Sorry for the late upload! UknownHero here and welcome to another chapter of Senran Persona. Don't really have much to say, other than I recently hacked my 3DS. Maybe I'll finally play a Senran Kagura game. And since I finally began to accept this is kinda harem story, there may be things coming up that complicate things. You know, you'd think this story being part of a community called "Harem and Super Powered Heroes" would've tipped me off.

Senran Persona has a TV Tropes page. Please check it out because it is a lot of chapters behind.

Onto the reviews. To a random guest: It is fear, and Hibari's biggest fear is returning to her family with nothing to show. Akira just assumed Despair. To alaude hibari: You know, just writing "update" doesn't make us write faster. To IsseixAtalanta777: Actually, I've been thinking of giving away some of my stories, and I'd love to see A Simple Mission Rebirth done by someone else who knew what they were doing. Feel free to PM me if you want it because RWBY still traumatises me. To KingJGamer: Bebeby is…Bebeby because at this point she's her own character.

Anyways, that's it! Time to get through this dumpster fire of a part.

You'll know when I got lazy.

Load Game…Start!

Chapter 122: Invaders of the Space Station 2

(9/19, Afternoon)

(Kunikazu's Space Station of Greed, Central Factory)

As the Thieves continued through the space station, the atmosphere continued to become more and more tense. And not just because there was less and less oxygen available for them to breathe.

Joker then noticed something they were just about to pass by. "Hey, look at that." He got out as he stopped in front of a large window.

"Windows on a space station..." Serpent muttered with a frown. "Such a structural weakness." She then remarked.

"This is called the airlock area..." Panther breathed out as she looked out the window. "Wait, does that mean we have to go out into space!?" She then exclaimed.

"Ah crap." Yin swore as Mona, Yang, and Noir flinched.

"To put it lightly, I believe such an action without proper equipment will lead to our extermination." Fox stated as he shook his head.

"I mean, we lasted a minute or two out in space." Yang muttered as she scratched the back of her head.

"That's because you're all insanely strong and Mona...we don't know a lot about Mona." Joker pointed out. "I, for one, don't want to risk that." He then added.

"So, what are we gonna do? Go and find space suits?" Serpent questioned. "Apart from Haru's father, most of the workforce here don't need air. They're probably all in the CEO's office, and that's probably not in the cards." She then muttered with a frown.

"Wellllll, apparently you'll be okay for like thirty seconds if you keep your eyes and mouth shut. Which is weird, but Yin-Yang-Mo have proven that we won't explode...probably." Oracle soon informed and assumed.

"Don't say probably!" Skull called out in a panicked manner.

"Well, either way, we're gonna have to travel through space." Queen stated. "It's not like it's the deadliest thing we've ever done." She then pointed out.

"I concur." Yang grumbled under her breath.

"Wait, why does this place look familiar?" Yin suddenly got out with widened eyes.

"Yeah, I'm getting that...feeling...too..." Mona agreed before the Thieves slowly turned their heads to a particular area of the large window.

As it turns out, the said window had been damaged before.

With scraps of metal crappily welded on to cover the hole...made from a grenade launcher. With several dead Corporobos floating outside.

"You totally got spaced." Serpent whispered in disbelief.

"...THIS IS THE REPAIR JOB!?" Yang exclaimed as she glared at the hastily repaired window. She could even feel the vacuum of space leaking out from the cracks.

"Well, they did say something about budget cuts..." Mona awkwardly recalled.

The hacker soon sucked in air through her teeth. "Yeah, we might wanna get going before that seal fails." Oracle suggested in a nervous manner.

"There's a safe room right there." Panther stated as she pointed at a distorted-looking entrance. "Maybe it would be best to be in there. You know, just in case." She then added in a slightly nervous tone as she saw a few more cracks begin to grow from the crappily repaired hole in the window.

"Hai, sounds great." The Vice Leader hastily agreed with a nod. "Let's go." She then got out as she pushed the Thieves towards the safe room.

(Central Factory Safe Room)

As soon as everyone was inside, they nervously inched away from the door hoping that in the next few seconds they wouldn't all be sucked out into space or they began losing precious air in here.

"These doors better be airtight..." Queen muttered in worry.

"Given the severe lack of JISHA compliance measures here, I suggest we use this time wisely." Fox replied.

"Dude, don't say that!" Skull exclaimed as they all began to sit down around the table. "And what the hell's JISHA?" He then asked in confusion.

"You seem rather scared, Skull." Noir noted with a tilt of her head, ignoring his extra question.

"How can I not be?" Skull however countered. "I do not wanna die by suffocation, dammit." He then stated, hitting his fist on the table.

"Well, if worse comes to worse, Wind skills and items can create some air to breathe." Mona informed. "You just need to tell...oh, right." He then began before trailing off and recalling the issue.

"Better stick by Mona or Joker then." Yang soon stated.

"I have a bunch of Pinwheels we can use too." Yin spoke up as she showed the item to everyone. "You can stick by me as well." She then offered.

"That's a relief..." Fox breathed out. "Now, do we have something we wish to discuss before we continue our infiltration?" He then questioned.

Seeing that no one was taking up the offer, the Vice Leader decided to speak up. "I've been wondering," Yin began. "Do you think there are ray guns for us to use here?" She suddenly asked.

"Ray guns?" Panther repeated.

"Yeah. We're in space, so wouldn't there be ray guns lying around?" The Vice Leader soon pointed out.

"I doubt the CEO would leave weap-" The navigator began before stopping herself, seeing the newest team member and her Big Bang Burger-branded axe. "Well, he'd probably...ray guns aren't real." Oracle meanwhile whispered to herself in an awkward manner.

"None of the robots have used ray guns on us." Joker then pointed out. "Or railguns. Or lightsabers. Or anything else that would be hazardous to our lifespan." He then added.

"The CEO must not want any of the workers rising up, so he doesn't provide any sort of protection." Mona assumed. "All the workers have to rely on their skills alone." He then added.

"Sort of like real life." Queen muttered with a frown.

"At least it makes fights against them easier." Noir stated.

"Anything else?" Mona soon asked the team.

"Joker, do you need a massage?" Yin soon asked. "I brought some super fancy oil this time!" She then revealed.

"Ehh...I'm still good." The Leader assured as he rolled his shoulders. "Besides, there's nowhere we can do it privately." He then pointed out.

"Oh. Right." Yin somehow sheepishly got out. "Maybe in the next room then." She then decided.

"All of these safe rooms have looked the same." Fox pointed out. "It would be best to create your own private area." He then stated.

"Hmm...not sure if it's possible in here, though." Joker confessed.

"We could probably make something from the scraps..." Oracle suggested as she glanced at the boxes.

"Make what, exactly?" Queen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I dunno, like...a wall?" The hacker answered with a shrug.

"A...wall?" Fox repeated.

"We won't even come back here, Oracle." Joker pointed out. "Let's not waste the energy." He then added.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on...a massage?" Panther however interjected, looking at their two leaders. "And...some super fancy oil? Excuse me?" She then added.

"It's actually one of my support skills any time we're in a safe room." Yin explained to her before facing the Leader. "...You have the money, right?" She then assumed.

"Plenty." The Leader assured. "...Can this be done for anyone or just me?" Joker soon asked.

"Anyone can get the Foxy Healing, actually." Yin confirmed. "Just give me the money, and let me do my job." She then informed.

"How much?" Widow pressed.

"It depends, but it's usually around the 100,000 yen range..." The Vice Leader informed as she poked her fingers together.

"One hundred thousa– what the shit!?" Skull spat out in shock while the artist went blue with shock, though was not clearly shown under his mask.

"The oil's really expensive, okay?!" Yin explained. "And I don't want to cheap out on something like that." She then added.

"Well, that rules Inari out of getting one." Serpent got out.

"Why?" Fox asked ahead.

"You're constantly broke! You suck at managing your money!" Yang called out.

"No, not that. Why does Serpent here insist on calling me Inari as well? It's Fox." Fox corrected her.

"Force of habit. Blame the Futaba Sakura in the real world." Serpent simply replied, almost in a nonchalant and joking way.

"...This is somehow ridiculous." Fox sighed in slight defeat.

"Wait...this Foxy Healing thing...so someone has to...strip or something?" Queen spoke slowly in realization.

"Well...yeah, so I can put the oil on you and do the Foxy Healing massage." Yin reluctantly responded. "It's only the upper body though. I'm not gonna rub your butt." She then stated.

"*Cough* Hashtag ButtRubbing. *Cough*" Oracle coughed out.

"Shut up, Oracle." Yang deadpanned, noticing the glare from the white haired woman directed at the hacker.

"Can't you pay for it, Leader?" Widow soon asked. "I know you keep all your money on you at all times." She then added.

"...While also paying for all the weapons, armor, items, and training." Joker soon reminded in a flat tone. "Yeah, I think everyone's on their own for this one." He then stated.

"Yeah, that's fair." Queen soon admitted, everyone else soon nodding in agreement.

"Soo...who wants to have the Foxy Healing massage, then?" Yin soon offered.

Everyone in the room went silent as they glanced at each other.

"I'd...rather go to Protein Lovers, thanks." Skull replied, inserting his hands in his pants' pockets.

"This is completely different from pumping dumbbells, Skull. " Panther deadpanned with hands on her hips.

Soon enough, Queen raised a hand, surprising the other civilian thieves. "If it is not too much trouble. I'm honestly feeling a bit stiff" She responded and confessed while rolling her shoulders.

"If you say so, Queen. Yin replied with a nod. "Do you have the money, by the way?" She then asked.

To that, the brunette nodded...before blushing a bit. "My...My wallet is..." Queen started as she glanced down at her bust.

"In between your breasts, I assume?" Joker observed, noticing her glance.

Queen blushed a bit in silence with her hands clasped in front of her below her waist.

"You...actually hid your wallet there, Queen?" Panther got out in disbelief.

"Um...yes." Queen responded in an awkward manner.

"Huh, you placed it there too like I did my old scroll." Yin noted.

"Mine too." Yang got out.

"Same here." Serpent informed as she blinked.

"...Myself as well." Widow confessed with a raised hand.

"So you're experimenting to see if your boobs can become your secret extra pockets." Oracle stated as she observed. "Wow, good for you, Queen." She then got out, giving a thumbs-up along with a grin.

"Usually, shinobis have to be able to hide their Tenshin scrolls somewhere on their bodies." Serpent explained. "Though myself and the others here don't even have to do that now." She then revealed as the other shinobis in the Phantom Thieves nodded in agreement.

"It must be because gaining your Personas gave you more control over your Tenshins here in the Metaverse to the point you don't even need to hold onto a scroll now." Mona deducted. "However, it won't be applied in the real world...I think." He then added.

"That's a...an interesting theory you got there, Mona." Fox commented.

"Well, that's what I thought of it." The not cat replied. "There's still a lot of unknowns how the Metaverse interacts with shinobi. For now, let's just be glad nothing terrible has happened to them." Morgana then added.

"..." The shinobi stared blankly at the not cat as he suddenly remembered everything they've been through throughout the year in the Metaverse alone. Including today.

"Let me reword that; it hasn't killed them." Mona corrected.

"Yet." Serpent added in a flat tone.

"Don't jinx it, guys." Joker muttered with crossed arms before facing the two brunettes. "Anyway, Yin, Queen, you're gonna do the Foxy Healing session now or what?" He soon asked.

"On it, Joker. Okay, Queen. Just strip down your outfit only to your waist." Yin then instructed in a nonchalant manner.

"R-Right..." Queen reluctantly replied, somehow a bit hesitant on stripping herself half-naked for the massage.

"Are we all...fine with seeing Queen's naked upper body?" Noir soon asked in concern.

"I mean we've already seen most of us, if not everyone, naked at some point." Joker reminded as he adjusted his gloves.

"Not me though." Oracle spoke up. "I just got tasteful battle damage. Not like I engage in direct combat all the time." She then added.

"It doesn't mean we don't need a little privacy." Panther however reminded

"Fair enough, I suppose." Joker stated with a nod. "At the very least, we all trust each other's boundaries." He then added.

"Yeah...right." Yang muttered.

After a bit of much needed courage, Queen began removing her corset, setting it aside, and then stripping her black inner skin tight suit off...

BOING!

And released her developing mammies, causing her to sigh. "Every time now..." Queen mumbled with a blush.

"Hey, Skull, your soon-to-be-girlfriend did that." Oracle spoke to him in a teasing manner.

"Wait what?" Skull got out in confusion, snapping out of his slight trance from seeing the advisor's bare breasts for a moment.

"No prolonged staring or ogling, please." Queen reluctantly requested with a slight blush on her face.

"Sure. Just quick glances from time to time, but not too much, of course." Joker reassured her.

Queen sighed. "Perverts." She then mumbled.

"What the hell did you mean by soon-to-be-girlfriend!?" Skull however asked the hacker's sudden claim, facing her.

"Not important, Skull." Panther waved off.

"It's a little important to me, Panther!" Skull argued. "I don't hang out with a lotta girls outside of you guys so I wanna know what that means!" He then got out before pausing to think. "...Wait, you don't mean one of the effin' creepy dudes, right?" He soon guessed in a fearful manner.

"Oh my God, you are so oblivious, Skull." Oracle muttered in disbelief. "I can't believe you don't see that-" She then began.

"Let him figure it out for himself, Oracle." Joker interrupted. "It'll be better that way." He then stated.

Oracle's eyes widened to that. "Oooh, setting up a dating sim moment. Gotcha." She then got out with a thumbs-up.

"Aw come on!" Skull groaned as he threw his hands in the air, giving up on finding out from his friends.

Soon, Yin found something akin to a curtain of sorts and hung it up so the others couldn't see them, only their shadows now being visible, before clearing a space. "Alright, Queen, Just simply lie down on the long seat here and relax." She soon instructed as she removed her brown gloves.

"Okay..." Queen replied as she laid herself down in a prone position on the makeshift bed, pressing her breasts against it. "Ngh, my nipples..." She then muttered softly as her nipples touched the cold seat.

"Uh...do you wanna quiet down over there?" Panther got out as she unconsciously rubbed her chest.

"We'll try." Yin responded as the Advisor adjusted herself and laid down. "Okay, Queen, get ready. One Foxy Healing massage coming up." She soon declared with a smile as she picked up her special oil, popping it open and poured oil on her hands before rubbing them.

And then, after a short second, all (stimulating) hell went loose.

The Vice Leader's shadow appeared to be on top of the advisor's while rubbing down her back. "Oh~ Oh~ Oooooh~ Fuck this is divine~!" Queen moaned out in satisfaction, her voice sounding an octave higher than usual for some reason.

"Hehe, glad you think so." Yin replied with a giggle.

"H-How are you so goooooood at this~" Queen soon sighed out, feeling the oil spreading on her entire back and the pressing of the Vice Leader's hands as she moved them with intricate movements.

"I've been watching a lot of tutorials and practicing wherever I could." Yin answered. "Oh, this spot feels tough. Let me..." She then remarked before...

"AAAAHHHNNNN~!" Queen got out in a pleased manner.

The rest of the Thieves looked dumbfounded as they heard such noises, especially from the Advisor since she never was one to make noises like that.

"Oh god no." Skull whispered in disbelief as his fingers fidget.

"It appears Queen is enjoying it." Fox simply noted with crossed arms.

"We can hear it." Panther deadpanned.

"It would seem so." Noir agreed as she observed the session. "Are massages really that good? I haven't been through one, though." She soon asked and confessed.

"Just...Just keep your eyes forward." Widow stated, a small blush beginning to appear on her face.

"...Is Queen the Queen of Fanservice right now...?" Oracle suddenly described aloud, adjusting her goggles.

"Eyes forward!" Serpent ordered.

"There! There! There! Yes! Ahhhnnn~!" The advisor continued to moan. "Oh, that knot was there since first year...~" She then breathed in relief.

"...Oh yeah, Queen needed this..." Yang got out with a wince to hear that second part. Having a knot for three years did not sound good.

"Now if only she didn't sound like she was filming a- n-never mind." Joker began, only to stop continuing his train of thought immediately in fear of getting punched in the throat.

"...I am so glad we're not in Shujin Academy right now." Panther soon confessed, her head as red as her suit.

"Or anywhere else with other actual people around other than us." Serpent muttered. Man, this only made her want a massage too. Maybe from a professional though.

"Oh? Are they actually preferred to be done in a private setting?" Noir decided to ask in an innocent manner.

CRACK!

"Mmmm~! Oooooooh~!" Queen continued moaning...loudly.

"Oh, this is gonna be a very awkward few minutes..." Joker muttered as he pulled out his phone, hoping his games would work in the Metaverse.

After what seemed to be two hours instead of a few minutes...

The group soon watched as the shadow of the Vice Leader appeared to stop on the other side of the curtain. "Alright, I'm done with the massage, Queen." Yin informed as she wiped her hands before putting her gloves back on. Just then, the Advisor stepped out with a blissful expression on her face. "How are you feeling?" She soon asked.

"Mmm~ It was amazing." Queen hummed out and confessed in a satisfied and chipper tone. "Thank you Yin. I feel completely reenergized and loosened up now." She then revealed.

"You're welcome." Yin responded with a proud look on her face.

"It looks like Queen's all done." Mona noted in relief. "SP fully restored..." He then revealed.

"That will be...146,900 yen." Yin informed, causing the others to be shocked.

In response however, Queen calmly nodded as she took out the amount of money needed. "Worth every yen." She confirmed with a smile.

The Vice Leader nodded to that before turning to her teammates. "If anyone wants a Foxy Healing massage, you know who to talk to." Yin soon offered. "Only in safe rooms, by the way. Can't have Shadows interrupting." She then added.

Oracle began to raise her hand...only for Serpent to put it back down with crossed eyes on her expression.

"You okay there, Skull?" Serpent asked him, noticing the dyed blonde sitting on the ground while hugging his legs.

"Huh?" Skull got out, having essentially blanked out the entire time the advisor had her massage. "O-Oh, y-yeah, g-great. Queen's finally done." He then mumbled out.

"He can't resist the moans from Queen during her massage." Oracle teased. "And it looks like some people are showing their true colors." She then added.

Three of the male Thieves except a certain one wearing red gloves instinctively shifted a little in their seats...as well as Yang and Panther...who were now beginning to become curious about the massage...

"This is so much better than an ecchi anime..." The hacker soon sighed in a dreamy manner.

GRIP!

The white haired woman however then grabbed the orangette's head. "What was that?" Serpent questioned, her eyes glowing purple while the shadows covered her face as a menacing aura surrounded her.

"I-I was just talking about anime, Serpent!" Oracle panickingly informed in fear. "No big deal or anything!" She then added.

"Didn't you promise to tone it down young lady?" Serpent however reminded, calming herself down a bit.

"I did." Oracle replied somehow loudly. "H-How much toning down does it have to be?" She then asked.

"Where you don't treat this as if you're watching the first twenty seconds of a hentai." Joker answered while spinning his phone with one finger. "...A minute if it has a good plot." He then added.

"Hentai?" Noir repeated with a raised eyebrow. "How does watching an actual pervert for twenty seconds or a minute relate to this situation? And what plot are you referring to, Leader?" She soon asked.

"No, not a person, Noir. Just some random animation style, Noir." Joker immediately lied to her smoothly. "No need to dwell on it too much."

"I...am curious what it is, though..." Noir murmured her confession.

"Just don't, Noir. Don't, for your own sake. And don't even think about it, Oracle, if you're hearing this." Joker decided and added without facing the hacker herself. "Anyway, alright, is everyone ready to leave?" He soon asked as he rolled his shoulders.

"Yep." Mona responded as everyone nodded.

"Alright, let the infiltration continue!" The Leader declared as the door slid open behind him.

(Central Factory)

As soon as everyone left the safe room (and made sure there was actually breathable air), the Thieves headed over to a circular window with a symbol and a blue "Active" border around it. Through it, they could see another symbol on the other side.

"Alpha?" Queen noticed.

"This is the airlock?" Serpent got out with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, this is just begging to be broken at some point." She then muttered.

"It looks like it's connected to the other closed structure over there." Fox soon assumed.

"So...who's going first?" Panther asked.

"Not it!" Yin, Yang, Noir, and Mona instantly turned down as they stepped away from the airlock.

"Yeah, that's understandable." Joker conceded before turning to the others. "Does anyone else want to-" He then began, only to see everyone else had stepped back as well.

"You got this, Leader!" Noir cheered.

"We'll follow after you." Fox added with a nod.

"Dude, I just kinda don't want to." Serpent admitted with a shrug. "Shinobi aren't trained to go to space." She then added.

"...You owe me guys for this one day." Joker sighed in slight defeat. "Alright, I'm going first." He then stated.

"We'll be here in case something happens!" Skull assured.

"Okay, close your eyes and mouth, and pray you don't explode..." Joker whispered to himself before stepping forward. "This is the greatest plaaaaan~!" He then suddenly sang out.

"Huh?" Yang only got out with a raised eyebrow while the navigator started snickering.

Suddenly, the airlock opened, sucking Joker into space. He flailed his limbs around in panic for a short moment before managing to calm down. He soon noticed he was being taken directly to the other side, with no deviations in his path. Soon, the airlock opened for him on the other floating-like structure and he rolled inside, with it soon sealing right back up before any more air got sucked out.

The rest of the Thieves on the previous structure stared at the scene.

"Uh...what?" Serpent got out in slight disbelief.

"He made it!" Mona exclaimed with a smile.

"Okay, who's next?" Oracle then asked.

"..." Everyone looked at each other, expecting one of them to step forward, and yet no one did.

"Urgh...fine. Okay, we're going." Yang finally relented as she, Mona, Yin and Noir stepped forward. "We did it before, we can do it again. Maybe better this time." She then added.

"Okay. Here goes!" Yin declared just as the airlock opened, sucking them into space once again.

"...There goes all our emergency sources of air." Serpent suddenly realized.

"Yep." Panther got out in a flat tone.

"Did not think that through." Skull admitted with a wince.

"Let's just go..." Widow sighed as she approached the airlock next.

One by one, the others began making their way to the other side through the airlock. Some landed gracefully, others landed on their face, but at least everyone made it inside the next area safely.

THUD!

"Ugh..." Skull groaned as he face-planted.

"There is probably a better way to do that..." Fox breathed out, supporting himself on his knees while recovering from the jump.

"Necro is not space-worthy!" Oracle panted out, sucking in as much air as she could.

"H-Holy crap! We just flew through space with no suits! Palaces are amazing!" Skull got out in disbelief as he picked himself off the ground.

"Yang was right. It's not a true vacuum outside. Still, that took years off my life..." Queen groaned.

"At least other stuff won't be as scary to me anymore..." Panther admitted with a sigh.

"There's always something to make you more afraid." Serpent pointed out.

"Don't take it away from me." The ash blonde bluntly pleaded.

The hacker soon looked behind them and raised her eyebrow at the symbol."Isn't that the God of War symbol?" Oracle pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"That's an omega." Yang deadpanned. "From the Greek alphabet." She then added.

"Never was interested in Greek stuff..." The hacker soon admitted, waving it off.

"Alpha and Omega. Beginning and end." Joker muttered with a frown. "Guess it tells us which is the entrance and exit." He then assumed.

"Hey, there's a lift over here!" Noir called out, having wandered over to it.

"Well that was...easy." Serpent got out, blinking. "Good job team, let's keep this up." She then sarcastically praised with a thumbs-up.

The Leader looked at the woman weirdly before the Thieves headed over to where Noir was. "Going up." Joker declared as the lift took them up towards the next area.

(Transfer Line)

"Whoa..." Yin breathed out as they stared out into space once again. It seems they were using the airlocks to transfer stuff between factories.

"It seems we need to move in the same manner as before." Fox remarked.

"While also making sure not to get hit by giant hunks of...whatever the hell those are." Yang added.

"To think we'd end up flying through space...the awe I felt at seeing that flying bank feels like a distant memory at this point." Queen admitted with widened eyes.

"Yeah, that sounds like it pales in comparison." The navigator got out. "...You know, I am seriously afraid that Project Utopia is just turning the goddamn space station into a giant mecha. That we have to fight." Oracle then admitted.

"Again with mechas, Oracle?" Widow questioned.

"Most of the tougher guys we fought here are robots, it wouldn't be too absurd to think." Oracle insisted.

"...Honestly, she is right." Fox agreed with a nod.

"Stop it. If you say it enough, it might become a reality." Panther warned. "It hasn't happened before, but we better not poke such a hornet's nest!" She then got out in a somewhat paranoid manner.

A few of the others blinked at the ash blonde before deciding to turn forward and ignore it. "Come on, we got more space travel to get through..." Joker muttered before walking towards the airlock in front of them.

"Okay, who's going-" Mona began.

"Everyone." Joker immediately answered as the airlock immediately opened up and sucked everyone through.

They made it to the other side safe enough...it just ended with more people landing on anything but their face.

"Y-Yeah...that was faster..." Panther panted out as the Thieves began to pick themselves off the ground. "Huh? Wait a second..." She then started in realization.

"Inactive..." Yin read out loud.

"Some airlocks are working, but some aren't?" Skull soon asked in annoyance.

"See! Begging to be broken." Serpent grumbled with a sigh.

"I hope we can reach our goal with just the ones that are on..." Queen mumbled in worry.

"Hmm...we need to get past here, though. Guess we can't just sit around. Let's keep going." Oracle encouraged, although she still needed a second to recover from flying through again.

Once everyone felt well enough to keep going, they continued exploring the area making sure to take out Shadows and loot anything they came across. Eventually...

"Are these...switches?" Yin spoke up as they approached two switches on a nearby wall, marked with an Alpha symbol and Omega symbol.

"There is something written above each one. These symbols..." Queen stated.

"I guess it turns on which one is active." Yang assumed.

"Oh, I'm getting this ominous feeling that this will get annoying real fast." Oracle muttered.

"How come?" Panther had to ask.

"Gamer instincts." The hacker answered as she tapped the side of her head.

"Life is not a game, Oracle. I keep telling you that." Serpent sighed out.

"I reject your reality and substitute my own." Oracle confidently countered.

"...Moving on." The white haired woman muttered in defeat as the Thieves continued on, making sure to use the switches to activate the right airlocks to get where they wanted to Eventually...

"Safe room!" Skull announced, noticing the distorted-looking mechanical door. "Everyone wanna take a quick break?" He then asked.

"Yeah." Fox breathed out as he supported himself on his knees. They had a really tough fight a few minutes ago and that took a lot out of him.

"Alright, everyone in!" Joker announced as he ushered the team inside.

(Transfer Line Safe Room)

The Thieves soon entered the safe room and let out a sigh of relief. Another break from the insanity of the current Palace.

"Does it feel like the air is fresher here?" Noir spoke up, taking in the slightly cooler air in the room.

"It...kinda does." Yin replied.

"It's probably not fresh air." Joker assumed. "Most likely it's recycled, freshened up, and pumped back in." He then added.

"Fresh air probably costs a lot of money to get from Earth." Queen muttered.

"I doubt Okumura would have that much of an imagination to think of something like that." Serpent however countered.

"Then why was he wearing a space suit?" Fox questioned.

"Imagery?" Panther answered with a shrug as the Thieves sat down around the table.

"Dude, I could totally get used to all this flyin' through space shit! But we're almost at the end..." Skull got out with a chuckle.

"You had a serious 180." Joker remarked.

"I disagree with you, Skull." Widow spoke up with a sigh. "My chest feels so...odd whenever we do." She then mumbled as she rubbed her chest a little.

"Ugh...we are never gonna escape from boobs are we?" Panther mumbled out as she rubbed her forehead.

"I must actually admit that I do feel this as well." Queen admitted with a blush.

"Well, zero gravity does make boobs sort of free float around and jiggle." Joker then pointed out before glancing over to the shinobi, whose chests were jiggling a bit just from breathing. "Well...more than usual, anyways." He then added.

"Okay, expected that fact for Oracle." Yang grumbled before looking over to the navigator, only to see how sickly she looked. "Huh? Is something wrong, Oracle?" She soon asked.

Serpent instantly moved closer and began rubbing her younger girl's back. "She must've gotten motion sickness..." She muttered in concern.

"It's not that much further to the Treasure, Oracle. Hang in there!" Mona encouraged.

"Mm...I'll try." Oracle responded with a nod.

"I do wonder how all this traversal through space will affect our bodies in the long run..." Widow muttered. "Should we get another check up, just in case?" She soon asked.

"That's a pretty low chance." Queen got out with a frown. "Outside of first awakenings, none of us have gotten sick. Actually, I feel healthier than I've ever been in my life." She then confessed.

"That's probably because of all the running around we do." Skull assumed with a shrug.

"Keeping everyone healthy is a top priority though, and we can't take any chances. I don't want everyone here to survive this entire experience, only to die of ghost cancer in a few years." Joker soon pointed out. "We'll stop by Takemi's Clinic after all is said and done." He then decided.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Yang agreed with a nod. "So...will we all go together? Some of us did put it off for a while last time." She then asked and reminded.

"We can make it a team hangout day!" Noir got out.

"And what better way to start it off than going to a back alley clinic..." Serpent added. "I mean, I'm all up for it." She then added.

"Is everyone in agreement?" Joker soon asked.

"Hai!" Everyone responded with a nod.

"Alright, that's going on the schedule." The Leader got out as he quickly took out his notebook and wrote it down. "And...there. Is everyone ready to head out?" He then asked as he pulled on his red gloves.

"Hai!" The Thieves once again answered.

"Let's go." Joker declared as he opened the door.

(Transfer Line)

As soon as the Thieves left the safe room, they continued on through the area, soon taking a lift to a new area.

"Okay, where are we now?" Skull had to ask.

"Still in the same part of the Palace." The navigator reported.

"We're still in the Transfer Line?" Yang questioned in disbelief.

"Yeah. It's really big." Oracle responded as she brought up the map. "And wow, this looks way more complicated than the last floor!" She then exclaimed.

"Let us see." Joker got out. Almost instantly, a hologram map of the current area appeared in front of the Thieves. "Oooohhh...that's not cool." He then huffed.

"Something tells me we're gonna be here a while..." Serpent mumbled out.

"So, Mona," Yang got out as she looked down at the not cat. "We're close, huh?" She sarcastically repeated.

"We are!" Mona insisted. "Just...by physical distance." He awkwardly added.

"No matter. We must forge on." Widow spoke up with a determined expression on her face.

"Hai!" Yin responded with a nod before they continued through the place, flying through space and taking out anything in their way. However, there was something that gave them pause: A strange looking drone.

"What the hell are those?" Skull whispered with widened eyes.

"Security drones." The navigator informed. "They have better detection software than the guard bots. Be careful around them." She then added.

"Hm, like the dogs we've seen in other Palaces." Yang muttered as she flashed Third Eye for a second to check how tough the enemy was. "We better take it down before it causes too much trouble for us." She then advised.

The Leader nodded before turning back to the others. "Who's going for it?" Joker asked.

"Allow me." Mona offered. "I shall be as swift as the wind." He then promised.

"Go for it." Joker responded with a nod.

"Easy does it..." Mona muttered, getting close to the security drone before leaping onto it. "Gotcha! Choose your final words wisely!" He declared.

[What!?] The security drone exclaimed before...

SPLATTER!

"What a wonderful decapitation, Mona!" Noir praised as the Thieves leapt out of cover.

"It doesn't have a head though..." Queen remarked as the Shadows began to spawn. "Whoa! That's a lot of Decarabia!" She then exclaimed.

"Scanning!" Oracle called out. "Yep, they're all weak to physical attacks!" She then reported.

"This should be easy!" Joker got out with a smirk. "Save your energy! Go pure melee!" He then ordered.

The white haired woman blinked at that. "Weak to physical huh?" Serpent got out.

"I've got something for that!" Yin declared as she and the white haired woman high-fived one another.

"What do you have?"

"Something from my birthday." Yin replied with a playful smile before summoning her katana into her hands and unsheathed it.

"Daaaamn, that's awesome Yin!" Skull declared in amazement.

"Have you tested it out yet?" Widow questioned.

"This is the test." Yin replied, forming a stance of her own. "Let me take them all on, Leader!"

"If you say so." Joker replied with a shrug. "Take 'em out!" He then ordered as he pointed at the enemy.

"Gladly." The Vice Leader smirked.

Yin charged ahead with her katana at full display, and in one swift motion, she slashed her katana with all her might horizontally. Her position suddenly shifted in an instant from one area to another in front of her in a way that she teleported across the Shadow. There was a single loud ringing sound being heard.

The starfish-like Shadow stood still for a moment before its eye split into eight slices. It died soon after.

"Ewww..." Panther got out with a grimace.

"But amazing, Yin!" Noir added while clapping.

"I can keep going!" The Vice Leader called out as her blade gained a faint glow of green energy.

"Yin's gathering steam! Keep it up!" Oracle reported and encouraged.

Yin nodded as she began rushing towards the Shadows one by one, similar to how their usual All-Out Attack works. Shadow after Shadow, slice after slice, and slash after slash. Flashes of thin light sprayed throughout the Shadows. After a while, Yin appeared in front of the Thieves crouching with her katana stuck out to the side.

"Mission complete!" Yin got out as she stood up and the Shadows exploded behind her. "How was that!?" She then cheered as her katana vanished from her hands.

"That was a nice fight, Vice Leader." Mona praised.

"Yeah." Serpent spoke up with a nod. "Don't expect it to go as well with other opponents though."

"Hm, from the numbers, you're 10% more damage but..." Oracle spoke up as she read her post-battle logs.

"Why is there always a but..." Skull complained with a groan.

"Butts are sexy. It ain't all about boobs. That's why Bootyland exists." Oracle casually stated. "Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted, Yin was sacrificing some of her SP with each move she made." She then informed.

"Eh?" Yin got out in surprise before blinking. "Huh, I do feel a little drained..." She soon admitted. Instantly, Joker handed her a soda which she happily consumed.

"Looks like you were enhancing your attacks with your Persona." Mona assumed. "You might be able to do so with other things as well." He then added.

"Why does it have to do with Yin using a katana though?" Noir questioned with a raised eyebrow as the Vice Leader summoned the katana again.

"Hm..." Mona frowned before closing his eyes, taking in the feeling the katana gave off without distraction. "There is something strange about that sword. Where did you get this from again?" He asked.

"Serpent gave it to me for my birthday after we returned from Hawaii." Yin answered.

"And I got it commissioned from out of town from a family friend." Serpent added. "Deidara did mention he used some weird materials to make it though..." She then mumbled.

"Still, this could be useful. Just use it in moderation." Mona got out.

"A student shouldn't be surpassing her teacher so soon..." Serpent sighed out as she shook her head.

"Don't worry, you'll always be my sensei to me." Yin assured as she patted the white haired woman on the back.

"Until I'm begging you to teach me something." Serpent murmured. Why was she always being outdone by people younger and less experienced than her...?

"So, what are you gonna call this style?" Oracle soon asked.

"You want it named?" Yin questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"It's so I can track it and know when you're using it." Oracle explained. "We don't want you spending all your SP and leaving yourself with nothing. I know how passionate you shinobi can get in the middle of fights." She then added.

"Alright. I'm calling it..." Yin began. "Yiitsu Style." She soon revealed.

"Sole Style, not bad." Joker translated and admitted.

"But...five of us here use katanas." Fox pointed out as he held up his own.

"Shut up Fox, you're not involved in this." Yang bluntly got out with a glare before turning to the Vice Leader. "I think it's a wonderful name, Sis." She then praised in a much kinder manner.

"So your normal style is about overwhelming support, and Yiitsu Style is all about overwhelming power." Oracle noted and confirmed with a nod. "Ooh, wait! I have an idea! Why don't you go all Zoro and use all three?" She then suggested in an eager manner.

"Oh! That would...be..." Yin gasped in excitement before slowly realizing as she put her hand over her mouth. Well, where her mouth should be. "Um...there's a problem with that." She soon got out in a sad tone.

"Yeah. Communication." Joker spoke up. "We can't fight effectively if our Vice Leader has her mouth occupied with a sword." He stated with a frown.

"..." The Thieves stared blankly at the boy.

"And she doesn't have a mouth when wearing her mask." The Leader quickly added.

"Yang, what's that look on your face?" Fox questioned before realizing his mistake. "E-Eyes?" He then corrected.

"Mumble mumble mumble...Engetsuka...mumble mumble...I could be using fucking seven swords at the same time...or guns..." Yang mumbled to herself, trying to figure out if it was possible and if it would make an effective style.

"Oh boy..." Panther muttered with a deadpan look on her face.

"Are we done, or would you like to keep talking about battle styles in the middle of an unsafe area?" Queen suddenly questioned with a raised eyebrow, spotting another Shadow right behind them trying to sneak up on them.

"Right. Let's keep going." The Leader responded with a nod before shooting the Shadow in the face without looking.

And so the Thieves continued on through this increasingly frustrating maze of airlocks that was taking more and more of a toll on their physical endurance and mental well-being.

And to be honest, it was really miserable to describe or even remember, at least for Joker. The only thing the Leader would ever remember of this part of this Palace would be...

"Why is this area a goddamn maze!?" Skull complained.

"Yes, needing to constantly fly through space is really starting to lose its luster..." Fox soon admitted.

"Oh my God, WHAT WAS THAT LAST AIRLOCK!? WE WERE FLYING OUT THERE FOR WAY TOO LONG!" Yang screamed in breathless frustration, accidentally attracting a Shadow and increasing the Security Level, causing her to scream more.

...His teammates' bitching and moaning. By the time Joker had stopped going through the motions, the Thieves had somehow made it to the end of the place.

"It looks like this is the end. We did it, you guys!" Yin suddenly cheered, snapping Joker out of his autopilot mode.

"That was...not easy." Yang groaned. So many trips through space had taken a toll. "But at least the rest of this Palace will be a breeze. Let's keep blazing a path through here!" She soon declared.

"What do we have to do this time? It looks the same as before, but I'm not entirely sure..." Widow questioned with a frown.

"Hold on a second, guys." Oracle interrupted. "Once we pass through this airlock, the Treasure'll be right in front of us." She soon informed.

"Mona's been saying that for ages now." Yang muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but it's definitely close now." Mona assured with confidence.

"Sweet!" Skull got out with a fist pump. "Uh, but this one ain't workin'...I guess we'll just hafta find another switch, huh?" He then assumed.

"That could very well be the only way. Let's do what we can." Fox stated.

"It's always more with this place..." Yang complained as they headed off.

Again, Joker's mind blanked as they solved the quick puzzle and head made it to the exit in record time. He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing that he could do all that unconsciously, but decided to keep it quiet lest he worry his friends.

"Hell yeah! We finally reached the end!" Skull got out with a fist pump.

"The end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end..." Yin mumbled as she clutched her head, finally done with it all.

"Um...I think we've traveled through space too many times..." Noir awkwardly remarked with a sweatdrop.

"Let's just go up." Serpent sighed as the doors to the elevator slid open.

(Weapon Production)

"It was down, Serpent." Joker informed in a cheeky manner.

"Who cares about that!" Serpent grumbled. "Are we there yet? Or do we have to do something else because for the love of God, Mona, if you aren't going to say we are at the Treasure, either shut your piehole or let me turn you into a nice pair of socks!" She then complained in a frustrated manner.

Mona coughed as he tugged on his scarf nervously. "Well, we are."

"You stupid-" Serpent began, only to pause. "Eh?" She then got out in a dim manner.

"I can feel it. It's right around the corner. We're here." Mona informed in a confident tone.

"What is here, anyways?" Skull asked as the Thieves began to look around the place. There were factory shelves filled with red and black crates marked with "BIGBANG" on them everywhere. A storage room? A stockpile?

"Hm, these are the parts we saw in the factory area." Fox got out in realization.

"So this is where they're being used." Widow muttered.

"But what are they...? It's hard to tell just from looking..." Panther wondered.

"Oracle, bring up the map again." Joker got out. Almost instantly, the navigator obliged. "It looks like we're in...Weapon Production?" He then informed with a raised eyebrow.

"Weapons? Who is Okumura fighting!?" Yin exclaimed.

"Us." Yang bluntly answered.

"Dude, let's leave the factory tour for later. We gotta focus on the Treasure right now!" Skull insisted.

"Huh. It's rare to hear Skull say something so sensible..." Mona remarked.

"Should we sabotage all this stuff though?" Yin soon suggested. "Make sure Okumura can't use it all against us when we execute the heist?" She then added.

"He'll just make more. He'll just replace them by the time we come back and there's probably millions of crates like these in other areas." Oracle pointed out. "Let's not waste the time and energy on that. We can worry about it when the time comes." She then advised.

"I hope you're right." Yang muttered with a frown as they continued on their way. "I have a bad feeling about this." She soon confessed in concern.

The Leader nodded in agreement. His gut was starting to tell him something was off, but he couldn't place a finger on it. As soon as he found a chest though, that feeling went away and was replaced by his increasing desire for more loot.

After lockpicking the chest, Joker paused to pray that there was something really valuable inside before opening it up. "...SON OF A-" The Leader suddenly roared in frustration, prompting the others to jump.

"Joker!?" Yin exclaimed as she jumped.

Joker let out a frustrated groan as he pulled the item out of the chest. "Does anyone want a space suit?" He announced, showing a literal Big Bang Burger-labeled space suit on his hand.

SHATTER!

The sounds of mental glass breaking to pieces was soon heard among all of the Thieves.

"...I can't wait to burn this Palace to the ground." Yang got out as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"There's no ground to burn to." Fox reminded.

"It's a figure of speech." The tan skinned girl sighed in response, wandering away as she didn't want to look at the damn thing anymore.

The rest of the Thieves agreed with this sentiment and began leaving as well. With a shrug, the Leader equipped the suit himself and tossed his old armor to Yin for selling. "I should really start using Item Fusion again..." He muttered to himself as they made their way through Weapon Production.

However, there wasn't much to go through and see as they very quickly reached a dead end. The Thieves then looked up at the set of giant orange doors which only had the Big Bang Burger logo on it.

"I don't think we're hacking that..." Serpent got out as she scratched her head in wonder.

"Not with computers at least." Joker added.

Mona however frowned as he closed his eyes and focused. "I can feel it. The Treasure...is right here." He announced.

"Wait, really?" Yang got out with a raised eyebrow and hands on her hips.

"Yes. Really." Mona assured with a nod.

"Yes! We've found it!" Noir cheered.

"Or at least, the door to it." Widow muttered with a frown. "We might need to do something in reality to open this door." She then assumed.

"Well, we're gonna send a calling card so maybe that'll be enough to open it." Oracle assumed.

"But we've gone through this whole Palace and we still haven't found any information about the mental collapses, or anything why the Conspiracy would target him." Yin sighed as she shook her head.

"Oh yeah, you're right." Panther responded in realization.

Skull frowned as he took a second to think. "Maybe he's hidin' it? We got this far. Wouldn't it be better to just squeeze the truth outta the guy?" He then suggested.

"Once we reach our goal." Widow replied.

"We also have Black Mask to worry about. There's a non-zero chance that they've found the Palace and are staging their own infiltration right now." Yang reminded.

"Yeah..." Yin breathed out, frowning at the thought. "What are we gonna do now?" She then wondered out loud.

"Rest." Joker answered. "Between seeing the representation of all the abuse Okumura is putting his workers through and all the fighting, I think we deserve a few days to relax and plan." He then added as he stretched his limbs.

"Sounds great. We'll start work on the calling card later." Yang breathed out. "Now...how will I top defacing a public building...?" She then wondered.

"I dunno, spray paint their body while they're asleep?" Skull suggested.

"Oooh...that's a good one, Skull." Yang cackled evilly.

"Ummm...I'd rather not have my father be covered in paint." Noir requested. "He will humiliate himself when he confesses, I'd rather not go any further." She then reminded and stated.

"...But do I have permission to screw with anything else your father owns?" the tan skinned girl soon pressed.

"Oh yes. Please vandalize the most precious thing to him." Noir then replied with a sweet smile.

"That can definitely be arranged, Noir." The Leader chuckled out. "Alright. Let's clean up all the loot in the Palace, kill some Shadows, then leave." Joker then declared as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Hai, Leader." Yin responded with a nod as they turned around and began making their way back.

"You know...I've been wondering about something." Panther suddenly spoke up.

"Hm?" Noir got out with a raised eyebrow,

"You know how all of Asuka-chan's friends are running security for Okumura Foods HQ in the real world, right? Don't you think they would be here as cognitions?" The ash blonde soon assumed.

The Thieves instantly stopped walking. "Well...Erm..." Mona stammered out as they all began to realize the chances of such a thing happening.

"Hey...didn't one of the consoles say there was a new security detail?" Oracle then recalled with widened eyes.

"Guys." Serpent spoke up as her muscles tensed. "We're not alone." She soon warned.

"Oh no..." Yin whispered in disbelief as a siren went off...loudly.

WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO!

As the sirens blared, the lights turned red. "Shit." Joker cursed.

"We need to run, now!" Mona called out.

"That is no longer an option, Leader." Oracle however informed, just as they heard the heavy footsteps of something coming their way.

Out from the shadows...came very familiar faces none of them wanted to see.

The first one to reveal themselves was almost an exact replica of Ikaruga, except her warm skin had been replaced with cold hard plates of metal. She was wearing (well, bolted onto her) a black business suit in a prim and proper manner, all buttoned up and tucked in. On her hip, however, was simply a copy of Hien's hilt instead of the whole blade.

The next to come out was a robotic copy of Katsuragi, stomping in with Dragon Rebellion boots. Like Robo-Ikaruga, she was wearing a black business suit. Unlike Ikaruga, she wasn't wearing anything under her blazer, which seemed to be missing all its buttons, revealing her welded-on cleavage to the world.

After her was a Robot Yagyū, who had a rough piece of metal welded over her left eye instead of an eyepatch. Her own dark business suit was more casual, with an untucked shirt and open blazer. She hefted her closed parasol on her shoulder at the sight of the enemy.

And last, but definitely least in Okumura's eyes, was a robotic Hibari. She looked the most terrible out of all of them, with a wonky eye, exposed wires, a disheveled suit, and black oil leaking between her legs.

This was Okumura's new personal security detail: Robotic cognitions of the Hanzō shinobi.

The Phantom Thieves stepped away from the Robot Hanzō girls on instinct. They knew this was not going to be a very fun next few minutes.

[Stop, Invaders.] Robot Ikaruga ordered.

"I-Ikaruga-chan!?" Yin squeaked.

"No..." Noir whispered with widened eyes.

However, all the other Thieves were focused on something else. "Uh..." Joker began as he raised his finger.

Robot Ikaruga looked confused about why the Thieves were looking at them strangely before turning to the right to see the blonde harassment bot looking in the exact opposite direction of the enemy.

[Katsuragi-san, turn around.] Robot Ikaruga sighed as she shook her head in frustration.

The blonde blinked before doing so. [Boobs? Boobs boobs oppai boobs oppai oppai!] Robot Katsuragi called out with a fist pump, now facing the correct direction.

"...Ok, what the fuck?" Serpent soon asked in disbelief.

"I'm sorry. I don't speak pervert." Yang got out in an apologetic tone. "Now who are you? How long have you been following us?" She then demanded.

[How rude of me not to introduce myself to criminals.] The replica of Ikaruga scoffed as she rolled her eyes. [I am Ikaruga, the leader of the new Okumura Security Detail. And with me is my team: Katsuragi, Hibari, and Yagyū. And we have been aware of your presence since you destroyed Sugimura-san.] She then got out in a somewhat polite manner.

[Oppai!] Robo-Katsuragi cheered.

[I want to make sweet passionate love to you in front of everyone here...] Robot Yagyū drooled oil, completely ignoring the Thieves and instead focusing on the pinkette.

[Can you ch-change my diaper?] Robot Hibari soon asked in a cutesy manner...which was ruined by some sort of high pitched beeping coming from her.

"Is that a fax coming out of her ass...?" Panther got out in disbelief.

"Okumura really doesn't have a flattering view of your friends, Yin." Joker remarked with a grimace.

"Except for Ikaruga." Oracle noticed.

"Um, look, we were about to leave..." Noir began, deciding to go for a diplomatic approach.

The leader of the bots coughed, ignoring how...dysfunctional her team was for a second. [Leave? You think we can allow you to leave after all you've done to the workforce?] Robot Ikaruga repeated and stated.

"We were only defending ourselves." Joker insisted as he shook his head. "Besides, the CEO has a higher body count than all of us combined." He then countered.

[We do not care for the President's actions. Only yours.] Robo-Ikaruga responded with a frown. [Now stand down so your execution may be swift.] She then declared as she grabbed the hilt on her hip and activated it, causing a blue blade of light to ignite from it.

Looking at her teammates however, who were all doing their own thing such as groping the air, wiping the oil coming out of her mouth and nose, and eating the fax that came out of her ass, the Thieves were...well, they didn't know how to feel about this. "Um...hate to break it to you, but your team..." Queen began in a mutter.

"Your team sucks!" Skull bluntly called out before flinching, expecting a whack to the head.

The leader sighed. [I agree. However, you underestimate us. Katsuragi-san may be a drooling breast-obsessed idiot, Yagyū-san can barely keep it in her pants, and Hibari-san is about as functional as a brick, but we are enough to stop the likes of you!] Robot Ikaruga declared as she raised her laser blade at the Thieves. [We shall not allow you to continue onwards! Team, battle stations!] She then ordered.

[WEEEEEE!] Robo-Hibari cheered as she went into a battle stance, her butt facing towards the enemy.

[OPPAI!] Robot Katsuragi declared as her boots powered up.

[LETMEMAKESWEETHOTLOVETOMYLITTLESISTER!] Robo-Yagyū called out with her parasol opening up in her hands.

"..." The Thieves only stared at the display before shaking their heads and arming themselves.

(Cue Invaders Must Die by The Prodigy)

The Robot Hanzō acted first, dashing towards them faster than they expected, but still able to react to them...barely.

Joker, Yin, and Noir clashed with the Ikaruga replica.

Skull and Panther blocked Robo-Katsuragi's brutally powerful kick.

Fox and Widow deflected Robo-Yagyū's parasol.

Serpent and Queen pushed back against Robo-Hibari's steel buns.

[Hmph. You're good.] Robot Ikaruga grunted out.

"Nope." Mona spoke up from under the leader of the bots, slingshot at the ready. "We're better." He then declared as he hit the robot duplicate in the eye.

PLINK!

Robo-Ikaruga was stunned by the pellet, allowing the three clashing with her to kick her away. While it didn't do any real damage, she glared at the Thieves as readied her beam katana. [Ikaruga, dance for the glory of President Okumura!] She then declared.

Yin's eye immediately twitched to that declaration, disgusted by those words.

"We need weaknesses, stat!" Joker shouted out.

"On it, Joker!" Oracle responded with a salute before tearing off her mask, and allowing Necronomicon to lift her inside itself.

"I know the elements they'll use. Ikaruga-chan will use Fire, Katsu-nee will use Wind, Yagyū-chan will use Ice and Hibari-chan will use Electric!" Yin revealed.

The Leader nodded to that as he narrowed his eyes at the shinobi robots. "Yin, wanna take the lead on this fight?" Joker asked. "They are technically your friends." He then pointed out.

"Hai. I'll do my best." Yin responded with a fist pump and a nod. "Kaeru, make my friends stronger! No, wait, I mean my teammates. No, wait-" She then began to stammer, beginning to confuse herself.

"I know what you mean." Kaeru got out in an assuring tone. "Masukukaja!" She then called out, casting a green light over Yin's allies.

Instantly, the Thieves felt lighter on their feet and more focused. "Alright, let's go!" Joker ordered.

[Take them out!] Robot Ikaruga ordered as well...only for Robot Katsuragi to instead come from behind and start groping her boobs. [A-Ahn...Katsuragi...!] She groaned out.

[Oppai~] Robot Katsuragi gleefully cheered in excitement.

Robot Ikaruga gritted her teeth before flipping the harassment bot over her shoulder. [Cool...Your...HEAD!] She then demanded as she used her laser blade to bat the blonde robot away from her, causing her to barrel towards the Thieves.

"Whoa!" Panther exclaimed as the Thieves jumped away, as Robot Katsuragi caused a small explosion where she landed.

[Sheesh!] Robo-Ikaruga scoffed as she readjusted her suit.

"That's their team attack?" Widow got out in an incredulous manner.

"They have a very special relationship." Yin quickly explained.

"Shit!" Skull exclaimed as the harassment bot targeted him and charged.

[OPPAI (Cross Panzer)!] Robot Katsuragi shouted out with a smile on her face.

Skull pushed himself to guard against each of Robo-Katsuragi's furious kicks, barely keeping up with her speed. Once she began to slow down, he made his move. "Not good enough! Seiten Taisei, Deathbound!" He then called out.

[BOOBS!] Robo-Katsuragi grunted in pain, but was only forced back by the attack.

"Dammit, forgot all these robots take punches like a champ." Skull grumbled.

"Way to Daigo parry that, Skull!" Oracle praised.

Skull chuckled as he backed away. "Damn! Katsu-chan didn't skip leg day, huh?" He noted.

"Kicks are her specialty!" Yin explained. "Watch out for the circular saws in them too!" She then warned.

"HUH!? SAWS!?" Skull exclaimed before getting hit in the face by her heel, sending him to the floor. "Gahaha!" He spat out in pain.

"Skull!" Mona exclaimed.

Robo-Katsuragi smirked before slamming her boot down towards his crotch, only for the dyed blond to scramble away just in time.

GGGGRRRRIIIINNNNDDDDD!

[Boobies~!] Robo-Katsuragi got out in a delighted manner, even as the sawblade in her boot sliced through the floor.

"THAT IS NOT BOOBIES!" Skull screamed in panic before bashing his weapon into her knee. "Yin, please tell me it's only a robot thing!" He soon asked.

Yin however panickingly shook her head.

"Mental note: Don't piss off the real Katsuragi." Joker got out.

"I think that applies to every shinobi we encounter!" Panther shouted out as she swung her whip at the pinkette, only for her to grab her whip. "Eh!?" She got out in shock.

[Processing...processing...] Robo-Hibari got out, thinking about what she was supposed to do before there was ding and black smoke coming out of her ass. [Ah! This!] She soon exclaimed before channeling as much electricity as she could through the whip.

ZAAAAAAPPP!

"AAAHHH!" Panther cried in pain, several of the others wincing as they saw the girl's skeleton for a second. "Right...tasers for fists..." She then groaned, coughing up smoke before seeing Robo-Yagyū going after her paralyzed form.

[NO TOUCHES HIBARI EXCEPT FOR ME AND MY SQUID! RRRAAAAHHH!] Robot Yagyū roared, but was intercepted by Fox and Queen.

"And shall not hurt our friends." Fox cooly stated before turning his head to the advisor. "What do we do now?"

Queen frowned before hearing a click. "DODGE!" She answered as the two Thieves rolled out of the way just as Robot Yagyū's parasol opened up, which would've taken them out in an instant.

"A-A bladed umbrella!?" Queen exclaimed in a panic as she rolled out of the way.

"A laser bladed umbrella." Fox corrected.

"Because that makes it better, Inari!" Oracle called out. "...Wait, her squid!?" She then remembered.

Suddenly, the replica raised her parasol, summoning a hologram of a squid above her. [SWEEPING LEGS!] She declared before she began twirling around.

"...Oh, I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going." Oracle deadpanned.

"Not! The time!" Queen called out as she jumped out of the way while the artist carried the ash blonde away before she was taken by a tentacle.

"Can someone please tell me what hentai means in that context!?" Noir exclaimed.

"Tentacles! It involves tentacles!" Oracle simply answered.

"...Takoyaki?" Noir idly wondered...right before blocking Robo-Hibari's butt from hitting her. "Ah, right, I must focus on more important matters. PERSONA!" She then got out as she engaged the pinkette replica in close combat.

The Leader, however, couldn't help but notice how much emphasis Robo-Hibari put her behind in her combat. "...Her weapon is her butt?" Joker questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I-It's an unarmed fighting style!" Yin explained. "...And her butt is made out of metal now..." She then realized.

"Don't underestimate it!" Serpent declared. "Oh, wait, I just remembered! She can go giant, can't she!?" She then remembered, really beginning to lose her cool now.

[...] Robo-Hibari blinked as she processed this new information. [O-Oh, I can do that!] She then remembered. At that moment, her form flickered as she began to grow bigger and bigger.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me." Serpent moaned in despair.

"Wow, that's seriously cool!" Oracle couldn't help but admit as she stared at the giant hologram through Necronomicon. "I mean, it makes sense. A projector would be way easier to- OH CRAP!" She then yelped as she barely moved her Persona out of the way of Robo-Hibari's fist.

"It's actually solid and real!?" Mona exclaimed, whirring his legs just to get out of the way.

"Of course it is." Joker deadpanned. Nothing was going to surprise him as long as it was made to screw them over.

"Uh...is her weakness at the back of her neck!?" Skull exclaimed as the giant robot pinkette sent the Thieves scrambling to avoid her stomps.

"She has to be projecting it somehow!" Oracle assumed as she used her position to find something, anything to stop this insane thing.

[B-Bad guys must be sto-stopped for good!] Robot Hibari declared in a glitchy-sounding manner. [For the gl-gl-glo-glory of Okumu-mu-mura-sama!] She then declared as she stomped her foot, cratering the floor and sending several of her enemies flying.

"I found it!" The navigator suddenly got out, fist pumping inside her flying saucer. "She isn't projecting it herself! There's projectors on the east and west sides of the room!"

"Got it! Thank you, Oracle!" Joker responded as he spotted the projectors. In the heat of battle, he was more focused on survival than details. "Someone shoot them!"

"On it, Leader!" Yin responded as she pulled out his dual pistols, only to see Robo-Hibari trying to stomp her. She instantly hit the ground while sprinting, sliding under her foot before firing her guns at each of the projectors.

BANG! CRACK! BANG! CRACK!

Instantly, Robot Hibari's giant form flicked before vanishing entirely, leaving behind a very confused little robot. [E-Eh?] She squeaked.

"SHE'S SMALL! TAKE HER OUT NOW!" Serpent roared. The rest of the Thieves nodded to that, agreeing that she was too dangerous to let live.

The pinkette replica whimpered as she saw all the Thieves charging straight at her. She was going to die unless...unless...! [K-K-K-Kagan!] Robo-Hibari called out as her eyes flashed pink.

The Vice Leader instantly stopped in her tracks. "Eh!?" Yin gasped.

"Crap!" Joker cursed as everyone guarded against the skill, only for Yin, Yang and Widow to fall under it. "Dammit." He then swore once more.

"Huh?" Yin got out as her eyes began to glaze over. "G-Guys! You're in the Metaverse!?" She exclaimed, as the robots turned into flesh in front of her.

Robo-Hibari blinked as she stopped flinching. [Mi-Mi-Minions, you are on-on a mission. Do n-n-ot anger Okumura-sama-sama by delaying-ing-ing.] She soon commanded in an unsteady manner, and not just from her glitchy speech pattern.

"Yes, Leader." Widow responded with a bow before facing the Thieves.

"Come on, Sis! Yumi-senpai! These shitheads are already dead!" Yang responded.

"...It had to be the shinobi." Panther groaned out as she slapped her forehead.

"Wait! Serpent!" Oracle suddenly exclaimed before checking her Big Sis's status.

The white haired woman looked a little dazed, but managed to shake her head and get rid of the swirls in her eyes. "Ooh, still me." Serpent breathed out in relief.

"How are you not brainwashed, Serpent?" Panther asked in disbelief.

"Thief Mask accessory." Serpent answered. "Say what you want about those greedy assholes ripping us off, they make good merch." She then admitted.

"Leave a review later. Snap them out of it NOW!" Mona shouted out.

"Right!" Fox responded as he pulled out a paper fan and flicked it open. "Apologies, senpai, but this is for your own-"

SLASH!

Fox blinked before looking down to see that his paper fan had been turned into a cut out of a middle finger. "...Good." He then finished, staring at his paper fan.

[How are these fools more competent than my own teammates...] Robo-Ikaruga sighed as she shook her head.

[Oppai...!] Robo-Katsuragi cheered.

"Way to go, Yumi-chan!" Yin under brainwash cheered.

"Hmph. It was nothing compared to real combat fans." Widow under brainwash responded with a smirk.

"Okay, fans are out." Joker grumbled before turning to the one member who could cure the shinobi. "Queen!"

The advisor nodded before summoning her motorcycle. "Energy Shower!" She declared, revving Johanna's engine.

[Do not let them brainwash you!] Robo-Ikaruga warned.

"Whoa!" Yang exclaimed as the brainwashed dodged the attack. "That was a close one! You're not getting us, you stupid bitches!" She then taunted.

"Language!" Widow scolded aloud, defending herself with her bladed fans.

The tan skinned girl blushed in embarrassment. "S-Sorry, senpai." She mumbled.

"Welp, there goes that option." Serpent muttered. And considering Yin had all their items, using Phantom Wafers or Relax Gel was out of the question. "...Beat their heads straight?" She soon got out.

"Beat their heads straight." Joker agreed as they cracked their knuckles in unison.

"We must attack them to return them to normal?" Noir questioned, looking a little unsure about this before shaking her head. "So be it. Milady!" She then called out as her Persona appeared by her side.

"Wait, Noir-" Queen tried to stop the heiress, however...

"Mapsio!" Noir declared, casting the Skill.

WEEEEEEEP!

Instantly, Yin and Widow screamed in horrible pain as they crumpled, holding onto their heads while rolling on the floor in some odd yet ineffectual attempt to soothe their temporarily unending pain. Yang was the lucky one here as she was simply knocked out, her body doing nothing to stop her face planting onto the floor.

"Did that work?" Noir innocently asked as the Thieves stared at the formerly-brainwashed shinobi's writhing forms.

"Too well, Noir." Panther replied with a shake of her head.

Robo-Ikaruga scoffed at the pathetic display of her former minions. [Ugh! Useless.] She spat out a little too audibly.

Queen's eye twitched. "Grrrr...RRRAAAAAHHHH!" She growled and soon roared out as a light blue aura surrounded her before riding Johanna straight at the robot shinobi.

The Thieves blinked as the advisor's first move was to run over Robot Katsuragi, before backing up and grinding her face with Johanna's back wheel. "We seriously need therapists..." Serpent muttered before turning to the Leader. "Hey Joker, go support Queen's rampage. I'll go and help the others to their feet." She then got out before running over to the fallen girls.

"Already on it! ATTACK!" Joker roared as the rest of the team charged towards the replicas.

Soon enough, Serpent had grabbed some items from the duffle bag to revive and heal the fallen members back to full health, occasionally looking over to the battle to see if anyone was dying or needed help. "What the- What the heck happened!?" Yang groaned as the white haired woman pulled her up. "Oh, don't tell me..." She soon mumbled as she put her hands over her face.

"Brainwash." Widow moaned as she rubbed her eyes. "Not your fault this time." She then comforted the tan skinned girl.

Despite the reassurance, Yang still made a noise comparable to an angry grizzly bear. "Have I mentioned I hate status effects?" She growled.

"Yep." Serpent responded with a nod. "All of you itching for payback?" She then asked, but she already knew the answer.

"Hai." Yin responded with a nod as they all jumped to their feet and resummoned their weapons.

"Let's give 'em hell then." Serpent added as she took out her own weapon and let out a war cry.

"We got them back! Now push!" Oracle called out as the shinobi rejoined the fray.

The leader of the robo-shinobi growled as she saw the invaders beginning to overpower them. They needed some breathing room. [Hibari!] Robo-Ikaruga shouted out.

The pinkette replica saluted (by smacking herself in the face) as a compartment opened up from her back. [P-Play with them, Ninto!] Robo-Hibari called out as a little robot bunny dropped out. It actually resembled more of a toy than a machine, however...

"...That is a robot bunny strapped with dynamite." Oracle observed, noticing a metal robot rabbit with a literal lit dynamite stuck on its abdomen.

"Wah! Not Ninto too!?" Yin exclaimed in a panic. "He's not a suicide bomber!" She then declared in anger.

"He is right now! WATCH IT!" Skull shouted out as the bunny hopped over to the group.

"GUARD NOW!" Yin exclaimed the order in a panic as she shielded herself with her weapons.

[OPPAI!] Robo-Katsuragi called out with a fist pump just as the little explosive bunny arrived...and detonated.

KABOOM!

"GAH!" The Thieves cried out, stumbling back from the explosion.

Suddenly, Robot Ikaruga leapt through the explosion, her blade at the ready! [Hien Hōsen: Mode One!]

Yin widened her eyes with a gasp. "Guys, look out!" She then yelled.

In a flash second, Robot Ikaruga clutched her katana handle and slashed in front of her in a millisecond with a thin flashing line of light.

She then twirled her katana before sheathing it back slowly until a little bit of stainless steel was visible. In an instant, she fully sheathed her sword with a tap.

Afterwards, a barrage of white lines flashed around the Thieves and ringing sounds of metal slashing through air were echoed.

"AAAHHH!" The Thieves cried in pain as Widow, Fox, and Panther went down for the count.

"Crap! Three down!" Oracle reported in panic.

"Holy effin' shit...!" Skull groaned as he clutched his stomach.

"Mona!" Yin called out as she turned to the not cat.

"Already on it!" Mona responded with a nod as he began to tend to the wounded...which was all of them, but he attended to the unconscious first.

"Was that freaking Judgement Cut!?" Oracle exclaimed from Necronomicon. "You're telling me Robot Ikaruga here's like frickin' Vergil!?" She soon asked in a panic.

"Of course she knows that." Joker groaned. Why does every katana wielder, real or fictional, have that stupid move!? "What I would kill to have Royal Guard right now..." He then mumbled under his breath.

"...I would like to spar with the real Ikaruga sometime, that was awesome!" Yang declared in a giddy manner.

"Are you for real right now!?" Panther exclaimed in disbelief as Mona revived her first before heading over to the Kosei students. She was focusing on that in the middle of this!?

"Maybe when everyone stops trying to kill us for once!" Joker responded with a frown. This really wasn't the time to fantasize about future opponents!

"Obviously." Yang responded in a deadpan tone. She still wants to learn that move though.

Though Serpent also looked as though she wanted to learn that too, judging from the excited smirk on her face.

"Hyped up huh Big Sis." Oracle assumed.

"Of course! Better to fight the original than a cheap copy!" Serpent countered before seeing said replica going after her. "OH SHIT!" She swore out.

[Oukaensen!] Robo-Ikaruga called out as she swung her blade, shooting a flaming blue phoenix at the white haired woman.

Serpent sliced through the phoenix before tearing off her mask in one swift motion. "Nobunaga!" She then called out as her Persona swung his sword, sending Robot Ikaruga away.

"Are there any more tricks they have up their sleeves!?" Panther asked as she ducked under an attack from Robo-Katsuragi. "Preferably ones that they won't pull out right before you tell us!?" She then added.

"No! I think that's it!" Yin responded.

[Hibari, with me!] Robot Yagyū suddenly called out.

[H-H-Hai!] Robo-Hibari responded as they dashed forward in unison.

"NOPE! ONE MORE!" Oracle corrected as she flew Necronomicon away.

Robo-Yagyū charged forward and opened her parasol, spinning it fast enough to create a tornado. Robo-Hibari then uses it to jump into the air and onto the back of a robo-Ninto before firing lightning upon the Thieves.

"AAHH!" The Thieves screamed as they either managed to dodge the lightning or get hit by it, just as Robo-Hibari fell into Robo-Yagyū's arms.

[That is the power of love, you cretins!] Robot Yagyū declared before snuggling into Robot Hibari's tits.

The white haired woman raised her head from the floor she had crumpled down to after getting herself paralyzed. "That's the power of ninja techniques and violence, jackass! Ow..." Serpent called out before laying back down on the ground to recover.

Robot Yagyū scoffed...only for both her and her lover to be kicked away. [AH!]

"Don't let up on them!" Queen called out as she faced the two.

Suddenly, she felt a shiver run down her spine as Robo-Yagyū gently put Robo-Hibari down, who had taken the brunt of the attack.

[Do not touch a hair on my Hibari-chan's head! SHE'S MINE!] Robo-Yagyū growled before jabbing her parasol into the third year brunette's stomach.

RIP! BOING!

When some of her suit tore, exposing some of her bust, Queen spat out some saliva as she stumbled backwards before simply collapsing to one knee on the ground, holding her gut in pain. "U-Urgh..." She groaned.

"Queen!" Skull got out before dashing over to her, wracking Robo-Yagyū in the head, and then pulling on Queen's arm to get her back onto her feet. "Get up!"

The advisor wiped her mouth as she gave the boy a thankful look before looking down. "Again with my boobs being exposed." Queen groaned, touching her bare bust. "Why is everything and everyone obsessed with my breasts today!?"

"I-I don't know! But we got bigger problems!" Skull replied quickly, gripping his melee weapon.

"Literally bigger problems!" Mona screamed in panic as Robo-Hibari leapt into the air, grew giant, and tried to flatten the Thieves with (what else?) her butt.

"HIT THE FRICKING DECK!" Skull yelled, prompting the ones nearby to jump out of the way.

CRASH! BOOM!

Robot Hibari crashed down on her butt with impact.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, that was too close!" Panther panicked loudly. "That was too freaking close!"

"I thought those projectors were down!" Yang growled.

"Looks like they were replaced." Fox assumed with a frown.

"How is someone so cute so scary!?" Oracle commented aloud from her Necronomicon.

"That applies to way too many people I know..." Joker mumbled under his breath before getting himself kicked in the face by Robot-Katsuragi. "GAHAH!" He then cried in pain.

"Get up, Leader!" Noir exclaimed as she rushed over and helped the boy to his feet. "Oh, this is not looking good at all..." She then muttered in worry.

"They're seriously tough!" Mona grunted out.

"I guess despite what Okumura thinks of them, they get the job done." Queen got out as she tried to regain her breath.

"Activating HP recovery program!" Oracle announced as Necronomicon proceeded to heal all the Thieves back to full strength. "You gotta keep fighting!" She then encouraged.

"Any escape options!?" Skull had to ask before rolling out of the way of a tentacle.

"I already tried! These things aren't going to stop until either of us are dead!" The navigator informed.

"Wonderful." Mona sarcastically grumbled as he leapt onto Robo-Katsuragi and scratched up her face.

"But nothing we haven't dealt with before!" Joker reminded as he tore off his mask. "Come on! I believe in all of you! Debilitate!" He then called out, casting it on Robo-Ikaruga.

Seeing the opportunity, the Vice Leader charged at the weakened replica. "I won't lose!" Yin declared as she pulled out her katana and clashed with Robot Ikaruga, sparks flying between them as they looked each other in the eyes.

WHAM!

Only to be interrupted by Robot Katsuragi kicking her face.

[OPPAI!] The robotic blonde declared.

[A pathetic display! Do not forget the battlefield around you- K-Katsuragi!] Robot Ikaruga began to scold the Vice Leader, only for the harassment bot to pounce on the poor girl.

[Oppai~] Robot Katsuragi pervertedly giggled.

"NOOOOO!" Yin cried out as the robot version of her perverted friend groped her boobs. "YOU'RE HURTING ME!" She cried out, feeling her ribs crack as her kimono came undone.

As much as she didn't like being groped by Katsu-nee, at least it was semi-pleasant, but this robot version was trying to break her in two!

And...And it was only pissing her off!

"Yin!" Yang cried out before rolling out of the way of Robo-Hibari's butt attack. "Dammit, I can't get to her!" She then called out. It was the same for everyone else as the robot Hanzōo team went into overdrive, preventing anyone from running unless they wanted to get killed.

"Yin's HP in the red!" Oracle informed in a panicked manner. At this rate, the Katsuragi replica was going to crush her torso.

The Leader growled as he slashed away at Robo-Yagyū. No, he wasn't going to let his friends down! "ASUKA!" Joker shouted out.

Suddenly, Yin's eyes flashed green.

The Vice Leader grit her teeth just as one of her ribs gave way and broke. "I said...I!" She growled before elbowing the robotic harasser's side.

WHAM!

"Won't!" Yin soon slipped out of her kimono to escape from the robot's grip, grabbed her katana off the floor and slashed Robo-Katsuragi across the chest, destroying her kimono but also slicing through the replica's metal torso.

SLASH!

"LOSE!" Yin roared before being engulfed in emerald green flames.

FWOOOOSH!

Yin smirked under her mask, feeling power flow through her as she switched back to her dual wakizashi, the blades glowing a bright green.

"Deep Shadow Yin is on the field!" Oracle announced. "Give 'em hell, Vice Leader!" She then cheered.

[What form of power is this!?] Robo-Ikaruga exclaimed.

[Boobies...!] Robo-Katsuragi growled before tossing the remains of Yin's kimono, finally getting serious.

[This will not stop me from having my hot sisterly makeout session after this!] Robo-Yagyū declared.

[Yay!] Robo-Hibari cheered.

Yin smirked at all their reactions. "Bring it." She responded as she went into a low stance.

"Don't hold back now!" Joker called out as he tore off his mask. "Arsene! Maeiga!" He soon commanded.

"Maragidyne!" Panther shouted as Hecate began to dance.

"Malaques!" Widow commanded as Fūma dashed forward.

"ZIONGA!" Skull roared as Seiten Taisei smirked.

DOOM! FWOOSH! SPLASH! ZAP!

[ERROR!] Robo-Ikaruga cried out as all her teammates went down.

"Got it recorded! Katsuragi is weak to Electricity!" Oracle declared from her Persona

"Yagyū hates Fire, guys!" Queen yelled, clenching her fists.

"Hibari really doesn't like Curse here!" Yang called out aloud.

"Ikaruga is vulnerable to Water..." Panther realized aloud.

"That's great!" Noir cheered. "Now let's show these shinobi what thieves can do! ALL-OUT ATTACK!" She then ordered.

"For the glory of the Phantom Thieves!" Mona declared as they rushed down the robots.

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

"We're halfway there! Keep the pressure up!" Oracle encouraged as the Thieves landed back on the ground. They had damaged the bots severely, but not enough to scrap them. They were even getting up like they hadn't been ganged up on.

"I don't think we can for much longer..." Panther panted out, the rest of the team stumbling back from exhaustion and pain.

"Focus on healing!" Yin ordered as she tore off her mask. "Kaeru! Mediarahan!" She then called out, healing her teammates, Just in time too, as the robot shinobi began to press the attack once more.

At that moment, however, the ash blonde's eyes widened. "Wait, I just realized something!" Panther suddenly called out, whipping some of her enemies' attacks away with her whip.

"Grgh, what now!?" Skull grunted out as he blocked Robo-Katsuragi's axe kick once again.

"If Okumura knows about Ikaruga-chan and everyone, wouldn't he have a cognition of Yin as well!?" Panther pointed out in a frantic manner, holding her ground against the robot shinobis.

The Thieves froze.

[Ah.] Robo-Ikaruga got out, almost smiling at their stunned expressions. [It seems you have figured out that our leader is hiding in the shadows. How unfortunate. I guess there is no point in delaying your death any more.] She then got out as she pulled out a signal flare.

"Oh no..." Yin breathed out with a pale face.

[Asuka-san, we need your assistance!] Robo-Ikaruga shouted out as she popped it off.

POP! POOF!

The Thieves couldn't help but look up at the signal flare as it formed a "胸" symbol in the air.

Suddenly, a trap door opened up from the ceiling before a green flash shot out of it, landing in the middle of the battlefield in a stylish crouching pose and separating the Thieves and the Robot Shinobi.

Yin gasped.

And Robo-Asuka's glowing green eyes snapped open.

In contrast to the actual Asuka, her hair was tied up. In contrast to her teammates, she was wearing a white business suit with a green tie. However, the suit was covered in armor, making her look more like a mecha than human. She even had wing-like boosters on the back.

[Asuka, Machine Goddess of Mass Destruction, has arrived!] The robotic version of the Vice Leader declared as she stood up in attention and pulled out her dual sabers and ignited them.

"...I really got to shut my mouth..." Panther muttered under her breath.

"COGNITIVE YIN'S A GUNDAM!?" Oracle exclaimed in a mixture of awe and panic.

"What the heck's even a Gundam!?" Yang spat out.

"Explain later!" Oracle panickingly declared.

"I suddenly hate everything about this Palace." Joker groaned.

"Suddenly!?" Skull repeated in disbelief.

[Are these whelps troubling you, my dear teammates? No matter, they will be taken care of shortly.] Machine Goddess of Mass Destruction Asuka declared as she aimed her dual sabers at her opponents. [For the glory of Okumura-sama, I shall dance within the blood of your shadows.] She soon declared.

"...I think your grandfather oversold you a little." Joker muttered in a weak manner.

Yin could only nod silently.

[Okumura-sama does not like to waste resources on such low-level employees.] Robo-Asuka stated in a serious manner. [You have five minutes to stop this nonsense, or else we will be forced to lay you all off.] She then ordered.

"You're giving us a chance to surrender?" Widow assumed with a frown.

[I am giving you the option to die now or later.] Robo-Asuka corrected.

"U-Um, guys, her energy is spiking like crazy!" Oracle immediately announced panickingly.

"Guess we'll choose dying later then." Joker got out as he rolled his shoulders. "Pull out all the stops! Full Assault!" He then ordered.

"Give it all you got everyone!" Yin added as her power flared around her before tearing off her mask. "Stand by me, Kaeru!" She then called out as she summoned her Persona.

[Fine. You shall die braver than most.] Robo-Asuka declared.

"...I want to make a witty comeback, but at this point I'm too tired." Joker soon admitted before looking to the other Thieves. "Open fire! Bullet Hail! Take her down!"

"EAT SHHHHHHIIIIIIITTTTTTT!" Skull shouted out as all the Thieves began emptying their ammo at Robot Asuka.

BANG BANG BANG! PLINK! RATATATATATATA! BLAM! CHUNK, BOOM!

Once all they heard was clicks from their guns, they stopped to look at the cloud of smoke where Robo-Asuka was. "Welp, that was excessive." Serpent muttered.

"Should've yelled 'Eat lead', Skull." Oracle stated...only to notice that something was not right here. "Wait, hold on." She then got out.

Suddenly, from the smoke, they saw a green light coming from it.

[You will not end this fight so easily, invaders.] Robo-Asuka got out, seemingly disappointed as her wing boosters cleared the smoke away, revealing that their bullets had done nothing. Not ever damage her suit.

"The-The hell!?" Skull exclaimed, whipping out his melee weapon.

"She...She doesn't have Yin's weaknesses!" Oracle called out. "She's a complete unknown right now!" She then declared.

"What the heck do we do here!?" Panther spat out, panicking.

The Vice Leader frowned before she stepped forward. "I can take her." Yin got out. "Everyone split up. We...These imitations of my friends can't handle more than one skilled opponent at a time. Besides, they'll support each other if one of us is in trouble. Don't let them." She then ordered in a serious tone.

Joker didn't even need to think about it. "Got it, Vice Leader. Yang, Panther, you have Yagyū. Fox, Widow, take care of Ikaruga. Noir, Mona, Queen, take Hibari down. Skull, take on Katsuragi with me!" He then ordered.

"Hai!" The rest of the team responded before engaging the other Hanzō shinobi, leaving Yin and Robo-Asuka alone.

[Arrogant, don't you think?] Robo-Asuka remarked with an arrogant smirk. [What does a mere thief have against a shinobi? We are killers, predators, snakes. You and your lackeys, however, are prey. Parasites. Rats.] She then taunted.

"..." Yin said nothing, simply going into her battle stance.

[Hmph, fine. Have it your way. Just remember, I gave you an out.] Robo-Asuka scoffed before going into a similar stance.

"Kick your own ass, Yin!" Oracle cheered.

Yin gripped her blades before disappearing, reappearing in front of her replica, spinning around to decapitate her. Robo-Asuka, just for a second, looked unamused as she used her wing boosters to jump away, her laser blades flaring with energy. [Okumura-Style Full Bloom!] She then declared as she charged ahead to attack.

The fire within Yin burned even brighter at the words the replica had cried out. "Grrr...! Hanzō-Style Full Bloom!" She responded, charging ahead as well.

CLASH!

The two glared at each other as their blades met before mirroring each and every movement they did, neither of them managing to hurt one another. [How dare you make a mockery of my techniques!] It soon shouted.

"Your techniques are not even yours, you metal copycat!" Yin spat out, continuing her attack. "What about Jii-chan, huh!? Why toss his name away!?" She soon demanded.

[The only family I need is with Big Bang Burger and Okumura Foods LTD!] Robo-Asuka responded.

"RRRAAAHHH!" Yin roared with anger as sparks flew and blades struck. "I will not fail to scrap metal like you!" She loudly declared as she heavily parried her oppenent's blades away, giving her an opening before slashing her blade on her opponent's torso.

The robotic leader grit her teeth as she jumped back from the attack before raising her swords into the air. [Magnadyne!] Robo-Asuka shouted out as something crashed through the ceiling.

"That's a meteor!" Mona exclaimed.

Yin, however, was fully focused on her opponent as she tore off her mask. "Magnadyne!" She yelled as her Persona sent her own meteor at the replica.

CRASH!

However, the two meteors smashed into each other, sending debris everywhere and shredding both friend and foe alike. Both Asukas flinched as they shielded themselves from the shards of rock pelting them before their eyes widened.

Thinking the other was too busy worrying about themselves, they charged straight at each other to take advantage of their vulnerability, only for both Yin and Robo-Asuka to manage to launch one another into the air!

"Yin!" Noir cried out.

[Oppai!] Robo-Katsuragi exclaimed.

The robotic leader quickly righted herself with her wing boosters and flew at the enemy head-on. [Aerial Rave!] Robot Asuka ordered as she and the rest of her robot shinobi companions rushed towards the Thieves.

At the same time, the Vice Leader summoned her Persona to catch her and throw her straight at the replica head-on. "All-Out Attack!" Yin shouted out as the Thieves rushed towards the robot shinobi.

Heavy sparks flew as steel and metal struck against one another, the sounds of cloth ripping and metal scraping against metal filling the air.

In the middle of all the chaos was Yin and Robo-Asuka, attacking each other in mirrored unison, going faster and faster as they tried to outdo the other.

The two soon clashed once more before pushing away from each other.

No, this wasn't going anywhere. They were still playing defensive, even while trying to take the other out.

Only one way to finish this.

Both Asukas narrowed their eyes, letting go of anything holding them back, including any sort of self-preservation, and got ready to settle this.

[Stop this nonsense! We have already won!] Robo-Asuka growled before readying herself for the final blow.

"Funny," Yin got out with a smirk."I was about to say the same thing!" She then admitted as she did the same.

"CHESTO!" They both cried in unison before...

SLASH!

(End Music)

Both Asukas appeared where the other was, weapons out...before one of them collapsed, naked and defeated.

Yin had gotten a gash along her arm.

Robo-Asuka was missing that same arm.

Yin let out a breath, not exactly enjoying her victory, but taking solace that the battle was over. "Mission...complete!" The Vice Leader declared as she put away her wakizashi.

Yin then nearly collapsed as her ultimate form faded away. It was only because of her sister that she didn't face plant onto the floor. "A-Ah...I...I pushed myself too hard..." She panted out.

"It's okay, Sis. You did amazing." Yang assured as she handed her sister a Snuff Soul, which she gladly consumed to refill her energy while the tan skinned girl bandaged up her wound.

Soon after, the Robo-Hanzō girls laid defeated having lost their individual battles, their clothes turned into nothing but scraps. Thankfully, since they were robots, they didn't have anything embarrassing to show the Thieves, even though they did cover themselves up as if they did.

[I am sorry. I have failed you all.] Robot Asuka somberly apologized to her team.

[It is not your fault. These thieves are much stronger than expected.] Robo-Ikaruga comforted the leader.

[O-Oppai...] Robo-Katsuragi groaned.

[I'M SO SORRY HIBARI!] Robo-Yagyū cried into her lover's boobs.

[M-M-Mou...] Robo-Hibari moaned, her voice glitching much more harshly because of all the damage she received.

"Sorry it had to come to this, guys." Yin apologized. "You're more than tools of Okumura. Come on, everyone. We need to get going." She then got out before they all turned to leave the Palace, not even bothering to finish them off. They were too broken to retaliate anyways.

[...You're wrong!] Robo-Ikaruga suddenly shouted out, causing the Thieves to stop in their tracks.

"Eh?" Joker got out as they turned back around.

[You are wrong.] Robot Ikaruga continued in a serious manner. [We have nothing else. We have no other purpose, we are nothing but tools...and we have failed.] She then declared.

[Input code: 1234567890. Executing self-destruct sequence: Hanzō team.] Robo-Asuka recited. Suddenly, all their eyes began to flash red. [It has been an honor.]

[I share the same sentiment.] Robo-Ikaruga responded as she closed her eyes, accepting her fate.

[Oppai...] Robo-Katsuragi mumbled in a sad manner, taking the opportunity to grope her own breasts to comfort herself before the end.

Robo-Hibari and Robo-Yagyū did not say anything to the others...as they had decided to spend their last moments making out.

"What!?" Yang shouted out, her tone somewhere in between shock and anger.

"Ain't that extreme!?" Skull exclaimed.

"You don't have to do that!" Queen called out.

[We are nothing but tools made for Okumura-sama's use. And once a tool fails its purpose...it is thrown away.] Robot Asuka explained with no ounce of emotion appearing on her face. [I concede to you, Phantom Thieves. You have bested us. I only ask that the path you've chosen is the correct one.] She then bowed down.

Yin meanwhile then stepped forward...and lifted up her mask to her mechanical double. "We will." Asuka responded, causing the robo-Hanzō girls to step back.

[!?] Robo-Asuka's eyes widened before settling into a more neutral look. [So, that was how you knew Ikaruga-chan and the weaknesses of the others...] She muttered.

"Yeah. I am you, and you are me...or at least, how Okumura views me." Asuka responded, attempting to give the cognitions a friendly smile. "And you should know I would never abandon anyone, even an enemy if they can be helped." She then stated.

[...] Robo-Asuka and her teammates remained silent, barely reacting to the real Asuka's words.

"I know this won't mean much in the end but...but I promise you that the path I've chosen is what I believe is the right one, and that I'm sorry that you were in our way." Asuka got out in an apologetic tone before holding out her hand. "No hard feelings?" She then offered.

Robot Asuka looked down at the hand and back at her doppleganger's face...before beginning to laugh. [Hehehehe...Hahahahaha!]

The Thieves blinked as all the other robot shinobi began to laugh as well. Did they manage to convince a cognition to...

The Robo-Hanzō shinobi suddenly stopped laughing before giving her enemy the harshest glare they've ever seen. [Why would I ever be friends with thieves?] Robot Asuka spat out.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Thieves covered their eyes as the Hanzō Robots exploded in front of them. When they lowered their arms, there was nothing left of them other than scorch marks on the floor.

For a minute, no one made a sound. The Thieves were disgusted, shocked, horrified as they processed what had just happened.

"Well...that was...disturbing." Serpent got out, breaking the stunned silence as she looked at the Vice Leader.

"This...This never happened." Yin decided in an emotionless manner.

"I agree." Joker replied with a nod.

"Yep." Oracle responded with a nod.

"What happened?" Yang whimpered, unable to comprehend anything vaguely looking like her sister staring at her with such...hate.

"Yin, I am so sorry about this." Noir apologized.

Yin however shook her head in response. "They...They weren't my friends. That was not me." She insisted as she put a hand on her chest. "It was only how your father viewed us, and all he saw were just stronger slaves to use and throw away. It's fine, Noir." She then reminded and reassured.

"Okay..." Noir seemed unsure about that, but decided not to press any further.

"Yin, you feeling up for going back through the Palace to grab all the treasure and money we can get our hands on?" Joker soon asked.

"Y-Yeah." The Vice Leader responded with a nod.

What better way to distract herself from such an ordeal than to put her focus/anger into looting and fighting Shadows?

Yin couldn't help but giggle. She really was a Phantom Thief.

"Yin, you're still naked." Panther helpfully reminded.

Yin immediately made a double take after hearing that. "Eh?" She then got out before glancing down on herself, noticing her whole body naked on display. "Oh..." She then blushed before reaching into the duffle bag for a Sewing Kit.

But in many aspects, she was still the shinobi she was before Tokyo.

Long after the Thieves left Weapons Production...

A trapdoor right where the Robot Hanzō team exploded opened up, with Robo-Katsuragi poking her head out to make sure no one was there. [The coast is clear.] She reported as the robot shinobi began to climb out. Still naked, but that was simply a minor issue at the moment.

[Plan 34 was a success. Please upload the combat data to Okumura-sama's computer.] Robo-Asuka instructed Robo-Hibari as she picked up her detached arm and put it back in its place.

[Hai, Asuka-chan!] The pinkette machine responded with a salute. After making a few sounds as if she was using a landline to connect to the internet, she made a ding. [...Complete!] She soon announced.

[Thank you.] Robot Asuka responded with a nod of approval.

[We shouldn't rest on our laurels now. It's obvious the Phantom Thieves are planning their next heist here. We must prepare for the worst so that Operation: Escape to Utopia goes off without much interference.] Robot Ikaruga soon reminded, with the rest of the team nodding in agreement.

[I hope the combat data will help President Okumura prepare for these Thieves' return then.] Robot Yagyū muttered with a frown.

[Are you sure they will?] Robot Katsuragi had to ask. [It would be wiser if they simply cut their losses and ran, considering what Okumura-sama has been working on. Plus, even though Haru has betrayed him, I doubt she would go so far to destroy his life's work.] She then pointed out.

[And we have that black masked intruder to worry about.] Robot Hibari added in concern, poking her fingers together.

[I know they will. And we will deal with each threat without fail.] Robot Asuka assured before looking down the hall where the Thieves left, replaying the recording of the mysterious girl with her face in the corner of her view. [We will meet again, imposter. And this time, I will not hold back.] She then added, her blades glowing green and humming a simple sound before she vanished.

(Roppongi, Okumura Foods HQ)

[You have now returned to the real world. Thank you for your hard work.]

The Thieves were now back in front of the towering structure, now in their regular attires.

"Thank you." Akira responded before pocketing his phone. "Finally nice to hear a friendly robot voice again." He then sighed out.

"I don't think I wanna see a robot ever again." Ann mumbled out.

Asuka could only nod in agreement.

"Wait, what the heck happened to your big boobs, Haru?" Futaba suddenly asked.

That prompted everyone to look at the orangette, and then to the heiress. The Thieves noticed that the heiress's chest was now decent-looking instead of being large, similar to the shinobi like in the Palace.

"Oh, my compression bra's back on." Haru realized in a surprised manner as she felt a familiar feeling in her chest area before looking underneath her pink sweater. "I thought I lost it in the Palace..." She then admitted in relief.

"Okay, that is...weird, in some way." Akira simply stated.

"Guess that was to be expected." Makoto got out. "Nothing but our loot comes with us from the Metaverse, and our clothes don't look any worse for wear." She then reminded.

"We would all be heavily scarred if that were the case." Yusuke added. "It's strange, but as we all have learned." He soon stated.

"Accept it and move on." The rest of the Thieves recited at the same time, though some of them looked at each other for a second by that syncing.

"You know, at least for now." Akira added. "We would like to find answers, but our only lead is at the bottom of Mementos, and that's not happening anytime soon." He then added.

"I see..." Haru got out with a frown. "Well...okay then. I'll do just that." She soon decided.

"Alright." Ryuji agreed in response before slumping a bit in a way of relief. "Man, though, that Palace...that was effin' insane, huh." He then relieved and remarked.

"And completely exhausting." Miyabi added while letting out a breath. "Hopefully all the shortcuts we unlocked will make the trip to the Treasure quicker than before." She then stated.

"So much mental damage too..." Futaba muttered out.

"I am bothered by the fact that there's a weapons production facility there." Yumi soon got out with a frown. "Mass producing weapons, and yet all the bots in there have either been using their skills or their limbs. Something isn't adding up." She then added.

"Is Okumura preparing for some sort of war there?" Homura guessed.

Haru could only sigh and shake her head as her response.

"We can worry about that when the time comes. As for now, let's take a few days to rest up and gather our bearings before sending the Calling Card." Morgana stated.

"We better leave before Ikaruga catches us loitering around then." Akira then suggested. "We'll meet up at the hideout in a week or so. Is that fine with everyone?" He soon added.

"Yep." Makoto nodded.

"Sounds good." Yusuke got out with a nod.

"Alright, Leader." Ryuji responded with a quick salute.

"Okay. Let's go home." Akira declared with a nod before pulling out his phone as he walked away. "Hey, Kawakami-sensei...?" He began, disappearing into the night.

Soon, the rest of the team began to leave, either to spend more time in the city or heading straight home to end their day early.

The shinobi meanwhile had decided to walk with Haru to the station, just to ensure she was safe and okay after seeing so much of her father's distortion.

"I'm glad you're all walking me to the station." Haru admitted. "I don't think I want to be alone right now." She soon added.

"Because of all the kidnapping?" Homura assumed. The heiress nodded in response.

"What sort of sane person would let such a thing happen to their own daughter..." Yumi muttered out.

"We already saw why in the Palace." Miyabi pointed out. "Good ol' greed and ambition. Everyone is willing to pay a price to get further in their life, it's just the matter if it costs too much. And it looks like he has a bottomless pocket as far as he's concerned." She soon stated.

Haru sighed, trying her best to endure everything.

The Vice Leader soon noticed the sad look on her friend's face and winced. "Er, sorry Haru-chan." Asuka apologized. "We should stop talking about this until our next meeting. What do you want to talk about now?" She soon asked.

The fluffy haired girl let out a sigh of relief before taking a moment to think. "Homu-chan, do you think you, Asu-chan, Yumi-chan and Miya-chan could train me some days?" Haru suddenly asked the shinobi. "I wish to regain what I learned from my former shinobi training." She then explained in a more serious tone.

"Well, we expect everyone in the team to be training their bodies." Homura stated. "How much do you remember?" She soon asked.

"Well, I know the standard exercises, though I never really stopped doing them. I can throw kunai and shuriken with decent accuracy, and I'm quite proficient in silat. Other than that, nothing else." Haru answered.

"No chakra training?" Yumi questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Never got to it." Haru sheepishly admitted. "...I did choose what weapon I would use if I had become a shinobi though." She then revealed.

"Axes, right?" Miyabi assumed.

The fluffy haired girl however shook her head. "Chainsaw, actually." Haru corrected.

"..." Miyabi in turn paused as she processed this while the four shinobis soon imagined it. "Okay, it's a start. At least you won't be starting from scratch." She then got out.

"I highly advise you to change to axes however." Yumi meanwhile stated.

Haru in response nodded to that. Combat-grade chainsaws weren't exactly the most stealthy of weapons, so she could understand such advice.

Homura soon furrowed her brows. "Actually, it might be a unique challenge. You already had a sensei, so our methods could contradict what you're used to. And given our growing threat level, we're gonna need to expedite some of it." She soon realized.

"Meaning?" Haru pressed.

"It's gonna be extra brutal by civilian standards." Homura answered, looking a little guilty. "You prepared for such training? I cannot guarantee you'll be walking home afterwards." She soon questioned and warned.

"Oh! How exciting!" Haru surprisingly responded, clapping her hands together in joy. "I would love that!" She then added.

"...What?" The four got out at the same time.

"My shinobi training was one of the few things I enjoyed growing up, even when I would come home in nothing but mud, so I'd be glad to undertake such a process once again." Haru responded and explained with a sparkle in her eyes.

"O-Oh. Glad you're so eager." Asuka awkwardly responded. She had never seen anyone so enthusiastic for training before except...herself.

"Really owning up to being our Psycho user, huh." Miyabi deadpanned.

"It's like what my old sensei taught me, Ika-chan and Kumo-chan: Pain is an excellent teacher, especially when you're being set on fire." Haru recited with a sweet smile.

"...Who in the world was your sensei at that time?" Yumi soon breathed out.

"I don't remember. Ever since I took that log to the face, I can't seem to recall their name but I never brought it up just so I wouldn't be a bother." Haru sheepishly admitted.

"...When do you wanna start?" Homura soon asked, finally deciding that was enough about the heiress's childhood.

"This Sunday." Haru answered.

"Alright, we'll all meet at the forest to train then. See you at school, Haru-senpai." Homura responded with a nod.

"Hai. Have a good night Asu-sensei, Homu-sensei, Yumi-sensei, Miya-sensei." Haru happily replied with a nod.

"Bye." The girls responded with a wave, watching the heiress leave for home.

"...Dibs." Miyabi suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?" The other three shinobi girls responded in confusion.

"I call dibs on training her first." Miyabi soon confirmed.

"You can't call dibs on that!" Homura declared. "Besides, I'm the team trainer so I should train her first." She then reminded and stated.

"Hmm...but I feel as though I can get along with Haru-san much faster, get her more comfortable around us." Yumi soon confessed. "And I can ease her into her training rather than throwing her into the deep end. With sharks." She then added,

"And laser beams." The white haired woman added.

"I'm not that brutal." Homura scoffed. "...At least in this analogy, the sharks would be fed and docile." She then insisted.

"You can tame sharks?" Yumi questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a hypothetical scenario, and I would not do something like that without putting in at least some safety precautions." Homura then replied.

"Then why didn't you just get rid of the sharks?" Miyabi soon pointed out.

"Hey, it was either that or piranhas and those little things are hard to put lasers on." Homura answered with a grumble.

"Hey, are you forgetting about me?" Asuka however spoke up, pouting at the others as they then looked at her. "I'm Haru-chan's first new friend in years, and I feel like I haven't hung out with her enough. I should be the one to train her first." She then got out.

"But you haven't trained anyone yet." Yumi soon pointed out.

"Well, then it should be my turn so I can learn through experience." Asuka then argued.

"Again. Team trainer!" Homura called out.

"I want a gentler approach with Haru-san." Yumi got out, looking ready to fight for the right to train the fluffy haired girl first.

"I don't really care who goes first, I just wanna have something else to do after work." Miyabi admitted with a shrug as they all continued to bicker all the way to the train station.

(Yongen-Jaya, Leblanc)

Akira has escorted Futaba home before calling Kawakami to give him a massage to refill his energy. Afterwards, he went to see Hifumi to check on her.

Which was the right thing to do, considering he had a name for Mementos.

"Her own mother rigging matches in her favor?" Akira commented as he read one of the Mementos requests while walking to the cafe. "Ugh, this just screams living vicariously through their own kids." He scoffed with an eye roll.

"A lot of adults really want to be young, huh." Morgana muttered.

"That's why people love time travel stories." Akira stated. "Going back in time to fix mistakes of the past? It's a fantasy many have. Too bad it's only just a fantasy." He then stated and pointed out.

"Yeah." The not cat agreed with a nod.

Akira soon let out a yawn. "Pushed myself a little too hard today." He muttered.

"You've more than earned a good night's sleep now, Joker." Morgana stated with a nod.

"Hear, hear." The Leader agreed with a nod as he put away his phone and opened the door into Leblanc.

BZZT! BZZT!

"After checking everyone made it home safe." Akira then added as he pulled out his phone while locking the door to the place and going upstairs to his attic.

[Sweetkat06: Well, a lot happened but we're finally here!]

[Shut7heFUp: Did something happen?]

[FireGirl20: Oh let's see. The death of the principal, the hack, Haru's awakening, her true awakening, and everything related to Okumura Foods...]

[FireGirl20: Sorry, Haru-senpai.]

[B3lladonna: It's quite alright. We've been through a lot together, but became stronger because of it. I wouldn't trade such experiences for the bliss of ignorance and apathy.]

[Negative8Degrees: Asuka-san, are you sure you are alright after seeing your...friends?]

[SushiRoll23: I'll be honest, it hurts.]

[SushiRoll23: Seeing my friends...MYSELF being treated like nothing...]

[DarkEyeXI: The cruel reality of the current shinobi system. Good or Evil, we're all just tools for someone.]

[Shut7heFUp: Whoa, where'd that come from Miyabi?]

[DarkEyeXI: Came to realize it when we saw the robot disposal...]

[TheWildJ0ker: Okumura seriously has a messed up view of the Hanzō girls. In comparison, there was Sugimura...]

[Road2Queen: He was basically the same as his real counterpart, wasn't he?]

[B3lladonna: Yes. There were no embellishments. He knew exactly the type of person he was selling me off to.]

[Road2Queen: Haru...]

[B3lladonna: I cannot express how much gratitude I have for all of you for helping me. Thank you.]

[All4Painting: Do not thank us yet. The finishing touch still remains.]

[B3lladonna: The calling card, right? What do I need to do?]

[TheWildJ0ker: Nothing yet. We need to rest up for the upcoming heist. That Utopia project is still bothering me, so we should be prepared for anything.]

[B3lladonna: I'll prepare myself for that. I shall leave the decision of when we send the calling card in your capable hands, Leader.]

[TheWildJ0ker: Okay, Haru. We promise, this won't end in tragedy!]

Akira turned off the phone and plugged it in, and he suddenly smirked as he looked up at the ceiling. "Yo." He casually greeted with a smirk.

The busty blonde sighed from the wooden beam she had been sitting on for the past half hour. "Mou...I miss surprising you. You have such the cutest face when I get you." Haruka lamented as she hopped down.

"I'm more surprised when you're not here at this point." Akira admitted. "And even more shocked you aren't in your underwear right now, Haruka." He then added.

"I just got off work. We got a new frequent visitor and she's an interesting case." The blonde revealed. "And my, you seem exhausted." Haruka noted as she put down the duffle bag she had over her shoulder.

"Yeah. Just...lots of work that had to be done today." Akira informed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"What type?" Haruka asked.

"Meh, office work or something like that." Akira responded with a shrug. "Helped out a friend deal with that. Morgana helped out a lot." He then added.

"He helps?" Haruka questioned with an amused smile.

"He healed our stamina when we were at our lowest." Akira replied truthfully, earning a pur from the not cat. "And by healing, I mean the usual petting and stuff." He then added.

"Ufufu~ Such a good kitty, Morgana-kun~" Haruka cooed out, hugging and petting the not cat.

Morgana purred as he rubbed his hand into the girl's palm.

Akira watched Haruka petting Morgana and smiled a little. Time and time again he's seen shinobi with various mental states and lethality just...being human, despite everything, and it still continues to amaze him.

Even if only in the back of his mind.

The Leader then thought back to the white haired woman's text regarding shinobis being nothing but tools, and the treatment of the replicas within Okumura's Palace, causing his eye to twitch. "Haruka..." Akira suddenly began as he hugged the blonde.

"!?" The blonde's eyes soon widened in shock to this sudden action.

"You are not a tool. You and the others aren't tools." Akira soon stated as he tightened the hug.

Morgana instantly knew what was going on. "This is from the Palace, huh?" He assumed.

Akira nodded with his head on the blonde's shoulder.

"Erm...okay?" Haruka got out, looking a little confused. "Where did this come from darling?" She soon asked.

"Just...been seeing a lot of people being used lately, almost to the point of destruction." Akira answered honestly. "Made me think of all the shinobi out there, and how they're being used to further the goals of someone else who won't lift a finger themselves." He then added.

"Well...it is true we are often thought of as nothing but tools. I even accepted that." Haruka mumbled out. "But not now, nor will I ever think that again. Me and all my friends and allies...we are done being the wills of those with power. It's our lives now, and we are going to steal it back by any means necessary."

Morgana meanwhile smiled after hearing that. "Looks like Lady Haruka's growing up too." He noted in approval.

"Heh." Akira chuckled. "You know, with that talk and your whole thing with your parents, I'm half-expecting you to be a Phantom Thief." He jokingly remarked.

"Hmmm~ Who knows? Maybe I am?" Haruka got out in a teasing manner, getting up close to the actual Leader of the Phantom Thieves. "I just haven't had the chance to steal that stubborn heart of yours away." She then added.

"Well, you're gonna have to share." Akira casually stated...right before covering his mouth. "Why do I keep saying shit like this!?" He then cursed under his breath.

While the Leader was mentally slapping him, Haruka paused to think. "I won't mind." She suddenly got out.

Akira was stunned by the statement but quickly shook it off. "Alright, alright. Enough teasing tonight. Let's get some sleep, okay?" He chuckled before moving towards the bed.

Haruka however narrowed her eyes in response as she then took his hand. "Who said I was only teasing?" She questioned with a kind smile. "I want you to be happy darling. So if that is the case, I'll accept it." She then confessed.

"..." Akira stared directly into her eyes before letting out a breath. "Oh my god she's serious..." He thought to himself. "...You know what, do you have anything going on later?" He asked.

"Hm?" Haruka blinked. "Um, I'm still working on the cure for cancer, and I've been refining the potion in my off-time. Other than that, I don't have much going on outside of work." She soon answered, feeling her heart beginning to quicken a little.

"So...why not go on that date I promised you some time ago?" Akira suggested with a small smile. "I passed by the theater earlier, and they're open for business now. I heard they're releasing Back to the Ninja early by a month." He then informed.

"That sounds...lovely." Haruka responded. It was pretty funny they were gonna go see a movie about a ninja, but she wouldn't turn down an opportunity like this. "...Wait, you're actually going through with it?" She then asked, wanting to be sure of what she heard.

"Why not? There's a big project due and I wanna hang out and relax before I need to finish it." Akira insisted.

Haruka suddenly seemed...nervous, yet very much flattered. "O-Oh...well...it's a date then. I'll tell you when I'm free so we can go." She soon got out with a smile.

"Cool." Akira responded with a nod.

"Yes. Cool." Haruka responded with a nod, still processing what just happened.

The two then stood in silence, not sure what else to do.

"I guess...we should go to bed now." Akira soon decided.

"Hai." Haruka responded...before smiling in a teasing manner as she took hold of her top.

"Haruka, what are you-" Akira began as he then watched the blonde lift up her top to reveal her pink lace bra.

BOING!

Akira's blush immediately flared up at the sight of the blonde's J-cup breasts, but he couldn't look away.

"Hehe~ Got you there~" Haruka teasingly declared.

Akira shrugged the blush off before giving a sigh. "I really can't escape this from you, can I?" He then stated back, still looking at the teasing blonde.

"Nope. Not at all, you perv~" The blonde alluringly commented as she took off the whole top before folding it neatly and setting it down. "Hmm...I guess the skirt has to go, too, don't you think?" Haruka then assumed.

"I'm guessing no isn't a valid answer." Akira deadpanned.

"No, of course not." The blonde sweetly replied before beginning to unzip her skirt and pulling them down, revealing her pink-colored pair of panties. She then set her skirt aside neatly and made some intricate and sexy poses for the boy and the not cat to bear witness.

"Like what you see~?" Haruka soon cooed out the question.

Morgana stared at the semi-nude body of the blonde before blushing and having a slight nosebleed. This was way different from the time he had bathed with Asuka and Homura.

Akira gulped with a blush on his face. "Um...yes?" He instinctively confessed in a dazed manner.

"Good. You're being honest." Haruka replied with a giggle. "Hmm...you want me to go full on naked~?" She then teased as she tugged one on her bra's strings.

"That's up to you, and I don't mind, really." Akira casually replied with a wave of his hand.

Immediately, Morgana's nose bled a little from that statement. "Uhhh..." He only got out, though only to the Leader's ears.

"Soooo...that's a yes from you then~?" Haruka once more asked as she removed her sandals and set them aside as well.

"Sure, Haruka." Akira responded while the not cat's head went completely red.

"Alright, naked sleeping it is." Haruka replied, unclipping her bra and removing it completely, finally showing her bare J-cup breasts for them to see, nipples and everything.

Akira gazed at her breasts in a somehow observant sort of way. "Jeez, why does female nudity have to be so hypnotizing in some way...?" He then thought with a sigh.

"Alright, time for the panties to go." Haruka informed with a smile as she began inserting her thumbs on both sides of her panties.

Akira was so sure that hormonal men, especially teenage guys would've considered this their dream come true. Good thing for him, he was used to it and had some self-restraint.

Haruka then pulled her panties down and got them off before neatly folding it and setting it aside along with her clothes. She then made some stimulating poses in front of the Leader with a lick of her lips.

At that moment, Akira began to think that whenever the blonde was around him, nudity would be involved, which was stimulating and...weirdly enough, relaxing at the same time.

Morgana started to wobble his head, like he was beginning to faint. He wanted to be a gentleman...but he just couldn't look away.

"Morgana." Akira got out as he noticed the not cat's gestures.

The not cat whirred his head at the Leader. "W-What?" Morgana got out.

"Hentai." Akira playfully accused as he leaned towards him.

That made Morgana flinch at the comment. "Sh-Shut up!" He then spat out before dropping off the bed. "Manwhore!" He then yelled as he dashed off and went down the stairs.

"Think up another name!" Akira called out.

"Again, talking with your cat like you can understand him or something." Haruka noted with a hand on her bare hips.

"I can imagine what he was saying to me based on his body language." Akira immediately responded.

"Well that's impressive." The blonde confessed before smiling. "Anyway...you know, you could go naked too as we sleep, darling~" Haruka teasingly suggested.

"...Are you gonna strip me now or something?" Akira decided to ask in a somewhat deadpan tone.

"Tempted~" Haruka confessed as she smiled while slowly approaching him.

"That's sexual harassment, you know?" Akira reminded with a nudge of his glasses.

CHU!

"H-Haruka-chan..." Akira stammered out.

"Ufufu~ You know you love it, darling~" Haruka however giggled and cooed out.

"Whatever." Akira sighed as he rolled his eyes.

"Better if you could just strip yourself naked in front of me, hmhm~" The blonde teased with a small laugh. "I clearly don't mind." She then added.

"No, thank you." The Shujin student replied.

"Figures." Haruka responded in faux disappointment. "Which is why you leave this to me." She then stated.

"...Wait what?" Akira got out in confusion.

WHOOSH!

"Done. Here" Haruka stated as she suddenly took out a stack of folded clothes from behind her.

"Huh? Haruka, what's...?" Akira only got as he noticed the stack, only to realize something as he took a closer look. "Wait...is that my Shujin uniform? And...pants and..." He then started before trailing off in realization.

"Surprise." Haruka responded... while her nose was bleeding. "I'll just put it riiiiight here." She then added as she walked towards the Leader's workbench and placed the folded clothes there.

Akira even noticed that he felt a bit cold all over his body all of a sudden. He then looked down and noticed something truly unexpected.

"Haruka, you..." Akira began before faltering, noticing that he was now naked in the middle of the room like the blonde, baring his toned figure and genitals for the blonde to see.

SNAP!

"There." Haruka suddenly got out, holding an actual compact bridge camera in front of her. She actually took a picture of the Shujin student in the nude. "Gonna save it in my computer's private files."

"How the hell did you-!?" Akira got out in disbelief, trying his best to cover his naked self.

"Ufufu~ Did you already forget that I'm a shinobi~?" Haruka teasingly reminded with a giggle."

"Grrrr..." Akira grumbled in annoyance, still trying to cover himself to the best of his ability.

"Now that we're officially in the nude, we can now sleep soundly." Haruka concluded as she did a once-over on his naked body.

"Please give me my clothes back, Haruka!" Akira exclaimed not too loudly.

"Come on, darling." Haruka simply pleaded with a small smile. "Try sleeping naked for once in a while." She then requested.

"Eh? S-Sleeping naked?" Akira got out and repeated.

"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes, there is, Haruka." Akira bluntly replied. "Like, many things wrong with that." He then added.

"Well, there's a first time for everything." Haruka stated with a sweet smile.

"...Are you serious right now, Haruka?" Akira only got out, slightly baffled as he stared at her.

"I slept naked with you already, darling." Haruka helpfully reminded. "You can try sleeping in the nude for a change. And besides, no prying eyes can see us." She then added.

Akira somehow doubted that, knowing a certain hacker had a tendency to invade privacy and he just remembered he still hadn't gotten around to tracking down all of Futaba's bugs. "...But...Haruka, this is too much." He mumbled, hoping that she wouldn't see the tightness growing in his...right hand, dammit.

"Akira-kun, you got transformed into a female before, you bathed with me in the bathhouse, I let you grope my breasts, and I even sucked your nipples while you were a girl." Haruka pointed out. "And you call this too much?"

Akira was about to retort but...he realized that the blonde doctor had an interesting point. Sleeping with one another in the nude was something, to which he was unsure what to do here. Sure, there were a lot of sexual and stimulating incidents he had encountered throughout his probation, but this was on a different level.

...

...But, given how weird and perverted his life had become, he might as well face it head-on.

But...he still had standards, and no matter how tempting it was...

"Well?" Haruka soon got out with a hand on her hip. "Care to sleep naked this time, darling?" She then asked.

"...I'm worried you might do something funny." Akira however confessed, still covering himself.

"Don't worry. I promise I won't." Haruka assured.

Akira narrowed his eyes on her.

"If I broke my promise, you can charge me more than the actual price every time I buy coffee in the cafe below." Haruka then stated.

"You expect me that would be enough of a punishment?" Akira questioned as he crossed his arms.

"And I will not stalk in your room for one week and enter here like a normal person." Haruka added, hoping it would convince him.

It was the opposite once again as Akira was still making a narrow-eyed look on his face.

"And...I will try not to be more sexually advancing towards you for a week...maybe two." The blonde continued, starting to sweat a bit from the slight amount of threat accumulating from the frizzy-haired boy's body language.

Akira pondered on what he had just heard from the blonde. "...Knowing you, you won't sincerely act on those punishments of yours." He then began.

"Well...if I were not taking you seriously, I wouldn't, like I treated my targets." Haruka got out. "But this time, it's you who were talking about here, and you pretty much made my life more...living, so to speak." She then stated in a comforting manner.

Should Akira...take her offer? Well...it's not like he was in danger or anything, but...

"...Haruka, if I see or feel something unnecessary..." Akira soon warned.

"We're just gonna sleep in the nude, and that's it." Haruka explained to him. "Nothing unnecessary or too far, I promise. I'll stake any connection I have with you on it." She then reassured.

"You really mean that?" Akira questioned in a serious tone.

"I do, darling." Haruka confirmed with a nod.

"Ugh, knowing shinobi's either a blessing or a curse." Akira somehow commented to himself.

"Well, it was a curse before, having the threat of being killed and all, but now...it's more of a blessing nowadays. Think about it, you witnessed sexually appealing girls and their charms, big breasts and all like my Hebijo comrades, and somehow, they didn't faze you most of the time, if not all the time." Haruka pointed out and explained.

Akira took a deep breath with a sigh at that.

For him, this probation was madder than he would've thought, aside from the Palace trips and the lingering threat of dying and all the antics he's been through.

Though, he honestly had to admit...after everything that had happened during the infiltration of Okumura's Palace, he thought he needed this kind of... distraction.

"So, can we now sleep together, darling?" Haruka soon asked.

Akira glanced at her for a moment before sighing. "Yeah, okay, fine...come on now." He responded.

That in turn immediately perked up the blonde. "Finally! Thank you, darling." Haruka happily responded. "Well?" She then got out.

"What?" Akira replied in confusion.

"You can not cover yourself now." Haruka then instructed.

Akira simply stared at her for a moment in response.

"Relax yourself, darling." Haruka calmly got out. "No one's here but us. Well, besides your Morgana-kun, but I doubt he understands what's going on here." She then added.

Now that was a lie from Akira's perspective. He was still wondering if the not cat was secretly eavesdropping nearby.

After a while, Akira sighed before relaxing himself as he let his arms droop, reluctantly revealing his nude body for the blonde to see.

Haruka giggled as she licked her lips. "You really are working out your body. I actually like that in a man." She then complimented and confessed.

Akira made a look at the blonde, taking short glances at her nude body. "Well, your body is irrevocably sexy in its own way. Your...J-Cup breasts are alluring, as well as your waist, your hips, and, well...there as well. " He decided to counter-confess, somehow just to tease her a bit like what she did to him.

"Hmhmhm~ you have a way with compliments, darling." Haruka playfully noted with a smile before making a seductive pose with hands behind her head. "By the way, if you want to know, my three sizes are 99~ 55~ 88~" She then revealed in a seducing tone.

"...Uh-huh." Akira dumbly got out as he processed this. "Well, are we going to bed now?" He eventually asked.

"Yes. Oh, and no blankets covering ourselves, okay? Let's bare our naked bodies to the open."

"...I might get cold, you know?" Akira however pointed out.

"We'll just close the window a bit." Haruka responded, doing so before motioning the boy to come with her on the bed.

To that, Akira sighed, knowing he brought this situation upon himself.

The two eventually made themselves comfortable as they laid down on the bed as the Leader turned off the lights. They shifted themselves for a bit to make sure they were sleeping in a comfortable position, with both of them facing each other and being close enough together.

PRESS!

Akira felt her J-Cup breasts pressing against his own toned one. "Oh man..." He quietly muttered.

"What?" Haruka only got out before noticing what she was doing to him. "Oh...hmhmhm~ You like my breasts so much, darling?" She teasingly assumed.

"...Ever since you let me grope them..." Akira awkwardly confessed.

"Heh, pervert~" Haruka teasingly responded. "But I like you being forward. At the very least, you know your boundaries as well like a gentlemen." She then confessed and stated in admiration.

"Come on, Haruka, don't flatter me too much." Akira however replied.

"You deserve to hear that from me." Haruka however responded.

Akira looked at her thoughtfully for a while before glancing back down, seeing once again her J-Cup breasts pressed in his toned chest like water balloons.

"Well? Have a feel of them once again if you want." Haruka got out and offered.

Akira faced her for a bit before glancing back down at the blonde's bare J-Cup breasts once again, gulping as a result.

Then, there was a sudden shiver going through the Phantom Thieves Leader. Most likely due to the situation he was in.

Besides...

Go on...

...They're just female breasts, that's all...nothing sexual about it...

...Female breasts...from a girl that had fallen for him...

She's willing...

Yeah...just some naked breasts...

Hmm...such big breasts...

Don't be nervous...

Breasts...mmm...

...J-Cup breasts...

Feel them ...

"...May I?" Akira suddenly and quietly requested, letting his hormonal urges take over for a bit.

"For you, Akira-kun...always. Go ahead." Haruka all but whispered.

Akira began slowly placing a free hand on one of the blonde's breasts and starting to cop a feel to it once again in a gentle manner.

"Ah~ mmm~ that's it..." Haruka got out and hummed. "Like I did to you that one time~" She then cooed out in a dazed manner.

That made Akira blush a bit as he remembered that certain changing room incident when he was a full-on girl. "I'll...try, Haruka-chan."

"Thank you." Haruka all but whispered.

Akira went ahead to continue his groping session. Hopefully, this wouldn't get him into trouble more.

Make her feel better...

Akira froze for a moment. At first, he almost thought that was his own thoughts.

You're a man...you're allowed to have your urges...

Now Akira was slightly concerned. That was clearly not his usual voice inside his head...even if it did sound like his own voice.

"You can lick them if you want, you know?" Haruka suddenly suggested. "My nipples~" She then revealed in a seducing tone.

That made Akira stop for a bit on what he was doing to her. As he tried to comprehend what the blonde was suggesting to him and the voice in his head recently, something from the back of his head prompted him to hesitate and do what he was suggested to do.

"...Maybe soon. Not right now, but soon. Right now, just the hands." Akira lamented to her, still trying to think things through for now.

In response, Haruka sighed in disappointment. It was just starting to feel good too. "Shame...I was looking forward to it." She made a slight pout.

"Patience, Haruka-chan." Akira responded as he caressed the blonde's cheek in a gentle manner.

"Okay, it's your call." Haruka responded.

"It's just...I'm just worry that I might... well..." Akira hesitantly started before trailing off.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Haruka soon asked in concern.

"Umm...I'm starting to worry that l...I might act like that old bastard of a PE teacher of mine..." Akira hesitantly confessed.

"Oh...that rotten gym teacher?" Haruka assumed in a more concerned manner. "Is that why you're...usually so reluctant?" She asked in realization.

"...Yeah, maybe..." Akira responded.

"Don't worry...you'll never be like that pig by the name of Kamoshida..." Haruka reassured in a more serious tone.

"I won't...and that's a promise." Akira vowed to himself for the blonde. For him, that was quite an interesting promise he made.

"Thank you." Haruka mumbled.

"Mmm..." Akira groaned in his bed, like he was trying to endure something.

Haruka heard it and raised her head a bit. "Hm? What is it now?" She soon asked in concern.

"Trying my best here to not have that happen here." Akira casually replied, almost like he was swearing.

With that, Haruka widened her eyes a bit along with a slight tinge of pink on her face. She then began to slowly look down in curiosity.

"Don't. Even." Akira snapped at her, gently smacking her shoulder.

"Just curious, darling, hehe." Haruka giggled.

"Like you haven't even seen a guy's penis before." Akira commented, almost in a deadpan tone.

"Well...do my male test subjects back at Hebijo count?" Haruka surprisingly asked in a more meek tone with a pink blush.

That in turn confused the Leader at the sudden change in tone...before his eyes widened. "...Good god, are you-!?" Akira began in shocked realization as warning lights went off in his mind.

"I am. Always have been." Haruka casually replied, almost in a proud manner. "I teased others for missions back at Hebijo, but I never allowed them to get this close. Otherwise they would die by my hand." She then revealed.

"...Should I be worried here?" Akira soon asked in concern.

"Not at all, darling." Haruka responded in a softer tone. "You are an exception. And you can feel free to explore my bare body with your bare hands, hmhm~ Just remember to show some restraint." She then reassured, followed by the offer and advice.

Akira was a bit taken aback by it. "Alright...I will."

"Great. And I don't suppose you would mind me doing the same to you?"

Now Akira began to hesitate. He was not sure if he should allow her to go that far. Though, he did remember the time Haruka got handsy with him in his female form.

...And he wasn't going to let her know it felt good at the time...

"Fine, just...don't do anything weird to my naked body, okay?" Akira eventually relented. "You already had your hands on it once during one of my potion trips." He soon reminded.

"Don't worry, I won't. Good night, darling..." Haruka however softly whispered in an exhausted manner as the two hugged one another

Akira simply nodded in response, holding her close as they drifted off to sleep.

Outside, a young-sounding giggle faintly echoed before the figure turned into wisps of dark smoke, disappearing into the night.

(Fast Forward)

Sae simply...stared at Akira.

No emotion or anything.

Just...stared.

Although it had only been a few seconds, to Akira, it had been 12 hours and that silence was more awkward than...well, sleeping in bed with a girl naked. "...There's-" He began, only for the prosecutor to stop him.

"For the love of god, by the end of this thing, if you haven't lost your virginity, I will be amazed." Sae bluntly admitted. "Continue." She then ordered in a curt manner.

Akira blushed.

(Rewind)

(Yongen-Jaya, Sojiro Sakura's House, Futaba Sakura's Room)

After getting home for the night with Akira's help (and likely shadowed by Miyabi), Futaba had a nice dinner before going to her room, practically leaping into her chair to immerse herself back into her work.

Her work involving running surveillance and security for everyone in the Phantom Thieves and enjoying all the wonderful things she could see in Tokyo.

Case in point...

"Mwehehe~ Good thing I put it on record. Nude bodies are the best." The resident hacker commented as she secretly watched the nude scene in the cafe attic through a hidden camera that she recently installed there secretly. "And now we have Rito Yūki, let's see..." She soon began.

She now displayed a live video feed of what seemed to be a Kosei High School dorm room, possibly from a computer's webcam that she hacked a few days ago.

On the bed was a complete stimulating chaos: Rito was only wearing trunks while having an extremely panicked reaction on his face while going completely red in embarrassment. There were also two young girls as well with him: one was a familiar short pink-haired girl who was completely nude on all fours, looking like she was trying to seduce the young boy, the second one was a red-head with her hair loose, nude along with the other girls.

Though then at that moment, a short-looking tan-skinned girl with long black hair, who was also naked strutted into the room as well, a look of satisfaction on her face.

The three of them were looking like they were crawling towards the reddened brown-haired boy, and they were also sporting hungry looks on their faces as well. Even the sounds caught by the webcam's microphone were convincing enough to be very stimulating for normal people.

"Hehe, fanservice like the usual." Futaba stated, witnessing the scene as she nudged her glasses up before frowning. "Geez, Rito Yūki, don't be a wimp. You got a frickin' harem that all wants you!" She then commented in annoyance before minimizing the webcam window.

Futaba then fell back as she hit the backrest of her chair with a heaving sigh. "Jeez, I really need this break after that Palace." She breathed out. "Fricking robots and Gundam and crap..." She then grumbled under her breath.

Okumura's Palace really took a toll on her along with her teammates, and the discoveries that they found there regarding Haru's father's innermost distorted desires were extremely hard to forget.

There was still a lingering thought in her mind: Will it end as they expected?

She had to admit, the thought of this Black Mask guy ever since it was mentioned to her really made her paranoid at times, especially whenever she's in a Palace along with her fellow Thieves.

"Hmmm...I guess I'll contact Saki-chan now." Futaba soon decided...before looking around for a moment to see if she's completely alone. "...Should I go naked?...Maybe soon enough." She then wonderee and decied.

It's not like anyone would enter her room...well, except shinobi though, especially her Big Sis. Still, being naked in her room wouldn't mind her as long as she locked the door and covered her windows completely along with the air conditioner on.

The orangette then couldn't help but rub her chest before pouting. "...Man I want a sexy shinobi body too like Big Sis...but that means having to work-out...nope, nope, nope." She then grumbled in obvious envy before going into her online contacts.

She was also tempted to contact a certain perverted blonde, but there were still pressing matters at hand.

(Shinjuku, New Moon Apartment Complex)

"From one pressing matter to another." Yumi couldn't help but think as she put away her phone, having just finished managing her info network before moving onto her personal affairs.

Yumi carefully laid out her Gessen uniform on the table. It had been so long since she had even touched it, and yet it still looked fresh out of the dryer. Smelled a little like it too.

Smelled a little like her grandfather as well. When she hugged him before leaving.

Or was that her imagination?

Yumi closed her eyes as she tried to remember that day.

But...it wouldn't come to her.

Not right now, anyways. It just...hurt to think that the last time she ever saw her grandfather physically...the last thing she said to him was...

"I will make you proud." Yumi sniffled out. "I...I don't know if I am..." She then whispered.

She couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh. She told everyone, she told Akira she was fine and over it before. She even almost believed it.

But no...no, she was lying to herself. She was far from it, she realized.

The gray haired girl then looked towards the small shrine set up in the corner of the apartment. "Ojii-sama..." Yumi whimpered to herself as she looked at the picture while placing a hand on her large chest.

A shinobi must face death eventually, right? Of enemies, of allies, of friends and family. She had dealt with death before...

But...she had dealt with it by filling the hole her parents had left with rage, a need for revenge, and a dream to bring justice to the world.

So what could she do now to fill the hole her grandfather left her?

(Hebijo Base)

Meanwhile, in another part of town, a busty blonde masochist was figuring out her next move in her quest for revenge.

"Hmm...where the heck are you, Miyabi-chan~?" Ryōna muttered to herself.

It was another day spent unable to find the woman. She had checked a lot of places around town, and yet she couldn't find a single clue on her. White hair wasn't a common color, and yet there was nothing.

She should've expected it though. She was dealing with an experienced shinobi, and she was simply a first year. Maybe Ryōna and her sister were in over their heads, but they had already sacrificed too much to be able to turn back now.

However, today had not been a total wash as she completed another objective.

"It was awfully easy to get all this..." Ryōna got out as she soon laid out everything she had collected today across the table, most of it relating to one person...

His student file, where he lived...his sketchy criminal record...

"Akira Kurusu..." She soon began with a cat-like grin as she gazed all over what she collected about the boy. "I hope you don't disappoint me!" She then declared with a giggle.

(Shibuya, Shin Megami Apartment Complex)

Asuka and Homura had arrived at their apartment after getting some ice cream to celebrate getting through the Palace. On their way back home, Asuka had decided to call her grandfather, and had been talking for a good while now as she dressed up in much more comfortable clothes and put away the duffle bag full of items and loot.

"Thanks Jii-chan. My friend really needs this." Asuka got out in a grateful tone. She was on the phone, currently in contact with her legendary of a grandfather.

"Gahaha! It's not a problem." Hanzō on the phone responded delightly. "It was to be expected if your friend met Katsuragi." He then added.

"Oh, and don't do anything funny with her clothes, okay?" Asuka however requested.

"Heavens no, I won't do that to your friend." Her grandfather reassured. "...I don't mind knowing what her chest size is now, though." He then casually added.

"Jii-chan..." Asuka droned out in disapproval.

"Kidding, kidding." Hanzō assured her with a small chuckle in the end. "Anyways, I'll send your friend's clothes back as soon as possible." He then assured.

"Again, thanks." Asuka responded in relief. "See you soon. Love you. Say hi to Mama and Papa for me and Homu-neechan." She then got out.

"I will." Hanzō replied. "Now, I hope this call isn't just to talk about clothes?" He then added, now taking on other matters.

"Um, how is your...uh...thing going with Yōma and Shin?" Asuka then whispered.

"That is highly classified information, Asuka." Hanzō replied in a serious manner. "But if you must know, it's going quite well. We should be wrapping up soon. Though surprisingly, some of the Yōma are dying out on their own, which is very peculiar." He then answered in a jovial manner.

"That's great." Asuka responded, mentally hoping whatever her grandfather had found led to nothing about her being a Phantom Thief, no matter how small the chances were. "Are you going to visit soon then?" She then asked.

"Unfortunately, I have something to attend to in a few days so I won't be available for a while."

"Aw, that's too bad." Asuka responded, a bit down by it. "I-"

"YOU!" A slightly raspy female-like voice yelled from her phone, startling the brunette a bit.

"Huh?" Hanzō only got out from the phone. "Ooooh crapbaskets...S-Sayuri, my dear beloved- wait, how did you find- ow! OW!" He then continued and explained almost in a shiver before a sound of a punch was heard.

"I'M GONNA KICK YOUR GODDAMN ASS ONCE I'M DONE WITH YOU! YOU HAD THE GALL NOT TO TELL ME MORE ABOUT MY NEW GRANDDAUGHTER!" The old woman yelled out in a furious manner as the brunette pulled her phone from her ear. "Oh, is Asuka on the phone?" She soon assumed.

"Y-Yes dear." Hanzō replied weakly.

"Oh, lovely!" The old woman stated, like she just had a 180 on her tone. "Asuka, hello." She then greeted.

"Baa-chan!? Hi!" Asuka gasped. "It's been so long! Where have you been!?" She happily asked.

"Baa-chan!?" Homura meanwhile repeated in a whisper. "I have a grandma as well!?" She then quietly squealed in excitement.

"Oh, it's been lovely. Met some nice girls who would love to be your friends. They're in Tokyo right now, so maybe you'll run into them." Sayuri responded.

"I see. May I ask what their names are, Baa-chan?" Asuka soon asked in a curious manner.

"Well...okay, there's the three Mikagura sisters, Renka, Hanabi and Kafuru and there is also Naraku and her...younger sister, which I unfortunately don't remember her name." Her grandmother replied, though the last part of it was vague.

"Huh. I'll try to meet them once I have the free time. School cover and all." Asuka responded, making a mental note about them.

"Of course. Now, is your new sister around?" Sayuri then asked.

That in turn caused the sisters to jolt up at the question. "Oh, Homu-neechan is right with me." Asuka revealed as she looked at the tan skinned girl and smiled. "Here, I'll let you talk to Baa-chan." She then offered while handing her phone over.

"Eh!?" Homura squeaked as she took the phone and placed it to her ear. "Huh-buh-wha...um...hi, g-grandma." She got out before awkwardly greeting.

"Hello, Homura." Asuka's, well, her grandmother tittered lightly. "How are things? Have you met everyone in the family yet?" She soon questioned.

To that, Homura shook her head. "No. I haven't met dad yet." She soon responded before blinking. "Holy crap, that sounded weird." She awkwardly admitted.

"You'll get used to it soon enough. No need to be so stiff about it." Sayuri assured, likely smiling on the other end.

"Yes ma'am. I mean, yes, sensei. Wait, no-" Homura replied, only to blush as she messed it up.

"My, what a troubled upbringing to say sensei before grandma..." Sayuri remarked.

"That's blunt, Gran-Gran." Homura got out with a frown.

"My apologies, but it seems my idiot husband forgot a few details when he informed me of my new granddaughter." Sayuri responded with a sigh.

"He is an idiot, alright." Homura deadpanned. "Nice, but an idiot." She then added as she unconsciously rubbed the spot where the Yoke technique once was.

"So, how're things over there? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah. Sis is great, and I've made friends I would die for in a heartbeat." Homura answered without thinking. "U-Uh, sorry for the weird saying, but it's true. They helped me out of some dark places." She awkwardly apologized and explained.

"Hmm..." Sayuri hummed out. "I see. I'm glad to hear that." She then got out.

"Yeah." Homura replied, blinking. That was a weird response too. Weirder than her own.

"Well, I promise to see you two soon so you better be ready for a guest." Sayuri informed.

"Are you gonna tell us when you're coming?" Homura had to ask.

"No." Sayuri simply responded.

"There's that bluntness again." Homura sighed. "But we'll be glad to spend time with you, Gran-Gran." She then admitted.

"Aw, such a sweet girl. I'll have a scarf prepared for you soon enough." Sayuri cooed out. "Ah, I just remembered I have somewhere to be. I'll have to hang up soon." She soon got out.

"Really?" Homura muttered, sounding a little sad. "Well, okay. Do you want me to hand Sis's phone back over to her?" She soon assumed.

"If you please." Sayuri requested.

Homura nodded before giving the phone back to her sister. "Here, Sis." She got out.

"Thank you." Asuka nodded before pressing the phone against her ear. "Hey, Baa-chan. Is there anything else?" She asked.

"No, Asuka. I just wanted to say goodbye to my granddaughter." Sayuri responded.

"Ah. Bye then, Baa-chan. We'll make sure our place is ready for when you visit." Asuka assured with a nod.

"Bye. Now come here you piece of-" Sayuri replied before focusing her attention on more pressing matters, hanging up before the two sisters could hear anything else.

Mostly the blood-curdling cries of her grandfather.

"...No wonder she was able to marry the legendary shinobi..." Homura muttered.

"Yep! Baa-chan is the best!" Asuka happily stated.

KNOCK KNOCK!

"I feel like I've asked this question tons of times, but what now?" Homura sighed as she opened the door.

"Yo." Miyabi greeted with a peace sign.

"Miyabi-chan." Asuka responded with widened eyes. "Why are you here?" She quickly asked.

"Heard everything from my apartment. Stupid thin walls..." Miyabi explained with a grumble. "Anyways, do you mind if I come in?" She then got out.

"Sure." Homura nodded as she stepped aside to let the women inside.

Miyabi took a deep breath as she looked around the place. "...Man, my place is so much crappier..." She sighed.

"What about that painting Yusuke gave you for your birthday?" Asuka reminded.

"Oh, it definitely helps but my apartment is still crap." Miyabi responded with another sigh. "Like polishing a turd." She then added.

"Ew." The sisters cringed.

"Aw come on, I saw both of you gouge out one of those starfish's eye out in the Palace." Miyabi scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

"Poop is still disgusting." Homura stated. "And no, don't even think about it." She then warned.

"Alright..." Miyabi got out, deciding to leave that conversation there. "But holy crap, that Palace was not great..." She then groaned.

"Hai..." Asuka responded with a nod.

"Whew...still can't believe we did it all in a day..." Homura breathed out as she stretched her limbs.

"I'll say..." Miyabi admitted in agreement. "Mind if I stay over for the night?" She then requested.

"Sure!" Asuka happily responded.

"Thank you. In exchange, why don't I cook dinner for you tonight?" Miyabi replied and offered.

"..." In response, the two sisters looked at the white haired woman in a surprised manner.

"...What?" Miyabi got out with a raised eyebrow.

"C-Can you repeat that?" Asuka finally asked.

"Yeah, I thought you said you'll cook." Homura admitted as she stuck a finger in her ear.

"You two can't believe I can make something good?" Miyabi questioned as she crossed her arms under her breasts.

"I'm surprised you can cook at all or even the fact that you're offering to." Homura admitted as she rubbed that back of her head. "I always imagined you being fueled by ration bars and spite." She then confessed.

"I am, but I can also make a mean pasta with dried mullet roe now." Miyabi claimed. "Who do you think has been making Futaba's meals?" She then got out in a proud manner.

"Sojiro." Asuka answered automatically.

"Ack!" Miyabi choked.

"Wait, now?" Homura repeated. "You've been learning?" She then asked.

"Oh uh...I've been practicing since all of you are at school..." Miyabi awkwardly answered. "As well as at my job..." She then mumbled with a blush.

"Your job?" Homura repeated, holding back her envy from that piece of information.

Asuka narrowed her eyes as a certain teacher flashed through her mind. "...Are you a maid?" She guessed.

Miyabi coughed from gasping in too much air. "Wh-What!? N-No! Not at all! I'm not that willing to debase myself!" She denied, scoffing and shaking her head. "You know, yet." She then mumbled under her breath.

"...This is totally about the hunk thing, isn't it." Homura suddenly accused.

Miyabi could only cover her face with her hands in depression. "...Imu must never know..." She then muttered.

"Hey, your secret is safe with us." Homura assured as she patted the white haired woman on the back. "After all, this year alone there are many things we refuse to talk about." She then informed, those memories beginning to resurface before she shot each and every one of them in the head and buried their corpses in a ditch.

"Like how Homu-neechan was Biggles™- MPH!" Asuka mindlessly added, only to cover her mouth.

"..." The white haired woman soon looked at the blushing tan skinned girl. "You forced yourself to work in that deathtrap of a mascot suit?" Miyabi got out

"The real danger of the job was the children." Homura whispered in a hollow tone with a far-off look on her face. "I can still feel them crawling over me in my dreams." She then confessed.

"She had to be naked too." Asuka soon added once again. "WHY!?" She then screamed into a pillow.

"I mean it makes sense since it's summer." Miyabi nonchalantly admitted. "...This is getting off topic...but why do Asuka and Yumi have it easy?" She then noted before asking in an envious tone.

"Yumi-senpai's grandfather just died. She only has her sisters now." Homura deadpanned.

"Urk!" Miyabi winced out. "R-Right..." She awkwardly responded.

"It's not like I'm all that lucky either..." Asuka responded as she unconsciously rubbed her chest and winced at the phantom pain. "Urgh...my chest still feels so sore..." She soon moaned in pain as she opened up her top a little. She was half-expecting to see ugly purple handprints on them, and yet there was nothing there, which relieved her a bit. "Moh..." She then groaned.

"Do you need an ice pack?" Homura soon asked as she went to the fridge.

"...Yeah, I think I need one, thank you." Asuka replied in a grateful tone before her sister tossed her the ice pack, managing to get it in between her cleavage. "A-Aaaaaahhhh..." She then moaned in relief.

"Huh. 3 pointer." Miyabi remarked in a joking manner.

"Ha-ha." Homura rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe a cognition made me miss Katsu-nee's gropes." Asuka grumbled in annoyance.

"If she was ever that rough, I'd strangle her with my bare hands." Homura bluntly stated.

"Ikaruga-chan would probably get to her first though." Asuka pointed out. "Still, it just makes me feel...feel so..." She then mumbled as she clenched her fists.

"Defiled." Miyabi spoke.

"That's the word. Thanks, Miyabi-chan." Asuka breathed out.

"Huh?" Miyabi got out in confusion.

The tan skinned girl blinked at that.

Miyabi hadn't answered Asuka's question, she was just thinking out loud.

"You ok Miyabi? You seem distracted." Homura asked and noted.

To that Miyabi sighed. "Yeah...just seeing how Okumura sees people...disposing of them so easily...it made me realize that Hebijo's just like him..." She responded and hesitantly confessed in shame.

"That's the nature of being an Evil Shinobi academy." Homura stated. "Quantity over quality." She then added.

"Miyabi-chan..." Asuka whispered.

"But don't think about trying to convince me that leaving is an option." Miyabi however got out with a determined expression on her face. "Running might be best for you, but for me, nothing will change if I just give up. Just make things worse." She then stated.

"Really?" Asuka got out in a skeptical manner. "But...Hebijo has done so much..." She then began, only for the white haired woman to put a hand on her shoulder, interrupting the Vice Leader.

"Don't." Miyabi got out. "I know what they've done...which is why I need to change it back to what it once was." She then declared.

"What it once was?" Homura repeated with a raised eyebrow. "So it wasn't always a dangerous hellhole?" She then got out in disbelief, unable to imagine it.

"They didn't use that damn Yoke Technique back then..." Miyabi growled out while rubbing the spot on her neck where her mark was. "It was always harsh, but it made great shinobi out of it. Besides, who will pick up those who don't have the strength yet to live a life." She then got out.

"True..." Asuka admitted with a sigh. "...Our shinobi system sucks in the end..." She then grumbled in annoyance.

"Good accepts few, Evil accepts all." Homura recited. "But...that's why we're here. Why we're working together now." She then stated.

"I mean, the whole Good vs Evil thing was mainly an excuse to fight the Yōma and since they're slowly dying out with the destruction of Shin..." Miyabi reminded before letting out a long sigh. "Stopping a centuries long war is gonna be tough, if not impossible." She then stated.

"Hey, we've done the impossible before." Asuka got out with a smirk. "And if we don't start, who will?" She then questioned.

"But we won't make much progress without tons of allies. Even with the others, it's just 11 of us against millions." Miyabi soon got out with a frown.

"You're not counting Morgana-chan?" Asuka however asked.

Miyabi blinked before narrowing her eyes and leaning in close. "He. Is. A. Cat. Here." She reminded.

"He's more than that, Miyabi-chan." Asuka insisted. "Most cats don't talk, pick locks, and make grappling hooks from trash." She then added.

"...Alright, I concede to that." Miyabi muttered, feeling a little guilty for downplaying the little guy behind his back. "At the end of the day, we're still on the back foot for the most part, if not outright screwed if we start fighting everyone outright. If we wanna change the world, we have to do it subtly, in the background. And we can start by turning Hebijo back into a decent shinobi academy again." She then stated in a serious tone.

"Taking down Dōgen will help too." Homura bluntly added.

"That would definitely help." Miyabi replied with a nod in agreement.

"Well, if you need to do that...I promise Yumi-chan and I will help with that." Asuka reassured. "Some people...just can't be redeemed." She then added.

This in turn surprised the tan skinned girl, though the white haired woman smirked. "Well said, my student." Miyabi praised in approval. "Something you learned from me?" She then assumed.

"Somewhat. I always knew it, but it took getting beat up and chained to a wall to really accept it." Asuka muttered, groaning at the memories.

Miyabi blinked. "...Should I ask when-" She soon began.

"Kamoshida's Castle of Lust Palace when we accidentally entered it." Homura interrupted.

"Ah." Miyabi responded. "...Oh..." She then got out as she realized another thing from what the name of the Palace was.

"Yeah, don't bring it up." Asuka ordered in a serious manner. "...Aren't you gonna make dinner now?" She eventually asked.

"Oh, right." Miyabi got out as she headed into the kitchen. "Do you mind if I call Murasaki while I do?" She then asked as she took out her phone.

"We'll stay quiet as you do so." Asuka responded with a nod.

"Good time to do some homework too." Homura added. "If you need us." She then started.

"Yeah, I know. I'll call for you." Miyabi assured as she put her phone on the counter and dialed the mentioned girl's phone number. "Alright, let's do this." She then muttered while cracking her knuckles.

(Hebijo Academy, Murasaki's Room)

Within the former shut-in's room, the purplette was panting heavily, wearing her work-out clothes as she was doing pull-ups on the bar attached to the ceiling of her room.

"You should really have a spotter..." Bebeby suggested. Murasaki had actually dressed up the plushie as if she was a gym coach, with a little stopwatch and whistle around her neck.

"Hebijo...doesn't do...spotters..." Murasaki grunted out. "If they die...they die..." She then reminded.

BOING!

"And...50!" Murasaki concluded in satisfaction as she released the pull-up bar and landed on the ground before stretching her limbs.

"Pacing yourself this time?" Bebeby assumed as the purplette looked at herself in the mirror while flexing.

"I know now not to." Murasaki reassured before grinning at herself. "Look at you. You could steal hearts like the Phantom Thieves with your form alone, you sexy beefcake." She soon began admiring and complimenting herself in the mirror.

"And that's just by ignoring your fat, flat ass and giant hippo tits." Bebeby however pointed out.

"Nope!" Mursaki however started with a huff. "I am not letting you insult me like that right now! I like my body!" She then declared before turning back to the mirror...and began noticing other things. "Well, maybe I could use a little conditioner for my hair, and work on calves a bit more...and is that a blackhead on my nose...? I better deal with that later so it doesn't become a zit..." She soon began mumbling to herself.

"How about breast reduction surgery too?" Bebeby jokingly suggested.

"..." Murasaki, however, didn't respond as a horrible thought came to her. "Wait, I just realized...could Akira-kun be into flat-chested girls?" She squeaked in fear.

That threw the plushie into a loop. "What?"

"H-He hangs out with Haruka-oneesama all the time, but he hasn't done anything to her. It could be he was just being a gentleman towards her, but maybe it's because he's just not into her!" Murasaki rapidly explained before gasping, her skin losing its healthy glow, turning it snow white. "Oh God, is Akira-kun a lolicon!?" She soon wondered in a panic as she imagined the eyepatch wearing first year laughing it up with her crush as her boyfriend, while she herself was left in the trash along with the other developed girls she knew.

Wait, why was Yomi eating out of the trash in her imagination?

"Uh..." Bebeby was seriously starting to worry about the girl's mental health as she spiraled deeper and deeper into self-inflicted despair.

BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING!

"Need to work out more!" Murasaki cried out as she went down to the floor. "Must! Burn! Chest fat!" She then grunted out with every push-up she did, at a pace that would most likely make her overwork herself...again.

"Tone it down ya horny idiot!" Bebeby ordered in annoyance, causing the purplette to blush in embarrassment while stopping and laying on the floor. "How are you...you're freaking out your own inner thoughts! How is that possible!?" The plushie then questioned.

"I'm just...!" Murasaki tried to explain herself before taking a second to calm down. "I-I wanna experience what life has to offer, and I don't want to spend it wasting my time here! I've wasted too much of my life already! I want to hang out with friends, have fun with people I care about, fall in love and...and..." She then explained before her face turned red and her nose began bleeding.

"Pervert." Bebeby bluntly declared.

The purple haired girl coughed at that, but quickly recovered. "...Maybe I am." Murasaki however responded.

"Eh?" Her plushie got out in confusion.

"If wanting to experience pleasure and enjoying life to its fullest is wrong, then I am proud to be a pervert!" Murasaki proudly declared with hands on her hips...just as a familiar greenette and her puppy poked their heads in to check on her.

"Talking with the plushie again?" Hikage guessed.

"EEP!" Murasaki squeaked as she turned to the greenette and her pet. "H-How much did you hear?" She shakily asked.

"Something about chest fat from down the hall, and then you declaring that you are proud to be a pervert." Hikage answered in a blunt, emotionless manner...mostly for comedy because she was enjoying every minute of this.

"Arf!" Poochie barked.

"You're right, Poochie. We should give her some alone time." Hikage agreed. "See you tomorrow. Byeeeee..." She then got out as she and the puppy retreated from the door.

"Wait, no!" Murasaki exclaimed as she tried to chase after the girl, only for the greenette to already be gone. "Moh!" she then whined as she crumpled to the floor, embarrassed and ashamed.

"...Freedom comes with a price in the end." Bebeby sagely stated.

"Hai..." Murasaki mumbled with a nod as she then got a water bottle. "I'll ask Haruka-oneesama tomorrow about what Akira-kun likes in a girl..." She then decided.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The purplette soon heard that and looked at her computer. "Futaba-san?" Murasaki got out in a curious manner as she went over to her computer and turned it on.

"Yooooo Saki-chan!" Futaba's face greeted on the screen with a short wave, causing the purplette to giggle from the nickname before giving the purplette an up-down and grinned. "Mwhehe, just finished working out like usual?" She assumed.

"Hai." Murasaki confirmed with a nod while flexing again. "So...how do you think I'm progressing so far?" She soon asked as she focused the camera to show her abdomen.

"Looks like all your fat's going to your boobs now." The hacker casually commented. "And those abs, ugh! You could grill patties on those." She then added, drooling as she noticed the purplette's unusual six-pack.

"F-Futaba-san..." Murasaki nervously stated with a slight blush. "Erm...how is...A-Akira-kun?" She then hesitantly asked.

"Eh, he's probably sleeping with someone right now." Futaba responded as she looked off to the side.

"Eh!?" Murasaki yelped out in shock."I-It must be Haruka-oneesama..." She then quietly mumbled to herself. And she wouldn't do anything too dirty to him...she thought.

"Yep. He practically has a rotating list of girls that come over." Futaba replied and informed, earning a look from the purplette. "Anyways, are you gonna go online on Monster Hunter? I need those mats and Crimson Glow Valstrax isn't getting slain anytime soon by myself." She then immediately changed the subject.

"After I shower." Murasaki replied with a nod. "But um...should you be online yourself? You seem a little tired." She then noted in concern.

"Meh, I've just been running through a dungeon all day. Real tough one, tons of annoying enemies." Futaba answered. "Might not be available soon to talk, like, next week or so. Major raid is coming up." She then vaguely revealed.

"Do you need help? What game?" Murasaki offered and asked.

Futaba blinked. Why didn't she think a little more ahead? "Y-You know...um...FusionFall..." She then mumbled.

"N-Never heard of it." Murasaki got out with a frown.

"And that's why you can't help." Futaba jokingly stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Mou...okay, but we better play together after, okay?" The purplette insisted.

The hacker nodded. "We will." Futaba replied with a grin.

"You know, I never thought you'd be part of a guild." Murasaki then commented. "You seemed so...scared when we met." She soon recalled.

"Well, I'm more comfortable online with friends than with strangers." Futaba admitted. "I'm working on that, though. Now I can say words that actually exist to total normies." She then explained.

"Normies...yeah." Murasaki mumbled. "I've been talking to my friends too but...I don't think I've had that much experience talking to people I don't know..." She then awkwardly confessed.

"Don't worry. Once I max my level, I'll help you grind that." Futaba offered before yawning. "Ugh...maybe you were right though. I need to log off and go to sleep." She then got out.

"Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow night, then." Murasaki stated.

"Yeah, yeah. Night." Futaba continued yawning,

"Good night." The purplette greeted back before dismissing the video chat with the orangette.

After ending the video chat, the purplette sighed with a smile as she then stretched her arms in exhaustion. "Hehe, and to think I used to think the concept of having friends was a waste of time..." Murasaki remarked in amusement. "But now I have people who will help me every step of the way. I can't let that go without repaying them, so I'll grow, get stronger, and help them when they're down in my way!" She soon decided, but at that moment...

BZZT! BZZT!

"Again?" Murasaki muttered as she then went over and looked at her phone. "...Miyabi-san?" She questioned in confusion as she looked at who was calling her now.

"Why would she be calling you?" Bebeby wondered out loud.

"I don't know." Murasaki admitted before answering the call. "Hello?" She got out in a small voice.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING TO ME ABOUT YOU BEING IN TOKYO!?" Miyabi loudly questioned, causing the purplette to cover her ear while pulling the phone away from her.

After her hearing returned to normal (albeit with tinnitus), Murasaki replied. "W-Well-"

"If you say I didn't ask, I'm coming back to trash your PC." Miyabi deadpanned.

The purplette glanced at her 250,000 yen PC and whimpered. "I-I didn't want people knowing ok! I had permission from Suzune-sensei and I requested that no one knew I was there!" Murasaki soon confessed. "...Wait, how did you even find out!?" She then asked in shock and confusion.

"I have my sources." Miyabi simply replied.

"..." Murasaki frowned as she racked her brain about who could feasibly tell the woman about her trip. "Haruka-oneesama?" She then ventured a guess.

"N-" Miyabi began to deny before pausing. "...Yes." She then lied, deciding not to out her associates. "...Wait, oneesama?" She eventually repeated in confusion.

"I-Is there a problem with that?" Murasaki got out with a pout.

"...Not really." Miyabi responded. "To be honest, I've been dealing with a lot of people insisting on honorifics that- that's not what I am here to talk about HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE TO LEAVE!?" She began mumbling before returning to screaming at the girl.

"I uh...asked Suzune-sensei." Murasaki awkwardly revealed.

"You...If you asked Suzune-sensei, they would've dragged you kicking and screaming into classes!" Miyabi countered before pausing. "...Or execution, now that I think about it." She then mumbled.

"They would never think about killing me unless I lose my usefulness." Murasaki mumbled under her breath. "Anyways, is that all?" She eventually asked.

"No, just..." Miyabi began before letting out a frustrated groan. "Murasaki, we worry about you. Ever since you became a shut-in. And then suddenly, you leave your room for the first time in two years without anyone noticing for seemingly no reason. So I ask: why?" She asked in a much calmer manner.

"...You'll probably make fun of me for it...or yell more." Murasaki got out in a nervous manner.

"...Try me." Miyabi responded.

The purplette took in a deep breath. "It was...because of someone the others have been talking about." Murasaki answered. "A boy."

"...Is his name Akira Kurusu?" Miyabi bluntly guessed.

"!?" Murasaki squeaked, nearly dropping her phone in shock. "E-Erm, n-n...I mean...how did you know!?" She stammered out.

"Because the world seems to revolve around him lately..." Miyabi grumbled under her breath. "I noticed him when he was on that television show, and tried looking him up. Part of my mission. And you, how have you heard about him?" She quickly explained before pressing.

"I just...I heard about him from the others that visited Tokyo and anyone who was online at the time would know about that whole thing on that show." Murasaki explained. "P-Please don't kill him!" She panickingly begged.

"And why should I do that?" Miyabi tried to feign threatening a random civilian.

"Because...Because..." Murasaki breathed heavily as a fire roared inside her. "If you do, I'll kill youmyself!" She then declared, her Root beginning to take form around her.

"...You would actually dare to do that towards me?" Miyabi questioned, hiding her surprise from hearing that declaration. "Why would you go so far for a civilian of all things?" She then questioned in a serious tone.

"B-Because...he's a close friend of mine, Miyabi-san!" Murasaki responded.

"Involving civilians with shinobi is a dangerous action, you know that?" Miyabi reminded. "You might get this Akira Kurusu person killed one day because of you." She then pointed out.

"I'll protect him." Murasaki countered, almost dissmissively at that.

"All the way from Hebijo?" Miyabi pressed. "And you're not exactly the strongest shinobi in Japan." She then stated.

"Things...happened here in Hebijo." Murasaki vaguely replied as she looked down at her hand. "And...I am getting stronger, that's for sure." She soon added as she clenched it into a fist.

"Strength means nothing without drive." The white haired woman scoffed. "Do you have the will to protect him? Are you even willing to leave behind everything to protect the life of some random asshole!?" She then called out.

"YES! I WON'T LET THE PERSON I'VE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH DIE CAUSE OF THE DAMN RULES OF A SHINOBI!" Murasaki soon proclaimed.

...

...

...

"...Wait what?" Miyabi however asked, obviously sounding stunned. "Did...Did you actually fall for someone!?" She then asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Murasaki responded.

"...And not some 2D image?" Miyabi pressed on.

"Yes! With all my being! I love Akira-kun! I'm not that pathetic anymote!" Murasaki soon declared.

"Anymore." Bebeby quipped.

"Quiet you!" Murasaki however ordered.

The white haired woman was silent for a few seconds before letting out a long suffering sigh. "...Oh God dammit, stupid frickin' jackass, what the fuck did you do? I'm gonna throttle you the next time I see you..." Miyabi grumbled to herself

"Eh?" Murasaki got out, noticing the slip. "S-See him? You've met him?" She then questioned, her form shivering.

"I hate my life, I hate my life, I hate my life..." Miyabi mumbled to herself, although the purplette could clearly hear her through the phone. "Yes. I've met him. He's actually one of my...fr-friends." She flatly admitted, almost as if she was regretting ever meeting him.

SHATTER!

"YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH AKIRA-KUN TOO!?" Murasaki exclaimed in anger.

"Everyone is." Miyabi deadpanned.

"Wha-What do you mean by that!?" Murasaki pressed as unpleasant thoughts began to form in her head. The more people who knew him, the more likely someone else...some girl...some bitch would...

"Nothing, he just...tends to attract a lot of weirdos. Including me." Miyabi explained. "Anyways, don't worry. I have more present concerns in Tokyo." She then assured.

"...The Phantom Thieves." Murasaki assumed.

"And the other thing about Tokyo that the world seems to revolve around right now."

"P-Please don't tell him though..." Murasaki soon begged.

"Murasaki, I would never...let you be that much of a coward to not tell him yourself." Miyabi promised. "Because there is a...50/50 chance he's already taken and would place a lot of guilt on his stupid heart." She then grumbled.

"E-EH!?" Murasaki squeaked out.

"I dunno, teenagers are horndogs." Miyabi stated. "...But then again, all the guys I know have just as equal chances to kill a god than to get a girlfriend." She then added, unknowingly insulting several people around Tokyo - especially Ryuji.

"Hey, Miyabi." Another voice suddenly chimed in a sickly sweet tone. "When we said we were gonna stay quiet, that doesn't mean you have permission to scream at the top of your lungs YOU LOUDMOUTH-" She then continued.

Beeeeeeeepppp...

After Murasaki ended the call, her face went completely scarlet while blushing and her head steaming, though also glad her sister hadn't heard that confession.

"You know you just confessed, right?" Bebeby reminded.

"..."

At that moment, the purplette rushed out of the room to Hebijo's school baths to wash off for the night.

Save Game…Quit!

Joker

Level: 57

Personas: Arsene (Resist: Curse) (Weak: Ice, Bless), Jack Frost (Null: Ice) (Weak: Fire), Werecat (Resists: Curse, Physical) (Weak: Bless, Water), Queen Mab (Null: Fire) (Resist: Electric) (Weak: Wind), Tlaltecuhtli (Resists: Physical) (Drain: Electricity) (Weak: Ice), Raga Naga (Null: Electricity), Mermaid (Resists: Water, Fire) (Weak: Electric, Earth), Koumokuten (Resist: Physical, Bless) (Weak: Ice), Kikuri-Hime (Null: Wind) (Resists: Bless) (Weak: Fire)

Persona Trait: Arsene- Last Stand (Allows use of ambush-only skills after Baton Pass), Jack Frost- Ice Lineage (Chance to halve costs of Ice skills), Werecat- Relief Bloodline (Reduce cost of Support skills by 50%), Queen Mab- Static Electricity (Increases chance of inflicting Shock on downed foes), Tlaltecuhtli- Relentless (Damage that strikes foe weaknesses increases), Raga Naga- Electric Bloodline (Halves costs of Elec skills), Mermaid- Wet Bloodline (Chance to decrease cost of Water skills), Koumokuten- Gluttonmouth (Strengthens own HP recovery by 50%), Kukuri-Hime- Relief Bloodline (Halves costs of Support skills)

Skills: Eiga, Maeiga, Snap, Speed Master, Tetrakarn, Matrakarn, Tarukaja, Bufudyne, Mabufula, Megidola, Ice Break, Baisudi, Rakunda, Freeze Boost, Null Fire, Matarukaja, Marakukaja (X2), Masukukaja, Heat Riser, Debilitate, Matarunda, Marakunda, Masukunda, Megido, Mazionga, Agidyne, Null Ice, Rakukaja, Deathbound, Ziodyne, Elec Break, Tentarafoo, Shock Boost, Makarakarn, Maziodyne, Evade Wind, Aquadyne, Malaques, Media, Assault Dive, Regenerate 2, Revolution, Attack Master, Ice Wall, Enduring Soul, Deadly Fury, Lullaby, Energy Drop, Mediarama, Tetraja, Divine Grace

Accessory: SP Adhesive 3 (Invigorate 3)

Yin

Level: 57

Persona: Kaeru (Resist: Earth, Fire) (Weak: Wind, Gun)

Persona Trait: Path of Light (Gain some HP when using support/healing skills)

Skills: Magnadyne, Mediarahan, Sukukaja, Miracle Punch, Mamagndyne, Masukukaja, Earth Boost, Makajamaon, Null Fear, Tetrakarn, Tetraja, Earth Break, Life Aid

Confidant Rank: Rank 9

Twin Style: Trained at birth, uses twin blades to quickly strike at enemies, though not for much damage but delivers many combos.

Yiitsu Style: A style developed for katana use with Miyabi's teachings, it allows Asuka to enhance all her attacks and skills, but at the cost of increasing energy costs with each subsequent use.

Accessory: Skanda Belt (Speed Master)

Yang

Level: 57

Persona: Wolverine (Resist: Physical, Gun, Fire, Wind) (Weak: Water, Earth, Bless, Psychokinesis)

Persona Trait: Path of Crimson (Gain some HP when using Physical/Magic skills)

Skills: Agilao, Cleave, Hientou, Regenerate 3, Terror Claw, Triple Down, Swift Strike, Fire Amp, Charge, Riot Gun, Bloodbath, Arms Master, Ghastly Wail, Heat Up

Confidant Rank: Rank 9

Six Sword Style: Self trained since Hebijo, uses her six katanas at once to physically cut down enemies.

Noh Style: After training in the ways of elegance, more akin to her fire element as she uses twin fans to burn her enemies.

Accessory: Tough Belt (Defense Master)

Mona

Level: 56

Persona: Zorro (Resist: Wind) (Weak: Elec)

Persona Trait: Proud Presence (Increases effect of allies' healing skills)

Skills: Garudyne, Diarahan, Patra, Mediarama, Miracle Punch, Magarula, Me Patra, Samarecarm, Wind Break, Wind Boost, Masukunda

Confidant Rank: Rank 8

Accessory: Fish God's Badge (Ali Dance)

Skull

Level: 55

Persona: Seiten Taisei (Null: Elec) (Resist: Fire) (Weak: Wind)

Persona Trait: Raging Temper (Might increase allies' physical attacks by 40%)

Skills: Lunge, Zionga, Tarukaja, Headbutt, Adverse Resolve, Rampage, Mazionga, Bad Beat, Assault Dive, Swift Strike, Shock Boost, Evade Wind, Elec Break, Deathbound, Elec Boost, Megaton Raid

Confidant Rank: Rank 10 (Max)

Accessory: Rakshasa Belt (Attack Master)

Panther

Level: 55

Persona: Hecate (Null: Fire) (Resist: Electric) (Weak: Water)

Persona Trait: Mastery of Magic (May decrease SP cost of allies' magic skills)

Skills: Agidyne, Dia, Dormina, Tarunda, Maragidyne, Dekaja, Fire Break, Lullaby, Ambient Aid, Fire Boost, Matarunda, Evade Water, Evade Ice, Burn Boost,

Confidant Rank: Rank 10 (Max)

Accessory: Crimson Necklace (Fire Amp)

Fox

Level: 55

Persona: Kamu Susano-o (Null: Ice) (Resists: Wind) (Weak: Fire)

Persona Trait: Scoundrel Eyes (High chance to evade Phys attacks for all allies.)

Skills: Bufudyne, Giant Slice, Sukukaja, Vicious Strike, Mabufula, Counterstrike, Rising Slash, Dormin Rush, Speed Master, Tempest Slash, Heat Wave, Evade Fire, Deadly Fury, Masukukaja

Confidant Rank: Rank 10 (Max)

Accessory: Rebellion Anklet (Rebellion)

Widow

Level: 57

Persona: Fūma (Resists: Ice, Water) (Weak: Fire, Curse)

Persona Trait: Dance of Justice (Chance to trigger a Baton Pass for the next ally when hitting a resistance.)

Skills: Bufudyne, Mabufudyne, Aquadyne, Ice Boost, Water Boost, Dazzler, Makajama, Malaques, Snipe, Dormina, Fortify Spirit, Lullaby, Ailment Boost, Water Break, Cripple

Confidant Rank: Rank 9

Accessory: Clear Crystal Necklace (Water Amp)

Queen

Level: 56

Persona: Johanna (Resist: Nuclear) (Weak: Psychic)

Persona Trait: Gaia Pact (Increase allies' chance of inflicting Burn/Freeze/Shock/Soak by 25%.)

Skills: Freidyne, Mafreila, Vajra Blast, Diarahan, Rakukaja, Makajama, Energy Shower, Flash Bomb, Dekunda, Defense Master, Nuke Break, Nuke Boost, Marakukaja

Confidant Rank: Rank 8

Accessory: White Headband R (Life Surge / Endurance +8)

Serpent

Level: 56

Persona: Nobunaga (Resist: Curse) (Weak: Bless)

Persona Trait: Self-Destructive (Increase cost of skills when health is low)

Skills: Eiga, Maeiga, Kouga, Mamudoon, Mahamaon, Megaton Raid, Heat Wave, Foul Breath, Endure, Ominous Words, Stagnant Air, Evil Touch, Taunt, Survival Trick, Taunt

Confidant Rank: Rank 4

Accessory: Thief Mask (Null Brainwash)

Oracle

Level: 55

Persona: Necronomicon

Persona Trait:Explosive Scheme (All-Out Attacks may defeat all foes and restore 25% HP to all allies)

Skills: Analysis, Subrecover HP, Subrecover SP

Confidant Rank: Rank 3

Accessory: Headphones (High fidelity for real audiophiles.)

Noir

Level: 55

Persona: Milady (Resist: Psychic) (Weak: Nuclear)

Persona Trait: Icy Glare (Decreases allies' chance of being inflicted by ailments by 25%.)

Skills: Psiodyne, Mapsio, Triple Down, Amrita Drop, Fast Heal, Psy Break, Tentarafoo, Tetrakarn, Psy Boost, Makarakarn, Climate Decorum, Gun Boost

Accessory: Grand Slam Charm (Apt Pupil)

Whew! Done! We've got a lot coming up so stay tuned…probably next month.

UknownHero signing off, my friends!