Hello there. UknownHero here and welcome to another chapter of Senran Persona. Yeah, sorry for the delay but we did something during the interim, if you haven't noticed the change in the summary.

We now have a new writer in the team. Say hello to VividMind17!

They are already deep into work, helping write all the unfinished crap we have in the main and side material. Unfortunately, you won't see any of their contributions until Chapter 84, but they're already doing a lot. And, before you ask, no. We are not accepting any more, too many cooks in the kitchen and all that.

Onto the reviews! To ZonZus: Adding the Thieves Den? Nah...we're not planning on it and, at best, it'll just be a side story that doesn't really contribute to much. Sorry.

And...oh. That's it. I guess it's time to raid tombs!

Load Game...Start!


Chapter 82: Raiders of the Tomb 1


(7/27, Early Morning)

(Shibuya, Shin Megami Apartment Complex)

Another day, another heat wave affecting the minds of everyone in Tokyo...including a pair of shinobi who really wanted it to be winter already.

"Urgh...it's so hot today." Asuka groaned as she wiped the sweat off her brow. Even the cold bath they took wasn't making things better.

"We're having a heat wave..." Homura informed as she looked at the weather report. "I bet if we went into Mementos now, all the Shadows would be sweating like us." She then joked out.

"Or spontaneously combust." Asuka added as the two began to imagine the Shadows suddenly bursting into flames and flailing around in a comedic manner, causing them to giggle in amusement.

"Urgh...is it gonna be as hot in Mementos though...?" Homura soon realised.

"I mean, we are underground. But then again, the Metaverse doesn't always follow the rules of...heat." Asuka soon muttered with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Knock Knock Knock!

"I'll get it." Homura quickly got out as she answered the door, only to be met with their neighbor.

"Hey you two." Miyabi greeted.

"IT'S SISTER-LIKE!" Asuka and Homura automatically yelled out.

"Huh?" Miyabi got out with a raised eyebrow while looking at the duo. "Well you two act like sisters." She then admitted.

"WE ARE- Wait, what?" The two roommates got out in shock.

"You...aren't gonna joke about how close we are?" Asuka soon asked in a confused and hesitant tone.

"Meh." Miyabi however responded while shrugging her shoulders. "I've known you two for what? A few days now?" She then questioned.

"It's been eight days." Asuka answered before blinking. "Huh. She was only here for a week and now she's part of the Phantom Thieves." She soon mentally realized.

"Yeah, about a week and I can tell what your relationship is...despite a few hiccups in my judgement." Miyabi responded with a nod. "Hey, about you seducing multiple people..." She then began.

"It was a lie, I assure you!" Homura called out with a blush as her roommate raised an eyebrow.

"I figured as much. You do not have the right stuff." Miyabi responded.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Homura growled as her roommate held her back.

The white haired woman however ignored her as she continued. "Besides, if you two were really together, the thin walls wouldn't hide what you'd do to each other." Miyabi soon stated. "And you know, me and Imu did a bunch of stuff like that too." She then admitted with a shrug.

That in turn got the roommate's attention. "Excuse me?" They responded at the same time.

"Yeah, we would bathe together, compare our underwear..." Miyabi began as she lost herself in her memories. "I think we weighed our boobs once out of curiosity a while ago. She also massaged my chest while I was in-training. It was actually pretty pleasant. Hm, I wonder why I don't let her do it that often. She has a bad habit of nosebleeds and drooling though. Must've been the coma..." She soon revealed.

"..." Homura in response blinked as she listened to this reveal. "You...are just friends, right?" She hesitantly questioned.

"Of course. She's my best friend, and will be until the day I die." Miyabi confidently stated.


(Hebijo Academy, Elites Room)

Meanwhile, at Hebijo, Imu was cleaning the floor when she suddenly tripped over her mop. "...Why do I suddenly feel friendzoned!?" The glasses-wearing girl suddenly got out in horror.

A distance away with the Crimson Squad members, Hikage opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. It was just too easy for her.

Poochie meanwhile snickered at the sight in amusement.


(Shibuya, Shin Megami Apartment Complex)

"What makes you think otherwise?" Miyabi soon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"...Should we?" Homura whispered to her roommate.

"Should we what?" Asuka got out in a confused and innocent manner.

"..." Homura only gave her a flat stare before turning back to the woman. She would tell her roommate later. "Why are you here, anyways?" She soon questioned.

"Uh, Akira just called. We're heading into the Palace today." Miyabi answered as she pulled out her phone and hefted her minigun over her shoulder.

"Oh great!" Asuka got out as she went to grab the duffle.

"Huh, our phones would've gone off too." Homura soon muttered before checking her own phone. "God, there are too many notifications from the city to stay hydrated..." She groaned.

"You guys better hurry up and get dressed. I'm heading to the hideout right now."

"Oh, right, we moved our operations to Leblanc." Asuka remembered as she left the bedroom with the duffle over her shoulder. "I'm gonna miss having meetings here..."

"Huh?" Miyabi got out as she heard that. "Your...You guys were having your meetings in your apartment?" She soon questioned in disbelief.

"Well, it was better than the alleyway we started out with." Homura stated with a shrug.

"...For how long?" Miyabi had to ask, preparing for the worst.

"Until you moved in." Asuka answered.

"Oh thank god..." Miyabi quietly sighed in relief.

"Hm?" Asuka hummed out as she tilted her head.

Miyabi however shook her head in response. "Nothing. Now hurry up. A thief..." She soon began only to pause mid-sentence. "...I don't know any sayings about thieves, just hurry up." She then admitted before shutting the door.


(7/27, Daytime)

(Yongen-Jaya, Leblanc Attic)

"You know, I never expected to turn an enemy into an ally in just a week." Morgana admitted as the Thieves watched the girl read the pamphlet while snacking on some chips.

"At least it wasn't in the span of a hat throw." Akira muttered.

"One of these days we'll stop dragging people into the Metaverse..." Ann whispered to herself as she rubbed her forehead.

"Are you done reading the pamphlet?" Ryuji soon spoke up.

"Yeah." Miyabi responded with a nod as she then placed it in between her bust. "It's...still a lot of stuff, but I get the basic gist of things." She soon informed.

"Good. It was tiring just to repeat ourselves every time a new member joined." Morgana admitted.

"Hey, maybe I'm the last member that'll join your merry band of thieves." Miyabi pointed out.

"Well, it pays to be prepared." Makoto got out with a shrug.

"It's still quite the failure that we were discovered..." Yumi couldn't help but lament.

"Oh please, it's a wonder you haven't been busted earlier." Miyabi stated. "I mean, your principal was getting pretty close." She then revealed, getting the group's full attention

"What?" Yusuke got out in surprise. "Was Principal Ikenami closing in on our identities!?" He then exclaimed in a panicked tone.

"Not your school. Shujin." Miyabi corrected. "I made that dickhead shit his pants to get that info, you know." She soon revealed.

"Hold up, you threatened Kobayakawa into giving you everything he had on the Phantom Thieves?" Homura got out in disbelief.

"As I just said." Miyabi simply replied as she leaned back in her chair.

"What did he have?" Makoto immediately asked as she narrowed her eyes. "Who were his suspects?" She then added.

"About...a dozen students were suspected Phantom Thieves...including you guys." Miyabi answered, causing them to wince. "By the way, where's your friend Yuki Mishima?" She then suddenly asked as she looked around.

"Huh? Mishima?" Ryuji repeated, confusing the others.

"Isn't he somehow connected to the Thieves?" Miyabi asked.

"He just runs the Phan-site and gives us targets." Ann corrected with a frown.

"Really? So...he doesn't have a Persona." Miyabi clarified.

"No." Akira deadpanned as everyone shook their heads.

"Well, you shouldn't worry about him anymore. The files I took are the only copy left after I forced him to delete the information he did have. And I doubt that he has a better memory than a goldfish." Miyabi assured.

"Eh, we can always change his heart later." Homura muttered with a shrug.

"...You haven't yet?" The white haired woman got out with a raised eyebrow.

"Why would we? He's a non-factor as far as we're concerned." Makoto stated.

"...You don't have his distortion keyword, don't you?" Miyabi bluntly accused.

"Eh...Yeah." Akira admitted with an awkward chuckle.

"Well, good luck with that." Miyabi got out with a shrug. "Anyway, enough small talk. Can we get this meeting started already? Futaba can't wait forever." She soon urged.

"Alright, alright. Don't get your panties in a twist." Ryuji got out before flinching at the woman's gaze turning to him.

"I'm honestly surprised by the Palace this time..." Morgana admitted. "Everywhere we looked was just desert..." He then muttered.

"It's such a saddening sight...to think the outside world outside her room is just barren desert..." Yusuke soon stated while the white haired girl flinched at the mere idea of that.

"Although, given her lifestyle it's not much of a surprise." Yumi added with a shake of her head.

"I could see the city on the outer edges though..." Asuka pointed out. "I thought it would span the entire world." She then admitted.

"That's still part of the Palace though. The city may not have been distorted, but it was still cognition." Morgana explained. "The Palace rulers may have been criminals, but they were social enough to know the city layout. But Futaba probably doesn't...In fact, I'd bet she isn't even interested in the outside world." He then explained.

"I doubt many famous criminals are shut-ins like her though. Hopefully that means we won't have to go through all this desert business in the future." Ann then got out with a shrug.

"That might not necessarily be the case. Many upper-class citizens travel by limo or plane, so they don't know or care about city life..." Makoto soon pointed out.

"A plane...!?" Ryuji gasped before letting out an eager smile. "Damn, that sounds pretty good! I mean, wouldn't you wanna go to a Palace wayyy up above the clouds if you could?" He soon asked.

"No." Akira instantly answered.

"I agree with Akira. A flying bank was quite enough." Makoto groaned as the rest of the Thieves nodded.

"It would have to be a very big plane though." Asuka however pointed out as she tried to imagine it. "It would be more like a flying fortress or something like that." She then added.

"I have to say though, the topic of the area outside the distortion is fascinating." Yusuke admitted. "Depending on the criminal, there may be an exact replica of Tokyo within their Palace. I would love to examine the aesthetics of such a strange place at least once." He soon added and confessed.

"Wouldn't it be just Tokyo though?" Miyabi deadpanned.

"Remember what Morgana said. It would be one's cognition of Tokyo. Everyone has a different view of the city, even though we see the same buildings." Yusuke explained, sounding excited by the prospect.

"You don't got a damn thing but art in that head of yours, huh?" Ryuji couldn't help but chuckle.

"But it's true that an observant criminal could have a true-to-reality city in their Palace." Morgana admitted. "...Although even if such a place did exist, it's not like we'd have any use for it." He then stated.

"I'm just weary of when we'll encounter a Palace that spans the country..." Yumi mumbled.

"...Everyone went to the bathroom, right?" Makoto soon asked as she looked at everyone.

"...Gimme a sec..." Miyabi sighed as she went downstairs. A few minutes later, the woman came back up the stairs. "God, did I always sound like a charge rifle...? Hey, is it time, Leader?" She soon got out.

"It's time. We're heading in!" Akira decided as they all stood up and nodded in agreement.

"Holding back isn't an option." Miyabi declared as they headed for Sojiro Sakura's house.

[Beginning navigation...]


(Futaba's Pyramid of Sloth & Wrath, Pyramid Entrance)

"...Why aren't we in the middle of nowhere...?" Skull got out in surprise as everyone looked around.

"Ah, we're in front of the pyramid this time." Miyabi pointed out as she looked around before noticing her attire. "And back in the comfortable clothes." She thought in a satisfied manner.

"That proves Futaba's Shadow still sees us as a threat. She's gonna throw everything she has at us now." Mona stated.

"Like that's gonna stop us!" Miyabi called out as she cracked her knuckles. "We'll save you, even if you're kicking and screaming." She then declared.

"Heh, someone's fired up." Skull remarked with a grin.

"Yeah. Nobunaga is just itching for a fight." Miyabi replied.

"Just don't go overboard this time." Joker advised as the Vice Leader passed around the equipment.

"Sorry Miyabi-chan, the place where we usually get our weapons didn't have any new miniguns." Yin apologized. "And the display model they did have cost way too much." She then added in shame.

"Hmm...I wonder how much this would sell for..." Miyabi soon wondered as she spun the barrels of the gun.

"And here's your complimentary grappling hook." Mona got out as he handed the woman the piece of equipment.

"Eh?" Miyabi got out in confusion as she took the item. "What for?" She then asked.

"A lot of things." Joker answered as he loaded his new gun. "You'll never know. By the way, I found these at Kiyasuku Station." He soon got out as he dug into his pockets and pulled it out to show everyone.

"Phantom Wafers...?" Yang read out. "People are selling Phantom Thief crap now?" She then stated in a blunt manner.

"Well, we can't exactly take legal action..." Queen pointed out. "Or get royalties without revealing our identities." She then added.

"Goddammit..." Skull grumbled.

"Do not. Even. Think about it. Skull." Mona growled out the order. They made more than enough money killing Shadows anyways.

"Skull, huh?" Miyabi repeated as she narrowed her eyes

"Yeah, what about it?" The dyed blond got out as he turned to their newest member.

"I've heard you guys before calling each other with codenames. What is the meaning of them?" Miyabi questioned.

"Huh? Shouldn't that be in the-" Joker began before face palming in realization. "Fox, revise the pamphlet." He then ordered.

"Already on it." Fox responded as he pulled out his notepad.

"Anyway, our codenames are to make sure the Palace Ruler doesn't recognise our real names and become hostile in the real world. Same goes for our Thief Outfits." Joker quickly explained. "...Although, since Futaba already knows our identities I guess there's no point right now however it's a good habit to have in the Metaverse." He then informed.

"So that means I'll need a codename here." Miyabi assumed. It felt a little redundant considering she didn't even know her own real name, but it seemed to be important.

"Alright, let's brainstorm some names." Yin spoke up.

"Serpent. I will be Serpent and you will refer to me as such." Miyabi immediately stated in a serious manner.

This in turn got the group's attention as they looked at the white haired girl. "Uh...don't you want to hear...other names?" Yin soon asked in an awkward manner.

"No. Waste of time. Let's go." Serpent answered in a serious tone as she walked off towards the pyramid.

"Hmph, how rude..." Widow muttered out in an annoyed tone.

"I guess she's eager to take Futaba's heart." Joker muttered out. "We should catch up to her. She can't do this alone." He then suggested.

"Mmm..." Widow got out with a pout.

The Vice Leader in response to this placed a hand on the light grey haired girl's shoulder. "Widow, we're not shinobi here. We're Phantom Thieves, and we need to work together to survive." Yin soon reminded.

"Yin's right, we need to focus on getting to Futaba's Treasure." Yang then stated in a serious tone.

"I know. But there will be more obstacles than just the traps in the pyramid." Widow replied as she glared at the white haired woman.

"What is with you, Widow...?" Yin meanwhile asked.

"I'm fine, now let's go steal Futaba-san's distorted desires." Widow responded as she headed up the stairs.


(Great Corridor)

The Thieves soon entered the pyramid and let out sighs of relief. The cold air was just as good as it was the last time.

"So much better than the attic." Panther muttered in relief.

"Come on, let's see if the door's gone." Skull got out as they went up the stairs to the hole in the floor.

"Boulder destroyed a few of the stepping stones." Yang informed as she looked down the hole. The boulder that almost killed them was nowhere to be found, which pretty much confirmed they were screwed if they fell.

"Use the side. Just don't fall." Mona responded and instructed.

As a result, the group did as instructed as they hopped over with ease.

However, with Serpent, part of the stepping stone she was on fell away beneath her weight. "W-Whoa!" Serpent got out as she wobbled a bit before...

GRAB! PRESS!

Joker took her hand. "Hey, you alright?" He calmly questioned while pulling her close to him, pressing her bust against his chest.

"Yeah. Just...a little out of practice." Serpent responded in confirmation. "Ahem. Thank you." She then got out in an awkward tone.

"No problem." Joker responded before they all reached the other side, only to silently groan at the sight of the door in the stairway.

"It's still here..." Yin sighed as the white haired woman touched the door, sliding her fingers over the material before...

WHAM!

"Okay, punching it won't work...ow..." Serpent winced as she shook her hand to get rid of the pain.

"Even I figured it wouldn't work." Yang deadpanned.

"We are not getting past this..." Yin sighed.

"No key? No secret code or anything?" Widow soon questioned as they studied the wall.

"No. It's as secure as any brick wall in a doorway." Queen answered as she knocked on the door.

"There has to be another way around though..." Joker muttered. "Maybe we missed something outside." He soon guessed.

"Considering how humongous this place is, there have to be other ways in." Fox then stated.

"We will have to investigate every suspicious place we see, both inside the pyramid and out." Queen soon added.

"Ugh, outside...!? You mean we gotta deal with that heat!?" Skull complained.

"No complaining. Let's begin our investigation right away." Queen soon declared.

Joker nodded as the Thieves began making their way to the exit. However, they were stopped by a voice that filled them with both happiness and dread.

"Are you leaving?" A very familiar voice called out to them. They soon turned around to see Shadow Futaba standing behind them. "Come back. Let's talk for a moment." She soon got out.

"Oh no..." Panther quietly got out.

"Keep your guard up." Joker soon ordered as they cautiously approached the Shadow.

"Welcome back. I never thought I'd see you again." Shadow Futaba admitted.

"You're not gonna sic some more Shadows on us, are you?" Yang asked, ready to pull out her weapons at a moment's notice.

"I...apologize for my previous outburst. It was a momentary fit of...rage." Shadow Futaba awkwardly informed the group.

Serpent then went over and leaned down the Shadow and placed a hand on her head. "Just don't do that to us again, ok?" She soon requested in a calm tone, surprising the group.

"Eh?" Widow muttered in confusion to the sight.

"Uh...Serpent. I don't think touching her is a good idea." Panther warned as she saw the Shadow begin to shiver, with the Leader already signaling everyone to run at the first sign of trouble.

Serpent quickly backed off and hid her hands behind her back. "Uh, sorry." She awkwardly got out.

"It is...okay." Shadow Futaba hesitantly responded. "I am happy you are here." She then confessed.

"We're only here 'cause we gotta be!" Skull snapped. "I can't believe you tried to drop a boulder on us! You want us to steal your goddamn Treasure or not?" He then called out, only for Yang to slap him upside the head.

"Skull..." Queen groaned.

"Hm, why don't we make a deal? You wish to proceed further, yes?" Shadow Futaba soon offered.

"A deal, you say?" Fox repeated with curiosity.

"There is a town nearby, where nothing but bandits reside. I would like you to take back what was stolen from me from them." The Palace ruler requested.

"Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing a town on the way here." Panther spoke up.

"Wait, the Shadows stole from you?" Widow repeated in confusion.

"Are they usually loyal to the ruler?" Serpent whispered with a frown of concern.

"They would be kissing her feet for forgiveness." Joker answered. Why did he have a bad feeling in his gut about this?

"If you bring what was stolen back to me, I will give you a reward. I'll even tell you how to proceed." Shadow Futaba then offered.

"Can't you tell us any more details? Anything about this bandit, or what was stolen?" Yang soon asked.

"You'll learn all the information you need to know once you arrive." Shadow Futaba vaguely stated.

"Right, we got a new mission now." Serpent responded with a nod as she began to leave.

"I would prefer more intel with our intel, but I guess we have no choice." Yang confessed and concluded.

"That seems to be a running theme here." Joker noted.

"We'll be back before you even know it, Futaba-chan! Take care!" Yin replied and declared.

"I will be awaiting your return." Shadow Futaba responded as the Thieves left...before rubbing her head.


(Deserted Town)

"We're here!" Joker called out as everyone jumped out of the Morganamobile.

"This place is a dump." Yang couldn't help but note as they looked around. The streets were narrow, with buildings worn away by sandstorms and shops that had been long abandoned.

"Hello!? Is anyone home!?" Yin called out.

"Oi, quiet down!" Serpent however ordered. "Futaba said there were bandits around here. Plus, I doubt there are civilians around to answer." She reminded and stated.

"That can't be true..." Panther responded. "Why have a town where no one but people trying to steal from her live?" She then asked.

"Like she said, we'll find our answers here." Fox reminded.

"Alright, stay low and stick to the shadows." Joker ordered before dashing to a corner to peek down the street. His eyes flashed gold before letting out a breath. "Shadows confirmed. They aren't that tough but I'd rather save most of our energy for the pyramid." He soon informed, looking at his right hand before clenching it into a fist.

The Leader then dashed up behind the Shadow and gripped its mask. "DIE!" Joker roared as he ripped off the mask.

RRRRRIIIIIPPPPP!

...And apparently everything else out of the Shadow. "Instant kill!" He then declared before flipping off the already-fading corpse.

"That's...kinda brutal." Panther couldn't help but say as the Leader threw away the remains of the bandit.

"That was a nice kill." Serpent complimented.

"That's...never happened before." Mona however informed, unaware of the Leader scratching the back of his head.

"Just a new technique I picked up." Joker muttered as his eyes drifted towards the dyed blond with a grin. "Some Shadow might be too weak to bother with a battle. Rather end it quickly and just reap the rewards." He then explained.

"That may make our infiltration go more smoothly." Fox stated.

"At the very least it will allow our resources to last longer." Queen added.

"God I wish you knew that sooner." Yang replied with a sigh. "...Are you gonna teach us that?" She soon asked.

"Later. Let's start hunting." Joker responded while waving it off.

And so their goal was set: the Thieves would merrily slaughter the entire population of bandits in town in search for the item.

"Wow, this is way easier than usual." Panther got out in a happy tone. However, that quickly went away when they saw a Shadow facing towards them down an alleyway. "...I don't think we can ambush that one though..." She then pointed out.

"Give me a shot, Joker. I rip their head clean off." Serpent spoke up in an eager tone.

The Leader thought about it before shrugging. "Go for it." he replied.

Serpent nodded before sneaking closer to the clueless bandit and leaping onto its back. "GAH! HELP!" It screamed. Too bad it would never come.

"Weak!" Serpent spat out, her dark purple flaming hand tearing off the mask as easy as paper before jumping back as the Shadows spawned.

"Four enemies! Don't worry though, they're still nothing special." Mona informed.

"Sandmen..." Joker whispered. "This shouldn't be too hard. It has Fire and Electric weaknesses!" he then called out.

"All they know is Dormina! They can't do anything to us!" Queen informed.

"Really? Wow, they're weak." Skull got out before tearing off his mask. "Seiten Taisei, Mazio!" He soon called out.

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

"AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" The Sandmen screamed in pain, collapsing into a heap.

"All down! Way to go, Skull!" Mona praised.

"Finish it!" Joker commanded as he jumped back.

"All right! Time for some pain! ALL-OUT ATTACK!" Skull declared as they rushed the Shadows.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! WHAM! CRACK! SLASH! SLAP! WHAM! SLASH!

"Tch. Easy." Serpent got out.

"Yes, woo-hoo! Victory!" Yin cheered as the Shadows faded, leaving behind money and an assortment of materials.

The newest member however noticed and raised an eyebrow to what was left behind. "The enemies drop money?" Serpent questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. Materials too that we can use as well." Joker responded with a nod.

"...You can abuse this realm for money making..." Serpent realized. "Maybe I don't need a job..." She soon muttered.

"It's an option. You know, if we ever become Japan's Most Wanted." Joker responded with a shrug. "I'll split the money after we exit the Metaverse." He then explained.

"Smart, so no one feels left out." Serpent praised in approval.

"And without it, we're worried Fox will starve..." Yin whispered to the white haired woman as they watched the boy frame the streets with his fingers.

"...Starving artist." Serpent thought in a flat tone. "Come on, there has to be more bandits around here." She soon got out before dashing off.

Soon enough, they had wiped out the entire bandit population in the area and had ended up in a town square, which was surrounded by fencing and dilapidated buildings with only one entrance/exit.

"Well, we killed every bandit here and all they had was money and crap." Serpent sighed as she shook her head.

"Maybe it's in another part of town." Widow guessed as she closed her eyes to think.

"This place is effin' huge though..." Skull pointed out as he looked around.

"I have to say, the mood of this town is definitely strange...I can't sense anyone around here but Shadows." Mona stated.

"Not even a cognition?" Widow questioned. The not cat shook his head in response, causing her to frown. "I wonder what her cognition of Boss is..." She then muttered.

"Maybe he's deeper in the pyramid." Queen guessed. "However, we're at a dead end here." She then stated.

"Quite literally in this case." Yang remarked as she looked around. "Damn, what do we do..." She then quietly mumbled.

"Hey, guys. You lookin' for something?" A voice suddenly spoke up. They stopped thinking and turned to the bandit at the entrance of the town square. "Heh, I heard you rustlin' around out here...and here you all are." He then remarked.

"Hello there." Yin greeted with a kind smile.

The Shadow only tilted it's head in confusion. "...Mask, Sis." Yang reminded.

"Moh..." The Vice Leader groaned as she slumped on her feet.

"Welcome to the desert, fellow traders." The bandit then greeted. However, they noticed that they were keeping their distance away from them.

"Hm? Trader?" Panther whispered to herself as she narrowed her eyes.

"We don't care about your welcomes. You're a ban-MMPH!?" Skull began to yell, only for the white haired woman to cover his mouth.

"Ignore him." Serpent bluntly ordered before shoving him into the arms of Fox. "Hello to you as well. We're just looking for something, um, borrowed for the tomb recently. Do you have any idea where we can find it?" She then politely greeted and asked.

"Well, you happen to be talking to the right person." The bandit soon replied with a bow. "How about we trade?" It then offered.

"That would be lovely." Serpent responded with a smile. "So, what do you want?" She soon got out.

"Hmm..." The Shadow hummed as they looked over the group. "Eeeny...meany...miney...you." It then got out, pointing at the Vice Leader.

"Huh?" Yin got out in surprise to suddenly being singled out.

"Come with me, and I'll give you whatever you want." The bandit explained.

RATATATATATATATATA!

"FUCK NO, YOU FUCKING JACKASS!" Yang roared, her submachine guns barrels smoking. "OVER MY DEAD BODY!" She then declared.

"HOLY SHIT!" The bandit exclaimed before running out of there, leaving nothing but dust behind.

"Ugh. Nice going! We almost had it without a fight!" Serpent called out in anger.

"That thing was going to...to...!" Yang panted as she began to breathe heavily.

"You didn't even let 'em explain what they were going to do, you-" Serpent however countered before the tan skinned girl had a chance to say anything else.

"Well, it doesn't matter now." Queen interrupted with a shake of her head. "Let's go after it before it leaves town." She then advised before running out of the town square to chase after the bandit.

"Rrgh...she's right. Focus on the objective." Serpent muttered before letting out a calming breath. "Let's go." She soon got out before the rest of the Thieves ran after the bandit.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Skull called out, waving his weapon around.

"You're too slow, morons. You'll never catch me at this rate." The bandit taunted before speeding up.

"He ran off again! Hurry up and catch him, fast!" Mona exclaimed as the Thieves continued running after the Shadow.

"Why is this guy so fast!?" Panther complained.

Even after running around town for several minutes, the Thieves were no closer to catching up to the bandit.

"Hahahaha! Tired already? What a bunch of losers." the bandit taunted the very tired and cranky group. "Graverobbing is a game of stamina, y'know!" It then declared before running off again.

"I...am going...to beat it...with its own legs..." Serpent growled while trying to recover.

"This bandit...is faster than most Shadows...Oh God..." Widow panted.

"This heat is draining our stamina..." Yang groaned. "We can't catch up to it like this..." She then stated.

"We need a different approach..." Joker got out as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"I know! How about we lead that bandit into a trap?" Mona soon suggested.

"But what if it goes and attacks?" Yin questioned.

"We should cut it down before it even has a chance." Serpent answered as she took out her minigun. "Hopefully it has the objective on it's person." She then muttered.

"Sounds like a plan." Joker responded with a nod before turning to everyone else. "The middle of town should be a good location. Widow, jump up onto the roof of one of the nearby buildings and wait for my signal. Everyone else, split up and chase the bastard into the town square." He then instructed.

"Got it, Joker." Yin responded with a nod before everyone went off in different directions.

Meanwhile, the bandit was no worse for wear, even jogging in place in the alleyway it was hiding in. "Hah! That was too easy!" It then stated in a confident tone.

"Yeah." Joker answered before behind the Shadow with Yin, Mona and Yang by his side. "Boo." He taunted.

"AAAAAHHHH!" The bandit screamed in fear before running off once again, however, it then saw more of the Thieves in it's way.

"HEY ASSHOLE! WANNA PRACTICE TRACK WITH US!?" Skull shouted out as he and the ash blonde smirked, their weapons at the ready.

The bandit quickly turned around and went another way, only to see another set of Thieves in its way.

"Nothing personal, this is just business!" Queen declared as she and Fox went into battle stances.

Instantly, the Shadow turned...only to see several gun barrels aimed at its face.

"LET'S SEE IF YOU'RE FAST ENOUGH TO DODGE BULLETS, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Serpent yelled as she fired her minigun at the speedy bandit.

DAKKADDAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKKA!

"SWEET SUGAR HONEY ICE TEA!" The bandit exclaimed before diving out of the way of the hail of bullets before running down another path...and into the town square.

"Gotcha!" Joker remarked with a smirk as everyone gathered by the only entrance/exit.

"There he goes...!" Mona got out. "We finally chased him into the square!" He then stated.

"Perfect. He has nowhere else to run now..." Queen breathed out before turning to the Leader. "Let's do this, Joker!" She soon declared.

Joker nodded as he led the Thieves into the town square, where the bandit was frantically looking around for an exit. "Yo, bandit! What's the matter? Not runnin' anymore!?" Skull taunted with a smir,

The Shadow soon pulled out its sword, pointing it at the Thieves. "Tch...I just knew you were criminals the moment I set my eyes on you! And here I was thinkin' we could share the spoils!" The Shadow called out. "Don't even think about comin' one step closer." They soon threatened.

"Just give us what you stole. No one has to die here." Joker ordered as he gripped his knife.

"Heh, don't be ridiculous. You've gotta let me go." The Shadow soon got out in a cocky tone. "I mean you guys came to raid that tomb too, right? Why don't we work together and share the plunder?" It then suggested, greed dripping from his tone.

Serpent immediately hissed as she glared at the bandit.

"Don't talk to us like we're the same as you! We came here to save Futaba-chan. Now give us back what you stole!" Panther demanded.

The bandit couldn't help but chuckle, a black aura beginning to leak out of its body. "So you wanna do this no matter what, huh? Well in that case...I guess I don't have a choice!" It then declared.

"Yeah, you don't." Joker stated as he snapped his fingers.

BANG!

"Headshot." Widow calmly responded as the group watched as the Shadow's face exploded. However, it remained on its feet.

"Nice shooting, Widow!" Yin praised as the grey haired girl jumped down from her position.

However, the Shadow's form began to twist and writhe, transforming into a Raging Bird God. "You think something like that will stop me!?" It then screeched.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Yang groaned at the sight.

"It's weakened, but not out. Get ready everyone!" Mona soon ordered.


(Cue Your Ocean by Takeharu Ishimoto)

"Don't bother begging when you're on your knees!" Panther called out as everyone pulled out their weapons.

"How are we doing this, Joker?" Queen asked in a serious manner.

"Find out its weakness then strike it down!" Joker ordered.

"Like always! Bufula!" Fox declared, summoning Goemon to cast ice upon the Shadow.

CRACKLE!

"GAH!" The Shadow grunted in pain, shaking off the icicles that embedded into its skin.

"...We have to get a better general strategy..." Panther mumbled as the enemy was barely shaken from the attack.

"That's why I'm here!" Mona responded. "It doesn't have a weakness to ice." He then informed.

"Yeah, we can see that." Skull deadpanned.

"GARUDYNE!" The Raging Bird God called out, wind beginning to blow around the town square.

"Oh shit!" Skull exclaimed, barely managing to dodge out of the way of the spell.

WOOOOOOSH!

"We're going against -dyne spells now!?" Mona exclaimed in a panic as the Vice Leader and the dyed blond began to sweat quite a bit.

"Dyne spells?" Serpent repeated in confusion.

"Heavy damage versions of our usual spells." Joker informed as he cracked his knuckles. "Guess we've gotta bring our A-game now!" He then called out as he tore his mask off. "Black Widow! Dream Needle!" He commanded.

"Be trapped in our web of shadows!" The spider-woman declared as she tried to stab the Shadow...only to whiff.

"Not good." Joker got out under his breath as he returned the Persona.

"Ha! You think a little poke like that will do anything? BRAIN JACK!" The Shadow cried out.

"Ah, crap! Brainwash!" Mona exclaimed before raising his paws.

The white haired woman couldn't help but smirk. "It didn't work the first time, what makes yooooouuuu..." Serpent began only for her irises to glow pink. "I am at your will, Master." She then stated in a zombie-like tone.

"Dammit! Someone snap her out of it!" Joker ordered.

"Got it!" Yin responded, bringing out the paper fan at the ready.

"YIN, WATCH OUT!" Mona shouted out.

"H-Huh!?" Yin got out in confusion.

WOOOOSH!

Yin didn't even get a chance to scream as she was blown away, taking her out in an instant. "No! Vice Leader is down!" Mona exclaimed.

"NO!" Yang shouted in anger before stopping herself from just charging in. "Grrr...keep calm...keep calm...we aren't dead yet..." She whispered to herself while taking deep breaths while getting closer to her roommate.

"Good, keep her protect-" Joker breathed out, however...

WHAM!

"AH!" Joker exclaimed as he was suckerpunched by the advisor.

"Queen!?" Panther exclaimed.

"...She got brainwashed too, didn't she?" Skull got out in a worried tone.

"Yep." Widow responded. "...And she's the only one with the skill to cure it." She then added.

"Well, it's official. This Shadow sucks." Yang grumbled before the brainwashed Advisor tried to tackle her to the ground, but ended up face planting into her boobs.

BOING!

"Hey, senpai." Yang bluntly greeted before grabbing her by the waist and pinned her down. "Now stay put!" She then ordered. "I got her! Someone revive Sis!" She soon called out.

"I'm on it!" Mona called as he dashed towards the fallen girl.

"You're not going anywhere! Garudyne!" The Shadow declared before blasting air in his direction.

"Zorro!" Mona quickly called out, getting his Persona to take the blow. However, he looked a little winded (no pun intended) afterwards. "Grr...curse this distorted body..." He then grunted out. It had hurt a lot, even though he resisted it.

"This is so bullshit!" Skull swore.

"Snap out of it, Serpent!" Fox got out as he defended against the brainwashed woman.

"Must. Kill. Must. Skin. Alive. And. Wear. As. A. Coat." Serpent droned on as she clashed with the young artist.

"You know, good to see her personality wasn't completely erased." Widow muttered.

"BRAIN JACK!" The Raging Bird God suddenly declared.

"Dammit, not again!" Panther exclaimed in frustration as all of the Thieves guarded.

Fortunately, I didn't seem to affect anyone this time around.

"Well, that just extended the brainwashing..." Joker grumbled.

The dyed blond drop kicked the enemy, taking it down. "STOP! SPAMMING! BRAINJACK!" Skull shouted in anger as he hit the Shadow in the face with his mace.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

"Way to go, Skull!" Mona cheered. "Now, before I was rudely interrupted, RECARM!" He declared, his Persona reviving the unconscious Vice Leader.

"O-Ow..." Yin moaned as she sat up and held her head. "Did something happen while I was out?"

"Nothing much, just QUEEN IS TRYING TO CHOKE ME OUT!" Panther exclaimed as the Advisor suddenly put her into a choke hold, intent on snapping her neck.

"WAH! Let go of her, Queen!" Yin called out as she rushed over and threw Queen to the ground. "Sorry!" She soon apologized before slapping the girl in the face with a fan.

SLAP!

"Ah!" Queen yelped before rubbing her cheek. "...Why is my back and face so sore...?" She groaned out.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but we need you." Yang apologized as the advisor spotted the white haired woman battling the young artist, and she was winning. "Think you can fix that, Queen?" She soon asked.

"Y-Yes." Queen responded as she shook her head to shake off any lingering effects. "Johanna! Energy Shower!" She soon commanded, performing a donut with her bike to cast the spell.

And just as the white haired woman was about to slice Fox's penis off, the brainwashing was cured. "G-Guh! What the? Where did I go?" Serpent got out as she shook her head.

"Serpent's good now!" Panther called out.

"What? Did something happen?" Serpent asked in confusion.

"Got brainwashed, you're not now." Joker simplified. "Be sure to guard it next time!" He then ordered.

"R-Right." Serpent groaned. "A Persona is more dangerous than I thought...This power could really determine the fate of all shinobi..." She then thought.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." Yang bluntly stated. "I know what you're thinking!" She then declared in an accusing manner.

"I wasn't thinking of anything. And pay attention to your opponent!" Serpent denied and ordered.

"Oh, it's- GAH!" Yang screamed out as she was blown away, causing her to bounce off a wall. "...Do not say I told you so." She soon growled as she picked herself off the ground.

"A waste of breath. Prove me wrong with action!" Serpent called out before ripping off her mask. "Nobunaga! MEGATON RAID!" She then commanded as her Persona appeared behind her.

"What!? Don't! That-" Mona exclaimed and called out, however...

SLASH!

"HAH!" Serpent grunted out, downing the Shadow as she went down to one knee from exhaustion.

"Too much power for you at the moment..." Mona concluded with a sigh. "And I thought Skull was the reckless one." He then added.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me use a weaker skill and give it a chance to get back up." Serpent sarcastically responded before getting up.

"We're running a marathon here, not a sprint. Pace yourself." Mona however reminded. "Besides, this thing is not worth the energy." He then declared.

"Not when Futaba's life is on the line!" Serpent countered. "AGAIN! MEGATON-" She soon began as she reached for her mask, only for one of the Thieves to grab her wrist.

"Calm down, and give one of us a turn." Widow calmly ordered with an icy tone. "Save your strength and stop destroying yourself." She then added.

"...But-!" Serpent tried to argue, only for the light grey haired girl to cover her mouth.

"No buts missy." Widow countered in disapproval. "Pass me the baton. I shall make this monster fall." She soon promised.

"..." Serpent narrowed her eyes before shaking her head. "You better hit it where it hurts." She soon got out before...

CLAP!

"Good girl. I'll be glad to oblige." Widow responded as she nodded in approval. "Fūma! Aques!" She soon commanded.

SPLASH!

GULP!

Widow blinked as she saw the Shadow drink up the water blasted at it, healing a lot of the damage they inflicted on it previously.

"...Absorbs Water." Mona awkwardly informed as the white haired woman glared at the grey haired girl.

"...In my defense, we didn't know." Widow soon admitted.

"And now we do. Thanks for that." Yang replied in a blunt manner and a nod of approval. "PERSONA! Gokutenou!" She commanded while ripping her mask off.

FWOOSH! SLASH!

"GAH!" The Shadow grunted in pain. "That's smarts..." It soon remarked.

"Why isn't it down already!?" Panther got out as she gripped her whip.

"Queen! Analysis!" Joker ordered.

The advisor nodded as she scanned the Shadow. "All it knows is Brain Jack and Garudyne! A two-trick pony!" Queen informed.

"Not a particularly skillful Shadow..." Fox noted. "Still, it has powerful moves and we have not found its weakness. We should proceed with caution here." He then advised.

The Leader suddenly shuddered as he felt his mind begin to fade. "Shit, no, wait, dammit I'm-" Joker soon apologized in a panic before his expression relaxed. "I am under your command." He droned out.

"Oh no..." Yin whispered out in horror as they realised their Leader had been brainwashed.

"HAHAHAHA! Let's see what you can do!" The Raging Bird God got out with a sick smile.

"This is gonna suck..." Serpent couldn't help but say, preparing for the worse.

"Jack Frost." Joker soon summoned the Persona to his side in a monotone voice. "Kill." He commanded.

"We'll enjoy feasting on your entrails, ho!" Jack Frost declared...right before hailing ice as sharp as knives upon the Thieves.

"WHY JACK FROST-KUN!" Yin cried out before everyone was shredded by the hail, taking out the ash blond3 and nearly taking out the tan skinned girl.

"It's digging into our soul, hee ho! Help us, ho!" Jack Frost cheerfully stated before returning to the Leader's mask.

"He sounds so happy..." Serpent remarked with a sweatdrop.

"One more..." Joker soon got out as he summoned another Persona. "Sylph, Magarula!" he commanded.

"WHOA!" Yin yelped out, right before barely jumping out of the way.

WWWOOOOOOSSSHHH!

"HAH! DODGED IT!" Skull called out in a happy tone...only to see everyone else looking like they were about to die. "Shit." He swore.

"Is e-everyone okay?" Yin had to ask as she picked herself up.

"We're dying out here!" Serpent growled as she took out the ice shard in her leg. "Urgh...this is why Suzune-sensei kept spouting crap about fearing someone who knows one thing..." She then grumbled.

"Gah...! Joker could very much kill us if we give him the chance. We need to snap him out ASAP!" Fox stated as he watched the commanding Shadow roar in delight.

"Wait, PHANTOM WAFERS!" Yin suddenly exclaimed before pulling them out of the duffle bag.

"What the- What good will they do!?" Serpent called out before dodging the Leader's attacks.

"Bring us back our Leader!" Yin responded as she unwrapped the snack. "Someone get a hold of him!" She soon ordered.

"That means hitting his weakness without killing him..." Widow got out as she narrowed her eyes.

"KICK HIM IN THE NUTS!" Yang declared as she went and did so...only for her foot to lose all power upon connecting with his groin, barely flinching. "Huh?"

"Thanatos...Picaro..." Joker calmly declared, summoning the Persona to his side.

"...Oh." Yang could only say upon remembering that he still had that as a Persona.

"I am sorry, but...we cannot...CONTROL!" Thanatos Picaro struggled out before aiming at the other Thieves. "MAEIGAON!"

"...Well, fuck me." Yang simply stated.

DDDDOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Die, you damn thieves!"

"You're...a thief...too..." Widow managed to get out before...

THUD!

...Going into the blissful embrace of unconsciousness.

"Urgh...Thank god it wasn't that door thingy..." Mona coughed out.

"How strong is he!?" Serpent called out as she glared at the boy.

"E-Energy Show-!" Queen tried to cure the brainwashing, however the Raging Bird God didn't even give her a chance and tackled her, taking her out.

"Queen!" Yang exclaimed as anger rose within her. "BASTARD!" She roared.

"Stay calm! We can do this!" Fox declared before he narrowed his eyes and ripped off his mask. "Goemon! Grant Sukukaja to Yin!" He soon commanded.

"Let this aid you!" Goemon called out as he swung his smoking pipe/axe.

Immediately, the Vice Leader was enveloped in a green glow. "I feel...fast!" Yin got out before smirking as she faced her fellow Leader and the Shadow.

"KILL THE LITTLE SHIT!" The Shadow soon ordered as the Leader dashed towards her.

"You can try!" Yin shouted before bringing up her blades, blocking Joker's strike!

CLASH!

"Yin...help..." Joker managed to get out, despite the murderous blank look in his eyes.

"I'm trying! Give me a second." Yin responded.

"You...have...five..." Joker stated before headbutting the girl and jumping back. "PERSONA!" He then called out, summoning Arsene behind him.

"PERSONA!" Yin called out as well, summoning Kaeru to hold the other Persona back.

"To think this would happen." Kaeru grunted out as she struggled a bit.

"I know." Arsene responded in a somber tone. "We are sorry."

"You have no need to apologize." Kaeru responded. "Now, would you kindly SNAP OUT OF IT ALREADY!" She then demanded.

"It will take a lot more than shouting!" Yin meanwhile struggled.

"Yin!" Yang shouted, ready to charge in and help.

"Don't interfere." Serpent however got out. "She has this. We'll only get in her way." She then stated.

"But-" Yang started, however...

"Just give her a second." Serpent interrupted in a more forceful tone. "Besides, we need to take care of our wounded." She then added.

"Grrr..." Yang couldn't help but growl because the white haired woman was probably right, much to her annoyance. "KICK HIS ASS!" She then shouted out.

"Not trying to!" Yin called back before disappearing and reappearing behind her fellow Leader.

Without a second in-between, the Leader blocked the incoming kick with his forearm and grabbed her by the throat. However, it just gave Yin an opportunity to kick him in the head, causing him to let go.

"Garudyne!" The Shadow however declared, sending a massive gust of wind at the Vice Leader.

FWOOSH!

However the Vice Leader swiftly avoided the attack, though glared at the Shadow. "CHEATER!" Yin growled before taking out a pistol.

BANG!

"AH!"

"Smooth." Joker complimented.

"Thank you." Yin replied...right before using her other pistol to shoot his kneecap.

BANG!

Joker barely managed to dodge the bullet before the two clashed their blades once more.

"Panther! Get ready!" Yin ordered.

"Huh?" The ash blonde got out in confusion before shaking her head and getting ready for whatever the Vice Leader had in mind.

Yin couldn't respond as the Leader slashed through the obi keeping her kimono tied, however she ignored it and went for the finisher, grabbing his arm and twisting, forcing him to let go of his knife.

The Vice Leader then palmed her fellow Leader in the chest before reaching inside the duffle bag and pulled out a spray can. "Freeze Spray!" Yin called out as she sprayed Joker in the face.

FFFFFSSSSSSSTTTTT!

"Ah!" Joker grunted out as he stumbled back. However, before he knew it, his arms were tied to his sides.

"I got him! Go for it!" Panther called out as the brainwashed Leader struggled against his bonds.

"Yang-nee!" Yin soon ordered.

"Gotcha! Have a taste of these Phantom Wafers!" Yang declared as she rushed in and stuffed the item into his mouth.

MUNCH! MUNCH MUNCH! GULP!

The Leader coughed, spitting out some of the wafer. "Bleh...these wafers suck..." Joker groaned as the blonde unwrapped her whip from him. "Argh...you didn't have to be so rough...but thanks." He then grumbled.

"You're welcome. Now, is it time for revenge?" Yin responded as she handed his dagger back.

"Definitely." Joker answered before ripping off his mask. "PERSONA!" He declared summoning Thanatos Picaro to his side.

"What type of revenge do you want today, Trickster?" The incarnation of Death asked as it cracked it's knuckles.

"Hmm...I'm feeling a One-Shot Kill, Thanatos. Don't hold back!" Joker responded as the Persona shot the Shadow.

BANG!

"GGGAAAAAAHHHH!" The Raging Bird God screamed in pain, collapsing onto the ground.

The tan skinned girl blinked before slapping her mask. "Aw, goddammit! It's weak to bullets! Everyone fill it with lead!" Yang called out.

"OPEN FIRE!" Yin declared as they all unleashed bullet hell!

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

"No more! Go for the kill!" Joker ordered.

"All-Out Attack!" Panther declared as they rushed the Shadow.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! WHAM! CRACK! SLASH! SLAP! WHAM! SLASH!

Soon, the Thieves landed and posed. "And...curtain." Joker breathed out.

SPLATTER!

(End Music)


"As phantoms frighten beasts when shadows fall." Serpents breathed out as she made her katana vanish.

"We won!" Skull cheered out.

"Barely. Heal!" Mona added as he commanded Zorro to heal everyone.

"Hey, it dropped something along with the money." Yin got out as the Leader picked it up. It was a roll of parchment, frayed at the edges. It was either old or had been frequently used.

"I assume this is what Futaba wanted us to retrieve." Widow stated.

"Is this...some kind of papyrus parchment? It looks like there's something written inside." Mona soon noted as they began to unfurl the parchment.

"Hey, no peeking at a girl's belongings without permission!" Panther called out, causing the two boys to blush.

"Y'know, just what the hell is happenin' in her heart?" Skull however spoke up, looking quite angry. "There's this bandit, those weird voices sayin' you killed her, and who knows what else...It's a total freakin' mess in here!" He listed off and declared in confusion.

"Futaba's supposed to be the queen of this Palace, but even she can't control it?" Queen stated as she narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know...I've never seen a case like this..." Mona admitted in a sad tone.

"Regardless, we have no more business in this town. Shall we head back, Joker?" Fox soon asked.

"Yeah. I think we have some questions for Futaba." Joker responded.

"Yeah..." Serpent muttered in agreement as they all headed back.


(Great Corridor)

The Thieves returned back to the pyramid, their objective in hand as they approached the Palace ruler who had seemed to have waited in the exact same spot this entire time.

"We're back, Futaba-chan!" Yin happily informed.

"I can see that." Shadow Futaba replied in a blunt manner.

"Hey, this is the thing you said they stole from you, right?" Skull got out as Joker pulled out the papyrus scroll. "We went through some serious hell to get it back." He then added.

"Well done. It is yours now." Shadow Futaba soon congratulated the Thieves, confusing them greatly.

"Wait, what...? Didn't you want us to get it back because it's important?" Yang questioned in confusion.

"It is...for you." Shadow Futaba answered.

Joker raised his eyebrow before unfurling the roll of parchment. "...It's a map." He soon informed, handing it over to the Vice Leader.

The Palace ruler nodded to that. "A map of my tomb, stolen by that bandit to aid in the ransacking of my possessions." Shadow Futaba clarified.

"It's...complete." Yang realised as she glanced at the parchment. "Oh my God, we don't have to find a second map..." She then muttered. She was already putting this into her top ten Palaces.

"Why are you letting them just do whatever they want? This is your Palace, isn't it?" Queen questioned as she narrowed her eyes.

"Do you have guards? Or security? Are you even in full control of your Palace?" Widow soon questioned.

"It does not matter. All that matters is that the map is now yours." Shadow Futaba stated. "Just come further in and...Oh." She soon got out before beginning to fade away.

"No! Don't you-" Serpent began to call out, however she had already disappeared.

"And she's gone again." Joker groaned.

RUMBLE!

"Oh crap! Another boulder!?" Yin exclaimed.

"Nope." Shadow Futaba's voice echoed around the place.

And with that, the trapdoor underneath the Thieves opened and dropped them down into the caverns below.

"Goddammiiiiiiiiiiit!" Skull yelled out, shaking his fist as they fell into the darkness.


(Underground Cavern)

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" the Thieves screamed as they plummeted down the shift.

"WHY FUTABA-CHAN!?" Yin cried out.

FUMPH!

"Oww..." Joker groaned, spitting out some sand that got into his mouth. "For once I'd like to land in something soft, like a bale of hay, or roses...or boobs, or dakimakura." He then sarcastically mumbled as he tried to get up, only to feel himself sink into the ground.

"Wait...I'm sinking..." Widow quietly got out before it hit her. "I'M SINKING!" she then called out in a panicked tone.

"Shit, QUICKSAND!" Panther shouted out as the Thieves began to flail around and attempt to get out before they were dragged down.

"Everyone, swim with all your might!" Mona soon ordered in a panic.

"Hold up! Where's Serpent!?" Skull meanwhile got got.

"Up here!" Serpent called out.

The Thieves looked up and saw the white haired woman hanging on her grappling hook, having used it to hook onto a railing to stop herself from falling into the quicksand. "How the hell!?" Yang exclaimed. "HEY! HELP US!" She called out.

"I need to help myself first!" Serpent countered as she tugged on the rope. "Uh, I think the thing is stuck..." She then informed in an awkward manner.

"Just reach your hand out!" Joker called out, feeling his arms begin to get tired.

"Wait, I think I got it! W-WHOA!" Serpent exclaimed before zipping up onto solid ground. "Okay, that was faster than anticipated..." She soon muttered.

"Okay, now HELP US!" Yang shouted out.

"Alright, alright, shit you're bossy." Serpent grumbled. "Um...let's see..." She muttered while looking around. "I can't find anything!" She called out.

"Of course there isn't!" Yang sarcastically remarked as she kept swimming. "Use your grappling hook and lower yourself down here!" She then ordered.

"I might get sucked in myself!" Serpent however pointed out. "You guys have to get out on your own." She then stated.

"WHAT!?" Yang exclaimed before glaring at the woman.

"Getting tired here!" Queen called out.

"Wait a minute..." Widow got out before her grappling hook out, managing to hook onto something. "GRAB ONTO ME!" she then shouted.

"You heard her!" Yang responded, taking the light grey haired girl's hand.

Meanwhile, everyone else managed to swim over and grab onto every other body part...including her boobs.

"Sorry." Joker awkwardly apologized.

"PULL US UP ALREADY DAMMIT!" Panther exclaimed in a panic.

"HAI!" Widow responded as she pulled.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The Thieves screamed as they shot out of the quicksand and into the air before...

CRASH!

...Landing in a heap, all on top of the light grey haired girl.

At least they were on solid ground.

"Ow..." Widow's muffled groan was heard from the bottom of the pile before everyone got onto their feet.

"...Hey, you guys still alive?" Skull panted out.

"Oww...First a boulder, then this...Did we piss her off somehow?" Panther groaned. She really hoped her suit didn't have sand in it...

"I don't think it has anything to do with us angering her..." Mona stated. "I suspect the problem is that she can't control her instinct to push people away from her." He then deducted.

"A simple defense mechanism..." Queen muttered. "Considering what she's been through, I don't blame her for distrusting others." She then admitted.

"In the end though, she's going to do her best to stop us like all other Palace rulers." Widow however reminded with a sigh.

"Joker, let's save her! We've gotta help Futaba-chan open the door to her heart!" Yin called out as she pumped her fist.

"Uh, let's escape first. We can't help her from here." Joker suggested as he pulled on his glove...before taking it off and shaking some sand out of it.

"Otherwise this place is going to end up as our tomb too." Mona added.

"Good to see you guys are alive." The white haired woman got out as she approached the others.

"Serpent...!" Yang growled as they all glared at the woman.

"I can see the use of the grapple hook now. Thanks, cat." Serpent admitted as she retracted her hook.

"Not a cat!" Mona countered in annoyance and frustration.

"You could've helped us!" Panther snapped.

"There was nothing around to use alright? And I really did try and find something." Serpent pointed out and confessed. "And you guys got here, didn't you? I trust you guys can get out of these situations yourself. You wouldn't be here if you couldn't." She then added.

The Thieves blinked as they stared at the woman. "Okay then." Yang replied...before kicking the white haired girl into the quicksand.

FUMPH!

"AAAAHHH!" Serpent screamed as she began to sink down. "HOMURA, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" She yelled angrily as she struggled against the sand.

"It's Yang, Miyabi." Yang corrected, smirking under her mask.

"What happens if she actually can't get out?" Queen soon questioned.

"We'll save her before her head sinks down, don't worry. But we can trust her like she trusted us." Yang whispered her reply.

Serpent growled before firing her grappling hook onto the railing above her and pulled herself back onto solid ground.

"Karma's a bitch, huh?" Yang got out with a smirk.

"Go...fuck off." Serpent panted as she flipped the bird at her.

Yin however stepped forward with a serious expression on her face, despite her mask. "Serpent, we're a team. Even if we can do some things by ourselves, we need to help each other in here. Don't act like a teamplayer, and we will leave you in that quicksand, got it?" She soon ordered while narrowing her eyes.

"Hoh, how dark for a so-called Good Shinobi." Serpent remarked in a fascinated tone.

"Even a Good Shinobi has a breaking point." Yin stated in a low tone, causing the white haired woman to step back in a surprised manner while the starting Thieves members knew exactly what she was talking about. "Remember your position, Serpent. Don't give us a reason to turn on you." She then ordered, her eyes gaining a green gleam for a moment.

"..." Serpent went silent before sighing and nodding. "So, how are we getting out of here?" She soon asked.

"Probably by going up." Yang answered as she looked around with her Third Eye activated. "I can see a bunch of Shadows though. I guess Futaba does have guards." She soon informed and deducted.

"No, look at how they're dressed." Joker however pointed out. "They're not Futaba's guards, they're tomb raiders." He then corrected.

"Do we have to worry about the security level then?" Widow soon asked.

"Maybe, but I do not want to find out." Yin responded as they started making their way out of this death trap.

"Ugh, I think some sand got into my clothes..." Panther groaned.

"Mine too." Yang spoke up as she shook her clothes out.

"I guess skintight suits have some advantages." Queen couldn't help but admit.

"Uh...we'll give you guys some privacy at the next safe room we get to." Joker awkwardly got out. "...If someone peeks, someone dies." He then warned.

"Dude, I may be kinda a perv, but I'm not suicidal." Skull deadpanned. "...Fox though..." He then muttered as his eyes drifted towards the boy, recalling the nude modeling incident.

"What?" Fox spoke up, looking confused.

"Nothing." The two boys responded while looking away innocently.

And so, the Thieves went on, using sarcophagi and hook points to traverse through the area, while also fighting or avoiding Shadows.

"Yo, Treasure Chest over there!" Skull announced, pointing at something from across the room.

"Treasure Chest?" Serpent repeated before spotting the chest. "We aren't here to rob Futaba. Can you thieves not help yourselves?"

"We get the treasures out of the chests because they usually have useful items in them that will help us while traveling through Palaces." Mona explained.

"It was explained in the pamphlet." Joker then added.

"I know, but show some restraint here..." Serpent sighed.

"We need this shit. Besides, these pots here have stuff in them too." Skull soon informed as he swiped at the pot, which shattered into green voxels, and obtained...a smaller pot. "Huh, I got lucky." He then remarked.

"...Skull, those are urns." Widow however revealed.

"Specifically canopic jars." Queen spoke up. "They put organs in there." She then stated.

"What?" Skull got out before opening the jar. "O-Oh shit, ack!" He then coughed out in disgust and quickly put the lid back on.

"That's...We are not selling that to Iwai." Joker muttered.

"He would wonder where we got the human organs." Yang groaned. "Put that down. We have better, less questionable treasure around." She then stated as her eyes flashed crimson before noticing a glowing one. "That one." She informed while pointing at it, causing the Leader to go over to it.

"It's...a Bent Staff." Joker soon informed. "Well, it probably won't sell for much, but at least it won't get us in trouble."

Yang however sweatdropped to that. "Let's just get the chest. There's probably something better in it." She then stated before heading over there, the other soon following suit.

Soon enough, the Leader opened the chest and retrieved it's contents. "Seishiki Sword..." Joker got out.

"What a beautifully crafted blade." Serpent had to admit as she looked at the sword.

"I'll have that." Fox spoke up as the Leader handed the katana over to the young artist.

"You know...this would make a nice chest if we bring it back to the real world." Serpent suddenly stated while examining the chest.

"Moh..." Yin got out. "I feel uncomfortable looting Futaba-chan's Palace like this. We're no better than the bandits here..." She mumbled out.

Joker then placed a hand on the Vice Leader' shoulder. "I agree. But we will need the items and money." He agreed. "Think of it this way; it'll help pay for Futaba's real therapy after this is over." He then tried to comfort the girl.

"You don't think the change of heart will work?" Queen questioned.

"It will. I just don't feel like it's a long-term solution." Joker responded. "Anyways, leave the chest behind. It's too much weight and I don't want to drag it around all day." He then ordered.

"I wasn't planning to." Serpent responded as they continued on their way. "I'll get it on the way out." She then decided.

"What are you even gonna do with it? Display it in your apartment?" Skull however asked.

"...Use it for storage." Serpent answered in a flat. "You know, like a normal chest." She then added.

"...Oh I totally forgot that's a thing." Panther admitted.

"Do you guys not have storage-" Serpent began only to pause. "...Oh dear lord, I am getting old. Excited over storage..." She then got out in horror.

"H-How old-" Skull began to ask, however...

"Not now. Focus on the mission." Serpent snapped before going ahead of the group.

"Ok then." Joker awkwardly responded as the group followed after the white haired woman.


(Underground Corridor)

As soon as the Thieves entered the next area, they saw something right across from them: a gate with the harsh sun flowing through it.

"Hey...ain't that light the exit?" Skull informed. "I'm kinda surprised how close it ended up bein'!" He then got out in a pleasantly surprised tone.

"Thank god we can finally get out of here. That was a horrible experience to go through." Mona let out a sigh of relief.

"I'll say." Serpent murmured. "Definitely different from most missions..." She added as they headed for the exit.

"This place looks like it's still under construction." Yun couldn't help but comment.

"Or abandoned to the bandits. Look, they have dogs." Queen warned as they quickly hid in the shadows, watching a lone dog patrol the halls. "Shouldn't be too hard to sneak around as long as we proceed with caution." She then informed.

"We need to know our enemy though." Widow pointed out. "Let's ambush one or two of them. It'll make future battles easier." She then advised.

"Yeah. We still have plenty of energy. Let's go kill stuff." Yang agreed with a nod before dashing towards the Shadow, firing her grappling hook and pulling the dog towards her. "Sorry, boy, you have to be put down!" She then declared as she tore off its mask.

"Chanting Baboon!" Joker soon stated. "This one's gonna take some work!" He then added.

"Hey, wasn't that what Oyamada turned into?" Yang asked.

"Oh yeah..." Panther got out in remembrance before frowning. "That guy was a dick..." She grumbled.

"Me can hear you." The baboon grumbled. "Come on, the pretty blonde there looks like she'll break a nail." It then got out.

"Are you...taunting me?" Panther growled, a red aura flaring around her. "Me!? I'LL TEAR FUCKING EYES OUT FROM YOUR SKULL ASSHOLE!" She roared while readying her whip.

"It inflicted Rage on Panther!" Mona exclaimed.

"With a sucky taunt like that, they'll need magic." Joker deadpanned. "Dammit, should've gotten a Psychic Persona before. Just beat it until it dies! Inflict statuses!" He grumbled out before giving the order.

"And someone smack Panther out of it!" Yin called out in a panic as she dodged out of the way of an attack and pulled out her pistols.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Yin soon winced as she saw the baboon only slightly groan in pain. "That didn't do much..."

"God, this thing is tanky." Skull grumbled.

Suddenly, the ash blonde jumped onto the enemy and began to tear it's eyes out. "FUCKING! PIECE! OF! UNRELENTING! SHIT!" Panther screamed as she tried to beat the Shadow with her bare hands.

"Wha? Agh! AHHH! OH DEAR LORD ME NEED HELP!" The Chanting Baboon screamed as the Thieves watched on.

"...Um...should we-" Queen began to ask, looking a little scared.

" I'LL RIP OUT YOUR FUCKIN' ENDOCRINE SYSTEM!" Panther roared while bashing its head into the ground.

"...Give it a couple of seconds." Joker interrupted, waiting for until the screams just stopped. "...Okay, now." He soon ordered.

"Energy Shower!" Queen commanded.

Panther immediately felt her anger drain away from her, regaining her senses. And that allowed her to look down between her thighs and see the traumatized Shadow's face between them. She then looked down at her gloves and saw the blood on it. "Um...Did I do good?" She awkwardly asked.

"I'm gonna say yes. HOLD UP!" Joker called out as everyone aimed their guns at the fallen Shadow while the ash blonde jumped away.

"Stick 'em up!" Serpent ordered as she began spinning the barrels of her minigun.

"...What you plan to do with me? Me lost because me am weak..." The baboon sobbed out.

"How do we play this, Joker?" Mona asked the Leader.

"Hmm...Hey, Thoth." Joker got out as he lowered his gun. "Join my cause."

"Hm!?" The Shadow gasped, its eyes widening "Thoth...? Oh, me remember now! Me am not a Shadow that belongs here. Me exists in the sea of human souls." It then declared as it began glowing.

"That easily?" Widow got out in surprise.

"I am thou...thou art I...Me am Thoth. My power is your power...Use it how you want."

"I will, thank you." Joker replied before his newest Persona was absorbed into his mask.

"That was...a shockingly easy negotiation back there, Joker." Mona got out in a pleasant tone. "Your power is amazing as always."

"...How did you do that?" Serpent however asked.

"The power of the Sun, Serpent." Joker answered with a smirk.

"Negotiating with the Shadows I mean." Serpent sighed out.

"Pamphlet." Mona answered.

Serpent however groaned. "Yes, I read that part, but it said that it took a lot more convincing." She then pointed out.

"Again, power of the Sun. Now, let's go test him on some of it's friends." Joker repeated and waved off.

"But-" Serpent started, however...

"Serpent, there are a lot of questions that will not be answered anytime soon. So just accept it for now." Widow soon stated and ordered as she and the rest of the group continued on to the exit. But not before passing by something.

"Hold up!" Yang warned as she stopped everyone, peeking out of the opening. There, they saw a large, mummified Shadow standing there, barely moving as if it was a statue. "There's a Shadow in there." she then informed.

"Look at how tranquil it is. It appears to be different from the Shadows we've encountered prior." Fox stated.

"It's not a bandit, that's for certain." Widow stated.

"We shouldn't try and get its attention." Queen however advised. "Our priority is getting out of here." She then reminded.

"Yeah, we need an escape route before we do anything too risky." Yin agreed with a nod. "One without using our grappling hooks in case we need to come back." She then added.

"Alright, everyone move." Joker ordered as they carefully went through the area.


(Pyramid Entrance)

Soon enough, the Thieves made it out of the death trap and let out sighs of relief. "We made it out!" Skull breathed out. "God-effin'-dammit, it's still hot out here though. My ass is all sweaty." He then complained.

"One, ew, too much info. Two, stop bitching about the heat, Skull. It's hot, we know..." Yang groaned as she wiped the sweat off her brow.

"At least we have secured our escape route. We can finally go about exploring this place now." Fox got out.

"Let's use this as our entrance from here forward. It should be more stable than the front." Queen suggested.

"Good idea." Yin agreed with a nod.

"But first, let's take a breather before we head back. I need to fuse some Personas, anyways." Joker soon ordered as he walked away.

"Huh?" Serpent got out in confusion.

"Something called the Velcro Room? He gets better Personas from there." Skull explained as the Leader proceeded to space out at a random spot in front of the pyramid.

"Velvet." Mona corrected in an annoyed tone. "Joker is our Wild Card because he can summon multiple Personas, unlike all of us who only have one." He then explained.

"Why is that?" Serpent had to ask.

"We...don't exactly know." Mona confessed. "I just see it as a special quality he has about him." He then stated.

Serpent narrowed her eyes as she studied the Leader. "Multiple personalities?" She soon deducted.

"Not...really. He just has a mask for every situation." Mona replied.

"Don't worry about him. Or touch him right now." Panther warned.

"Hmm...Fine." Serpent replied with a shrug. "Besides, if I was right, I'd have two..." She then thought.

"In any case, we need to talk, Serpent." Mona suddenly started.

"Urgh...you're probably looking for an apology..." Serpent thought in a flat tone before shaking her head. "Alright, what is it?"

"It's about your use of skills." Mona got out, shocking the woman a little. "Scanning your Persona...your ability is that your skills cost more as you get weaker. I think it's highly likely you'd knock yourself out if you aren't careful. You need to stop that." He then stated.

"What do you mean I can't use Nobunaga's skills?"

"Not that. I mean don't use your heavy hitting skills. They massively drain your energy." Mona explained.

"But they're only skills I know." Serpent pointed out before looking into herself. "Eiga, Maeiga, Kouga, Mamudoon, Mahamaon, Megaton Raid, Heat Wave." She then listed off the skills she knew.

"E-Erm...well..." Mona awkwardly got out. "Ok yeah, this is a difficult situation..." He admitted in a mutter.

"I think we're almost at the level where using such skills will not be much of a problem." Fox stated. "You need to trust we are strong enough to use them now. Serpent here is the embodiment of that." He then got out.

"Just...make sure to not overdo it." Mona sighed. "Only use your full power for the big Shadows." He then instructed.

"I promise I will, just don't overstep your boundaries." Serpent responded. "Besides, there's no helping it when the Leader here tells us to use those moves." She then added.

"Leaders." Yin corrected. "I'm the Vice Leader, second in command in case he falls." She then informed.

"Really? You didn't seem much like a leader back there. If anything, you're kind of a doormat."

"I-I am not a doormat!" Yin countered in an offended tone. "I just haven't had many chances lately..." She then grumbled.

"You make a fine leader, Sis." Yang assured before turning her gaze towards their newest member. "It's just that someone just likes to start trouble when she should be acting like a teammate." She then added.

"Did you essentially hold me hostage?" Serpent deadpanned.

"You were trying to kill us!" Yang countered with the reminder.

"Enough!" Yin started. "Both of you, stand down! Fighting like this isn't going to solve anything, especially Futaba-chan's distorted heart so either shut up or beat each other up until you both can't move!" She then stated.

"Sis?" Yang got out in shock after hearing that.

"Yang-nee please settle down. And Serpent, stop being a bitch!" Yin then demanded. "We need to be a team. Grudges stay outside the Metaverse, got it?"

"...Yes, Vice Leader." Serpent relented. "Ok, I'll take back what I said. Let's save this little fight for afterwards." She then got out.

"I agree." Yang replied as she cracked her knuckles. "I'm gonna enjoy kicking your ass."

"If you can touch it." Serpent scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

SLAP!

"I think I just did!" Yang countered, dusting off her gloved hands after slapping Serpent's ass.

"Oh, that's the game you're playing now, huh?" Serpent growled, getting into a battle stance.

"Guys...we just-" Skull began to plead.

"Shut up, Skull." Yang and Serpent automatically got out in unison. "It's between me and her." They then declared.

"Step back..." Fox warned as the rest of the group got some distance away from the two.

"Jeez, another cat fight..." Panther sighed.

"No...I think it's something else." Widow stated as she narrowed her eyes.

Yang and Serpent glared at each other, pressing their chest against one another...before grabbing hold of each other's butts.

"...Keijo...?" Queen got out in disbelief.

"Eh?" Yin and Widow got out in confusion.

"You know what that is?" Skull questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"..." Queen paused, taking several seconds to realise what she just said and another few seconds to figure out an answer. "...No." She then answered.

"I bet this bodysuit has padding." Yang grumbled.

"At least I don't have sand in it!" Serpent stated with a smirk.

"You're not even wearing panties underneath!" Yang accused as she tried to feel for the underwear underneath the woman's bodysuit.

"Ah! Well, you're not wearing any underwear too!" Serpent shouted out as she spread the tan skinned girl's ass- "The hell!? How are you wearing underwear!? I can see your sideboobs!" She then exclaimed while looking at the crimson panties.

"Metaverse magic, motherfucker!" Yang declared.

"What the hell happened while I was out?" Joker spoke up, wondering why the tan skinned girl and the white haired woman were feeling each other's asses.

The Thieves soon turned, revealing all the blushes on their faces, even the Vice Leader...somehow. "Hey, Joker, you're back." Yin greeted.

"Joker?" Yang got out before seeing what she was doing. "...Um...it's not what it looks like?" She soon said in a weak tone.

"Oh I bet." Joker replied as he blinked. "Do I uh...do you two need some private time to just...work it out?" He then awkwardly offered.

"Oh, we'll have our private time after this is over, isn't that right Yang?" Serpent answered in a low tone that could easily be misconstrued as seductive. "I'll make you scream my name before you even know what's happening."

"...Are you as deaf as me...?" Yin soon questioned. It felt kinda weird to be an observer this time.

"My hearing is perfectly fine, thank you very much." Serpent stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Can you let go already, your finger is touching my asshole over my panties..." Yang soon got out in a quiet tone.

"Yes, this fight shall continue later." Serpent got out before taking her hands out of the tan skinned girl's outfit.

"Thank you. Ah...oh, there are definitely handprints there." Yang sighed.

"...I'm just gonna declare that this didn't happen. Is everyone in agreement?" Joker announced before asking.

"Hai." The Thieves answered.

"Okay. New Palace, new Personas." Joker declared as he pumped his fist. "Alright, enough standing around in the heat. Let's go back in."

"Hey, think you can block out the sun again?" Skull asked the white haired woman as they headed towards their new infiltration point.

"Ha ha." Serpent sarcastically got out before putting on a thoughtful expression. "But you know, I bet I could with the blood of a virgin sacrifice..." She soon added before looking directly at the dyed blond.

"Erm...I think I'll take another water bottle instead." Skull nervously got out before opening the door into the underground.


(Underground Corridor)

Once the Thieves went back in, they made their way back to the tough Shadow they saw earlier.

"Alright, we have an escape route, now can we kick it's ass!?" Skull got out with an eager smile on his face.

"Well, there's nowhere else we can go..." Yang muttered as she narrowed her eyes.

"Looks like we're gonna have a tough battle ahead." Serpent muttered. No way to ambush the thing either. They were gonna have to fight it head-on. "What do you say, Leader? Should we fight it now?" She soon asked.

Joker nodded almost without thought. "Let's go." He answered.

"Brace yourselves. This is definitely no normal enemy!" Mona advised before running towards the Shadow.

"Hey dickhead!" Yang called out as everyone pulled out their weapons. "Are you ready to die?" She then challenged.

"FOOLISH GRAVE ROBBERS! YOU HAVE ENRAGED THE GUARDIAN OF THIS PLACE!" The dangerous Shadow declared as it stepped forward. "HENCE, THERE SHALL BE NO PATH FORWARD FOR YOU! IT IS TIME YOU PERISH!" It then declared before transforming.

The dyed blond winced covered his ears and winced. "You know, there is a thing called an inside voice, you know!" Skull called out as they charged at the Shadow.


(Cue Breaking Free by Takeharu Ishimoto)

The Shadow transformed just as the Thieves attacked, their weapons bouncing off it and causing them to jump back to truly study their enemy.

"A...coffin?" Queen got out in confusion.

"A Coffin-borne God!" Mona informed. "This one is definitely going to be a challenge!" He then stated.

"Queen, moveset?" Joker asked as he went through his Personas.

"Megido, Summon and...Trapped Rat?" Queen informed, sounding a little confused at the end there.

"M-Megido!?" Mona stammered out. "No, an Almighty Spell...we can't resist against that!" He then declared in a panic.

"Why are all these Shadows so jacked here!?" Skull exclaimed.

"And it can bring friends..." Widow muttered with a frown. "We should end this fight fast, before it can overwhelm us or drain too many of our resources." She then advised.

"Um...what was that about rats?" Panther got out in confusion.

"Just make sure it can't act. Don't bother with weaknesses, status ailments for now." Joker ordered as he tore off his mask. "Kaiwan! Makajam!" He soon commanded, unleashing the star-shaped Persona to inflict Forget onto the enemy.

However, it didn't do anything.

"Well, so much for that..." Joker sighed.

"You're just not trying hard enough! Wolverine! Gokuentou!" Yang called out as her Persona slashed at the Shadow, but was stunned when her blades merely bounced off the coffin. "What!?"

"Is it immune to physical attacks?" Panther guessed with a frown.

"No...I think it's the coffin itself." Queen muttered. "We can't do much while it's hiding in that coffin! We have to crack it open!" She then called out.

"Alright, how're we doin' that?" Skull asked.

"Just wait for an opportunity." Widow answered as the Thieves circled around the Shadow, waiting for it to make its next move.

Finally, it got impatient. "MEGIDO!" The Coffin-borne God cried out.

"NOW!" Joker shouted out, dodging out of the way of the Almighty spell.

Before anyone moved, Serpent dashed up to the enemy and jammed her sword into the coffin, preventing it from completely closing. The white haired woman then pried open the coffin, exposing the demon within. "I'm keeping it open! Blast it with everything you've got!" Serpent called out.

"UNLEASH HELL!" Joker ordered as the Thieves simultaneously summoned their Personas and blasted the Shadow with everything they had!

DOOM! RUMBLE! FWOOSH! SLASH! ZAP! FWOOSH! CRACKLE! SPLASH! BOOM! WOOSH!

Both the enemy and Serpent were blown back by Mona's last attack, greatly weakening the Shadow.

"Got it! Wind weakness for the big guy!" Mona called out as he passed the Baton.

"That's all we needed!" Joker replied. "Go for it! ALL-OUT ATTACK!" He then commanded as the Thieves rushed the Shadow.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! WHAM! CRACK! SLASH! SLAP! WHAM! SLASH!

Once the Thieves landed, the white haired woman then leapt onto the Coffin-borne God and grabbed the lid. "RRRAAAAHHHH!" Serpent then roared as she tore the coffin lid off, exposing the creature within. "HAH! No hiding now, ya coffin jockey!" She then cheered before pointing her minigun at it.

DAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKA!

"That's some serious overkill." Skull remarked as the white haired woman leapt back to the group, her minigun on her shoulders.

"If it's not dead, it's not overkill." Serpent however pointed out as the Shadow got up. "It's not dead yet, so don't let up." She then informed and advised.

"DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME! I AM NOT ALONE IN MY DUTY!" The Shadow roared as it began to bring in some help. About three of them.

"It's summoning more enemies!" Widow called out as she aimed for the newly appeared Lamia. "Bufula!" She then commanded.

CRACKLE!

"One Lamia knocked down!" Widow announced before going over to the not cat. "Passing the baton!" She soon called out.

CLAP!

"Hai Widow, I shall ensure this battle ends quickly!" Mona declared. "Garula!"

WOOSH!

"Nice, Mona!" Skull praised as the coffin was knocked over with a loud thud.

"Passing the baton again!" Mona soon announced as he dashed over to Joker.

CLAP!

"Jack Frost! Ravage them!" Joker ordered as he tore off his mask.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

The Leader pumped his fist then he took down the rest of the enemies. "Once more! All-Out Attack!" Joker ordered before rushing down the Shadows.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! WHAM! CRACK! SLASH! SLAP! WHAM! SLASH!

"Come on, why isn't it dead yet!?" Fox growled as they landed back on the ground.

"YOU ARE NOTHING TRAPPED RATS IN A CAGE!" The Coffin-borne God roared.

"We're not trapped in here with you, you're trapped in here with us!" The tan skinned girl countered as she aimed her guns at the Shadow.

"Yang, I don't think that's a boast!" Panther exclaimed. "EVERYONE GUARD!" she then called out.

POOF!

"Squeak!?" A mouse with a black mask and blue eyes exclaimed, looking at his own paws in disbelief.

The Thieves stared at the confused mouse for several seconds before someone broke the stunned silence. "PFFT...HAHAHAHAHA! Oh God, that's hilarious!" Yang laughed out. "Shadows can actually do that?" She soon asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"He's rattled." Joker chuckled out. "Oh shit, incoming!" He soon warned.

"DODGE!" Yin shouted out.

"AAAHHH!" Panther screamed as they dived out of the way. "I did not sign up for turning into a rat today!" She declared in a panic.

"Do we have anything to cure that?" Queen asked as the Vice Leader rummaged through the duffle bag.

"No." Yin soon answered in a nervous manner. "Why does the Metaverse hate us?" She soon wondered out loud.

"Eh, if the world wants to fight, we'll give it a fight!" Skull shouted out. "PERSONA!"

"RISING SLASH!" One of the Lamia declared, slashing at the ash blonde.

SLASH!

"O-Owww..." Panther moaned in pain. "Mona! We need healing!" She then called out.

"Squeak!" Mona responded before...doing absolutely nothing, barely creating flickers of flames. "Squeak? Squeak squeak squeak..." He then got out in confusion.

"Oh shit, he can't use his Persona." Yang realised in horror.

"Well, I didn't need any more motivation to avoid getting rattled..." Skull muttered.

"Is that really what we're calling it now?" Queen deadpanned.

"You have any better ideas?" Joker pointed out before tearing off his mask. "Albion! Agneyastra!" He then commanded, hitting every enemy several times.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

"That's how we do it!" Joker got out.

POOF!

"Squeak!" Mona exclaimed. "I mean, whoa!" He then stammered as he shook his big head.

"So, rather be a cat or a mouse?" Skull jokingly remarked.

"NEITHER! ZORRO, STAB IT THROUGH THE HEART!" Mona commanded as his Persona did as such...with a boxing glove. Unfortunately, he missed. "Dammit!" He swore in frustration.

"It's summoning more dudes!" Skull shouted out.

"I can see that!" Yang growled as she glared at the newcomers.

The new Lamia merely glared back before smirking and slithering up to the tan skinned girl. "Fall under our spell..." She whispered, her breath entering her nose and mouth.

"Ack! No, dammit!" Yang coughed out. "Foul Breath..." She informed in disgust.

"Wait a minute..." Queen whispered out as she analysed the opponent. "Oh no! Ominous Words!" She soon called out in a panic.

"Lamia can inflict Despair!?" Panther exclaimed.

The tan skinned girl's eyes immediately widened as they thought back to the last time it happened. "OH HELL NO! KILLITKILLITKILLITKILLIT!" Yang roared in a panic.

The Vice Leader then noticed the Lamia focusing on the tan skinned girl. "YANG-NEE! WATCH OUT!" Yin called out.

"AAAHHH!" Yang screamed, barely getting her guard up before...

POOF!

"Hah?" Yang got out in a dumb tone as she lowered her guard.

"Is everyone okay?" Skull got out. Everyone nodded...before looking down. "Ah, crap." He mumbled.

"Squeak?" Mouse Serpent got out in confusion. before looking at herself and panicking. "SQUEAK!?" She then exclaimed.

"Serpent's a mouse!" Mona informed.

"Huh, two cases of irony in one fight." Joker muttered. "Focus on the Shadow! Keep it off Serpent while it wears off!" He then ordered as Mouse Serpent flailed around.

"Oh thank god..." Yang breathed out before focusing on the Shadows. "Time for each and every one of you to die screaming!" She then declared.

And with that, the Thieves proceeded to take down each and every Shadow. It was right then they realised it was a good time to finish this battle.

"End it! ALL-OUT ATTACK!" Joker ordered as they rushed the Shadows.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! WHAM! CRACK! SLASH! SLAP! WHAM!

"So it ends." Widow breathed before...

SPLATTER!

(End Music)


"Tch. Some guardian." Yang muttered as she kicked the Shadow's fading corpse.

"All right, we managed to scrape through that somehow! Let's keep it up and head for the Treasure!" Panther cheered out.

"We should make sure we don't get reckless though. It's better to proceed one step at a time." Queen advised.

"Um...we still have a problem..." Yin soon got out as the light grey haired girl picked up the still-rattled woman.

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak SQUEAK!" Mouse Serpent ranted, flailing her little arms around.

"Thank god, no tits..." Yang muttered as she looked at the changed white haired girl.

"SQUEAK!?" Mouse Serpent squeaked out in an angry manner.

"I think we should be glad we can't understand her." Widow stated as she began petting the mouse's head. "It suits her." She then admitted in amusement.

"Widow." Yin and Yang got out in a chiding tone.

"What? I think she's cuter this way." Widow replied as she continued petting the mouse...

POOF!

Before said mouse turned back into her human form, resulting in her petting the white haired girl's head in an affectionate manner.

"..." Serpent however didn't respond to this action as a blush was gracing her face either in anger or embarrassment.

"Those two are gonna have an interesting relationship..." Yang muttered as she watched the light grey haired girl continue petting the white haired girl's head.

"Yeah..." Yin replied in agreement as she continued watching the light gray haired girl still petting the white haired girl's head, though they saw it was now in a more teasing manner.

"W-Would you stop that already!?" Serpent got out with an embarrassed pink blush on her face as she slapped the light grey haired girl's hand away before checking her body. "Do I have a tail? Are my teeth normal?" She soon asked as she pulled her mouth open.

"Nope, you seem fine to me." Yin answered as she looked in there. "Do you have a craving for cheese?" She then asked.

"No, but I could go for a drink." Serpent admitted as she smacked her lips together.

"Soda, got it." Joker replied as he took one out from within his coat.

"Where do you get all these drinks? Do you have a supplier or something?" Widow had to ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, they are called vending machines." Joker answered. "Every Monday. Every week. All around Tokyo." He then stated.

"Well...that entire thing sucked." Mona panted out. "I feel dirty in a different way..." He then confessed.

"Why is that a thing here!?" Skull exclaimed.

"Another of this universe's sick jokes I guess..." Joker assumed.

"I swear to God if there are tits on me if I turn into mice, I will shoot myself." Yang deadpanned.

"Don't mice have, like, ten-" Widow began only for the tan skinned girl to glare her mouth shut.

"Not like it will do much." Joker awkwardly reminded.

"Oh yeah..." Yang grumbled. "...I wonder if I'm more resistant to bullets in the real world now?" She then added.

"...I...doubt that. And I wouldn't test that if I were you. Where would you even get the gun?" Joker responded in a hesitant manner followed by the question. "...Actually don't answer that question." He then decided. He was sure someone would be a little too eager to test that out...


(Hebijo Academy, Training Field)

RATATATATATATATA!

"Your aim's getting better." Hikage praised with a nod of approval.

"Arf Arf!" Poochie barked out in agreement.

"Thank you, thank you! You're far too kind." Mirai replied while giving a bow.

"...You don't have that big of a bust." Yomi soon pointed out as she approached the rough wooden sculpture of the loli, shaped with bullets. "It's also smoking a little." She then informed. "Mmmm...hickory..." She then hummed.

"I...ran out of ammo." Mirai soon stated, although her shifty eye said otherwise.

"Achoo!" They suddenly heard someone sneeze from the nearby dead bushes.

"Hm? What was that?" Mirai got out as she looked around, but the eavesdropper was long gone by then.


(Underground Corridor)

After healing and taking a quick snack break, the Thieves continued on into a new room, where it seemed like it was still under construction...or just flat out wrecked.

"Look at this place..." Yang started while looking around. "It's like it's about to collapse already..." She then pointed out.

"Just be careful. I do not trust the sand here." Joker advised as they jumped across using what seemed to be the remains of a wooden bridge.

"What's this? Some kind of giant ass bow and arrow?" Skull got out as they studied the weapon.

"A ballista." Serpent informed. "It's from the Middle Ages. It's a Greek weapon though, nowhere near Egypt." She simply explained.

"You even know about stuff like this, Serpent? Huh, you learn something new about someone every day." Panther remarked.

"And what's that supposed to mean...?" Serpent growled as she narrowed her eyes, obviously offended.

"Hold up, that thing ain't gonna shoot us or nothing, right?" Skull got out in concern.

"Well, there's a bolt already loaded into it, but it seems to be broken. On top of that, it's slanted away." Queen pointed out. "It's not going to hurt anyone like this." She then assured.

"I'm just wondering why it's here in the first place." Yang muttered as she crossed her arms. "Why aren't they outside? Why is one here to begin with?" She then questioned.

"Considering the state of the Palace, I think we can assume." Joker answered. "Let's keep looking." He then instructed before turning around and climbing up to study an oddly familiar door.

"Look at this thing..." Yin muttered as she traced the designs with her gloved finger.

"Ah...This bears the exact same decoration as the door that blocks the great stairs." Fox noted.

"So what, does that mean we ain't gonna be able to open it?" Skull assumed with a groan.

"No, I think it's the opposite." Queen spoke up as she traced one of the symbols on the door. "How we open this door should provide a hint for unlocking the other one." She then explained.

"Well...it wouldn't hurt to try." Widow stated. "We might find something out if we investigate the area around here! Let's take a look around." She soon got out.

Joker nodded as he led the group in exploring the place, before stumbling onto a door. They went through it and spotted something peculiar.

"Is that...a mirror?" Yin got out as they approached the elaborately set-up mirror.

"The light pouring in from the ceiling is reflecting off of here, but it's hitting a wall..." Fox noted.

"I don't think this thing rotates and I doubt we can lift it..." Yang stated as she studied the thing.

Serpent narrowed her eyes at the wall the light was hitting and knocked her knuckles against it. "Hey...this wall looks kinda weak here." She soon got out. "I bet we can smash it to pieces." She then stated as she did some preliminary stretches.

"I doubt such a task would be easy, but it might be possible if we hit it with a powerful enough force." Queen stated as she began to think of a way to-

CRASH!

"Or you could just do that. That works too." Queen got out after the white haired woman destroyed the cracked wall, revealing a door right across from it. When the light hit it, the door opened.

"Palaces definitely need better designers." Joker chuckled out as the white haired woman dusted her hands off.

"It was much more frail than it appeared." Serpent casually revealed.

"So shining light upon the door is what caused it to unlock..." Yang muttered.

"Okay. That should work for the doors at the great stairs then." Widow stated. "All we need to do is locate the mirror, or create our own sunlight down here." She soon informed.

"Alright, we have the method to unlock it, now we just need to actually get there." Joker got out, looking down the hole in the wall before leaping out to a safe platform. The Thieves then went through the door, and into the next area.


(Chamber of Sarcophagi)

As soon as they went through the door, they spotted a stone slab with glowing green writing on it.

"Hey, there's something written here." Widow noticed as they approached the stone tablet.

"Thank God it's in Japanese..." Joker muttered. He was half-expecting it to be written in hieroglyphs or indecipherable l33t.

"Let me see..." The Advisor got out as she leaned in. "The light shed by the god of the underworld shall become the sign for those who traverse the pits. What could this mean...?" She read out loud.

"Futaba-san really likes riddles, I'm guessing." Widow assumed.

"I don't think so, Widow." Panther however got out. "But we won't know by standing around. Let's go." She then suggested.

The others nodded before heading out, going up the stairs. From there they could see a Shadow patrolling and two doors nearby. Deciding to avoid the Shadow for now, they snuck through one of the doors to enter a mostly empty room except for one thing.

"A statue?" Yin mumbled as they went up to the thing.

"It's holding something...wait, what is this statue anyways?" Skull noticed as he narrowed his eyes. "Some kinda dog furry?" He then assumed.

"That dog furry is Anubis, the Egyptian god of the underworld." Queen informed as she rolled her eyes.

"No, that's Osiris. Anubis is the god of the dead." Joker corrected.

"Oh, that's my mistake. Osiris replaced Anubis as the god of the dead by the Middle Kingdom Period." Queen then got out.

"I don't get it. What's the difference?" Skull had to ask.

"We are not having a conversation about this. You should've learned this in school." Serpent spoke up as she swiped the Abyss Gem out of the statue's hand. "This thing seems important. We might as well take it for now." She then added.

"Hey, that might've set off a trap!" Mona exclaimed.

"Hey, remember what that slab said?" Serpent reminded as she held up the gem. "This thing glows, I assume it's the light it mentioned. I'm gonna guess this is gonna help us get deeper into this place." She then explained.

"I guess..." Mona muttered. "But still, we should remain cautious. I have a bad feeling about this." He then warned.

"This entire Palace inspires a bad feeling, Mona." Yang muttered as they headed out of the room.

"Okay, where the hell are we going now...?" Skull soon enough asked. There wasn't anywhere else they could go.

"I assume up there." Joker pointed out as they looked up to see various platforms above them...as well as points to hook on. "Yosh. Grappling hooks ready? Go shoot!" He soon ordered as he fired his grappling hook and shot up onto the platform, the rest of the Thieves following soon after.

"Stay down." Yin whispered as the team hid behind the railings. "Shadows on patrol." She then informed.

Joker narrowed his eyes as he scanned them with Third Eye. "One's weak enough for an instant kill, the other's gonna need a straight fight to put down." He soon revealed.

"That sounds easy enough. Let's go for it." Skull got out in an eager tone.

"Alright." Joker replied before leaping onto the weaker Shadow. "And...gone!" He concluded.

RRRIIIIIPPPP!

"That's one! Now for the-" Joker began only to see that the other patrolling Shadow was nowhere to be seen. "Oh...it's gone." He awkwardly informed.

"What?" Panther got out in confusion. "Where did it- actually, no. Just accept it and let's go before it comes back." She then got out as she shook her head and headed out.

"That's never happened before?" Serpent meanwhile whispered in confusion.

"Nope." Ying, Yang and Widow all answered at the same time before following the ash blonde into a nearby room.

The rest of the Thieves soon followed, where they saw another statue like the one below them. "Hey, this statue's the same weird dog thing from before! And look, it's got one of them gems too." Skull pointed out.

"It's Anubis. We just talked about it." Mona reminded as he shook his head.

"Grab it, Serpent." Joker ordered.

To that, Serpent nodded and did as such.

"Where are you putting those?" Queen couldn't help but ask as she studied the white haired woman's skin tight suit.

"A shinobi needs to keep some secrets." Serpent simply answered as they began to head out.

However, when they went out the door, they quickly went back in when a Shadow burst out of a sarcophagus.

"Aw hell, I knew that one of these would set off a trap!" Mona quietly groaned.

"It's just a few more Shadows. We can take care of them easily." Fox stated.

"Or avoid them. Let's just ignore them and head for the objective." Queen advised.

"I agree. Let's just head for the exit." Joker replied before the Thieves headed out of the area without a single Shadow even noticing they were there in the first place.


(Great Corridor)

"Careful everyone." Yin advised as she leaned over a drop down to...the entrance?

"Hey, look at that..." Yang got out as she looked over and spotted something.

"We're back at the stairs..." Joker realised as he looked down.

"That means we are directly above where we ended up after coming through the front entrance." Fox stated as he looked at the mirror.

"Hey, doesn't this look familiar?" Yin spoke up.

"Yeah...it's the thing that opened the door in the underground cavern." Skull answered.

"We had to shine light on that one to get it to open, right? Do you think this is the same mechanism?" Panther remembered.

"Only one way to find out." Widow got out as she cracked her knuckles. "...Now how do we activate it?"

"I don't see a button anywhere..." Yin mumbled out as they looked around the place.

"Hey, over there!" Serpent called out as she waved over to the rest.

"What you got, Serpent?" Joker asked as they approached the woman, who was standing by a stone pedestal.

"I think we can slot the gems in these." Serpent informed before pulling out one of the gems. With a shrug, she inserted the gem into the slot in the pedestal.

"Nothing seems to be happening." Fox noticed.

"Calm down. There's another one right over there." Mona stated as the white haired woman went to the other pedestal and inserted the gem. Suddenly, there was a small rumble, like there was aging machinery beginning to work.

"Hey, the mirror's moving!" Widow announced as the mirror turned to shine the beam of light at the door, retracting the bars on it, as well as retracting the parts of the wall to reveal an easy way down to the stairs.

"All right, we got it!" Skull cheered.

"So we were right to assume shining light upon it is what causes it to open. This should apply to all similar doors we may encounter here." Widow stated.

"We can't rest on our laurels though. Let's stay cautious and proceed forward." Queen advised.

"We seem to be pushing our way through the doors of her heart." Fox got out, looking somewhat wistful.

"...I don't know if I'd phrase it like that. Anyway, let's keep going!" Panther sheepishly admitted before jumping down to climb further up the Palace. The doors fell away at their presence, allowing them to continue on...into another set of doors.

"Oh damn, I just remembered she put up at least three more..." Yang groaned.

"This is gonna take forever..." Skull complained.

"Thinking back to how it felt climbing their stairs before, we aren't even halfway there yet." Queen informed, causing the dyed blonde to groan even louder.

"We have to keep it up though!" Serpent called out. "We'll steal her Treasure by sundown, no compromise!" She then declared.

"I'm fine with that." Joker replied with a nod.

"Hey, safe room over here!" Mona spoke up, detecting the weakened cognition behind a door.

"Should we take a break?" The Vice Leader asked as she turned to Joker.

"Maybe a quick one." Joker replied as he stretched his limbs. "We do need to get the Fast Travel point for it." he then added.

"Whatever you say, Leader." Panther responded as they entered the safe room.


(Corridor Bottom Safe Room)

As soon as they entered the safe room, everyone instantly felt a heavy weight lift off their shoulders.

"Ahhh...That feels...well, not great but better than before..." Skull breathed out.

"Ah...!" Yin yelped as the room wavered a little, revealing it's true location for a moment. "What the...was that...Futaba-chan's room?"

"I think I saw a pile of trash bags over there..." Widow noted as she closed her eyes and shook her head. "That's not healthy..." she then muttered.

"It's a little sad that she doesn't even leave out the trash bags..." Serpent admitted with a frown. That reminded her, she hadn't seen Murasaki ever since she woke up. Her room was probably way worse.

"I think some spring-cleaning is in order once we manage to get Futaba out of her room." Joker stated, the rest of the Thieves agreeing with a nod.

"Wait, even you're agreeing Skull?" Queen questioned as she narrowed her eyes. "You don't even clean up your room that often." She then stated.

"Yeah, but it's never that messy." Skull pointed out. "It just stinks most of the time. Gotta get in better shape every day, and these shotguns always need maintaining." He then explained as he flexed, attempting to show his muscles through his leather jacket.

The advisor simply stared at Skull with a blank look before flexing her own muscles, showing her developed biceps through her skintight suit. "Maintaining my muscle mass while studying and keeping my room clean isn't that hard." She simply stated.

"Dude, just admit you're just lazy." Joker deadpanned.

"Hey, I pull my weight." Skull grumbled.

"Yeah, but if it's anything that involves studying or cleaning, you tend to leave that at the bottom of your priorities." Widow spoke up.

"Are we here just to make fun of my habits, or are we here to relax!?" Skull finally had enough and sat down.

"Alright, alright. Enough of that. So, what drinks do you guys want?" Joker soon got out as the Thieves began to relax.


(Chamber of Rejection)

The break only lasted a couple of minutes before the Thieves got back to work, entering the next section of the Palace they had to conquer.

The not cat shivered, feeling his fur stand up on end and frowning. "I'm sensing Shadows...lots of them." Mona warned.

"That's to be expected...We're basically raiding her tomb, after all. We'd better be cautious as we go, you guys!" Panther stated.

"This is about to get real rough isn't it." Yang sighed.

"Most likely." Widow replied with a nod as she went up the stairs.

"Hold on..." Serpent however got out, stopping everyone as they just got to the top.

The Vice Leader was confused, only to see that the Palace ruler was right at the end of the hallway. "H-Hey! Futaba-chan!" Yin called out as she waved at the young girl.

"Is this where she disappeared to?" Widow muttered.

"So you've come. Follow me." Shadow Futaba stated before walking away.

"That's...ominous..." Joker couldn't help but remark before they headed towards where the Palace ruler was...and nearly died not even two steps forward as the ground collapsed underneath them. And to add insult to injury, various darts shot out of the wall.

"FUCKING-" Yang shouted out before the Thieves jumped back. At the bottom of the hole were stone spikes, with various human bones stuck to them. "Whhhyyyy, Futaba..." She groaned in frustration.

"Talk about a close call..." Panther panted out. "We almost found out what life is like as a pincushion." She then added.

"It's not fun, let me tell you that." Yin moaned in phantom pain.

"How're we supposed to get to the other side with the floor like this!?" Skull questioned, looking a little pissed now.

"Well, shinobi style wall-running is out of the picture..." Yang sighed out as she looked around. "Ah, up there! We can hook onto that and swing across." She then informed.

"Nice eye. Okay, one at a time." Joker praised and instructed before firing his hook and swinging across safely, with none of the darts even scratching him. "Hah, nailed it!" He then whispered as he pumped his fist.

Soon enough, the rest of the Thieves made it across with nary a scratch.

"Okay, now we can follow Futaba." Serpent got out as she pumped her fist, already going on ahead towards when the Palace ruler went.

However, it was right then that Widow spotted something on the ground. "Wait a minute, there are holes in the-" She began as they chased after her.

Suddenly, spears shot out of the ground right in their way!

"MOTHER-" Serpent yelped, the Thieves barely able to stumble back in time to not be turned into swiss cheese. "Gah! Stupid, stupid, stupid...!" She then grumbled, hitting her forehead for such an obvious mistake.

"OKAY, THAT IS TWICE SHE TRIED TO KILL US ALREADY!" Skull exclaimed.

"I guess we're not going this way..." Joker muttered.

"And she disappeared again." Yang deadpanned as she face palmed.

"Wait, everyone look up." Queen got out as she pointed upwards. There's some light up above. It's another one of those mirrors."

"Another key to a door..." Widow muttered.

"Yes, but unless we can do something about this trap, we will not be able to proceed." Fox stated.

"Ugh, what a pain in the ass!" Skull fumed.

"Less complaining, more solving the problem while not dying horrible deaths..." Serpent sighed as they went off down the hall and up the stairs. It was there they found another statue holding a gem.

However, just when they were going down the hallway towards the statue, suddenly the floor collapsed beneath their feet. Luckily, they reacted instantly and jumped away. "Son of a-" Panther yelped before letting out a breath. "Okay, not that way." She mumbled before they headed around, seeing that the gap was too big to cross. Even then, the other side also had a partially collapsed floor.

"At least this part is pre-collapsed." Queen sighed as she easily jumped across the gap. After sneaking around the Shadow patrolling the area, they made it to their objective.

"Another statue..." Queen muttered as they approached the thing.

"Yo, this one's got a gem too. Wanna grab it?" Skull asked.

"Wait, don't touch anything yet. There's something here." Widow spoke up as she read the stone slab next to the statue. "Any who attempts to steal this gem shall be cursed..." She then said out loud.

"Uh, that sounds bad." Yin got out in a worried tone.

"Oh, like some curse is going to stop us." Serpent got out as rolled her eyes, already swiping the gem out of the statue's hand. "We need it anyways." She then added, tossing the Rejection Gem in her hand.

"You really are reckless, aren't you?" Fox questioned. Suddenly, everyone shuddered as the atmosphere changed.

"A curse shall fall upon you..." A deep voice suddenly echoed around the chamber.

"...Bring it on..." Serpent muttered while narrowing her eyes. "I've been cursed enough in my life, what's one more?" She quietly added.

"Alright, let's head out." Joker got out as they began making their way out. However...

"Holy effin' shit!" Skull exclaimed as the Thieves barely stopped themselves from being filled with arrows.

"With all these traps, it feels like one of those old archaeologist movies..." Joker sarcastically mumbled under his breath.

The tan skinned girl narrowed her eyes as she picked up a nearby stone and threw it into the path. Predictably, the stone got destroyed. "I don't think we're going through here..." Yang muttered.

"Maybe it's the curse?" Panther guessed.

"What?" Serpent got out before pulling out the Rejection Gem. "...Dammit. This thing must be what activates these traps. Probably to kill overly-greedy thieves..." She then remarked.

"Well, let's hurry and put it back." Queen advised.

"...Fine, all of you stay here while I go and do that." Serpent responded before running off.

"...Did we check if there were traps back the way we came?" Widow asked.

"Well, I didn't see any holes in the walls and floor. I think it's fine." Yang answered.

It was right then they suddenly felt a weight be lifted off their shoulders.

"Hey, the air feels different." Yin suddenly got out.

"I guess Serpent lifted the curse." Joker assumed with an impressed smile. "She works fast."

"I just put the gem back into the statue's hand, nothing special." Serpent pointed out.

"GAH! MAMBLE! HAH!" Skull exclaimed as he jumped back. "Dude, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He declared.

"Get a stronger heart. Your scream probably alerted an enemy." Serpent pointed out. "Besides, we could just go back the way we came with the gem. We don't have to go through here." She then stated.

"Maybe, but we should at least check." Joker responded before going on, hesitating a little at when the darts were and cautiously sticking out his arm. Once nothing happened, he let out a breath and continued on.

From there, they made it to the end and spotted a button, with spears like the ones that almost killed them behind it, giving them a view of where Shadow Futaba had gone..

"A button?" Yin soon asked with a tilt of her head.

"This is what that trap was guarding?" Yang muttered.

"Well, let's see what it does." Joker got out as he pushed the button. There was a small rumble before they heard a clicking sound.

"I think that took care of those spears down there." Widow assumed.

"Alright, let's go back and grab that gem. I bet it unlocks something further down the line." Panther stated as they headed back the way they came, making sure to grab the gem along the way, before passing by a sarcophagus.

It was right then a Shadow suddenly burst from the sarcophagus, attacking the Thieves before they even had a chance to react.

"SHIT! AMBUSH!" Skull called out as the Shadows surrounded them..

"A few Lamia and a Thoth! We can do this, just keep a cool head!" Mona informed.

"Right. Don't act dumb and keep your guard up!" Joker agreed and ordered just as the Shadows attacked.

The Thieves had no choice but to endure the beatdown the Shadows were giving them, having no room to move or time to summon their Personas.

"GAH!" Skull grunted out. "Shit...we are not doing good right now..." He then grumbled.

"Just endure it! We'll have our chance!" Serpent called out.

"Foul Breath!" The Shadow declared as it spewed out a puke colored gas throughout the field.

"Ack! This skill sucks." Panther coughed out as she waved her hand to get rid of the smell.

"Ominous Words!" Another Lamia suddenly declared, aiming directly at Yang.

"Huh?" Yang managed to get out before her vision began to shiver. "Wh-What the-"

"NO!" The tan skinned girl managed to hear the Leader scream as her mind began to succumb to the ailment.

"YANG-neeeeee..." Yin began to shout, only for her voice to fade from her ears like a dying record player.

"What the!? What's happening!?" Yang exclaimed as the world around her melted to reveal a new setting.

The scenery around her was a bloodbath. A classroom splattered with viscera, bloodied scratches on the windows as if people tried to escape with their nails.

Homura's head swam as she looked down at her hands. Blood...so much damn blood that she could barely see her own skin underneath.

And at her feet...was Asuka's head. Frozen in horror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Homura screamed out as she kicked it away on instinct before panicking and crawling over to it, slowly picking it up and holding it close to her. "It's...It's not real...This isn't real Homura..." She mumbled as she rocked herself.

"ThAT's NOt tHe epITOmE Of SaniTY, HoLDiNG Onto a seVEREd hEAD LIKe ThAT." A shadowy, almost demonic voice remarked, getting Homura to look up.

"No...No, no dammit, this isn't real..." Homura growled before gently setting Asuka's head down, facing the shadow without betraying her true feelings.

"...yOU dON't ReMeMber, DO you?" The distorted shadow echoed.

"Remember?" Homura repeated before shaking her head and glaring at the shadow. "What are you talking about?"

"ThE sIGht? The ScrEaMs? THe blOOd? " The darkness answered, sounding almost amused by the girl.

"Y-You! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Homura shouted out as she tried to summon her katanas. However, they didn't come. "Dammit, I am not...I am not falling for this...This isn't real..." She soon told herself.

"BUT iT iS. OH fUCK, it IS." The darkness replied.

"Watch your fucking language." Homura got out in a low, threatening tone.

"yOu kIlled HER...yOU KIlLed eVeRyoNe...yoU SlaUGHtEreD THem alL lIKE aNIMAls...ALL fOR YOuR MIsSion! As A true EVIl sHINobi!"

"Shut up...SHUT UP!" Homura cried out.

"thERe's No gOINg AGAiNst NaTure, HoMUrA! yOu'Ll nEVeR Be mOre than a MUrDErEr! a mOnSTER THaT cAReS fOr NOThiNg BUt tHe thriLL oF watcHing ThEIR LiFe LEaVE ThEIr eYES!"

"SHUT UP!" Homura screamed at the formless shadow. "I...I..." She then panted as she clutched her head. This was just what...what...

"Homu-nee! NO!"

"What's wrong, Jugs? This is the only way out of the life of a shinobi..."

"Please...I don't want to die..."

"We all die someday, Asuka. It just so happens that it's today. Goodbye and good riddance."

SLASH!

She stared down at herself, shivering as she realised the truth.

No...There was no other way about it...

It was Asuka's blood. She was covered head to toe in her sister's blood.

She could remember her. Pleading and begging for her to stop, that she didn't want to fight her like this, that she was being mind controlled and that they were friends.

And then Homura sliced her open, with a feral grin on her face.

It was under her own will, her own decision to end her life.

All in a mad rush to satisfy the blood lust within her heart.

She felt the sword in her free hand as she slowly brought it up.

It would be better...if a monster like her just died-

SMACK!

"YANG-NEE!" Yin cried out.

"A-Asuka?" Yang panted out as she tried to wrap her head around what was happening. "Y-You're alive..." She breathed out in relief.

"Of course I am!" Yin stated, trying to wipe away the tears in her eyes. "Y-You got hit with despair..." She informed as she hugged her roommate.

"I'm...I'm..." Yang began to pant out before suddenly pushing her roommate to the ground.

"AAHH!" Yin yelped out. "That...That almost hit me..." She then muttered before noticing the tan skinned girl shivering on top of her, clutching onto her like she was dying. "Homu-nee, get off me before-" She whispered.

"We got it." Skull interrupted as he blew the brains out of the last remaining enemy. "Go to hell, ya bastards..." He then growled as the last of the Shadows faded.

"You okay, Yang?" Joker soon asked as he helped the girl off of the Vice Leader.

"I think...I'm gonna vomit over there." Yang groaned out, stumbling over to a corner, lifting up and proceeding to do so.

"Someone watch over her. Pull her hair back." Joker ordered.

Yin nodded as she slowly went over to her roommate, who meanwhile pulled her into a tight hug.

"What...the hell happened?" Serpent breathed out in disbelief at the sight. "She was about to stab herself..." She then added as she recalled what she saw.

"That's what Despair does to a person..." Mona sadly explained. "That's why we try to not get hit with status effects here."

"...The Metaverse is dangerous..." Serpent muttered as she rubbed her forehead.

"And the reason we're trying to keep the amount of people who know about it limited." Mona stated. "Thank God we haven't run into more Shadows with that skill..." He soon muttered.

"Do you wanna leave, Yang?" Joker asked in a worried tone.

"No. I can...I can keep going." Yang panted out before putting down her mask. "If that's what Futaba's going through now every damn day, I'm gonna burn all that dread when we take her heart." She then got out, putting on a brave face. However, her shivering body told everyone what she truly felt.

However, the Leader knew he couldn't stop her. "Alright. I trust you, but another Despair attack like that to anyone else, we're ending it today." He then stated.

"Sure, Joker." Yang breathed out with a nod before coughing again. "Can I get some water...?" She soon requested.

Widow soon walked up to the girl and handed her an icy cold bottle of water. "Here. Let's just...stay here for a minute before we keep going." She soon suggested.

"I think it would be for the best." Queen responded as the Thieves sat down to relax.

"Shhh, it's ok Yang...it's ok..." Yin calmly informed in a soothing tone.

"I'm...I'm..." Yang breathed out before closing her eyes, falling asleep on her roommate's shoulder.

Serpent meanwhile looked on at the two and gave a sympathetic expression. She could only wonder what would happen if she was struck with Despair...and that caused her to ball her hand into a fist. "Please...don't it be what I think it is...please..." She mentally begged, fearing rising up from within her body.

After a while, Yang woke up with a groan and stretched her limbs.

"You okay, Homu-nee?" Yin asked as the tan skinned girl stood up.

"Yeah...Just needed to sleep it off." Yang breathed out.

"You ready for more?" Joker got out, still looking a little concerned.

"I'm fine, Joker. Let's go kill some Shadows." Yang growled.

"If you say so." Joker responded. "Looks like the gem really does have a curse. It's making more Shadows spawn." He then deducted and informed.

"Alright, we're on stealth mode for a while." Yin soon ordered. "Only engage when necessary." She then added.

"Hai, Vice Leader." Joker replied with a nod before heading out, making their way through the area.

It was then they began to notice the more absurd details around the place.

"Okay, why is there a ballista aimed at a wall?" Yang wondered, spotting one embedded in a wall above them. "You'd think Futaba would at least use them to take down airborne targets or something...or us..." She then added.

"That sounds really painful." Skull mumbled as he winced.

"It would be." Widow stated with a wince. "Let's not give Futaba-san any ideas now." She soon suggested.

"Yeah…" Joker agreed as they climbed up to the upper floors. From there, they followed the path and ended up coming across a button.

"Goddammit, did not expect jumpscares to be everywhere in this place..." Skull grumbled. "I had enough of that RE: Final Chapter dammit..." He then grumbled out in annoyance.

"Should we really be pressing every random button we come across?" Serpent questioned in a flat tone.

"Hey, it's either progress or free training. It's a win-win." Joker stated before walking up to the button. "And...Boop." He concluded as he pressed it.

CRASH!

"Yep, the sounds of progress." Serpent deadpanned.

"What was that noise!?" Panther exclaimed.

"I think that was the ballista going off." Yin answered. "I think we were supposed to do that..." She then deducted.

"Well, we won't know that until we see the damage. Let's go." Joker replied as he pulled on his glove before heading back the way they came.

When they arrived at the scene of the crime, they saw that the ballista had made a giant hole in the wall across from it, revealing the room behind it.

"Huh, so it really was the sound of progress." Serpent remarked as they stared at the hole in the wall.

"I still don't know why Futaba has indoor ballistas." Yang muttered with a shake of her head before climbing through the hole.

"Hey, there's a chest over here!" Yin called out as they headed over to it.

Joker picked the lock swiftly and opened the chest, revealing a Snuff Soul, Blitz Ring and a Turquoise.

"That's...That's a real gem." Serpent informed in disbelief. The gem wasn't all that big, but it was still something. "You guys can find diamonds here too?" She soon asked.

"We haven't found diamonds yet but I bet we'll find one eventually." Panther answered.

"...The Metaverse is becoming more and more of a money maker by the minute..." Serpent soon stated.

"You'd think we'd learn our lesson about greed at the bank..." Queen sighed with a shake of her head.

"Bank?" Serpent repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Ah, the last Palace you were all in, correct?" She then assumed.

"Yep." Yang replied, an irritated look under her mask. "Fricking Kaneshiro and his fricking fake money..." She grumbled out in annoyance.

"Asshole thought he ruled all of Shibuya." Skull then added.

"Not really the time to reminisce about past Palaces. That can be saved for later. Come on." Mona interrupted and stated before moving on. From there, they spotted a locked chest, which didn't prove much of a challenge to unlock.

"Mut Cutlass." The Leader muttered as twirled the weapon around. "That's yours, Mona." He then got out as he tossed it over to the not cat.

"Thank you." Mona replied as he gave the cutlass a few swings.

"How do you even wield a cutlass?" Serpent however asked before everyone else looked at her. "What? It's been on my mind and he has those stubby little paws." She then confessed as she put up her hands like a cat.

"The Metaverse doesn't exactly run on logic. Remember the pamphlet, Serpent." Yang answered.

"Accept it and move on, we'll figure it out later." Serpent repeated what she had read before entering the Palace today. "When is it later?" She then questioned.

"Presumably the bottom of Mementos." Queen responded.

"If there is a bottom. Or that we can get to it before we're in our twenties." Yang added.

"I barely know what that is. The pamphlet you gave me just said you perform minor changes of heart there." Serpent got out as she pulled it out from in between her boobs...only to see it had been ruined and illegible by her own sweat. "Ew." She then got out before throwing it away.

"...We need a proofreader." Joker sighed. "Let's just keep going." He then ordered as they went off.

Soon enough, they found another Anubis statue. Without much thought, Serpent put the gem into the statue's outstretched hand, lifting the curse off them and allowing them to go back and head into the next area.


(Great Corridor)

"We're back here." Panther got out as she spotted the great stairs and the door blocking their way to the Treasure.

"And there's the mirror." Serpent stated before frowning. "We don't have gems this time, though..." She then muttered.

"Man, that's the biggest flatscreen I've seen in a while." Skull meanwhile commented.

"Hey, this looks like a control panel here, at the mirror thing." Yin informed as she narrowed her eyes. "You think it controls that screen?" She soon assumed.

"Only one way to find out." Joker got out as he touched the console. Suddenly, the green circuitry on it began to glow as the screen flickered on. They instantly recognised that Futaba was in it, however the rest of the image was indecipherable.

"Is this...a picture...?" Mona soon questioned.

"Odd. The design seems to be scrambled somehow." Fox noted.

"Maybe it's like a puzzle? Joker, can you change the picture?" Panther guessed.

"Do we really have to do a goddamn puzzle in a tomb?" Skull sighed out.

"It seems to be showing something. It could give us some insight into Futaba's thoughts..." Fox stated as the Leader cracked his knuckles.

It was a relatively simple puzzle. As long as he paid attention to the top of the picture, he was able to correctly assemble the image with little effort.

"Easy." Joker breathed out as he stepped away from the console to see the full mural. It was of Futaba and three men in suits with bird heads, the one in front holding up a note.

"What's this a picture of?" Skull soon asked.

"This adult seems to be reading something to a crying child...?" Fox answered as he narrowed his eyes. "Hm, the emotions of the artist are often depicted in the art they produce...I can sense...serious pain harbored in her heart." He then analysed as he clutched his chest.

"You can really see that, Fox?" Yin got out with a raised eyebrow.

"I should have never had Futaba..." They suddenly heard a voice echo throughout the pyramid. An adult male.

"More voices..." Joker muttered.

"Is that voice coming from the mural?" Queen got out as she narrowed his eyes.

"She was always such a bother..." The male voice said, as if he was reading off of something. "It seems you caused your mother a great deal of trouble, Futaba-chan...She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis..." He then assumed before fading away.

Suddenly, the Palace rumbled as the mirror turned, shining the beam of light through the screen, causing it to disappear and hit the door at the great stairway. And just like that, the bars of the door retracted.

However, the Thieves had other things on their mind right now.

"Maternity neurosis..." Joker repeated, clenching his fist.

"What was that!?" Panther exclaimed.

"Based on its contents, it sounded almost like a suicide note..." Queen assumed with a frown.

"Could that be what Futaba remembers of her mother's suicide?" Fox guessed, starting to feel a clench around his heart.

"But that's an effin' sick thing to do to a kid if that's really how it all went down." Skull growled

"Why was he reading out her suicide note?" Yin questioned with a frown. And why did it sound like he was blaming her...?

"Assholes..." Serpent quietly growled, holding herself back from smashing the screen.

"Wait...this seems to imply her mother planned to die right in front of her..." Widow pointed out. "This...Why...?" She then whispered in disbelief.

"Something we can discuss with Futaba once this is over." Yang replied before glaring at the picture, specifically the man holding the note. "But whoever these fuckers are, they need to be disciplined..." She then promised, already imagining what she would do to them.

Joker nodded to that before jumping down back to the ground floor, with the rest following suit soon after.

At the door, it quickly went down in their presence, allowing them to continue further up the Palace.

"We opened the second door, but all it's revealed are more mysteries..." Fox got out as they walked up the stairs.

"There's no doubt we're getting closer to the Treasure. Come on, let's keep moving!" Mona called out as he went on ahead.

"Oi Serpent, you've been weirdly quiet." Yang noticed, watching the woman fume for a majority of the climb.

"..." Serpent however said nothing in response as shadows covered her eyes. "It's nothing. Let's keep going." She responded as she went on ahead.

"Safe room detected!" Yin called out, interrupting the two Hebijo shinobi. "And it's right here. Huh, there's one every flight..." She soon noticed.

"It should be a good time to take a break everyone." Joker breathed out. "Sleep, eat, whatever. We still have plenty of Palace to go." He then added.

"Plus, I can finally get this sand out of my suit." Panther breathed out. It was starting to chafe in very embarrassing places.

"Roger that, Joker." Yin responded with a salute as they headed into the safe room.


Save Game...Quit!


(Persona Tracking)

Joker

Level: 37

Personas: Arsene (Resist: Curse) (Weak: Ice, Bless), Jack Frost (Null: Ice) (Weak: Fire), Lachesis (Resist: Wind) (Null: Ice) (Weak: Electric), Kaiwan (Null: Gun, Psychic) (Weak: Nuclear), Albion (Null: Physical, Gun, Earth), Otohime (Drain: Water) (Weak: Fire, Earth)

Persona Trait: Arsene- Last Stand (Allows use of ambush-only skills after Baton Pass), Jack Frost- Ice Lineage (Chance to halve costs of Ice skills), Lachesis- Internal Hypnosis (Extends buffs received by 1 turn), Kaiwan- Psychic Bloodline (Halves costs of Psy skills), Albion- Undying Fury (Strengthen Physical attacks by 30%. Doesn't apply to Gun skills), Otohime- Skillful Technique (Strengthen Technical damage by 25%)

Skills: Eiga, Maeiga, Snap, Speed Master, Tetrakarn, Tarukaja, Bufudyne, Mabufula (X2), Ice Break, Baisudi, Rakunda, Freeze Boost, Null Fire, Mabaisudi, Growth 2, Marakukaja, Elec Wall, Bufula, Ice Boost, Makajam, Psio, Forget Boost, Speed Master, Makajamaon, Psiodyne, Marakunda, Megido, Makouga, Tempest Slash, Giant Slice, Agneyastra, Mazionga, Ziodyne, Recarm, Water Wall, Brain Jack, Malaques

Accessory: SP Adhesive 3 (Skill: Invigorate 3)

Yin

Level: 37

Persona: Kaeru (Resist: Earth, Fire) (Weak: Wind, Gun)

Persona Trait: Path of Light (Gain some HP when using support/healing skills)

Skills: Magnara, Mediarama, Sukukaja, Miracle Punch, Mamagnara, Masukukaja, Earth Boost, Makajamaon

Confidant Rank: Rank 7

Accessory: Skanda Belt (Speed Master)

Yang

Level: 37

Persona: Wolverine (Resist: Physical, Gun, Fire, Wind) (Weak: Water, Earth, Bless, Psychokinesis)

Persona Trait: Path of Crimson (Gain some HP when using Physical/Magic skills)

Skills: Agilao, Cleave, Gokuentou, Regenerate 2, Terror Claw, Triple Down, Swift Strike, Fire Boost, Charge

Confidant Rank: Rank 6

Accessory: Tough Belt (Defense Master)

Mona

Level: 37

Persona: Zorro (Resist: Wind) (Weak: Elec)

Persona Trait: Proud Presence (Increases effect of allies' healing skills)

Skills: Garula, Diarama, Patra, Mediarama, Lucky Punch, Magarula, Me Patra, Recarm, Wind Break

Confidant Rank: Rank 6

Accessory: Attachment Pearl (Null Forget)

Skull

Level: 37

Persona: Seiten Taisei (Null: Elec) (Resist: Fire) (Weak: Wind)

Persona Trait: Raging Temper (Might increase allies' physical attacks by 40%)

Skills: Lunge, Zionga, Tarukaja, Headbutt, Adverse Resolve, Rampage, Mazio, Bad Beat, Assault Dive, Swift Strike, Shock Boost

Confidant Rank: Rank 10 (Max)

Accessory: Rakshasa Belt (Attack Master)

Panther

Level: 37

Persona: Carmen (Resist: Fire) (Weak: Ice, Water)

Persona Trait: Mastery of Magic (May decrease SP cost of allies' magic skills)

Skills: Agilao, Dia, Dormina, Tarunda, Maragion, Dekaja, Fire Break, Lullaby, Ambient Aid

Confidant Rank: Rank 7

Accessory: Crimson Necklace (Fire Amp)

Fox

Level: 37

Persona: Goemon (Resists: Ice) (Weak: Fire)

Persona Trait: Scoundrel Eyes (High chance to evade Phys attacks for all allies.)

Skills: Bufula, Giant Slice, Sukukaja, Vicious Strike, Mabufu, Counterstrike, Rising Slash, Dormin Rush, Speed Master, Tempest Slash

Confidant Rank: Rank 6

Accessory: Queen's Necklace (All stats+1/+30 SP)

Widow

Level: 37

Persona: Fūma (Resists: Ice, Water) (Weak: Fire, Curse)

Persona Trait: Dance of Justice (Chance to trigger a Baton Pass for the next ally when hitting a resistance.)

Skills: Bufula, Aques, Ice Boost, Water Boost, Dazzler, Makajama, Malaques, Snipe, Dormina

Confidant Rank: Rank 5

Accessory: Clear Crystal Necklace (Water Amp)

Queen

Level: 37

Persona: Johanna (Resist: Nuclear) (Weak: Psychic)

Persona Trait: Gaia Pact (Increase allies' chance of inflicting Burn/Freeze/Shock/Soak by 25%.)

Skills: Freila, Mafrei, Vajra Blast, Diarama, Rakukaja, Makajama, Energy Shower, Flash Bomb, Dekunda, Defense Master

Confidant Rank: Rank 6

Accessory: White Headband R (Life Surge / Endurance +8)

Serpent

Level: 37

Persona: Nobunaga (Resist: Curse) (Weak: Bless)

Persona Trait: Self-Destructive (Increase cost of skills when health is low)

Skills: Eiga, Maeiga, Kouga, Mamudoon, Mahamaon, Megaton Raid, Heat Wave, Foul Breath, Endure.

Accessory: Shackles (Null Rage)


(Persona Analysis)

Albion

Arcana: Adjustment

Null: Physical, Gun, Earth

Skills: Megido, Makouga, Tempest Slash, Giant Slice, Agneyastra

Trait: Undying Fury- Strengthen Physical attacks by 30%. Doesn't apply to Gun skills

Description: In the mythical story of the founding of Britain, Albion was a Giant son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. He was a contemporary of Heracles, who killed him. Albion founded a country on the island and ruled there. Britain, then called Albion after its founder, was inhabited by his Giant descendants until about 1100 years before Julius Caesar invasion of Britain, when Brutus of Troy came and defeated the small number of Giants that remained (as a group of the Giants had killed all the others).

Otohime

Arcana: Lust

Drain: Water

Weak: Fire, Earth

Skills: Mazionga, Ziodyne, Recarm, Water Wall, Brain Jack, Malaques

Trait: Skillful Technique - Strengthen Technical damage by 25%

Description: Otohime is a goddess in Japanese mythology, and the daughter of Ryuujin, the dragon god of the sea. She married the hunter Hoori and gave birth to a son, who in turn produced Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor of Japan. After giving birth, she turned into a dragon or an alligator and flew away.


Whew! Done! Again, sorry for the delay! Contribute to the TV Tropes page! We three are all working hard! And check out the AO3 version, we've got images and I'm planning for a little bit more...risque stuff whenever we get around to it.

UknownHero signing off, my friends!