Senran Persona: Ninjas of Hearts

by UknownHero

Collab with JGResidentEvil and VividMind17. Fate can be an interesting thing within life. It can bring unexpected changes that no one can truly see. For two girls, those that were destined to be rivals between good and evil, changed under the masks of rebellion to forge their own true paths. Now get up and stand your ground because these sexy ninjas are gonna steal your heart!

10. Untamable & L'Amoureux

I really need to write the chapters for my other stories but this was written first. Hey, UknownHero here and welcome to another chapter of Senran Persona! So... I'm stuck on writing the other fics I have and I wanna write new stories but at the same time I don't wanna leave stories unfinished and increase my workload. Ugh... Why can't I figure out what to do!? I have plans but I can't put them into words.

Anyway, let's get to the reviews. To Black Fang and to anyone who is thinking about it: Do not send story requests. I don't do those unless it's under very specific circumstances. I only write stories that interest me that I want to come to reality. Sorry, but unless someone wants to give me like $100 AUD per word, I won't do it. To Amurlintz: ...Uh, dude, we know Akira is the protagonist, but we want to focus on the new stuff and while we are following the canon story rather closely, Akira isn't exactly the main protagonist. He shares the title with the Senran Girls. We all know Akira's story by this point, let's do something new. To Midgardsormr: Yes. I know that Ascended Personas are mythological figures or something. I am a huge fan of Persona and have at least a decent knowledge of myths and stuff. I don't need the factoids.

That's it for now! Time for Revengence! Because this is probably the biggest chapter on my profile.

Load Game... Start!

Chapter 10: Untamable & L'Amoureux

---

(Fast Forward)

"Ah, yes. That video. It was uploaded to multiple social media sites at the same time." Sae sighed out at remembering the incident. "I've seen it while investigating the Phantom Thieves. It was taken down but the police was able to save a copy and it was used in court against him, which he openly admitted to doing. That poor girl..." She then added in a solemn tone.

The exhausted boy in turn nodded his head to that. "Shiho Suzui... She never stood a chance at the time." Akira regretfully replied.

"However... The video was released after Kamoshida's confession to the school." Sae then stated as she narrowed her eyes at the leader. "If what you've said so far is true, you had enough evidence against the man to get him convicted as soon as April 14, over two weeks before his confession. So, why was the video not turned over to the police as soon as possible?" She soon questioned in a serious tone.

Akira in turn to hearing that sighed as he rested his head in his hand. "Here was the thing... We were in a very dark place back then and... we decided to do something... else." He soon stated.

"Hm? What is it?" Sae questioned once more.

Akira narrowed his eyes as he gave her a serious expression. "We didn't plan on releasing it at all, not after learning what Kamoshida did to her..." He declared in raspy anger, the memory fresh in his mind despite the drugs and how long it was since.

(Rewind)

---

(4/13, Evening)
(Shibuya, Shin Megami Apartment Complex)

SLAM!

The sound of the door slamming caused Asuka to jump as she turned to see her tan skinned roommate. 'Homura-chan?' She thought.

Said tan skinned girl meanwhile stormed into the apartment as she placed he bag on the ground as she noticed the steak made. "..." Homura said nothing as she sat down and began eating.

Asuka meanwhile gave off an even more concerned expression towards her roommate as she literally feel the waves of rage coming off her while also remembering the last text she sent to the group. 'What did Kamoshida do...' She soon thought in a nervous tone before going back to washing the dishes.

'To fill the girl with such pure anger... I believe that man did something completely irredeemable...' Kaeru soon stated in a serious manner.

Soon enough after dinner was finished, Asuka and Homura silently changed into their pajamas and went into their futons that were right next to each other.

The Good Shinobi looked over to see her roommate's eyes already closed with a serious expression on her face, causing Asuka to become worried. "Homura-chan..." She mumbled out as she closed her eyes, completely drifting off to sleep.

As the two soon fell asleep, neither one of them realizing their bodies started shifting slightly, going into each other's embrace as a result.

---

(4/14, Early Morning)
(Shibuya, Shin Megami Apartment Complex)

The next morning, the air felt heavy in the two kunoichi apartment as one of them struggled to get their eyes open.

"Mmm... soft... Homu-nee..." Asuka quietly mumbled out as she snuggled her head deeper. However as she then slowly opened her eyes and focused her vision, the Good Shinobi couldn't help but blush at what she was doing. "Oh! I... Um..." She stammered out in an embarrassed manner.

'I believe this will become a daily occurrence for you.' Kaeru pointed out in an amused tone.

"What do I do in my sleep?" Asuka muttered to herself as she tried to get up, but then realized that her roommate was still holding her.

'That is a question I cannot answer as you are the one that instinctively does it. And that refers to both you and your roommate since she's still holding you close.' Kaeru then stated.

Blushing to that, Asuka started to move slightly in hope of waking her roommate. "Homura-chan... please wake up..." She mumbled out.

Homura on the other hand still kept a tight hold on the other girl as she unintentionally rubbed her chest into her roommate's. "Mmm..." She sleepily hummed out. "Asuka..." She then got out in her sleep.

To hearing that, Asuka blinked a couple of time as she stopped moving. "Eh?" She quietly responded in confusion.

"Mmm... Asuka... protect..." Homura mumbled out in her sleep. "Cool... big... sister's... duty..." She then added in a protective tone, unaware of what she was saying as she continued to hold the other girl close.

To hearing that as well as being snuggled, Asuka's blush became even redder in embarrassment, though couldn't help but give off a small smile to the words. "Homura-chan..." She muttered out in both surprise and delight.

'It seems that your roommate's inner thoughts speak more than her actual voice.' Kaeru soon stated. 'She is unaware of it, but those mutters are what she truly thinks... what she secretly desires...' She then added, causing her other self's eyes to widen to that reveal.

At that moment, Homura's eyes struggled some more as she soon opened them, causing her to groan in exhaustions. "Mmm..." She moaned out.

"Um... G-Good morning Homura-chan..." Asuka meekly got out, the red blush still on her face as her roommate was still snuggling her.

"Mmm... Hey." Homura groaned out. Despite the fact that she slept dreamlessly, she just felt tired. She wanted to stay in bed and sleep, but she knew she had to get up some time if she wanted to take the P.E teacher down. But right now, she had lost almost all her drive to do it.

Maybe a day at school would reignite her fire.

But before that, Homura soon noticed what she was doing as she blushed crimson while looking at her roommate. "..." She couldn't utter a single word as she was completely embarrassed by the situation, though she still hadn't let her roommate go.

'Looks like ya finally woke up...' Wolverine remarked in her own amused tone.

Soon enough, Homura finally realized what she was doing and released her roommate, her fire instantly reignited. "Asuka! Ah! Sorry! I... uh... I..." She got out as was trying to apologize to the other girl for holding her in her arms, but couldn't seem to as she was too embarrassed as steam was coming off her head and her face was completely red.

"Ehehe..." Asuka awkwardly giggled out. "At least we aren't naked again?" She then admitted in the same awkward tone.

Homura turned to face her and giggled awkwardly as well. "Heheheh... Yeah... I guess so..." She awkwardly replied as she took in a deep breath before remembering what she saw last night before returning to the apartment and going to bed.

'I can tell you really liked holding her in your arms.' Wolverine remarked while having an nonexistent smirk gracing her face.

'S-Shut up!' Homura mentally responded in annoyance with the blush still on her face before calming down and looking towards her roommate. "We... We should get ready..." She then hesitantly suggested.

"Yeah... that sounds like a good idea." Asuka replied with a nod of agreement as the two got out of their futon and headed for the bathroom to wash up in the bath together, though silent all the while.

After drying off, the girls silently got on their uniforms as they prepared to leave the apartment.

The Good Shinobi however nibbled on her lip slightly in a nervous manner. "Hey Homura-chan... what did happened last night?" Asuka soon asked in concern. "You looked like you just survived a massacre... Was it really that bad?" She soon added in the same amount of concern.

The tan skinned girl's eyes however became covered by the shadows of her hair. "..." Homura in turn didn't say anything to the question as she lowered her eyes.

"Ah!" Asuka got out. "I-I'm sorry Homura-chan!" She replied in a slightly panicked tone after realizing that mentioning that fact had a negative effect while flailing her hands to try and change the subject. "W-We better get to school!" She soon suggested in a hasty manner.

The tan skinned girl merely nodded in agreement to that as the two headed out.

---

(4/14, Morning)
(Shujin Academy, Classroom)

School was... well, after finding out how anyone related to Shujin were letting Kamoshida do whatever he wants including torturing the students for his own pleasure, school became nothing more than... background noise to be honest. The teachers couldn't catch their interest for more than a few seconds, the other students were basically faceless expect for a select few and everything just seemed a little less vibrant every time they entered the area. Hell, now that she really looked at it, the school seemed to be designed like a prison more than anything else.

It was like they were in a world where freedom didn't really matter anymore.

At least, that was how Homura felt as she barely listened to the teacher ramble on and on about something she couldn't care less about.

Meanwhile, Asuka was lost in her own thoughts, trying to figure out what else they could do towards overthrowing Kamoshida's rule over the school as well as working out how to deal with her roommate. She didn't want to talk to her Persona since it would probably be only stating what she already knew: Leave her roommate alone for a while. She had a rather stressful day yesterday, yelling at people that didn't deserve it and such, and that's not even including the event that caused her to storm into the apartment. Homura needed to cool off and collect herself before they pressed her for information.

The lesson was something they had already gone over back in Hanzō so she didn't pay much attention as she let her eyes wander around. Mishima still looked as miserable as ever, Akira was looking out the window and not paying the slightest amount of attention and Ann was constantly glancing down at her phone with a worried look on her face.

Huh, that was odd. But it was probably nothing.

Asuka then vaguely remembered that this lesson was going to be on the mid-term exams, so she decided to get her roommate to focus just in case she didn't learn any of this.

"Homura-chan." Asuka whispered over to her roommate. Hearing no response, she looked and saw that the girl had fallen asleep, resting her head on her hand. That was, until her hand slipped out from under her head and made her face planted onto her desk, and even that didn't wake her up.

The Good Shinobi soon sighed to that. 'I'll help her out with studying later...' Asuka mentally decided as she looked forward, but not really paying attention to the lecture. 'Something happened yesterday, and it's worrying me that something else will happen today because of that. I have to do something before it does.' She soon thought with concern. 'That makes sense, right? I just have to figure out what that something is.' She then added in her head.

The Good Shinobi then glanced towards outside the room as she looked out the window to see a silhouette pass their classroom. "Hmm?" She hummed out in curiosity.

However briefly seeing the silhouette filled her with an intense amount of uneasiness.

"Excuse me Ushimaru-sensei," Asuka suddenly got out with a raised hand, getting everyone's attention during the lecture. "May I use the restroom?" She then requested with an innocent and embarrassed blush on her face.

"Yes you may, but please save your toilet breaks for after class from now on. Then you can do your business all you want then." Ushimaru ordered.

"Y-Yes sir." Asuka politely responded as she got up from her seat and started to leave the room.

"Phrasing!" A random student called out.

"And you be quiet and sit down!" Ushimaru ordered as the girl left the classroom.

At that moment however, Homura groggily woke up to notice her roommate had left the classroom. 'Asuka?' She thought in concern before drifting off to sleep once more.

---

(Shujin Academy, 2nd Floor Hallway)

As soon as the Good Shinobi had left the classroom, she started to fast walk down the hallway trying to find the silhouette. 'Where... where could they have gone...' She thought in concern as panic started to well up from within her, remembering the defeated expression on their face, causing her eyes to widen as she looked out the window. 'N-No... t-they wouldn't!?' She then thought in realization as she figured out her possible course of action.

She looked up to the rooftop, and saw someone's shadow standing on the edge on the other side of the fence.

Asuka didn't have to guess who that was.

She broke out into a sprint, not caring about anything else other than saving someone who was about to jump.

"Shinobi... Tenshin!" Asuka muttered as quickly ran down the hall. However this time when she changed to her usual Shinobi attire, she didn't notice the addition to her outfit by green flames. 'Move faster! FASTER!' She mentally told herself as more and more panic and fear grew from within her.

As more and more students started to notice, as Asuka got to the rooftop...

Just as Shiho Suzui stepped off it.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Asuka screamed out as she dashed even faster, making herself appear as a yellow blur to the untrained eye.

---

(Shujin Academy Classroom)

A few minutes earlier back at the classroom, lessons continued on as normal after one of the female transfer students left.

"So, I assume all of you all know about the separation of powers?" Ushimaru questioned to the class. "There are three branches in our government." He then started.

As the lecture continued, Homura struggled her eyes open as she couldn't fall back asleep this time, so she just rested her head on her hand as she listened on without much of an interest.

"The National Diet is legislative, the Cabinet is executive and the Supreme Court is judiciary. This division of power provides check and balances, which ensures no one branch becomes unstoppable." Ushimaru then explained.

Homura however roll her eyes to that before narrowing them. 'Save for the corrupt politicians that hire Evil Shinobi to do dirty work for them and provide Evil Shinobi academies' funding in secret. Yep, totally equal.' She thought in a dead serious tone.

"If there's one thing I know about politics, it's that everyone's out for themselves." She heard Akira mumble.

'Ugh... when is this gonna end?' Homura mentally complained as she started to fall asleep again. 'I wish something would happen to stop this dumb class.' She mumbled before closing her eyes.

"Huh? What's that?" A male student suddenly asked as he stood up.

To hearing that, Homura woke up a little as this got her attention.

"Enough! This is a classroom!" Ushimaru ordered as more students started talking over him.

"What the!? She's gonna jump off the roof!" A female student exclaimed in shock.

And with that, Homura's attention was fully gained. 'SHIT!' She mentally swore as she rushed out of the room.

"Hey Shinkukage, get back to your seat!" Ushimaru ordered once more, but was ignored as every student in the classroom got up.

Mishima then looked out as he paled at recognizing who it was. "N-No! S-Suzui!?" He stammered out.

That immediately grabbed Ann's attention as she jerked up from her seat. "Shiho!?" She got out.

At that point, the ash blonde rushed out of the classroom with Akira soon following behind her. "Never a dull moment..." He muttered out, wishing there was right now.

---

(Shujin Academy, 2nd Floor Hallway)

As the three along with most of the other students rushed out of their classrooms, they all looked out the windows to see the female volleyball member.

"No way!"

"Is she serious!?"

"You gotta be kidding me!"

Homura looked on with widened eyes to the sight. "Oh god..." She muttered out before grinding her teeth. 'Kamoshida...' She thought in anger, already knowing that he was the source.

"Please, Shiho! Don't do this!" Ann cried out as she tried to think of a reason to stop her other than the usual generic phrases. She wasn't a psychologist, goddamnit! But like hell she wished she was right now.

"Ann..." Shiho muttered out from the rooftop as she saw her best friend. "...I'm sorry..." She then added as she leaned forward and began to fall.

"No!" Akira got out in shock as he and the others watched at the girl started to fall.

"SHIHOOOOO!" Ann wailed out in fear.

And suddenly, before her feet touched a blade of grass, she vanished from everyone's sight.

"...Eh?" Akira, Ann and Homura got out in confused unison.

---

(Shujin Academy, Rooftop)

WOOSH! WOOSH!

"H-Huh...?" Shiho got out in confusion as she looked at the person who saved her mid-fall after seeing that she was back on the roof. Was there blood running down her face?

She appeared to be wearing a yellow school uniform with a green skirt with the addition of a red scarf around her neck and...a black full face mask with a white circle on her cheek. "What were you thinking...?" Her black-masked savior sobbed out. "What the hell were you fucking thinkin'!?" She then exclaimed.

Shiho, not really knowing what was happening and suddenly feeling really dizzy, fell unconscious with a thud.

"What the-?" Asuka got out in shock as she was startled by the sound and saw that girl she saved was now asleep. "No. Nononono...This isn't happening!" She mumbled to herself as her clothes changed back into her Shujin uniform and her mask vanished from her face in green flames. "Somebody call an ambulance!" She soon called out in panicked and serious manner.

---

(Shujin Academy, 2nd Floor Hallway)

Fear and shocked filled screams were heard among all the students to what occurred after witnessing the girl jump. There was even a little blood on the grass.

"No... W-Why..." Ann stammered out in confusion and shock as she felt her body couldn't move. "S-SHIHO! WHERE ARE YOU!?" She soon cried out.

Homura meanwhile felt a massive pang of guilt to this happening as she could only stare at where the girl had fallen with widened eyes. 'N-No... this is... my fault..." She thought, feeling as though she couldn't breathe.

"Takamaki-san..." Akira got out as he wanted to try and calm her down, but realized that it wasn't the time for something like that.

"Dude, what the eff just happened!?" Ryuji questioned as he rushed over to the two in a hasty manner. "It was like a goddamn horror flick or some shit! One second she's there, the next she's gone! You see anything!?" He then asked in a panic.

"Kinda hard to focus on the details since someone almost killed herself in broad-fucking-daylight!" Homura shouted out after regaining her ability to breathe.

"Hey, where's Asuka!?" Akira spoke up, realizing that the other resident kunoichi was nowhere to be seen.

"W-What the!?"

"Huh, where did she go!?"

"Holy shit, tell me that was just a dream!"

"S-She jumped! She actually jumped!"

"Wasn't she from the volleyball team?"

"Why would she jump at school?"

"What's happening!?"

"Someone call the fucking police!"

"I thought I saw a yellow blur for a second."

"Yellow blur..." Homura muttered out in confusion before her eyes widened in realization. "Asuka!" She thought in a panic as she dashed down the halls.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" A voice coming from upstairs was heard, quickly catching everyone's attention.

"They're on the rooftop!?" Ryuji exclaimed as the ash blonde and tan skinned girl dashed off to the roof while the glasses wearing boy called the ambulance.

"Yeah, and we better see if they're okay!" Akira suggested as they quickly made their way there before the crowd got too big as he got a response from his phone. "I need an ambulance at Shujin Academy right now! There's been an attempted suicide!" He then called as he ran down the hall.

'And hopefully, not a successful one.' Akira soon thought.

---

(Shujin Academy, Rooftop)

SLAM!

"Asuka!" Homura called out as she got as she opened the door to see her roommate with the now unconcious girl. "Dammit!" She soon swore as she went by her side. "What the hell happened!?" She questioned in concern as she examined the unconcious girl. "No... don't tell me she's dead... please don't tell me she killed herself!?" She then added in a panicked tone.

"She... She just..." Asuka stammered out in a fear and panic filled manner as she laid the unconscious girl on the ground.

"SHIHO!" A familiar voice cried out, the two turning to see Ann rushing towards them as she went to her best friend's side.

At that moment, more students soon followed as a crowd formed, all of them muttering among themselves while some of them took out their phones before some of the teachers soon arrived.

'These idiots!' Asuka and Homura thought in union to this occurring, knowing full well that what they were doing was just being like onlookers to a car crash or an accident while sounds of an ambulance were heard at the ground floor of the school.

"Class is still in session! Return to your classrooms at once!" A panicking teacher ordered, but was completely ignored by all the students as they continued to look at the unconscious girl.

Ryuji meanwhile looked at the crowd around him and the glasses wearing boy as more mutters and picture taking on their phones continued. "What the hell is wrong with these people!? She just tried to off herself and they aren't even doin' anything about it!" He then declared in shock and anger.

"Out of the way immediately! We have a stretcher!" A new voice called out as all the students turned to see some paramedics holding a stretcher.

"Homura-chan." Asuka got out as she backed away.

"Yeah..." Homura responded as she did the same.

Soon everyone watched as the paramedics went to the unconscious girl and placed her on the stretcher. "We need someone to go with her... Are there any teachers around?" A paramedic soon asked in concern.

To that, a panicking teacher looked away. "I-I'm not in charge of her class though..." He admitted in a hesitant manner.

"W-We should leave this to Principal Kobayakawa..." A hesitant teacher suggested.

'Are they serious!?' Asuka and Homura meanwhile thought in unison with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

However the ash blonde soon stepped forward. "I'll go!" Ann offered in a hasty tone.

"Please hurry!" The paramedic soon requested in his own hasty tone. "Everyone move out of the way so we can bring her to the ambulance." He then ordered. "Damn, why is she on the rooftop of all places…" He grumbled to himself. It was going to be a serious pain in the ass to get her downstairs.

"S-Shiho... why?" Ann quietly cried out, slightly still in shock over this happening.

"A-Ann..." Shiho weakly got out with a depressed expression. "I'm sorry... I just... can't take it... anymore..." She then revealed.

"Shiho?" Ann got out as her best friend whispered into her ear, causing her to gasp at what she said. "Kamoshida!?" She then muttered in shock.

"Ngh..." Shiho however groaned in pain as she closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness once more.

Ann's eyes soon widened to this happening. "No... Shiho!?" She got out in panicked concern.

At that moment, the ash blonde went with the paramedics as they left the rooftop while the siren of the ambulance was heard from the ground floor.

"D-Did you see that!?"

"Ugh, I'm gonna have nightmares about this..."

"Oh man! I can't believe this happened!"

"What if the paparazzi comes!?"

Ryuji meanwhile narrowed his eyes to everything that happened as he remembered hearing the ash blonde's words. "The volleyball team..." He muttered.

"Return to your classrooms at once!" The panicking teacher attempted to order but was completely ignored.

"Fuck classes dammit..." Homura meanwhile muttered out for only the other Persona users to hear, all of them nodding in agreement.

"Ah... Ah..." Mishima gasped out in a fear filled manner to this occurring.

Soon enough, the four Persona users noticed that a familiar dark blue haired boy was running away from the scene.

"Mishima-kun..." Asuka muttered out.

"...He knows something..." Akira stated with narrow eyes.

To that statement, Ryuji narrowed his eyes in a serious manner. "We're gonna make him talk this time. And this time, no holding back." He declared as the others nodded in agreement and went after him down the stairs as they passed the overweight school principal.

---

(Shujin Academy, 1st Floor Hallway)

He was going to die.

That's what Mishima thought as soon as the tan skinned girl lifted him high into the air with one arm and smashed against the wall in a secluded corner in the school. She didn't break anything but he was pretty sure that wasn't going to be the case in the next five seconds.

"Talk. Now." Homura practically demanded in anger. Even if she already knew what happened, she wanted to get more of the details on the matter. The fire within was roaring with energy, and she was going to use every ounce of it.

"Augh!" Mishima winced out. "T-That hurts!" He then added in pain.

"Oh, it's going to hurt a lot more if I don't like what you say." Homura threatened in dark tone.

"Why the hell did you run like that!?" Ryuji then questioned in an accusing manner.

"I-I didn't run..." Mishima responded in a nervous tone as the tan skinned girl placed hi back down, causing him to catch his breath.

"Mishima-kun... please..." Asuka begged. "Shiho-san almost killed herself..." She then reminded.

"Just tell us." Akira soon ordered in calm tone.

"They're right!" Ryuji stated in agreement. "We ain't trying to get you busted. We won't say you talked either. But let me remind you a girl just tried to killed herself, and if you know anything about and still shut your mouth, I won't stop what my friend here will do to you." He then added.

"S-Suzui..." Mishima got out in a scared tone filled with guilt.

Homura however crossed her arms over her chest. "Well!?" She questioned in a demanding tone with glaring eyes.

The dark blue haired boy was left surrounded on all sides by the four as he knew he could he couldn't hold back the truth anymore after what happened. "Suzui-san... was called out by Kamoshida-sensei!" Mishima declared.

"Wait what?" Ryuji got out in shock to hearing this.

"Of course it was him..." Akira growled out. "It's always him..." He then added.

"W-What do you mean called out Mishima-kun?" Asuka meanwhile asked in both confusion and concern.

Homura however narrowed her eyes in both anger and guilt as she averted her gaze slightly.

Mishima soon gained a depressed expression on his face. "I was called by him a number of times too... to the teacher's room." He then started. "It wasn't just me or Suzui either. He'd nominate someone when he was in a bad mood... and hit them." He soon revealed.

"Damn, so the physical punishment was for real..." Ryuji stated in rising anger.

"OF COURSE IT WAS FUCKING REAL!" Homura snapped. "WE'VE KNOWN THAT FOR THE PAST FOUR FUCKING DAYS!" She then reminded with fury.

"But yesterday... even after he was struck by Shirokage-san, he called Suzui out of the blue when she didn't even make any mistakes or anything..." Mishima soon stated. "Kamoshida-sensei seemed really irritated that day... so it might have been... worse than usual..." He then added but trailed off at the end.

Three members of the group didn't even need to hear another word as they had a good idea what happened...

"He didn't!?" Ryuji got out in disbelief before it soon became anger. "That effin' son of a bitch!" He soon roared as he rushed off.

Asuka meanwhile balled her hands into fists of anger. "That's... That's..." She started in rising anger to the mere idea of what was done.

Homura on the other hand was looking towards the ground in a shame filled manner while tightly holding her phone in her skirt pocket. "..." She couldn't say anything as both anger and shame filled her entire being.

Akira soon enough narrowed his eyes as he looked in the direction where the blond went off. "We better go after him." He calmly suggested.

Nodding in agreement to that, the two girls and the glasses wearing boy ran down the halls after their friend.

Mishima meanwhile after a moment of hesitation followed suit.

Unaware to any of them, a small black shadow with blue eyes followed them in secret.

---

(Shujin Academy, Practice Building 2nd Floor, P.E Faculty Office)

As the five entered the room, they all saw the P.E teacher at a desk with a pencil in hand as it appeared he was thinking over something.

"Hm? What do you want?" Kamoshida questioned, obviously feigning ignorance.

"You sick fucker! What the hell did you do to Shiho!?" Ryuji questioned in anger and fury.

"What are you talking about?" Kamoshida then asked in the same tone while waving the group off.

"You know damn well what we're talkin' about! Stop playin' dumb!" Ryuji then declared as he kicked away one of the folding chairs nearby.

"You have a lot to answer for..." Asuka meanwhile stated in a serious tone while stepping forward.

"That is enough!" Kamoshida then ordered in a authoritative manner, but was also dripping with annoyance in his voice.

Mishima meanwhile sadly narrowed his eyes. "What you did... wasn't coaching...!" He then stated in a slightly hesitant manner.

The P.E teacher in response to hearing that narrowed his eyes as they all looked at the volleyball team member. "What did you just say?" He then questioned in annoyance and anger.

Mishima then gripped his head as he looked towards the ground. "You... you ordered me to call Suzui here... I can only imagine what you did to her...!" He then declared.

'I don't need an imagination. I saw what you did to her!' Homura almost shouted out, but managed to shut herself up just in time. If she revealed she had evidence, she couldn't imagine how worse things will get. 'I'm already a failure and a fuck up, don't fuck it up further.' She then added in her head.

Kamoshida then started to get up from his seat as he glared at the male volleyball team member. "You're going on and on about things you have no proof of..." He then stated in annoyance. "Basically, you're simply making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?" He soon accused.

"That has nothing to do with it you sick fucker!" Homura then growled out.

Mishima however looked back towards the P.E teacher with a glare. "That's not what this is about...!" He soon countered.

Kamoshida in response to that merely scoffed in annoyance once more. "Alright then, say that it was exactly as you said, what can you do?" He then tauntingly questioned to the five while leaning forward towards the blond of the group.

"Why don't you sit back and watch? I'll show you all kinds of things I can do you bastard..." Homura thought as her anger kept growing.

"We've just received a call from the hospital." Kamoshida then revealed. "Suzui's currently in a coma and her chances of recovering are very slim..." He soon stated. "How would someone like that make a statement?" He questioned in a tone that basically stated that he didn't even care.

This in turn shocked the group even more to this new information.

To hearing that, the tan skinned girl's eyes widen in shock and confusion. "H-HOW THE FUCK DID SHE SLIP INTO A COMA!?" Homura exclaimed.

"Th-That... No... NO!" Asuka started to hyperventilate as she tried to make sense of everything.

"Bullshit! That's not how that works! She was saved!" Ryuji called out in confusion and panicked concern.

Akira meanwhile tried to draw on his memory of the scene. He remembered seeing her fall feet first, ensuring she would've ruined her legs. However, from what he saw of her injuries, her legs were fine...

However, he remembered that she had a new, massive head wound.

"...Shit." Akira quietly swore out, remembering seeing blood on the grass. He then figured it out as he imagined the scene playing in slow-motion. 'She must've hit her head as Asuka saved her. She grabbed her in such a way when she was close to the ground that she caused that head wound before jumping to the rooftop. She suffered serious trauma to the head, and maybe blood loss and she's in a coma. It's a miracle she didn't snap her neck...' Akira thought. Despite the morbid scenario, he felt a little smarter after figuring out how Shiho slipped into a coma.

Kamoshida however placed a hand to his head and closed his eyes in a disappointed manner. "Besides that, I heard it appears as though there's no chance for her getting better... the poor girl..." He then stated in the same tone while faking to care.

Mishima in turn to hearing that shook his head in denial. "No... it can't be..." He got out in shock.

Ryuji however was shivering in anger as he balled his hands into fists. "You goddamn...!" He began with fury.

Kamoshida in response to hearing the sweat looked towards the blond in annoyance. "This again...?" He questioned. "Does this mean we need to have another case of self-defense?" He then asked in a taunting tone.

"You shut your mouth you son of a bitch!" Ryuji demanded in anger as he prepared to throw a punch towards the teacher.

However, Akira stepped up and grabbed the fist as the blond brought it back. "Stop, he's not worth the effort anymore." Akira stated.

"Oh, so you finally realize that you can't do anything." Kamoshida remarked with a satisfied smirk on his face.

The glasses wearing boy however narrowed his eyes to that. "No. You're just pathetic. Thinking you're the king of the damn world, but in reality, you're just a washout athlete who no one cares about anymore." Akira countered with his own smirk.

"Ain't that the truth... you are pathetic..." Homura soon stated in agreement.

To that remark, Kamoshida's smirk faded as he clenched his fists, wanting to wipe the damn smirk on the scumbag's face, but he knew better than to fall for his taunts.

"Hmph, I won't fall for that. Besides, I'm too important to deal with worthless scum like you personally." Kamoshida scoffed. "Everyone present right now will be expelled." He soon declared as he back down at his desk. "I'm reporting you all at the next board meeting." He then revealed.

To hearing that, the five students became shocked in disbelief.

"Wha!?" Ryuji got out, his eyes widening to that reveal.

"Did he just-!?" Homura got out in shock to that declaration.

"Just... What the hell is wrong with you!?" Akira shouted out without thinking, the Persona-users being able to see Arsène faintly float behind him for a second.

Asuka meanwhile became speechless to the P.E teacher's actions, her body soon shivering as though something was welling up from inside her, something not being just anger this time.

She had surpassed the point of rage. Of sadness. Of a emotion she couldn't describe how she was feeling and this man in front of was still fucking alive!?

Then... the Good Shinobi finally snapped.

"You can't just make a decision like that!" Mishima declared, also shocked to this reveal.

Kamoshida however just glared at the dark blue haired boy. "Who would seriously consider what scum like you said?" He then questioned with narrow eyes. "You threatened me too Mishima, so you're just as responsible." He declared.

"H-Huh?" Mishima responded in confusion.

"To think you didn't know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team." Kamoshida then remarked. "You act like you're a victim, but you leaked his criminal record, didn't you?" He soon revealed.

All the Persona-users' eyes widened to hearing that.

"It's all over the internet, correct?" Kamoshida then added. "How terrible." He added in a sarcastic manner.

At that moment, the group turned to look at the dark blue haired boy.

"Mishima?" Ryuji got out in shock and disbelief.

"He... He made me do it... I had no choice..." Mishima revealed as he fell to his hands and knees in shame.

"Of course that bastard did..." Homura growled out while grinding her teeth to that reveal.

At that moment, a malevolent laughter soon came out of the lips of the P.E teacher, a laugh that was similar to that of his Shadow. "Now, are we finished here? You're all expelled!" Kamoshida once more declared. "You're all done for; your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my sight." He then added followed by the order.

"You son of bitch!" Homura growled out.

"I can't believe he's gonna get away with shit!" Ryuji meanwhile exclaimed in anger to this occurring.

Akira meanwhile narrowed his eyes to this happening. 'Dammit... another adult is going to ruin our lives even more...' He thought as he clenched his fists.

However at that moment, a dark giggle came out of the lips of the Good Shinobi of the group, causing all of them, including the P.E teacher, to look at the girl, the Persona users meanwhile only seeing wisps of green flames surrounding her. "Ufu... ufufuf~... We apologize Kamoshida-sensei... we'll be leaving now..." Asuka suddenly started as the rebellious smirk graced her face once more. However, it wasn't that same smirk from yesterday. Instead there was a sort of… unstable feeling coming off of it.

To witnessing this, Homura had to hold back a gasp of shock to the wisps of flames appearing once more. 'Again!?' She thought in concern.

'It seems your roommate has gotten to her breaking point...' Wolverine stated in a serious manner. 'Not that I can blame the girl.' She then added.

'...She's pissed...' Akira thought in a surprised manner.

'Damn... Kamoshida pushed her too far...' Ryuji meanwhile thought in the same manner.

The girl then sashayed towards the door in a surprisingly seductive manner before motioning her head to look at the P.E teacher with the rebellious grin still gracing her face and shadows covering her eyes. "And... thank you oh so much for your permission... Your Majesty... Ufu... ufufufu~" Asuka darkly concluded as her head faded from the doorway, a vile yet seductive giggle echoing down the hall.

'That is not the laugh of a sane person.' Akira thought, with everyone in the room was now very scared of the usually nice and kind-hearted girl.

"O-Oi! Asuka!" Homura called out in concern as she went after her roommate. 'Man her inner rebel's going wild! That laugh made her sound like fuckin' Haruka!' She meanwhile thought in disbelief.

'No, that is not the will of rebellion. It's more like... something else... something darker has formed within her as a result of this happening...' Wolverine guessed in a serious manner. 'Watch her, she might be in danger of hurting herself. And possibly others if it's really serious.' She then advised.

"Shit." Homura quietly swore to learning this before glaring at the P.E teacher with all her hate for everything he'd done. "I promise with all my heart, I. Will. End you!" She declared with a wild, angry expression on her face while unintentionally letting out a wave of killing intent before running after her roommate.

To that declaration, the glasses wearing boy gulped in a nervous manner. 'That... can't be good.' Akira thought, knowing how capable the two shinobi were before turning to the others guys. "Ryuji, Mishima... we should leave... Right now." He then quietly suggested.

In response to this, the two in mention nodded in nervous agreement as the followed the glasses wearing boy out of the room.

Kamoshida however was left stunned to those words as he felt an uneasiness within his heart as a scowl came across his face as he realized what it was... and it pissed him off to no end...

"Those damn bitches!" Kamoshida swore out in anger, crumpling some of the papers on his desk as a result, though the pang of fear in his throat for the girls never left.

---

(4/14, After School)
(Shujin Academy, Rooftop)

After the four Persona users separated from Mishima, they gathered to the roof to contemplate on what to do next since classes were cancelled due to the attempted suicide.

"You'd think they would lock the rooftop up tight after what happened." Akira noted.

"They did. I went ahead a picked the lock after they did, that way we won't be disturbed." Homura explained.

"Dude... just what the hell..." Ryuji meanwhile groaned out. "A girl almost killed herself right here and Kamoshida's doesn't even give a shit! No, he's actually taking advantage of it! I knew he was a shit person but this, this is where it crosses the effin' line!" He then declared in anger as he kicked over a chair.

Asuka, however, remained eerily silent. Her hair covering her eyes as her body shook. If one were to look at her eyes they would see that they had become dull.

"But I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, at least to my knowledge." Akira stated. "Unless the principal managed to cover up other incidents like...that, it was bound to happen. Beating someone every day and someone's gonna be pushed over the edge to end it all." He then added.

"D-Don't s-s-s-say that..." Asuka growled, as if she was barely restraining herself from exploding.

"Sorry, bad choice of words." Akira quickly apologized. "But still, all that physical abuse was gonna push someone to committing suicide one day." He stated in a serious manner.

The tan skinned girl's eyes however were covered by shadows to that. "...It... wasn't just physical abuse." Homura hesitantly spoke up. "It wasn't just that... it was more than that." She then revealed

"...What?" Ryuji whispered out.

Homura however didn't say anything as she only pulled out her phone and played the video.

It was unbearable to watch, yet they couldn't look away. It was only a few minutes, but those minutes were something couldn't unsee. They saw Kamoshida, they saw Shiho, and they soon saw him tearing her apart and he did... things that were unbecoming of a human being.

Simply put, Kamoshida went from a real piece of shit to a total fucking monster.

"H-Homura-chan... t-this is..." Asuka got out as she and the others watched the video. "O... Oh god... this is why she was pissed last night... she forced herself to watch this..." She then thought in realization.

"So... This is why she jumped..." Akira muttered out as he looked away in disgust.

"...What...?" Ryuji got out as he clenched his fists. "What the hell is this bullshit!? WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP HER RIGHT THERE!?" He then roared in anger.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO!? NO WAY I WAS GONNA EXPOSE MYSELF WHILE I WAS RECORDING SAKAMOTO!" Homura roared with fury as a crimson wisp of flames radiated around her for a moment before dying down.

"That is not an excuse! YOU'RE A EFFIN' NINJA!" Ryuji loudly reminded. "YOU LEFT HER THERE BECAUSE YOU ONLY CARED ABOUT YOURSELF!" He then accused.

"GODDAMNIT RYUJI! THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Homura shouted back as she almost went choked the boy, only for the others to hold her back. "LET ME GO!" She then demanded.

"No, not until everyone calms down." Akira stated in a serious manner. "Everyone is angry, I get it. I'm angry too but that does not mean we should be fighting each other. Ryuji, she was in shock and panicked so don't blame her. Homura, you should of at least went back and take her to the hospital when you calmed down. Do not let your emotions control your actions, it'll only hurt you in the long run. Now both of you shut the hell up and drink some goddamn soda!" He then ordered as he stuffed drinks into their hands.

"How the fu-" Homura started but was quickly shut up.

"Drink. The goddamn. Soda." Akira once more ordered in tranquil fury.

Ryuji and Homura glared at each other for a second before letting go of their anger. They didn't deserve each other's rage.

"Still... she just left her there man..." Ryuji mumbled out while holding his soda before opening it and taking a slug.

"Homura-chan's not at fault here," Asuka meanwhile stated, getting the others attention. "She had to do everything she can to get the evidence and she already feels the guilt of letting it happen, Ryuji-kun. There was no way for her to have known." She then reminded.

Even though she still felt ashamed over what happened, Homura merely looked towards her roommate, glad that she was defending her.

"I'm not forgivin' her just like that though... But I understand..." Ryuji sighed out. "So what do we do now...?" He soon asked.

"Well we got to do something or else we'll get expelled thanks to that bastard at this rate..." Asuka responded with a contemplating expression.

The tan skinned girl meanwhile narrowed her eyes to this reminder. "It shouldn't matter for us, though. It'll just be a mission failed for us while the boys..." Homura thought as she drank the soda. "No, I can't just abandon everyone. Not while someone like Kamoshida is out there ruining lives... I won't let what happened to me happen to them..." She then decided in her head.

The four then remained silent as they continued drinking their sodas while thinking of what to do...

However...

"I think..." Homura started, getting the others attention as she held the soda can. "We should kill him... we can't let him get away with this bullshit he's pulling anymore..." She then angrily stated in a dead serious tone while crushing the can a little.

"Wha!?" Ryuji got out in shock to the suggestion.

"Are you serious?" Akira then asked with narrow eyes.

To hearing that, the Good Shinobi's eyes widened for a moment to the suggestion, but surprisingly, she narrowed them while nodding in agreement. "I agree..." Asuka responded. "There is no need for someone like Kamoshida in this world... we'd be better off without him..." She then declared dripping in pure hate while clenching her fists.

Homura however blinked to hearing that, surprised that her normally kind roommate would even say that. "Asuka?" She thought in concern.

"...You two can really kill him?" Ryuji asked in genuine curiosity and interest.

"Won't even leave a trace unless we want to send a message." Homura informed as her roommate nodded in agreement.

"...Damn it to eff! Why the hell does that sound like a good idea right now!?" Ryuji growled out.

"It would be simple to do with our skills..." Asuka admitted in a tone similar to her roommate's.

"But... It would only make things worse." Akira spoke up, getting the others attention towards him. "Think about it. Everyone knows we have a grudge against Kamoshida and a motive. If he suddenly disappears without a trace, we'll definitely be on the top of the list of suspects. And I have the feeling the principal would just expel us anyway just to save face." He soon stated. He had to admit, he was making assumptions and he didn't really have all the facts, but he had to rein in his friends before they did something really stupid.

"But we can't just let him walk away, not after all the shit he's done over the years." Homura growled out. "So, Leader, is there another way we can do this?" She then sarcastically questioned while crossing her arms over her chest.

Akira now had to think carefully about his next few words. Anything he said that was weaker than straight up killing the P.E. teacher would undoubtedly strengthen their conviction and lead them down a much darker path. No matter how easy it would be to pull off, they were gonna have to face the consequences of their actions sooner or later. It would be best to avoid them all together, lest they suffer ruin.

Damn it, why did he have to know trained killers that allowed murder to be a real option on the table.

"...Then what about his Shadow? King Kamoshida." Akira suggested, once more gaining the others' attention. "Morgana said that Shadows represent one's repressed self, a side they don't want to see. What would happen if something... bad happened to it?" He then asked.

The other Persona-users looked at each other with questioning looks before looking back at Akira.

"You're suggesting we should just charge in and kill his Shadow instead?" Homura clarified.

"The castle is his heart, right? If we take out his Shadow, it's bound to do something to him." Akira explained himself. "At the very least, we can use his Palace to our advantage afterwards." He then added.

"...Yeah, that makes sense..." Asuka muttered out, as the others really considered going with the glasses wearing boy's plan.

But before anything else could be said on the matter...

"Hold on, before you guys do anything reckless and stupid, I think I might have a solution to your problems." A familiar voice stated.

To that, everyone's eyes widen as they stood up in shock.

"...Eh?" Asuka got out in confusion as she and the others looked around to find the source. "Morgana-chan!?" She then called out.

"Eh, it was probably somethin' else." Ryuji guessed with a shrug.

"But...we're the only ones here. That was distinctly Morgana." Akira pointed out as he narrowed his eyes. He could swear he could hear the faint sounds of a meow all day. He heard there was a possibility of a cat in the school while on the train but... was it really Morgana this whole time? "Where are you anyway?" He then asked.

"Oh, so you're looking for me? I've been looking for you since you all left!" Morgana remarked as stepped out of the shadows... only for them to see a black and white cat with blue eyes and a yellow collar, which jumped up onto one of the desks that littered the rooftop. "Don't think you can get away with not paying me back for helping you. How dare you up and leave me the other day!" He then added in an angered tone.

To witnessing the talking cat, the Persona users could only look on in shock and disbelief with widened eyes.

"...Am I going crazy or did that cat just talk?" Ryuji finally asked. "Please don't tell me it's only me." He then added.

"Meow?" Akira nonchalantly replied.

The blond in response to that jerked his head towards the glasses wearing boy. "This is no time to be jokin' around!" Ryuji freaked out.

"M-Morgana-chan?! Is that really you?" Asuka asked she lift up the cat to get a better look.

"The one and only Lady Asuka, Lady Homura." Morgana replied in a proud tone followed by a bow of his head since the girl was holding him.

"...Wanna say you're not a cat now?" Homura deadpanned.

"I am not a cat!" Morgana called out, which only caused her to deadpan even more. "This is just what happened when I came to this world! It was a lot of trouble finding all of you so be grateful for my intervention. You would've made a grave mistake back there." He then informed.

"Alright then, how the hell did you get here? How did you even leave the Metaverse!?" Homura exclaimed.

"D-Don't tell me he got a phone on him...!" Ryuji guessed in shock.

This however caused Asuka to get a mini-heart attack after imagining how cute it be if the cat had a tiny little cellphone on his collar. "Mmmmmmm!" She silently squealed out as a smile slowly started to form.

"You don't need one when you're at my level." Morgana scoffed in a confident manner. "I did get pretty lost making my escape tho-whoa! H-Hey! Put me down!" He then sheepishly admitted before making a demand, however...

"Oh my god, you're just so adorable Morgana-chan!" Asuka soon squealed with delight as she rubbed the cat's face against her cheek. "You're sooo fuzzy too!" She then added while also rubbing his chin.

To witnessing this, Homura, Ryuji and Akira gave off deadpan expressions to the sight.

"...We should be happy she's back to normal right?" Ryuji soon asked as he began to pet the cat's head.

"N-No...?" Akira hesitantly answered. "A bipolar ninja probably won't be great in the long run." He admitted as he also started petting the cat's head. "It really is fuzzy though." He soon added in an impressed tone.

"H-Hey! Quit petting me like-Oh yeah, that's the spot~!" Morgana demanded, though he then began purring in a pleased manner. "Okay, that felt a little good but quit it already! It's unbecoming of a phantom thief like... like... right there! Oh! Oh! That's the stuff... Yeah... Keep doing that Lady Asuka~ Mrrrrow~!" He soon purred out in a pleased manner.

The tan skinned girl meanwhile sweatdropped to this display. "I think it's because she likes cute things more than murder." Homura got out to the sight, though inwardly smiling to see her roommate still being herself despite the new dark opinions she had. "Speaking of which, are we gonna kill Kamoshida or not?" She then questioned in a serious tone.

"Hold on! Waitwaitwait!" Morgana quickly called out to hearing as he wriggled his body to stop the cuddling and petting. "There's something else you can do about Kamoshida that doesn't specifically involve killing him!" He then revealed.

This in turn gained everyone's attention.

"What?" Ryuji started in shock.

"Is that true!?" Asuka meanwhile asked.

"What do you mean?" Akira then questioned.

"Explain cat." Homura however demanded as things had become serious once again.

Morgana cleared his throat, ready to give a lengthy explanation. "Frizzy Hair was close just a moment ago. It does involve the King, but it doesn't involve killing him. My way is much better, and can be done without a single drop of human blood being spilled." He started explaining.

The blond however gained an irritated expression to that. "God, this condescendin' attitude! This thing's gotta be Morgana!" Ryuji grumbled out.

"You were still doubting me!?" Morgana exclaimed.

"I mean, come on, a talking cat isn't exactly the weirdest thing that has happened to us this past week." Akira admitted as he fake-coughed and not-so-subtly pointed to the large-breasted ninja girls.

"...Why are you looking at us like that?" Asuka asked in an innocent manner with a tilt of her head.

"Yeah... I guess you're right." Ryuji mumbled as he kicked the ground.

"You guess!?" Morgana exclaimed once again before sighing. "You're quite the skeptic despite being an idiot, Ryuji." He then remarked in annoyance.

"J-Just keep tellin' us shit!" Ryuji got out. "You said you know how we can deal with Kamoshida without killing him or his Shadow. What do you mean by that?" He soon asked.

"It has to do with what Akira was talking about earlier. You'll need to attack his castle." Morgana started. "That castle is how he views the school." He reminded.

"Yes. We know. Get on with it!" Homura remarked in annoyance.

"Hey, be patient. This is all important things to keep in mind." Morgana explained before continuing. "He doesn't realize what happens in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart." He then revealed.

"Nice thing for a little confirmation." Akira thought.

"Thus if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida." Morgana continued explaining.

"...You want us to blow up his castle?" Homura guessed. "I'm down for that, though I don't know if there's a place nearby where we can get enough explosives..." She then admitted.

"Maybe we should plant some in his fuckin' house." Asuka growled, her eyes once more narrowed to remembering the man while her roommate looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Th-That's a little extreme man." Ryuji mumbled out.

"We're not blowing up his castle or his house!" Morgana shouted out. "Wouldn't work anyway on the castle. It'll only be permanently changed if something in reality affects Kamoshida." He then informed.

"And it's not like Tokyo is near a military base or something..." Akira pointed out. "I mean, there wouldn't be explosives anywhere near the city unless it was a terrorist attack. And a terrorist charge would not be great for my criminal record." He then reminded.

"I have sources though." Homura said off-handedly. "Well, my former school has sources anyway but I could probably-" She soon started to suggest, however...

"We're not blowing up anything!" Morgana shouted out. "This is the job for thieves and ninjas, surgical precision and stealth! Not blowing stuff up, guns blazing like in an action movie! I mean, what kind of thief would use explosives!?" He exclaimed followed by the new question.

Somewhere in Tokyo, an heiress to a fast food chain sneezed before she could take a sip of her Kopi Luwak coffee.

"Anyway..." Morgana started as he cleared his throat and calming himself down. "Remember what I said before? A Palace is the manifestation of a person's distorted desires. So, if the castle was no more..." He continued.

"His distorted desires will go too." Akira finished off in realization.

"So he'll just stop beating the volleyball team and... all that other stuff, just like that?" Asuka asked hesitantly. Just the idea of the P.E teacher suddenly being good and acting like nothing happened pissed her off to no end.

"Precisely, and more! Good thing you're our leaders, you two pick up on things fast." Morgana complimented.

"This still sounds like we should nuke his castle..." Homura mumbled out, her voice barely audible.

"For real!? H-He's gonna turn good!?" Ryuji exclaimed. "But... that's not enough. He's still getting away with the abuse and shit. No amount of goodwill or other bullshit will ever make up for what he's done. That ain't getting back at him!" He then declared.

"Another thing you're wrong about, Ryuji. Erasing a Palace essentially means forcing the owner to have a change of heart." Morgana explained. "However, even though their warped wants disappear, the crimes they committed remain. Kamoshida will become unable to bear the weight of those crimes, and he'll confess them himself!" He then revealed.

"A change of heart?" Asuka repeated in confusion. "He'll... confess everything?" She then added.

"What's that supposed to mean exactly cat?" Homura then questioned.

"It means we force him into confessing his sins." Akira answered. "And right now, it's our only non-lethal choice. We have to do this. We need to do this." He then stated.

Homura however narrowed her eyes to hearing this. "You can't really be serious?! After what he's done, you're just expecting us to let him live!?" She soon countered in anger.

Asuka in turn nodded in agreement to that as she held the cat in her arms. "He doesn't deserve to live." She darkly stated.

"But he doesn't deserve to die either!" Akira spoke up.

"And what makes you think he won't be back to his old tricks again!?" Homura then questioned.

"Then we release the video with Mishima's help." Akira simply answered. "He'll get arrested, our expulsions are rescinded, and then he'll spend the rest of his life rotting in jail with a completely ruined reputation. Either way, we win." He then stated.

"Besides... if you kill him, that'll be it. You can torture him beforehand but when you kill him, he's dead. All done." Morgana started to pander to their darker sides. "Don't you want him to suffer? To feel all that regret he should feel come at full force all at once? Don't you want him to wallow in his misery for the rest of his life?" He then asked.

To those questions asked, the two kunoichi eyes widen in shock as they hadn't thought of it that way.

"Not to mention that killing would be easy, but for some, it's just a coward's escape from living. The easy way out..." Morgana then pointed out. "I saw that girl jump, and saw what type of person Kamoshida is in the real world. Death would be nothing more than a mercy if we don't change his heart." He soon declared in a serious tone.

To hearing that declaration, both girls eyes widened in shock and disbelief to the statement, causing them to contemplate on the manner of either killing the evil P.E teacher or letting him live and suffer.

"...The easy way out huh..." Homura soon mumbled to herself. "Death... as a mercy..." She meanwhile thought as she remembered the day her chance at becoming a Good Shinobi was ruined.

'The cat is right...' Wolverine soon started. 'By Komichi committing suicide the way he did, it brought the easy way out for him and forced you down the path you were forced currently going down due to all the deceptions. However now is your chance to make things right...' She then declared.

Homura however shook her head to that. 'No. This isn't and won't be for atonement or redemption. I passed that long ago.' She thought. 'This will be for revenge. For Akira, Ryuji, everyone else that's been screwed over by Kamoshida. And I wouldn't have it any other way.' She then decided in her head in a serious manner.

Meanwhile with the Good Shinobi...

"A coward's escape..." Asuka muttered in a quiet tone.

'This is indeed true. It may be a shinobi's duty to kill for some missions but for other people, they might believe that death itself is a form of escaping from the real world, casting off their past deeds be it good or evil so they would no longer have to deal with them anymore.' Kaeru meanwhile stated within the girl's head.

'Then I'll make his life a living hell.' Asuka thought in a serious tone. "Morgana-chan, death will be a mercy after we're done changing his heart." The Good Shinobi decided.

"As long we do something to him, I'll go with it. I just want revenge." Homura soon stated.

"Yeah, sounds good enough for me. We're in, Monamona." Ryuji replied.

"Morgana." The cat-but-not-a-cat corrected in a dull tone.

"Change of heart it is, then." Akira responded, smiling a little that he managed to lead down a non-lethal path. "Alright, let's get this thing started." He then declared.

"Hold up, there's few things you should know before we do this." Morgana started, getting their attention once more. "In order to actually perform a change of heart, we have to steal the Palace's Treasure held within." He then revealed.

"Stealing...?" Ryuji got out in confusion before looking at the two ninja girls. "Okay, that'll be easy enough." He then added.

"Yeah, what else?" Asuka asked.

"I'll tell you more once we're inside the Metaverse. It's a pretty top secret plan so I don't want anyone knowing." Morgana answered. "Besides, there is one little thing you should be careful of." He then informed.

"And that would be..." Akira urged the cat to continue.

"Well, if we erase the Palace, there's no doubt that the person's distorted desires will be erased as well." Morgana started. "But desires are what we all need in order to survive. The will to sleep, fall in love-those sort of things." He then informed.

The Persona-users suddenly got the feeling that they knew where Morgana was going.

"...What are you gettin' at?" Ryuji hesitantly asked.

"If all of those yearnings were to vanish, they would be no different than someone who has shut down entirely." Morgana answered. "They may even die if not given the proper care." He then warned.

To hearing that last bit, the two kunoichi eyes widen to hearing that. "What did you just say!?" Asuka and Homura questioned in shocked unison.

"...So if we screw up... Kamoshida's gonna be like a vegetable or somethin'!?" Ryuji exclaimed.

"In other words... a mental shutdown." Akira realized. The accidents, the people going insane...it was clear now. Someone was out there with the same power, a Persona, they were causing all those incidents.

"So then..." Asuka started as she looked at her roommate.

Homura meanwhile nodded to that. "Yeah... all of this is somehow related..." She concluded in a serious tone.

To witnessing the two girls having serious expression, the boys and the not cat looked on in confusion.

"Girls?" Akira started in a concerned manner to seeing them this way.

"Lady Asuka? Lady Homura?" Morgana called out as he looked up at the girl that was holding him.

The two girls then looked towards the others for a moment before looking back to each other.

"Homura-chan, should we?" Asuka asked in a serious tone.

The tan skinned girl in turn nodded to that. "Yeah, they can know. We're all too deep into this..." Homura responded in her own serious tone.

The blond of the group meanwhile raised an eyebrow to this. "Uh girls, mind filling us in?" Ryuji then asked.

The Good Shinobi in response to that question took in a deep breath as she and her roommate looked at the boys. "Alright... you know how we're shinobi, right?" Asuka started as they nodded to her. "Well... then you should be able to piece together that our transfer here wasn't because we wanted to... at first that is..." She then admitted.

The tan skinned girl nodded in agreement to that. "To put it simply, we were sent here on missions to study the incidents occurring and see if we could do anything about them." Homura explained.

"So, you were sent together to stop the shutdowns?" Akira guessed.

The tan skinned girl however shook her head to that. "No, we're from different schools. Different sides of... what I guess you could call a war." Homura corrected as the boys eyes widened to that reveal. "Asuka here was sent to stop it since she's part of the Good Shinobi side... while I was... well..." She continued before hesitantly cutting herself short while looking away in shame.

"Huh?" Ryuji got out in confusion.

"What do you mean Shinkukage-san?" Akira meanwhile asked.

The cat however narrowed his eyes as he was able to figure it out. "I see, so the Good Shinobi want to bring an end to mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns while the Evil Shinobi want access to them as well for their own purposes... possibly to assist them in the pointless war between the two shinobi sides..." Morgana contemplated.

Homura in turn nodded to that. "Yeah... that was my original mission and reason for transferring to Shujin... but after everything with the Palace, Kamoshida and getting my Persona..." She revealed before trailing off in a hesitant tone.

"Wait, so you're an Evil Shinobi?" Ryuji asked.

"Yeah... but not exactly by choice. Just really unfortunate circumstances." Homura sighed out. "Look, like I said before, our pasts aren't something we can discuss. They aren't exactly family-friendly. Mine isn't anyway." She then added.

"Oh, yeah. Um, sorry for bringin' it up." Ryuji apologized.

"It's okay, Sakamoto. Just... Yeah..." Homura mumbled out awkwardly.

"Hold on, if one of your missions were to obtain the ability to cause stuff like mental shutdowns... Then your mission is already complete." Akira pointed out.

"...What?" Homura asked in both confusion and surprise.

"If we're only going off of what Morgana just said, that means the incidents are being caused by another Persona-user, maybe more, taking advantage of the Metaverse and Palaces. So, in essence, you're already done." Akira explained.

"...Son of a bitch, you're right." Homura got out with widened eyes. "Having the power of a Persona means the power of the shutdowns and breakdowns..." She added in realization.

"So...there's no point for Homura-chan to be here anymore?" Asuka realized, saddened to the idea of that.

The tan skinned girl however shook her head to that. "I'm not leaving any time soon. I don't have to go back until next year, give or take a few days." Homura stated in a serious manner. "Besides, I wouldn't mind dealing with a few more assholes after Kamoshida while I'm here. With Wolverine at my side, I won't leave while there's still shitty people I can deal with." She then admitted.

'And 'cause of your adorable little roommate.' Wolverine quickly quipped out.

"And for my ador-" Homura almost repeated before quickly covering her mouth from fully repeating what her Persona said with a crimson blush on her face, who meanwhile was laughing it up in her head.

Asuka meanwhile tilted her head in innocent confusion to the sudden action by her roommate. "Homura-chan, are you alright?" She got out in concern.

"Just contemplating the fact that I like messing with myself." Homura sighed out after uncovering her mouth. This got her weird looks but they decided to ignore it for now.

"Either way... We're not releasing that video until Kamoshida pays for everything he has done." Akira stated.

"Yeah, better make sure we don't lose it." Ryuji pointed out. "Maybe make a few backups and give us copies. We might be able to use 'em as bargaining chips if it comes down to it, as well as a little insurance." He then suggested.

"Yeah... so we're really risking giving Kamoshida a mental shutdown?" Akira clarified as he pulled out his phone.

"At this point, I don't give a shit." Ryuji stated. "Change of heart, a shutdown or just releasing the video. It doesn't matter to me. Kamoshida's gonna effin' pay one way or another." He then declared.

"He's not gonna get away with this." Homura growled out. "No matter what happens, we're always one step ahead of that bastard. We have nothing to lose, so let's go for broke." She then stated.

"We're coming for you, Kamoshida." Asuka declared, though was thinking about... accidently screwing up when they get to the Treasure.

Soon enough, Homura sent them all a copy of the video to their phones. It felt really wrong to have something so... incriminating on them. While keeping the video to themselves would be a detriment to them in most cases, and really stupid, they wanted blood and justice.

However, they forgot about another person who had a stake in this...

"Is it true that you're all getting expelled?" A familiar female voice asked as she made herself know.

To that, the four students and cat turned to see a familiar ash blonde as she closed the door behind her.

"Damn, that bastard's at it again." Ryuji remarked in annoyance, instantly knowing how the new rumor about them was being spread.

Akira meanwhile nodded in agreement to that. "Yeah, spreading rumors to make all of us look bad and turn everyone against us..." He then stated in a disgusted manner. "Except this time it's kind of true..." He however muttered out.

Asuka meanwhile narrowed her eyes to the ash blonde's question. "Kamoshida..." She growled out in a dark tone while once more balling her hands into fists.

Though the tan skinned girl was concerned for her roommate's current anger, she was more focused on the current situation. "How much did you hear?" Homura questioned in a serious tone and narrow eyes.

"...Enough." Ann started as she walked up to the group. "I also talked to Mishima and he gave me more of the details..." She then revealed.

To that reveal, the blond of the group placed his hands in his pockets. "So... You know what's happenin' then. You know everything." Ryuji stated in a serious manner.

"Not everything but... Whatever you're planning to do to Kamoshida... I want in." Ann soon declared with a determined expression on her face.

"...What?" Homura questioned with a raised eyebrow. "You mean... murder or the change of heart?" She then asked.

The ash blonde's eyes however widened to that. "Hold on, y-you were talking about murder!?" Ann questioned in disbelief.

"...No." Asuka started while shaking her head. "So, you're here for the change of heart?" She then asked, trying to ignore the fact that they revealed they were planning to kill someone, no matter how brief, and change the subject.

"Wait, hold on! What was that about murder!? What are you-" Ann soon asked, however...

"Look, it's really complicated. It was just an impulsive idea. Nothing is going to come of it, I promise." Akira sighed out before glancing towards the other Persona-users. "Isn't that right, everyone?" He then questioned in an almost threatening tone.

"Alright! Alright! We get it! We aren't gonna kill him." Homura grumbled out, not exactly happy but not exactly willing to try harder for it either. "Besides, it'll be much better if we make him suffer." She then admitted.

"...I-I'm actually kind of scared about what you people are planning but... I still want in." Ann replied. "Dead or alive, I just want him to pay for what he did to Shiho!" She then declared.

"Then you're probably not gonna want to watch the video." Akira quietly mumbled out.

"But..." Ryuji started in a whisper. "Should we really bring Takamaki? It's dangerous in the castle." He then reminded.

"And you realize King Kamoshida's not going to hold back this time." Morgana stated, getting the attention of the other Persona users. "He's going to have tons more guards patrolling his castle, not to mention the Shadows we'll encounter will grow stronger and stronger the closer we are to the Treasure. If we take her with us, it'll be much more difficult to navigate the Palace. This will be much different than escaping or heading to an area. We need the strength of everyone here to pull their weight. We can't have anyone holding us back on this mission." He then informed with a serious tone.

"Those are really good reasons..." Akira admitted.

The ash blonde however looked on at them in confusion. "...Why are you talking to a cat?" Ann soon asked. "Can you understand the little guy or...?" She then added to her questions.

"What? You can't hear him-" Homura got out before shaking her head. "Doesn't matter right now. So, Leader, what do you say? Should we bring Takamaki or not?" She soon asked.

Akira had to think a little before reaching a decision. However, someone else from the team decided to take the initiative.

"Let Ann-chan come..." Asuka however stated, gaining the others attention. "She deserves her chance to get back at that bastard just as much as the rest of us." She soon added.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ann asked.

"If you want to, we can help you gain a power never-before-seen in this world." Asuka replied, unaware that a multitude of people, androids and animals included suddenly felt like they should correct someone. "This could be your chance to avenge your friend, and maybe do more than that. Does that sound good to you? Because there's no backing out as soon as you do." She then advised.

"It's going to be dangerous though and you might die if you're not careful. Think you can handle that?" Akira added in a serious tone.

"...I'd do anything for Shiho." Ann soon responded in a serious tone. "Count me in." She once more declared with determination.

"Alright, but you gotta stay behind us when we get there." Ryuji then informed with a serious tone.

"A lady like her should not be flawed by the dangers of battle." Morgana dreamily stated, causing the tan skinned girl to sweatdrop.

"Alright. There's no turning back now." Asuka declared as she pulled out her phone and activated the Meta Nav. "Let's do this." She soon added.

"And thus starts Day 4 in the Worst Week of Our Lives." Homura mumbled out before realizing what her roommate was doing and the huge mistake she was about to make. "Hey, wait, Asuka! DON'T ACTIVATE IT HE-" She soon exclaimed, but it was too late.

[Now entering Kamoshida's Castle of Lust...]

---

(4/14, After School)
(Kamoshida's Castle of Lust, ?)

And with that, they popped into existence inside the Metaverse...in mid-air just above the highest point of the castle near the entrance.

Which was about... a couple thousand feet from the ground.

"...re." Homura weakly finished.

Soon enough, the group became completely silent as they slowly looked at one another.

"...Whatever you do, do not look down." Morgana slowly warned with widened eyes.

Almost instantly to that warning, everyone looked down.

"...Huh." Akira got out, not even bothered by the fact that they were literally standing on nothing. "...That's interesting. Where we activate the Meta Nav in the real world correlates with where we appear in the Metaverse." He calmly stated.

"Yeah, that's cool and all but WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Ryuji shouted out as they all started falling.

"WAH! OH GOD, WHAT IS WITH THIS SCHOOL AND FALLING OFF STUFF!?" Ann yelled out before realising what she just said and remembering what had happened before. "SORRY SHIHO!" She called out before continuing to cry and scream her lungs out.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRY!" Asuka exclaimed while flailing her arms in a panic.

"NO TIME FOR APOLOGIZING!" Homura screamed out. "HOW THE FUCK DO WE LAND!?" She then questioned.

"I'M NOT SURE, I NEVER FELL THIS HIGH!" Morgana admitted.

"YOU'RE A CAT, YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT GOING SPLAT!" Ryuji pointed out.

"THAT'S NOT HOW CATS WORK! AND I! AM NOT! A CAT!" Morgana shouted out in annoyance.

"But we have the wings of freedom. Let's use 'em." Akira declared as he put a hand on his mask. "Arsène! Catch!" He called out as he threw his mask off towards the ground, the mask itself lighting up in blue flames before turning into his Persona.

"W-Whoa...!" Ann got out in awe before the avian masked Persona user grabbed her just as his Persona grabbed them.

Soon enough, the others followed suit with their Personas.

"Kaeru!"

"Wolverine!"

"Zorro!"

"Captain Kidd!"

---

Meanwhile, inside the castle...

"Hm, slow day today." Guard #582 noted to his fellow guard.

"Yep." Guard #4833 replied, not wanting to talk to the Shadow.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHFUCKYOUHHHHHHHHHHH!" Homura yelled out as she fell past their window, flipping the bird as Wolverine caught her.

"...What was that?" Guard #582 asked, taking a few seconds notice.

"Maybe it's the sound of you being an idiot." Guard #4833 suggested.

"Huh. Maybe you're right." Guard #582 grumbled sarcastically. "...Dick biscuit." He soon insulted.

It should be noted that the guards weren't very smart.

---

(Kamoshida's Castle of Lust, Castle Entrance)

After everyone landed and calmed down, they all took deep breaths of relief.

"Are you okay?" Akira asked, holding the ash blonde bridal style.

Meanwhile, Ann couldn't help but notice how... handsome the boy was, now that she got a good look at his face without the glasses. That was, until a mask appeared on his face, which only seemed to enhance his features.

"I know it's a standard question and all but I just wanna... Hey, are you listening?" Akira then started, but then asked as he noticed the spaced out expression she had.

Suddenly, Ann snapped back to reality. "Wah!" She got out as she fell out of the avian masked teen's arms and face-first onto the ground. "Ow..." She winced out in pain while getting herself to her feet.

"Alright, mental note for the future, only activate the app in front of the school and not on the rooftop from now on." Homura stated.

"Sorry guys..." Asuka once more apologized.

"Well, it's one more thing we know 'bout this place now." Ryuji panted out.

"W-What is this!?" Ann soon exclaimed in shock to the changed scenery after looking around. "A-A castle!?" She then got out in confusion.

"Yup." Akira casually replied. "Welcome to Shujin Academy otherwise known as the Castle of Lust, where all dreams come true... For the asshole who rules the place anyway." He then sarcastically added.

"H-Huh?" Ann got out in even more confusion as she turned around to see the Persona users. "What the!? What in the world are you guys wearing!?" She soon asked.

Asuka meanwhile crossed her arms over her chest as she slightly narrowed her eyes while looking at the castle. "That's... hard to explain Ann-chan..." She responded in a hesitant yet serious tone.

"Oh yeah..." Homura stated in agreement followed by a glance towards her roommate in concern.

"Hey, keep it down everyone! You're gonna attract the Shadows at this rate!" Morgana quietly ordered.

"H-Huh!? A monster cat!?" Ann then exclaimed in disbelief.

"M-Monster!?" Morgana got out in a shocked and offended tone. "C-Come on Lady Ann, I'm not a monster of any sorts!" He then added.

"Can't deny the cat part though." Ryuji quietly snarked.

"Definitely a cat from his reaction to being petted." Homura then remarked. "Also, Lady Ann? Seriously?" She then asked in a deadpan tone.

"What? It is the proper way to refer to such beautiful and elegant ladies like yourselves." Morgana defended himself as he had ignored the snark.

"I have to admit, it would be flattering if it wasn't coming from a living plushie." Homura admitted.

"Yeah...it would be." Ann admitted in agreement after calming herself down. "I'd definitely would buy someone like...What's his name again?" She started before asking her question.

"Oh, allow me to properly introduce myself." Morgana soon began. "I am swift as the wind, as strong as the smell of tuna, and as skillful as phantom thief. I am Morgana, mademoiselle, and it is an honor to be in your presence." He introduced as he bowed.

The others just stared silently at the cat.

"...Okay, you have to admit that was pretty smooth." Akira spoke up after a while.

"Erm, no it wasn't." Ryuji deadpanned.

"MMMMMMMMMMM!" Asuka meanwhile had to resist gushing out and squealing over how cute the not cat like thief was.

"Basically, you can think of him as..." Homura started before smirking underneath her mask. "The mascot of our little group. He was that cat you saw us talking to on the roof before." She soon stated.

"We should start making merch." Akira suggested, semi-seriously since he was hurting for cash.

"Hey! I will not be monopolized! A phantom thief never sells out! He steals from those who do!" Morgana declared.

"Hey, um, before we go and make plushies and t-shirts..." Ann spoke up in a sweet tone before switching to a more angry one. "Can anyone tell me what the fuck is going on!?" She soon questioned.

"Oh, right. Maybe we should start from the beginning." Akira replied as he pulled out his phone. "First off Asuka, Homura and I had this red app on our phones as soon as we arrived in Tokyo on Sunday. The Metaverse Navigation app, otherwise known as the Meta Nav. It allowed us access to a place called, well, the Metaverse and to people's hearts. And for some reason, it activated on our way to school." He then explained.

"Yeah, got dragged in just by bein' there. We were at school, just not in the same plane of existence." Ryuji added in. "And this entire place, it's the bastard's thinkin'. This place is how Kamoshida views Shujin and it's not pretty." He soon revealed.

"So this is why you three were late on your first day." Ann soon realized. "And this place is how Kamoshida sees the school!?" She then added in shock.

"Yup, the castle where he sees the students as his slaves and he's the king." Homura remarked in an angered tone. "Asuka and I were almost forced into being concubines to the fucker..." She then muttered out. "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised that Kamoshida has concubine copies of us here now. Which I will personally put out of their misery if we see them." She soon stated.

"Please don't remind me..." Asuka sighed out, though she imagined herself doing the same thing as her roommate.

"Copies?" Ann repeated in confusion.

"He also has copies, cognitive versions of people in reality, to satisfy his distorted desires. They're not real, but it's painful to watch and listen to. Pretty sure you can still hear the screams of the volleyball team in the dungeons from here." Akira answered and, as if on cue, they heard the horrible pained screams of a false poor soul. "He even has a version of you." He then revealed.

"Wh-What!?" Ann exclaimed. "Don't tell me..." She soon started with a pale face.

The tan skinned girl in response nodded to the ash blonde's guess. "Yeah, his version of you is his princess, if that bimbo can even be called that." Homura remarked in annoyance. "She had cat ears and walking around basically naked in a skimpy bikini. And she's horny 24/7 for that prick's prick. I think she has a bigger bust size than you too..." She then added.

"Please stop." Ann requested as she then sighed. "So... I'm basically his airheaded whore here... That sounds about right with that bastard..." She then declared in anger.

Akira in turn nodded to that. "Unfortunately. We never heard the copy talk, but with the way she was clinging to her King, it seems to be obvious." He responded. "It was more so because we had to run after his guards showed up." He then revealed.

"Yeah, Asuka and Homura did try to fight off the Shadows with their shinobi abilities the first time we accidentally came here, but they overwhelmed 'em." Ryuji nonchalantly admitted before realizing what he just said. "Oh fu-" He soon got out with a pale face.

The ash blonde in turn nodded to thar before her eyes widened to one specific detail mentioned. "H-Hold on! Asuka and Homura are what now!?" Ann soon exclaimed.

To also hearing what the blond said, the mental warning bells went off in the two kunoichi.

"U-Uh, you didn't hear anything! He just said... er..." Homura tried to figure out an excuse before she groaned as she looked towards the skull masked Persona user. "Goddammit Ryuji! Will you ever shut your mouth!?" She got out in angered tone.

'I'm getting the feeling I'll be hearing Goddammit, Ryuji a lot this year.' Akira thought with a sweat drop.

Asuka also nodded in agreement to that. "Seriously Ryuji-kun! What the hell!?" She then remarked in a tone similar to her roommate's.

"S-Sorry!" Ryuji quickly tried to apologize...only to realize the girls had summoned their weapons. "Oh, this is gonna hurt isn't it." He then guessed.

"Hold on, we need the idiot alive for his Zio attacks ladies. He's the only one who knows any." Morgana reminded with a sigh.

"Gee, thanks for the support cat." Ryuji deadpanned.

"I'M NOT A CAT YOU STUPID MONKEY!" Morgana loudly countered.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Ryuji roared back in anger.

"Both of you be quiet!" Asuka and Homura however ordered in perfect unison.

"Huh, I wonder what's gonna come off first if they keep arguing like that: Their tongue or their balls." Akira deadpanned. "Hold on, does Morgana even have ba-" He was almost thankful for his thoughts being interrupted, or else he would go down a hole that would be too deep to come out of.

"Guys! Take this seriously!" Ann called out. "Are we gonna stand here arguing or are we gonna go into the castle already!?" She then questioned.

"Do you have any other questions?" Morgana asked.

"You mean besides the fact that two of the transfer students are actual ninjas?" Ann then questioned as she looked at the two girl in mention. "You know what, I'm just gonna accept it and move on. So, what were those things from earlier? That demon guy, the pirate and... did I hear someone shout Wolverine?" She soon added to her questions.

"The power we mentioned earlier. Persona!" Akira called out as he ripped off his mask, summoning Arsène behind him before disappearing in the next second.

"Yeah, with them we can fight Kamoshida's monster guards in the castle known as Shadows." Homura then explained. "They'll get in the way if you're not careful." She then advised.

Taking a deep breath, Ann nodded to that as she gave off a determined expression. "As long as we can take down Kamoshida, I'll be fine." She replied.

"Good, because once we enter, we'll be treating each other like Phantom Thieves, so we're counting on you Joker when it comes to combat!" Morgana then stated to the avian masked Persona user.

This in turn got confused expressions from the others.

"Joker?" Asuka soon asked.

"What kind of name is that?" Ryuji also asked.

"That's Frizzy Hair's codename because I get the feeling he'll be our trump card when it comes to fighting." Morgana revealed.

"But... why the codename in general Morgana-chan?" Asuka soon asked.

"Think of it, we're in Kamoshida's territory now. If you use your real names, the Kamoshida in reality will become even more antagonistic towards you guys, that's where the codenames come in." Morgana then explained.

"But he's already seen us before we awakened to our Personas." Homura then reminded.

"Hehe," Morgana chuckled out in a confident manner. "That however is where your Personas, masks and outfits come into play. Those three things mess with the perception of the Palace ruler so that even though he's already seen who you are before, they'll interfere with his cognition." He then explained.

"...Huh?" Asuka and Ryuji got out in confused unison.

Akira however placed a hand on his chin in a thinking manner. "Hmm... so you're saying that thanks to our wills of rebellions, he won't recognize us and won't act more antagonistic to us in the real world..." He stated. "Is that about right?" He then questioned.

"Bingo! As expected of you Joker!" Morgana replied in a proud tone.

"Huh, so these clothes aren't just fashion statements, good to know." Homura responded with a nod. "At least these clothes won't get shredded like our usual Shinobi Tenshin outfits me and Asuka go into." She then admitted with her roommate nodding in agreement.

"Shinobi... Tenshin?" Ryuji repeated in confusion as the others looked at the two.

"You two shouted that out earlier in our first few visits." Akira remembered. "So, mind explaining what exactly that is?" He then asked.

"It's a shinobi technique that allows a shinobi to have access to all of their abilities where their appearances are different depending on the person like our Phantom Thieves outfits to their ideal appearance, however their clothes are less durable so they shred easily and literally vanish into thin air." Morgana revealed, getting shocked expressions from the two shinobi as they looked at the not cat. "You can hear a lot of rumors here in the Metaverse." He then briefly explained.

Joker in turn nodded to that. "It does explain why Asuka and Homura's clothes changed the first time we came to the castle and tried to fight off the Shadows." He admitted.

The two shinobi meanwhile blushed under their masks as they looked away for a moment. "At least they didn't see us go into Frantic Mode..." Homura muttered as her roommate nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then what about me? What should I be called?" Ryuji soon asked with curiosity.

"Hmm..." Morgana hummed out while thinking. "How about...Thug?" He then suggested.

"What!? No way!" Ryuji declined instantly. "Come on, give me something better than that!" He then added.

"Blabbermouth." Homura deadpanned as her roommate nodded in agreement, both of them having frowns underneath their masks.

"That's even worse!" Ryuji complained.

"Pirate?" Ann meanwhile suggested. "That thing he summoned was pirate after all." She then explained.

"Nah, just doesn't feel right." Ryuji admitted. "If anything, it's gotta be 'bout this mask. I actually kinda like it." He then admitted.

"So Numbskull? Thickhead? ...Skullfu-" Joker listed his suggestions.

"No way!" Ryuji quickly shut down.

"Okay, then. Skull. Your codename will be Skull. Happy now?" Morgana sighed out in annoyance.

"Hell yeah! Sounds awesome! I'm Skull!" Skull shouted out in joy.

"Goddammit Ryuji! This place echoes, ya know!" Homura shouted out as well. "And I just realized that I may have looked hypocritical back there but… dammit." She then sighed out.

"Yep, definitely all year." Joker said in a dull tone, not even surprised.

"So uh… what do we do about this one's codename?" Skull asked as they all looked at Morgana.

"It better not be anything demeaning like Monster or Plushie! And I swear to God, if one of you suggests something with the word Cat in it..." Morgana growled.

"Yeah, of course, you stupid cat piece of..." Skull grumbled.

"Really? That rules out... all of my options." Homura replied.

"Er... all I can think of is names for pets..." Ann admitted.

"Can we hurry this up?" Asuka sighed out in annoyance while tapping her foot in an antsy manner.

"I've got nothing." Joker admitted before turning to the blond Persona user. "You got any suggestions?" He soon asked.

"Um, all I got is Mona." Skull answered. "How's that for ya, cat?" He then asked.

"Well, if it's easier to call me that, then I guess we'll go with it." Mona replied. "So, onto the ladies. So, any suggestions?"

"Well, there's Ninja for Homura and Geisha for Asuka..." Ann muttered out, unintentionally staring at the chests of the two in mention before quickly looking away.

"Yeah, but they're both ninjas and rather beautiful so it would be a little confusing..." Mona stated, causing Homura to groan.

"What about just Black and White?" Skull spoke up.

"You have to think a little more creatively than that, though that is a good starting point." Joker pointed out.

"I'll go with the codename Yang while Asuka's will be Yin since our masks are like the two halves of the Yin-Yang symbol." Homura stated while crossing her arms over her chest.

Asuka nodded in agreement to this. "I'm alright with that codename." She replied.

Ann also nodded in agreement to that. "Yeah, their masks do reflect each other." She then admitted.

"Ok then, so we're Joker, Skull, Mona, Yin and Yang from now on." Mona listed off. "Make sure to go by those names once we're in the Palace." He then reminded.

"And what about Ann? Shouldn't she have a codename too?" Joker pointed out.

"Hm, well we might be able to say her name without consequence considering her, uh, status here but we can never be too careful." Mona admitted. "Alright, how about Princess?" He then suggested.

The image of Cognitive!Ann wrapped around King Kamoshida quickly came to the Persona-users' minds.

"No!" They all quickly shouted out.

"Well, since she's not gonna be helpin' us much and we're essentially her bodyguards, how about Escort?" Skull then suggested.

"Escort can also mean prostitute." Joker pointed out as again, Cognitive!Ann flashed in their minds. "So that's a no." He then stated.

"What about... Junko?" Yin spoke up.

This in turn gathered the others attention as they raised their eyebrows to the suggested name. "Why Junko?" Mona soon asked.

The black full face masked Persona merely shrugged her shoulders to that. "I don't know, she just looks like someone with that name at first glance." Yin simply replied.

"We should keep it simple. How about Lady?" Joker soon suggested, throwing in his two yen. "Though, it ultimately comes down to what Ann thinks her name should be." He then reminded.

To that statement and reminder, Ann gained a thinking expression as she contemplated on what to be called. "Well... I think I should stick with my name for now." The ash blonde replied. "I don't want a codename until I get one of those Persona things you have." She then explained.

"You should at least be able to defend yourself." Yang however stated as she gave her one of her guns. "Here. Remember to keep it unloaded until we're in a fight and don't even think about firing until Joker tells you to fire. He's our combat leader so you should follow his orders, got it?" She soon instructed.

"G-Got it." Ann replied as she nervously held the gun. "Um... where did you get guns?" She then asked in concern, a little worried that they managed to get their hands on firearms in Japan, let alone somehow sneaking them into a high school.

"They're toys." Akira bluntly answered as he twirled the gun around his finger casually. "But the enemy doesn't know that." He then revealed as he stopped.

"Oh, so they don't fi-" Ann started, however...

BANG!

"HOLY EFFIN' SHIT!" Skull screamed out as everyone jumped back. "Shin-Shit! I mean Yang, you okay!?" He then asked in concern.

A smoke mark remained on the white face masked Persona user as the bullet fell and bounced slightly on the ground. "...I can't believe that didn't hurt more." Yang got out, surprise in her voice to this occurrence.

"Should've said they actually fire first..." Joker admitted.

"Everyone shut up! We're attracting attention!" Mona informed.

"WAH! I didn't mean to!" Ann exclaimed as she dropped the-

BANG!

"AH!" Yin called out in pain as she collapsed to the ground.

"Shit!" Skull swore as he went over to check on her.

"This is really bad! Lady Asuka is knocked down!" Mona exclaimed. "Zorro! Dia!" He commanded as his Persona appeared.

"YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU SHOOT ASUKA!" Yang shouted out with fury as she went to attack the ash blonde, who braced herself, but was held back by the male Persona users.

"There is such thing as a misfire you know!" Joker informed. "Guns kill their owners and loved ones a lot." He then added.

"I-I'm okay! It didn't hurt that much." Yin groaned out as she got up. "J-J-Just a little dazed." She soon added.

"She fucking shot you!" Yang pointed out before going to her side to examine her. "Did it hurt!? Let me see where the bullet struck! Are you sure you're ok!? Do you feel woozy at all!?" She then questioned in an instinctive elder sister like manner.

"Well, she isn't bleeding." Joker pointed out. "People who get shot usually bleed." He stated.

"Guns work differently in the Metaverse than in reality." Mona explained. "Think of it as another element an enemy or an ally can be weak to. Plus, guns can be weaker than melee weapons." He then revealed.

"It felt... weird." Yin admitted. "Like, my body wanted to collapse in on itself when I was hit. Kinda like when I was hit with that Wind spell." She then added as she winced.

"That's the nature of battle in the Metaverse." Mona stated. "Never assume the enemy is weaker than you, they might know something that'll destroy you in an instant." He then instructed.

"I think that applies to life in general..." Joker muttered out.

"Alright, you don't get a gun!" Yang called out as she picked up her machine gun before calming herself. "J-Just stay behind us and don't die..." She sighed out.

The ash blonde merely nodded to that. "R-Right..." Ann replied.

"...At one point though, we really need to upgrade the guns we got..." Yang soon admitted.

"Yeah..." Yin replied in agreement with a nod.

"Don't worry, if we're lucky we'll find some new weapons in treasure chests in the Palace, but we'll need to find a way to obtain more equipment afterwards." Mona informed. "But that's a future problem, right now we'll just have to deal with what we got. The Shadows have surely noticed us at this point we've wasted a ton of time." He then added.

"Yeah, we should get started." Skull soon stated.

"I can't believe I agreed to this..." Ann mumbled in a worried tone, but still didn't regret the choice she had made.

"No turning back. Let's go wild." Yang growled out, wanting to start killing Shadows to blow off some steam.

"It's all on you, Leaders." Mona said.

"Ready for this, Joker?" Yin asked.

Joker only nodded to that. "Alright then, get your game faces on everyone. We're going in!" Joker announced as he tightened his red gloves as they all turned to face the castle.

And with that, the infiltration had begun.

---

(Kamoshida's Castle of Lust, Old Castle Central Hall)

After Yin helped Ann into the vent, everyone had arrived in the empty room.

"Heh, looks like they don't know 'bout this place yet." Skull remarked with a smirk.

"I think they're worrying more about pleasing their King rather than improving their defenses." Joker guessed, also having a devilish smile on his face. "Gotta love asshole narcissism." He then remarked.

"Or you know, the guards are idiots." Yang pointed out.

"Alright Vice Leader, think you can guide us through this castle without getting spotted?" Mona asked.

"I'll try." Yin replied. "Just make sure Ann-chan can follow us." She soon instructed.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle myself... at least outside of fighting. I'll help when I can." Ann responded.

Joker in nodded to that as he and the black full face masked girl went to the door. "Alright then, let's go." He ordered.

As the others nodded in agreement, Yin took the lead as she opened the door and scanned the hallway. "All clear for the moment. The Entrance Hall is to the right of us, so we should stay away from it." She whispered

"Agreed." Yang whispered back as they all started to follow, however...

"Hey look! Ain't that..." Skull got out as he glanced towards the Entrance Hall.

The group then looked towards where their skull masked companion was staring as they saw a familiar face along with a horde of Shadows in knight armor, causing them to hide along the doorway and look into the Entrance Hall.

"Looks like they're having a meeting." Joker whispered out.

Shadow Kamoshida meanwhile was above them as he looked down towards his guards. "Those intruders were quite entertaining the other day." He stated in his distorted voice. "However, I can't allow that trash to ransack my castle!" He then declared.

"That only makes me want to ransack his castle even more." Mona stated with a greedy look in his eyes. "Some objects in the Palace can turn into some really good stuff, like gold and artifacts that come into the real world. Once we find someone to pawn that stuff off, we'll be rolling in cash." He then revealed in excitement.

"Cash would be nice." Joker admitted.

"You can get money here?" Ann asked.

"Not much but money is still money." Joker answered.

"Well, I'm sure Kamoshida's Treasure gotta be worth a good chunk." Skull remarked.

"Knowing him, it's probably going to a giant bust made out of solid gold." Yang said before looking at the not cat, who literally had Yen signs in his eyes and drooling puddles on the ground. "And... the cat is drooling. Great..." She muttered sarcastically as she face palmed.

"Strengthen the security! Kill them all on sight! This including the girls! I'll reward whoever brings me their heads!" Shadow Kamoshida soon ordered with authority in his voice.

To this, the guards all started to cheer for their king as well as chanting for the death of the intruders.

"I'm getting the feeling he doesn't like us." Ann deadpanned.

"We should back off just in case a Shadow has wandering eyes." Yin suggested as they went back into the hallway. 'Damn it, it would be so easy if his army wasn't there.' She thought.

Ann meanwhile gained a disgusted expression to seeing the Palace ruler. "That bastard... he literally thinks of himself being a king..." She muttered out in anger.

"It... It gets worse." Skull responded. "It always gets worse around here." He then added before looking towards the not cat. "Hey Mona. Can't we just beat the crap outta him and call it a day?" He soon asked.

Mona however narrowed his eyes to that. "Look at all those soldiers idiot! It'd be suicide if we did that. And I'm sure you don't want a repeat of last time." He then reminded.

To that reminder, the other four Persona users winced at remembering what happened while the ash blonde looked at them in confusion.

"We'll tell you later." Joker simply replied to the ash blonde.

"Besides," Mona then started once more. "Don't you want him to confess his sins?" He then asked.

"Basically there's no point in beating the shit out of him..." Yang stated.

"..." Yin meanwhile narrowed her eyes as she glared towards the King.

"Lady Yang's right, we just need to steal his materialized desires... the Treasure." Mona concluded.

"Ugh, fiiiiine." Skull groaned in defeat. "So, where is it?" He then asked.

"My guess is it's at the top of this dumb castle." Yang answered.

"So like a video game area with a treasure room?" Yin then added.

"Yep, and we are on Floor 1 out of a couple of dozen considering the size of the castle. And let's not forget that this place might not follow physics so it could be much, much bigger than we realize." Yang cautioned. "If we had a map of this place, or maybe scouted it out a little, or maybe landed somewhere near the top it would be so much easier." She then admitted.

"It would make sense to map this place out." Joker muttered out before pulling out his probation journal. Maybe he should make his own, like that game, Etrian... something. Although, Sojiro was checking this so it wouldn't be a good idea to use it to map out a place, it would definitely make him look suspicious.

"There probably a map somewhere in the castle, we just would have to look around for one." Mona stated.

"Then let's go to the other door." Yin started as she went to the door across the hall and quietly opened it.

Only to find a Guard Shadow with its back facing towards them.

"O-MPH!" Yin nearly shouted out before her roommate managed to... cover her mouth? It didn't make sense since their masks already did cover their mouths, but at this point logic was sent out to the back and put to sleep. Multiple times. With a minigun.

Anyways, Yang managed to pull her back just in time as the guard turned around in curiosity, wondering what that sound was and why the door was suddenly open.

"Damn, must've been the wind." The Guard grumbled to itself as it went back to its usual routine of staring at a wall.

"That was close." Ann breathed out in relief. "God, those Shadow things look creepier up-close." She whispered.

"Technically the guards are the shells of the actual Shadow and were only able to be revealed after removing their masks." Mona instructed. "Hey, this might be good opportunity to teach you something..." He then admitted.

"Really? Now of all times?" Yang quietly complained.

"Yeah, we should just kick its ass and move on." Skull agreed with a nod. "You can teach us after we have the damn Treasure."

"But this is something important! Lady Ann, you better stay here." Mona then stated. "Alright Joker, are you ready to take it down?" He soon asked.

"Let's go." Joker replied as he dashed out of hiding and stabbed the guard's armor, unleashing the Shadow from within. "Only one? The King really needs to step up his game." He soon remarked as he and the others flipped back and prepared themselves to fight.

"I think he already is." Yin pointed out.

"Okay, remember how I taught you all about Hold Ups and All-Out Attacks? I'll teach you their practical use now." Mona informed.

"Ain't all that shit about killin' Shadows?" Skull asked in a blunt tone.

"Have you never heard of a robbery? Well, I'm not surprised honestly." Mona stated. "There's another use for Hold Ups besides killing enemies. Shadows are born from people's hearts, so naturally they can talk as well." He then revealed.

"Yeah, I remember one of those pumpkins begging for its life in our first trip here." Yang remembered, which creeped out and worried Ann.

"So we can communicate with them." Joker muttered out. "Can they speak Japanese or do they have their own language?" He then questioned.

"The Shadows can speak any language, however to you they'll talk in Japanese." Mona answered. "If it spoke to someone whose native language is, say, French they'll speak French. Get it?" He then questioned.

The blond Persona user merely scratched his head to that. "Uh... not really." Skull admitted.

"Okay, you don't have to understand because it's not important. What is important is what we can convince Shadows to do." Mona continued. "If you talk to them while they're cornered, they might offer money or items, because they don't wanna die. In fact, talking things out has a better chance of scoring something great, as opposed to just offing them on the spot." He soon revealed.

"Aren't we supposed to act like phantom thieves, not like the thieves you find on the streets?" Yang bluntly asked.

"It's kill or be killed in the Metaverse, so a little hope of living through a battle will make people do anything. Honor can check itself at the door." Mona replied. "Well then, if there's no more questions, let's do the first step. Hold 'em up, Joker!" He then ordered, however...

BANG!

"AH! MY FACE!" The Beguiling Girl called out as she fell to the ground.

"There." Yin bluntly replied in a dark tone as she twirled her guns.

"Holy shit! That was out of nowhere!" Skull exclaimed.

"U-Uh... Good work, Yin. You knocked her down." Mona complimented a little weakly, surprised by the sudden shot. "O-O-Okay then. Hold Up!" He called out as everyone aimed their guns at the Shadow.

"Oooow! Seriously!? You guys are the intruders that King Kamoshida was talking about...? It can't get any worse than this..." The Beguiling Girl groaned out in pain, holding onto where the gun shot her.

"Oh, it's about to." Yin growled out her threat while keeping a tight grip on her guns.

"Huh, so they really can talk." Skull got out.

"I've actually been wondering about this, but shouldn't we be talking about it actually being a female when before it had a male voice?" Yang then pointed out.

"Shadows are ambiguous in the armor, so you really can't tell unless you rip the mask off." Mona explained. "Besides, we've fought guards with multiple Shadows popping out of it." He then added.

"Aren't we threatening a Shadow right now?" Yin pointed out in annoyance, getting everyone's attention back to the fallen girl, who tried to escape while they were talking. A graze to the shoulder quickly stopped her.

"What're you going to do with me!?" The female Shadow asked before looking excited. "Are you going to have your way with me!?" She soon declared.

"What!?" Ann called out from her hiding spot.

"...What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Yin asked in a harsh yet innocent manner, not quite understanding the phrase.

"A-Aw dude! No way, man! No!" Skull got out in disgust.

"Er... that's unexpected." Mona admitted with a blush on his face.

"...You can do that?" Joker asked as he tilted his head.

"Joker!" Yang growled out.

"Right. Getting distracted." Joker sheepishly replied as he shook his head. "Give me money, right now. Unless a couple of yen is worth more than your life..." He threatened.

"Wait, so you're not-" The Shadow started once more, however...

"WE'RE NOT DOING YOU!" Yang shouted as she shot near the fallen girl. "Now pay up or die, bitch!" She threatened in anger.

"...Doing what?" Yin meanwhile asked.

"Not the time! Please go out more, Yin!" Yang replied.

"For real!? U-Um, so you'll let me if I just give you something?" The Girl asked in surprised. "A-And not..." She then added but trailed off in a hesitant manner.

"Well, something along those lines." Mona interrupted before the girl could describe what she wanted. Huh, not that much of a surprise that someone like her would be hanging around a place called the Castle of Lust. "Now let it be money or items, just cough it up!" He then demanded.

"You better have enough for all of us, you know." Skull joined in, liking the power a bit.

"S-S-Sorry... but... er... this happened so suddenly so, um... I don't have anything on me..." The Beguiling Girl sheepishly admitted. "I-I usually do though, you know! I'll pay you back later if you put down the guns! Oh... this is sssooo awkward..." She then added in embarrassment.

"...Huh?" Yang got out dumbly.

"Excuse me, what?" Joker said in disbelief. "Well shit, that is awkward. Um... What do we do, Mona?" He soon asked.

"Oh... this isn't going how I was planning for this to go..." Mona muttered to himself. "Uh... anyway, it can't be helped if that's the case. Time for you to go to hell." He then decided.

"Ready to go All-Out, Joker! Just say the word." Yin called out as she glared at the Shadow.

"F-For real!? Wait!" The weaken Shadow begged.

"Sorry, but you're in our way. Now stop wasting time." Yin demanded.

"No! Come on! Wait up!" The Beguiling Girl cried out, tears running down her face. "Can't we work something out? I'll do anything! Just don't kill me, please! I don't wanna die! Waaaaaaah!" She soon begged while sobbing, a literal waterfall of tears gushing out of her eyes. It was almost comical.

"Um... I'm startin' to feel bad 'bout this, man." Skull admitted, feeling awkward seeing the enemy the way it was. "Whadda ya say, Joker? She ain't gonna rat us out if we let her go now." He then added.

"But there's also a chance she will and we have a normal person to worry about." Mona warned. "So Joker, what's the call?" He soon asked.

Joker thought about before deciding what to do. "...You chose the wrong enemy." He stated as he cocked his gun. "No hard feelings but we can't let you walk away." He then admitted.

"Well, if you say so Leader." Skull replied with shrug.

"Heh, I admire people with confidence." The Beguiling Girl chuckled out humorlessly after she finished crying. "You know, in any other situation, we'd probably get along pretty well. But I guess it wasn't meant to-huh?" The Shadow started, but then paused as she felt... something within in her react. "Whoa... I feel different! Something's happening!" She exclaimed as her body glowed.

"Huh?" Yang got out in confusion to this occurrence.

"What the...!? What's going on!?" Mona asked, equally as surprised and confused by the situation as the girl floated into the air.

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" Yin called out in a panic with her guns ready.

"Hold your fire! We might not want to stop this." Joker ordered as he watched on in awe, feeling connected to the once weakened Shadow.

"Oh yeah! I remember now!" The Beguiling Girl gasped out. "I don't belong to King Kamoshida...I'm an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity's souls. My name, my true name, I know it now! My name is... Pixie! Hehehe! Oh wow, this feels amazing! I am thou..." She soon revealed.

"Oh, that's important. And I thought your name was Fairy." Yang meanwhile muttered to herself sarcastically before recognizing the last phrase. "Wait, I am what now?" She got out in disbelief.

"Thou art I! I'll gladly help you on your journey, Fool. From now on, I'll live inside your heart!" Pixie declared.

"What the..." Joker got out as the Shadow suddenly turned into a mask just like his before dispersing into energy which was absorbed. The force caused him to stumble back a little with his eyes turning red as he felt... something enter his head. "Whoa! That's new." He then added while his eyes went back to their normal color.

"What was that just now...?" Mona questioned in awe of the situation. "What happened to the Shadow...!?" He then asked in confusion.

The ash blonde meanwhile looked on from her hiding place as the battle ended. "So those are Shadows? They looked a lot more threatening in my head." Ann admitted as she then approached the group.

"Joker! You okay?" Yin called out as she ran up to him as he shook his head.

"Yeah, did that Pixie Shadow do anything to you!? Damn it, don't tell me he's boobytrapping his own guards..." Yang got out in concern.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. Actually, I feel...better than okay." Joker admitted.

"Dude, w-what the hell was that!?" Skull exclaimed. "The enemy got sucked into Joker's mask!" He added in confusion.

"I-I have no idea! I wasn't expecting that either...!" Mona replied.

"Is it something you don't even know we can do, Mona?" Yang guessed before seeing a guard walk past the open door... before walking backwards and spotting them. "Aw crap..." She swore in annoyance.

"Intruders! Halt!" Another Guard Shadow demanded.

"Fuck you!" Yang called out as she attacked the guard before it could warn its brethren. "Got those two-horned horses here!"

'Bring me out!' A familiar female voice echoed in the avian Persona user's head.

This in turn confusion the avian masked Persona user. "D-Did anyone hear that?" Joker asked as he looked around to see where that voice came from as it sounded familiar.

'You do not need me for this battle, but our new ally will assist you greatly here.' Arsène told his wielder. 'Concentrate... and call out her name!' He then instructed.

To that instruction, Joker nodded as he placed a hand to his mask, ready to summon. "...Come on out... PIXIE!" He declared.

The black full face masked Persona user's eyes widen to hearing that. "Huh!?" Yin got out in confusion as she looked at the combat leader as a familiar being was beside him now.

"Heh, definitely new." Joker remarked with a smirk before both of them looked at his opponents. "Ravage them! Zio!" He commanded.

"Sure thing! I told you I'll pay you back Trickster!" Pixie declared out as she cast the lightning spell upon the enemy, knocking it down instantly.

"What the!?" Yang got out in confusion to hearing that.

'Well, it seems as though the leader has a special quality to them...' Wolverine stated within the girl's mind.

Mona's eyes meanwhile widened as this display. "Wait, wasn't that the Shadow from earlier!?" He asked in confusion before gasping in realization. "Don't tell me... Did you take in the Shadow's appearance and powers and turned it into a Persona!?" He soon guessed in disbelief.

"Looks like it." Joker replied casually as he gave the new Persona a high five.

"Hold on, you can do that!?" Skull exclaimed in shock and disbelief. "Can I do that too!?" He then asked.

"We can figure it out later! Fight now!" Yin declared, getting annoyed by all the questions as the Shadow got back up as a result.

"Hmph, what's her problem?" Pixie questioned with a scoff and a pouting expression.

Joker however sighed to that. "She's going through a slight sanity break. Zio!" He explained before commanding another attack.

The Persona's expression lightened up to that. "Yes sir!" Pixie replied with excitement as she sent another lightning spell on the enemy, knocking it down again.

"GAH!" The Shadow wailed in pain once more.

"Now! All-Out Attack!" Joker commanded to the others.

"You're done!" Yin shouted out as they all rushed the Shadows as they became blurs before jumping back as the Shadows soon exploded into black goo. "Finished!" She declared in a serious tone.

"Power courses through me." Joker then declared as he cracked his neck.

"Holy... Does that mean you can wield multiple Personas?" Mona soon asked in awe.

"I guess so." Joker replied casually with a shrug. "Is that a problem?" He then asked.

"Th-That's! Just what... Just who in the world are you Joker?" Mona muttered out.

"What the hell was that back there?" Yang asked as she approached the Combat Leader. "I thought you had Arsène!" She then added as Ann got out of her hiding spot.

"I still do." Joker replied as he quickly summoned the Persona mentioned to show that he still had him.

"Hm... Looks like after Joker made that Shadow remember her true name, he sealed the enemy's appearance and powers into his mask and made it into a new Persona for him to use." Mona guessed. "But...That shouldn't be possible! Usually it's one Persona per person!" He then declared.

"So I'm guessing none of us can do it." Yang conceded.

"If Joker can have multiple Personas, that would mean he could become a one man army." Ann then pointed out.

"Yeah, and that's what makes this exciting." Mona grinned with stars in his eyes filled with excitement. "Don't you get it, Joker really is our trump card! The ability to adapt to any situation no matter what can expand our battle strategies greatly, to nearly infinite possibilities. With him, there's no telling what we can do!" He then declared.

"But it looks like I'm gonna have to convince a lot of Shadows to join my side. And I doubt it'll be as easy as Pixie's awakening." Joker reminded.

The tan skinned girl meanwhile crossed her arms over her chest. "So Joker can increase his arsenal by getting downed Shadows to work for him from negotiations and we can catch the enemy off guard? Nice! That'll definitely increase our battle capabilities!" Yang remarked as a smirk formed under her mask.

The avian masked Persona user nodded as he closed his eyes for a moment. "The Pixie I just obtained has the same healing spell as Mona along with the lightning spell that Skull has." Joker then informed before reopening his eyes. "She feels a lot different from Arsène, like I just stepped into someone else's shoes. It's weird but... kind of amazing." He then admitted.

The new Persona then appeared by her user's side, surprising everyone at her sudden appearance. "Remember, there's the easy way and the right way. We Lovers are always here to help you choose, no matter where you go." Pixie cheerfully stated before returning to Joker's head.

Skull however tilted his head as the others save for the not cat followed suit. "...Lovers? The hell's that supposed to mean?" The Chariot asked in confusion.

"Oh, I guess I should mention this." Mona spoke up. "Every Shadow, and even your Persona, has a Tarot Card Arcana associated with it. For example, my Persona Zorro is Number 1 in the deck: The Magician. Makes sense that I have the Arcana that embodies initiative and power." He then revealed.

"Is that really important to tell us?" Ann soon asked, looking skeptical.

"Well, since I can tell which Arcana is the enemy as well as everyone else's, I'd say it might be important or else I wouldn't know. Maybe there are enemies that are weak to certain Arcana instead of different attacks..." Mona guessed as the avian masked Persona-user coughed nervously.

"Really? What's mine then?" Skull then asked.

"Are we seriously doing this right now instead of, I don't know, somewhere safer than here?" Yang deadpanned, although was interested herself.

"We're wasting time..." Yin grumbled out in annoyance while tapping her foot in a hasty manner.

"Yin and Yang are right. I'll save this for when we don't have to worry about Shadows attacking us. Plus, did a little reading while searching for you guys back in reality so if you don't understand your Arcana I'll explain it to you." Mona said. "Meanwhile, let's get to work expanding Joker's arsenal!" He quickly added in excitement.

"With the weapons of the Knights of Kamoshida?" A distorted voice questioned from right behind them.

"...We should really close that door." Joker groaned as the ash blonde dived for cover while the full black masked Persona user rushed the Shadow before it could attack and kicked it in the mask, unleashing the Shadow within.

"I'm guessing the meeting just ended." Mona stated. "Okay people, let's finish this quick! Get in position!" He then ordered.

"Get ready for a beatdown, assholes!" Skull shouted out as their enemy took form.

"Hold up! Now that you know the basics, how about a little negotiation training? Come on Joker. Let's see if we can convince Mr. Horsey over there to give us something good." Mona suggested. "Just remember every Shadow has a different personality, so watch what you say." He then instructed.

"Alright. Here goes nothing." Joker said as he quickly analyzed the situation. One horse with two horns, flanked by two Pixies. Joker just smirked at this. "This'll be easy." He remarked with a grin as pulled out his gun and shot the two Pixies before quickly summoning his own Pixie. "Ready for a little honor killing, Pixie?" He soon asked.

"Wouldn't be if I didn't want to be your mask. Zio!" Pixie replied as she casted the spell, hitting the Shadow and knocking it down.

"Hurry up and let's end this Joker!" Yin called out as they ran up and aimed their guns at them. "Do what we have to do." She then requested.

"Okay, let's see." Joker muttered to himself as he studied the vulnerable Shadows in front of him. Studying the Dirty Two-Horned Beast's body language, he was able to deduce that it was easily irritated by noticing the angry twitch in its eye and it's subtle growls. He always did have the uncanny ability to read someone's emotions, and it looked like he was going to use it often. "Alright, you there, lend me your power." He demanded as everyone pointed their guns at one of the knocked out target.

"You bastard... what're ya makin' me do!?" The Shadow questioned in an irritated manner.

"Didn't you hear Joker, he said told you to lend him your power." Yin repeated in an annoyed tone. "Work with him or die. Your choice." She then threatened.

"Alright! Alright! Let's not do anything we'll both regret, missy. I'll talk." The Two-Horned Beast relented. "But I'll decide if I work with him or not." It then responded.

"That seems fair." Joker acquiesced, knowing that it's his best chance to gain a new Persona. "Ask away. But don't you try blindside us, you hear?"

"I gotta admit, you did a hell of a job cornerin' me like this. I gotta ask. How do you train?" The Shadow then asked.

Joker knew how to deal with types like him. He just had to show who was in charge here, preferably the ones with the guns pointed at his head. Maybe mix in a little cockiness in there. "If you must know, I don't." He soon lied.

"That's what you tell me, but I say you spend more time at the gym than you do at school." The Shadow said, a little impressed.

"Really?" Joker thought as he flexed his free arm a little. "I haven't seen a gym in real life before moving here."

"Y'know, in the human world, I hear that when people meet each other, it's called fate. What kinda fate do you do you think there is in this meetin' between me and you?"

"...Well, maybe we were destined to meet and fate brought us to together. But our actions from then on are in our control, whenever one of us walks away from this or none of us." Joker answered.

"Huh, I guess fate's got some kinda role in all sorts of mysteries..." The Shadow laughed. "What a coincidence, my sentiments is exactly-Hey! I can't believe it... I remember now...!" It soon declared.

"Way to go Joker, looks like you did it!" Mona praised as the Dirty Two-Horned Beast glowed.

"I am thou, thou art I! I'm no Shadow from this place. I used to be livin' in that there sea of the human soul! From now on, call me Bicorn. No need for honorifcs, sonny." It then declared.

"No problem... Bicorn." Joker replied as the Shadow transformed into a mask before being absorbed, this time taking the rush of energy well and smirking all the while.

"Damn, looks like the other one got away..." Skull noticed. "But I still feel a little stronger..." He then admitted.

"Gettin' stronger, let's go!" Yin declared. "Ha ha! I think Kaeru learned something new! A healing spell called Media!" She then added in her head with satisfaction.

"Yep, I feel a fire growing brighter within me." Yang revealed while clenching her hand into a fist.

"Hehe! Even without much of a fight, Captain Kidd's better than ever!" Skull called out as he cracked his neck.

"Looks like everyone's getting stronger, Joker. That Bicorn is of the Hermit Arcana." Mona noted. "But, I'm noticing you're taking a little longer." He then added.

"I guess there had to be a drawback to being a one man army." Joker guessed.

"Aw, what? That's bullshit." Skull complained.

"Nothing we can do about it, it's called hard work." Yin deadpanned with narrow eyes. "Everyone has to do it to get stronger, so stop complaining Skull." She then ordered while placing her hands on her hips in an authorial manner.

"Okay! Okay! Yeesh, just sayin'..." Skull mumbled out.

"Wait a minute, Joker has the lightning spell Zio now." Yang realized before looking at skull masked Persona with a wide grin under her own mask while the blond was sweating now. "Can I-" She started, however...

"No." Joker automatically ordered.

"Aw, come on! Not even a little?" Yang whined.

The avian masked Persona user merely sighed to that. "...Only a light bruising, maybe a few slaps to the face, and only in reality. Give me 2500 yen and you earn a kick to the groin." Joker then offered.

"Eh, I can live with that." Yang replied with a shrug as she patted herself down to look for her wallet.

"Is this really all for me to keep my mouth shut next time?!" Skull exclaimed.

"Honestly, I'm surprised that you haven't accidentally shouted out the existence of this place over the loudspeaker." Yang admitted.

---

(Fast Forward)

Akira then paused as he remembered a certain... mistake.

"...Don't tell me but did this Skull..." Sae skeptically started as she started to question both the police and the Phantom Thieves' competency.

"Erm... Well... something similar to that almost happened once, but I'll get back to you on that." Akira replied as he continued his incredibly long and detailed story.

(Rewind)

---

"Think of it as positive reinforcement." Joker falsely-reassured the blond. "Or was it negative reinforcement? Kind of get the two confused." He then admitted.

"Can we please continue our infiltration, please! I wanna ki-I mean, get the Treasure already!" Yin called out in irritation.

"Wait a second, Yin. My wallet is here somewhere..." Yang replied as she continued to search for it. "Ugh, do I have to pay in advance?" She soon asked.

"We are you all so casual about this!?" Ann exclaimed. "You have to be the worst thieves I've ever met, ever. Of all time." She groaned out.

"Have you met any other phantom thieves?" Joker pointed out, which caused the ash blonde to go silent. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He then remarked with a smirk.

"That was a trick question and you know it." Ann deadpanned.

"Hey, it's either cracking jokes and taking names or freaking out that we might die every second we're in here and no one will ever know where to find our bodies since we have no idea what will happen if someone actually dies in here but most likely than not, we'll go missing and never see our loved ones again and vice versa and all because we went way in over our heads for something that really should be done by people better than us." Joker casually explained. "So, yes, I'm gonna go ahead and have a little fun along the way. Are you all cool with that?" He then asked.

The responses were simultaneous.

"Yup. Oh yeah." Ann coughed out.

"I don't mind at all." Skull muttered out while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I-If it keeps you focused on our task, Joker." Mona got out, sounding a little worried about their trump card and his mental state. Maybe having all those Personas in his head is a bad idea, despite the advantages it would have.

"Sure, as long as... yeah, just don't bring it up again." Yang weakly replied while her roommate just stayed silent.

"Okay, let's get out of here before more show up." Joker advised, the others nodding in agreement as they started going deeper into the castle.

Yin peeked out of the door slightly and saw the next room was a hallway with a set of iron bars on the left side and another door at the end, with another guard standing in front of it.

"Damn, there's no way we cannot get in the next room." Yin muttered in frustration. "We're gonna have to move quick if we wanna get this over with."

"I have a better idea. Move aside." Joker offered as the black masked Persona user got out of his way. After studying the door a little, pushed it open a little… before slamming it shut.

"Huh!?" The Shadow exclaimed in surprise before approaching the door. "Alright what's th-" He began, however...

"Knock knock!" Joker remarked as he kicked the door open, slamming it into the Shadow's face before leaping onto it's back. "Never answer the door to strangers. As punishment," He began as he grabbed the mask. "Show me you true form!" He commanded out as he ripped it off.

"There was a much quieter way to do that, you know." Yang pointed out as she took out her weapons. "Whistle, throw a rock, anything other than that!" She then declared.

"There are no rocks here." Joker however got out as their enemy formed, a Crypt-Dwelling Pyromaniac.

"Just fight!" Yin shouted out as she ran up to the stunned Shadow and slashed it up, knocking it to the ground. "Knocked it down!" She declared.

"Wasn't much a challenge!" Yang commented. "Not that I'm complaining." She then remarked.

"Stick 'em up! This is a Hold up!" Mona commanded as they all aimed their guns and slingshot at it.

"King Kam-ho-shida won't go easy on you when he hears about this, ho!" The Shadow threatened, but by the tone of voice it seemed it had already gave up.

'He seems pretty gloomy. Should be easy enough to convince.' Joker thought as he aimed his gun at the Pyromaniac. "Hey! Lend me your power and you don't die!" He soon ordered.

"Hee? You're willing to talk, ho? Then let's talk-ho! If we're on the same wavelength, I'll think about it, ho!" The pumpkin replied. "What do you want with me, ho? Hee-ohhh, now I know...You've come from some other company to scout me-hee out! There's no mistaking it, ho!" It then added.

"Be careful, Akira. It's a little sensitive so be nice and patient." Joker told himself. "Ah, you got me. And let me just say, you are definitely a shoe in. I guarantee it." He encouraged.

"Aw, that's sweet. I know you've come all this way, but I have de-hee-cided to stay where I am for all eternity, ho." The pumpkin replied.

"Hey, gotta take risks sometimes." Skull muttered under his breath as the pumpkin sighed to itself.

"You know, I'm tired of the endless fighting, ho..." It admitted. "I need to recover, ho. Don't you feel that way too...?" It soon asked.

"Heh, no really." Joker replied. "Actually, it soothes me. Stabbing people, shooting them while they're on the ground helpless, making them beg for their lives. That's how you blow off some steam."

"Ok... now you're scaring me Joker." Yang surprisingly confessed.

"It's an act, go with it." Joker whispered to her.

"You're...a little weird, ho." The Pyromaniac replied. "But great minds think alike, ho...! Hee!? I remember now! I'm not a Shadow here, ho! I live in the sea of hee-human hearts!" It soon exclaimed.

"Finally." Yin sighed out. "So who are you then?" She then asked in a impatient tone.

"Actually, I have two names to go by. You can call me either Jack-o'-Lantern or Pyro Jack!" The Crypt Dwelling Pyromaniac declared.

This in turn caused the avian masked Persona user to raise an eyebrow."Where did Pyro Jack come from? Jack-o'-Lantern is a more fitting name after all." Joker then asked in a curious manner.

"Cultural differences and mistranslations!" The Shadow then declared as it then started to glow. "But besides that, I am thou, thou art I. I'll be your mask as we burn our enemies into ashes! So treat me well!"It concluded.

"I will." Joker replied as he absorbed the Shadow. "Oh, that's brisk. That might be habit forming." He then admitted with a smirk.

The not cat meanwhile looked at the leader as he was examining him. "Hmm... Oh! That Jack-o'-Lantern's of the Magician Arcana like Zorro!" Morgana soon revealed. "That's pretty cool Joker!" He then added in excitement.

"So I'm guessing it's got the fire spell like me?" Yang then asked.

"Well that's pretty cool." Skull spoke up before looking at the iron bars. "Hey, what's that?" He then asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting this... weird aura coming from that hallway." Mona admitted in concern as the two shinobi tried to lift the bars, but to no avail.

"They... aren't... moving!" Yin grunted out before they gave up. "Ugh, but Mona is right. Something feels really off about that place." She then admitted.

"I'm not seeing any levers or anything that might lift the bars. We'll just have to come back later after we do something." Yang stated in annoyance.

"Yeah. Come on, there's another door here we can try." Ann spoke up. With a nod, they went over to the door at the end of the hall and went through it.

"Oh shit, I think we're in a barracks now." Yang quietly swore as they quickly took cover behind a wall.

"That's too many guards." Skull got out.

"Ugh, too many guards and not enough hiding places. We'll get busted for sure if we moved from here." Mona remarked in a frustrated tone.

"Hey, I have another idea." Joker spoke up. "Ann, I need you to go out there and distract them." He ordered.

"Easy en-wait, what!?" Ann got out before being shoved out into the open. "Wait, J-Joker! Guys?! What are you-" She added in confusion and shock.

"Princess?" One of the Guards asked in confusion. "What on Earth are you doing here on the lower floors? Should you not be with King Kamoshida?" It then asked they all started to approach her.

Ann started to panic and quickly went into an awkward pose, trying to look sexy to the Shadows. "O-Oh, I was just..." She soon started as she smiled while visibly sweating. "You know like, wandering around... meeting the people... Like I do. As Princesses should do once in a while. Hehehe... hehe... he..." She lied, her tone monotone and wooden. And her attempt to giggle cutely was even worse.

"She's going to die." Yang deadpanned quietly while her roommate nodded in agreement.

"Not unless we act. Follow my lead." Joker replied as they moved out.

'I'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadie!' Ann internally screamed while the Persona-users snuck around the guards while they were distracted.

"You shouldn't be wandering around. We have intruders in the castle. We'll escort to your chambers." The Guard however offered.

"N-No, it's okay. I-I can g-g-g-get there by myself and..." Ann whimpered as the guards started to get too close for comfort. "And... um... GUYS!" She called out in a panic as she ducked down and covered her head.

"NOW!" Joker shouted out as they all individually jumped onto a Shadow's back.

"What the-!?" A Guard exclaimed.

"You just got punked, bitches!" Skull shouted out as the Persona-users ripped off each mask in unison as the ash blonde ran to safety. "Alright!" He soon cheered.

At that moment, the five Guard Shadows burst into red and black goo as they then reformed themselves into more monstrous forms.

"We're facing a lot of Shadows here, Joker! We're going to have to strike fast or smart if we want to take 'em all out." Mona informed. "We're looking at ten Shadows. Two Mocking Snowmen, three D-Dog-Men, three Pixies, one Gallows Flower and a Bedside Brute! What are you thinking Joker!?" He then exclaimed.

"Strike smart! Listen to me!" Joker ordered.

"On your orders, Joker!" Mona called out as everyone nodded.

The battle leader then brought his knife out. "Yang! Double Agi!" Joker ordered as he switched Personas. "Jack-O'-Lantern!" He called out.

Yang in turn nodded to that as she brought a hand to her mask. "Right! Burn them Wolverine!" She commanded.

At that moment, in wisps of blue and crimson flames, the two Persona came out as they readied themselves before...

FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

Hitting their targets straight on, knocking down the two Mocking Snowmen as they yelped in pain. "Two down, more to go!" Yang announced.

The battle commander nodded to that as he looked at the skull masked Persona user. "Skull, Mow 'em down! I don't care who!" Joker ordered.

"Eat lead, assholes!" Skull shouted out as he took out his shotgun and fired blindly at group of Shadows, managing to down the three Pixies and one of the Dog-Men. He then ran up and kicked the Bedside Brute in the tail, who doubled over in pain. "Am I good or what?" He then remarked with a smirk.

"More like sloppy on my end!" Mona remarked. "But enough of that! All-Out Attack now!" He then shouted out.

"Shred them!" Yang roared out as they rushed the Shadows, instantly becoming blurs as they attacks at the enemies from all directions.

"Mission accom-huh!?" Mona started before getting surprised by something.

"Hey, one of them is still alive." Skull noticed.

"Barely." Yang added, noting how messed it looked.

"Should we kill it?" Yin asked, already aiming her guns at the Shadow.

"Hold on, it looks like it wants to talk." Joker stated, causing the vice leader to put her guns down.

"Hee hoo hee! Wow! You look like a fun person to play with! Let me be your mask!" The Mocking Snowman excitedly request.

"...Wait what?" Joker got out in sudden confusion. "You don't wanna talk or something? You don't even want an item? I mean, we just killed all your friends and-" He then asked.

"Just accept the damn Shadow already. You're being too nice." Yang deadpanned.

"Hey, if it wants to join, let it." Skull pointed out.

"I know, I know, just pointing out some weird logic." Joker replied. "Okay, Frosty. Go ahead." He then got out.

"Frosty... why does it sound... hee hoo hee! That's it!" The Mocking Snowman realized. "I remember now! Jack Frost's the name, freezing my enemies is my game!" It then declared.

At that moment, everyone relaxed themselves since they were victorious, but before the new Persona could join the avian masked Persona-user...

"Aw! Jack Frost looks so cute!" Yin suddenly squealed with delight as she hugged the Persona.

Suddenly, Joker felt something soft squishing against his face even though there wasn't anything there. "Wow, they're soft." He soon thought, completely straight-faced as he silently enjoyed the feeling.

"Hee hoo hee!" The Persona squeaked out in an adorable manner before turning energy and joining the avian masked Persona user.

"I think I've seen plushies of Jack Frost before..." Yang admitted. "Actually, that raises more than a few questions. How the hell did..." She started, but hesitated in the end before shaking her head in a negative manner. "You know what, I'm probably just gonna confuse myself if I think about it too much." She then concluded.

"Well now, that Jack Frost is also of the Magician Arcana like mine and Jack-O'-Lantern." Morgana soon informed. "We're making good progress." He then admitted with a smirk.

"And this room seems to be empty, at least for now. And I'm not detecting any Shadows nearby." Mona said. "I'd say we're good for a while."

"Good, now that we're all safe..." Ann started before glaring at the Persona-users. "WHO THE HELL PUSHED ME OUT BACK THERE!?" She then questioned in a demanding tone.

"I plead innocent." Joker automatically replied as while raising up his hands.

"Do I look like the type of person who would do that? Actually don't answer that." Skull countered.

"I would never do that to you Lady Ann! It would be criminal!" Mona defended himself, ignoring the irony.

"Well I didn't do it which would only... leave..." Yang trailed off as they all turned their gaze to the remaining member, who didn't look guilty at all.

Yin meanwhile crossed her arms over her chest as she narrowed her eyes to the others. "...What? It worked!" She reminded before looking at the combat leader. "Anyway, so what does Jack Frost know?" She soon asked.

"Don't change the subject." Joker deadpanned.

"Dick. Move." Skull slowly and quietly stated in a mutter.

"Lady Yin..." Mona got out in awe at the sheer audacity of the move.

"I don't... I..." Yang stammered out in disbelief to seeing her roommate acting this way.

"That is... um... ugh..." Ann sighed out.

"Good. Now are we just gonna stand here in the open like this or are we gonna get the Treasure? Now come on before you get left behind." Yin ordered as she went on her way.

"That shouldn't be worrying at all." Joker sarcastically remarked. "And the Jack Frost has the ice spell known as Bufu." He then informed.

"Good thing we have Joker to take care of any missing elements we don't have." Mona muttered out.

The tan skinned girl meanwhile only looked at the backside of her roommate as she was fast walking. "Asuka..." Yang whispered out before sighing and following her.

---

As the group continues running, sneaking and avoiding the guards to prevent the security level from rising, however...

"W-Wait up...!" Ann called out as she stumbled towards the Persona-users. "Oh God, my lungs are burning...!" She panted out.

"Lady Ann! Everyone stop right now!" Mona ordered as the group quickly halted. "Are you okay?" He soon asked in concern.

"Yeah! I can do this... for another hour!" Ann wheezed out. "Ugh! Is the room spinning or is it just me...?" She then got out in a exhausted manner.

"Uh... I don't wanna be rude or gross but... you look like you're about shit yourself from exertion alone." Skull admitted as the ash blonde leaned against a wall, sweat glistening off her skin. "I know too many people who have and they're not at school anymore." He confessed with a wince.

"You're not even fighting and you're tired?! Are you seriously that out of shape!?" Yang complained.

"It's just... not exactly used to this much excitement." Ann panted out. "Just... give me a minute for a breather." She then requested.

"Lady Ann's body isn't used to the Metaverse, so long periods of exposure is going to have adverse effects on her. Especially since she doesn't have a Phantom Outfit like us." Mona informed.

"I don't know 'bout that. Pretty sure that shitty stamina's because all she does is eat sweets." Skull got out while getting everyone's attention. "Back in middle school, I never saw her eat anything other than candy and stuff. She even brought a whole cake and ate it by herself!" He then revealed.

"That... Is an exaggeration." Ann defended herself while still getting her breath back.

"Oh yeah... She shared a slice or two. Still ate the rest." Skull then remembered.

"Hey!" Ann snapped in annoyance to that addition.

"This sounds like a serious case of malnutrition." Yang cringed.

Meanwhile, Joker was starting to get worried and needed to tell the black face masked Persona user to pace themselves. They were rushing awfully quickly through this and they might not make it to the Treasure if this kept up.

"Yin," Joker called out, getting her attention. "In order for this infiltration to go smoothly I suggest instead of heading straight to our objective, focus on finding the next safe area." He then suggested. "Allows us moments of respite while on our way there. We need to take this slow and plan out our every move." He soon advised.

The Good Shinobi however narrowed her eyes under her mask. "We're fine the way we're going now. This detour is completely unnecessary. We don't need rest." Yin responded as she glared at the boy. "I want this Treasure found yesterday, and I'm not stopping until we do find it. Are we clear Joker?" She then ordered.

Joker however narrowed his eyes to the usually kind girl. "Probably a bad idea to disagree, but it'll be a worse idea if I do agree." Akira thought. He was probably going to lose some points from her but he had to be the responsible one and slowly try and bring her back to the light.

"No, we are not clear." Joker replied as he shook his head. "That kind of mentality will get us killed." He then advised.

"But we need the Treasure unless you want to get expelled and let Kamoshida ruin more lives." Yin growled out her reminder.

"Not at the cost of one of our lives, Yin." Joker asserted, feeling courageous and gutsy. "We're taking a break right now." He once more ordered.

"Che..." Yin tsked out in annoyance, knowing that she was out matched at the moment. "Fine..." She begrudgingly responded while folding her arms over her chest.

Yang meanwhile looked on as her roommate took the lead again as they all started to head for a safe room. "Asuka... you're..." She thought.

'Becoming like your former self when you were at Hebijo?' Wolverine meanwhile guessed within the girl's head in a serious manner.

Hearing that instantly caused Yang to grimace, not even wanting to imagine that. "Hey... Asuka-" She called out as she reached out for her roommate, however...

"It's Yin and I'm fine. Let's just find a safe room." Yin responded in an annoyed and antsy tone as she dismissively shoved the hand away.

Seeing that it wasn't really the time, Yang and Joker sighed before everyone went back to focusing on the infiltration as their full black masked comrade took the lead.

---

(Kamoshida's Castle, West Building 1F Safe room)

Soon enough, the group had made it to a safe room as they all started to rest up, however for some of them...

There was a tenseness in the air...

"Yin... no, Asuka, we need to have a serious talk now..." Yang started in a serious tone.

"About what?" Yin however harshly replied as she was leaning against a wall. "We're already wasting our time as it is..." She then grumbled out in annoyance.

Yang however narrowed her eyes that. "I'm referring to that..." She declared as she stepped forward towards her roommate. "Your attitude at times, it's similar to me when we first got here..." She revealed.

Yin in response to that narrowed her eyes. "And?" She remarked in a tone similar to that of her roommate's while crossing her arms over her chest. "We have a mission to get done and I want to find the Treasure as fast as possible!" She declared.

Joker however stepped forwards towards the antsy vice leader. "You need to calm down, you're not thinking straight..." He then stated.

"I said I'm fine Joker! Lay off already!" Yin once more declared in annoyance.

"Asuka, seriously! Calm down!" Yang ordered while placing a hand on her roommate's shoulder.

"My name is Yin at the moment!" Yin however reminded in the same amount of annoyance and anger in her voice as she roughly took her roommate's hand off her shoulder. "We gotta be going by our codenames Yang, remember?" She then questioned in a harsh tone.

Yang however narrowed her eyes to that. "Fuck codenames! You're being just like how I was in the past, a complete and utter bitch!" She declared.

"It's not like you're not one now." Yin muttered out with a scoff.

The tan skinned girl however narrowed her eyes to that. "What was that!?" Yang then questioned in rising anger.

"You heard me." Yin responded in the same rude tone.

"Okay, that's a little harsh." Skull stated as he got up.

"Oh shut the fuck up, you fuckin' loudmouth! You lost your right to talk!" Yin harshly declared in anger.

"Lady Asuka!" Mona got out in shock.

"It's Yin!" Yin stated once more in annoyance.

"No. Asuka, you need to stop. Now." Joker ordered with narrow eyes.

"All of you, shut the hell up! I'm fine! Stop worrying about me! God, it would better if you all fuckin' ju-" Yin started, however...

"STOP WHAT YOU'RE SAYING RIGHT NOW!" Ann yelled out as she jerked up from her seat.

"GO JUMP OFF THE SCHOOL!" Yin soon declared with fury.

SLAP!

At that moment, Homura delivered an echoing slap right across her roommate's face as the others looked on in shock to this.

"Holy effin' shit Shirokage." Ryuji got out in surprise while the other non-shinobi remained silent, just... stunned by the declaration.

Though the slap was unnecessary, as Asuka instantly felt regret as soon as the word left her lips after realizing what she said. "I... I..." She got out as she fell to her knees after reaching what she said.

"Calm. Down. Now." Homura once more ordered in a calm yet furious tone. "You were out of line there Asuka..." She then declared once more.

'Well isn't this familiar...' Wolverine stated to her other self. 'You remember it well don't you...' She then added.

"..." Homura was hesitant at first as she knew exactly who her Persona was talking about. 'Yeah... me...' She thought in an ashamed manner as she remember the other day.

---

"Why don't you just go ahead and fucking kill yourself!?" She then declared with rage.

"HOMURA-CHAN, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Asuka shouted out, having reached her limit. None of them had even noticed that they had attracted a crowd. "Please... That's enough." She soon begged.

That tone in her voice. A tone that said that she lost respect for her. That she was disappointed.

It hurt. It made Homura's heart break apart. "A-Asuka..." She got out, her voice filled with pain and budding regret as she realized her faults.

'Now look what you've done... you went too far...' Wolverine meanwhile stated in a serious tone.

---

'No... I can't let her become another me.' Homura thought in a serious manner. 'She deserves better...' She then added in her head.

"O-Oh god... I'm so sorry you guys... I don't know what came over me..." Asuka meekly got out in an ashamed tone.

'Now you're the one who went too far... and you blocked me out from talking without knowing.' Kaeru revealed in a tone filled with shame towards her other self.

Homura in turn just rubbed her roommate's head to that. "You were angry for what happened. It happens to everyone." She reassured.

Morgana meanwhile nodded in agreement to that. "That's right Lady Asuka, after what happened thanks to Kamoshida, you were in the right to be angry." He then stated in a saddened tone.

"Yeah, though you were kind of a psycho back there..." Akira admitted. "Going from gushing to cold-blooded doesn't make you look healthy." He then added.

"It's just that... I feel like a failure... No, I am a failure... I failed everyone... it's my fault. It's my dream to make this world better... But even with everything I have... I couldn't! I fucking! Couldn't! Stop her! I should've been faster!" Asuka cried out as she ripped off her mask with some tears running down her face. "Why am I not good enough...!? It's all my goddamn fault! I taunted him, hurt him, tried to do something good but it all ended up with that girl getting raped! I'm... I'm..." She stammered out in a more shamed filled manner.

'That was not your fault though, you had no idea it would occur.' Kaeru pointed out within the girl's head.

"But I still should've saved her." Asuka whispered out. "Shiho's in a coma now because of me!" She then reminded. "It's my fault... it's all my fault..." She then loudly whimpered out as more tears fell from her eyes. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I caused all of this..." She got out.

"Lady Asuka..." Morgana got out in a saddened manner to seeing the girl like this.

"I... I just wanted to be stronger... tougher... faster... Like Homura-chan..." Asuka then revealed while sniffling. "Stronger to take down Kamoshida... stronger to protect and save everyone..." She soon added.

This in turn shocked the others to that reveal.

'So that's why she was being so harsh?' Ryuji thought in disbelief.

'She blamed herself for what happened to Shiho?' Ann meanwhile thought in shock to the idea.

'So while Homura felt guilty for leaving Shiho behind, Asukatook the actual jump really personally...' Akira thought in concern. 'I guess the guilt brought Asuka to her breaking point, and the threat of expulsion smashed it to pieces. Which led to that sanity break at the office.' He then added in his head.

"Asuka..." Homura got out as she kneeled down to the girl. "You... You don't need to be like me..." She soon added as she placed both hands on her roommate's shoulders.

"But Homura-chan... you're-" Asuka got out.

"No I'm not! You're the strong one Asuka! I'm the real weak one!" Homura suddenly declared as she took off her mask and threw it aside, showing that there were tears were running down her face, shocking her roommate. "If... If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have you. And... And everyone else. And Wolverine. The point is that you still had hope when we met while I... I gave up on it so long ago." She then admitted in a shamed filled manner.

Asuka meanwhile was still in a state of shock to this reveal and all the emotions her roommate was letting out. "H-Homura-chan..." She got out.

"Asuka... just stay being you..." Homura practically begged as she pulled her roommate into a tight hug. "Never make me hit you ever again like that... please..." She soon requested while rubbing the other girl's head.

Asuka in turn sniffled to that and nodded to the request, but then remembered something. "But... aren't we going to spar on Sunday?" She then asked.

Homura however tightened her hug. "Sparring matches are an exception... it's because... we're friends..." She replied, hearing a surprised gasp from her roommate as a result.

'...So you finally and openly said it...' Wolverine stated in a serious manner.

'Of course! I can't let Asuka become like the old me! I'll never allow that to happen to her dammit!' Homura thought in a determined manner. 'Especially now that I want to try and change myself.' She then admitted in her head.

'It took you long enough, even if it has only been a few days...' Wolverine then remarked in a quiet tone.

"R-Really?" Asuka got out, not sure if she heard her roommate right.

Homura in response pulled her roommate back slightly as she looked at the other girl directly into her eyes. "Y-Yeah... you really are Asuka..." She sincerely replied with a grateful smile as tears continued going down her face. "So please... please don't change who you are just to become stronger... ever..." She then got out.

"H-Homura-chan..." Asuka whimpered out to the declaration as more tears started to fall from her eyes. "I... I..." She got out.

It was then at that moment, the two shinobi started to openly cry as they let all of their emotions out.

The boys had the sudden urge to shout MAKE OUT for some reason and ruin the moment. Thankfully they held their tongues.

"Whew... glad that's over..." Skull got out. "I really hope this is the last time we have to go through that kind of shit." He then admitted.

"No promises." Yang sniffled out her joke, causing everyone to groan. "Wh-What?" She then asked.

"I need my emotions for stuff other than the out-of-control emotions from the two of you. Please stop draining it from me." Joker practically begged.

The ash blonde however sweatdropped to that. "Is this common?" Ann soon asked.

"Four days. We've known each other for at least four days." Skull flatly stated. "So... I guess yes?" He awkwardly answered in a tone unsure of himself.

"Alright after all that drama, I think it's time to relax." Joker suggested.

Everyone else sighed in relief and sat down.

"Y-Yeah." Mona replied while nodding to that. "Let's recharge our batteries since we're all emotionally drained right now." He then suggested.

"Hey, Mona, why don't you continue your explanation about our Arcana? I wanna know mine, dammit!" Skull requested.

"I'm a bit curious too..." Yin then admitted.

"Have you calmed down Yin?" Joker meanwhile asked.

"Y-Yeah. I'm good, Aki-I mean, Joker-kun." Yin replied with a nod.

The avian masked Persona user merely sweatdropped to that. "Just Joker is fine." He requested, getting a nod in response as a result.

"Anyway, Skull's Arcana is The Chariot." Mona revealed off-handedly, not really wanting to say anything about it.

That in turn perked the blond up. "Dude, that sounds badass!" Skull cheered. "What does it mean, anyways?" He then asked in excitement.

"It represents foolhardiness, stupidity and lack of finesse." Mona lied.

Suddenly, the cop in Inaba who knew kung-fu suddenly felt like she should beat-up a mascot-like character. But considering she was still really deep in the Meat Dimension, and the mascot she already knew had moved on to bigger and better things, she decided to ignore it.

"Put the cat down calmly, and he will take back what he said." Joker calmly ordered, as the blond Persona user held the not cat by the neck with his shotgun to his oversized head.

"Not a cat!" Mona quickly corrected in annoyance.

"Are you seriously saying that now!?" Ann exclaimed.

"We need the cat alive, he's the only o-wait." Yang started before pausing before looking at the avian masked Persona user. "Do one of your Personas know any Wind spells?" She soon asked.

"Lady Yang!" Mona called out in a panic.

"Yang!" Yin got out in the same manner

"I'm just checking." Yang replied.

"I don't." Joker meanwhile answered.

"Fine." Skull sighed out as he dropped the cat. "Wasn't going to pull the trigger anyway." He then revealed.

"I don't know if I believe that!" Mona panted out.

"If we all had gun licenses, they would be revoked by now." Joker quietly deadpanned.

Yin soon started petting the not cat's head, more specifically scratching his ear. "Are you alright?" She then asked in concern.

Mona however gained a pleasure filled expression in response to the affection being given. "Mrrrrrow~!" He meowed out in a pleased tone. "Right there Lady Yin~ Mrrrrrrow~!" He requested before realizing what he was doing. "A-Anyway, what it really represents is victory, conquest, self-assertion, self-confidence, control, war and command." He then revealed.

"Ok, now that's badass!" Skull remarked in a approving tone.

"I guess that sort of suits him." Ann admitted while the other girls nodded in agreement.

"It would make sense." Yang then admitted.

"I guess." Yin also got out.

"Meanwhile, Joker here is... huh, The Fool. Well, Arsène at least since he can use multiple Personas." Mona stated. "Quite an odd Arcana to have, though it makes sense since Joker has unlimited potential with his unique heart. Number 0 in the deck." He then revealed.

"Really?" Joker questioned with a raised eyebrow before placing a hand to his chin in a thinking manner. "Why the number zero though? Shouldn't it be number one instead?" He then asked.

"How should I know? I didn't make the cards." Mona replied. "Besides, it's also number twenty-two so that makes it even more confusing." He then admitted. "Also for the Arcanas of the other Persona you have, Pixie is of the Lovers, Bicorn is of the Hermit and lastly, Jack-O'-Lantern and Jack Frost are of the Magician." He then listed off.

"Yes, you've told us already." Yan then reminded.

"Just covering my bases." Mona stated.

"Alright, so how about mine and Yin's Arcana?" Yang asked in a curious yet serious tone.

Mona seemed a little hesitant to answer but relented.

"Lady Yin and Lady Yang's Arcana however are unique ones to say the least like Joker's." Mona then revealed. "In fact Lady Yin's Arcana shouldn't even exist, technically... and hers and Lady Yang's Arcana explains the reason for new Shadows for appearing within the Palace and the Metaverse." He soon added.

Yin's head in response to that tilted her head in confusion. "Really? We caused new forms of Shadows to appear?" She then asked in concern while looking at her roommate for a brief moment.

"Honestly Lady Yin, that earth spell that Kaeru uses are also an interesting factor. For the elemental spell families, usually there was only Agi the Fire spells, Bufu the Ice spells, Zio the Electric spells, Garu the Wind spells, Frei the Nuclear spells, Psi the Physchokinsis spells, Kouha and Hama the Bless spells and Eiha and Mudo the Curse spells. And all their variants and types." Morgana listed off while scratching the side of his face. "However after Lady Yin and Yang went into the Metaverse, Shadows that use an Earth spells called Magna and Water spells called Aqua started appearing. Also, I've never heard of a physical skill that also deals elemental damage." He then added.

"So just by being here, we created not only new elements, but also an entire plethora of new Shadows we have to deal with." Yang clarified in disbelief.

"That's the gist." Mona replied with a shrug.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE OUR ARCANA TO CAUSE THIS BULLSHIT!?" Yang yelled out. "I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be killed by monsters and magic I've created."

"Well, you are weak to Water and Skull's weak to Earth now along with Wind..." Mona pointed out.

"Wait what!? For real!?" Skull asked in disbelief to hearing that.

"Goddamnit!" Yang swore before sighing." At the very least, we gave Joker here more Personas to work with." She soon got out after calming down.

Joker in turn shrugged his shoulders. "You win some, you lose some I guess." He pointed out. "Although-" He then started, however...

"Be quiet before you make this worse." Ann sighed out.

"Who the hell came up with these spell names?" Yang meanwhile muttered. "They can't be real words save for Aqua..." She then added.

"We'll look it up on the internet later." Joker suggested.

"That seems to be the answer to almost everything these days." Yin muttered out.

"Which is why our phones don't work here, and I doubt any other piece of technology would too." Joker reminded.

"Which makes a lot of movies automatically kind of worse." Skull admitted. "I mean, a lot of stuff would be solved if someone just pulled out their phones."

"Can we please get back to what our Arcana are?" Yang groaned.

"Well, Lady Yang's Arcana is Aeon while Lady Yin's..." Mona started but trailed off in an uneasy manner. "Er... It's a little odd to say the least." He then admitted.

"Um, what's an Aeon?" Skull asked as he put his hand up.

"Oh, first off, that Arcana isn't in the normal, more popular Rider-Waite deck or the Marseilles deck, which seems to be what these Arcana are based off of from what I can see. It comes from the Thoth deck, replacing the Judgement card which is number twenty so I think it has the same meaning as Judgement." Mona explained. "Though... I heard mutterings of the existence of other unique Arcana like something called the Universe or something along those lines, but it's probably just a fantasy." He then revealed.

"Alright, then what's my Arcana Mona?" Yin soon asked in a curious manner.

To that, there was an awkward silence that can from the not cat.

"Mona?" Yin asked once more with an innocent tilt of her head.

"...The Happy Squirrel..." Mona soon revealed before coughing into his paw awkwardly.

To that reveal, the rest of the group blinked a couple of times.

"Huh?" Skull got out in confusion.

"What?" Joker also questioned in the same amount of confusion.

"EEEEEEEEH!?" Yin soon exclaimed in shock. "THAT'S MY ARCANA!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" She exclaimed in a panic before realising something. "I don't what that is. Is it bad?" She then asked.

"Wait... You mean, like, from that dumb American show?" Ann on the other hand asked in disbelief. "Er, that's a pretty old reference. I don't think most of us were born yet when it aired..." She then admitted.

"Hold on, that doesn't seem like a real Arcana." Yang stated with a sweatdrop.

"It wasn't. But it was made real thanks to the collective consciousness." Mona sighed out. "Turns out, some decks actually include the Happy Squirrel now. From what I read, it can have multiple interpretations due to being made real on essentially a whim... and a joke. In Norse Mythology, Ratatosk, which means gnawing tooth, is a squirrel that climbed up and down a tree that represented the world. Ratatosk carried insults as it traveled to opposite ends of the tree, fueling a rivalry between the evil dragon residing at the bottom of the tree and the eagle perched at the top..." He then revealed the lengthy explanation for the arcana.

"So, basically the squirrel caused a war between two factions." Ann simplified.

"Factions huh..." Yang muttered out to the mention of that word, thinking about the shinobi factions.

"But that does not sound like her at all!" Skull called out.

"Or it can read as a wild card, the unforeseeable in any circumstance. It's neither good nor bad, just an irony. A variable, in a world full of constants, with an unsure future ahead." Mona then revealed.

This in turn got the avian masked Persona user's attention. "Wild Card, huh?" Joker muttered to himself.

"Anyways, the point I'm trying to get across is that once you two entered the Metaverse, it changed slightly. You managed to affect the entire Metaverse and that's... that's just not normal." Mona stated.

"So we're basically anomalies in the Metaverse..." Yang muttered to herself. "Is it because we're ninjas? We are taught to think differently from the average person. Maybe it caused us to be excluded from the public consciousness." She soon added as her roommate nodded in agreement.

However, Mona shook his head. "Maybe, but there's still a lot we don't know about the Metaverse. For all we know, it could just be a huge coincidence." He then admitted.

"Speaking of the ninja thing, what's up with the whole Good and Evil Ninja title thing?" Skull soon asked.

The two girls in questioned looked at one another before nodding in silent agreement. "Well..." Yin started in a hesitant manner before calming herself down. "Good Shinobi are those who work under the government to further national interests. They do not use their powers for personal gain, and will always help other good shinobi. Good Shinobi are trained in a specially designated academy. Graduates are then sent on missions by the national government." She then revealed.

"So you're basically like a government black ops." Joker clarified, not liking the sound of that.

"Somewhat, shinobi actually have been around since feudal times and have been around since then." Mona then revealed.

"Daaamn, they've been around that long!?" Skull got out in an impressed tone. "Thought they only existed in anime and that shit nowadays." He then admitted.

"Yep, and it was supposed to be that way, at least in the public eye." Yin replied. "Modern Shinobi are still alive and kicking, and there are a lot of us, just no longer as public knowledge that we exist as we hide in plain sight." She soon revealed.

Yang in turn nodded to that as she looked at the others. "Meanwhile, Evil Shinobi are the ones that work behind the scenes, typically for corrupt businesses or politicians. They are trained at clandestine schools to mercilessly to perform any task at the client's request, no matter how illegal or dirty..." She also revealed.

"Hm, so like the Good Shinobi, but without morals and standards." Joker muttered out.

"So, you..." Skull started as he pointed at Yang.

"Yes." Yang answered bluntly.

"And do you-" Skull asked once more.

"Now I do." Yang interrupted, knowing what he was going to ask if she regretted it.

"So, Yin's a Good Shinobi while Yang is an Evil Shinobi." Ann stated. "Is that right?" She then asked.

"That's right... However..." Yin soon started as she looked at her roommate. "I've been starting to realize that those titles might not mean much as I thought..." She then admitted as her roommate nodded in agreement.

"That's something I can agree with." Mona remarked in agreement, getting the others attention. "Shinobi honestly shouldn't be divided by titles like Good or Evil, I think of them as pointless. It can basically be boiled down to Red vs. Blue. Both sides are still shinobi no matter what title they have." He then added.

"And yet, every day we still go out with the intent of killing each other." Yang sighed out.

"So... eventually are you gonna wanna kill Asuka?" Ann then nervously asked with a pale face.

"What!? Fuck no!" Yang exclaimed. "If I wanted to, I would've done it as soon as I found out. But that... that was a long time ago." She then revealed.

'Not that long ago.' Wolverine bluntly reminded.

Yin however scratched her cheek to that. "That was about a few days ago. We met on Sunday." She then clarified with a small sweatdrop.

'And both you and your roommate made excellent progress for your development.' Kaeru stated. 'Save for what happened earlier with that attitude.' She soon added.

Yang in turn sighed to that. "I know that, but ever since I met all of you, and awakened to my Persona, it changed me. I got a clearer head now..." She then admitted in a solemn tone. "And learned some truths about myself that unintentionally made myself forget... part of it due to my old Good Shinobi clan and the other part due to an Evil Shinobi..." She added with narrow eyes.

"Huh? What you mean?" Ann then asked.

"It's... It's better off not knowing at the moment." Yang hesitantly replied as she closed her eyes.

Joker however nodded to that. "Alright, I think we had enough backstory. We should get going before it gets dark in reality." He then suggested.

"Speaking of you two being shinobi," Mona suddenly started, getting the two girls attention. "It's a rare case, but I believe that whatever shinobi skills you two have might be able to work now thanks to you two awakening to your Persona, so keep that in mind while in battle from now on." He then advised. "...And if that one other rumor about shinobi is true... don't use Frantic Mode... that mode that strips a shinobi down to their underwear for more power and speed but reduces defensive capabilities..." He quickly added as his head became red for a blush.

That instantly caused mental alarm bells to go off in the heads of the group... all of them for various reasons...

"WAH! HOW THE HELL ARE THERE RUMORS ABOUT THAT!?" Yin exclaimed in shock and confusion while flailing her arms in a frantic manner with a massive blush on her face full of embarrassment.

"Well, you have to admit not every shinobi is as subtle as people expect shinobi to be." Yang pointed out. "And it's only a last resort..." She then admitted with an embarrassed blush on her face.

"Wait that's true!? For real!?" Skull meanwhile asked in shock with a blush of his own on his excited appearing face. He almost asked for a demonstration, but then he realized he also didn't want to see a castration. His own castration.

"Shinobi seriously have a technique that does that!? Ann however asked in disbelief with a smaller blush on her face.

'Okay, why is everything we find out about shinobi is either depressing, dangerous or gives me a boner?' Joker thought while shifting his pants a little before coughing into his fist. "Alright, let's get back to business." He soon declared as everyone got themselves ready. "We have a heart to steal." He added with a devilish smirk as he opened the door...

Just in time for a few guards to see them exiting the room.

Both parties froze on the spot as they slowly came to the conclusion on what to do next.

"...Motherfucker..." Yin and Yang both swore in unison.

'Language!' Kaeru chided in the Good Shinobi's mind.

"Shit." Joker sighed out in resignation.

"RUN!" Skull shouted out.

"LADY ANN!" Mona screamed out as he leaped into the ash blonde's arms.

"AFTER THEM!" The gold armored Leader Guard ordered as they chased the thieves.

---

(Kamoshida's Castle of Lust, Pleasure Chamber)

"Oh shit, that was scary as eff!" Skull panted out as the combat leader quickly closed the door behind them, having ran around the floor for a while before ending up where they were now.

"I think we're-what the fuck is this." Yang panted out, only to notice what kind of room they were in. "What. The fuck. IS THIS!?" She then exclaimed as she attempted to cover her roommate's eyes.

Laying around on the ground were multiple girls in female gym uniforms except their shorts were replaced with bloomers. And they had no tops.

"Fuck me like a doggy! Woof woof!"

"I like the pain. It makes me like, sooo wet..."

"Oh Kamoshida-sensei, this hole is waiting and willing!"

"The taste of blood only turns me on even more!"

"I want my daily dose of protein! Will you give it to me, sensei?"

"I cum every time I think of you, Kamoshida-sensei! Please, I need you!"

"Fill me up! Fill me up sensei!"

"My pussy is ready!"

"What the eff... is this how he sees the girls on the volleyball team?" Skull asked in disbelief.

"That's just... no." Joker got out in disgust and narrow eyes to the sight.

"I think I'm gonna hairball, gack!" Mona choked out.

"I... I can't... This..." Yang stammered, her ability to say a coherent sentence lost.

Meanwhile, Yin removed her roommate's hand away from her eyes and spotted something in the corner of the room. "Oh God..." She got out as she saw something she never wanted to see.

It was herself and Homura chained up on a post by their arms and legs, naked, and having horny expressions on their faces with multiple bruises all over their bodies.

"This is mercy... This is mercy Kamoshida-sensei..."

"Please... give me more Kamoshida-sensei... I deserve to be pu-HURK!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Who were promptly shot in the face. Multiple times by two very angry shinobi as the cognitive versions of the shinobi vanished in an instant in the form of black goo.

"That sick motherfucker is a dead man!" Yang called out as they put away their guns.

"Ok, that was waste of ammo." Joker pointed out in a deadpan tone.

"But oh so worth it." Yang sighed out in relief.

"Yeah..." Yin got out in agreement.

"I'm kinda freaked out how casually you shot yourselves in the face..." Skull admitted, a little worried about the girls.

"That. Was. Not. Me." The two shinobi growled out in furious unison.

"They're right, they were just copies as Kamoshida saw them..." Mona then reminded. "But also still a waste of ammo like Joker said." He soon stated.

"Here's the thing, Mona-chan, I don't care." Yin then stated after calming herself down.

Ann meanwhile gulped as she looked where the copies of the shinobi were as she then looked at the horny appearing girls volleyball team members. "So... this is how Kamoshida thinks of girls?" She got out in disgust.

"God, I want to shoot them all too." Yang admitted and she clenched her hands around her guns.

"Hey, um, isn't this the place where you guys got that weird feeling from earlier?" Skull asked.

"Yeah. We went in here without much of a thought." Joker answered before realizing something. "...Wait, why were the bars gone? And why were the girls begging for him if he isn't... here..." He then asked before trailing off, causing the eyes of the others to widen in shock and realization.

"So the thieves made it to my pleasure chamber huh, how annoying." A familiar warped voice remarked.

"Son of a-" Joker swore as they turned around to see the King and his guards standing right behind them. "Why do we keep running into you?" He complained.

"That makes two of us you damn thieves..." Shadow Kamoshida remarked in annoyance.

"Oh god! He's literally wearing nothing but a speedo!" Ann exclaimed in disgust, looking away on instinct.

"Something tells me he wasn't wearing them until now." Yang growled out. "We were so focused on killing Kamoshida's cognitions of us, we didn't pick up on the clues that he was here. Dammit... That was so amateur!" She scolded herself in her head.

"Hmm?" Shadow Kamoshida got out as he then noticed the ash blonde and smirked. "Oho~! Well lookie what we have here, an imitator to my Ann?" He remarked.

"Oh no." Yin groaned as seemingly from out of nowhere, another Ann walked up to Kamoshida with a lusty, not-much-happening-in-the-head-compartment expression on her face.

"Kamoshida-sensei, like, what's with all the noise~?" The other Ann asked in an airy tone. "It's like soooooo annoying~" She then complained with a pout on her face as she appeared the Shadow of the P.E Teacher.

"Huh!? W-Who's that!?" Ann asked in confusion to the seeing the double of her in the pink and black bikini coming into the room.

"What the!?" Yang got out in shock. "I know for damn sure I killed that bimbo last time we were here! What the hell!?" She then exclaimed in annoyance.

"They're cognitions, remember. You can't kill an imagination, they'll just keep coming back." Mona informed.

Yang in turn groaned to that as she looked at the copy of the ash blonde as she went into the arms of the P.E teacher's Shadow. "That fucker..." She growled out before turning to their own ash blonde. "That Ann is unfortunately how that pervert sees you, a blonde ditzy bimbo." She openly revealed.

"Hmph! Like, how rude~!" The Cognitive Ann got out in the same tone.

However at that moment, a group of guards lead by a golden armored one came into the room. "My King! We shall not allow the intruders to escape your wrath!" The Lead Guard declared with their weapons ready.

"And the door wasn't locked. Great, we practically walked into an accidental trap." Joker then remarked with narrow eyes.

"Yeah, this doesn't look good." Skull grumbled out.

"Goho-Ms or Smokescreens would be great right now..." Mona muttered to himself.

"Don't know what those are, but I agree." Yang remarked with narrow eyes. "Yin, stay behind me now..." She then ordered in a serious tone.

Yin however shook her head to that. "No, Ann-chan's life is more important. We have to protect her." She replied.

"Yeah." Skull got out as they silently took out their weapons.

The ash blonde however narrowed her eyes to the sight. "Kamoshida! What did you do to Shiho!" She demanded as she stepped forward.

"Hmm? Who are you... oh yeah, that one concubine that tried to kill herself." Shadow Kamoshida responded with a care.

"Oh, don't tell me there's one of..." Joker started before trailing off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"She tried to escape through death but... I wouldn't let my property escape without my permission without receiving punishment, can I?" Shadow Kamoshida remarked in confidence.

"Oh God... If Shiho recovers, he's gonna force her to keep attending Shujin." Yin realized.

"H-He can't do that, can he?" Skull asked in disbelief.

"Considering how complancent the entire school and those related are... I... I can imagine he can." Joker grimly admitted.

"Especially when the principal is basically his lapdog..." Yang remarked as her anger continued to grow.

"If she recovers. She had a good run, but if something breaks it's not of my concern. I'll just find another." Shadow Kamoshida declared.

"You... You..." Ann growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh, and what are so upset about? It is all your fault you know?" Shadow Kamoshida declared with a sadistic smirk.

"Wh-What?" Ann gasped before shaking her head. "No. NO! Shut up! Y-You made Shiho j-jump!" She countered.

"Did I just hear a stutter in your voice? Oh please, admit it. You made her jump and you know it." Shadow Kamoshida accused.

"Shut up! Ann-chan is not at fault here!" Yin however declared.

"And what the hell are you even talking about you sicko!?" Yang meanwhile questioned in anger.

"N-No..." Ann continued to deny, but her voice was quieter. "T-This is 'cause I didn't go to your place yesterday!?" She got out in realization.

The white full face masked girl however looked towards the ash blonde with widened eyes. "...What?" Yang got out in further rising anger.

"...Oh my god...He raped Shiho-san cause he couldn't get Ann-chan..." Yin soon realized.

To hearing that, the others eyes widened in shock and disgust. "You were goin' to do the same to Takamaki!? You piece of shit!" Skull exploded.

"Oh if only you had obeyed like My Ann here, then maybe she might not have had to suffer." Shadow Kamoshida declared in a disappointed tone. "She did her best, but it wasn't enough in the end, oh how sad. Hahahahah!" He then remarked before laughing in an amused manner.

"I... I... Oh god..." Ann muttered to herself as she went to her knee, hugging herself. "I... I... shoul-" She started blaming herself, however...

"Are you really buying this bullshit!? Come on Takamaki, stand up!" Yang shouted out. "What's done is done. We can't change that, but we're sure as hell going to make this fucker pays." She declared in anger.

"But... He's..." Ann stammered out as tears started running down her eyes.

"That doesn't matter! Everyone makes mistakes!" Yin meanwhile declared. "You can only keep moving forward to prevent them from happening ever again to anyone else! Or don't you remember what happened earlier?" She then added in a determined tone.

The ash blonde's eyes soon widened to hearing those words. "Guys..." Ann got out, slightly calming down.

"We're here for you, no matter what." Joker comforted.

The skull masked Persona user in turn nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Come on Takamaki, I know you're stronger than this. Now get up and raise hell already." Skull encouraged as he offered his hand to the ash blond, who quickly took it.

"Che, you pieces of garbage are really starting to annoy me." Shadow Kamoshida remarked. "Guards, kill them all and chain up the girls, they need some proper punishment." He ordered as he turned to the other ash blonde. "Would you say my little kitty cat?" He then asked in a flirty tone with a perverted expression on his face.

"Teehee~ Anything you say my-HURK!" The Cognitive Ann started, however...

BLAM! BLAM!

The real ash blonde had blasted her copy with a shotgun with extreme prejudice. Once in the body, once in the head. "Huh. That is satisfying." Ann admitted as she handed the skull masked Persona user his ranged weapon back.

"Right?" Yin and Yang got out in unison agreement with smirks under their masks.

"Again. A waste of ammo." Joker deadpanned. "But I'll allow it." He then admitted.

"Same here Lady Ann." Mona replied in agreement and a nod.

Shocked at first to the (second) cognition of the ash blonde being killed, the King scoffed at this occurrence. "...Che, no matter. You're still surrounded and there's a replacement right here." Shadow Kamoshida declared in annoyance.

"You underestimate our power, your Majesty." Joker replied with a devilish smile.

"You're overestimating our power, Joker." Mona whispered to the Combat Leader. "We can't take out all their enemies." He then admitted.

"You think I don't know that? I'm bluffing like hell right now." Joker whispered back.

"Well, I don't think he's buying it." Mona gulped as they saw the King grin madly.

"Hm... Maybe you're right. I want every guard in the castle to come here, right now." Shadow Kamoshida commanded.

"Nope, he believes us... and I just made it worse." Joker sighed out.

"O-Oh God, I'm detecting hundreds of Shadows closing in on our position!" Mona exclaimed.

"That sounds bad..." Skull scowled as he readied himself.

"So, any last words before my guards arrive?" Shadow Kamoshida taunted with a smirk on his face.

"We... We might die here." Yang quietly admitted.

"...But at least we'll go down fightin'..." Yin concluded as she readied herself.

The ash blonde however stepped forward once more with her hands balled into fists. "Yeah. Yeah, I do, you asshole..." Ann started feeling something within her spark to live.

"Hmph? Really? Bah, you're not worth the waste of-" Shadow Kamoshida started, however...

"Shut up." Ann and another voice growled out as small wisps of pink flames appeared around her, just for a split second.

To seeing this, the Shadow of the P.E paled slightly to the sight. "...No..." The King growled out, having a feeling on what was about to happen.

"Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!" Ann shouted out, completely reaching her breaking point. "STOP THINKING YOU CAN DO WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT YOU BASTARD!" She roared in defiance. "EVERYTHING YOU DO! EVERYTHING YOU SAY! JUST BEING NEAR YOU! YOU PISS ME OFF YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She then declared with fury and rage.

Suddenly, Ann heard glass breaking within her head.

'My... It's taken far too long.' A suave voice started, causing Ann to gasp as it had her voice.

"Huh, what was-AAAAAHHHHHH!" Ann suddenly screamed in pain as she started to thrash around, grabbing her head in pain.

"Holy shit! Takamaki!" Skull shouted out in concern.

"Hold on... don't tell me..." Joker guessed as he started to smirk at what was gonna happen.

Yin meanwhile nodded in agreement to witnessing this. "Yes! I was right!" She declared.

Shadow Kamoshida however narrowed his eyes to this. "No! I will not allow another thief to exist!" The King shouted out in anger. "Guards, I want them dead. NOW!" He ordered as the guards started running towards them.

"Shit!" Yang exclaimed as she summoned Wolverine. "We have to protect Takamaki while she's going through her awakening!" She declared.

"Then we better give it everything we got!" Joker shouted out. "Full Assault!" He ordered as more guards kept appearing by the second.

"Right!" The others replied with their weapons ready.

'Tell me... Who is going to avenge her if you don't? Forgiving him was never the option... Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within... I am thou, thou art I... We can finally forge a contract...' The same alluring voice echoed in the ash blonde's head.

"GARGH!" Skull screamed in pain as was hit with a Wind spell, collapsing to the ground. "D-Dammit!" He swore out.

"Shit. We have to survive! Focus on Healing and Support!" Joker ordered as he switched Personas.

"Gurentou!" Yang called out as Wolverine slashed through another Shadow. "Fuck! I'm getting a little tired here!" She then admitted, much to her frustration.

"Where do they keep coming from!? Magna!" Yin exclaimed as she cast another rock upon another Shadow.

"Ah! There's too many!" Mona called out, panicking as they tried to hold off as many guards as they could. "We can't keep this up for much longer!" He declared as he quickly used Dia on Skull while Yang protected him.

"Yes we can!" Joker declared as he saw Ann starting to calm down and stand up. "Come on, Takamaki! I know you can do this!" He encouraged.

"All your anger, all your rage! Unleash it!" Joker and Ann's budding Persona called out unintentionally in unison.

"I... I hear you... Carmen..." Ann struggled out before narrowing her eyes as pink flames formed over her face, revealing a red cat like mask. "You're right! I can't hold back anymore!" She soon declared in anger as she stepped forward with a furious expression on her face.

"Joker! We have to get out of here!" Mona called out.

"Just... a little... longer!" Joker growled out in determination. "Arsène, ravage them!" He commanded.

"Shit! There's way too many!" Skull shouted out.

"Stop thinking and keep fighting!" Yang panted out as she struggled to keep Wolverine summoned. "I need... healing..." She then grunted out.

"Ugh... Media! Urgh..." Yin groaned out, using the little SP she still had to heal the group. "Ann-chan... Please... hurry..." She then muttered out.

'There you go... Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength.' The voice then declared within the ash blonde's mind.

"Thank you." Ann muttered in small voice before gripping onto her mask. "Come on... Come on...!" She struggled out.

"ANN-CHAN! DO IT!" Yin called out as everyone's strength gave out.

"COME ON! Grrrr... GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ann roared out just as she ripped off her mask, blood spraying everywhere as a pillar of pink flames engulfed her, a burst energy wiping out all the lesser Shadows that were attacking the team and the cognitions while everyone else looked on in awe.

"W-Whoa..." Yang got out in a impressed tone as the heat from the awakening was intense, even for her. Small pink flames littered the room, distorting the area around it to reveal small hints of the real world underneath, showing some of the floor of the P.E faculty office.

As the flames died down, Ann was soon visible once more, however she was now in her Phantom outfit, a skin tight red latex catsuit worn with a cleavage cutout, zippers, pink gloves, dark red thigh-high boots and has a clipped on tail on her back.

And behind her was a woman with pink skin, yellow cat-like eyes, a panther-like mask and her ash grey hair done up in twin drills, wearing a dress that showed a lot of cleavage and decorated with roses, and holding onto two men with leashes made of a rose's thorny stem, their heads covered in some sort of torture device of some sort in the shape of a heart.

And they both looked pissed as hell!

"I am the alluring dancer... Carmen!" The ash blonde's Persona revealed. "With our contract now form, we let loose a fiery dance that will burn away our enemies to cinders while submitting others to our will!" She then declared.

"This... This power...! Shiho... You sacrificed so much for me... And all I could do was give you was a promise of a future better than mine... I'm so sorry. I was selfish but I'll make it up to you. It's my promise in case... in case you don't make it." Ann began as she placed a hand over her heart, tears in her eyes before glaring at the King, who was currently shitting his Speedos as her tears evaporated. "And it all starts with you. Your future is mine to steal you piece of shit, just like you've done to people before me! I'll take your heart... and crush it under my heel!" She soon declared in anger as a whip and a submachine gun materialized into her hands from pink flames.

"Y... You bitch!" Shadow Kamoshida countered in anger. "Guards! Kill them all!" He then commanded.

"Such insolence! We shall have your head!" The Lead golden armored Guard shouted out as it took on its true form.

"Ready for this, Takamaki!?" Skull called out as everyone got ready for a fight, feeling a renewed sense of energy.

"As I'll ever be. Let's go Carmen!" Ann declared as she readied herself to fight.

---

(Cue Just the Beginning by Kamen Rider Girls)

"A whip, she had to be using a whip..." Yang muttered as she got into her battle stance.

"Um, should I be worried Ann-chan has a gun now?" Yin asked in concern.

"Not the time! What in the shit basket is that thing!?" Skull exclaimed as he pointed at the large Shadow.

"A demon on a toilet." Joker bluntly pointed out. "Man, humanity's really getting creative with their Shadow designs." He then added.

"Despite how it looks, it's the strongest enemy we've ever faced yet and the King's influence is strong in this one, so Joker won't be able to recruit it! Brace yourselves!" Mona warned.

"How dare you deny King Kamoshida's love, you selfish lass!? Pay for such treachery with your life!" The Lead Guard Shadow declared.

"I've already paid the price, now I'm going to take all of it back!" Ann shouted out. "Love? Don't you fuck with me, it's bullshit! Every girl he sees is nothing more than an outlet to him! What the hell makes you think it's love!?" She questioned. "Carmen, let's do this!" She declared as her Persona went back into her as the red cat mask appeared over her face.

"Don't even say that bullshit about it being love!" Yin demanded. "Now it's us girls who are gonna get revenge now!" She then added.

"Hell yeah!" Yang replied in agreement as she readied her six swords.

"Let's give 'em hell!" Skull shouted out while holding his pipe.

"The enemy's agitated now, careful everyone!' Mona advised as he had his cutlass ready.

"Act on my command!" Joker ordered as he looked towards the newest Persona user. "Ann, let's see what you can do! Take it's life!" He then added with a smirk.

Ann in turn nodded to that as she brought her hand to her mask. "Glady. PERSONA!" She called out as her mask vanished into pink flames. "Dance Carmen! AGI!" She commanded as her Persona appeared and threw a fireball.

FWOOSH!

"GUH!" The Boss Shadow screamed in pain, knocking it off its throne.

"Alright! Way to go, Ann-chan!" Yin cheered as they pulled out their guns.

"Nice! It's got a fire weakness!' Yang exclaimed with a smirk under her mask.

"Don't get cocky! It might have something that can wipe us out!" Mona informed.

"But not now. We're going All-Out!" Joker commanded as they backflipped.

"I've been waitin' for this! Go!" Skull shouted out as they rushed the Shadow.

They all quickly attacked the Shadow with everything they had, but when they jumped back they saw it was still standing strong.

"Guh! Not enough!" Ann called out as they went back into position.

"You think I'll fight you scum alone!? Men, come to my aid!" The Lead Guard commanded as new Shadows appeared on the battlefield.

"Should've known this asshole would have a couple of guard dogs." Yang growled, seeing some small humanoid wolf like Shadows.

"Damn, it's hiding behind them! We won't be able to target him until all the other Shadows are gone!" Mona informed, though unintentionally shivered at the sight of the new Shadows that appeared. "We need a spell that can hit multiple targets, but I don't think any one of us know one."

"We haven't tried our guns on them though." Yang realized as she pulled out her dual machine guns. "My turn!" She declared as she readied herself before pulling the triggers, however...

Click! Click! Click!

"What!?" Yang exclaimed as she pulled the triggers again. "Oh shit, I really did waste my bullets!? Fuck!" She got out.

"Hurl your gun!" Joker ordered.

"Haha! Dumbass!" One of the humanoid wolf like Shadows taunted. "What kind of idiot would thr-GACK!" It started, however...

WHAM!

"Careful! You might break your guns if you do that!" Mona called out.

"Seriously! Not the time, Mona!" Yang reminded as she dashed forward and recovered her gun before preparing three blade in her other hand, thrusting it forward towards another Shadow. "Surprise bitch! Cleave!" She then declared with Wolverine appearing behind her, the two stabbing the Shadow in unison and knocking it down before jumping back to the others. "Knocked it down somehow! Go for it Joker!" She then called out.

The avian masked Persona user nodded as he placed a hand to his mask, feeling an increase in power. "I need you, Pixie!" Joker announced as Arsène vanished and was replaced with one of his newly acquired Personas. "Zio!" He commanded.

"Hi, bad guys! Bye, bad guys!" Pixie chirped as she rained down lightning upon another three enemies, severely hurting them. Joker winced at the the drain of energy, but he wanted to keep the momentum going.

"GAH!" The Shadow roared in pain as it collapsed to the ground.

"Yin, still have bullets?" Joker asked.

The black full face masked Persona user quickly checked. "Five left in one gun. One bullet for each Shadow." Yin replied.

"Then go for it!" Joker called out as Yin felt an even bigger increase in power.

"This is gonna hurt." Yin declared with a smirk under her mask, as she fired upon the Shadows with ease. Each and every one of them being shot in the head and leaving nothing but money and black goo.

"Nice shooting, Lady Yin! You're a natural!" Mona cheered out, exposing the Lead Guard to their attacks while said girl twirled around her pistol. "Okay! Hit it with everything you have!" He then ordered.

"I got this! Captain Kidd! Lunge!" Skull commanded. His Persona charged in and hit the Shadow, but was barely affected by the attack. "That's not good!" He revealed.

"You should have never crossed the King! MAGARU!" The Boss Shadow called out.

"Wait, Magaru!? OH NO!" Mona shouted out in a panic. "That's bad! That''s beary, beary bad!" He exclaimed.

"Huh!?" Yin got out in confusion. "What's Magaru!?" She then asked.

She got her answer as everyone was struck with the Wind spell at the same time.

"GGAAAHHH!" Skull and Yin screamed in pain before collapsing to the ground.

"Yin!" Yang got out, having barely felt the attack, as she glared at the Boss Shadow in fury. "How dare you fuckin' piece of shit! DIE!" She soon roared while preparing all six of her blades.

"Good to see you care 'bout my wellbeing Yang." Skull groaned in pain as he tried to stand up.

However, the Lead Guard quickly used Dia on itself, undoing most of the damage they had dealt to it. "This will teach you to defy King Kamoshida! Now die!" It declared.

"Go to hell! Gurentou!" Yang shouted out as Wolverine cut the Shadow. However, a flash of worry came over her as she saw that it wasn't hurt very much. "What the hell!? It's weak to fire!" She exclaimed in confusion.

"But it resists physical attacks as well! That move won't be as effective on it!" Mona called out.

"Hahaha! Foolish lass!" The Lead Guard taunted in a confident manner as it then unleashed an attack on the leader.

"Argh...!" Joker grunted out in pain, nearly collapsing but managing to stop himself. 'Come on, Akira, everyone's counting on you! You can't die here!' He mentally told himself as he stood up, clutching onto his arm and breathing heavily. He was going to have to think of something quickly or they won't make it out alive.

"We need to stall! Ann, hit 'em again with fire and give me a heal!" Joker ordered, wincing in pain as he pointed at the Boss Shadow.

"Got it Leader! Agi!" Ann ordered as her Persona appeared sent a fireball towards the enemy, who managed to dodge it, before focusing on the avian masked Persona user. "Dia!" She then added as the leader was covered in a light green glow for a moment.

"Thanks. Mona, use Dia on Yin! Yang, give Skull some Medicine!" Joker commanded as he threw the white full face masked Persona user some painkillers before summoning Jack o' Lantern to his side. "And I'll hit it with everything I have! Agi!" He soon declared. He was already forming the next step of the fight in his while also preparing for any more unexpected attacks.

FWOOSH!

"GAH!" The Lead Shadow wailed as the flames struck it dead on as it knocked it to the ground again.

"How's everyone doing?" Joker asked as his teammates recovered.

"We're good Joker! Just keep fighting!" Ann called back as they pointed their guns at the fallen Shadow.

Joker in turn nodded to that. "Alright! Don't hold back!" He shouted out as they all backflipped. "All-Out Attack! Hit it until it dies!" He commanded.

"Right!" The others replied in unison as they all rushed towards the Lead Shadow.

"AAAAAHHHH!" The group cried out as they attacked the Shadow. However, after jumping back they saw it barely clinging to life.

"It wasn't enough!?" Yin and Yang exclaimed in shocked unison.

"It's a persistent one to say the least..." Mona admitted.

"Ain't that the truth..." Joker got out in agreement as he switched back to Arsène.

"How... dare... you..." The Lead Guard Shadow got out. "You will never get away with this... for defying King Kamoshida you selfish lasses... My Liege will make you submit..." It then declared.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! No matter what he tells himself, he's nothing more than a fucking loser!" Ann roared out as she rushed the Shadow by herself, shooting every single bullet in her gun before taking out her whip and jumped, wrapped it around the Lead Guard's neck pulled with all her might until the Shadow gave one last choke before exploding into black goo.

"Nothing to it." Joker said confidently.

"Ha ha! Loser!" Skull cheered out.

"The. End." Morgana breathed out.

"And that's that!" Yin began.

"You expected to live through that?" Yang continued.

"A beautiful rose has thorns!" Ann victoriously declared.

(Stop Music)

---

As destroying all of the Shadows, all that remained were the Persona users and the King...who was scared shitless to the destruction of his forces and couldn't move as a result.

Meanwhile, the thieves had absolutely drained themselves of everything they had in that fight. If they continued to the Treasure like this, they would probably die.

Joker quickly thought of something that will allow both parties to retreat. "I'll say this once, and never again. Leave and we won't kill you, got it?" Joker demanded as he aimed his empty gun at him.

"You... have the nerve to make demands!?" Shadow Kamoshida questioned in anger.

"Do you wanna die?" Joker countered with narrow eyes.

The two glared at each other before the King finally relented.

"I-I'll get you brats one day! Now leave, I will not show mercy next time we meet." Shadow Kamoshida declared in a fear filled manner.

"Glad to see we reached an understanding." Joker remarked with a smirk as the King ran away. As soon as he was sure he was gone, he dropped the act and fell to the ground. "He's gonna summon some guards on us soon, so we better run." He then advised in a exhausted manner.

Mona in response nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should head back for now and make a plan for the future." He suggested.

"To the entrance!" Skull declared as they started to run.

However at that moment, the ash blonde looked down in shock and confusion. "What the heck am I wearing!?" Ann exclaimed in embarrassment as she covered her chest with her arms while crouching down, causing the others to stop and look towards her. She then paused when she felt up her own chest. "And where the hell did my bra go!?" She soon added in even more embarrassment with an intense blush on her face.

"She just noticed?" Yang meanwhile asked with a sweatdrop to the reaction.

"It really doesn't hide much." Joker noted. "It's like she's wearing nothing at all... nothing at all... nothing at all... nothing at all..." He soon started repeated as he looked at the newest Persona user.

"Dude, why are you repeatin' yourself?" Skull asked with a deadpan tone.

"Just thinking about when we need to use the bathroom in the Metaverse." Akira replied as focused on where the ash blonde's... zippers were placed.

"...You can be really weird sometimes, Joker." Mona deadpanned, though had a blush on his face.

"Heh, it's part of my charm." Joker replied with a smirk.

"You have charm?" Skull joked, unaware that the avian masked Persona user's Charm was barely existent.

Yang however sweatdropped again to that. "Let's just leave before we all die here." She deadpanned.

"Hold on!" Joker quickly got out as he quickly dashed up to a pile of yen and stuffed it into his pockets. "Okay, now let's leave." He replied.

"Smart move Joker." Mona got out with a wide grin with yen signs in his eyes.

"You two are made for each other." Ann joked.

"Can we please run, I think I can hear footsteps!" Yin called out in a panic.

"Cheese it!" Skull suggested.

At that moment, the group started running like mad with the last of their energy.

"Oh and for anyone curious, Lady Ann's Arcana is The Lovers." Mona soon revealed.

"NOT THE TIME YOU STUPID FUCKIN' CAT!" Yang yelled out.

"NOT! A! CAAAAAAT!" Mona declared, his words echoing around the castle.

[Now exiting Kamoshida's Castle of Lust. Have a nice day.]

---

(Aoyama-Itchome, Underground)

After leaving the Metaverse, they decided to relax so they headed to the Underground. Ann was out getting them drinks, but not before Ryuji sent her the video.

"Takamaki has as much as a stake in this as all of us, more than likely even more." Ryuji explained himself. "Wouldn't feel right if we kept the video from her. Prolly be pissed about it either way. So now, it's down to her to decide if we really want to expose Kamoshida to the world or change his heart and make him confess." He soon added.

"That's surprisingly wise and thoughtful of you, Ryuji." Morgana complimented.

"Still... it's gonna be pretty hard to watch for her." Homura pointed out. "I mean, it was hard to watch for us, and I was there." She then reminded.

"Well...no matter what Ann has the final say now. It's the least we can do after all." Akira stated.

Speaking of the Lover, she arrived with a handful of drinks... and she didn't look happy.

"So... You saw it?" Akira asked hesitantly as the ash blonde carefully set the drinks on the ground.

"Only... Only a little..." Ann softly answered. "Oh God... Shiho..." She got out in a sad manner as she covered her mouth.

"Hey Takamaki..." Homura started, getting the ash blonde's attention. "If you want to slap me for leaving Shiho behind, go for it... I deserve it..." She shamefully declared.

"Homura-chan..." Asuka got out in a saddened tone.

"...Are you sure?" Ann then asked while balling her hand into a fist.

Homura then took in a deep breath. "Y-" Before the first letter of her answer left her lips...

POW!

"Aaaahhhh...!" Ann squeaked out in pain she held her possibly broken fist. "Oh, that hurt a lot more than it should've. Owowowowowow..." She winced out in pain. "What is your skin made of!?" The Lovers soon exclaimed in confusion.

"Oh. Right. Not a shinobi. Not as strong in reality." Homura remembered, having barely noticed the punch. "Um... I'm not sure how to... er... Asuka, hit me for Takamaki." She bluntly requested.

"WHAT!?" Asuka exclaimed in shock.

"You're the only one who can actually do damage to me, and-" Homura started to explain, however.

"B-B-But what about earlier!? I don't want to hurt you too!" Asuka stammered out.

The tan skinned girl however sighed to that. "Look, just a little love tap to the face. That's all I'm asking." Homura once more requested.

"No! Don't make me do this Homura-chan!" Asuka soon begged.

"I deserve it, just one punch and that's it."

"Please, don't make me do this!"

"Punch me, Asuka. Punch me!"

"No! I won't!"

"Yes you-"

WHAM!

The others soon winced to the action the Good Shinobi preformed to her roommate. "Oh... right in the gut." Akira grimaced as the tan skinned girl collapsed onto the ground to her knee as having been kicked by her roommate.

"I-I think I saw a sonic boom." Ryuji muttered out in awe.

"Um, she said punch..." Ann weakly pointed out.

"Lady Homura, are... are you okay?" Morgana asked, seeing the girl not getting up from the ground.

"Ah... Too... hard...!" Homura coughed out in pain. "I think... I just... barfed a little... ack... Oh that sucked hard...!" She got out before wincing in pain.

"Wah! I'm so sorry Homura-chan! I didn't want to punch you but the next thing I thought of was a kick and I instinctively did it!" Asuka frantically explained herself.

"A shinobi's strength, never mess with it." Morgana reminded in fear.

"And Asuka thought she was the weak one?" Ryuji got out with a sweatdrop.

"I think we're all the weak ones compared to them." Akira pointed out.

"I... I need to buy another drink." Ann got out as she held her throbbing hand, running off to find something cold enough to reduced the swelling.

"Can't believe these are the same people that scare the shit out of me only an hour earlier." Akira muttered out himself.

"Are you feeling better Lady Ann?" Morgana soon asked in concern after waiting a few minutes for the ash blonde to return, this time holding an ice cold can of Arginade.

"I'm fine. Probably gonna hurt using this hand for a while though." Ann answered. "Ugh, I can't believe I'm talking to a cat. Oh, er, sorry. Not a cat." She got out followed by her apology.

"Thank you Lady Ann." Morgana replied in happiness.

"Yeah... sorry about that Takamaki..." Homura meanwhile apologized in a awkward manner.

"I didn't know you can apologize for having skin made out of metal." Ann replied.

The tan skinned girl shrugged her shoulders to that. "Comes with the training I went through." Homura bluntly admitted.

"I can agree with that." Asuka replied in agreement. "Though when we battle, it's different since we're on equal terms either using a Shinobi Tenshin or going Frantic." She then added in a quiet voice.

"That's because presumably every shinobi is an overpowered superhuman." Akira deadpanned.

"Oi, we aren't like that. Remember when we first went into the castle and encountered guards? We got limits too." Homura reminded.

"Yeah, we know that but compared to the average person..." Ryuji mumbled out.

"I think it's because your skills and attack are based on your physical strength and such. Most Persona abilities are based on your mentality and personality." Morgana guessed. "So basically, you're all around the same amount of power in the Metaverse as a regular human. Physical strength is still important though." He then explained.

"I think we're getting off topic here..." Asuka got out.

"Right, making Kamoshida confess his sins." Akira reminded with a nod as he took out his phone. "Besides Ann, we have until the board meeting until we get expelled. That gives us a time limit of, what? Two weeks?" He then asked.

"I think so." Ann answered with a nod.

"So until then, we gotta storm through the Palace to get to the Treasure." Homura stated in a serious manner. "Cause there's no way me and Asuka are getting expelled thanks to that fucker." She then declared.

"Yeah. No more police. No more teachers. No more parents. No more adults. It's all down to us to fix this pile of shit we call a school." Ryuji stated.

The cat then nodded to the group. "Alright, so we're in agreement to do this?" Morgana questioned in a serious tone.

"To changing Kamoshida's heart? No shit!" Homura replied with a smirk.

'Your chance for a redemption... a small one, but still a start.' Wolverine stated in a serious manner.

'Like I said before. It's not for redemption at the moment, it's for revenge.' Homura mentally stated. 'My redemption... it's not starting yet...' She then admitted in her head.

"Anything to make this world a little bit better." Asuka got out in a determined manner.

'Not for Good... Not for Evil...' Kaeru stated.'This is to start something new.' She then declared.

"And I won't stop. I will never stop." Asuka swore with a serious tone.

"Yeah, it's time for payback on that bastard. I ain't stoppin' either." Ryuji replied. "How 'bout you, Takamaki, you really wanna go through with it?"

"We agreed it's down to you." Akira said.

Ann glanced at her phone before she nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We are. I'm doing this for Shiho... for myself... and for everything he's done." She admitted.

Akira then adjusted his glasses as he looked at the others. "We'll change Kamoshida's heart and stop his crimes... together." He calmly declared.

"Yeah, you can count on me. I'll do whatever it take to make him atone!" Ann then declared.

To this, Akira nodded as he could sense a strong resolve from the ash blonde that was on par with everyone.

---

(Fast Forward)

"I doubt something as dangerous as your group could've been pulled off with orthodox methods. It wouldn't be odd if you had someone that was proficient in deceiving the eyes of others..." Sae stated as she looked at the exhausted teenager. "...If you're listening, then answer me!" She then demanded.

"I am. But um..." Akira mumbled out as he remembered how great, believable and human the ash blonde's acting was. "...Never mind." He sighed out.

Still, he remembered how determined she was back on that day. How she became a Phantom Thief.

(Rewind)

---

SHATTER!

I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Lovers Persona
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power...

RANK 1

ABILITY UNLOCKED
Baton Pass

---

"So then..." Ann started as she looked at the smallest member of the group. "What are we gonna do about Morgana?" She then asked in a curious manner.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ryuji however asked in confusion.

"We can't just send Morgana back into the Metaverse or let him live on the streets. Someone has to take care him since, you know, he doesn't have thumbs here." Akira explained. "Actually, does he even have thumbs in the Metaverse…?"

"Yeah. Someone here has to take me in. Well, at least until I regain my human form." Morgana stated. "Which we will be working towards after this is over."

"Ugh… Fine. We'll do whatever this thing is as long as no one dies." Homura sighed. "So, who's taking care of the cat?"

"NOT A CAT!" Morgana corrected.

"Well, no matter what he says, he's still a cat here and can't take care of himself properly. Someone has to take him in as pet." Asuka answered as she then raised her hand in excitement. "I volunteer as owner of Morgana-chan!" She soon offered.

"G-Great idea, Lady Asuka." Morgana approved, just imagining what it would be like to live with the ninja girls.

"Won't argue with that. We'd prolly kill each other after a day." Ryuji admitted before glancing at the not cat, who was staring dreamily at the girls. "Then again, letting him live with one of the girls isn't great too." He then added in a deadpan tone.

"Asuka, remember? Our apartment building doesn't allow us to keep pets." Homura reminded in a deadpan tone, though was glad her roommate had returned to normal.

To that reminder, Asuka's head dropped in a depressed manner. "Awwwww~!" She whined out. "But... But..." She then got out with sad puppy dog like eyes.

Homura suddenly felt like she should have a heart attack right now to witnessing this. Too bad she was so strong-willed and-

"We're Shinobi. We can sneak him in Asuka. Anything for you~" Homura suddenly started in a sweet tone with dull and hazy eyes, almost as if she was hypnotised while petting her roommate's head with an equally sweet smile...

SLAP!

Before slapping herself across the face with her other hand, regaining her focus immediately. "Ow. Akira, you better take him to your place right now before I do something I'll regret... or Asuka kills him with her tits and hugs." Homura soon requested in a slightly awkward tone as she continued rubbing her roommate's head along with wincing in pain from the slap she gave herself.

Akira in turn nodded to that. "Of course." He replied, though was slightly amused at the tan skinned girl doing that.

"Wow... I didn't expect to see that from Lady Asuka." Morgana commented as he witness the tan skinned girl nearly being hypnotized by her roommate, though was disappointed that he couldn't stay with the two girls. "It was almost like she had Lady Homura in a trance of sorts. Maybe her Persona knows Marin Karin or Brain Jack, the brainwash ailment spells." He then added in an impressed tone.

'Eh, I'm more focused on keeping everyone fighting along with fighting as well in battle.' Kaeru pointed out. 'I'm not sure that I can learn those Skills...' She then admitted.

"I think it's because she's heart-meltingly cute." Ryuji casually guessed with a grin on his face.

This however caused the Good Shinobi to blush. "I-I'm not that cute..." Asuka stammered out in embarrassment.

"You sure about that, Asuka-chan? Because I think you are." Ann commented in amusement. "I think you got something inside of you that's been wanting to come out for a long time and I don't just mean your Persona." She then added.

"Y-You really think so?" Asuka asked in a curious, innocent and meek tone with a blush still on her face.

"Oh, you know it, girl! You really got it in you!" Ann happily responded while patting the girl's back.

"And I'm sure that Homura wouldn't say no to that cute side of yours." Ryuji remarked with a smirk. "No matter how much she tries to deny." He then added in a joking tone.

"Do I need to punish you for yapping about our professions?" Homura however threatened in a dark tone as she cracked her knuckles.

"Oh. Shit." Ryuji swore as he quickly remembered. "I-I promise! I won't do it again!" He then pleaded.

"Nope. Don't trust you in the slightest but I'm willing to give you one last chance, despite my better judgement." Homura automatically replied. "Do it once, shame on me. Do it twice, shame on you. Do it one more time and I cut out your tongue with a rusty fork before feeding it to either Morgana or a dog." She soon threatened in a false sweet voice.

"Preferably a dog!" Morgana called out.

"Don't you mean a spoon?" Akira meanwhile asked.

"Tried it once. Takes too long for my tastes." Homura replied off-handedly, causing everyone to start sweating in nervousness.

"D-Duly noted." Ryuji squeaked out.

"Good boy." Homura replied in a authorial manner, though she had a mental blush on her face as to why the teasing had happened in the first place.

'What the hell was that about?' Wolverine meanwhile questioned in amusement.

'I... don't know...' Homura mentally admitted. 'It was like... Asuka's expression had some kind of special power that overwhelmed me...' She then added in her head in confused disbelief.

'Nope. I'm pretty sure it's something else. Want me to go into a long-winded speech about you and your cute and sexy-' Wolverine started.

"DON'T YOU FUCKIN' DARE!" Homura yelled out before realising that she said out loud. "...Someone please tell me their Persona is just as annoying as mine." She then got out.

"Nope." Ryuji replied while shaking his head.

"Mine doesn't really talk much..." Morgana admitted.

"None of mine really." Akira simply answered.

"I just got mine." Ann meanwhile reminded.

"Sorry Homura-chan." Asuka then apologized.

"I hate you all." Homura deadpanned, causing everyone to laugh and giggle at this as she only sighed before joining in.

"Ha ha, a girl jumped off the roof of the school, we now planned to get expelled and we all almost died today." Akira stated in a dull tone as the laughing started to die down. "Ugh... this entire week is a mess." He then got out.

"No kidding. I'm still waiting for me to wake up from this dream even though I know I'm awake." Ann admitted. "It's all so... surreal. That castle... my Persona... frickin' ninjas. It's going to take a while to wrap my head around all this." She then admitted.

"Can't blame ya for that. " Ryuji admitted in amused agreement while scratching the back of his head.

"It's only natural that you're confused. Demanding that you understand all of right after what you went through is asking too much." Morgana comforted the ash blonde.

"Well then, let's focus on our plan of attack. That should be easier to understand." Homura suggested.

"Right." Asuka spoke up with a nod. "Well, like Akira said before, we shouldn't solely focus on getting the Treasure. Our first priority would be to find safe rooms while slowly working our way up to the Treasure." She instructed.

"Guess you got a clearer head now?" Akira pointed out to the Good Shinobi with a smile.

"Hey, I gotta be if we wanna pull this off." Asuka replied with her own smile. "And... I admit that I wasn't right in the head..." She then added.

"For real." Ryuji got out in agreement. "You acting like Homura was a bit much." He then admitted.

"Excuse me?" Homura deadpanned while glaring at the blond.

Asuka however sighed to that. "Can we please stop talking about that and get back to this possibly fatal heist we're planning?" She soon requested.

"Lady Asuka's right," Morgana stated. "We need to make sure we have a good plan for this. But first we have to confirm who the leader is." He then added.

"Akira-kun." Asuka instantly replied. "I snapped at everyone, I even put Ann-chan in danger, so I don't think I can handle being the leader... I'll stick to being vice leader though." She then stated.

"Not to mention he can use multiple Personas and seems really good under pressure." Morgana then reminded. "Unlike everyone else here." She added.

"Yeah... gotta admit the truth on that one." Ryuji sheepishly got out.

"Same here." Ann replied.

"While I personally think I should be the leader, I'll gladly settle into the role of mentor since you have a very special power." Morgana stated.

"That sounds like a good idea." Asuka replied with a nod before looking towards the glasses wearing boy.

"Look, I honestly admit having a mere civilian with little to no experience in combat being the leader is a bad idea... however, I trust Asuka's judgement and majority rules either way. We're in your care, Joker." Homura soon stated in a serious tone. "So don't screw up or I'll increase the pay for your training." She quietly added.

Akira in response rubbed the back of his head as he nodded to the group. "I won't let you guys down." Akira reassured the team he was in charge of now.

"Alright, so Akira will be the one to declare when we go into the Palace, so you should all be prepared at anytime." Morgana then informed.

"So we have to carry our guns and crap to school? Because that's probably not a good idea." Ryuji pointed out.

"He's right. If we get found out, we'll be arrested and Akira-kun will go to jail." Ann agreed with a nod.

"And if we just stash our stuff somewhere secret in the school, it would probably be even more incriminating." Asuka pointed out. "I mean me and Homura-chan can hide our weapons since we're shinobi, but I don't know how for you guys." She then admitted.

"Wait a minute, that's it! You're shinobi! We'll just give our weapons and armor to you girls and place it, say, a couple blocks away from the school or maybe at your house, just somewhere easily not accessible to the average person. Then once we're ready, you can just retrieve our gear in a second." Morgana suggested.

"Hmm..." Homura hummed out to the idea with her hand on her chin. "We could put them on the roof nearby the school for this heist." She admitted.

"Oh cool, you can jump from rooftop to rooftop like in a video game! That's totally badass!" Ryuji exclaimed in excitement while pumping his fist.

"So, where are we going to meet up once we're ready?" Ann however asked.

Homura in response to this crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay, first off, we're not meeting up at the rooftop at Shujin."

"What? Why? Sounds like a good location." Akira questioned. "It's in the school, so it would solve the problem of meeting up quickly and then heading to the Palace." He then reminded.

"...Did you seriously just forget what happened today?" Homura deadpanned her new question as her eyes drifted in the ash blonde's direction, who winced at remembering. "Plus, it's gonna be pretty suspicious for us to go somewhere that should be locked up tight and we can't infiltrate the Palace on Sundays." She then added.

"I agree, we should choose somewhere close to the school, but not in the school." Asuka got out. "I mean look what happened when I activated the app to get us in." She then added.

"I wanna say the same place you'll store our weapons but I don't want to rely too heavily you girls. There might be a chance it'll end up exposing your secrets." Akira admitted.

Asuka in turn smiled to that. "Thanks, we appreciate that." She replied in a sincere tone.

"You'd probably kill us if anyone found out and it's our fault." Akira then added as the non-shinobi nodded in agreement.

"...Hold on, there's a reason why shinobi aren't known to the public." Homura realized. "Shinobi Kekkei!" She declared.

Asuka's expression brightened to that. "Oh yeah! We could use that!" She got out in agreement.

This however confused the other Persona users."Shinobi Ke-What now?" Ryuji dumbly got out.

"A barrier ninjutsu that creates something akin to a pocket dimension." Morgana answered. "It basically renders anyone inside it invisible while also protecting the environment around it. Mainly used for when a shinobi needs to fight in a public location." He then explained.

To hearing that explanation, the two shinobi gained surprised expression to that. "...Seriously, how the hell are there rumors about shinobi in the Metaverse?" Homura deadpanned.

"Hehe, no matter how much a shinobi says they aren't a human, they still are." Morgana simply declared.

"Huh..." Asuka got out to that reveal.

"So in essence, our base of operations can be anywhere we want and no one would know a thing." Akira chuckled out in amazement. "God, I love knowing ninja girls." He then muttered in a satisfied tone.

"You think they're all sexy like Asuka and Homura?" Ryuji soon asked with a wide and excited grin on his face.

Suddenly, around about 99 people sneezed at the same time.

"How vulgar Ryuji." Morgana began in a disapproving tone.

Homura however in response to hearing that glared at the blond as she cracked her knuckles. "Say that again, I dare ya." She threatened.

The ash blonde meanwhile looked at the now scared blond. "You really gotta watch what you say. Your life is literally on the line if you don't shut up sometimes." Ann deadpanned while sighing.

"Homura-chan's right Ryuji-kun." Asuka replied in agreement.

"Sorry, it's just that... this ain't exactly a normal situation so I'm kinda freaking out that I know actual real life ninjas who are effin'..." Ryuji started explaining before quickly stopping himself. "I should stop now." He then got out.

"Good idea." The three girls replied in unison with an approving nod.

"You're learning. Good boy." Morgana teased in amusement. "Do want a treat?" He then remarked.

"Okay, first a monkey now a dog. Man, sucks to be me." Ryuji mumbled under his breath.

"It sucks to be all of us. That's what brought us together in the first place." Akira spoke up.

"But we can suck together this time." Asuka beamed as she brought everyone into a group hug.

"W-Whoa!" Ryuji got out in shock to the sudden hug.

"Not the best phrase Asuka." Homura admitted while sweatdropping, though had a small grin on her face. "But fuck it, we're in this together." She then added in amusement.

"'Til the end." Akira finished with a smirk.

"Hahahaha, yep! 'Til the end!" Ann laughed out.

"Alright, so we'll start preparations for our mission tomorrow." Morgana declared. "I expect everyone to meet up on Sunday morning."

"Oh sorry guys, we won't be able to help out this Sunday though. Me and Homura-chan have plans that day." Asuka revealed.

Homura meanwhile rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Yeah, we sort of need to get more clothes since we're kind of limited." She then admitted.

"Oh! I might be able to help out on that." Ann offered.

"Right... you're a model, aren't you?" Homura remembered. "Um, I don't think it would be necessary. It's only getting the practical stuff, changes of clothes and-" She started while rubbing the back of her head, however...

The Good Shinobi took and cuddled up to her roommate's other arm. "Oh come on, Homura-chan! It'll be a great way to know each other!" Asuka encouraged before turning to the ash blonde. "So you can really help us?" She then asked.

"Yup, you two live in Shibuya right? Meet me in the underground shopping mall." Ann questioned before instructing the two where to go. "A lot of good clothing stores are there, so you can find what you need there." She then informed.

"Sounds great. We'll meet by...noon?" Asuka suggested.

"Yeah! Sounds good!" Ann happily replied.

Homura meanwhile sighed in a defeated manner to that. "Alright then Takamaki-san." She replied.

The ash blonde however shook her head to that. "Come on, there's no need for formalities, just call me Ann like Asuka-chan and Morgana do." Ann requested as she turned to the guys. "That applies to you two as well." She then added with a wink.

"Thanks Ann-chan," Asuka happily replied. "Now all me and Homura-chan have to do is get some jobs so we can some money on hand." She then revealed.

"Huh, that actually sounds like a good idea Asuka." Ryuji admitted.

"I live in a coffee shop so that won't be much of a problem." Akira revealed. "Though, the guy who lets me live there kinda hates my guts thanks to what happened to me..." He then added.

"Hm, maybe I should make sure Joker won't get in trouble and gets plenty of sleep..." Morgana muttered to himself.

"I can probably throw in a little of my pay to use for thievery." Ann offered.

"Hmm... a coffee shop..." Asuka thought in an interested manner.

"So the guys are out getting weapons and armor while the girls are out getting clothes." Akira muttered to himself. "That is some serious unfortunate implications without context." He then admitted.

"What context? I don't see a problem with that." Ryuji replied.

"But before we go shopping, me and Homura-chan are gonna be having a sparring match." Asuka then revealed.

"I see, so you two are gonna use a Shinobi Kekkei correct?" Morgana guessed.

"Yup. Homura-chan wants to see how good of a shinobi I am." Asuka replied with a grin.

"And I'm still pretty excited to see how my friend is in a fight." Homura openly admitted.

"But aren't you two gonna get hurt from going all out?" Ann meanwhile asked in concern.

"Er... actually, shinobi sparring matches ends when the opponent is... completely stripped down..." Morgana however revealed with a blush on his face.

"...Seriously, what happened between the feudal period and now?" Akira asked in disbelief while adjusting his pants.

"Holy shit..." Ryuji meanwhile got out with a blush on his face before checking if his nose was bleeding.

"You know, I was gonna suggest that I join for a bit of training but now I'm just gonna stay outside the barrier." Ann squeaked out, a large red blush on her face as a result to learning this new piece of info.

"And of course the cat had to reveal that..." Homura muttered out in slight annoyance. "Don't worry, our clothes return afterwards." She then revealed.

"A-Anyway," Asuka stammered out to change the subject. "For clarification, where are we going to meet up to set the barrier when we're ready for the Palace?" She soon asked.

"I'd say in the alleyway. A lot of students don't know it's a shortcut and those who do have already gone home by the time we get there." Ryuji suggested.

Asuka in response to the suggestion nodded in agreement. "Perfect. All we need to do now is get ourselves ready and wait for Akira's call to meet up." She stated.

"Oh yeah, we should exchange our contact info." Ann soon suggested as she tried taking out her phone. "Uh... Asuka-chan?" She then got out.

"Ah, right!" Asuka yelped as she released everyone. She completely forgot she was hugging everyone.

Ann giggled to that as she took out her phone. "Huh? What's this app?" She then asked in confusion and curiosity.

"Hm?" Akira got out in confusion as he looked over the ash blonde's shoulder. "Look at that." He then muttered, a little unsurprised but still curious about the situation.

"Lemme see." Ryuji requested as he looked as well. "Dude, she has the Meta Nav on her phone!" He then exclaimed.

"But I don't remember downloading this!" Ann called out.

"Yeah, that's what we've all been saying since Day 1." Homura explained. "But Akira here says it's from someone who wants to help us for... whatever reason." She then revealed.

"Really?" Ann then asked with curiosity.

Homura in turn nodded to that. "Yeah. For some reason me, Asuka, and Akira had the Nav before we went into the Metaverse, so now I'm wondering why me and Asuka haven't met him yet while Akira has. I mean, it would make sense for all three of us to meet him instead." She then stated.

"Yeah, that does sound pretty effin' fishy." Ryuji admitted as they all turned to the glasses wearing boy.

"...You have to have a card." Akira cryptically revealed.

Asuka in response tilted her head in a confused manner. "A card?" She then asked.

"Look, I have no idea what's going on, but just know that our Benefactor's going to help us pull this off." Akira stated, not wanting to reveal the existence of the Velvet Room just yet.

Especially since it was a prison with guards not above using their power. And he couldn't do a single thing since they were 7 year old girls and he didn't have the heart to defend himself if it meant hurting them.

Completely unaware that they would kick his ass when he fought back later in the year.

"Okay, you're clearly bullshitting us but I'm too tired to care." Homura replied. "Let's go home, Asuka." She soon suggested.

"Um, I don't know about Akira-kun lying to us but home does sound good right now." Asuka replied as she threw away her drink. "What are we doing after prep? Going back into the castle?" She soon asked.

"No way! We've almost died every time we went in there, I'd say we take a few days off to relax, gather ourselves and seriously prepare for our infiltration. No more diving into the Metaverse on impulse." Morgana spoke up. "This isn't going to happen in a day, so let's use that time get ourselves fully prepared. We will only go when we are ready, got it?" He then advised.

Ann in turn nodded in agreement to that. "Alright, so we should exchange contact info so we can stay in touch with everyone." She once more stated as she had her phone out.

["Sweetkat06" has been added to your contacts. ]

"Oops, I think I messed up your name. Is it SushiRoll23 or SushiRoll27?" Ann asked.

"SushiRoll23." Asuka answered as the ash blonde corrected the mistake.

"Hehe, what kind of name is that Homura? It's waaay too simple." Ann giggled out.

Homura surprisingly gave a pouting face to that. "Nuh uh! I put an S for Shinkukage! See, it's not that simple!" She defended herself.

That however caused the ash blonde to snort in amusement. "That makes it even worse!" Ann laughed out.

Morgana meanwhile blinked as he looked at everyone IM names. "Uh... Is no one going to bring up the fact that their IM names also have the number of their Arcana in it, except for Lady Homura for obvious reasons?" He then asked.

"What?" Ryuji got out as everyone checked it.

"Huh, I never noticed." Asuka admitted.

"That's... kinda creepy actually." Akira admitted.

"I-I just used 7 to replace the T because ShutTheFUp was already taken..." Ryuji mumbled out, a little nervous by this.

"So... should I add my Arcana Number to my IM name?" Homura soon asked.

"For the sake of creativity, please do." Akira replied.

"The Aeon Arcana is an alternate for Number 20." Morgana then revealed.

["Homura S" has changed to "Homura S20"]

"...Give me your phone." Ann demanded as she quickly snatched the tan skinned girl's phone.

"O-Oi!" Homura got out in shock as she watched the ash blonde typing on her phone.

["Homura S20" has changed to "FireGirl20"]

"There we go. All better." Ann declared in a satisfied tone.

As Homura took back her phone, she looked at her new IM name and sighed. "I feel violated." She got out.

"Well it's better than Homura S20!" Ann declared.

"I like it Homura-chan, it suits you a lot more." Asuka chirped out in delight.

To that, the tan skinned girl blushed in embarrassment. "F-Fine..." She got out.

"Well, it's getting late. We should all go home." Akira suggested.

"Yeah, I gotta get acquainted with my new residence." Morgana reminded with a grin.

"...Stupid apartment rules..." Asuka mumbled out in a disappointed tone and a pout on her face.

"It could be worse. Just be happy to know he's safe." Homura assured her roommate while rubbing her head. "Now come on, our train's leaving." She then reminded.

"Uh...Actually, I think your train left three minutes ago. Next one's in twenty." Ryuji pointed out. "Don't you take the same train as them, Akira?" He then asked.

Throughout the underground train system, there was the distinct sound of three voices loudly swearing, echoing down the tunnels.

---

(4/14, Evening)
(Shibuya, Shin Megami Apartment Complex)

The two soon arrived at their apartment as the Good Shinobi opened the door. "Finally home!" Asuka got out in exhaustion as she placed her bag aside and took off her shoes.

"Yeah, thank God our route on foot is fast thanks to our abilities." Homura groaned out as she did the same followed by closing and locking the door behind her. "So Asuka, bath then heading to bed?" She soon guessed.

Asuka in response nodded to the guess. "Yeah. We definitely need one after what we went through." She admitted.

"You're right about that." Homura replied in agreement.

As such, the two started to take off their clothes to prepare themselves to take a bath to relax themselves.

"Man, it feels like I've been here for four month, but it's only been four days..." Homura muttered to herself. "It's... weird, but comforting for some reason..." She then admitted.

"Yeah..." Asuka replied in agreement. "Hey... Homura-chan?" She then suddenly got out out.

"Hmm?" Homura hummed out to hearing that. "What's up Asuka?" She soon asked.

"About... earlier, before the Palace. About... your mission." Asuka soon started. "What... are you gonna do about it?" She then asked.

"Honestly... I'm not exactly sure. If it comes down to it, I'd probably make sure no one else gets a Persona, even if it means... destroying them." Homura answered. "Including... a certain someone if they can't be saved." She vaguely added with a slight wince, not wanting to think about it.

This in turn caused the Good Shinobi to gasp in surprise to that answer, but she then realized something else about what her roommate said. "Wait, so does that mean... you're not gonna leave Homura-chan?" Asuka soon asked in a concerned yet hesitant manner as she took off her shirt and skirt followed by her scarf and socks.

The tan skinned girl in response to that shook her head in a negative manner. "No way I'm leaving now. And you know what, screw 'em." Homura suddenly declared after taking off her top.

"Eh?" Asuka got out in confusion to that declaration as she looked at the other girl in her white bra and panties.

As the tan skinned girl was down to her black bra and panties, she crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at her roommate. "After everything in the Metaverse, I know now that no one from Hebijo should get this power we have. It's already in the wrong hands and look what's happening now. People going crazy or going completely numb to the world. And all the corruption and shit already in Tokyo... I can't just let that go. Not anymore." Homura soon stated with determination. "That and... it feels like there's more to this than we know..." She then added in a serious tone.

'Plus it would saddened your roommate to no end.' Wolverine then reminded. 'You may deny it, but this is true. This was proven the other day when I mentioned Shiho being replaced with Asuka and your instincts to want to protect her.' She soon added in a serious manner.

'I know... Asuka's my first real friend... she's... someone I want to protect...' Homura thought as she then took off her underwear.

"But won't Hebijo need regular reports back, just to make sure you're doing your job? Won't you get in trouble and... they'll..." Asuka pointed out but trailed off in the end as she did the same as her roommate.

The tan skinned girl however smirked as she started rubbing her roommate's head. "No problem, I'll just falsify my reports to Hebijo just so they'll stay off my back for a little while. Hopefully, they won't catch on until it's too late." Homura answered in a nonchalant manner. "I might even play with them a little lead them on a wild goose chase. Either way, we can't let either of our sides know about this." She then stated.

'Just don't let your roommate know about the Yoke Technique they placed on you and all the Hebijo students, she'll go ballistic if she does...' Wolverine then reminded in a serious manner.

Homura in turn mentally winced to remembering that. 'Right... if Asuka finds out I got something that could instantly kill me if Hebijo finds out, she would go ballistic like before in Kamoshida's castle...' She thought in a nervous manner as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Unaware to the mental discussion that was occurring, the Good Shinobi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the Good Shinobi council might cause us trouble too..." Asuka guessed. "But... I don't wanna lie to Jii-chan... he's the one who gave me the mission to come here to stop the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns in the first place..." She then reminded in a slightly nervous manner.

The tan skinned girl however shook her head to that. "Well, too bad. We can't tell anyone, or else this war's going to shed even more senseless blood than usual." Homura soon stated in a serious manner.

Asuka didn't like it, but she knew it was the only way no matter how guilty she would feel. It was for the greater good in the end.

"By the way Asuka..." Homura soon started as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "This morning when you woke up before me... did I... say anything in my sleep?" She soon asked with a small blush. "After what I saw last night, I might've not been in my right mind possibly..." She then admitted.

To that, Asuka jumped slightly at remembering what happened this morning. "She's probably going to freak out if I say the truth." She thought.

'Tell her the truth Asuka, she can take it... probably.' Kaeru advised, though hesitated at the last word.

'Do not add probably at the end of a sentence! It only makes me more uncertain!' Asuka mentally panicked.

Unaware of the mental discussion, Homura raised an eyebrow in concern. "Well? Did I say anything or not?" She asked once more. "And no lying Asuka, new rule for our apartment." She then ordered.

'Pot calling the kettle black.' Wolverine deadpanned.

'You know my reason and you were the one who suggested it.' Homura mentally countered.

"Fuck!" Asuka meanwhile shouted out before covering her mouth.

Homura in turn to hearing that gave a teasing grin "Well well, looks like a little of me is still in you Asuka." She remarked in amusement.

'Oh thank God, she didn't take that fuck as her actually saying something.' Asuka sighed mentally in relief.

"But seriously though, what are you hiding Asuka?" Homura soon demanded. "I definitely said something in my sleep, didn't I?" She then accused.

"Double fuck!" Asuka got out once more before covering her mouth again.

"And that new mouth of yours just keeps proving it." Homura then declared.

"Triple fu-uuuuhhhhh..." Asuka groaned out in defeat.

Homura then started to tap her foot. "Well? I'm waiting." She stated in anticipation.

"Uuuugh...fine..." Asuka sighed out. "Homura-chan... you... you said you..." She began before blushing. "Wanted to protect me... like a big sister would... saying it was your duty to do so..." She revealed in a meek tone.

This in turn caused the tan skinned girl to blink to hearing that. "...Oh. 'Kay." Homura casually replied while shrugging her shoulders.

3...2...1...

BRRRRRRRRRRRRING!

The tan skinned girl's eyes widened as she fully realized what her roommate told her. "WHAT!?" Homura exclaimed with a crimson blush on her face after the mental clock went off. "OH GOD! I SAID THAT IN MY SLEEP WHILE CUDDLING YOU!?" She then added.

The Good Shinobi meanwhile winced to this reaction. "This is why you don't add probably to the end of sentences!" Asuka mentally shouted out.

'It was going to happen either way...' Kaeru weakly pointed out.

'Ugh... Why...?' Wolverine sobbed out.

"Asuka, I... uh... this is..." Homura stammered out in panicked embarrassment to this situation. "Uh...D-Don't pay attention to Unconscious!Homura! Unconscious!Homura is a lying bitch!" She then wildly declared.

'But those are your true feelings.' Wolverine deadpanned.

'SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ME!' Homura shouted out loud.

'Yes. I do know you. Are we seriously going to go through this again?' Wolverine then questioned.

"GAAAAAAAH!" Homura screamed in embarrassment while gripping the sides of her head.

"H-Homura-chan! You're scaring me!" Asuka called out in concern.

Huh, maybe freaking out about calling your roommate her sister in sleep while naked looked bad while trying to prove you're actually mentally sound.

'Just calm down already, it's not that big a deal.' Wolverine soon stated.

'Not big a deal!? Why do you think I'm freakin' out about!?' Homura mentally pointed out. 'Asuka calling me Homu-nee one night is too much pressure as it is! I can't be a big sister! I've been an only child my whole life!' She then added in her head in the same panicked manner.

'Yeah, so was Logan and look how he turned out.' Wolverine remarked before realizing something. 'Oh. Right. You don't read American comic books... Actually, he's a bad example now that I think about it. Er... Spider-Man? He had a clone, right?' She then started.

'...You're an American comic book character?' Homura asked in shock.

'And you've been telling her to go out more.' Wolverine snarked.

The Good Shinobi in response to seeing how her roommate was thanks to the reveal started to make her feel uncomfortable. "Homura-chan... does it... really make you feel that uncomfortable?" Asuka soon asked in a slightly meek and saddened tone as this got her roommate's attention. "If it does... I could go into another room when we sleep. I don't it to keep bothering you if it does..." She then offered in the same tone.

The tan skinned girl in turn winced to the offer. "But... there's only one bedroom." Homura reminded.

"...I'll figure something out... I don't want to make you uncomfortable if you don't like it..." Asuka replied while innocent tears starting to form in her eyes.

Homura in response to seeing this panicked as guilt instantly formed from within her. "Nonononononono!" She sputtered out as she started to feel dizzy and hazy. "Don't take it the wrong way Asuka! It's nothing like that! I'm only freakin' out because I-" She started, however she suddenly stopped panicking as her eyes suddenly dulled as her face was soon graced with sweet appearing smile.

Asuka in turn blinked to this sudden change. "Eh? H-Homura-chan?" She got out in confusion.

The tan skinned girl merely tilted her head to the question in confusion. "Yes Asuka~?" Homura replied in a dull yet sweet tone.

Within the girl's head however, her Persona was laughing in amusement. 'Oh God, this is hilarious!' Wolverine laughed out while the tan skinned girl's mind was taking a little vacation from both the overreacting and her roommate's innocence.

"A-Are you alright?" Asuka soon asked in concern.

"Yes I am Asuka~" Homura replied in the same tone.

This in turn caused the girl to blink some more in confusion. 'What did I just do?' Asuka thought in the same amount of concern.

'I do not know... but I believe you can abuse it.' Kaeru guessed.

"W-What!? I can't just-" Asuka stammered out in shock, however...

"Is something wrong Asuka~? I'm here for you if you need anything~" Homura replied in concern.

'Really now.' Kaeru responded in a curious manner.

"...Anything?" Asuka soon asked in a more curious manner.

"Anything for my first real friend~" Homura replied in the same tone once more. "I'll even pleasure-" She then started in a husky voice, however...

"No Homura-chan! No need for that!" Asuka exclaimed in a panic. 'Oh wow, this is weird.' She meanwhile thought. 'I should... see what all of this is about...' She decided in her head as she looked at her roommate. "Umm... repeat anything I say." She suddenly commanded.

"Anything I say~" Homura repeated.

"Ok..." Asuka slowly started.

"Ok~" Homura once more repeated after her roommate said the single word.

Silence soon fell upon the room as the Good Shinobi looked on at her roommate in shock and disbelief. 'Oh God... she's completely listening to me...' Asuka thought in shock and concern to this happening.

'Again, you can use this.' Kaeru pointed out. 'Your roommate is usually a strong willed girl and not really willing to reveal her secrets, but now would be your chance to learn more about her thanks to this... Sweet Homura.' She then added.

'But... isn't that disrespectful and deceitful towards her?' Asuka soon asked her Persona.

'Don't you want to know more about her?' Kaeru countered with her own question. 'Start by asking her if she lies.' She then suggested.

To that, Asuka gulped as she looked at her dulled expression roommate. "Um, Homura-chan, do you lie?" She soon asked.

The tan skinned girl in response nodded to that. "Yes~! A lot~! Mostly to you if I have to~! Like the time I said I would have to destroy a certain person earlier, I meant myself to protect you~!" Homura revealed in the dazed yet sweet manner.

"H-Huh!? But why Homura-chan!? Asuka asked in concern

"I do this mostly because I don't have to open my heart to people and feel soul-crushingly sadness when something inevitably happens to them when I drive them away or get them killed~!" Homura answered, all in a peppy tone similar to her roommate's.

To that answer, Asuka jaw dropped in horror as she gained a pale face. 'H-Homura-chan...' She thought in even more concern to learning this new information.

'...Are you sure you don't want to learn more about your roommate?' Kaeru once more asked in a more serious tone. 'Her in this state can give you a lot of information...' She then added.

"I think I'm good for the moment." Asuka replied in an unusually high voice, not feeling so well after learning this new piece of information.

The tan skinned girl meanwhile tilted her head in a cute manner. "Is there something wrong Asuka-chan~?" Homura soon asked.

To that question, the Good Shinobi jolted up and blinked to hearing that. '...Chan?' Asuka thought, a small yet excited smile started to form on her face.

'...Seriously? That's what convinced you.' Kaeru soon asked in a deadpan tone.

"Yes." Asuka replied as she looked at her roommate. "Homura-chan." She soon started.

"Yes Asuka-chan~?" Homura innocently replied.

"You will tell the truth Homura-chan. You will always tell the truth from now on if that is alright." Asuka commanded in a sweet tone.

The tan skinned girl merely nodded to that. "Ok, I will tell you the truth from now on Asuka-chan~" She happily replied.

The Good Shinobi in turn nodded to that. "Ok then, what do you think of me as a person?" Asuka soon asked.

Homura in response to that gave off a smile similar to her roommate's. "You're my first real friend Asuka-chan~ I secretly loved it when you called me Homu-nee but I force myself to freak out to hide the fact because I feel as though I don't deserve it~ Consciously or not~" She soon revealed.

Asuka in turn blinked to that in concern. "Huh?" She got out. "Why... why don't you feel as though you don't deserve it?" She then asked in a more worried tone.

"Because of my past~" Homura innocent replied. "I learned back then the most valuable lesson of all: trust no one, assume everyone around you is out to kill you and to never love again~ Ever~" She then revealed in the same sweet tone.

The Good Shinobi in turn paled even more to hearing that. "Um, so are there going to be... problems if I tell you about the last few minutes?" Asuka asked.

"Honestly, if I find out I was spilling out my heart to you, I would probably have a mental shutdown~" Homura admitted.

The Good Shinobi's eyes in response to hearing that widened in a fear filled manner. "D-Don't joke like that Homura-chan!" Asuka soon exclaimed in a panic.

Homura however shook her head to that. "Oh no, I don't mean like the ones caused by a Persona-user, I mean I'll freak out even more than before and move out, never seeing anyone in this shitty city ever again out of embarrassment~! I even secretly have a set of luggage ready just in case I need to leave in a hurry Asuka-chan~!" She soon revealed.

To that reveal, the Good Shinobi then looked on at her roommate as a concerned yet serious expression appeared on her face. "...Homura-chan, get rid of that luggage right away and then snap out of this state with no memory of this happening. However consciously go back into this state only if I snap my fingers here in our apartment when it's only the two of us." Asuka soon commanded in a dead serious tone.

'...Do you really want her to tell the truth?' Kaeru then asked in a serious tone. 'There are some things that should be left buried.' She soon informed.

'Yes I know that, but if it means helping Homura-chan, I want to do everything can to do so.'Asuka mentally replied.

'Don't say I didn't warned you.' Kaeru sighed out.

"Ok, anything for my first friend~" Homura happily replied as she stood up and went off to do her task.

As Asuka watched her roommate preformed her task as she revealed another piece of luggage and unpacking it, the serious expression never left her face as she started thinking. "I'm... her first real friend..." She mumbled out.

'Yes, be happy about that. Let's just ignore the fact how much effort she puts into shutting her heart to others and how she can't admit the truth to herself despite everything.' Kaeru stated in a serious manner. 'Though Sweet Homura here was willing to reveal it to you, so she must have a side to her that shows she cares for you.' She then deducted.

'But... she shouldn't have to...' Asuka mentally admitted. 'She should be allowed to... it's like Morgana-chan said, even though we're shinobi, we're still human beings...' She then added in her head.

'Of course. All human beings make mistakes.' Kaeru stated as the tan skinned girl came back and sat down.

"I finished~" Homura sweetly replied before she playfully crawled over and...

Chu!

Kissed her roommate's forehead, shocking the girl to the action as she sat back in front of her in the same matter as before. "Goodbye for now Asuka-chan~" Homura then added with a smile as the light returned to her eyes with a strained expression came to her face. "Ugh, what the hell just happened?" She got out in confusion, her voice returning to normal as she held her head in pain.

Gulping in nervousness as she quickly shook off the blush as a result from the kiss, the Good Shinobi waved it off. "Nothing! You passed out of your freak out so I watched over you!" Asuka quickly lied. "...She must never know..." She meanwhile decided in her head.

'And... that means lying to her.' Kaeru pointed out.

'...But we both are lying in some way... Call it an alternative, better option to the truth.' Asuka mentally replied. 'Homura-chan's lying about her hidden feelings and I'm lying by not telling her about Sweet Homura.' She then added.

'Is there anything else you should lie about, just in case?' Kaeru then asked.

Asuka in turn mentally groaned to that. 'Ugh, please stop trying to make me feel guilty. This is for the best and I already feel guilty from accidently controlling Homura-chan followed by you convincing me to get more of the truth out from her.' She then admitted in her head.

'You're... not... getting it... are you?' Kaeru weakly got out.

'Huh? Got what?' Asuka mentally questioned in confusion.

'You know it, and yet you only deny it so you can be closer to her.' Kaeru sighed before cutting off the connection.

Asuka however only became more confused to this with an innocent tilt of her head.

Homura meanwhile heard her Persona snickering, but decided to ignore her. "Okay then, thanks." She replied her roommate. "But both of us really need a bath now." She then added.

"No rest for the wicked, huh." Asuka replied with a small smile as she stretched in exhaustion.

"No rest for the extremely messed up people with manifestations of their psyche running around in their heads. Huh, I wonder how Akira's doing with that new roommate of his." Homura sighed out. "I can barely handle one." She then added with a smirk while only holding her towel.

Asuka in response to that puffed up her cheeks in a cute manner. "H-Homura-chan!" She got out in a embarrassed and somewhat whiny tone.

Homura's smirk never left her face to that as the two entered the bathroom. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" She replied in a playful manner as she turned on the water with steam rising. "Though, I am kinda worried about Akira." She then admitted.

"Why?" Asuka had to ask.

"I mean, he had all those Personas in his head from the Palace now. That shouldn't be good for his sanity." Homura answered. "I wonder if he can actually handle it? It's weird having one other voice in your head, but five is just... kinda worrying." She then admitted.

'Well screw you too...' Wolverine grumbled out in the girl's head in annoyance.

'You can't exactly disagree...' Kaeru mumbled in her other self's head before quickly cutting off the connection once more.

"Hey, Akira-kun's stronger than you think. He was the calmest out of all of us today." Asuka pointed out.

"That's not saying much considering other than him we had a talking cat, a loudmouth with an attitude problem, a model who just watched her friend attempt suicide, a psycho and me." Homura listed off. "Yeah, we were not 100% sane back there, huh." She then added as the tub filled up, causing her to take her roommate's hand. "Come on, the bath awaits." She stated.

"Hai! Homura-chan!" Asuka happily replied as the two got into the bath, soon sighing in relieved unison from the warmth.

"Oh yeah, this is gooood..." Homura got out in relief while stretching her arms. "Wouldn't cha say Asuka?" She then asked.

"Yeah, with everything that happened, we needed this..." Asuka replied in a relaxed tone before gaining a downtrodden expression "Not like how awkward it was this morning..." She then added.

Homura in turn winced to remembering her attitude that morning. "Yeah... sorry for not speaking about it..." She apologized in a guilt filled tone.

Asuka however shook her head to that. "No, I understand perfectly, you were angry with Kamoshida for what he done...like I was in the Palace today." She admitted in a shame filled manner.

Homura in turn crawled over to her roommate and rubbed her head in a tender manner. "Hey, emotions are a powerful thing that can strengthen or weaken you. It just depends on how you use them. We both experienced what can happen when it overwhelms you, so let's work on trying and control them and use them for our own purposes." She explained.

'Well those are some wise words coming from you.' Wolverine admitted.

'I'll take that as an insult.' Homura mentally sighed out.

Asuka meanwhile looked at her roommate in amazement. "Wow Homura-chan, that was so cool." She got out.

The tan skinned girl merely giggled to that as she sat next to her roommate. "Thanks, having a Persona really gave me a new perspective on things..." Homura then revealed in a solemn tone.

To hearing that, the Good Shinobi smiled to the trust filled words, but then she remember what her roommate said in her sweet state from earlier. "Hey Homura-chan?" Asuka suddenly started.

"Yeah?" Homura replied in relaxed concern.

Asuka then took in a deep breath as she looked at her roommate while unintentionally placing her hand on top of hers. "Do you think... having that argument we had in the Palace was necessary?" She soon asked.

"Hmm?" Homura hummed out in confusion. "What do you mean?" She then asked.

"Well..." Asuka started. "It was like you said... I really was acting like a bitch... not just for acting like the old you Homura-chan... but more from my own anger..." She soon admitted as she unintentionally held her roommate's hand tighter.

"Guess you've been saving that anger for a while, huh?" Homura muttered out in a serious tone to remembering the events.

"Maybe? I thought I got it all out when I got Kaeru but...I guess not." Asuka soon said.

"Hey, it's not easy to let go. Especially when you've been holding on for too long." Homura replied in a gloomy tone. "I know it all too well to be honest..." She then admitted.

"Yeah." Asuka sighed out as she stared up at the ceiling. "Hey Homura-chan... we can still be friends right? Be honest with me this time." She then got out.

"I haven't stopped being your friend." Homura immediately replied.

"...Am I... your first real friend though?" Asuka soon asked. "I mean I have my friends at Hanzō Academy and I do enjoy being around them, but they were by us being in the same class together." She then added.

"Are you trying to make excuses? I am your friend. You are my first friend. End of story." Homura stated as she leaned back and closed her eyes. "Now can we be quiet now? I just wanna soak here for a while." She soon requested in a relaxed tone. '...HOW THE HELL DID SHE LEARN THAT!?' She meanwhile internally panicked after realizing what her roommate had asked.

'Hahaha! Wouldn't you like to know!' Wolverine remarked in amusement.

Homura's mouth in turn twitched to that as she decided to ignore her other self to relax in the bath.

Asuka in response nodded to that as she also leaned back and closed her eyes as the hot steam continued to fill the air, though didn't let go of her roommate's hand.

---

(Fast Forward)

Sae soon sighed to the details that she was being given. "Again, how exactly do you know about all these details about what those girls do in their apartment if you weren't there? Is half of that even true!? Why is a bathing session so important!?" She then questioned.

"Look, do you want information or not? Because this shit is important." Akira rhetorically asked, causing the prosecutor to sigh again. "Good, I see we understand each other. Anyway..." He continued.

(Rewind)

---

Thirty minutes later, the two shinobi got out of the bath as they dry themselves off and wrapped the towels around their chest.

"Well that was relaxing..." Asuka admitted as she held her towel. "We should visit a hot springs soon." She then suggested.

"Then we should get jobs because I don't think it's in our budget right now." Homura replied. "But yeah, that sounds heavenly." She then admitted in agreement.

"Right?" Asuka replied in agreement. "I was actually curious about the place where Akira lives... a coffee shop sounds like a good job." She then revealed.

"Do you know what or where it is?" Homura soon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well... it's in Yongen-Jaya." Asuka awkwardly answered. "I'll look it up on my phone when we have the time." She then added.

Pipipipipipipipi!

"Speaking of our phones." Homura got out as they went over and grabbed their phones, quickly opening up the IM.

---

[Sweetkat06: Hey. Thanks for everything today.]

[Sweetkat06: You saved me, and I didn't even thank you properly.]

[TheWildJ0ker: It's fine. Really. Don't worry about it.]

[FireGirl20: Besides, YOU saved US with Carmen. We should be thanking you.]

[FireGirl20: Er, thank you. By the way.]

[Shut7heFUp: Yeah. You were awesome out there!]

[SushiRoll23: I knew you could do it, Ann-chan!]

[Sweetkat06: Thanks guys. I just wanted to let you all know.]

[Sweetkat06: I'll see you all tomorrow.]

---

Asuka sighed as she then plug her phone into the charger. "Well at least Ann-chan's feeling slightly better after what happened." She got out in relief. "But until we take down Kamoshida, we aren't in the clear right Homura-chan?" She then asked as she dropped her towel and covered her chest with one of her arms.

Homura in turn shook her head to that. "No one is until he confesses and is gone from our lives, so we better give it our all." She soon declared as she also plugged her phone into the charger while dropping her towel.

"Yep. Everyone's counting on us, even if they don't know it." Asuka replied. "Even when everyone turns on us thanks to Kamoshida's lies..." She then added.

"I don't care about that. It's about helping people after all, even if we're still hated in the end..." Homura soon declared. "I'm already used to it either way..." She then admitted.

"Well, no matter what happens we still have our friends." Asuka reminded as she then took her roommate's hand. "And I'll never hate you Homura-chan." She then declared. "After after learning more about you..." She meanwhile thought.

"I'm... actually not so sure about that. But I'll try." Homura hesitantly replied.

"Ne-ver Homura-chan." Asuka slowly repeated with a pouting face. "You suffered enough. Never again." She then added in a determined tone.

"It's a long road ahead before that happens." Homura sighed out.

The Good Shinobi however narrowed her eyes to that as she released the other girl's hand. "...I don't give a damn Homura-chan." Asuka then harsh declared in a tone similar to her roommate's. "I'll make sure no one suffers again and it all starts with you." She then added as she started getting into her pajamas.

Slightly surprised to her roommate saying that, Homura looked towards the other girl to see that she was dead serious. "This is really stupid... but I'll help you when I can. Can't do it solo, no matter who you are." She replied as she got her pajamas on.

"Thanks." Asuka replied as she threw herself into the tan skinned girl's futon. "And no more single person futons, we're sharing from now on, got it Homura-chan?" She then demanded in a similar tone to her roommate's once more.

"I'll buy one on Sunday. Now move over." Homura replied with a sigh as she crawled in. "You're starting to become really bossy now." She then admitted.

The Good Shinobi in turn smirked to that. "Well as Vice Leader, I must take command when Joker is not available Yang." Asuka playfully joked out.

"Got it, Yin. I will follow you wherever you go. Even where you sleep." Homura jokingly remarked with her own smirk before realizing what she said. 'That... sounded creepy now that I think about it.' She thought.

'Yah think?" Wolverine remarked in amusement. 'Like how your roommate's letting out her inner self that's like you, you are doing the same except you having a bit of her in you. You two are indeed like Yin and Yang.' She then declared.

Homura however rolled her eyes to that. 'Yeah, like that'll ever happen. Me like Asuka? I can't see it.' She muttered to herself.

The Good Shinobi however tilted her head as she heard what her roommate said. "Homura-chan, what was that about you becoming like me?" Asuka meanwhile asked in confusion.

The tan skinned girl in turn sighed to that. "Actually I'm just telling my Persona that I will never be like you." Homura however revealed.

"...Is that a bad thing?" Asuka soon asked in a innocent manner.

"Not at all. It's only because I don't see it. Wolverine said it's because we're like a representation of the yin yang symbol and due to you acting a bit like me." Homura soon explained.

"But...I'm just trying to toughen up." Asuka admitted. "I think me acting like you is unintentional Homura-chan." She then added.

'Unintentional or not, you are indeed changing.' Kaeru however stated. 'For better or worse, however, are paths I cannot guide you down. They are your own to make, so make sure to choose wisely.' She soon revealed and advised at the same time.

Asuka in turn nodded to that as she looked at her roommate. "Homura-chan, was it that weird of me acting like you?" She then asked in concern.

The tan skinned girl in turn sighed to that. "It was more... worrying than weird." Homura answered. "It's getting late, we should get some sleep." She then suggested.

"School is not going to be great tomorrow." Asuka sighed out after nodding in agreement.

"Well we were already outcast by our appearances and for hanging out with the delinquents, it really shouldn't matter at this point." Homura then admitted as she closed her eyes.

"...Yeah, I guess that's true..." Asuka got out with a yawn escaping her lips as she snuggled up to her roommate, a small smile gracing her face. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow. Good night Homura-chan." She whispered as she closed her eyes. "And thanks for helping me today..." She then mumbled out.

Homura meanwhile reopened her eyes to hearing that as she gave a small smile of her own bringing the other girl in close to her, causing her to gasp slightly as she held her roommate close to her with a small giggle escaping her lips from the reaction. "Yeah, night Asuka." She replied in a slightly playful manner as she also closed her eyes. "And I should be thanking you..." She mumbled out in a grateful manner.

---

Save Game... Quit!

Ugh... Yep. Definitely the longest. 48,383 Words including this crap! Next chapter is either Girl's Day Out or a Confidant chapter. I don't know. I'm going crazy. I nearly failed several classes for not getting a perfect score on a multiple choice quiz that I can easily cheat because they let you take it again online.

UknownHero signing off, my friends!