerved. Then again, Noir somehow managed to do that to him when they first met.
"Now we have the VIP pass." Dragon held the pass in her hands. Since they weren't too far from the VIP door, it was an easy trip. So, she swiped the pass and the door opened this time. It led directly into the third Prison Keep. "Huh...?"
"This is the last Prison Keep!?" Panther gasped. She wasn't expecting this.
"Oh, I get it." Wolf said while walking forward a little bit. "This must be an air-traffic control tower for the airships. If we take this place out, it'll probably make our lives a whoooole lot easier."
"What are we waiting for, then? Let's swipe that core! Race ya!" Skull said while running up the stairs ahead of everyone else. At the top of the final Prison Keep, the last core waited for them. It was...A Maddice Badge.
"What is this tacky thing?" Viper said while staring at the badge.
"A Maddice employee badge." Fox was staring at the badge as well. "Quite asymmetrical in its design."
"Keep it." Viper turned away. "Can we actually board that air ship now? We gotta be getting close to the castle."
"Only one way to find out." Queen stated. They climbed down the tower and they could spot the airship up ahead...
"Whoa! It's huge!" Panther gasped.
"Seeing it up close, it's much bigger than I thought..." Noir was also surprised by the size.
"Let's take that bad boy and go straight to the castle!" Skull was grinning.
.
.
It was a short ride in the airship, but they got some nice air and a nice view. Once it landed, the castle was in sight, at long last. "There it is." Joker said as they disembarked.
"Finally!" Viper groaned and walked forward. "It's about time."
"This did take a while. But we managed." Dragon said.
Finally, they could step forward into Konoe's Castle, but the moment they did, there was a crowd chanting and cheering at the entrance. "What the..." Crow groaned.
"A-KI-RA!"
"You can do it, Akira!"
"Bring those villains to justice!"
"Yo, what the hell's all this?" Skull asked.
"There's so many people? What's going on?" Queen was just as confused as everyone else.
"Are these all the Shadows that had their heart's changed?" Mona questioned.
"The great Akira's hero show will begin momentarily. Please gather in front of the stage." EMMA told the audience.
"Hero show? By Konoe?" Oracle tilted her head.
"This sounds interesting. Let's go see!" Sophie bounced on her feet.
"And get caught? Absolutely not." Viper shook her head.
"She's right." Dragon gestured to the guards in front of the crowd. "They haven't noticed us yet, but if they do...it would not be good for us."
"They swarm us, it's game over." Wolf added.
"...Hm." Crow turned around. All this praise about Akira was annoying him again.
"Something like this happened in Sapporo, didn't it?" Noir asked. She recalled the adorable horde of Jack Frost that she nearly got swept in.
"You mean the Hee-horde? That was mirrored by the huge cleanup campaign in the real world, right?" Oracle recalled this as well.
"Do you think it means Konoe is busy in the real world right now?" That was the only conclusion Violet could draw.
"He might be doing some kind of show right now?" Panther suggested.
"Which begs the question...if that show ends, would this crowd go away as well?" Wolf asked.
"We need more information." Queen didn't want to make any hasty moves.
"I can't imagine any crowd that actually wants to hear what he has to say. I should trash talk him more on my social." Viper mused aloud.
"I believe we haven't a choice but to turn back for the time being." Fox said. It was the simple truth; they had no means of pushing further without putting their entire operation at risk.
"What do you mean 'more'?" Dragon had a sweat drop.
"Alright, guys. Let's head back for now." Joker told everyone. They managed to push through a majority of Osaka Jail. They couldn't do anything more for the time being, but the next time they entered, the castle would be theirs for the taking.
As they began to leave, Crow lingered for a moment, still scowling. "Your twisted hero fantasies are coming to an end, Konoe."
