I should probably write this stuff up before I write this chapter. Hello, to the people of the internet! UknownHero here and welcome to another chapter of Senran Persona: I Should Probably Change the Cover Art with Photoshop instead of MS Paint. Then again, my trial expired… So, uh… Not much to say. Actually, do have some wimpy speech I wrote in A Simple Mission Rebirth's upcoming chapter and I am not copying that shit over here because you'll have to read yourself when it's out. Unless I've already put it out then… read it. I actually kinda a little cried while writing it. They were manly tears, I assure you!

Anyway, onto the reviews. To Autistic-Grizzly: Other Senran Kagura girls will appear in this story and some of them are gaining Personas. At the very least two. To Shadow Joestar: Well, that's going to be how you read this story. To 741AuthorNCS: Yeah, the multiple weaknesses were intentional. Homura is a deeply scarred individual which is reflected on her Persona. Once it evolves and she resolves her various issues, she becomes much stronger as a result. That's why the Senran girls will always have two resistances (representing their mental fortitude being better than civilians) and two weaknesses (which represents their issues which are a bit harder to deal with).

Lastly with the issue that a glitch made it so there were less reviews then the previous chapter, feel free just to write them down once more.

Okay, that's it! Let the first infiltration begin!

Load Game… Start!

Chapter 7: Le Chariot and the Injustice


(4/12, After School)
(Kamoshida's Castle of Lust)

"Okay, people. Listen up." Morgana started as the girls joined up with the boys. "This hole in the wall is our main point of entry. Our infiltration point, if you will." He informed.

"Ain't that where we escaped outta last time...?" Ryuji pointed out.

"It is. But we also made an entrance in the process." Homura stated, gaining everyone's attention. "Looks like there's no other ways in. The windows are too high and it would take too long to go around the perimeter of the castle for another entry point. This should be good for now." She then stated the reasoning behind it.

"Hmph! Impressive, Lady Homura." Morgana complimented. "Not barging through the front entrance and ease of entrance and escape is one of the basics of phantom thievery." He soon declared

'Yeah, it's also one of the basics of stealth and ninja-ery.' Homura deadpanned in her head.

The blond of the group merely sweatdropped to that. "How're we supposed to know about that type of stuff?" Ryuji questioned.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to teach you as we go." Morgana replied as he climbed into the vent in a flash. "Come on, follow me!" He then instructed.

"...Should we tell Morgana-chan we kinda know this stuff?" Asuka spoke up.

"I wouldn't want to shatter this thing's ego..." Homura mumbled.

"Well, at least humor him. He definitely has information on how this world works and the power of Persona." Akira told the girls. "Plus, it would be nice to know a little about being a phantom thief. Sounds like fun, to be honest. It will make things easier for us too." He then admitted.

"Let's just get going." Ryuji said before bowing down. "After you, m'lad-" He started, but then paused as he saw the tan skinned girl glaring at him underneath her white mask. "I mean; after me, m'ladies." He corrected in a nervous manner.

"Such a gentleman..." Akira chuckled out as he helped the blond up into the vent before going up himself, followed by the girls.

As the group made it through the vent, they soon arrived at the same room they had used to escape from the castle the first time they went into the castle.

"You'd think they would search for holes in their defenses after everything..." Akira noted.

"While we shouldn't rely on luck, we should be glad they haven't been more thorough." Morgana stated. "This is our only way into the castle right now without going through the front. And you know how that turned out..." He then declared as everyone quickly winced at the memories.

"Alright, I get it, so our only way in is through that vent." Ryuji repeated what was said prior. "Shouldn't we put the grate back on, just in case a guard comes in here and notices? They could replace the grate with bars or somethin'." He soon suggested.

"Well, it was locked when we first came here." Homura muttered as she looked around the room. "And it looks like it isn't used very often. As long as we don't draw any attention to this room, I'm sure the guards will be none the wiser." She soon added.

"Still, this place gives me the chills..." Asuka admitted. "Just something about this place feels wrong..." She then added.

"Yeah, and it ain't just the faces plastered all over." Ryuji added in as he pointed at a flag depicting the PE teacher's face. "Dude loves plastering his face everywhere. I swear he jerks off to his own face." He then remarked.

"That... honestly wouldn't be a surprise." Homura replied with a shrug.

"Okay people, enough small talk. Time for business." Morgana spoke up. "And remember; make sure you do exactly as I say, all right? Don't do anything unless I say so." He then instructed.

"Got it, Morgana-chan." Asuka replied as she gave the cat a quick salute. "Lead the way." She soon requested.

"Alright. Stay low and follow me." Morgana instructed as he dashed off.

They four looked at each other before nodding, silently telling each other they were ready to face the dangers ahead. Seeing that there was nowhere else to go, they made their way to the Entrance Hall, finding it odd that there were no guards patrolling the area.

"Don't worry about the guards here. They already swept the place and doing the other areas right now." Morgana informed the group. "As long as we're not making a lot of noise, we'll be fine." He reassured.

"We went by here when we first came... right?" Ryuji asked.

"Yeah, we did." Asuka sighed out as she rubbed her cheek. Man, did that hurt.

The blond then looked around at the scenery. "But... it looks like nothing happened." Ryuji pointed out, remembering the amount of destruction the girls created as they fought the guards the first time.

Suddenly, it changed. For just a second, it was the entrance of the school before switching back to the Entrance Hall. "What the...!? I'm seein' double or something just now...! Was that Shujin!?" Ryuji exclaimed in confusion.

"Looks like it." Akira sighed out.

"Oh, this is giving me a headache..." Asuka groaned.

"Maybe this time around it won't make us question reality." Homura muttered. "This whole thing is already as complicated as it is." She then added.

"As I told you before, this castle is your school to its ruler." Morgana informed once more. "Don't worry, all those headaches and confusion won't stay around for long once you get used it. Now let's get going, the Shadows could come at any moment. Come on, this way." He instructed as the group nodded and followed the cat only to stop as they realized where they were going.

"Wait, where are we going?" Asuka asked as they saw the door.

"Hold on, isn't that the dungeons?" Ryuji pointed out.

"Yes is it. It's our only way to our current objective." Morgana stated as he picked the locked. "You said you wanted to get to where the prisoners were being tortured so I'm bringing you to where they are. That's why I said to follow my every instruction to the letter. Mess up, and we'll die. Just a little motivation to keep you on track." He advised.

"Well, shit." Akira mumbled to himself as the cat opened the door. "It has been too soon for us to be back here." He got out.

"At least we can handle those guards now if we get caught." Homura admitted. "Though, I would like to avoid combat as much as possible." She then added.

"Combat is inevitable here." Morgana stated. "We will have to fight sooner or later. But I am going to teach you how to do some real damage. Now let's go, we're on the clock here." He then declared.

With a nod, they all went down the stairs as silently as they could. They were tense and making sure they weren't caught off guard.

As they kept going, suddenly Akira held out his arm to stop everyone."Hold on, there's a guard." Akira whispered to the group. They looked up ahead and saw a knight with his back facing them, seemingly looking bored out of its mind. They could hear it silently grumble about getting the shit jobs and not serving the King like her wanted to.

"Looks like you were right. There's no way past this guy." Asuka sighed out. "Is everyone ready?" She soon asked.

"Like you need to ask." Akira replied as he pulled out his Rebel Knife. "Ryuji?" He then asked.

"Don't worry, I'll stay back and not get in your way." Ryuji replied as he hid behind the barred door. "I'll be watching." He then informed.

"Well, I'm always ready." Homura stated as she summoned her katanas. "On the count of three, we charge 'em. Take it by surprise." She instructed.

However before they could, the cat creature jumped a little to get their attention. "Wait a minute, there's a much better approach than just charging in." Morgana informed. "This should be a good time to teach you guys the basics of battle. You better remember it all." He then added.

The Good Shinobi in turn tilted her head to that. "So, what do we do?" Asuka asked.

"Easy, we take them by surprise." Morgana answered with a smirk. Meanwhile, the tan skinned girl sweatdropped at that, considering she just suggested it. "Shadows are susceptible to surprise attacks. The general rule of thumb is to take them from behind and hit 'em hard while they're stunned." He soon revealed.

"I don't know if you've noticed by these guys are hulking masses of metal." Homura reminded. "We're all wielding bladed weapons, it's not like we can do much." She then added.

"Au contraire, mademoiselle. There is something we can do." Morgana started before looking at the boy Persona user. "Frizzy Hair, I need you rip off that guard's mask. That'll break the control the Palace's ruler has over them and leave them vulnerable for a few seconds. Think you can do that?" He then questioned.

"Sounds easy. Let's do this." Akira replied before dashing behind the guard before jumping on its back.

"What the-!?"The Shadow got out before a red glove grabbed its mask. "Huh!?" It exclaimed in shock.

"No more masks! Show me your true form!" Akira called out before ripping both its mask and his own, summoning Arsène at the same time. He didn't hesitate as the the armor melted, revealing it was another one of those pumpkins. "Eiha! Now!" He ordered as he crushed the guard's mask in his hand.

"Kaeru! Help out!" Asuka shouted out as her Persona appeared behind her after easily removing her mask. "Magna!" She declared.

"Don't leave me out! Cleave!" Homura commanded as she unleashed Wolverine after removing her mask. Before the poor Jack 'o Lantern could even react, it was turned into paste.

"Nice work team! Dia!" Morgana praised as Zorro quickly healed the tan skinned girl while he and the blond walked up to the new Persona-users. "Good job, but you should've let me go first. You could've taken it down without using your Personas if you let me use Garu on it. You need to pace yourself, or else you're going to be crawling your way out here." He then informed.

"Right. Don't overuse your Persona." Akira stated as he picked up the cash dropped by the guard. He could share it, but he was kinda broke. He spent all his money on soda and food. "Got it. Alright, let's keep going. Morgana?" He then stated.

"We still got a ways to go. Come on, before guards realize they have a friend missing." Morgana informed as they made their way through the area.

As they made their way through, Homura started noticing the cat creature occasionally looking behind and watching her roommate and the male Persona user talk as she couldn't help but sigh. 'Time to put a stop this before I'm mentally scarred for life...' Homura thought.

'Even more than you already are?' Her Persona sarcastically stated.

'Didn't I tell you I'm good enough mentally and physically?' Homura growled, both in her head and outwardly. "Stupid bitch..." She then muttered in annoyance.

'...You just called yourself a bitch.' Wolverine deadpanned as the image of her sweatdropping appeared in her head. 'Oh my God, you have so many trust issues you don't even fully trust your own heart.' She then added. 'Take it from me and visit a therapist afterwards… or at least talk with that roommate of yours.' She soon advised

"Oh shut up." Homura then shut off communication with her Persona as she directed her attention to their instructor. "Oi cat." She soon called out as they went through the halls.

"Hm? What is it?" Morgana spoke up as he and the others stopped to look at the tan skinned girl.

Said girl in response placed a hand on her hip as she looked down at the one who was teaching them about the world they were in. "Look, I know that you're a male despite your feminine voice, name and smell." Homura informed the cat.

"What the-? What do I smell like!?" Morgana had to ask before sniffing his armpit.

Homura however looked on at the cat while narrowing her eyes. "Not important. All you need to know is that if you keep eyeing Asuka the way you constantly are, I will not be able to hold back." She stated in a serious manner while preparing her six katanas.

To hearing that, Asuka merely tilted her head in an innocent manner to that. "Homura-chan, what are you doing?" She had to ask her roommate.

"Nothing, just making sure no boundaries are crossed in our time here." Homura answered in the most innocent tone she could muster, which only creeped the others, besides her roommate, out. "Isn't that right Morgana?" She asked once more.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Morgana quickly replied as he saluted in a nervous manner… before sniffing his armpit again. "Seriously, what's wrong with my smell...?" He quietly muttered to himself as the blond looked around, spotting and passing by more and more empty cells as they continued on.

"Man, why ain't anyone here...?" Ryuji wondered out loud as they stopped.

"Yeah… other than that one guard this whole place is empty." Homura noted before looking at their instructor. "I thought you said there was more security." She then stated.

"I did..." Morgana replied as he looked around. "It seems I overestimated the King's forces. He spread his army too thin from the looks of it." He soon revealed.

"Unless he has more of the focused elsewhere..." Asuka pointed out.

"And I'm guessing they took the prisoners as well." Akira spoke up. "All the cells we've seen are empty and I'm not hearing screams like before." He then added.

To that statement, they all quickly grimaced at the implications. They may have pissed off the King more than they thought.

"Dammit." Ryuji growled. "They don't deserve this! Where'd they go and take them!?" He soon asked in a annoyed and angered tone.

The cat however then shushed the blond. "Quiet down!" Morgana ordered in a hushed tone. "There may be more up ahead." He then informed.

"Which one? Guards or prisoners?" Akira asked.

"At this point; both." Morgana answered grimly. "They're probably transferring the prisoners to somewhere with worse conditions than the dungeons." He then stated.

"Then we better hurry." Asuka suggested as they continued further into the dungeons, only to stop again as they heard a lot of footsteps coming their way. "Uh oh… We need to hide now." She then got out.

"I don't see a lot of hiding spots right now..." Akira said as they frantically looked around for somewhere to hide.

"Over here." Morgana called out as he waved at the group. "This door is unlocked. We can wait in there until they leave."

With a nod, they all quickly entered the room. The room was rather sparse with only a table and some chairs but it was enough.

Ryuji quickly used one of the chairs to jam the door shut before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Okay, I think we're safe." Asuka breathed out.

"Don't bother with that. The Shadows probably won't come in here." Morgana stated.

"Are you sure about that? It kinda looks like their break room more than anything." Akira stated they looked around.

"How can you tell?" Ryuji asked after catching his breath.

Homura meanwhile just frowned at the sight of the tired boy. Now that she noticed, he also had a slight limp to his step and he stood awkwardly. It was now obvious to her that the blond had an injured leg, but how it was injured was the question. She shoved it into the back of her mind for now. It wasn't important right now.

"There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over the area is weak." Morgana explained. Just as he said that, the room changed into a classroom before reverting back.

"This feels different than from outside." Akira noted as he took off his mask. He didn't feel as tense as he was while inside the other parts of the castle, so he felt like there was no need to keep his mask while he was in here.

"Now that you mention it... the air feels less heavy here..." Asuka admitted as she followed suit. "It's like I can think a little bit more clearly." She soon added.

"I guess this place being a classroom makes sense, then." Homura stated as she frowned, keeping her mask on for now while crossing her arms over her chest. "Kamoshida probably doesn't see classrooms as anything important since that's where the other teachers are in control. But everywhere else in the school is fair game." She then added.

"Just what the hell is this place...?" Ryuji meanwhile wondered out loud. "This shit still isn't making sense..." He then added.

"Now do you understand?" Morgana spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects." He then stated.

"Another reality..." Akira repeated to himself. This was getting stranger by the second.

"How the hell does a PE teacher create something like this...?" Homura muttered out in a confused manner.

"Simple. This castle came from his heart." Morgana revealed. "In this world, if one's desires becomes corrupt and distorted, it materializes into places like this ruled by their unrestrained dark side and crawling with Shadows. I like to call such a place a Palace." He started explaining.

"A Palace...?" Ryuji repeated as everyone took in this new information.

"Palaces come in many shapes and forms, and this is happening because he views your school as his castle." Morgana continued.

"So, the school became a castle because he just thought it up?" Asuka guessed with a innocent tilt of her head.

"Not consciously, but he did create this castle. His heart was distorted enough to will it into existence." Morgana replied.

"Hahahaha..." Ryuji weakly chuckled out to learning this. "I've always said that he just fooling himself thinking he was king of the castle but now that I know what he really sees… I can't help but see him as effin' pathetic. God, that son of a bitch...!" He growled out.

The cat creature meanwhile frowned to this. "You must really hate this Kamoshida guy." Morgana noted.

"Yeah, we're not all fans of his either." Akira spoke up before frowning at the blond. "But it looks like you have history." He then added.

"More than you should even know." Ryuji growled. "Let's just say hate doesn't even cover how I feel. Everything is that asshole's fault!" He then declared.

"What do you mean by everything Ryuji-kun?" Asuka asked with concern in her voice.

"It's just..." Ryuji started to say something, but then just sighed. "Ugh... nothing. Just… it's just his fault, alright. Don't wanna talk about it right now." He got out.

The tan skinned girl however narrowed her eyes to that last statement before she took in a deep breath. "Sakamoto, save your anger for if you get a Persona." Homura then instructed. "Being angry is only going to blind your judgment. Calm down and relax a little. You'll just wasting your energy." She soon informed.

"Lady Homura is right." Morgana stated in agreement. "I don't know what happened between you two but don't let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside and negative emotions are what Shadows are drawn to. Let's take this time to take a break while we wait for the guards to pass." He then suggested.

"We've only been here for fifteen minutes though." Homura pointed out.

"I know. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Only a fool would try to do everything in one go." Morgana replied. "Plus, I wanted to talk about those clothes of yours." He then added.

"Huh? These things?" Asuka soon asked as she looked at her outfit before gasping. "Wait a minute, are you gonna tell us why these things don't have underwear!?" She then exclaimed in a embarrassment manner.

"Er... no." Morgana sweatdropped, though was holding back a blush from what the Good Shinobi had said. "Aren't you curious at all about why your clothes changed into those outfits when you gained your Personas?" He soon asked.

"I am. Not every day you get an outfit like this." Akira admitted as he adjusted his coat. He wanted to know if there were more like the clothes he was wearing. Maybe he should track down an outfit like it once he's back in the real world.

"Yeah, it seems a little unnecessary for us to change whenever we come here." Homura soon added.

"I'm just as curious as hell about it too." Ryuji agreed.

"I just want to know where my underwear goes." Asuka admitted as she tried to cover her exposed area. She was sure she was going to die of embarrassment if she kept thinking about it.

"I can explain all of that." Morgana said proudly. "It's because of this world that your clothes change." He then revealed

"More stuff that makes no sense..." Ryuji mumbled under his breath.

"Anything distorts according to how a ruler please within his or her Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all." Morgana continued. "In order to prevent such distortions, one must have a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image that you hold within." He then stated.

"...Does that image usually come with underwear?" Asuka asked as she raised her hand as if they were in a classroom (though, that wasn't too far off).

"Actually, no." Morgana replied. "Let me explain. Name a fictional character." He then instructed.

"...Kaeru?" Asuka slowly answered. That was easy.

"Wolverine." Homura deadpanned.

"Arsène." Akira said automatically.

"Elvis Presley?" Ryuji hazarded a guess.

"Okay, would've been easier if I just said your Personas instead so let's just use Arsène for this example." Morgana sighed out before continuing. "Now, what do you find the most interesting about your Persona visually?" He then asked.

"The wings, the top hat and the mask for his face." Akira replied.

"Are you concerned about anything else?" Morgana asked.

"Not really. My Persona is really good-looking." Akira replied as Arsène thanked him for the compliment in his head.

"And there's your answer. Most people won't even think about type of underwear a person has and if they did, it would be really creepy." Morgana explained.

"But… anyone could see my underwear if I had any on..." Asuka spoke up

"Then underneath it all you're a pervert." Morgana stated in the kindest tone he could muster.

However it came out as rather blunt and caused Asuka to gasp hard enough to start choking on air while the tan skinned girl's eye twitched to that.

"Uuugh... I'm so fed up with all this!" Ryuji called out as the male Persona user patted the depressed girl's back. "I'm more curious about you than their clothes! What the hell are you anyways!?" He exclaimed followed by his question.

Morgana in turn frowned at that. "I'm a human." He soon answered. "An honest-to-god human!" He then declared.

Everyone else stopped what they were doing and just stared at the talking cat with an oversized head.

"...What." Akira flatly asked.

"D-Did I hear that right?" Asuka muttered as she looked at the cat with wide eyes.

"...Are you sure you wanna say that?" Homura deadpanned.

The blond of the group however sighed as he look at the cat with tired eyes. "No, you're obviously more like a cat!" Ryuji stated.

Morgana looked down at his feet and looked away from them. "This is, well… It's because I lost my true form." He then explained before wincing a little. "...I think." He then got out.

"Wait, you think?" Homura repeated in disbelief. "What do you mean by that? It's pretty likely that you aren't human, Morgana." She then stated.

"Well how would you know? We've never met before." Morgana remarked. "...At least I don't think so. Look, I don't care about that right now, all I care about is regaining my true form and I know just how to do it. Actually, that's the reason why I snuck in here for. A preliminary investigation of those means." He then revealed.

"Didn't you get caught though?" Akira pointed out.

This caused the cat to gain a sheepish expression. "I got a little reckless and made a mistake. And because of that, I was tortured by Kamoshida." Morgana revealed with narrow eyes. "I have much of a grudge as all of you. I'll make him pay for sure!" He then declared in a tone filled with revenge.

"Just what the hell..." Ryuji groaned. "It feels like we're in some dumb manga or something." He then muttered in annoyance.

"Oh… Morgana-chan..." Asuka cooed out as she picked up the cat and hugged him. "Don't worry; we'll try and help you however we can. Isn't that right, guys?" She declared before turning to the others.

"We already promised before so don't worry, we'll help out when we can." Akira replied.

Homura however was rather hesitant. "I'm not so sure about this Asuka." She admitted, getting everyone's attention. "I mean, I can get behind the whole Persona thing and our clothes changing like how we do a Shinobi Tenshin, but I'm not so sure about helping him out. For all we know, this could lead nowhere. From the sounds of it, not even he's sure that whatever we do will help him." She then added.

"I-It will. Trust me." Morgana got out as he unconsciously rubbed his body on the Good Shinobi's chest. "Anyway, the guards should've walked past by now. We should get a move on before this opportunity slips through our hands." He suggested as he then dropped to the ground and walked towards the door. "I'll be counting on your skills this time, rookies. From now on, we're a team. Got it?" He then instructed.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna force all the hard work on you guys. I found a few things that might help yesterday so I brought it along. Here." Ryuiji replied as he reached into his blazer and pulled out a handgun.

To the sight of this, Akira and the girls froze for a second before calming down as they looked closer.

"You brought a fake gun!?" Homura chastised the blond. "How the hell is that supposed to help us!?" She soon exclaimed.

"It looks real enough. Maybe we could fake out some guards with it." Ryuji replied before opening up his bag. "Plus, I went out and bought these when I found that. Check it out." He said as he passed out a few more guns. A pair of pistols for Asuka and two machine guns for Homura to use, however, they noticed something strange about their guns.

"Ryuji-kun… why did you give us toys?" Asuka soon asked as she stared at her guns in disbelief.

"Dude, you just spray-painted them black! You didn't even give us any foam darts!" Homura complained in annoyance. "This is not gonna work! We'd be better off with what we got now." She then declared.

"Hey, it worked for the movies! People do stuff like this all the time!" Ryuji reminded. "Anyway, I also brought some medicine too. You know what they say: 'Providin' is pre... something.' Huh? Huh?" He then stated.

"So you were planning this from the start..." Morgana groaned.

"Wasn't it obvious?" Akira remarked with a smirk while putting the mask back on his face.

"We're going to die." Homura deadpanned.

"No we're not, Homura-chan. We can do this." Asuka encouraged her roommate as she placed her mask back on. "Let's go. We can't stay here any longer." She then added.

"Again, we're gonna die." Homura sighed out as they all put away their guns.

"Okay, move out." Akira ordered as he opened the door a little, peeking out to see if there were any guards before opening it fully, wincing as he heard the rusty hinges squeak.

"There should still be soldiers outside. Make sure to take note of the situation so we can get to our objective as efficiently as possible." Morgana instructed in a quiet voice.

Akira nodded and took a quick look around before hiding himself deeper into the shadows. There were still guards talking to each other.

'Maybe it's a good time to get some info.' Akira thought. He signaled the others to stay quiet as he listened closely to guards' conversation.

"Hm, I thought I just heard something move over there… Guess it was my imagination..." One of the guards said.

Akira meanwhile silently cursed, they must've heard the door make a noise. Thank God these guys were idiots.

"And what of the other slaves?" The other guard asked, continuing on their conversation before it was interrupted.

"They're all in the training hall." The first guard replied with a shrug. "I'd assume they're all screaming in pain by now." It then added.

'Shit.' Was their collective thoughts. They had a location now but they couldn't help but grit their teeth to stop them from just jumping out and attacking.

"Very well." The third guard said. "By the way, I heard we have intruders around. Killed Guard #736 just a while ago. Stay on your guard. They could be anywhere." The guard said before they all left for their posts.

"Okay, we know where they transferred the prisoners to." Asuka whispered out. "Morgana-chan, you know where that is?" She soon asked.

"Yes, I do. It should be further ahead from here." Morgana informed.

"But for real, did they just say training hall?" Ryuji questioned as he frowned. "Because from the sounds of it, it was more like a torture chamber more than anything else!" He then added.

"We'll see for it ourselves when we get there." Homura soon stated as the others nodded in agreement. "Let's go. We better make sure we're nothing more than shadows to these guys." She then informed.

"Won't be too hard. The soldiers here are pretty incompetent. Why do you think they're stuck down here?" Morgana remarked in amusement as they left room.

They stalked through the halls as quiet as they could before spotting a guard standing in front of a barred door. "Shoot, there's a guard on duty in our way. The training hall is just past those bars..." Morgana then got out.

"So we have no choice but to fight then." Akira muttered out.

"Yes, unfortunately." Homura agreed. "There's no other way from the looks of it." She then admitted.

"Okay then. Asuka, Homura, Morgana; get ready. I'll take the mask off while you guys hit take 'em down." Akira ordered. "I'll jump in if I need to." He then stated.

"Got it." Asuka said with a nod.

"Sounds good." Homura said at the same time.

"Alright. But make sure you don't get noticed beforehand." Morgana warned. "All the guards are connected to each other so if one of them spots you, it'll be like they all spotted you and they'll raise the security level of the entire Palace and make it harder to hide from them. If it gets to high, we'll be forced to retreat. Be careful." He then informed in a serious manner.

Akira nodded before everyone quickly went to their positions. Once he was sure they were ready, he sprinted at the soldier and ripped off his mask in one smooth motion. Akira frowned as he saw it wasn't one of the usual ones they encountered.

"Now's our chance! Go!" Morgana called out as they rushed in to face the two Gallows-Flowers. "New enemy type! They're not weak but not strong either. We can beat them but stay cautious!" He then informed.

"Okay. Here we come!" Asuka announced as both ninjas attacked each one of the Gallows-Flowers before jumping back. It looked like they didn't do as much damage as they thought. "No, not good enough..." She soon got out.

"Watch it!" Homura shouted out as the two Shadows retaliated. They both dodged the attacks easily, but they knew they couldn't finish them off quickly without using their Personas. Wanting this end as soon as possible, Homura summoned her other self. "Persona! Agi!" She declared.

"No problem." Wolverine said as she shot out a fireball, the Gallows-Flower burning into nothing but ashes.

"Way to go, Lady Homura! It's weak to Fire!" Morgana cheered out. "End it!" He then declared.

"It's all over. Wolverine!" Homura commanded. Once Wolverine casted Agi once more and destroyed the last Shadow, Homura sighed in relief as she called back her Persona. She could already feel the fatigue of using too many spells.

"You alright?" Akira asked as he ran up to her, concern in his voice.

"I'm fine… just need to lighten up on the fire." Homura panted out. "Let's keep going." She then added.

"Okay..." Akira replied with a frown.

Meanwhile, Asuka also shot a concerned look at her roommate before they continued their way to the objective, avoiding any more opposition.

They went through the barred door and made their way downstairs before Homura to grab Akira's coat before he rounded a corner.

"Guards. Hide." Homura informed in a serious manner.

They all nodded and sunk into the shadows, listening closely to the enemy to gain more information and to tell when they were leaving.

"Hey, have you seen anyone who looks like an intruder?" Guard #2112 asked.

The group couldn't help but sweatdrop at that before looking at their outfits.

'Okay, have to admit, not the most conspicuous outfits.' Asuka admitted in her head.

"No, nobody yet..." Guard #6969 replied.

Meanwhile, Morgana cursed under his breath. "Shoot… I had a feeling there would be more enemies ahead." He muttered. "I'd be impossible to dodge all of them." He then admitted.

"Then what do we do?" Ryuji quietly asked. "Should we try and take 'em down like before?" He then added.

"It's not like we have much of a choice." Homura replied as she put a hand on her mask.

"Lady Homura, remember when I said about conserving energy." Morgana scolded. "We don't have to use our Persona's power to fight. We're only setting ourselves up for failure. This is the long way to our objective, so it would be smart to save up as much energy in case we need to go through a big fight." He instructed.

"Damn it..." Ryuji sighed out. "I wish I had the power to fight... I'd at least be able to help out a little... But all I got are some toys from earlier... I'm such a loser..." He then muttered.

"Don't say that. You don't need to help us, Ryuji-kun. We're helping you after all." Asuka replied in a kind tone as she gave him a smile, though was hidden underneath her mask. "So what do we do?" She asked as the cat had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hold on... those guns..." Morgana mumbled out. "Hey, one of you. Give me a gun." He then ordered.

"Uh... sure?" Akira replied in a hesitant tone as he passed the cat the Tkachev as he watched him examining it. "What are you doing?" He then asked.

"Yes... this could work..." Morgana declared with a smirk as he gave it back. "Alright, get your guns ready. We're gonna use them to kill some Shadows." He then informed.

"What!?" Homura quietly shouted out as everyone else looked confused. "These aren't even real guns! Kurusu's gun doesn't even shoot anything!" She then reminded.

"It depends on how you see it." Morgana replied cryptically as the guards to approach their position. "Don't worry, I'm sure this'll work. Frizzy Hair, ladies, let's do this!" He then declared.

"This isn't going to work!" Homura shouted out as she and her roommate jumped onto the two guards' backs and ripped off their masks, causing six Pixies to come out.

"Frizzy Hair! Get your gun and fire!" Morgana called out.

Akira hesitated for only half a second before pulling out the gun and firing. To everyone's surprise, he managed to nail three Pixies in the head as he emptied his clip, knocking it down to the ground.

"Nice shooting! You're a natural!" Morgana complemented.

"Huh." Akira let out as he looked at his smoking gun. "Nice." He praised.

"WAH! What the...!?" Asuka shouted out in surprise.

"Holy shit! That just fired!" Homura exclaimed.

"Hehe, it's only natural you're surprised." Morgana replied with a smile. "Just be mindful of how much ammo you have left." He then informed.

"Ammo?" Akira repeated before reaching into his coat and pulling out another clip for his pistol. "That wasn't there before." He muttered as he reloaded his gun skillfully, like he had been doing so for years.

"Alright! Your turn! Go ahead a fire away!" Morgana instructed the two girl, knowing they had time.

"But... I never used a gun before..." Asuka admitted as she aimed the two toy pistols. The weight of the guns felt so... foreign to her. It felt like they were made of metal instead of plastic!

"Same here." Homura agreed as she held the two toy machine guns. "Guns... were more Mirai's thing... though she stored and used them in between her legs." She added with a sweatdrop.

To hearing that, Akira, Ryuji, who was still in some shock from his toy gun firing real bullets, and Morgana just looked at the two with strange expressions.

"What type of people do you know?" Akira asked.

"The type of people that you regret meeting every time you think and then reluctantly call acquaintances because you have no other contacts other than people who you respect and fear." Homura answered automatically, almost as if she had been asked that question multiple times before.

"...Wanna talk about it?" Ryuji offered.

"No." Homura flatly stated. There was a few more seconds of silence.

"...Wanna talk about it with m-" Akira hesitantly started.

"Not you too, Kurusu!" Homura interrupted.

"...How about-" Asuka was about to offer only for her to be shut down.

"Everyone, just shut up." The Hebijo shinobi deadpanned as they went back to the battle.

"A-Anyway, here goes nothing..." Asuka nervously started before aiming her pistols at two different targets before firing. The recoil surprised her, causing a few of her shots to miss before she managed to hit both her targets. "Whoa! It worked!" She exclaimed as she searched her body to see if she had spare clips... only to blush and reach into her cleavage, pulling out two fresh ones. "Moh, of course they would be there..." She muttered out.

"...I seriously have no idea what's going on." Homura sighed out before aiming her guns at the last Pixie. "Any last words?" She then asked

"U-Uh..." The remaining Pixie tried to think of something to stop her impending death.

"You're taking too long. See ya." Homura replied before closing her eyes then firing until all she heard were clicks. When she opened her eyes, she looked at her latest murder... only to see she was perfectly fine, every other Pixie disappeared into nothingness and that everyone else was cowering behind cover.

"You hit everything but what you were aiming at!" Ryuji called out.

The last Pixie looked around after she stopped bracing herself before laughing at the girl. "Hahaha! You can't even hit the broadside of a-ACK!" She got out before being whacked in the head by the submachine gun.

"That works." Homura remarked with a shrug as retrieved her gun, learning that throwing your gun was just as effective.

"Uh... okay...?" Morgana got out as he used his slingshot to put the Pixie out of her misery. "A little unorthodox and you might've damaged your gun, but it works." He then admitted.

"Whatever." Homura offhandedly remarked as she went to reload her machine guns before attempting to find the safety on the thing, remembering a few things about firearms from Mirai before she remembered that the guns she and her roommate had were just toys, unlike the boy's which was modeled to be as close to a real firearm as possible.

Their guns didn't have safeties.

Homura quickly unloaded her gun just as fast as she reloaded as the other approached her in the bullet-riddled hallway. "Asuka, unload your gun. Now." She soon ordered in a serious tone.

"What?" Asuka asked; looking confused as the cat unloaded her guns for her.

"She's right. Your guns don't have the usual safety features a normal firearm should have since they're children's toys." Morgana informed as he pulled back the slide to make sure there wasn't a leftover bullet in it. "I suggest you replace these as soon as you can and get something better than a toy. We don't want a misfire, do we?" He then instructed.

"They shouldn't be able to fire to begin with!" Ryuji yelled out. "What the hell is with this effin' place!?" He soon asked in confusion.

"This is a cognitive world." Morgana explained. "As long as our opponent sees it as real, it becomes as such. It's actually a good thing that the guns you gave them are realistic-looking, or at least believable enough to pass off as a real firearm." He then informed.

"That's... actually fairly useful." Homura admitted. "Guns seem a lot more effective than our normal weapons here..." She then added

"Um...aren't guns usually more effective than swords?" Ryuji pointed out.

"Eh... you'd be surprised how ineffective bullets can be in... our circumstances." Asuka awkwardly admitted while scratching her cheek as the cat's eyebrow rose, wondering where that came from.

Meanwhile, Akira and Ryuji nodded to that, knowing they were referring to them being shinobis.

"Man... this place just makes my brain hurt more and more..." Ryuji soon groaned out. "I just don't get it." He then admitted.

"I wasn't expecting someone with your brains to understand." Morgana chuckled out, ticking the blond off. "How about you three? Did you get what I said?" He soon asked.

"It's simple logic, really." Akira nonchalantly replied.

"Given the rules of this world." Homura added in with a frown.

"Wait a minute!" Asuka gasped as she searched her outfit before pulling out a keychain, which had a fake mochi on it.

"Oi Asuka, I think that isn't a good..." Homura tried to stop her roommate, only to be too late as she lifted up her mask and bit into it. "...idea." She got out weakly.

"It's delicious...!" Asuka exclaimed as sparkles appeared around her with stars in her eyes.

This meanwhile caused everyone else to sweatdrop at what just happened. "You know you're not getting that back once we're out of here..." Homura pointed out.

"I wonder what would happen if I brought along one of those realistic-looking fake pe-" Akira wondered out loud before the blond covered his mouth.

"Don't you effiin' dare put that image into my head!" Ryuji shouted out with a disgusted expression on his face.

'I was gonna say pears...' Akira thought as he got out of the blond's grasp.

"Hold on, if it's anything realistic-looking, then why you have a slingshot!?" Ryuji called out as he looked at the cat. "Wouldn't it make more sense for you to have a gun as well!? And why is it as strong as a gun!? What the hell do you mean by cognitive!?" He soon asked as the other also looked at the cat for answers.

Morgana then opened his mouth to explain all of his questions... only to shut it. "Er... look, you can interpret it however you want." He replied as he then sighed before realizing something. "Oh, we should probably divvy up our roles in battle from here on out. We're constantly switching who's doing what and it could lead to disastrous consequences." He then informed.

'You totally dodged the question...' Everyone else thought.

"As you can see, there are quite a lot of enemies in our way." Morgana continued. "It'll be important for us to coordinate our moves well. I can keep providing intel on our opposition, but one of you should decide how we fight." He then instructed.

"Whaddya mean by how we fight?" Ryuji asked.

"I think he means mean who's going to be our leader from now on, right?" Asuka clarified as the cat nodded in response. "Er... I don't mind being told what to do... but I will stand up and take the lead if I have to..." She then revealed.

"I honestly don't wanna be the leader." Homura admitted. "But I doubt either of you are capable." She then added.

"But Akira-kun seems to be adjusting to using a Persona better than us." Asuka pointed out. "I think he should lead us in fights." She then suggested.

"How about we just put it to a vote?" Akira suggested as the others nodded in agreement. "You can only vote once and you can't vote for yourself. Majority wins. Okay? First, who votes for Shinkukage?" He then asked.

After a few seconds, Asuka raised her hand, causing her roommate's eye to widen in surprise.

"Alright. One. Anyone else?" Akira asked. No one said anything. "Okay, moving on. Who votes for me?" He then continued.

Ryuji and Homura put their hands up to the question. "Okay. Which means by default, me and Morgana are voting for Shirokage to be leader. Which is a draw between me and Shirokage." Akira stated as he then sighed. "Probably would've been smarter to do this if we had more people here..." He then admitted.

"We're wasting time." Morgana then reminded while tapping his foot. "Okay, let's just say both Lady Asuka and Frizzy Head are our leaders from now on. We'll work out the specifics later. Let's go." He then declared.

The others nodded to that as they all started to run down the passageway.

"Another enemy up ahead!" Asuka informed.

"I got this." Homura replied as she dashed forward and got a solid grip on the guard's mask. "Take that damn mask off!" She declared as she ripped it off, causing two Shadows that had the appearances to be a dog standing on two legs while holding a club to appear.

"New enemy type!" Morgana declared as he got his cutlass out before his eye twitched. "D-Damn, it had to be d-dogs..." He then grumbled out as the enemies howled while glaring intently at him.

"Hmph, not a dog fan huh?" Homura remarked in amusement as she took out her submachine guns and locked in the ammo. "Calm down, I can hit them..." She muttered to herself as she took aim at the two Shadows before firing, this time getting both of them at once and knocking them down.

This meanwhile caused her roommate to smile in excitement underneath her mask. "Nice work Homura-chan! You hit their weakness!" Asuka happily praised.

"Not bad." Akira meanwhile got out with a smirk on his face.

"T-Thanks..." Homura mumbled out to the praise as she reloaded her guns before taking out her blades and slashed at one of the knocked down Weredogs, destroying it.

"Nice! Enemy defeated!" Morgana exclaimed in excitement before getting his slingshot out. "Leave this to me now Lady Homura!" He declared as he fired upon the Weredog a couple of times before destroying it and ending the battle.

"Whew, great work everyone!" Asuka then praised as she felt herself getting pumped up. "I think I'm getting better at this." She then admitted.

Homura meanwhile smirked to herself as meekly pumped her fist. "I'm getting stronger now..." She muttered.

Akira also smirked as he picked up the small amount of money. 'I can feel power coursing through me.' He thought.

Ryuji soon walked up to the group as he looked at them. "Nice work you guys." He praised.

"Hehe, thanks Ryuji, though Homura-chan did most of it this time along with Morgana-chan." Asuka giggled out.

This in turn got a grin of pride from the cat. "Why thank you Lady Asuka." He replied before looking at the tan skinned girl. "You weren't bad either, nice work finding their weak points, those are crucial in a battle." He informed.

Homura soon smirked to that, though it was covered by her mask. "Of course, no matter what kind of battle it is, finding the weak point is the first step to victory." She replied. "But enough of that, let's keep going." She then concluded.

"R-Right." Ryuji agreed as followed behind the Persona users as they started running. "Man, shinobis are really good, they can already use the guns I gave them." He got out.

The group's stride grinded to a halt as Ryuji realized what he just said while Akira just looked at him in disbelief.

To hearing that, Homura's eyes widened in shock to that blunt reveal. "God dammit, Ryuji..." She growled as she face palmed. "GODDAMMIT! WHY THE HELL DID YOU SAY THAT SO CASUALLY!? WE'VE ONLY KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR ONE DAY, ONE FUCKIN' DAY, AND YOU FUCKING BLEW IT ALREADY! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE STUPID LIVING PLUSH DOLL THAT HAS TITS ON HIS BRAIN FOR FOR MY ROOMMATE YOU MORON! IF THIS HAPPENS IN THE REAL WORLD, I SWEAR TO MY PERSONA AND EVERY GOD AND DEMON IN EXISTENCE THAT I'M GONNA RIP YOUR OUT YOUR THROAT AND YOUR DICK AND AND SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT! I'LL SWITCH YOUR BALLS WITH YOUR EYES AND HEAD WITH YOUR HEART! I WILL CRUSH YOUR FACE WITH MY FOOT!" She loudly declared in a whisper with rising anger as she cracked her knuckles.

Said blond meanwhile winced after hearing that declaration as he felt a massive amount of killing intent, not to mention the increasingly more outlandish, violent and physically impossible threats got as the very angry shinobi continued yelling quietly. "Ah crap!" Ryuji muttered in a fear filled manner.

Akira on the hand looked on at the angered girl as a sweatdrop fell from his head as he heard something about shitting in his ribcage, punching him so hard that it breaks time and space to the point where every second of his life from his birth will be him getting uppercutted by her fist and beating him with his own skull before he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down." He responded.

Morgana's eyes meanwhile widened to hearing that as he came to a stop with the others following suit. "Wait what!? Shinobis!?" He exclaimed.

"Hmm?" Asuka got out as she looked back at the cat in a innocent manner. "Yeah, me and Homura-chan are shinobis." She revealed.

"Wait seriously!?" Morgana then exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

Calming herself down, the tan skinned girl looked towards the cat. "Yeah, what about it?" Homura then asked with a raised eyebrow, though was still irritated by the blond revealing their secret.

"I always thought that rumors I hear in this realm about shinobis still existing in modern days were just that, all rumors!" Morgana exclaimed his explanation. "But besides that, what kind are you two? The strict good kind or the laid back evil kind?" He then asked.

Asuka in turn tilted her head to that as well as her roommate. "Strict good?" She repeated.

"Laid back evil?" Homura also repeated with a raised eyebrow underneath her mask.

The blond however scratched the back of his head to that. "What are you talking about cat?" Ryuji then asked.

Akira meanwhile also raised an eyebrow to what the cat had asked as he looked at the girls. "Do you two know what he means?" He soon asked.

The two kunoichis looked at each other for a moment as the three boys looked at them. "Homura-chan, you think we should tell them more about us?" Asuka started in a weary tone.

Homura in turn sighed to that as she rubbed the back of her head. "Not really much a of choice." She replied as she looked at the three. "Asuka's a Good Shinobi while I'm an Evil Shinobi thanks to... reasons..." She revealed.

"Hmm..." Morgana hummed out as he intently looked at the tan skinned girl while giving off a serious expression. "I see..." He replied.

This in turn caused Homura to blink in slight confusion. "Really? That's all you have to say about me being an Evil Shinobi?" She then asked.

"You obviously have your reasons to being one in the first place, and even I know that deception runs deep everywhere." Morgana replied in a serious tone as they came to the end of the hall to see another guard in front of a door. "We can talk more about the Good and Evil Shinobi nonsense later, we got another guard that's blocking our path." He then informed.

Asuka then looked around the corner herself as she also saw the guard. "And it looks like this one's blocking where we're supposed to go right?" She then guessed.

"Bingo Lady Asuka." Morgana replied.

"So you guys gonna take it down again?" Ryuji then asked with a grin.

"Looks like it." Homura replied.

"Get ready..." Akira then instructed as he readied his knife.

"Actually," Morgana suddenly started, getting the group's attention. "This might be a good time to teach you three another lesson. This one being a really handy one in fight." He then revealed.

"Really now?" Homura stated more than asked.

"Is it some kind of new attack method?" Asuka then asked with a curious tone, but was also filled with anticipation.

Morgana then gave a wide grin to that. "Something like that! Let's go!" He declared.

The three other Persona users nodded in agreement to that as Akira rushed forward and slashed the guard with his knife, causing it to react as a single Pixie came out in its place while the four then got ready to fight.

Morgana gripped his cutlass as he looked at the enemy. "Listen, there's a distinct flow to battles. Allow me to show you guys, after all, seeing is... something?" He started.

"It's believing. Andthe hell is that suppose to mean?" Homura then asked while in her fighting stance.

"Just follow my instructions Lady Homura." Morgana replied as he turned to the male Persona user. "Alright Frizzy Hair, first knock down all the enemies! Everything starts at that crucial step!" He revealed.

Akira in turn nodded to that as he readied himself to pull his mask off while a circle of blue flames surround him. "Go down! Eiha!" He declared as the dark spell struck the Shadow, knocking it to the ground in a dizzy manner.

"All right! Now rush in for an All-out Attack!" Morgana declared with excitement.

"Roger!" Akira responded in a calm but confident manner.

"Hai!" Asuka replied, ready to go.

Homura meanwhile nodded to that as she readying herself.

At that point, all four of them readied their guns and slingshots at the Pixie before backflipping and jumping into the air until the shadows of four silhouettes charging back and forth as they unleashed attack after attack on the Pixie.

Then as fast it was, it came to an end as the four got into specific poses with their masks on. Akira was smirking as he was adjusting his glove. "Show's over." He stated in a prideful tone.

Morgana somehow had made a mafia like chair appear as he sat in it while smoking a cigarette. "Mission accomplished!" He declared.

Asuka dusted her hands off before placing one of hers hand over her head in a salute while the other on her hip and tilting her body slightly. "From the shadows, we win!" She cutely declared in a playful manner.

Lastly, Homura crossed her arms over her chest as she gave off a menacing glare. "Nice try, but you lose!" She declared with a serious tone.

As these declarations were occuring, the Pixie behind them began to spray black goo that others would mistake it for blood as the battle ended.

As everything went back to normal and the minimal amount of money was collected, Morgana looked at the three Persona user with an impressed grin on his face. "Mm, that went well! You three are definitely fit for this." He praised.

Asuka meanwhile rubbing the back of her head to the compliment. "Thanks, that was pretty awesome too!" She replied.

Homura on the other hand looked at her gloved for a moment before looking back at the cat. "How did we just do that? It felt... instinctive pulling that off." She admitted. "And where the hell did you get the chair and cigar?" She questioned as she looked up at the ceiling. There was no way he carried a chair and cigar just for that... right?

Ryuji then came up to the group with a look of disbelief on his face. "Wh-What was that super-move thing you guys just did!? Wasn't that a little overkill?" He soon asked.

Morgana then smiled as he looked at the four. "I told you guys, it's called an All-out Attack." He replied. "If you manage to knock all the enemies down, you might be able to use it to beat them all at once." He revealed as he then looked at the girls. "I believe that shinobis have their own version of it when they're teaming up?" He then asked.

The two kunoichi's eyes widen to hearing that as they looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the cat creature. "Oh! You mean the Aerial Raves!" Asuka declared.

The tan skinned girl in turn nodded to to that. "Right, they let us perform a barrage of attacks in the air, but only if we launch them." Homura revealed in a serious tone. "That All-out Attack was pretty similar now that I think about it." She soon admitted as she then looked at the cat. "But again, how the hell do you know about that?" She then asked in the same serious tone.

Morgana's grin never left his face as he looked at the tan skinned girl. "Hehe, you hear about a lot of things being a phantom thief. Rumors about these kind of things are always going around no matter the information trying to be hidden." He responded.

"Still though... that fight was over quick..." Ryuji then admitted.

"Well it is a concentrated attack on defenseless enemies after all." Morgana then pointed out. "Lady Asuka, Frizzy Head, as I mentioned before, I want one of you two to be the head of our command, so either of you can decide when to use the All-out Attack if we have a chance." He soon stated.

"Hmm…" Asuka hummed out as she then looked at the male Persona user. "So what do you think Akira-kun?" She then asked.

Akira in turn rubbed the back of his head to that. "I'm fine either way." He responded. "How about you be the vice commander and take charge if I go down? I'll take charge of fights while you're in charge of exploration." He then suggested.

Asuka's eyes widened to the offer as she then looked at the others. "Homura-chan, Ryuji-kun, Morgana-chan, are you alright with that plan?' She then asked.

"It's fine by me." Ryuji replied.

"I think that's an excellent idea Lady Asuka." Morgana happily replied.

"..." Homura meanwhile was hesitant to the idea, but then sighed. "Fine." She simply answered in a slightly neutral tone. 'Jeez... that cat really knows how to put Asuka on the spot... then again, I did vote for her to be the leader of this group...' She then thought to herself.

'Your emotions really are all over the place... especially when it comes to that roommate of yours...' Wolverine deadpanned from the girl's head.

'Shut it.' Homura mentally retorted in annoyance.

"So anyway, strike the enemy's weakness, knock them all out, then do an All-out Attack! That's the ideal pattern!" Morgana declared.

Akira in turn nodded to that as he looked at the door. "Let's go." He calmly ordered.

Everyone else nodded in agreement to that as they followed the male Persona user when he opened the door to find a small room with another door on the other end that had a purple pink tint to it, but then they noticed a banner above it.

"Alright! This is is!" Morgana revealed, confirming their destination.

Ryuji then read at the banner in confusion. "Kamoshida's... Training Hall... of Love?" He read out loud. "What kind of bullshit is this!?" He then exclaimed.

"No idea..." Homura responded, though she had an eerie feeling going through her body. "Asuka, stay close to me..." She then ordered.

"Eh?" Asuka got out in an innocent manner.

The tan skinned girl then gave off a serious expression to the black mask wearing girl, even though her face was covered by her own white mask. "Please, just listen to me..." Homura then requested in a low tone for only her roommate to hear.

To hearing that, Asuka softly gasped with widened eyes for a moment before returning to normal. "Alright..." She replied in her own serious tone.

Homura then sighed in relief to this as her roommate did as she asked before looking towards the male Persona user. "Let's go." She then stated.

Akira in turn nodded to that as he opened the door and the group went inside.


(Kamoshida's Training Hall of Love)

Well, they knew where the screaming was at now because they was currently making them simultaneously deaf. The stone walls were not making it any better. "Those screams..." Asuka mumbled out in horror before clutching her head. "Th-They're hurting my ears…" She then added.

"Sounds like it's straight from a slasher film..." Akira grimly remarked.

"Those voices..." Ryuji muttered out. "Where're they comin' from...?" He soon asked.

"My guess is straight up ahead." Homura stated. "And from the sounds alone, I doubt we'll want to see it. Just... brace yourselves. This might get a little messy..." She soon advised.

And with that happy warning, the group continued on following the sounds of pain, mentally bracing themselves for the sight they were about to see, their imaginations only making things worse as the screams got louder and louder, until finally they found the source.

"Hey, it's coming from over there!" Ryuji called out as he pointed down a hallway, his voice being masked by the various amounts of begging for-actually, the tan skinned girl frowned at that underneath her mask. There was nothing about someone saving them, for the pain to stop or even the sweet release of death. It was just... pain. Nothing more. There wasn't even any crying, it was just... screaming. They all went down the hallway and looked out a barred window.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

Boys in the Shujin sports uniform had their hands on a volleyball net as the guards whipped their backs and they were very sure that the red was hiding the blood that was surely dripping down their backs.

"I-Is that..." Asuka whispered out as she watching the boys cry out in pain.

"Yeah... all of them are students from Shujin...' Akira replied. He even recognized a few faces from school, right down to the bandages they had.

"H-How horrible!" Asuka got out in disbelief at the torture being done.

Homura meanwhile narrowed her eyes in disgust to the sight of this training. "This is..." She got out in a hesitant manner while balling her hands into fists out of anger.

"Dammit! This is bullshit!" Ryuji yelled out, unintentionally finishing the tan skinned girl's sentence.

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down!?" Morgana scolded.

This however, this only made him more angry. "But this is beyond messed up!" Ryuji called out.

"And I'm pretty sure the screamings covering our voices." Akira pointed out as he watched at the morbid sight. He couldn't look away, yet every fiber in his being was telling him that he had to put a stop to this... but he had no idea how. He spotted a guard at every corner of the room, and a couple more in waiting just in case the first ones got tired.

"We have to save them!" Asuka declared as she and the blond rushed over to the barred door. "Morgana-chan, you can lock pick this right? Come on and hurry!" She then requested in a hasty tone.

"Hey, hold on!" Morgana spoke up, realizing the mistake they were about to make.

"Stop it...!" A voice from behind begged them.

They all turned around to hearing that, only for Akira, Asuka and Homura's eyes to widen. They recognized the boy, right down to the injuries he had, though he had a metal collar and chain around his neck.

"M-Mishima-san?" Asuka gasped out in shock to seeing her classmate.

"What the..." Akira mumbled. For a second, he thought the poor guy got sucked in here as well but he distinctly remembered him leaving the instant the bell rang. Just what was going on...?

"How the hell did you get in here!?" Homura exclaimed in confusion.

"I-It doesn't matter." Mishima replied. "Y-You need to leave us alone... It's useless to try and help... You'll only make things worse." He then revealed in a defeated tone.

"Huh!?" The four simultaneously let out.

"What are you talking about!? Anything is better than this!" Asuka called out to try and reason with him.

At that point, another slave limped his way over to the group. "If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you guys!" He explained.

"This isn't living if you have to go through this shit!" Ryuji shouted out. "You're tellin' me you wanna stay in a place like this!?" He then questioned in disbelief.

"You do realize we can't take these guys out of here, right?" Morgana stated, causing everyone's attention to be directed at him.

"What? Why?" Akira questioned with a frown.

"Yeah! We can't just leave 'em here!" Ryuji stated.

"M-Mishima-san..." Asuka whispered out as she watched the boy limp away.

"Guys, I would like to point out that there are a bunch of guards that will very much try and kill us if we tried." Homura pointed out. "There's too many people we have to fight or save. It's suicide." She soon stated in a serious manner.

"Not unless we give them the power to help themselves." Asuka replied in a serious tone. "We... We can help them unleash their Personas! We can steal the weapons off the guards and overthrow the King! We ca-" She started suggesting, however...

"Ryuji, Lady Asuka; they're not real!" Morgana shouted out, having enough of this suicidal behavior from the two.

To that declaration, silence fell upon them as they processed the information.

"Wh-What?" Ryuji got out before growling. "What the effin' hell do you mean by that!?" He then asked.

"Let me explain." Morgana started as he took a few calming breaths. "These are only humans in Kamoshida's cognition. They aren't real humans that have entered from reality. They're different from all of you." He revealed.

"H-Huh?" Asuka got out in confusion.

The tan skinned girl's eyes widen to that as she figured out what the cat had meant. "...They're fakes. Illusions created for the ruler of the Palace... just like this castle." Homura got out in realization.

"Cognition...?" Ryuji muttered to himself.

"It means there's no point in saving these guys." Akira stated. "The people we see here are completely different from the ones back in reality. If we tried, they'll only disappear once we leave and probably end up back where they were. We came here for nothing." He explained in a angered tone.

"Well, not completely for nothing..." Morgana muttered to himself. "I did teach you how to fight and stuff..." He then reminded, though fell on deaf ear.

"This... This sucks!" Asuka cried out as she pounded one of the bars with her fist. Even if these people were just dolls to the ruler, it didn't help her feeling useless to save them. Everything in here pointed to an undeniable fact: This was the PE teacher at his purest. That would've broke past Asuka, knowing that this man couldn't be redeemed... but she was no longer that person, she could deal with something like this now, but it nevertheless hurt to know that the darkness was so ingrained into his heart that there was no saving it.

"The hell!?" Ryuji exclaimed. "Why's it gotta be so complicated!? So the school's a castle, and the students are slaves... It's so on point that it makes me laugh. This really is the inside of that asshole's head...!" He then declared.

"The wonders of a fucked up brain..." Homura sighed out, though she felt the same as the others.

Morgana then went up to the window, grimacing at the sight. "Still, this is horrible, it must means he treats them as slaves in the real world too." He then stated.

"Which explains why half the goddamn school looks like they were run over by a bus." Homura growled out as she narrowed her eyes. "It's all this bastard's fault! Has no one said anything about this!? He should've been arrested before we got here! How long has this been going on!?" She then asked as she turned her head towards the blond since he knew more about their school.

"There've been rumors but..." Ryuji started as he got a closer look at the students before his eyes widened in shock. "Wait, I know these guys... they're members of the volleyball team! The one that Kamoshida coaches for!" He then declared in even more shock.

To hearing that, Asuka gulped in a nervous manner. "N-No way..." She got out in disbelief. "I'm glad I didn't take his offer to join the team..." She then admitted.

Homura's head meanwhile jerked and looked towards her roommate to hearing that. "He offered what now?" She questioned in a angered tone and narrow eyes. "Are you saying that sick bastard offered you to join the volleyball team!?" She questioned while the others also looked at the black mask wearing girl.

Asuka in turn nodded to that as she frowned under her mask. "Yeah... I think he was trying to butter me up with sweet words to convince me to join, but after yesterday, I knew not to trust him..." She revealed.

"Good, never take any of that bastard's offers ever no matter what..." Homura practically demanded in a protective manner as she placed a hand on her roommate's shoulder, the girl in turn nodded in acceptance.

"Still though, they must be physically abused everyday..." Morgana then stated as everyone's attention returned to him. "There's no way they'd be so beat up normally..." He soon added.

To hearing that, the blond's eyes widen in shock. "Don't tell me..." Ryuji then started. "They're going through similar shit in reality!?" He then exclaimed.

"It would explain all the wounds they had..." Akira then pointed out as he narrowed his eyes. "If this keeps up, they won't survive to see next year." He then added.

Morgana nodded in agreement to that. "Most likely. I mean this proves that Kamoshida thinks of them as slaves..." He then added.

Meanwhile, the tan skinned girl balled her hands into fists as she heard this. "That bastard... not even Evil Shinobis are treated this way... I mean the girls at Hebijo knew what they were getting into with the risks of merciless training and even possible death... but no one is ever tortured like this..." Homura admitted in her head with narrow eyes as she looked at the tortured students before she then turned her head towards the blond. "Oi Ryuji, what were those rumors you mentioned early about exactly?" She then questioned in a serious tone.

Ryuji then scratched his head to this as he continued looking on before turning to the others. "I heard that Kamoshida's been using physical punishment... they're just rumors, but..." He revealed, but then hesitated at the end.

"Seeing this confirms them. Kamoshida is physically abusing his team." Homura declared in a serious manner.

"But it's been happening for a while now, wouldn't someone report to the police by now? Like Homura said before?" Ryuji then asked.

"That should be, but..." Asuka got out before her eyes gained a sadden expression. "Kamoshida might be able to hide the evidence... and even threatening the volleyball team members not to talk..." She then revealed.

Homura nodded in agreement to her roommate's statement. "Yeah, that asshat might not be that smart, but he'll know not to make sure to leave any loose ends..." She added.

"Dammit..." Ryuji got out as he then took out his phone. "Even so, I'll get these guys as evidence and if it all goes well, we can take down that asshole Kamoshida!" He then declared as he readied the camera app, however he gained a confused expression. "Huh? It's not workin'!?" He then exclaimed.

To hearing that, the others eyes widen as they also took out their phones and tried to activate their camera apps, but nothing happened.

"It's true..." Akira stated in a serious tone.

"What gives?" Homura then asked.

"Why not though?" Asuka also asked in confusion.

Ryuji meanwhile looked at his phone in even more confusion. "We can use the navigation app, but the camera's a no-go!?" He then asked.

"That's what it looks like Ryuji..." Homura responded as she placed her phone away.

Morgana however gained a confused expression to what they were talking about. "A navigation app?" He then asked.

"It's what we used to come to this world Morgana-chan." Asuka meanwhile revealed as she placed her phone away. "So what should we do now?" She then asked.

"Well whatever you do it fine, but we're gonna get caught if we stand around like this." Morgana then advised. "We need to head back!" He then declared.

"That sounds like a good idea." Homura then agreed.

"Yeah." Akira got out in agreement to the declaration.

"Hold on," Ryuji got out. "We might not be able to take some pics, but I'll memorize their faces before we head home!" He then revealed.

"Ryuji-kun..." Asuka got out.

Homura meanwhile sighed as she looked at the blond as he was determined to wanting to expose the twisted PE teacher. 'What happened to him with Kamoshida?' She thought, now wanting to know his backstory.

Akira meanwhile nodded to that as rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the blond going further in. "Alright." He replied as he looked at the girls. "Asuka, Shinkukage, you two watch for guards here while me and Morgana go with Ryuji." He instructed before he and the cat went after the friend.

"Yes sir!" Asuka cheerfully replied with a mock salute.

Homura however sighed to her roommate's antics while she leaned against the gate frame, though she could feel that something was off about her as the others left to go after the blond. "Hey... are you... ok Asuka?" She soon asked.

The Good Shinobi in response turned to her roommate. "Eh?" She got out but then noticed that she was staring at her intently, causing her to sigh. "Not really..." She then admitted in a slightly depressed tone while rubbing the back of her head.

"Kamoshida?" Homura bluntly guessed.

"Yeah..." Asuka responded with a nod. "I... I still just can't believe that he actually thinks of the school this way..." She then got out. "It's... disgusting for a human being..." She soon added.

Homura in response sighed to that, but she could understand somewhat where her roommate was coming from since she really didn't have to ever deal with situations like this outside of shinobi training. "It's... just how it is in the real world Asuka..." She started as she took out her phone and looked at the app that brought them to the Castle of Lust. "Everyone has their hidden sides that no one wants to reveal... even if they try to deny that it exists, it's still there..." She then admitted as she placed her phone away.

"I guess..." Asuka replied in a hesitant tone. "It... still just sucks though..." She soon added with another depressed sigh.

"Yeah..." Homura agreed with a small nod as she looked at her depressed roommate. 'Dammit... that bastard Kamoshida caused this to her...' She meanwhile thought, hating the sight of her being like this as she tightly gripped her hands into fists.

"Also Homura-chan..." Asuka suddenly started, gaining the tan skinned girl's attention. "I noticed something that's gotten me more nervous. . " She revealed.

This in turn caused the Evil Shinobi to raised an eyebrow. "What?" Homura soon asked.

"..." Asuka was hesitant to answer, but she then took in a deep breath. "Where... Where are the female Volleyball Team members?" She grimly asked.

To hearing that, Homura's eyes widen in realization to the fact that only the male Volleyball Team members were here for training. However before she could say anything else, the two boys and the cat came back, causing her to leave thoughts for another day. "Took you guys long enough." She remarked.

Ryuji meanwhile was still growling in anger, but had a determined expression on his face while Akira and Morgana had serious expressions on their faces.

To seeing those expressions, Asuka gulped in a nervous manner. "W-Was there more?" She soon asked.

"Members running for water on a treadmill trying to send them into a spiked steamroller and one being hung to the ceiling by his legs and hands tied while a cannon fired volleyballs straight at them..." Akira grimly answered. "Not exactly the happiest places to be in, in my opinion." He then admitted.

That reveal in turn sent shivers down both girls spines to the mere idea that the PE teacher was doing similar stuff in reality.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Morgana then asked. "We're really cutting it close." He then added.

"I am, you memorized their faces?" Asuka quickly asked.

"You can't unsee what's going on here." Ryuji replied. "So, we're good." He soon added.

"Alright, time for an overdue exit." Homura stated. "Let's move out." She then ordered.

"Okay, Asuka-san, go ahead and take point. We'll be right behind you." Akira instructed.

Asuka nodded and took the lead with her roommate following directly behind her to censor the upskirt the boys would've gotten.

Homura meanwhile looked at the back of her roommate as they all started running to get out of the Training Hall of Love with a determined expression on her face underneath her mask. 'I gotta protect her in case something happens...' She thought to herself.

Once the the group made outside the training hall, they stopped as they gathered their bearings. "Alright, we're back. We gotta get out of here quick!" Ryuji then declared.

"No shit Sakamoto..." Homura meanwhile grumbled out in annoyance.

"The watch post near the training hall has ceased reporting!" A guard's voice declared. "Chance of intruder activity are extremely high! All personnel, increase security measures!" It then demanded it's order.

The group then saw a guard coming to the other end of the wooden bridge as it was searching for them as the five quickly got to cover. "Tch, we've stayed here too long..." Morgana got out in a whisper. "Come on, let's get out of here!" He declared.

"Right!" Asuka agreed.

With that, the five then dashed off away from the guard.


(Entrance Hall)

After several minutes of avoiding guards and hiding in the shadows, the five were able to make it back to the entrance of the dungeon.

"Phew, out of there..." Asuka sighed out in relief.

Homura nodded in agreement to that as she was also glad to not be there. "Yeah, but we aren't out of the castle yet." She then reminded.

"Lady Homura's right Lady Asuka." Morgana stated in a serious tone as he was already ahead of the group on the stairs. "The exit's this way! Follow me!" He then ordered.

"This has gone pretty smoothly for our first infiltration." Homura told the male Persona user. "You seem really good at this already." She then admitted.

"Maybe it's my true calling. Beats being a paper pusher." Akira joked out in an attempt of amusement. "Now let's get out of here. We don't wanna miss our trains home, do we?" He soon added in amused tone.

"Stop joking around." Homura scolded. "We're not in the clear yet. Let's hurry before the guards find us." She then suggested.

The others nodded in agreement to that before going up the stairs, it seemed like it was the home stretch.

But of course, nothing could be this easy.

"Mother..." Homura grumbled under her as they all froze at the sight of the King and his Knights. "Knew it wouldn't be this easy..." She then got out.

"No...!" Asuka called out as she looked around, finding themselves surrounded.

Meanwhile, the King let a disgusted noise as his and the male Persona user's eyes met. "...You knaves again." The King questioned in annoyance. "To think you'd make the same mistake again. You're hopeless!" He then declared

"Not hopeless, just a rebel with a cause." Akira replied. "You know, we saw that torture chamber of yours. If this is how you treat people, as nothing more than punching bags to destroy and discard, well let's see how you like it when you're at the other end." He threatened.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm training them to be the best in country, if not the entire world." Shadow Kamoshida defended himself. "If they end up getting a few bruises, it's not my problem." He then added.

"It is your problem! It's more than a few bruises!" Asuka shouted out. "It's nothing more than abuse down there! What in your twisted head makes you think that what you're doing is right!?" She then questioned in anger.

"Shujin is supposed to be a school, not a place for your abuse and pleasure!" Ryuji called out as he stepped forward. "The school isn't a castle, and you're no king you asshole! I've memorized every face in that Training Hall of Love of yours! You're goin' down!" He then declared.

However, the King only gave them a twisted smile in response. "So it's true when they say barking dogs have no bite." He remarked in a amused tone. "How far has the star runner of the track team has fallen." He then added.

"What? Track team? Star runner?" Homura mumbled to herself as the others looked at the blond in confusion, who only grimaced at the statement only to recover.

Kamoshida did say Ryuji used to be part of the track team the other day but... it was becoming clearer how Ryuji got a grudge against the guy.

"The hell you gettin' at!?" Ryuji shouted out.

"I speak of the Track Traitor who acted in violence, ending his teammates hopes and dreams." The King revealed in a taunting manner. Suddenly, it clicked in everyone's heads.

"Hold on..." Asuka said as she figured it out. "Y-You... You're the reason he has a limp, aren't you!? You cost him his life! He didn't ruin his teammates' future... You ruined his!" She accused.

To hearing that, the tan skinned girl grinded her teeth in anger to this realization. "You set him up, you bastard!" Homura yelled out.

"You didn't know before?" The King taunted. "What a surprise. So you're accompanying him without knowing anything at all?" He then remarked.

"Hey, news flash!" Akira called out. "We don't give a shit! After what you've done, after what we know, there's no way I'm turning my back on a friend! He was right; Everything is your fault!" He then declared.

"Dude..." Ryuji got out in a low voice.

"Why should we believe you when all you've done makes me wanna slice your fucking head off your shoulders?" Homura growled as she took out her katanas. "He's an idiot, yeah, but he's a lot better than you in every single way!" She soon added.

"Ryuji-kun... believe us... it's not your fault. You're our friend, don't forget that." Asuka calmly revealed in a reassuring tone.

To hearing these, Ryuji was honestly speechless at their declarations.

Asuka then returned her gaze to the King as she prepared herself to fight. "Okay, you bastard! It's time to pay for what you've done!" She soon declared.

"PERSONA!" They all cried out as their awakened selves appeared.

"Grrr..." The King growled out, having his words empowering their resolve rather than breaking it down. "Fine! Help the worthless fool! But let's see if that's going to help you with my best soldiers! Seize them!" He then ordered.

"Ah! We're in trouble here!" Morgana exclaimed as every guard in the room transformed into all the Shadows they've seen so far as well as a few new ones. "Everyone! Brace yourselves!" He then warned.

"Get out of the way!" Akira called out to the blond just as they dived out of the way of a wind spell. It was an almost constant onslaught of different spells and attacks, with them either guarding against them or moving out of the way just in time. They had not chance to realitate, all they could do was survive until it was over.

'You know what he said sounds a little familiar, you know...' Wolverine mumbled in her head.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, WOLVERINE!" Homura snapped, finally having enough of her Persona telling her lies, not noticing the cracks that started to appear on her mask and even more tears in her outfit. This surprised everyone, especially when she suddenly got a headache and clutched her head.

Behind her Wolverine was starting to stutter, as if there was a graphic glitch with her, as glowing red cracks appeared on her body.

"Wh-What happened!? Homura-chan!" Asuka exclaimed in shock and confusion.

"Oh no..." Morgana got out in an extremely worried tone. "This shouldn't be possible... but... she's starting to reject her Persona...! It's in the process of becoming a Shadow!" He declared in disbelief.

"What!?" Akira called out. "Shinkukage-san! Calm down! We need you!" He then added.

"Stop lying... STOP LYING DAMMIT!" Homura yelled out as her outfit began to burn away. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I'M FINE! I'M COMPLETELY FINE!" She demanded in denial.

"Shit! I took it too f-far! Sh-She's b-breaking down-d-d-d-down-down!" Wolverine announced, her speech becoming more distorted by the second. "I-I can't fight li-like this! Her-Her heart is tearing itself apart! Sh-She'll die-die-die-die!" She then declared, causing a rush of panic to run down their spines.

"Homura-chan! Get a-AAAHHH!" Asuka cried out in pain as she and her Persona were hit with a wind spell and blasted up into the air, her Persona being forced back into her soul. When she slammed back onto the ground with her face to the floor, she tried to stand up only collapse and lay on the ground, completely motionless.

"No! Lady Asuka's down! Someone help her!" Morgana called out, only to get himself struck with a bolt of lightning from a Shadow that had a ogre appearance with yellow skin with chains on its hands and blue overalls. "GAH! A-A Zio spell...!" He got out in pain before collapsing onto the ground.

"Shit..." Akira got out as he saw the Shadows close in on him, causing him to step back.

Homura was still freaking out, Asuka was knocked out at the moment and Morgana was twitching on the ground from that last attack on him.

"You better surrender now. I'll make sure your execution is swift." The King lied with a sadistic smirk on his face.

Akira growled at him before looking behind his back... just in time to see a knight on a horse stab him in spine, before being headbutted by Bicorns. Akira just groaned in pain as the Shadows reverted back to knights and stepped on his back along with Asuka.

Morgana however was stepped on by the King himself while Homura was still writhing in pain so they didn't bother. "Rrgh... You piece of-" Morgana cursed only to wince out in pain as the King rubbed his foot further into his back.

"St-Stop trying to r-r-reject me and he-help! W-W-We're go-go-going to d-d-d-d-d-d-die!" Wolverine tried to stop Homura, but only made it worse as more and more cracks appeared on her. At this rate, Wolverine would become a Shadow once again which would fracture her mind and leave her brain-dead.

"Liar... Liar..." Homura chanted to herself in denial as she spiraled deeper and deeper into the darkness. "Leave me alone... Leave me alone dammit..." She then demanded.

"H-Homura-chan..." Asuka groaned out, having regained consciousness to see her roommate suffering. "Please... listen..." She begged.

Ryuji could only look around as he tried to find a way out of this. All his allies were down for the count, he was surrounded with no way to fight and the bastard was still smiling at him.

"I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this, isn't that right?" The King guessed as he continued to destroy the cat creature's spine.

"No..." Ryuji muttered out, feeling so useless.

"What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly..." The King taunted. "How dare you raise your hand at me." He declared in annoyance and anger.

"Shut the hell up! Who wouldn't after everything you've done!" Akira growled out just as the armored foot ran deeper into his back. It felt like his spine was going to snap in two.

Meanwhile, Homura managed to break from her self-inflicted pain for a second to realize that Shadow Kamoshida wasn't talking about them... it was about Ryuji.

"Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?" The King then asked, causing the blond to glare at him.

Ryuji however glared at him in anger. "That... That was not practice! You tortured us! You left us broken and on the ground every day!" He revealed. "That wasn't kindness... It was physical abuse and slavery! You closed it down because you just didn't like our team, you bastard! God... this castle really is from you...!" He then declared.

The King however scoffed to that. "It was nothing but an eyesore!" He soon stated. "The only one who needs to achieve results is me! The coach who got fired was hopeless too..." He then added.

"You... You ruined their dreams... because you didn't like it...!?" Asuka called out in disbelief.

"So you had gotten him fired then." Akira said through gritted teeth, hating the man more and more with each passing second.

"That's right." The King admitted proudly with a prideful and vile smirk. "Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg." He then declared.

"...What?" Ryuji whispered out as everyone's eyes widened.

"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!" The King taunted, not knowing that the tan skinned girl had stopped rejecting her Persona, only because all her hate was directed at him.

Wolverine was still broken, but at least her transformation in a Shadow had stopped.

"Dammit... am I gonna lose again?" Ryuji got out in a defeated tone. "Not only can I not run anymore... the track team is gone too cause of this asshole...!" He then declared as he looked down at the floor.

"So that's why..." Morgana got out in a tone filled with sympathy for the blond.

"You broke Ryuji's leg..." Akira whispered out before wincing in pain from underneath the golden guard's armored foot.

Underneath the second golden guard's armored foot, Asuka's eyes widen to what the Shadow of the PE teacher had revealed. "My god... h-he made Ryuji-kun suffer that much!?" She got out in disbelief, knowing now that the man was completely irredeemable for his actions.

"You... You son of a bitch! You damn bastard! You broke Ryuji's leg and ruined his life just 'cause it would overshadow your stupid volleyball team!?" Homura roared in fury as she struggled to get to her feet, now fully understanding why the blond hated the PE teacher. 'Damn teachers... it's just like what happened to me...' She admitted in her head as she thought back to her own past.


Years earlier...

Y-You used me Komichi-sensei!?" A younger Homura asked in shock and fear as she was in a PE storage room with shurikens and kunais surrounding her as she was on the ground. "W-Why!?" She soon got out in a fear filled tone.

"My mission is to locate potential successors from the Good faction and eliminate them." An older male explained in a dead serious tone as he held a kunai knife in his hands before he started chuckling wickedly with a vile smirk on his face.

The younger Homura then backed up a little in fear to this reveal. "And that's why... I was the only one you were nice to?" She soon asked

"You saved me a lot of effort." Komichi then admitted.

"I-I trusted you." Homura got out while shaking her head in denial to learning this. "That's why I even told you my secret, that I'm a shinobi." She then added.

"Nothing feels better than betraying people after earning their trust." Komichi soon revealed as the smirk never left his face as a gasp left the young girl's lips while he leaned down and prepared his kunai. "And if you can make them fall for you, that's even better." He then declared

At that point, Homura's eyes widen in complete shock before it turned to anger. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" She roared in a blind fury, unaware of the smirk on the male.

SPLAT! SPLASH!


"D-D-D-Do you really b-b-believe that is the truth...?" Wolverine suddenly managed to question despite her distorted voice. "D-D-Do y-y-you t-t-truly n-n-not r-r-remember?" She then added while bringing her hand up.

This in turn confused the girl as she looked at her other self. 'T-THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?' Homura mentally demanded before wincing in pain and held her head from the aching pain she was feeling.

"C-Calm down and l-l-listen to your heart. Wh-What i-i-i-is it saying?" Wolverine then instructed in a calm tone.

In response to this, Homura just closed her eyes, only to cry out in pain as she started to go back to that day... except this time it was no longer through the eyes of her younger self.


The young Homura's eyes were wide at the sight in front of her, shocked and confused to what happen as her rage had vanished, unaware of the blood on her face and hands...

The man, the teacher she had trusted with her secret as a shinobi, Komichi stabbed himself as the circle of blood dyed his clothes became larger as the smirk on his face never left. "Hehe... with this... your dreams... your future... are... over..." He weakly chuckled out in the same vile manner while some blood came out of his mouth.

THUD!

The man soon dropped like a ragdoll in front of the young blood soaked girl as life soon left him, leaving the girl speechless to what happened.


Homura soon took in a sharp breath as she held her head while her eyes were wide and dilated. "N-No way..." She got out. "T-That's right... all this time..." She muttered in realization. "He... He killed himself... but I was the one blamed for it happening..." She soon added as anger started to swell up within her.

"Once these two are dealt with, Sakamoto's next while the girls are sent to reeducation." Shadow Kamoshida meanwhile declared as it was followed by maniacal laughter that was filled with satisfaction.

Wolverine soon started to hover in front of the tan skinned girl as she looked at her. "That's right... he not only manipulated you into trusting him... but he had also manipulated and took advantage of the Good Shinobi laws by committing suicide, tricking everyone in your family into believing you were the one that killed him since you two were the only people there that day." She calmly declared as her voice became less distorted. "Even when you had tried to explain it, they had denied your voice and ignored your words, which was all part of the Evil Shinobis plots into getting your family's power after your family disowned and exiled you while your grandfather gave you Engetsu..." She then added.

"I... I..." Homura got out as she struggled to stand besides the blond with the support of her blades as she looked at her pinned down roommate before thinking back to both last night and that morning she had with her as things she had said came to her mind.

"You killed him out of self defense! It wasn't your fault! He tricked and deceived you!"

"I-I know you said we were just roommates... but I really do want to be your friend."

"The longer I think about it, the more I could care less about the Good Shinobi and their stupid goddamn laws!"

"Ryuji! Lady Homura!" Morgana got out.

"Homura-chan! Ryuji-kun!" Asuka called out before wincing in pain from the metal foot on her back.

"Stand up for yourself!" Akira meanwhile ordered "It isn't your fault! It's his! Show him that you're stronger than he thinks!" He then declared.

Homura then looked intently at her roommate with a serious expression under her white mask while panting heavily. 'Asuka... you're the only one who actually cared for the pain held back all this time... even declaring that you don't care about the policies of the Good Shinobis anymore after learning what happened to me...' She started thinking in a neutral manner.

"Don't let him win!" Akira then called out.

The tan skinned girl then turned her head towards the blond for a moment after hearing what the male avian mask wearing Persona user then said before turning her head back to her roommate. 'You didn't care at all about me being an Evil Shinobi... you wanted to keep spending time with me even after learning the truth...' Homura added to her thoughts. 'Even though I had killed so many after joining Hebijo... you didn't care one bit...' She continued thinking as sweat ran down her head. 'Asuka... you're... you're my..." She hesitantly started in her mind as she fully realized what her roommate actually was to her now.

"What is she to you... what is that girl truly to you that the others girls at Hebijo aren't?" Wolverine then asked in a serious tone. "WHAT! DO! YOU! WANT!?" She soon questioned in a demanding tone.

Homura then tightly gripped her swords as she took in many deep breaths. 'I... I want to protect her!' She soon mentally roared as she got to one knee. 'I want the power to protect my first real friend dammit!' She then declared in her head, gaining a new resolve.

Suddenly, the cracks started the heal on her other self as Homura's breathing went back to normal, feeling a new power awaken within her. "Thank you... Wolverine." Homura thanked her Persona in her head.

"Just don't do that again." Wolverine chided. "...Or think that's the last one. Or it can be solved by yourself or me, which is technically yourself." She then added.

'I'll keep that in mind for later.' Homura thought as she directed her focus on the PE teacher's Shadow now.

"You're right..." Ryuji meanwhile got out. "Everything that was important to me was taken by him... I'll never get them back!" He admitted.

"Stay there and watch." Shadow Kamoshida then ordered. "Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you while the girls..." The King started before chuckled in a perverse manner. "They will be properly trained into loving me as their master like everyone else." He then declared.

However to those words, the two started getting to their feet as angered expressions were on their faces.

Ryuji then looked intently at the Shadow of the PE teacher as he struggled to stand because of his limp. "No... that's what you are..." He started.

Homura's face meanwhile was full of fury to hearing that as her body was shivering from anger. "Your barely can be considered as a human being for what you've done..." She then added as her mask started to repair itself.

"All of think about is using people... you're the real scumbag Kamoshida!" Ryuji continued as the two then stepped forward.

"We are not your damn slaves..." Homura declared as the torn parts of her attire repaired themselves. "We will never be your slaves." She then added.

"Ryuji-kun... Homura-chan..." Asuka whispered out, a smile gracing her face underneath her mask to the fact that the two were now resolving their issues and directing their wrath towards a more deserving target: The King of Lust himself.

Shadow Kamoshida then looked towards his guards. "What are you doing? Silence them!" He ordered before smirking back at the standing duo.

Ryuji then pointed a finger at the PE teacher's Shadow. "Stop looking down on us with that STUPID SMILE ON YOUR FACE!" He demanded with fury.

"We're gonna take you down no matter what it take you perverted bastard!" Homura meanwhile declared while breathing heavily to the point that it was similar to growling as a warm crimson glow coated her body. "Now GET! OFF! MY! FRIEND!" She then demanded with fury coursing through her body, but before she could charge in...

"You made me wait quite a while." A voice in Ryuji's head started, causing the blond to look around in confusion.

"Did you hear th-A-AAAAGH...!" Ryuji started before he winced in pain, his eyes becoming gold as he writhed in pain, clutching his head. It felt like his skull was being crushed from all sides.

"Sakamoto!" Homura exclaimed, only to feel a familiar power starting to come out from him while also seeing the golden eyes. "No way..." She got out in disbelief, realizing what was happening.

"You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact." The entity, which Ryuji realized had his voice, offered. "Since your name is disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc...? The other you who exists within desires it thus..." It then added.

'Yeah... Give me your power...' Ryuji thought calmly, unlike his body which was flailing around on the ground in pain. 'Give me everything you have for me to offer... Let me show this bastard he never should've messed with me... I'll make him effin' pay for what he's done!' He mentally declared.

'Haha! That's more like it!' The entity laughed out. 'I am thou, thou art I... There is no turning back...! The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!' He soon declared.

"AAAHHH!" Ryuji shouted out as steel skull mask appeared on his face, along with an mischievous smile. Every gasped as they realized what had happened.

"Hmph. What can you do...?" A golden soldier taunted as he raised his blade. "Cower in fear and watch!" It then declared.

"No way..." Ryuji growled as he grabbed the edge of his mask, pulling as hard as he could. "I won't let you hurt anyone else! PERSONA!" He then roared.

Blood sprayed everywhere on the floor as the mask finally came off as Ryuji exploded into yellow flames while he was roaring loudly. The power he excluded was immense, it was maybe even more powerful than the three's awakenings. The knights pinning down the three were destroyed from the force of the wind as the tan skinned girl stared in awe of the blond's awakening and Persona appearing behind him.

Ryuji was no longer in his uniform, instead he wore a matching black jacket and pants with knee pads, a red ascot, combat boots and a pair of yellow gloves.

His Persona meanwhile was a skeleton in a pirate outfit with a cannon on his right arm, standing on a pirate ship with a smiling face with sharp teeth on it.

"Way to go, Ryuji-kun!" Asuka cheered out, excited and amazed to this happening.

"Whoa, even he had the potential!?" Morgana exclaimed, surprised by this development.

"Would you look at that..." Akira muttered with a smirk on his face, as if he was expecting it to happen.

"Damn, he looks like he's from a biker gang..." Homura meanwhile remarked as she looked on.

Ryuji meanwhile was taking in deep breaths as to regain his bearings before his head snapped up to reveal a cocky grin.

Homura soon enough gained a confident smirk on her face while her Persona hovered above her with its crimson glow, renewed and full of power.

"Damn, this one as well!?" Shadow Kamoshida got out in shock and annoyance to the fact that the blond troublemaker had the power to oppose him now.

"I am the rebel of the seven seas, Captain Kidd!" The blond's pirate skeleton Persona revealed. "Now that our pact has been forged, we shall now sail forth, blasting and destroying any and all who oppose us! Run rampant and oppose all that get in your way!" Captain Kidd then declared.

As this was said, Ryuji looked at his yellow gloved hands in amazement. "Right on, wassup Persona!? This effin' rocks!" He declared.

"Hehe, told you that you would get one." Homura remarked in amusement.

"I remember you saying if in that statement. Not when." Akira pointed out as the others regrouped.

"Who cares? How does it feel, Ryuji-kun?" Asuka had to ask in excitement.

"Like... I can blow up the whole effin' world!" The new Persona-user admitted as a steel pipe appeared in one hand and a sawed-off shotgun in the other. "This is amazing as shit!" Ryuji declared as he then turned to the only surviving knight. "So, what was that about me cowering in fear?" He remarked in a amused tone.

"Grr... Don't you dare mock me, you brat!" The Guard Captain demanded in anger before turning back into the knight-riding Shadow as everyone got ready for battle.

"Yo, I'm ready..." Ryuji started as his mask re-appeared on his face. "Bring it! Let's show this world what we're made of! Blast them away...! Captain Kidd!" He commanded.


(Cue Three Minutes Clapping by Takeharu Ishimoto)

"What troublemakers that bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!" The Guard Captain growled out.

In response to hearing that, Ryuji only smirked as held his pipe. "Kamoshida's cognition ain't changin', right? Then I'll act like the troublemaker I am!" He remarked in a serious manner. "Let's prove how much of mistake that is! Let's do this Captain Kidd!" He once again commanded.

"Aye to that. Strike them down with everything you have, matey!" Captain Kidd replied with a nod. "You'll only get stronger from here." He then declared.

"It's summoning more Shadows!" Morgana informed as the Guard Captain summoned two Dirty Two-Horned Beasts and two Troublesome Maids to its side. "We haven't faced a Shadow as tough as him before so be careful people!" He then advised.

"Don't worry! We'll crush them with everything we have then!" Asuka declared. "Right Akira-kun?" She then asked.

"Right." Akira agreed with a nod. "Okay, everyone! Don't hold back! We're going on Full Assault!" He ordered.

The white masked, tan skinned girl in response smirk to the order. "I don't mind that one bit! Wolverine! You know what to do!" Homura commanded as she removed her mask in crimson flames.

"Gurentou!" She and her Persona called out in unison as Wolverine's claws glowed orange, slicing at the maid Shadow as the enemy cried out in pain as she fell to the floor, trying to recover from her wounds.

Homura meanwhile barely felt the move drain her, realizing it wasn't drawing from her small Spirit Pool but rather her stamina, which she had plenty of. "Yes! Once more, Persona!" She once more commanded as she ripped off her mask again.

"We're back!" Wolverine declared as it sliced through the other maid before the tan skinned girl charged in, ripping apart the maid before finishing her off by using one of her machine guns to leave her with bullets, destroying her instantly.

"That's how we do it!" Homura cheered out in satisfaction.

"That... was a little overkill." Akira admitted. "Not that I'm complaining though." He soon added with a smirk.

Homura's smirk however never left her face underneath her mask. "Thanks Akira!" She replied.

"That was awesome! Let me try!" Ryuji exclaimed as he pointed at a Two-Horned Beast. "Zio, Captain Kidd!" He commanded.

"To the depths with you!" Kidd declared as it shocked the beast, making it fall to its knees as electricity started to come off it.

"You managed to knock it down and paralyze it! Hit it!" Morgana shouted out.

"Batter up, asshole!" Ryuji then remarked as he gleefully kicked the beast in the face before knocking its head clean off. "Oh yeah! Now we're talking!" He soon declared.

"My turn!" Asuka declared with excitement as she summoned her Persona in green flames. "Bury them Kaeru! Magna!" She commanded.

"My power will always be yours!" Kaeru shouted out as she blasted then the remaining Bicorn with a boulder. It shrugged off the blow and charged at the Good Shinobi. Thinking quickly, jumped onto its head and ran on its back before leaping off it and ripping off her mask.

"Again Kaeru!" Asuka ordered, making her Persona fire another boulder at the beast right into its ass. It cried out in pain but was still standing. "Wasn't enough! Akira-kun!" Asuka called out.

"Go down already. Arsène, Cleave!" Akira commanded, feeling a surge of energy fill his body. His Persona silently nodded and charged at the Bicorn, cutting it with its knife-for-heels, destroying it. "Keep going!" He then ordered.

"ARGH! I'LL KILL YOU! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL IN THE NAME OF KING KAMOSHIDA!" The Guard Captain roared, angry at how easily dispatched his back up was as it charged at the group. It attempted to stab them with his spear, only for all of them to dodge it.

"Is that all you got! Garu!" Morgana called out as Zorro appeared behind him, casting a tornado underneath the knight as it launched him into the air. "Launched the enemy! Strike now!" He commanded.

"Right! Homura-chan, Aerial Rave!" Asuka then then called out.

The white masked, tan skinned girl nodded to that with a smirk on her face to the plan. "Okay!" Homura replied with excitement as the two kunoichis charged in and jumped into the air as the two began slashing at the Guard Captain Shadow, finishing with a downward slash. "Someone finish it!" She then called out.

"Right here! Captain Kidd!" Ryuji commanded as another lightning bolt hit the Guard Captain, causing it to cry out in pain as the horse he rode collapsed to the ground. When it looked up, it saw everyone aiming their guns at it.

"Oh the irony of it all..." Homura declared with narrow eyes, but a smirk of satisfaction on her face underneath her mask as she pointed her sub machine guns at the Shadow.

"Was that supposed to be a challenge?" Akira taunted as he gave the Shadow a smirk.

The cat creature gave off a wide grin as he readied his slingshot. "Aw yeah! We can finish this now!" Morgana declared in excitement.

"That was amazing everyone!" Asuka cheered out.

"Hell yeah! Any last words!?" Ryuji then questioned as he pointed his shotgun at the Guard Captain.

"I am… a loyal subject… of the glorious Kamoshida…" The Guard Captain groaned out in pain. The tone he had made it seem he was utterly shattered by the prospect of losing. "So why… have I lost…!?" He soon got out in confusion.

"It just proves Kamoshida ain't anything special. He's nothing more than a pathetic douchebag who wants everyone to be his bitch." Ryuji stated.

"We're going All-out!" Akira shouted out as everyone backflipped.

"Now shut up and die!" Ryuji declared as they rushed the large Shadow, becoming blurs to the Guard Captain as it cried out in anguish and pain.

The Shadow remained stock-still as everyone jumped away from it, with the newest Persona user landing on his face before recovering. "Freakin' boring!" Ryuji declared while making a peace sign just as the Shadow exploded.

(End Music)


"Real smooth, Sakamoto." Homura deadpanned as they regrouped with the blond letting out a breath while he slumped down.

"Hey, at least he recovered." Akira reminded as he patted the blond's back as he tried to get his breath back. Akira and the rest themselves were quite winded from the battle as well. "You okay, man?" He soon asked.

"I'm good…" Ryuji panted out. "Just... felt like I ran a marathon across Japan." He admitted as he then straightened himself and glared at the King, who looked stunned that one of his best were dispatched easily. Especially by Ryuji. "...How 'bout that!? Even if you apologize now... I ain't forgivin' you...!" He then declared.

"I think we're way past the point of forgiveness or redemption for ages, Ryuji-kun." Asuka stated as they aimed their guns at the King. "Everything you've done... Every life you ruined... You'll pay dearly for each and every person you've ruined and hurt." She declared.

The King however in response to hearing these declarations could only growl at the group. "I told you that this is my castle. It seems you don't understand..." Shadow Kamoshida started.

Just as he said that, a very familiar looking girl in nothing more but a bikini and cat ears walked up to the King.

"Wha-Takamaki!?" Ryuji exclaimed. "No effin' way!" He then added in denial.

"What. The. Fuck." Homura let out as everyone's widened at the sight of the familiar student.

"Oh no..." Asuka muttered as she started realizing the relationship between the teacher and the foreign-looking student.

"Heh... expected nothing less from you." Akira calmly stated, which actually unnerved the group. They could see his fury threatening to appear on his face. Meanwhile, Morgana just gasped at the sight of girl.

"Oh...!" Morgana got out as a starstruck expression appeared on his face. "Wha... What a meow-velous and beautiful girl...!" He got out in amazement. 'Though... she really doesn't compare to Lady Asuka and her bub-bub-bub-bub...' He mentally added as he drifted off the dreamland.

Homura quickly noticed the cat's expression and promptly resisted the urge to face palm or to punch the cat in his oversized head. 'CAAAAAAAT!' She growled out in her head. Mostly because she was still holding her guns and she didn't want to whack her forehead with it or set off a bullet.

"What's goin' on...!?" Ryuji had to ask as the ash blonde wrapped her arms around the King's neck.

"I... I don't even... What..." Asuka tried to say something, but couldn't thanks to the appearance of the girl from their class.

"What the fuck are you doing to her you bastard!?" Homura growled out as she almost went to attack the King.

Akira however held the tan skinned girl back. "Hold on, something's off." He soon started as he narrowed his eyes. "...This is just another cognition, like the ones in the torture chamber. That's not the real Takamaki-san." He then stated.

"Yeah..." Ryuji added as he looked into her eyes. There was literally nothing there, unlike the real one who was emotive, expressive and full of life... until recently. "Just noticin' it now. She' ain't real!" He then declared.

"I know that! But what the fuck is he doing with the real one!?" Homura shouted out, snapping the cat creature out of his daydream just in time to hear her question.

"Remember, Lady Homura, this is just how Kamoshida views the school and its students." Morgana informed. "For all we know, he sees the girl as an object of lust. It doesn't mean he's actually doing anything to her." He then added.

"But he is..." Asuka stated in a low tone, remembering the few interactions she saw between the PE teacher and the model.

As they were discussing, the King grabbed the girl's chin and started leaning his face in.

Ryuji was soon the first one to notice. "Hey! Let go of her, you perv!" He then called out. "I mean seriously!? You're big piece of shit as it is with just the physical abuse!" He soon added.

"How many times do I have to tell you until you understand?" The King sarcastically questioned. "This is my castle, a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me! ...That is, everyone besides slow-witted ninjas like you." He then remarked in annoyance as he glared at the group.

"Not ninjas! Thieves!" Morgana corrected.

"Thieves, ninjas, whatever. Different name, same meaning." The King replied offhandedly without a care.

"...Oh, I am so gonna kick your ass." Homura and Morgana declared in angered unison as their eyes twitched.

"No one actually loves you! They're afraid of you!" Asuka shouted out. "We just happen to be the only ones who actually speak up against you!" She soon declared.

"If you think we're just gonna let you do whatever you want, you've got another thing coming." Akira stated in a serious tone. "We'll stop you. Both here and the real world. Count on it." He then declared.

"What? Are you jealous?"

BANG!

"No. Not really." Homura casually replied as she blew her smoking gun before putting her mask back on over her mouth while the cognitive ash blonde faded into nothing. "I'd rather be put out of my misery if I was like that. Like what I did just then to that sex doll. Or is it an onahole? More than likely it's your right hand. How come something so meaty can hold something so tiny?" She then remarked with a witty tone.

"No wonder your Persona uses Fire." Akira got out as he high-fived the girl.

Ryuji meanwhile clapped to what was done while Morgana laughed at the sick burn the tan skinned girl got out.

Asuka however had a confused expression on her face while she tilted her head. "...What's an onahole?" She innocently asked, causing everyone to sweat profusely.

As this was occurring however, the King growled at them in anger and fury to what happened. "Clean them up this instant!" He soon commanded, causing more Shadows to appear in front of the group of thieves and ninjas.

"...Meh, worth it." Homura muttered in satisfaction with a shrug.

"Not worth our lives though! We're completely outnumbered!" Morgana called out. " We're running low on energy anyway. Let's scram before we get surrounded again. I am not expecting a second awakening to happen then!" He then added.

"We're not gonna do anything and just run!?" Ryuji exclaimed.

"I'm still itching to fight." Homura admitted as she placed a hand on her mask.

"We've got everything we came here for. Better not stretch our luck further than it already has." Akira advised. "We can't just die here." He then stated

"Guys, we can come back anytime we want. But right now, need to leave." Asuka got out in a calming tone.

To hearing these statements, the two sighed as they knew they were both right.

"Damn it..." Ryuji cursed as he glared at the King. "We'll expose who you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us...!" He then declared with determination.

"We're coming back and trashing this castle." Homura growled. "We're tearing this place apart brick and brick!" She then declared.

"Hahahahaha! I was beginning to get bored of torturing the ones here!" The King laughed out madly. "Come at me whenever you want, if you don't care about your lives!" He then challenged in a taunting tone.

"That's where you're wrong." Asuka replied with a smirk hidden underneath her mask. "After all, the first thing a shinobi must come to terms with is the possibility of dying every day! I do care for my life, but I'm not afraid to die if that's what it takes to stop you!" She then declared.

"Then ahead and throw your life away!" The King challenged.

"Jokes on you! We already did!" Asuka called out before laughing victoriously... before realizing what she just said. "Aw..." She soon mumbled out.

"Seriously, you just said you were torturing people! Not training or some bullshit! Even Evil Shinobi admit to being evil! That's why we're called Evil Shinobi! How are you still thinking people actually like you?!" Homura exclaimed before groaning. "You know what, fuck it. This place blows, let's just go." She soon decided.

Meanwhile, Morgana just sweatdropped as he turned his head towards the avian masked Persona user. "Thank god you have a level head." Morgana told the boy. "Now cheese it!" He then ordered.

"After them!" The King commanded as the Shadows gave chase.

They only looked at each other before nodding.

"PERSONA!"


(Front of the Castle)

"Is everyone okay? Any major injuries?" Akira panted out as everyone caught their breath.

They had their Personas cover their escape route, making sure none of the guards followed them through the grate. It was actually rather difficult to have their Personas act on their own while they did something else. It was like their minds were getting overloaded. They all made mental notes to never do that again.

"Better than ever, Akira-kun." Asuka replied as she gave him a thumbs-up before looking at the cat creature, who was just laying on the floor. "Some… worse than ever." She then added.

"And I thought yesterday things couldn't get any worse..." Homura groaned before going to her roommate. "Asuka, are alright? That bastard didn't try anything when they pinned you down did he?" She soon asked in concern.

Holding back her slight surprise for her roommate asking her that, Asuka shook her head. "I'm ok Homura-chan. I was lucky that Kamoshida didn't realize I had no..." She started before blushing as she brought her skirt down in embarrassment.

Homura in turn giggled to that as she placed her hand on her roommate's head. "We'll talk more when we get home." She replied as her black mask wearing girl nodded in agreement.

"Probably will with our luck." Akira said, causing Homura to groan more.

"Anyways!" Ryuji called out as he straightened himself, looking at his new outfit. "I don't remember changin' into this!" He soon got out.

"Comes with the superpowers." Homura replied after taking another deep breath. "Everything except the underwear." She then added.

"No kidding." Ryuji muttered out as he checked down his pants. "It's kinda freeing actually." He admitted.

"I know, right." Akira spoke up. "It looks good on you." He admitted.

"Yeah, the jacket… the mask… you look like a biker that came straight from hell." Asuka complimented.

"Uhhh… Should I be happy about that?" Ryuji asked as the cat creature got to his feet.

"You have the power of Persona. The ability to summon a pirate to your beck and call is a great trade-off to looking like a thug." Homura replied. "Besides, at least you have pants." She then added.

"Wait, why-oh..." Ryuji remembered as Good Shinobi pulled down her skirt as she blushed. "Er... Sorry...?" He then got out in a awkward manner.

"It's trouble enough to have a big chest thanks to Katsu-nee..." Asuka mumbled out, causing the avian masked Persona user to pat her back in comfort while trying his hardest not to fall into temptation as a dark aura enveloped the tanned skin girl.

Suddenly, they heard a voice.

"Did you find them!?" One of the pursuing Shadows asked.

"No, search that way!" Another ordered as they heard them scatter.

"I'm getting the feeling our secret infiltration route won't be so secret soon..." Homura muttered out.

"So what's goin' on?" Ryuji questioned. "I'm completely lost, man...!" He then added.

"You know, you've been saying that a lot." Akira deadpanned.

"I told you before. When a Persona-user opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens." Morgana explained. "It's to prevent you from being affected by the distortions." He then revealed.

"Does that mean, if we visit a new Palace, we don't start out with our Personas ready for us to use until we become threats to their reality?" Homura asked.

"Well... technically yes." Morgana answered. "But Shadows generally consider Persona-users threats, no matter who it is, so unless you're not considered one by the ruler beforehand, you'll always have your Persona and Thief Outfit once you enter the Metaverse." He then revealed.

"The Metaverse?" Homura questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah right, let me explain." Morgana decided as he coughed into his paw. "Ahem, this place as I said or rather, world I should say is known as the Metaverse. It's reality created by the thoughts and feelings of the people in the real world. A giant world made up of people's inner thoughts and desires. In other words, one giant dreamland." He revealed.

"...Huh?" Ryuji got out in confusion.

Morgana in turn groaned to that in annoyance. "Okay, fine. Let me simplify it for you. The Metaverse is a world made up of people's mental perceptions in real life." He then added.

"So in this case, Kamoshida thinks of Shujin Academy as his castle and the students being his worshippers and..." Akira started before trailing off, not wanting to say his thoughts on what the PE teacher thought of the female students.

"Sort of, this castle of Kamoshida is sort of separate and cut off from the rest of the Metaverse, but still the same, A.K.A. a Palace." Morgana corrected. "This is the result of his distorted desires taking form. Their cognition in a sense." He then revealed.

"Cognition...?" Asuka then asked in a innocent manner.

Akira in turn nodded to that as he looked at the group. "Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses." He explained. "This castle of Kamoshida' is pretty much the best example possible. Though a more mundane example is those ink blots psychiatrists use. You may see a mushroom cloud, but someone else can see two bears high fiving despite seeing the exact same picture." He then added.

"Distorted nothing, this is just fucked up in the head..." Homura remarked as she looked at the scenery once more.

"That's why it's his distorted desires." Morgana soon stated.

The Good Shinobi looked at the castle once more before turning back to the others. "So that's what this world is called. The Metaverse..." Asuka mumbled to herself as they all took off their masks and looked at them. "How much does Morgana-chan know about the Metaverse? How long has he been here?" She soon wondered before shaking her head. She'll get to it when the time was right.

The cat creature then turned to the blond. "Your appearances meanwhile reflect your inner self. It's the rebel that slumbers within..." Morgana continued.

"Well, it's wide awake now. It's scary how used to this I am already." Akira sighed out as he put it back on.

"Yin and Yang, huh..." Homura noted as she looked at the design of hers and her roommate's.

"A skull..." Ryuji muttered out. "...Just what the hell is my inner self tryin' to tell me?" He then asked in confusion.

"Your head is as thick as steel, you numbskull." Morgana joked with a witty grin.

"Aw come on!" Ryuji complained.

"You have to admit, you fell right into that one." Akira pointed out.

"So... are we all clear about everything Morgana-chan told us?" Asuka soon asked. "For the reason we have these clothes that don't come with underwear, what the hell this loopy place is and why this place is run by a fruit loop?" She then listed off.

"Yep." Homura spoke up.

"Definitely." Akira replied with a nod.

"Er... no?" Ryuji sheepishly admitted.

"Close enough! Let's go home before the guards find us." Asuka declared as they all started walking away.

"Ye-Hey! Wait! What do you mean by going home!?" Morgana shouted out, only for the blond to stop everyone in their tracks... for a completely different reason than he expected.

"Oh shit! We're in deep shit!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"We're in double deep shit?" Akira asked. "Uh... that's kinda redundant considering our reputations... at best we're knee-level deep in shit." He soon added.

"Please stop this metaphor before you lose your kneecaps." Homura stated in a flat tone.

"All I was saying is that we're already in enough trouble." Akira replied. "How much more shit can we be in?" He then asked.

"Dude! We might've escaped from the Kamoshida here, but we're still screwed with the one in the real world!" Ryuji stated.

This in response cause the others to look at the newest Persona user of their group.

"Um... pretty sure the real Kamoshida is already out to get us." Akira got out before glancing at the girls. "In more ways that one." He then added.

"No! I mean he's gonna bust us for tryin' to expose him! We're gonna get expelled or worse!" Ryuji called out.

"WHAT!?" Asuka exclaimed. "D-Does he know about... Oh shit, he knows doesn't he!? He knows we're shinobis!" She declared as she flailed her arms.

"C-Calm down!" Homura got out as she tried to make her panicking roommate settle down. "Our covers aren't blown yet. All we need to do is er... make him disappear and make sure to hide the evidence. Imagine the problems we would solve then." She then revealed.

"WHAT!?" Asuka exclaimed once again before pausing in thought as she remembered the last two days. "That... actually sounds tempt-No, no, no! We aren't killing him! He does deserve to be punished and made to suffer but he doesn't deserve to die... at least not yet!" She declared after contemplating her roommate's plan.

"But if he knows, we have no other choice." Homura darkly stated in a serious manner.

"Hold on before you do anything hasty!" Morgana spoke up. "Don't pay attention to the idiot. He doesn't know what he's talking about." He then remarked.

"Somethin' tells me these insults are gonna be daily..." Ryuji grumbled under his breath.

"Everyone relax." Morgana continued. "The Kamoshida in reality can't possibly know about what happened here. A Shadow is the true that is suppressed-a side of one's personality they don't want to see."

"So... we're okay?" Akira asked, making the cat creature nod in response.

"What about a Persona? You said Homura-chan's was turning into one back there." Asuka questioned before turning her head to her roommate once more. "Oh that's right! Homura-chan, are you alright!? What was all that about anyway!?" She soon asked in concern.

The tan skinned girl in response to that question sighed in a exhausted manner as she looked at her roommate. "I... I just had a major wake up call... that's all..." Homura vaguely responded.

"Homura-chan?" Asuka got out in confusion to what was said.

"Asuka, we can talk about this later when we get home..." Homura soon replied in a more solemn and calm tone. "Alright?" She then requested.

To this request, Asuka was slightly speechless to what her roommate had asked, noticing the subtle shift in her voice toward her. "S-Sure..." She replied.

The cat creature meanwhile looked on at the serious interactions between the two kunoichis as he brought a paw to his mouth and coughed to gain their attention. "Ahem! Anyway, to answer Lady Asuka's question, a Persona is merely a controlled Shadow, the acceptance of one's flaws. Everyone has a dark side, but only those with a strong enough heart can actually give it a physical form. Essentially, anyone can be a Persona-user. Even A.I. for a robot or android or even *shudder* dogs..." Morgana explained, though twitched slightly to mentioning the animal.

"That's... a little weird but I can get behind that!" Ryuji declared as he rolled his arm around. "All right! Now that we know that, all we gotta do is-" He started however...

"Wait, I guided you as promised." Morgana interrupted. "It's your turn to cooperate." He then stated.

"What?" The four Persona-users got out in confused unison.

"That's why I've been super nice about teaching you idiots everything." Morgana revealed before looking at the girls. "Uh... You're included in that statement. You just promised to help." He then reminded.

"Huh? Cooperate?" Ryuji said in confusion, clearly not remembering anything about that.

"Really?" Akira got out before shrugging. "So... do you want some money or some fish...?" He then asked as he reached into his pocket to check how much money he had.

"Nothing like that." Morgana sighed out, though the fish sounded tempting. "Remember what I said before? I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form!" He then declared.

"Oh, that." Homura muttered out. "Can I say again that this could be a wild goose chase? Because, again, you could just be a living cat plush doll." She soon suggested while placing her hands on her hips.

"I am not a cat and I am not a plush doll or any combination of those things!" Morgana called out as he flailed his arms around. "I am, without a doubt, 100% human! That's why we must delve deep into Mementos and-" Morgana then started, however...

"Er... Sorry, but I don't have the time. My mom's gonna kill me if I don't go now." Ryuji stated. "And besides, we never said anything about helpin' you out!" He then declared.

The tan skinned girl in turn nodded in agreement to that. "Yeah, we didn't exactly promise you we'd do it!" Homura retorted. "I just wanna go home and get something to eat!" She soon added.

"Huh!?" Morgana gasped in shock and confusion. "Don't tell me... Are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you?" He then questioned in an offended manner.

"Yeah, and you did it for your own personal gain. You literally just admitted it several seconds ago." Homura deadpanned with a neutral expression underneath her mask.

"We did promise Morgana-chan! Come on guys!" Asuka tried to convince the others.

"Um...I said we'd help when we can." Akira pointed out. "Now's not the time. I'm sure it's getting late in the real world and I was serious about us missing our trains. We need to leave for now." He then stated.

"Come on! Help me out! You're all just going to up and leave when most of you are already part of my master plan!?" Morgana complained.

"Yeah, we don't even know what your master plan is and I can already tell that it involves us dying horribly." Homura replied as she grabbed her roommate's waist strap. "And I will not risk Asuka getting hurt anymore for the day thank you very much! We'll visit you when we can." She then added.

"H-Hey! Homura-chan! Come on! Wait! Morgana-chan!" Asuka cried out as she was dragged away by her roommate while flailing her arms in a comedic manner as they all went to exit the Metaverse.

"Is it because I'm not human!? Because I'm like a cat!? Is that why you're trying to make a fool out me!?" Morgana continued to call out to try and guilt them into helping.

"Nope! It's because we have better things to do!" Ryuji called back as he waved the creature good-bye. "Thanks for everything, cat! You've got guts, bein' a cat and all! See you around!" He then added.

"Besides, there's already a Fool in this group." Akira quietly mumbled to himself, which the two kunoichis managed to hear as they looked at him in confusion.

"Hey! What the hell!? Don't you keep walking away!" Morgana shouted out. "Ugh, seriously! This is your last chance to turn back now and help me! After this I won't forgive you! ...Please, I need your help! I can't go to Mementos alone! Why're you wrapping this up like everything's all hunky-dory!? COME ON! FFFFFFFUUUUUUU-" He began to swear in anger to this development.

[Now exiting Kamoshida's Castle of Lust…]


Save Game… Quit!

That's it and that took longer than expected! I kinda thought this would be shorter but uh… the word count says otherwise.

So uh… Happy New Years because this definitely the final chapter I will be releasing this year. Go and enjoy that this year is over! Because it kinda sucked.

UknownHero signing off for 2017, my friends!